Artemus Ward Weekly 10/26-10/30
Every Scholar, Every Moment, Every Day!
October 1st-31st National Bullying Prevention Month
Principal's Message
Staff,
This week will mark the end of NWEA testing. As it stands we have quite a few scholars who still need to test. To ensure they are given every opportunity, we will be moving around some of our normally scheduled professional learning time to allow for 2 additional testing sessions. PLCs will not be meeting this week. We will have a staff meeting from 1-2pm on Wed. Additionally, I am asking that you work diligently to test on Tuesday and and Thursday afternoons if possible. This is assuming you have students available to test. Be sure to read Mrs. Cree's testing update for additional testing info.
This month is National Bullying Prevention Month. Here are a few tips on raising awareness and increasing understanding around some of the most common issues.
- Raise Awareness. Start a dialogue with students about their role in addressing bullying and cyberbullying
- Discuss the various forms of bullying, why students bully and have students interact in the conversation
- Discuss ways students can be proactive in stopping bullying and cyberbullying
- Discuss the meaning of morals, ethics, and responsibility
- Discuss differences: cultures, weight, sexual preferences, different ways kids and teens act and dress, disabilities and other differences. Talk about the fact that it's okay to be different and it's not okay to make fun of or harass someone if they are different!
- Teach tolerance, kindness and acceptance
- Stop the drama from both the victim and the bully
- Educate students about being UPSTANDERS and helping others
- By role playing real life situations with your students you can create a real-life lesson that students can use when situations arise.
Instructional Focus:
- Formative Assessment (evidenced in gradebook) & Discourse. Continue to focus on ensuring that you are using formative assessments daily when designing your lessons. This will continue to be a topic of PLCs. Bring formative assessment data to your PLC meetings and be prepared to discuss. This should be more than thumbs up/down. Daily assessments should be quantifiable and in line with a measurable objective.
- Discourse continues to be a growth point across the board. Challenge students to explain their thinking. Be aware of how much teacher vs. student talk is taking place.
That's it for now. I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend.
-Mr. Myslenski
Testing by Mrs. Cree
NEW!
NWEA / Exact Path
The fall testing window ends this Friday, October 30th - there will be no extensions. Each grade level has already or will be receiving an email with students missing a test. Calls are being made from our end as well. We will once again be offering the morning of Wednesday, October 28th for additional testing. PD and PLC's will be cancelled and we will be having a staff meeting from 1-2pm. This will give teachers time to have two testing sessions in the morning. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons will also be offered as potential testing times. Mr. Myslenski will be reaching out to you directly if you have a special in the afternoon. Remember that some of these students have both tests to complete so they will need to show up on multiple days.
Student scores are being uploaded to Exact Path regularly. They will continue to be added, capturing all scores through the end of the window. When scores are uploaded, new learning paths are created automatically for students.
Aimsweb Plus:
The deadline for Fall Benchmarking is also this Friday, October 30th. All we have left are make-ups and I am in contact with all affected teachers.
KRA:
As a reminder, the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment is due in the KReady system on 10/30 by 5:00pm. This is a state portal, so no extensions can be made. Please see the attached completion report and complete KRA-R testing as soon as possible.
Ms. Allen's Students and Their Reading Buddies
Mrs. Lacey's Class Learning Integers
Special Education
The District’s Special Education Department has purchased DocuSign to facilitate the collection of electronic signatures on IEPs, ETRs, and supporting documentation. We are getting ready to launch DocuSign over the next week. DocuSign is easy to use and will be a game-changer for us when it comes to document management!
Here is our kickoff timeline. Knowing that many of you have already used DocuSign, we are offering multiple ways for you to learn how to use the tool and how it has been designed specifically for CMSD and Special Education.
On Monday, October 19 or Tuesday, October 20…
Activate your DocuSign account!!!
You will receive an activation email for DocuSign on either Monday or Tuesday. Please look for it and check your Clutter/Junk Mail! It will look something like this:
Culture Club Updates
Artemus Ward Students S.O.A.R.
They are Scholarly, Organized, Accountable, Respectful
PBIS Shout Outs:
- Ms. Cooper for acknowledging students that are meeting expectation by giving them ClassDojo points. She also reinforces the behaviors she wants by thanking those students for following directions including have their camera on.
- Ms. Allen for stating expectations for the her class while transitioning from one to another. She reminded them of how they should be sitting to be engaged in the lesson and publicly acknowledged students meeting expectation.
- Ms. Jarosky used class points as an incentive for students for participating and engaging in the lesson.
Mrs. Beets
Below is a sample PBIS matrix that can be used to state expectations using the S.O.A.R. language. The committee did meet and make some slight changes. Please make sure you are referring to S.O.A.R in your communication with students.
If you would like a blank template to customize, please email Mrs. Beets.
Social Emotional Learning
Are we meeting our students' needs both academically and emotionally? Have you considered doing a student survey to see how they are doing and what they may need support in? Research has shown that student surveys are a great measure of our effectiveness as educators.
As we are approaching the last few weeks of the first marking period, consider doing a survey where you seek out students' input as you plan for the second marking period. Provide them an opportunity for student voice. Survey Monkey is a free survey resource or you can do a Teams Form or Google Form.
Below is a link that gives ideas for the topics to survey students on.
Engagement Team Updates
Reminder: We are asking that teachers do not refer families to come to the school when a tech need arises. Please fill out the Support Form on their behalf or you can direct them to call the school. Although the office is open, the expectation is that families make an appointment.