The CIA Report
April 2019 Edition
Welcome to the April 2019 Edition of The CIA Report!
Please take some time to read through this prior to the April 30 administrator meeting. If you have any questions, please post them in this Google Doc.
Thanks!
Learning Today... Feeding Your Professional Soul
From our friend George Couros - “Tell me what you need to ensure that every student in your class can learn.”
What needs to be taken off teachers’ platters? Here’s a decision flowchart. Sometimes simple makes sense!
Technology
New iPad Management
The Technology Department is in the process of transferring over to a new system to manage district iPads. To complete this transition, we will need to erase and resetup every iPad to move them over to our new system, Mosyle. Any newly purchased iPads has already been transitioned over to Mosyle. Your building tech will be working with your staff to complete this transition. This will need to be completed by October 31.
Hello G Drive, Goodbye H Drive
Over the past couple of years, we have seen how Google has enhanced learning, collaboration, and communication across the Wentzville School District. With ease of access and unlimited file storage, there are many benefits to Google Drive. A year ago, Google introduced the “G Drive” (also known as Google Drive File Stream), which allows quick access from your computer to save and store files. Google Drive File Stream, once installed, functions just like your H Drive. Instead of going to your H Drive, you will go to your G Drive. You can save any file format (ie - Word, PowerPoint, Notebook, etc) to your G Drive and best of all your G Drive travels with you everywhere...school, home, even Starbucks!
Watch how the G Drive (Google Drive File Stream) works!
On August 1, all staff H Drives will be disabled. Please ensure your documents have been backed up to an external drive, Google Drive File Steam (G Drive), or your computer hard drive.
Please note: This is only for staff H Drives. Other network drives are not affected at this time (ie - P Drive, T Drive, etc).
Teaching & Learning
Seal of Biliteracy
In January of this year, our district voted to adopt the Missouri Seal of Biliteracy. In this first year we have a total of 40 seniors who will graduate with the Seal of Biliteracy and we have a total of 5 seniors who will graduate with the Distinguished Seal of Biliteracy! This is so impressive! We are so proud of our teachers and our students for their hard work and dedication!
A huge thank you goes out to Nichole Nolan for helping to facilitate this process this year!
Changes to Elementary ELA Inventory
Due to the significant increase in cost for the Fountas and Pinnell materials, and due to the fact that our teachers continue to make the most use out of Heggerty and Words Their Way, we will no longer be purchasing the Fountas and Pinnell materials for new elementary teachers. The materials we have purchased will remain in your buildings, but we will not be including those items on the inventory this year. If you have questions, please reach out to Kelly Manning.
Upcoming PD Opportunities
The Wentzville School District is offering so many high quality and engaging opportunities for learning this summer! Please encourage your teachers to check out the many options available to them right here in our district!
New York Teacher's College - Summer PD
We still have a few spots remaining for grades 3-6. We would appreciate you encouraging your teachers to attend - this is a great way to strengthen our Tier 1 instruction!
Here are the current numbers of teachers who have signed up by building:
BT:1
DR:0
DU: 1
SC:2
HI:4
WB:2
LV:1
PR:1
GT:5
PV:3
CR:1
K-2 Phonics
There is a waitlist for this PD. Because this is in high demand, we are asking administrators to please reiterate with teachers that this is a commitment they need to keep. Confirmations will be sent out on 4/30.
Add It Up Conference
We would love for you to encourage your teachers to attend this summer's Add It Up math conference. This is a dynamic learning experience with nationally known speakers right here in our own region! Teachers who attended last year loved the experience!
The sign up link is http://tinyurl.com/y4jvg49u
Fox Summer Literacy Institue
Like the Add It Up conference, this is a wonderful learning experience with nationally known literacy experts right here in our region! We encourage teachers to check it out!
bit.ly/foxsli
School Improvement
Reminder: 4th Quarter School Improvement Meetings
Just a reminder that all 4th quarter school improvement meetings will be classroom visits only. We will reflect on our goals at our June admin meeting.
