Building Perseverance in Students

First off, please excuse the tardiness of this week’s Howler.  It normally goes out on Thursday afternoons, but due to a sick computer, I wasn’t able to work on my weekly letter till late.   Coming in yesterday morning and realizing that my laptop wasn’t going to cooperate was a bit stressful.  But, I was able to persevere and rely on my resilience and grit to get my work done.

It turns out that stress, the healthy kind, is an opportunity to learn perseverance and grit; the concept of continuing to plug along despite setbacks.  We normally don’t associate stress with something positive, but as an article by Paul Tough (author of How Children Succeed) published in the Atlantic suggests, it turns out that, in the right environment, stress can help us teach children to persevere.  It’s a rather lengthy, but fascinating article that cites a number of studies conducted on how to teach students to be gritty and determined.

A key point that is brought up in Tough’s article is that toxic stress can inhibit the brain’s cognitive and emotional functions.   However, when environmental factors are set up correctly, stressful situations can be moments where children learn to overcome adversity.  By overcoming adversity, one builds self-confidence to take on the next challenge.   The positive environmental factors can be fostered at a child’s earliest stages of development.  To quote the article, “Just as early stress sends signals to the nervous system to maintain constant vigilance and prepare for a lifetime of trouble, early warmth and responsiveness send the opposite signals: You’re safe; life is going to be fine; Let down your guard; the people around you will protect you and provide for you.  Be curious about the world; it’s full of fascinating surprises.  These messages trigger adaptations in children’s brains that allow them to slow down and consider problems and decisions more carefully, to focus their attention for longer periods, and to more willingly trade immediate gratification for promises of long-term benefits.”

The article goes further and cites a study that contends that four beliefs, when embraced by students, seem to facilitate them to use more perseverance in the classroom.  Those beliefs are:

1. I belong in this academic community
2. My ability and competence grow with my effort
3. I can succeed at this
4. This work has value for me

In discussing this article with some staff members, they wholeheartedly agree with those 4 beliefs; which gives rationale to why teachers spend so much time and effort building their classroom community and their connections with students.  Furthermore, it amplifies the need to teach our students about their own thinking (metacognition) and growth mindset.  

It’s a great article- one I encourage any parent or educator to read.

Enjoy the weekend,
Wade Spenader, Principal

Beyond Any Conceivable Expectation

 In an attempt to help families and friends in Sonoma county who suffered from the devastation the recent wildfires, Covington adopted Bennett Valley Unified School District.  We asked for gift cards, in any denomination, to be donated to help the 100+ families who lost their homes within BVUSD.  Contributions came in during the walk-a-thon and were overwhelming!  Last week, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, we sent BVUSD a box filled with gift cards, which totaled well over $6000!

 A couple of days ago, I received an email from Dr. Sue Field, BVUSD’s Superintendent.  In her email, she wrote:

“Hi Wade!
I received the amazingly generous box!  Wow!!!!  Thank you so much!!!  Way beyond any conceivable expectation! We will get them out to the fire victims early next week. Thank you!!!”

I hope you are as equally as proud as I am of this community’s tremendous generosity and "can-do" spirit.  As the Coyote community, we can achieve things beyond any conceivable expectation.

Solar Power Power!

If you caught a glimpse of our parking this week, you would’ve seen great progress. The footings have been poured, the uprights are bolted on, and the solar panels will soon be installed.  It’s been impressive how quickly things go up!

I want to thank everyone, not just for your patience during this project, but also for your flexibility in transporting our kids to and from school.  

Since the weather has been cooperative, I also want to keep encouraging your family to consider walking, wheeling, or carpooling - even after the parking lot re-opens.   

Proud Coyote,

Wade Spenader, Principal

Thanksgiving With Gratitude

Allow the former history teacher in me come out a bit…

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln ordered that Thanksgiving be celebrated as a national holiday.  Lincoln’s declaration was an attempt to boost morale in the country in the midst of the Civil War.  

Due partly to my admiration of Abraham Lincoln, Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday.  The concept of gathering with family and friends, around a table with carefully prepared food, and simply celebrating togetherness is one I really honor.  A few years ago, I was invited to attend Thanksgiving at a close friend’s house.  All of his family were there, along with a few smattering of friends.  This family has the tradition of going around the table, each person sharing one thing they were thankful for during the year.   The laughter, smiles, and even tears, as each person took their turn was heartwarming.  This act of sharing gratitude gave authentic meaning to the holiday that year. 

