BAMS Staff Newsletter
April 13th, 2014 - Volume 1, Issue 26
Bessie Allen Middle School - SLO
By the end of the 2013-2014 school year, each grade level will increase the Mean Reading RIT score on the MAP Reading Assessment.
- 6th Grade - Mean Reading RIT score will increase by 9 points (Fall 205.5 - Spring above 214.5)
- 7th Grade - Mean Reading RIT score will increase by 7 points (Fall 208.8 - Spring above 215.8)
- 8th Grade - Mean Reading RIT score will increase by 5 points (Fall 215.4 - Spring above 220.4)
Out of the Office
The following times I will not be in the building or will be out of the office:
- April 14th - 1:00pm-2:30pm - Summer School Meeting - FLC
- April 15th - 9:30am-11:00am - Admin Meeting - DMR
News and Notes
- BAMS Got Talent - The talent show will take place on June 6th (last day of school) and auditions will be the week of May 19th. There will be prizes for the top 3 student acts and there will also be prizes for any and all staff acts. It would be great to set a record for adult participation this year.
- Welcome, Johnna! - It was great to welcome Johnna Knoke to our staff this week. She will be filling in for Damaris for the rest of this school year. Johnna will be in the district on Wednesdays and Fridays. On her first day she did a great job supporting our counselors with a student issue. Great work!
- Lee Skaar and I met last week to discuss the iPad "un-rollout" at the end of the year. At Team Time this week, I'll discuss the process with grade levels.
- Summer School for Middle School Students - I spoke with grade level teams last this month about our process for students needing to take summer school. Any student that fails a core class for the final grade (science, social studies, math, comm skills) will need to attend summer school. Teachers are expected to provide a packet of work to complete for each student. When the student completes the work they no longer have to attend summer school. All summer school work should be in paper copy form.
- SLOs for Next Year - At the last Curriculum Steering Committee Meeting, the announcement was made that everyone will need to have 2 SLOs for next year. One will be content driven, the other will be district driven (i.e. literacy, etc.).
- Aesop - Thank you for helping with the transition to Aesop this year. I appreciate your patience as we worked through a few issues. Please continue to keep me updated about any problems you are experiencing. I have not heard anything about your favorite subs not being able to get the first opportunity at openings since the wait time was adjusted. Hopefully, that means that has been fixed.
- Free Trial of Reading Intervention Program - Our school recently received a free trial for an online reading program called Reading Plus. Currently, Beth and Lee are using some of the "student desks" with their students. Let me know if you would also like to try this program with your students. This program is one that the RtI Team is considering using for students next year during our intervention time. Thank you to Beth and Lee for taking a risk with this program for the last part of the year.
Oriole Way
- How many BAMS Bucks have you handed out for this month?
- If at any time you need behavioral data on a student, please speak with Brandon. He would be happy to get you any data you need.
- Next Meeting - April 23rd at 7am
OASYS and Teacher Effectiveness
- Documentation Log - Due May 1st
- 2nd Observation - Due Before May 1st
- 2 visits to another classroom - Due May 1st - **Previously, this was had a due date of "end of year", but to be included in your documentation log it needs to be completed by May 1st.
- End of Year SLO Review - Due by May 15th
- SLO Score Report - Due by May 31st
- Summative Performance Report - By last week of school
**Documentation Log Reminders:
- You should have at least 1 artifact per standard and not more than 3 artifacts for any one standard.
- Your Parent Communication Log needs to be included in your Documentation Log.
- The classroom observations of any other teacher can go into any standard. Pick the standard that makes the most sense based on what you observed or what you took away from the experience.
2014-2015 BAMS Schedule
Here are some of the latest updates:
- Exploratory Changes - We will not run Magic Math, Reading/Writer's Workshop, or Critical Thinking next year. However, Todd Whittaker will be teaching a new exploratory called Robotics for our 8th graders. Brandon Switz will be helping Todd with getting this exploratory going for next year. I'll have some more information about other exploratory changes soon.
- Modified Block - Please continue to think about your needs for teaching in the block next year. Information about all of our PD opportunities for this summer will be coming out soon. Please note that our block days will be Wednesday and Thursday next year. Nothing was final before, but our schedules always said Tuesday and Wednesday just to have 2 days designated. Wednesday and Thursday are now the official block days.
- The RtI Team met last week to continue to research and develop our literacy framework for next school year. I will send those meeting notes out to staff soon.
- 28 Minute SSR Time/28 Minute Writing Time - The RtI Team will be getting the ball rolling with what these times will look like for next year. It's my intent to put us in situations where we can be successful and our students can succeed. With that said, these times for next year may not be as involved as they will be 5 years from now. I see this time evolving into something more involved as time goes on.
Dates to Remember
- April 18th - Spring Break - No School
- April 21st- May 6th - MAP Testing Window
- April 22nd - Staff Meeting - 2:50-3:15pm
- April 22nd - Damaris' Baby Shower - 3:45pm - HM Library
- April 23rd - Secretaries Day
- April 24th - Tornado Drill - 1:45pm
- April 25th - Mid-Quarter
- April 28th - School Board Meeting - 7pm
Jazz Band
- April 15th, period 8
- April 22nd, period 2
- April 29th, period 3
Staff Meeting Agenda
Next Staff Meeting: April 22nd, 2014 - 2:50-3:15pm
Agenda:
TBD
Early Release Agenda
May 7th, 2014
- Introduction and Information about STAR
- Work on District Initiatives
Mystery Staff Member
Who am I?
- I almost moved to California in the 8th grade.
- I performed in a National Cheerleading Competition.
- I've known my husband for 25 years.
Last week's Mystery Staff Member: Julie Skaer
Last week's winner(s): Sarah McDowell, Theresa Galligan-Amundson, Cindy VanderGalien, and Linda Wodsedalek