Looking Back / Ahead
Hawley Housekeeping
~ September 17, 2017 ~
Looking Back
- Very productive, informative Faculty Meetings: 1. NGSS experiments and overview & 2. Behavior Plans.
- Picture Day was Picture Perfect!
- Thank you to the classes that made cards for our adopted elementary school, TL Pink Elementary, in Texas. We are mailing out our gift package of school supplies, gift cards and pictures this week. Thank you Kim L for the oversight.
- NWEA Testing is off to a great start. Most issues have been technical. Some, human. For winter, make sure you have set up the testing session in advance and know how to start and end sessions. If you are still unsure- ask Jenna, Patti or Amy (in advance of testing)- Thank You for a solid 1st Session, the use of the Chrome Carts kept the length of testing time to 4 days (kudos Jenna).
Looking Ahead
- Ice Cream Social, Monday, 6:00-7:00 PM. Great PR. Wonderful opportunity to celebrate our school community (staff-parents-students). I love this event. Looking forward to seeing as many of you that were available to help or just hang out.
- NWEA make-ups.
- Tuesday, Leadership Meeting (rescheduled due to Open House), 8:00-8:45 AM in the Conference Room. We will be planning our 1st Opportunity to Lead & Learn Faculty Meeting (9/26). The first Principal's Advisory will be 10/17.
- I have already done 4 Review of Practice observations (wow), I have 3 formal observations scheduled before month's end (terrific), and will be starting mini-obs this week (amazing)......have laptop will travel.
- NO SCHOOL Thursday: Rosh Hashanah (no homework/studying Wed Night)
Important Reminders / General Info
- The Fire Marshall observed our 1st Fire Drill. The feedback was most positive. 1 ding: some classroom doors were open. Reminder: always close and lock doors when leaving a room (empty rooms have closed, locked doors).
- We only have ONE Building Sub: We are, well Donna & Jenna are, doing the best they can. Coverage is currently based on priority (we are in Triage Mode)- Thank you for your understanding and support.
- NEF is hosting a Color Run to raise money. It is a fun, town-wide family event. We benefit through their grants. Click here for more information.
- Many of the bathroom issues that we have been dealing with are happening because there are multiple students in the bathroom, at the same time, from the SAME class, fooling around together. These take a tremendous amount of time to investigate and clean. There should NOT be multiple students from the same class in bathrooms at the same time. It is the classroom/special area/lunch teacher's responsibility to have and to monitor a system that prevents this from occurring. Thank you for your attention to this matter and it is my hope that it does not need to be revisited.
Goal Setting (this section is in lieu of a meeting/read carefully)
You have already received your copy of the Newtown Public Schools Evaluation and Support Plan via email. This week I will share with you the phase that you are currently in. You should then review the plan for your responsibilities and time-lines.
I will also be opening FAKE meeting dates in EdReflect to make the Goal Setting links available to you. You will need to see Donna to schedule a real meeting in late September/early October.
Some Key Reminders:
- Can be collaborative
- Best when overlapping and/or connected (area of focus, SLO, PLC discussions, Team goal, etc)
- Must be worthy of a years worth of work, effort (detailed Action Plans)
- Expectations should be high (for you and for your students)
- Beyond what you are currently doing
I have prepared a one-sheet (Goal Setting Process Overview) for you that I think will be helpful. It reviews each section that you need to fill out with suggestions and ideas strait from the Evaluation and Support Plan. It also includes THIS Year's Hawley Parent and Student Goal Focus.
As always, feel free to see me with any questions or concerns.
PLC
The norms have been coming in, thank you. They all seem focused on productive meetings. May I suggest the Ultimate Challenge Norm of no cell phones out (unless expecting an emergency call). This would apply to me and our Leadership PLC as well. It truly keeps us focused and respects the time of our colleagues......and no FitBit needed ;0)
I also thank you for Minutes submissions as it keeps me connected to and supportive of the work even when not present. Their timeliness is appreciated.
Food for Thought: ARTICLE
Click HERE to read and possibly discuss the article, How to Turn Compliant Learners into Engaged Learners, from the Learning Personalized website.
- @cmoretti66 (me ;0)
- @hawley_school (us all- send me picks to post)
Looking for our 1st Posts to
- #hawleyt2e (for great teaching, activities, lessons)
- #hawleyplz (for professional learning and sharing)
Funny Bone
Quote
"In every job that must be done there is an element of fun."
~Mary Poppins
Chris Moretti
Email: morettic@newtown.k12.ct.us
Website: http://newtown.hawley.schooldesk.net/
Location: 29 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT, United States
Phone: (203) 426-7666
Twitter: @cmoretti66