Curriculum and Instruction News
April 2016
With the school year winding down, you may be in the midst of end of year celebrations, performances, competitions, grading, and closing up your room. You might be about to gear up for summer school or looking forward to vacation. Whether you read now or come back to it in July, we hope that this C&I Bulletin will be useful to you when you are ready to think about summer PD and your plans for next year. Our goal is to ensure high levels of learning for all members of the Fox C-6 community by coordinating our efforts in professional development, curriculum writing, and community engagement. We strive to ensure that all district initiatives work together so that everyone’s efforts in classrooms, in buildings, and on district committees are valued. The C&I bulletin is one way to see how our efforts connect and overlap.
Summer PD
JeffCo Tech Fest
Need Gradebook Help?
CSIP Update
Curriculum
Power-Standards Feedback
Power-standards are an important way for us to focus our work. Once we have approved and published power-standards for each subject area, they will guide our work in PLC teams and on Units of Instruction.
Please take a minute to provide your feedback about each of the subject areas that you teach. Each link takes you to a one-question survey that asks you to rate the power-standards for a subject area from 5 to 0 and provides an opportunity for open-ended feedback. Click here for links to all power-standards feedback forms.
Complex Tasks
Literacy
Literacy Teacher Spotlight: Jamie Davis, Christina Lindemann, and Denise Hoesli- Simpson Elementary
Innovative educators Jamie Davis and Christina Lindemann at Simpson Elementary, have struggled with the dilemma of how to mainstream their special education students into writing mini-lessons. Jamie came up with the idea of livestreaming the mini-lesson portion from a 5th grade classroom to the resource room. When 5th grade teacher Mrs. Hoesli is ready to begin her lesson, she connects to a Google Hangout and is able to live-stream the lesson to the resource room. “The special education students are actively engaged as the lesson is being brought to them,” stated Jamie.
When the lesson is complete, Mrs. Lindemann follows the same lesson plan as Mrs. Hoesli with individualized modifications in place. Jamie Davis states, “The live-streaming of the writing lesson has created an even closer bond between the special education students, their 5th grade peers, and teachers. They are excited to share their finished papers with Mrs. Hoesli because they feel a new sense of community and increased love of writing.”
5th Grade Classroom
Make it Happen with Google Hangouts!
Resource Room
Federal Programs Update
Title I- Students and their family members enjoyed a great night of learning fun at the 5th Annual Title I Education Fair on April 13th. The 354 attendees were able to play (and take) fun educational games purchased with Title I parent involvement funds. Parents were able to give input on future Title I endeavors that night as well as attend a brief workshop highlighting tips and benefits of reading together as a family.
Title II- Staff members are applying daily to attend the various workshops being offered this summer provided by Title II funds. It is going to be a great summer of learning for many staff members in the Fox C-6 School District. What a wonderful way to serve as a living examples of what it means to be “lifelong learners” for our students!
Title III- The ACCESS scores are already in! For the first time ever, our ELL students took the yearly ACCESS assessment online. As a result, we have already received the results. User friendly reports detailing each student’s progress are being sent home with every ELL student in the district so that parents are kept informed of the English language learning that has taken place this school year. WE have a lot to be proud of!
- All Federal Programs- Through a thorough needs assessment and great community participation, the 2016-2017 compliance plans have been submitted to The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. While the school year is winding down, we in the federal programs department are gearing up for the 2016-2017 school year. We have so many great things to look forward to next year!
Professional Development
PD Needs Assessment
Each year we administer a Needs Assessment to help us reflect on the past year and plan for the future in regards to Professional Development. I ask that you take a minute to complete this survey so that we can ensure that we are offering high-quality professional development that helps you grow in your practice and helps us move all students forward. We have 2 different surveys this year based on your role in the district. Please select the one that applies to you.
Teachers, Administrators, Counselors and Librarians
Certified Staff Needs Assessment 2015-2016
Nurses, SLPs, OT/PTs, Paraprofessionals, Teacher's Aides, Teacher's Assistants and Secretaries
Support Staff Needs Assessment 2015-2016
We are always looking for staff members who are willing to present their best practices to others. Therefore, we have created a Google Doc to compile a list of people who are willing to present PD on various topics. Please select the link below and add your name to our list if you are interested.
Possible PD PresentersInstructional Technology
Fox Teachers Piloting new Teacher Laptops
Be on the lookout for these pilot laptops in your building and be sure to ask your building representative(s) for their feedback.
College and Career Readiness
College Acceleration Program Update
Contact C&I
- Declan FitzPatrick, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction: fitzpatrickd@foxc6.org
- Luke Heitert, Director of Data and Information: heitertl@foxc6.org
- Aaron Moore, Director of Technology: moore@foxc6.org
- Amy Zielinski, Director of Professional Development: zielinskia@foxc6.org
- Angie Baker, Federal Programs Coordinator: bakera@foxc6.org
- JP Prezzavento, Coordinator of Instructional Technology: prezzavento@foxc6.org
- Tina Risse, Coordinator of Literacy: risset@foxc6.org
- Maria Scopino, Coordinator of CCR: scopino@foxc6.org