Principal Update
December 1st, 2015
BSE Crew,
Welcome back to the final 15 school days prior to our mid-year winter break. This year is moving rather quickly to say the least and we have a great deal of work to accomplish. NWEA mid-year assessments have begun and thanks to all of you for paying attention to your schedule and being prepared to assess when you arrive. I want to personally thank Mrs. Thorne for making changes to our schedule that allow us more time. This will reduce our make-up students substantially and provide peace throughout the month of testing. Remember you can save your test session after you open it and make the password very short and simple. Need help, ask Andrea or myself.
As we work toward the mid-year break I will challenge you to be the most planned and precise teachers in HSE. Keeping our students engaged is key at this point in the year and maximizing instructional impact will only benefit you as you lead back into the new year in January. Our next PD session, "Image of a Child," will allow us the opportunity to reflect on our professional purpose. This year the school improvement team is ready to re-image our mission and vision to match our current quest to become 21st Century master educators. The "image" work will allow us to accomplish a great deal in relationship to our future plans for our school. Please use this time to reflect, reflect, and reflect some more on you as a professional in our organization.
I have one small assignment for all of you prior to the meeting in a few weeks. Please read an article that our very own Mrs. Lansdell found and shared with me. The article is a 10 minute read tops and is titled Making Your Environment "The Third Teacher." This article was published in 2007 by Margie Carter. The article is perfect for us as we embark on our image work as a an entire team.
The PD details are below and if you have questions...ask! Don't forget that Dr. Bourff is visiting our PTO tonight at 6:30PM. We need you there! Please have at least one teacher representative in the house.
dk
"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors"...African proverb
Welcome Brandy Crawford - Special Ed. I.A.
B.S. BSU - 1999 - Business Admin.
Brandy takes over for Mrs. Symons and has worked in the Munster school system for the past 3 years.
Mrs. Symons Covering Mrs. Schermerhorn Maternity
Professional Development Schedule
12/16/2015 - Image of the Child - Art Room- 8AM
1/11/2016 - Dr. Flessner - Math - LGI - 4 PM
1/15/2016 - Image of the Child and Development of Mission/Vision
HSE21 - Project, PBL, Inquiry etc. Break Out Sessions
Are you interested in shadowing another classroom?
Contact Fatima if you'd like to set up an opportunity to see what other high quality teachers right next door are up to!
Grade 2-4 Teachers: Do you want to learn the basics of Hands on Equations?
Contact Fatima to model a lesson during your math block or for a one on one session before or after school!
Assessment Schedule and Reminders (NWEA and F&P Benchmark)
NWEA - ALL Scheduled (thank you) - Send Reports, pdf to parents, prior to break or on your work day when we return.
F&P Benchmark - ALL Tier 2 and 3 must have a mid-year benchmark completed. ALL are welcome to have a benchmark. We have 10 additional kits thanks to the HSE Foundation! I am also building F&P data cells in our current class lists that I'll have you enter all beginning and mid-year data. We will also add the end of year data prior to building our class lists.
Update with kit arrivals: Fatima is currently unboxing all of the benchmarking kits and hopes to have help from parents later this week to ensure kits are in team leads hands asap!
LLI - An orange kit has been ordered for our youngest learners who are struggling. This will mainly be used for kinder, however could impact some first. Fatima will assist with the kit when it arrives and send notifications etc.
Sub Shortage Team Plan
The kinder team created a very helpful tool for days when we come up short on subs. Here is what they did and what I need each TEAM LEADER to develop with your teams.
They created a list for each teacher that shows exactly where each of their students will go on days when subs are short. SEE MRS. NIX for help.
This list is consistent and after a few sub shortage days the kids begin to know where they go without any anxious or scared feelings.
Thanks for creating your sub plan grade level folder ASAP.