The Thanksgiving holiday gives us a golden opportunity to practice something that research shows is a core element of individual happiness.  Studies around the world, from all different cultures and socio-economic groups, have found that a common trait in people who are truly happy is gratitude.  The act of gratitude allow us to take the time and think about those things for which we are truly grateful.   The daily act of gratitude can allow us to recognize both the significant and the little (or what may seem trivial) things that we are thankful for in our lives.  Practicing gratitude is also a component of mindfulness.

So, allow me to share with you my list of things (large and small) that I am grateful for:

I am grateful for my health.
I am grateful to be doing a job that I love.
I am extremely grateful for being able to work with an outstanding group of educators, parents, and children.
I am grateful for the rain, which falls heavily as I write this.
I am grateful for having a close knit group of friends.
I am grateful to be part of such an amazing, caring, and generous community like Covington.

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving break.

Wade Spenader, Principal
 

The End of First Trimester

The first trimester of the 2017-18 school year has wrapped up.   The general consensus I hear is, “Where did the time go?”  Is the school year really a third of the way done?   The old adage of “Time flies when you’re having fun” can apply in this case.   While students and staff have worked incredibly hard since the start of school, we all have been having fun in the work we do.  

Your student’s report card for first trimester will be emailed to you on Tuesday, November 14th.  You may have heard that the report card has been updated, providing clear language and the scope of learning in all classes throughout the year. If a standard has not been assessed this particular grading term, that will be indicated with a --. All standards will have a score by the end of the school year. Some standards may have a single score one grading period, while others may be assessed over two or more grading periods.  Teachers will provide even great detail of your child’s progress during upcoming conferences.

As the son and brother of U.S. Army veterans, I hope you join me in honoring our veterans this weekend.

Wade Spenader, Principal

Reader’s Workshop In Action!

If you have been able to attend a Coffee with the Principal or a PTA meeting, you may have seen a presentation on our approach to teaching literacy, called Reader’s Workshop.  The Reader’s Workshop model teaches students to be good readers, beyond just basic fluency and comprehension.  By targeting higher order thinking skills, and having students practice those skills while reading, our students become deeper, more aware readers.  The analogy I like to use is one of food: sometimes we just need to fill our stomachs and grab a fast-food burger.  We don’t really think about what we’re eating, we simply consume.  But, when we go out to a nice restaurant, we pay attention to all of the finer details.  We notice the place setting and the appreciate the service.  When we eat the gourmet meal, we focus on the individual ingredients and how it all comes together.  We leave the restaurant with an appreciation of the experience.  In a sense, Reader’s Workshop is a way to teach our students to be appreciative of the reading experience, observant of the finer details, and much more satisfied with the text.

A Reader’s Workshop lesson is broken down to parts.  First, the students participate in a mini-lesson as a whole group.  During this phase, teachers give students the targeted skill they are to work on while they read.  The teacher will often model what he/she is looking for and there is some partner share to prime the students.  The next phase involves independent reading- but students are not all reading the same text.  Students choose books according to genre’ and reading level (often with the help of the teacher).  While students are reading individually, they will pause to make notes, either on a post-it or reading journal- again focusing on the skill of the day.  In a first grade room, it may be to record the “chat” the student is having with themselves as they read (thinking about their reading).  In a 4th grade room, it may be to take notes on their own personal schema or experience in order to connect to something within the text.  Crucial to the Reader’s Workshop is the conferring phase.  As students read independently, the teacher will circulate the room to confer with students on a number of things.  Teachers will ask students about their comprehension or perhaps what connections they are making while reading.  A teacher may ask what details (pictures, captions, etc.) in the book help the student derive meaning from what they are reading.  In this conferring phase, teachers are gaining a vast amount of knowledge about each of their students.  Often times, a Reader’s Workshop lesson will end with partner reading, where students pair up and share with each other their thoughts about the text.  

Now that it is November, I have seen the immense impact the Reader’s Workshop is having on our students and teachers. 

What’s happening (or not happening) in the parking lot? 
Due to delays with paperwork at the state architect’s office, the next phase of construction (drilling and pouring concrete) is postponed until the week of November 13.  We still expect to complete construction by the December 31 deadline.

The good news is we will be able to open the fencing to allow parking for tomorrow’s Walk-a-thon.

Walk-a-thon is tomorrow!
The walk-a-thon will be held tomorrow from 1pm to 3pm.  We will be awarding many double and triple laps throughout the walk-a-thon.  If a student brings in a gift card to assist our friends in Bennett Valley School District, they will get 5 laps punched on their card.

Kinders, 1st and 2nd graders will be brought back to the classrooms for their normal dismissal time.  Provided that a parent/guardian is with them, Kinders-2nd graders can return to the walk-a-thon and continue to do laps until 3pm.  

