Sunday Shakedown
Weekly Memo for Washington Elementary
Principal Post
- I loved this quote: "The only title in our democracy superior to that of President is the title of citizen"-Justice Louis Brandeis
- "Schools can ask students to continuously reimagine the kind of society they'd like to live in..." Powerful thought!
- The author states, "In the past two decades, we have become increasingly focused on standardized test scores in math and literacy to the near exclusion of all other educational goals. This worries me." Worries me too!
- Also says, "I'd like to think that most educators believe that schools, beyond teaching children how to read and write, do math problems and understand science and history, also serve as an inevitable influence on young people's views of the world and are therefore, a potentially powerful tool to shape our society for the better." Totally agree!
- "Schools can achieve their goals by ....exposing students to multiple perspectives"-this reminds me of one purpose of class meeting is to understand the separate realities that exist in our classroom communities.
- Another article caption says, "It's fair to say, that the citizen-making role of schools has become a forgotten purpose of public education". Not at GWES!
- "When teachers present scenarios focused on ethical or social dilemmas, students can practice skills needed to be strong citizens." Again, look how class meeting supports this. YAY us.
- "Civility is an acquired habit in a democracy as opposed to an inherent one. Hallmarks such as empathy and discernment can be woven into lessons...to scaffold the language of respectful dialogue and discourse." Wow-accountable talk can take us so far if we continue to develop it!
I hope reading these gives you some time to consider all we do as educators and what we believe our hope for the future is. This really told me, we really may have the most important job in the world-we are shaping the future, and not just to replicate who and where we are today, but to shape it into the society in which we dream of living. Keep up the great work! Your impact is immeasurable.
Thanks, celebration and appreciation:
- thanks to Amy Duncan for her years of service , we wish her well on her new job at Keller Williams realtor. Her last day is Friday.
- Thanks to the RATS team for joining Friday morning meetings
- Thanks to our appreciation team for planning some cross center appreciation efforts
- Thanks to everyone for the back the blue day efforts, the response was good!
- Thanks to Traci and Carrie for working so hard on a special child and finding what is right for him and to Angie and Sharon for your support.
- Thanks to Lisa M and Erik for your work with our chronically absent students.
- Thanks to Kevin Surgenor who came over on a Saturday to fix our phones and that annoying PA system sound!
- Thanks to Cherie and Lisa and team for the great POP Rally!
New Collaborative Structure
Week 1 literacy
Week 2 Math
Week 3 Literacy
Week 4 PBL
Our focus will STILL primarily be focused on unit work, text selection, and student work analysis, however based on where you are in the unit we will discuss what is necessary that day. Theses will primarily be on Tuesdays, however the first month of schedule is below and couldn't follow this exactly due to previously scheduled events.
Nov 7 Literacy collaboratives
Nov 15 Math collaboratives-plan to discuss what unit you are in, how you are assessing, what you know about student levels thus far
Nov 20 Literacy collaborative
Nov 28 PBL Collaborative- plan to use this time to discuss pBL plans, identifying standards for the creation of a PBL, driving question, project elements, mentors, public products,etc.
Week of Oct 23-27
DMI for those involved
Club Day!
Food drive is happening-remind students
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Shasta at GWES
Wolf taking half day personal leave
Thursday:
Friday:
Health Screenings at GWES, schedule to come soon
Veteran's Day celebration for community (no students attend, however, if a student is bringing a guest, they should be permitted to sit with them and participate) 9:00
PTA Membership drive for Jeans Day-See Amy for donation of membership or donation.
Amy Duncan last day
Assistant Meeting 10-10:30
A look ahead:
American Education Week Nov 13-17
Tues. Nov 14 LCE Celebration of Learning Informance-IRELAND 2:00/6:00
Together Breakfast and Education Expo 3-5th on Nov 14 and k-2 on Nov 16
Bus Driver Appreciation, Cafeteria workers, Custodial Appreciation- What do we want to do? Treat bags? Cards? Could Christa's club work on this?
Together Breakfast and Education Expo Details
7:30-8:15 Breakfast available
8:15-8:20 Parents watch WSIC in auditorium
8:20-8:40 Parents watch class meetings-specifically compliments and agenda book use seeing problem solving in action; student work or other topics can be in addition
8:45 Announcement made to thank visitors for coming
KCS Charity Month at GWES
1. Back the Blue Day-Thank local officers with notes of gratitude ,we just need a few notes/cards
2. American education week Nov 13-17- card or treat making plan:
- K/1 Thank cafeteria workers
- 2/3 Thank bus drivers
- 4/5 Thank custodians
3. KCS Food drive Nov 1-14 non perishables collected in the lobby
4. Begin Warm and Fuzzy tree last week of Nov.
For Your Information:
Updating TNCompass Contact Information for All Educators
The department is working with TNCompass to enhance the personalized communication that exists between educators and TNCompass. To ensure the security of these communications, all educators must review their accounts and update their username/email address to reflect their official district email address. We ask all district evaluation configurators to communicate this requirement to all educators in the district.
To update their email addresses, educators should select “Account Information” from the home page upon login and click the “Change Username/Email” link under account settings. Please note that this change must be made in the account information section and cannot be made in the educator profile. With technical questions, please reach out to support@tncompass.org.
- Remember our dedication to 2 positive parent contacts a week. This can be note, email, or call. The power of depositing in a parents' emotional bank account is critical to a supportive relationship.
- tnAchieves is seeking mentors for students who will graduate in Spring 2018. Requirements to be a mentor include being at least 21 years of age, applying to serve by December 1, passing a background check, completing the one-hour mandatory mentor training, attending two one-hour meetings per year with your students and communicating with students every two weeks via email, phone or text as they transition from high school to college. Click here for more information about tnAchieves.
- Just an FYI transportation can not schedule any field trips on December 18th due to an event occurring in the district
Professional Learning
WSIC News
Link to the WSIC, please be certain to watch each day: https://goo.gl/vjw2eP