Panther Updates
News, Resources and Learning for Panther Staff, 7/10/17
Here's to the Start of a Great 2017-18!!!
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Relationships/Positive Climate of Classroom Starts Day 1
The first weeks of school set the tone for creating relationships with your students, and how students and parents perceive you. As mentioned in our kickoff meeting be sure to call each of your students to welcome them to your class. Greet them at your door EACH DAY. Not looking for greetings like Dwayne Reed, a fourth grade teacher in Chicago did or 5th grade Barry White, Jr, in Charlotte, NC but what if you did something out out of the ordinary that sparked student excitement at the start of the day.
Many teachers use Morning Meetings to kickstart their day.
- What are morning meetings?
- The Power of Morning Meetings
- Morning Meetings: Creating a Safe Space for Learning
- How to Get Students Ready for Learning
What will you do to make this year spectacular?
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News of Note
FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL!!! LET’S DO THIS!!!!!
Fire Drill and Emergency Bus Drill:
- There will be an emergency bus drill when students exit the buses in the morning of Friday, July 14, 2017. We will also have a fire drill ON FRIDAY at 10:10 AM on July 14, 2017. Practice with your students what to do during a drill, and inform new staff members on your hallway of what to do. Students should exit the building according to the map posted in your room by the door. If you are missing a map or missing a Red Emergency Bag, please inform Ms. Fricke ASAP. Please note that TRACK 4 TEACHERS do not have red bags at this point as class lists are not ready and students will not be in session.
Specials:
- Monday, July 10th is DAY 1. Please follow the specials schedules you were provided during professional development. Remember to inform parents that an extra pair of shoes, a shirt/ shorts should be left at school for gym in case the student does not come to school dressed appropriately. The specials schedules will be uploaded to the PUE website this week. FOR STAFF, the schedules are in the PUE Master Folder in the Schedules Folder. Staff can also follow these links:
- https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/spreadsheets/d/1Q5sksnkLqfMqI3MrhNYaYDQ4JdJKOiem3dKpYEMP5oI/edit?usp=sharing
- https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/spreadsheets/d/1UIwxBxM1C7NdvPnrq0H6uiM-v3lTdTtFj4kK9i9JS9k/edit?usp=sharing
The Specials Rotation Calendar has two rotation “errors” occurring on 10/2 and 12/21. If you follow the calendar, you should not have any issues. Mr. Stern will provide specials schedules for each grade-level to help make the specials transition easier for everyone. These schedules will also be in the PUE Master Folder this week.
Lunch:
- Lunch schedules for Track 4 OUT and Track 1 OUT are in the PUE Master Folder in the Schedules Folder. Other schedules will be in the same folder this week.
- All teachers (kindergarten TAs only during staggered entry) should plan to eat with his/her class during the first week of school. Kindergarten teachers also eat with his/her class during the 2nd week of school, after staggered entry. CLASSES SHOULD ENTER THE LUNCH LINE ON ONE SIDE to make way for other classes. Second grade-fifth grade classes SHOULD CHOOSE TWO STUDENTS TO SWEEP AND COLLECT TRASH. (There are no lanyards in the cafeteria for the start of school. After the first week we will reevaluate if we should continue the lanyards to differentiate such students to aid the TAs on duty. )
- Teachers should make seating charts for the cafeteria the first week of school and turn them in by Friday, July 14th. Blank seating charts will be available at lunch on Monday.
- The new “Teacher’s Lounge” located in 131 (in the media center) will get a face lift over the next few weeks. You are free to eat in the space and use the refrigerator and microwave in the meantime.
- We will “try out” a noise monitoring system that resembles a stop light the 2nd week of school. More to come….
Transportation and Bus Tags:
- Distribute bus tags and determine how each child will get home when students arrive. If you have a student that is missing a bus tag, inform the office ASAP. If you have problems or need help, call the office.
Duties:
- The duty schedule for this year is in the PUE Master Folder. The first week of school, duties are VARIED. Please see the duties listed below these announcements. You can follow this link to the regular duty schedule. The bus duty calling schedule will be posted this week in the PUE Master Folder under the Schedules Folder.
- Please note that there are less people this year to “go around” and that some duties are duplicated throughout the year. ALSO NOTE THAT SOME OF THE THINGS YOU DO TO PERFORM CERTAIN DUTIES HAS CHANGED. If you have questions, please see Ms. Fricke or Ms. Person.
