Volume 6 | Issue 5 November 2017 
Admin Advantage Updates 
Administrators, Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for you and your support of Step Up and Gardiner students. In this edition, remember our annual Rising Stars event nomination window closes soon, read about a T Mobile offer including free tablets, and check out an innovative Refresh & Relax corner.
Administrators in the  Success Partners  Network stay informed of the latest information, events, and support using this monthly  Admin Advantage Updates email. Our  Success Stories newsletter is delivered within a week to both leadership and staff members whose emails have been made available. 
Welcome to Recovery Island
Do you have a process developed in your front office area for when a student is sent from their classroom for 'time out'?

At De LaSalle Academy in Ft. Myers , Principal Lori Riti has developed a Recovery Island corner across from the office staff area. Students arriving at Recovery Island take a seat and relax, reflect and renew their attention to return to class ready to learn.
Administrators and office staff are nearby if needed, but usually the students take this time to read the instructions on the board to remind themselves they are here to get ready to return to class:

Get Ready to Return

  • Are my head and body calm?
  • Am I ready to rejoin the group?
  • Do I have a re-entry plan?
  • Do I need help?

Perhaps your school would benefit from Recovery Island?
Nominations for our annual Rising Stars Awards close in mid- December !
Click the yellow button to begin your nominations.

We hope your school plans to attend and recognize teachers, students and family members contributing to student success.

Click the map to download the locations flyer.
T-Mobile Partnership for Families Without Internet
  T-Mobile is partnering with K-12 schools and Housing Authorities nationwide in order to help “Bridge The Digital Divide” and to close the “Homework Gap” for students/families without internet access. T-Mobile is providing Free T-Mobile Tablets (w/ T-Mobile leadership approvals), and Hotspot devices with Unlimited Mobile Internet/Data, for as low as $10/month, as a way to help low-income students and families.
Here are a couple of video’s and press releases from partnerships on these programs:
 

Feel free to give Jeff Burke a call at 813-808-4888 to discuss these programs in further detail, or email jeffrey.burke24@t-mobile.com  
Are your students on the path to career success?
Future Plans can help!
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Professional Learning
to Share with Staff Members
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What Toy Would You Choose? Engaging Students With Economic Decision-making and Model Eliciting Activities
USF Stavros Center
Tampa Bay Area Workshop
November 30, 2017
Are you looking for something to engage your students during the next month? Toys is a topic that K-5 students will love! Dr. Deborah Kozdras of the University of South Florida Stavros Center and Mrs. C. Angel Danger of Hillsborough County School District are proud to partner and present this multi-disciplinary workshop for K-5 educators. Using movie clips about toys as hooks, the presenters will immerse educators in cross-disciplinary lessons that will engage students in real-world tasks that involve consumer decision-making .
Is a Good Teacher One Who Makes Kids Happy or One Who Raises Test Scores?
On average, teachers who are good at raising test scores are worse at making students happy and engaged in school, a new study finds.
 
The study, written by David Blazar, an assistant professor of education policy and economics at the University of Maryland, looks at ways teachers can be effective beyond test scores—mainly by boosting students' confidence in their math skills, helping to improve their behavior in class, and making kids happy. 

The study looked at data from 4th and 5th grade teachers in four school districts from three states over three school years.

Blazar found that teachers do have substantive impacts on students' attitudes and behavior, particularly students' happiness in class. And he also found that the teachers who are skilled at improving students' math achievement may do so in ways that make students less happy in class.