Have a great weekend,
Wade Spenader, Principal
 

Dear Covington Families,

A few days into our construction project and I have to say we (YOU!!) are doing a fantastic job in our fenced in parking lot. Much of this has to do with families who have avoided dropping off and picking up in the parking lot altogether.

If you are using the drop off/pick up lane in our parking lot, it’s critical that you move up along the curb as far as possible. This keeps the flow of traffic moving and helps curtail the back up on Covington Rd. If you find yourself waiting for your child an extended period while parked on the curb, you may want to use the “airport” technique- which is to pull out and circle around until your child arrives at the curb.

Please make sure you share this information with your caregiver or family members who pick up your child.

Halloween Guidelines: Tuesday is our annual Halloween Parade- which begins at 2:00pm. Students will be allowed to change into costumes after lunch. We ask that overly gory, grotesque or bloody costumes not be worn. Also, no fake weapons are allowed at school (ninjas, leave those nunchucks at home). Masks are permitted as long as it doesn’t inhibit the student to breathe. This is always a great event and I hope you can join us.

Reminder: As is the policy, parents/caregivers should not wait for students before dismissal in front of classrooms. We ask parents/caregivers to wait for their students near the flagpole or along the walkway facing the blacktop. Kinder families are the exception to this.

Have a great weekend,

Wade Spenader, Principal

Walk-a-Thon Has Been Rescheduled!

Dear Covington Families!

Get ready to Rock!  Get ready to Walk!  The Covington Walk-a-thon has been rescheduled for Friday, November 3rd from 1:00 to 3:00pm.
We are excited to have this modified event which promises to be a ton of fun!

The walk-a-thon starts at 1pm.  Many laps will be double and even triple laps!

The Pocket Ladies will be there to sell candy.   PTA will be selling snow cones!  There will be music!  There will be fun!

In support of the community of Bennett Valley in Santa Rosa, Covington is organizing a gift card drive.  Over 100 homes were lost in the Bennett Valley, including homes from teachers in Bennett Valley Unified School District.

Bring in a gift card (Visa, Kohl’s, Target, etc) and get 5 laps punched!

The event ends at 3:00pm. Look for a future email requesting volunteers.

Why did we choose Friday, November 3rd?
While having the Walk-a-thon on a Friday afternoon means many of our working parents cannot attend this event, rescheduling for a Saturday was not an option.  Soccer leagues have booked our fields months in advance- the one exception is the 2nd Saturday in October which has always been the date of the Walk-a-thon.  

We chose Friday, November 3rd because we wanted to keep the momentum going for Walk-a-thon.  Pushing the event out too far loses the momentum of this fun event and puts inclement weather in-play.   Pushing the event out to the Spring would’ve put enormous burden on our PTA volunteers who also are utilized for our Spring auction.  

We understand that the November 3rd event will not be able to include all of our families and that is unfortunate. However, the reasoning for postponing the Walk-a-thon was due to an unprecedented and tragic event.  While many of our families may not be able to make it to this year’s walk-a-thon, having it on Friday, November 3rd from 1pm to 3pm ensures that all of our students can participate.  

Earthquake Drill
The staff ran through our Earthquake Drill yesterday.  The kids were very patient as we moved through a number of drills including Search and Rescue, First Aid, and communication with the district office.  

We anticipate, in the event of a major disaster, that parents/caregivers will be coming to pick up their child.  IMPORTANT: We can only release students to individuals listed as an emergency pick-up as noted on InfoSnap.  If you change who those individuals are, please let the office know so we can update our binders.
 

Have a great weekend,
Wade Spenader, Principal

An Unusual Week

I stepped outside my office early this morning to view the orange and reddish sunrise. By 6:45am I could already smell the smoke, knowing that today would be another indoor school day.   The tinge of frustration that I felt, wanting to get the kids outside to play today, was quickly replaced with the feeling of sadness for our families and friends who have suffered great losses up in Sonoma and Napa Counties.  While we have certainly been inconvenienced this week by the smoke, I feel very fortunate and grateful to know that our community is safe and ready to help out our friends up north.

I am grateful for an outstanding staff who were incredibly flexible this week.  Thank you to our fantastic PTA who provided treats for the staff as a token of their appreciation of their flexibility and dedication.  I also have enormous gratitude for our students, who have been beyond cooperative and understanding this week.  I appreciate our 6th graders who jumped in on Monday and have been room monitors all week in our classrooms during recess and lunch.  And I want to thank our Walk-a-thon committee chairs, Trish Carballar,, Angela Wilson, David Trescott and Jessica Speiser who were ready to put on a huge event tomorrow but have had it postponed.  Their spirit and positive attitudes have been incredible.  As I told the students yesterday, a postponement doesn’t mean the Walk-a-thon won’t happen; it’s just delayed.  

