Staff News and Announcements

Getting your mind ready is just a matter of training yourself to find the positive in every situation and having the discipline to respond properly. This is simple to say, but not easy to do. This week, the Culture Team encourages you to reflect on your daily habits, choose one daily event to which you tend to respond negatively, and begin to do the work to build the discipline that will help you respond positively.

As a reminder: The next Connect Time with time dedicated to R-Factor training is Thursday, February 27th.

Mason City Schools Family Resource- E+R=O

Inclusive Excellence Team: " …We adults often feel let down when children don’t make the progress we wish they would. This eventually affects the relationship between the child and parent or teacher. After enough negative interactions, whenever the child and adult walk into a room and see each other their eyes roll in grief. How many of our students go from class to class, from teacher to teacher, consistently getting disapproval? Wouldn’t it make a huge difference in the lives of these students if instead of getting disapproval, they saw our eyes light up? Johnny, you’re here! I was hoping you would make it today!”

~ Maya Angelou

Personalized Learning Team:

Growing our Habits of Mind is a life-long process. Some teachers and students have used a reflection tool to help them think about their own habits in different situations. Check out this post from the Habits of Mind Institute about this tool used in our very own building! Think about using Habits of Mind in your classroom.

In any learning experience, try asking students to identify a habit they can work on. At the same time, the teacher can identify a habit for all learners to focus on throughout that experience. That way, habit development is both personalized and focused!

Trauma and stress can alter a young person’s brain functions, impacting learning, and causing behavioral problems. Poverty, violence, sexual abuse, food insecurity, and home instability are just a few factors causing brain-altering stress for our nation’s kids. The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) reports that nearly 50 percent of the children in the United States have experienced “at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma.” Understanding trauma and its impacts on young learners and utilizing classroom strategies helps educators better serve the emotional needs of their students.