the RAH
May 14 - 18, 2018
from J-
I was able to attend a majority of the graduations. I appreciated Dr. Cauldwell's comments at SLT, and invite you to consider your impact along the journey of our graduates. While secondary gets the graduation credit, it is a joint effort. Elementary is the starting gate and foundation for a love of learning.
Seven days. I say this not to promote the countdown; rather, to share that you have seven days to make an impact. Please recall our beginning of the year activity with Joe Sanfelippo, and how you can change and influence culture in 30 seconds. 30 seconds. Applying my Everyday Math skills, you still have a great number of 30 second opportunities to use your leadership to influence others and end the year wonderfully.
BOE Regular Mtg
Tuesday, May 15, 2018, 05:30 PM
1359 E St Louis St, Springfield, MO, USA
from Bret-
The AP cadre met this week and the agenda is here.
For those that have Learning Coaches, this is a reminder that you’re invited to attend the final Learning Coach meeting of the year on Thursday, May 17th from 9:15 – 10:15 at KAC in the BOE room. The draft agenda is here.
For those attending the 3rd grade Cardinals field trip May 21, please update ticket numbers, lunch numbers, and transportation needs here.
Learning Support and Partnerships
The Office of Equity & Access would like to thank you for supporting your E & A Champions in this inaugural year of learning. Time is our most valuable commodity, and we appreciate the time you allowed us to spend with them to assist them in growing their understanding of equity work.
Our primary focus this year was to help Champions understand their perspective and how it impacts the way they interact with others. This philosophy was confirmed at the nationally vetted Teaching Tolerance training series we attended in St. Louis in April. To build a sustainable culture of equity and access, we hope that each champion (including site and district leaders):
Begins with an understanding of their personal perspective and how they see the world
Aims to grow rather than shame people
Recognizes that our collective “WE” will move the district forward faster than any singular “me”
Understands that supports are ongoing rather than “one and done”
Continually works to grow their understanding and uncover their blind spots
At this point in the year, we ask you to determine if your current champion should continue to serve in this role. If you feel you need to make a change, we will support you in that move. YOU know your staff best and understand what will assist your building in moving forward. Please send the name of your Champion to Lisa Searles (lrsearles@spsmail.org) by May 24, 2018 so we may begin to plan for next year.
Updates from Curriculum-
Upcoming Learning Support Events
May 24 - K-5 Math Standards (8-3)
June 19-20 - SPS Summer Academy at Glendale HS
June 21 - K-54 Math Standards (8-3)
July 9-10 - K-2 Integrated Unit Revisions
July 16-17 - 3-5 Integrated Unit Revisions
July 18-19 - SPS Summer Academy at Glendale HS
Activate SPS and Summer Academy
To support teachers in their implementation of math workshop, there will be a mandatory session at SPS Activate; Teachers will either choose Math Workshop 101 or Math Workshop Deeper Dive to support their learning goals.
Math Workshop (101 or Advanced)
Problem Based Learning/3 Act Math
Number Talks
Dreambox (Intro and Deep Dive)
Fractions
Master Learner Numeracy
Master Learner Numeracy will be changing from a K-5 overall focus to a grade-level focus in numeracy next year. There will be three separate ½ day meetings for each grade-level. Teachers who were involved in Master Learner Numeracy this year may participate again next year as our meetings will be focused specifically on grade-level standards and collaboration. We will be requesting your attendees prior to next school year, so please begin thinking about who you might be sending at each grade level.
Audience: K-5 teachers, SPED teachers, Learning Coaches
Topics:
Numeracy
Differentiation
Mathematical Discourse and Collaboration
Literacy Connection
District Writing Prompts and Scoring Guides have been updated for the 2018-2019 school year. CDC worked to revise scoring gudies and provide a writing prompt and resources for each genre of writing. You will find resources linked below:
Kindergarten
Narrative/Literary Prompt and Scoring Guide/Rubric (District Required)
First Grade
Narrative/Literary Prompt and Scoring Guide/Rubric (District Required)
Second Grade
Narrative/Literary Prompt and Scoring Guide/Rubric (District Required)
Third Grade
Argumentative/Opinion Prompt and Scoring Guide/Rubric (District Required)
Fourth Grade
Argumentative/Opinion Prompt and Scoring Guide/Rubric (District Required)
Fifth Grade
There are several literacy opportunities at SPS Summer Academy. The following sessions will be offered in June and July.
June 19th and July 18th
ELA: Utilizing the Reading Strategies Book Grades K-5 (Room 278)
ELA: Utilizing the Writing Strategies Book Grades K-5 (Room 278)
ELA: Integrating Content into Reader's Workshop Grades K-5 (Room 278)
June 20th and July 19th
ELA: Utilizing the Reading Strategies Book Grades K-5 (Room 278)
ELA: Utilizing the Writing Strategies Book Grades K-5 (Room 278)
ELA: Integrating Content into Writer's Workshop Grades K-5 (Room 278)
Guided Math Connection Please feel free to share this Math Workshop Infographic with your staff. Small group instruction has been intentionally highlighted to call teachers attention to the importance of using data to drive individualized instruction.
SPS Foundation - Back to School Grant
The 2018-21019 Back to School Grant Program is now open and receiving applications online on our website at https://www.supportsps.org/2018-back-school-grant-application/
Last year, the Foundation gave out approximately $276,000 to fund more than 95, Back to School grant projects! This year, we hope to raise even more dollars to make funding a higher number of much-needed, Back to School grant projects possible.
The deadline for submitting 2018-2019 Back to School grant applications is June 14, 2018.
We hope that the availability of the online application form will be helpful to you in submitting your Back to School grant projects. While we are using the most up-to-date technology available to us for submitting and tracking projects, it would still be wise for you to save a hard or soft copy of your application, just to have that extra copy on hand. A little bit of insurance.
The categories have remained the same as last year, with one exception. We have eliminated Professional Development because timing for your proposal submissions and the awarding of the grant money wasn’t in sync with most of the professional development opportunities available to you. We will be offering grants for Professional Development later in the year. More to come on that.
Categories available for your grants again this year are as follows:
Student Experience
Modern Learning Environment
Classroom Projects
Community Engagement
More info and details on project requirements and the application are on the website. We will be holding a grant writing workshop at our office sometime in the next few weeks and will keep you posted on that. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email at planderson@spsmail.org or phone the office at 417.523.0144.
Thank you for your dedication to making learning in your classrooms for your students THE BEST possible! YOU are awesome. The Foundation for SPS and our generous donors appreciate you and want to help you to make wonderful things happen in your classrooms again in the 2018-2019 school year!
Sincerely,
Pamela
Innovation Summit
This year's Innovation Summit will be held May 29-30, 2018 at the Branson Convention Center. We are excited to welcome Kristin Anderson and Doug Fisher as this year's keynote speakers! Check out the promo video here. If interested in attending, please read and respond to all the details below. SPS has over 100 tickets available; there is no limit per SPS site.
As you register, please notice two tabs. On the first tab, scroll down to select Springfield, and submit. On the second tab you will select your sessions. (You may be prompted to create a SignUp Genius account if you don't already have one).
Follow each of the following steps:
1. Review session descriptions linked here. Sessions are 50 minutes long, with the exception of the 'Deep Dive' session with the keynote speaker that will last the remainder of the day. Keep this tab open so that as you register, you can easily choose your sessions.
2. To register click here. Remember to do both tabs as described above.
3. Finally, please complete this google form to indicate your transportation choice and contact information.
Thank you for taking time to do all three steps! Contact Kathy Gross with any questions.