"Like a Candy Cane, You curve and adjust daily your perspective with patience, And even when you are not looking or are unaware, they watch for your approval."    SHELIA F. BURLOCK

DECEMBER MEMO

A Principal’s love letter to her teachers. 

Dear AWESOME Teacher- YOU!

I celebrate you for all you do. You are all these famous Educator ABCdescribing words:

AcademicAdventurousAdvocateAlertAliveAmuseAnalyticalAnimal-loverAnimatedArticulateArtisticAssertiveAstuteAthleticAttractiveAutonomousBalancedBeautifulBright

Business-orientedCapableCaringCheerfulClearCleverCommittedCompassionateCompetentConcernedConfidentConscientiousConsiderateCoolCooperativeCourageousCreative

CuriousDaringDependableDetail-orientedDeterminedDiligentDisciplinedDown-to-earthDrivenEmpatheticEnchantingEncouragingEnergeticEnthusiasticEntrepreneur

EthicalExplorerFastlearnerFearlessFierceFitness-orientedFlexibleFocusedFoodieFunFunnyGenerousGentleGenuineGoal-orientedGraciousGroundedHappy

Hard-working

HealthorientedHelpfulHilariousHonestHumbleImaginativeIndependentInnovativeInspirationalInspiringIntellectualIntelligentInterpersonalInvolvedJollyJovialJoyfulJoyousKind Knowledge-seekingKnowledgeableLeaderLogicalLoyalMatureMechanicalMethodicalModernModestMotivatedMulti-lingualMusicalNaturalNurturingOrganizedOutgoingPatientPerseveringPersistentPleasantPositiveProfessionalQuirkyRealisticSmartSuccessfulSuperTalentedUnderstandingUniqueVibrantVivaciousWarm eXtraordinarYZealous

 

From my heart to yours.... A holiday poem for you.

Have a wonderful restful holiday season.

A Candy Cane Poem

By S. Burlock

Like a Candy Cane,

You are beautifully and wondrously adorned with sweet contours of 

A Resilient and Creative Personality.

Like a Candy Cane,

You curve and adjust daily your perspective with patience,

To forever build a learning community for your children.

Like a Candy Cane,

Your students gravitate towards your brilliance and sweetness,

And even when you are not looking or are unaware, they watch for your approval.

Like a Candy Cane,

Your students are excited by the pleasant taste for learning you encourage and reward within them.

Because Like a Candy Cane your presence beautifully and wondrously adorns our school and we would be less without you.

We celebrate you!

Like a Christmas Candy Cane! 

By Shelia F. Burlock

As you relax over this vacation time: Remember that Courtesy and Kindness are hard to give away. They are known to come back home again. MAY YOUR HOME/FAMILY BE FILLED WITH IT.

 November Memo 2021 TMC-Self Efficacy-Grace

“Learn how to build relationships with your students. When children like you, they learn from you.”

-Shelia F. Burlock

 

I remember having a “discipline” conversation with one of my fifth-grade students.

 

He had gotten in trouble for yelling and screaming in an outburst of anger. 

 

I calmly spoke with him to diffuse the situation, and after things had de-escalated, I sought to find out what was the root cause of his sudden display of anger, and to give him a strategy for dealing with negative feelings.

  

The strategy involved me giving him a small notepad and pencil to carry around with him. When a trigger happened that made him angry, he could write down in that moment how he was feeling and why. I told him to just write small phrases and then later expand on it and make it into poetry. I shared how I journaled and liked writing, especially poetry. I also spoke with his parent about having him practice this strategy at home. 

 

He went on to use this strategy for a few weeks. Then one day he brought me a copy of one of his poems. I read it silently. He waited in silence. Then I gave him sincere, earnest, and meaningful feedback. 

 

FEEDBACK and T.M.C.

 

Giving feedback with T.M.C. (Tactful Meaningful Care) is one way to build a relationship with your students. Your students know when you are being sincere or just pulling their leg. Don’t just say “good job” or “great.” Say why what they did is a good job or great. And please don’t say it’s good when it is truly not. Children know when a teacher is being patronizing. They watch other kids’ performances and work. They know when they aren’t performing up to par so don’t give meaningless feedback. Say something like “I love the effort you put into this” or “I like your thought pattern” or “I like how you’re thinking about this. This shows you are studious, but this is not there yet. Here’s what you can do to get it there and here’s how I am going to help you.”

 

SELF-EFFICACY

 

When you give honest meaningful feedback to a student you build up his self-efficacy. 

“Self-efficacy is commonly defined as the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve a goal or an outcome. Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated.” 

(Source: https://serc.carleton.edu/20538)

 

Building up your students’ self-efficacy is another way to build a relationship with your students. Your students will know you believe in them and will believe in themselves. 

 

REWARDS and WINNING and GRACE

 

I love giving out chocolates—the good ones—and candy. Adults and kids alike love sweet treats. Don’t just give out rewards when a student wins at something. One way for sure to let your students know you like them is to give out a little grace now and then. 

 

Grace means giving what we don’t deserve, and it is a counterpart to mercy, which means holding back what we do deserve. Perhaps that unruly student doesn’t deserve a reward from you, but you can always give grace. As adults we want this, so our kids want it too. 