Please be prepared with the following information for the June admin meeting:
Data to support your progress on your 18-19 goals
Responses to action steps which would include what you were able to accomplish, what you may continue to work on in 19-20, and what worked well for your school community
Thoughts on your 19-20 SIP goals...where do you want to focus for 19-20 and why?
Equity Teams:
Please send me the names of who will be attending Equity training during the 2019-20 school year. I need all names no later than June 1st. A reminder of our summer schedule is listed below. In addition, the dates for the school year are also listed below.
Summer Equity Training Dates:
School Year Equity Cohorts and Dates
Assessment
Testing is going great so far! Thank you for all your hard work! Few reminders: Check and double check the room for any content or process materials on the walls. Many of these begin to look like wallpaper to teachers and may get overlooked If you have questions or concerns contact me right away on my cell phone If students need a break, allow them to take a break. Standardized testing often causes a lot of anxiety so if a quick break or a drink of water will help, let’s do it. Coming Soon During the principal meeting on April 30th, we will discuss changes to the 2019-2020 Assessment Plan.
Professional & Program Development
New Teacher Mentors/Buddies:
As you hire new teachers, please indicate their mentor (for teachers with 0-1 year of experience) or buddy (for teachers with 2 or more years of experience) on THIS FORM.
1st year mentor - 2% stipend (on Bachelor’s lane)
2nd year mentor - 1% stipend (on Bachelor’s lane)
Buddy - our undying gratitude!
When choosing a Mentor or Buddy, we (and DESE!) recommend they have these qualities:
BE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAL CONTRACTED TIME FOR THEIR MENTEE - Their stipend compensates them for this time. Sometimes our coaches are not the best choice.
Attend mentor meetings after school.
Help mentee complete required work to earn their BTAP.
Have a minimum of four (4) years of experience;
Exhibit enthusiasm and commitment to the profession, maintain confidentiality, and be respected by their colleagues;
Be committed to continuous learning, reflection, and mentoring;
Hold or have held a same or similar position/job or grade/subject area (in or out-of-building/school district);
Understand broad educational issues as well as specific teaching/education issues; and
Have a strong understanding of pedagogy and instructional expertise in content area(s);
Whole Child framework:
We are excited that we have a draft of what it means to be a WSD Learner! We will use this framework to guide our work in WSD. At our Admin meeting, we will be getting your feedback on this. We will ask that you look at this visual through the eyes of a WSD student, WSD staff member, and WSD parent/community member. Be ahead of the game on Tuesday and take a look!
Professional Learning: Summer PD - Please encourage your 3rd - 6th grade teachers to attend the Teachers College - Small Group/Conferring Institute July 8-11th. We’d love to see you there, too! TC has some of the best presenters and some amazing learning to support our commitment to high literacy in the district. You and your teachers can show their interest here: https://forms.gle/ZxdbF6iaLQAHAjBf6 Join the learning at: http://tinyurl.com/wsdSummerPD2019 New Teacher Orientation Dates: ELA - July 29 / 30 Math - July 31 / Aug 1 Secondary all subjects - July 30 / 31 SPED is embedding with ELA 1 day New Teacher Orientation - Aug 5 / 6 / 7 We will be taking PD CALENDAR SUB requests on this form. The CIA department and Lead Teachers will have first access to the PD/Sub calendar to schedule the large conferences/meetings. On or about July 1, we will use this form to populate the PD/Sub calendar for 2019-20... first come, first served. There is an option at the end of the form to upload a document instead if you have multiple requests. These are the questions: What is your building or group? What is the name of your event? What date(s) are you wanting to schedule? How many subs are needed per day or half day? Who are the people needing subs OR is this a request to secure subs before recruiting participants? Which fund is being used to pay for the subs? Are you required to attend this event due to your presentation or position as leadership of a conference? Or other reason? Will you consider giving us your cell phone number in case we have questions over the summer? Please give us any information you feel is important.
Dr. Megan Stryjevski
Twitter: @DrStryjewski