We're back!

My first week at school was "Excellent!" and that was what I told a teacher friend of mine when she asked how it went.

In the face to face traditional school, we tried something this year that is a hit with both staff and students so far. Both elementary and junior high sections get 15 minute breaks in the morning and the afternoon. I think it has just let the pressure off a bit. Students get more time to snack, visit the bathrooms, and go outside if they want to. They are happier! The staff who aren't on supervision get 10 minutes to actually sit down and take a bit of a breather from the demands of the classroom. This is new for our junior high students. They did ask last year if they could try it and our new student information system provided an opportunity to make that change. So far, it's working.

In this school we are also getting ready to put students in their tier reading groups. We should be operational by the end of next week. It will be an early start and that is encouraging. Many of our students have reading challenges and this is the third year we will be using Dawn Reithaug's Reading - Three Tiers for Intervention. Last year we had many students who were 1 - 2 years below their grade level for reading achieve grade level. We still have a number of students that are reading at 2 or more grades below their grade level, but we hope to get them into the next reading group. By differentiating instruction in the Language Arts classes, giving specific reading instruction during our after lunch reading period and by pulling them from science and social classes for specific reading instruction and practice, we know that we can achieve our goals. We know it works! It is so exciting!!

In the virtual school, we are beginning on a great note. Although we've had our issues with our new student information system, most of the staff are happy with what they can do so far. We've also been able to entice our classroom teacher assistant back for another year. She is young, has many innovative ideas, and can relate to the students very well. The changes we are making to our students at risk interventions, our teacher assistant will be doing most of the phoning and troubleshooting, allowing our teachers to teach and work on learning deficits rather than chasing students or having to troubleshoot our technology. I can see this working for us very well.

All in all, it's been a great week and I am looking forward to a wonderful year!