Friday Faculty Focus
News and Notes about #BeBCMS-SY 19- Issue 16
#Grateful
Thank you for another great week! There is nothing better than spending downtime with family and I sincerely hope you take full advantage of your break. We will be hit the ground running when we come back on Monday, November 26th as we prepare to take WINTER MAP and analyze our data and create our buckets. This will be ELITE information gearing up to January when we begin our GMAS prep work.
Up and Coming:
- SMILE! Be Happy! #BeELITEInYour20SquareFeet: Your body language talks! LOVE what you GET to do every day!
- CLUBS are coming! Clubs will begin in January. We will run a Friday CLUB Schedule. Scholars will begin to preference club choices at lunch.
- Lights!Lights!Lights! We are going to begin to think about and research lighting in classrooms and learning spaces. Sometimes, when I walk into a room with the lights off, it makes me feel tired and less energized-- but we also know that fluorescent lights can be an issue. How can we create a happy balance with classroom lighting that is optimal for our scholars?
- Interested in teaching the ELITE Summer Experience? We need you! Dates are the first four weeks in June (No Fridays) 9-2 (Teacher 8-3 or 830-330) Please let me know here if you are interested: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVLHh8DYQQraYl3dH9JTPd30pt6P3PZWnNmvOeuWVWbF9mhg/viewform?usp=sf_link
- Do you want to buy a BC jacket: IF so, see Ms. Meeks. The order form is here: www.tinyurl.com/BCjacketorders
- Safety Nets are due before you leave. Check the link here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mGq2swdx1oofH2gU5VcSgzVaFTffzIob-9qsXQXSm54/edit?usp=sharing
- Absences: When you are absent, you need to contact me via text or email. You then need to put the absence in AESOP. You then need to fill out a leave form from Ms. Amonda. Failure to work this process may result in you having to take the day unpaid. Please follow our procedures for absences.
- The Innovation Center: Coming Up
11/28 ALL teachers: Rubric comparisons for Extended Writing Review- EL: bring your samples!
12/5 Strategy Smorgasbord-- Data Room 7:45
12/1-- Winter MAP data analysis
12/19--Designing the buckets: Winter MAP data goal
- TKES observations have started. PLEASE make sure you are checking and signing off on your observations. Please sign off on your observations. Mid-Year meetings will begin in December.
- Tighten UP: We need to tighten up our Boards with current Standards and Learning Targets. If your plans change, that's OKAY :), but your board needs to reflect that
- Thank you for completing the AdvancED surveys! Stay tuned for next steps.
- Lesson plans are due, in hard copy form, to the binder by Friday at 4:00. The binder will be in the data room on Fridays. I need lesson plans for the week we return before you leave campus for Thanksgiving Break.
- WIN team is 30 minutes drop and read and it is an EVERYONE expectation. Have a book and be ready to READ! There are lots of variations to this-- so be creative!
- Please make sure your weekly communication to your parents is ready. This needs to be up to date weekly. Email Mr. Kicklighter to put it on the website.
Staff Shout Outs!
- To Mr. Charles, Ms. Veda, and Ms. Ton for putting up our signs! They look great!
- To Mr. Joyner and Mr. Hoover for elite breakfast supervision
- Mr. Scott and Mr. Sikes for handling the load on discipline this week!
Important Events! (The •1)
#CelebrateMonday - 11/26: Basketball vs Claxton, HOME
#TurnUPTuesday- 11/27: Basketball practices after school
#WinWednesday-11/28: The Innovation Center (ALL): 7:45, Basketball practices after school
#ThankfulThursday- 11/29:Jr. Beta Conference, Basketball practices after school
#FocusFriday-11/30:Staff United Way Breakfast Jr. BETA Conference, DANCE! Basketball practices after school, DANCE!
Coming UP
- 11/30 BCMS DANCE!
- 11/30 Staff Breakfast/BRUNCH
- December 4th: Coffee and Conversations: PLTW focus 8:45 AM
- Save the Date! Redskins on the Rise Community Day: Saturday, March 2, 2019
- PBIS events: End of Quarter 2/Semester 1 Celebration: Dec. 21st: Ideas due to Ms. Solomon and Mr. Scott by 11/16
Sign Up for Athletics Here:
3 events min. per semester! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16Tzr1q9QiufUUWn_veX6FIjE6poQEaIofGAZhDXd0ow/edit?usp=sharing
Understanding the buckets and how to WIN at GAPS is our focus! Targets are set!
What I'm Reading.... (The •5)
I am very much looking forward to some downtime in the next several days to read some new books! I have a huge stack growing on my desk! It is important to carve out the time to read for at least 30 minutes a day-- just as an adult.
I have spent some time this week back in Rebel Talent by Francesa Gino
"Rebels know where the action is, and that's where they want to be-- not up in a tower or secluded in a corner office. The rebel knows the best way to lead is from the trenches. Napoleon would not have spent all this time in the executive suite."
How true is that! That is one of the biggest reasons it is so critical to hit the ground running when we step foot into our schoolhouse!
The history lover in me knows that Napoleon was a great leader and we can learn a lot from him, leading our families, our classrooms, our schools, our organizations by using some of his guiding principles.
#ReadersAreLeaders
#LoveTheProcess
Focus on......... Literacy (The •15)
#BeBCMS Moral Imperatives:
a. Come to School- BE AMAZING- Go Home! Repeat
b. Bell to Bell instruction
c. ALL instruction/teaching will be on grade level and standards-based
d. Take a STAND for teaching and learning. Get up!
Focus On:(The Innovation Center Work)
Literacy
We will increase our student's ability to earn a 3 or higher on Extended Response. The extended response includes:
Coherence
Idea development
Organization of thoughts
We defined LIteracy at BCMS as:
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking (Reasoning)
We will begin to look at our inter-rater reliability at our 11/28 Innovation Center!
Lexile Reading Bands:
997-1070- 6th grade
1045-1120- 7th grade
1097-1185- 8th grade
Our data room got a make-over! We have the room set up to move the color bands for WINTER MAP. We have already started the process of breaking down the buckets.
PBIS Update: Data and Discipline
Let me know if you have a SMARTIES for SMARTIES class that needs to be recognized!
August 2017 28 Majors 201 Minors
August 2018 23 Majors 195 Minors
17% decrease in MAJOR referral behavior
September 2017 24 Majors , 225 MINORS
Septebmer 2018: 45 MAJORS, 227 MINORS
October 2017: 59 MAJORS, 195 MINORS
October 2018: 61 MAJORS, 292 MINORS
November 2017:
30 Majors
89 Minors
November 2018:
38 Majors
158 Minors
Our November discipline is VERY high. I will send specific team discipline reports to you over the break. Please use that information at your Monday team meeting. We need to get our high flyers on behavior plans and with daily check-in/out with Ms. Solomon or try other approaches to increase the time in the classroom.
Linking Studies: MAP and GMAS: ALD relationships
#TweetOfTheWeek
Brixworth Avon @AvonBrixworth Nov 14
More
Be thankful and grateful every day. #Heart #Grateful
You can find me @missliz31 and @BryanCountyMS
Hashtags for this year:
#BeBCMS
#IChoose...
#LifeInAMiddleSchool
#TheTreeThatBCMSBuilt
#BeBCMS
#BeELITEInYour20SquareFeet
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