AVID December 2016

AVID Family Night at KHS

VVE 4th & 5th Grade Teams WICORize!

Kennedy High School hosted an AVID Family Night recently! Families of current AVID students gathered for pizza and learned more about the AVID program at KHS through videos of former students, a slide show, a parent/student panel, and targeted breakout sessions including Cornell Notes/TRFs, the HUB and Infinite Campus, College Possible, activities/athletics at KHS, and college/career planning. Childcare was provided by KHS National Honor Society students.

Valley View Elementary 4th and 5th grade teams took a full release day recently to work on explicitly incorporating elements of writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading (WICOR) into their lesson plans. The morning began with both teams collaborating on vertical alignment of AVID essentials between the grade levels, as well as reimagining AVID’s assessments (given three times each year) to be more meaningful for VVE students and teachers. In the afternoon, the teams split and worked to develop shared opportunities for purposeful implementation of WICOR across each grade.

AVID at VVM Conferences

Families of current and prospective AVID students had an opportunity to chat about the AVID program with Valley View Middle School’s AVID Site Coordinator Kristen Power and 8th grade AVID student Ulysses Acosta during fall conferences.

Former KHS AVID Students’ College Success

Several of Bloomington’s former Kennedy High School AVID students have been in touch as they are wrapping up their first semester in college! Here are just a few of the ways AVID has positively impacted their college experience:

Morelia Sanchez Sanchez, currently attending Hamline University, reached out to her former AVID elective teacher, Cheryl Martin asking, “I was wondering if you still have the backwards planning templates. With finals coming up, I feel like they would be very helpful. Thank you so much!”

Alec Farrell, currently studying law enforcement at Augsburg is using SMART goals in his ROTC program. “Learned a lot about myself and being independent. Right now in ROTC we are actually learning about SMART goals and it [is] just about identical to what you taught us in AVID, which is really nice.”

Brianna Zuch, currently studying physical therapy at the College of St. Scholastica, recently shared her new organizational tool, complete with its own SMART goal setting information for users. Brianna wrote to Mrs. Martin, “I am totally thinking of you tonight. I got a new planner and this is in it.”

AVID Weekly Article of the Month

Elementary: Elon Musk Unveils Plans for Colonizing Mars

This article describes plans to send upwards of one million people to live on the Red Planet.

Secondary: You Don’t Always Need to Declutter to Find Order

This article argues that the goal of organizing is different from the goal of decluttering.

All AVID Weekly articles, lesson plans and activities are archived monthly and are available in the following Google Folders for anyone to access and use:

Elementary

Secondary

WICOR Strategy of the Month

P.O.S.E.R.S. Photograph Analysis Strategy

This strategy is especially useful when analyzing primary source materials such as photographs, pieces of art, or artifacts. Students use the P.O.S.E.R.S format to record what they observe. More information about P.O.S.E.R.S. can be found in the Tutorology Handbook in the AVID Online Resource Library.

P = people

O = objects

S = setting

E = engagement (activities depicted)

R = relationships

S = summary

• Middle School Showcase (FREE)

The Middle School Showcase experience includes AVID Elective and content class observations and a chance to speak with experienced AVID site team members and students.

• Oltman Middle School South Washington County, January 18
• Elementary Showcase (FREE)

The AVID Elementary Showcase provides an opportunity for educators to see AVID implementation, share best practices, and learn more about AVID in a hands-on format.

• Oak Point Elementary Eden Prairie, February 8
• AVID Elementary Workshop (FREE)
  • Indian Mounds, Bloomington
  • March 7, 2017
  • More information to come!
• Regional Path Trainings

Strands include: Academic Language and Literacy, CRT, Critical Reading, Student Success, Tutorology

• Mankato, March 6-7

• AVID Site Team Workshop (select one)
• Hopkins North Junior High, Minnetonka, February 2
• Roosevelt Community School, Owatonna, March 9
• Inver Grove Heights Middle School, Inver Grove Heights, March 16
• Skyview Middle School, Oakdale, April 4

The following modules will be included in these workshops:

• What’s Love Got to Do With It? The Essential Role of Attachment-Based Developmental Relationships in Learning and Leading
• Using Collaborative Study Groups in the Content Classroom
• Culture of Inquiry (FREE)
  • MNSU (Edina Campus)
  • Saturday, April 8th 8:30 – 3:00

Online AVID Support

Weeks at a Glance

Daily/weekly elective class lesson plans

On-Demand Modules

Informational/instructional videos, handouts and downloads covering many AVID Essentials, including Writing, Inquiry, Tutorials, Data and Site Teams.

*If you would like access to any of these resources and do not currently have an account on my.avid.org, contact Kelly Killorn-Moravec