Forms:
Please make sure to fill out and turn in the forms provided at the staff meeting on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 to Ms. Britt in the main office. The forms were due on Friday. Extra forms are on the window sill of the conference room.
Field Trips:
- Please make sure that as a grade level you are planning field trips and preparing to turn in field trip information to Ms. Person. An email with information and a Field Trip Folder is in the PUE Master Folder to help aid in this process. The deadline for field trip submission is September 1, 2017.
Punctuality:
- This year “being on time” during the school day is imperative. This is particularly important when considering duties, lunch, recess, and specials.
- If you have duty and you are not on time, students are often unsupervised and issues arise. Office staff have to try and find someone to fill your spot, or trouble shoot if you forget to find coverage and don’t inform the office staff. We know that accidents happen, but please be mindful of others.
Lunch:
- Students will be packed in this year during lunch. It is IMPERATIVE that you arrive on time and leave on time. CLASSES THAT DO NOT HAVE A TEACHER PRESENT WHEN IT IS TIME FOR DISMISSAL MAY HAVE TO BE MOVED INTO THE HALLWAY TO MAKE WAY FOR OTHER STUDENTS. Don’t let that be your class. J Something to consider: If you choose to leave early and you have recess after lunch, your students can include that extra time outside. Whatever you chose to do, please do not take away time from instruction as a solution.
Recess:
- Recesses are staggered this year for a reason. We don’t want classes to “cross” with other grade-levels. Make sure that you adhere to your time for recess, not just your grade. If you went to lunch 5 minutes earlier than your colleague, you should leave recess 5 minutes earlier.
Specials:
- Specials should end and begin on time. If you pick up your class late that makes the other class late or lose instructional time because the specialist was not able to set up for the next class.
Discipline:
- Go over rules with your students the first few days of school. 4th and 5th grade classes will have a visit by AP Fricke and Ms. Cooper during the first week of school. The talk will focus on discipline and bullying. Teachers will be informed of the day/time of the visit this week.
Dreambox:
- Our rep. from Dreambox told us last week that student accounts should be up and running this week. Students should follow their 2017-18 assigned Powerschool homerooms. Students that started with the program last year should sign in as they have in the past. Teachers should check to see if you have a dashboard as you did last year. Team chairs should show new staff how to sign in and how students sign in.
- I will be sharing an updated email list with staff roles with Dreambox so that hopefully by the end of the week we will be reconciled. Our trainer, Stephanie will be reaching out soon to set up any additional support that we need for new staff and for current staff needing help with using the math data later this summer and into the fall. Please alert Kevin or Annette with any issues so that we can contact the Dreambox Help Desk.
State Health Plan Confirmation:
- Deadline coming up (July 31, 2017) to confirm if you (and your dependent) are on the NC State Health Plan. Please see Kaye if you did not receive your letter or have questions.
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THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK THIS PAST WEEK AND WEEKEND! SEE YOU MONDAY!!
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Duties for the Week of July 10-July 14: Track 4 Out
- AM Hallway: Blocker (Help greet parents/students, check with Ms. Person to see what is needed at the visitor sign-in tables or the carpool tag/ transportation table.)
- AM Carpool: Narvaez (Perry, please show Ms. Narvaez what to do the first day of school.)
- AM Breakfast: Johnson* (Newman, please show Ms. Johnson what to do the first day of school. Work with students regarding lunch numbers. *If she is not present, please continue the duty this week)
- AM Bus: Crum (Write down arrival times of buses. Work with Fricke to disembark students, trouble-shoot issues.)
- PM Hallway: Andrews (Check all students for tags in the bus line. If a student does not have a tag, inform Fricke and Ms. Britt ASAP. )
- PM Carpool: Johnson*, Brown (outside,) Garrett, Cooper, Biles (inside) Stern (Call carpool numbers. Do not call a number if parents do not have a tag. Those parents should park and come into the building. This includes all grade-levels.)*IF Johnson is not present, Garrett, please do outside carpool duty.
- PM Bus: Perry (Call one bus at a time. Write down arrival times. Work with Fricke and Andrews to trouble-shoot, solve issues.
**If someone is not available the first week, staff members that are available may be called to assist.**