 

When you give them TMC (Tactful Meaningful Care), build up their self-efficacy, and give a little grace now and then, your students will like you, and when they like you, they will learn from you. Learn how to build relationships with your students. 

 

 by   Shelia F. Burlock

October, 2021

The phrase “PURPOSE-driven life” has been increasingly used in religious, business, and political circles over the years. It is a phrase that captivates the attention of so many because of the significance of the word purpose. This word reflects having a sense of mission or a task to accomplish. Leading a purpose-driven life can also mean to make a difference with your life. 

 

Everyone wants to make a difference in this world and feel pride in significant accomplishments. As educators, we are among the legacy builders, the ones who make a difference in the lives of children. Having a defined purpose is what motivates us to continue doing a job well done. 

 

This motivates us to believe that we are playing a vital role in initiating change; embedding change; blossoming change; creating change; and in imprinting change within the lives of children. This kind of purpose brings about a legacy, which continues on within the life of another individual. 

 

Peers, let’s take time to reflect upon our PURPOSE for why we do the things we do. REMEMBER THAT WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN. Having a defined sense of PURPOSE makes us legacy builders.

I am happy to serve alongside such a group of committed educators.

 

Teaching tip for the minute:  "Immediately after attending a workshop or conference, choose at least one new strategy you learned and incorporate it into your teaching.” quote from: Teach to Reach by Craig Mitchell & Pamela Espeland                                                   

 

Mrs. Burlock

 

 

 

Memo Minutes are News Briefs and Highlights of Inspirational, Professional Development, and School Improvement News with “Quote for the Minute.”

TEACH the Achievement Mindset

 August 2021

Students’ brains are designed to respond to environmental stimuli when introduced (environmental: of or relating to the external conditions or surroundings; environmental factors). Therefore, the “hook” part of your lesson or the “anticipatory set” is so important. This is when you can introduce the lesson by using multi-sensory, inquiry and project-based approaches. 

You can do this by integrating technology with relatable current events; using real- time examples from a recent field trip; or teaching sight words using cereal boxes. There are a host of examples of multi-sensory, inquiry and project-based approaches to introduce new stimuli. 

In the past, one of my first-grade teachers used a pumpkin from a field trip as her “hook.” She had her students predict how many seeds were inside the pumpkin before they scooped the seeds out of the gourd. Then her students counted how many seeds were actually on the pumpkin and subtracted that number from their estimate.

Once when I was teaching third grade, I wanted students to learn about Kwanzaa, so I came to school dressed as Mrs. Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) For the entire day, I told the students I was Mrs. Kuumba. I had symbols for them to touch, taste and smell (multi-sensory) and I had stations for them to write, define, and question (inquiry and project-based approach). By the end of the day, my students had memorized the seven core principles of Kwanzaa as well as their meanings. They asked me if Mrs. Burlock was returning the next day!😀

Our brains are designed to pick up countless social, physical and linguistic cues within our surroundings. Take advantage of this when you are teaching new concepts and see how the “learning trajectory” of an unmotivated student steadily becomes motivated to achieve! 

Teaching the achievement mindset also increases the effect size of a student’s academic gain. 

Effect sizes are a common research-based way to measure the impact of a strategy. A .50 effect size is the same as a “one” grade leap in academic gain. An effect size of 1.0 is associated with improving students’ achievement by a “two” grade leap and advancing a student’s learning achievement by one year or improving the rate of learning by 50%. Teachers must help students catch up from starting school one to two years behind. Therefore, if everything we did over a single school year averaged at least .50 effect size we would bring up students who started a year behind to grade level by the year end. An effect size of .50 is clearly effective and attainable!

https://www.teacherstoolbox.co.uk/effect-sizes

Effect Sizes in a School’s Learning Community:

• Collective teacher efficacy | 1.57
• Teacher estimates of achievement | 1.29 
• Student self-efficacy | .92
• Positive peer influences | .53 
• Teacher-student relationships | .52 
• Positive self-concept | .41
• Decreasing disruptive behavior | .34 

The highest Effect Size is Collective Teacher Efficacy. 

Collective Teacher Efficacy is a shared group that is motivated by a common issue or interest or a group that works together to achieve a common objective with efficacy. Efficacy is the ability to get a job done well with effectiveness and the power to produce an effect. So, in other words, when teachers work well together to achieve a common purpose with the effective power to accomplish and produce a sustaining effect, this has the greatest Effect Size on promoting a student’s ability to learn. 

What is the most common way teachers collaborate? 

The answer: 

A PLC (Professional Learning Community)! 

A vibrant, motivated, and powerful PLC makes an awesome impact on your students’ learning because it is during the PLC that teachers collaborate on STEM instructional approaches such as project and inquiry-based learning. 

Continue to keep your PLC relevant. 

You are focused on learning. 

You are building a collaborative culture. 

You are results-oriented. 

You are teaching the Achievement Mindset!

Stay the course!

by Shelia F. Burlock 

Principal * Educator * Supervisor * Developer 

"Inspiring adults to become agents of change, hope, and influence in the lives of children."© 

This first-grade class predicted how many seeds were inside the pumpkin and created math equation problems. The students also scooped out the pumpkin seeds to touch, count, and later taste them (after the teacher roasted the seeds).