Whew! Homecoming is over.  Our students had a great time last week for Homecoming.  We capped it off last night with a great Homecoming dance.  The students were on fire! It was also great to win big over North Garland in the football game and the volleyball game.  Go Rangers!

This week we have to get back focused.  The students enjoyed the special dress up days and all that comes with it.  We have to ensure they have their IDs out and visible as well as being in dress code.  Please help us by being out in the halls ensuring that they get to class on time.  Hopefully they’ll snap back into action with the things they know they must do.  Make sure you are checking for IDs at the door when they enter.  They must have them on.

It is also important that we are working toward our goals in the classroom.  Each of you have a defined goal to reach.  As their classroom teacher your job is to ensure that they reach these goals.  Meeting our goals doesn’t just happen by accident, we must be intentional.  Careful purposeful planning, that engages each learner must be present in each class.  Remember, you must plan to engage your learners.  Your classroom should also have active use of visual representations of academic vocabulary.  Anchor charts are the easiest way to do this.  Think about how visual cues bring back our memory when we are learning.  Do not cheat our students out of this great learning experience.

A great instructional strategy to use in the classroom is the jigsaw method.  Students can take ownership over their own learning and teach it to other students in the classroom.  Please click on the link to watch a short video with some simple instructions on how to use this strategy in your classroom.  http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/jigsaw.  Have fun trying it out!

I would also like to introduce you to Structured Academic Controversy.  This strategy is similar to debate but in a more structured format.  This is another strategy that engages learners, gets them talking to each other, and allows them to choose a problem or a problem chose by you to take a side on.  I am attaching a document to read as well as a short video to watch.  https://www.nwabr.org/sites/default/files/StructuredAcademicControversy.pdf…Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHOb0auYW-M

Remember we have a short week with our students this week as well as PSAT testing on Wednesday.  We will have a dry run on Tuesday at 9:15 am.  Mr. Quach has already sent instructions but more details will be coming so stay tuned.

Weekly calendar of events: https://www.garlandisdschools.net/nfhs/activities/calendar

Go Rangers!

#ThisisNaaman

Homecoming King and Queen

Go Band!