New Year, New Ideas

“New Year's Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery.” - Sarah Ban Breathnach

As the first semester finished in December, our BUHSD family left for two weeks of vacation and in January, something exciting came out of this transition time . . . as it usually does when we start anew.  BUHSD campuses were abuzz during the first days back and the enthusiastic conversations were plenty.  Teachers and students returning to second semester talked about their desires for NEW . . . new beginnings, new ideas, new structures of support, and of course, new goals.

On the one hand, students have been setting goals and priorities for themselves as they started 2018.  Conversations between LinkCrew leaders and freshmen are promising and the guidance the older students give their younger counterparts is commendable.  Some students were overjoyed with how their first semester finished and are talking about how to continue the trend.  Others were not as productive in the fall and are looking to adjust their energy and time to tackle the second half of the year.  Overall, students returned ready for a new day and a new semester.

While on the other hand, the teacher conversations and actions have been solid in one thing . . . learning from their work in the fall by recognizing the strategies that helped students find success and tweaking the areas that lacked refinement.

A Spanish teacher who flipped one classroom in the fall by using HyperDocs and FlipGrid saw the success her students had on unit exams and language acquisition.  This semester, she has implemented the same strategies in her other classes and has seen immediate improvement from many students.  In addition, she has added flexible seating options and this new freedom in regards to their physical surrounding has improved student engagement in learning as well.

The math department is combing through final exam data to see the areas that may need a second look as they start the semester.  One math teacher is working with her students to give feedback on the final exam to reflect on how students may be able to change their study habits this semester to continue to find success.  From this feedback, the students are learning new ways to categorize math notes and concepts to make the learning more accessible throughout the semester.

Allowing students to put their learning into practice isn’t a new idea, but finding new ways to do it revitalizes lessons sometimes.  Knowing the importance of the Physical Fitness Test in a few months and the cardiovascular calculations needed to complete the exam, a Health teacher shifted gears and moved outside of the classroom to start the semester.  Freshmen are learning about VO2, heart rate, and blood pressure and how to calculate it after they run to understand what the numbers mean.  This first-hand learning is powerful and will stay with the students for a long time.

Many teachers are working with students to set new goals for this semester.  It is always inspiring to see what happens when we allow students to reflect on their personal progress and areas where they want to improve.  In a freshman English class, here are a few goals set by the students through a reflective activity in class.

“My goal for this year is to become a better person and have the energy to wake up every day with a smile on my face and be ready for school.”  

“My main goal of 2018 is to be more organized. Last semester a lot distracted me from being focused on school work, but this year I promised myself that I'm going to be more organized. I'm also going to stop procrastinating. This year I'm going to recreate myself and focus more and work. No more slacking off for me.”  

With students focused on goals such as these, they are bound to continue their progress in high school and soar.

The world wakes up in January with new ideas, resolutions, goals, and a rejuvenated spirit.  This sense of renewal also reached the Brawley Union High School District staff and students.  Here’s to many new questions, a plethora of varying answers, and countless new life chapters positively written for our district family.  Happy 2018!

Personal Progress Report to BUHSD Staff:
Still running the mile and working to get back to 12 minutes.
Planned a fun family outing to see a hockey game in San Diego.
Worked with all departments to collect fall data to help understand how students are progressing.

#ifnotusthenwho #hopesquad #brawleyproud #scorpionpride