Bear Cub Digest #8

In the Leader in Me program, WIG Day is a fun, school spirit event where staff wear colorful, silly, or creative wigs to celebrate setting and tracking their W.I.G.s, which stand for Wildly Important Goals. This is rooted in the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) —a core component of the Leader in Me framework. Discipline 1 focuses on "Focusing on the Wildly Important." We will be wearing our wigs to celebrate the next step in our journey—tracking our data, monitoring our progress, and putting in the work to achieve our Wildly Important Goals!  Throughout the day, students will discuss the personal or academic goals they have created (such as reading targets, behavioral improvements, or math milestones) and explain the actionable steps they are taking to reach them. See some pictures of our teachers enjoying our 4 Disciplines of Execution training from our teacher Professional Development Day below.

Our schoolwide focus area this week continues to be strengthening instructional practice. The expectation for all classrooms is that explicit instruction is being implemented by the teacher. Explicit teaching is a structured, systematic teaching method where the teacher clearly explains concepts, models skills step by step, and guides student practice before independent work.  The teacher uses unambiguous, direct, and concise explanations. The teacher then breaks complex skills into manageable chunks to prevent cognitive overload. The lesson is gradually released, which means the teacher moves from "I do" (teacher models), to "We do" (guided practice), to "You do" (independent practice).  Throughout the lesson, the teacher continuously checks for understanding and provides immediate feedback. Below is a great summary of what "Lesson Delivery" with explicit instruction should include.