It certainly has been an unusual week, and there may be a few more days ahead where we will be inconvenienced.  But, I know the strength of this community, the exuberance of our students, and the generosity of our families will get us through.

Great Shake-Out Earthquake Drill on Wednesday. This coming Wednesday, October 18th, we will conduct our annual Great Shake-Out earthquake drill (air quality permitting).  This drill helps staff prepare in case of an earthquake, as we run through various scenarios and situations.  The drill lasts anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes. During that time, students are on the blacktop, in class lines, as we work through the drill.  We allow the students to read or bring games to pass their time.  

Halloween is coming!  On Tuesday, October 31st, Covington will host it’s annual Costume Parade on the blacktop, beginning at 2:00pm.  Students should not come to school in costume.  They will be given time after lunch to change into their costumes in order to get ready for the parade.  We ask that student costumes be free from grotesque or gory themes.  We also request that students do not wear overly scary masks (those masks scare our little ones).  Other masks, that do not inhibit sight or breathing, can be worn. If you or child has any questions about the appropriateness of their costumes, please speak to your child’s teacher or you can direct your questions to me.

Be well,
Wade Spenader, Principal

SBAC Results 
Last Friday, at our Coffee with the Principal, I shared the recently publicized SBAC testing results that our 3rd-6th graders took last spring.  The SBAC testing is state-mandated assessments given each year to 3rd-6th graders. You can view a more detailed report here but I’ve summarized the results in the table below:

Percentage of students who met or exceeded standards:

* Scores represent last year’s grade levels.  For example, the 6th grade scores represent current 7th graders

While we are proud of these results we will continue the work to meet all students’ needs.  We also realize that these results are only ONE piece of data to measure our work.  Nothing can replace the day-to-day observations of our teachers when working with students, in a number of different activities and tasks.  

Your child’s individual results were sent home during the summer.  If you need a copy of your child’s results or help interpreting the data, please don’t hesitate to call our office.

Solar Panel Update
The materials have arrived and the start date to install solar panels in the parking lot has been moved to October 23rd.  You can expect to see fencing around the parking lot going up on or near the 23rd.  The project still is targeted to be complete by December 31st.  While the project will be a temporary inconvenience, the construction window is slightly shorter and includes a few days when school will not be in session.  As a reminder, the drop off/pick up lane will still be used during construction.    

Help Support Our Teachers
The Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF) provides funding for our staff in the areas of Art, Literacy, STEM, Wellness and Personalized Learning. The Foundation’s biggest fundraiser, the phonathon, is coming up on October 24th and we are asking for every family to participate in two ways:

First, please make sure you donate or pledge before 10/20 and saving volunteers a phone call. Our goal is to increase our participation rate this year by 5% so please participate at whatever level is meaningful to your family.

Second, join Superintendent Jeff Baier, teachers and staff, LAEF Board Members and other parents at the phonathon for some food, fun and phoning! Click here to volunteer and don’t forget to bring a friend too!

Regards,

-Wade Spenader, Principal

Impactful Thursdays

 Now that we’re nearing the end of September, it seems as if we are all getting used to the new routines of Thursday.  Our Early Release Thursday has already proven to be quite impactful- both for the Covington staff and our community’s families. 

As a staff, we are utilizing the time (we start right at 1:50pm) in the library.  We first work in grade level teams, focusing on the 4 critical questions: what do we want kids to know and be able to do?  How will we know if they learned it?  What will we do if they don’t?  What do we do with kids that already know it?  The critical questions are broad, but they allow us, in teams, to dive deeply into standards, create assessments, analyze data, develop strategies to impact learning, and plan meaningful learning experiences.  Later in the afternoon, we often work in teams across grade levels.  For example, our 2nd grade team may want to find out how 1st grade teachers are tackling a particular standard so that it can be reinforced in 2nd grade.   

For many of our families, Thursdays afternoons have become precious time.  The early release gives many of our families more time to spend together in the midst of a busy week.  Whether its an opportunity for a play date or a special outing, the early release has given more time to partake in some fun.  In talking with some students, they have expressed to me that the early release on Thursday gives them a mental break to decompress during the week.  

Coffee with the Principal is tomorrow in the multi at 8:45am.  Special guest Randy Kenyon, LASD business manager will present information on the solar panel project taking place at all of our schools (scheduled start date is now Oct. 23rd).  I will also be presenting the newly released SBAC test scores for Covington.  Hope to see you there.

Regards,
-Wade Spenader, Principal