#purpose

When we selected our #oneword earlier this year, I selected #purpose. With a new role in BISD, I knew I wanted to keep purpose at the forefront of my mind both in telling our story and in supporting my colleagues and students in teaching and learning. With a full calendar (or an impending state assessment) it's easy to let the important get hijacked by the urgent. The struggle to keep purpose on the front burner is real!

So when I read this post by Two Writing Teachers, I was blown away by the teacher's ability to keep purpose (equipping her students with the tools to conduct effective peer conferences) at the forefront of her mind as she intentionally took instructional time to teach the soft skills that would eventually make their peer conferences awesome. I so admire her courage in looking at the calendar and not succumbing to the temptation to just check the box for "doing" the peer conference. The time she took to break down the skill will pay off big dividends as the year progresses. I hope you read her post so you can see her craft first-hand, but if you don't, I want to encourage you to be equally courageous. The time you take to equip the kids with the skills they'll need to safely carry a Chromebook, be a responsible digital citizen, or to work in a collaborative group is time well spent. #breakitdown

Blended Learning Spotlight: Pear Deck & & More 

I love opening emails from Pear Deck. They've always got something new for teachers and kids. This week they shared new templates for our littlest learners. I have started a list of teachers who are ready to use the heck out of the paid version of Pear Deck. If you're using the free version regularly and are ready to move to the next level with Pear Deck, please email me before Thanksgiving.

ESL Spotlight

A great big Bulldog thank you to Jan Groff for passing along the link to a thirty-minute webinar for 5 Evidence-Based Strategies for English Learners.  If you can't make the webinar on November 14, register to receive a link to the recording.

Another big Bulldog thank you to Stephanie Jones and Yessenia Torres who are taking four parents of English learners to Region 20 for a Parent Conference this week.