Friday Faculty Focus
News and Notes about #BeBCMS- #SisterIrmaStyle
Short Week Wrap Up!
It was a short week, but it was an ELITE one! MAP testing started off with ELA. There were some glitches, but all in all, it was a solid start! We will revamp the MAP testing schedule and send it out to you to begin back Wednesday. Data Team meetings and lesson designs are going great. There is no one way to plan! This is a very organic and individual experience. Much like we differentiate for our students, we differentiate when it comes to lesson design and planning. Everyone needs are different! Just keep the focus on using data to drive your instructional decision and planning your experiences!
Please stay safe during Hurricane Irma. Continue to let me know your plans and I will continue to keep you all up to date! Thank you for making yesterday a day that was calm and focused on learning!
Celebrations:
- KAT, Blaine, Data for getting the Parent Resource /Data planning room up to speed
- TEAM LEADERS for being on the A game with coverage
- Ms. Beasley for handling FTE count for special education
- Mr. Dinkins for adjusting the needs of our PBIS store and getting it rolling
- Mr. Scott for being ELITE at lunch duty!
- Ms. Adams for her awesome 7th grade REMIND communication to families!
Ms. Waddell keeping it focused during Hurricane Prep! WAY TO GO!
#BeBCMS Elite PBIS update!
The PBIS School Store is OPEN
The store will be open Tuesday 6th grade, Wednesday 7th grade, Thursday 8th grade. The cart will come to your hallway! Mr, Dinkins will be managing the store during WIN time out of his classroom. We will have additional supports in there as well. This is a new change and I think it is working well!
Let's think about making a request form to see what our scholars WANT to have in the store! #StudentVoiceStudentChoice
Oh yessss!
Awesome Engagement
Turkey for the WIN!
RTI News and Notes
Important Events!
Friday- #FocusFriday, No School!
Tuesday- #TerrificTuesday, No School!
Wednesday- #WinWednesday, Innovation Center- Classrooms as assigned, Softball home, MAP testing continues, Dr. Mantooth in the building
Thursday-#ThankfulThursday, Leadership 7:40: PBIS on the agenda, NORTH end Dr. Brooksher Advisory Council, CLUBS Survey in WIN,
Friday- #FocusFriday, Community TOTY Celebration, Progress Reports go home in WIN, CLUBS begin!
#BeBCMS is ExExExCited to welcome Ms. Cowan!
Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our new school social worker: Ms. Kathryn Cowan. Ms. Cowan comes to us from Virginia! She is replacing Dr. Scott who has moved into our Coordinator of Student Services role! Congratulations Dr. Scott!
Dr. Scott will still be supporting our schools like never before and is still the QUEEN of PBIS! Please welcome Ms. Cowan into our schoolhouse and classrooms as she works with us to support our scholars.
Focus on..... Building positive climates to increase ENGAGEMENT
Engaging for a Positive Classroom Climate
We have done an incredible job working intentionally on our classroom climates and cultures. This week, I would like the focus to be on engagement in your classrooms. When Mr. Scott and I are in classrooms, we will be looking for true, intentional engagement of the scholars. What does that look like? I can tell you for certain what it isn't: it isn't sitting at his/her desk with a worksheet. Why are they doing what they are doing? How was it set up and presented?
A key take away from Jensen's work on building positive climate for engagement is this:
"Reduce Lecture Time: Instead of delivering long lectures, limit your talk time to short chunks: 8-12 minutes for Middle Level Learners"
This will allow students to work within flexible groupings, begin processing and thinking, and gain a greater understanding. We know scholars will be less bored and overwhelmed when we present material to them in this way.
Please look for your "AWESOME JOB SCHOLAR" cards in your mailbox this week! Set a personal goal to write so many each day. My personal goal is at least FIVE per day!
*resources from Eric Jensen, Engaging Students with Poverty
Scholars of the Month!
HUGE thank you to Ms. Dyson and Mr. Scott for getting the PBIS posters created and hung up! They look ELITE! If you are missing one or need a new one, please let Ms. Dyson know! ExExExCellent Work!
Keep the conversations going about how ELITE it is to be a scholar of the month!
Nuggets and News
- The Innovation Center: Please be on time and be intentional in your learning!
I am VERY proud of the work we are doing in The Innovation Center and we look to have an AWESOME class selection for Quarter Two!
- Supervision: PLEASE make sure you are at your supervision spots on time. If you need to switch, please just let us know! Being at busses in the shade is NOT enough. You must be engaged with scholars: ALL eyes on them!
- Lesson Plans: Make sure data is driving your planning and have your lesson plans uploaded in the Team Drive Folders nad on your clipboards available. AB, KW, and I will begin looking at those as we begin TKES classroom walk thrus. We are looking for ENGAGEMENT of scholars this week!
- Meetings Schedules: Monday: TEAM, Tuesday: RTI, Wednesday: Math ,Thursday: ELA , Friday: Science and Social Studies
- Educator's Handbook- September is off to a good start!
- TKES Walk Throughs- continuing...
- Sunshine Club: We would like to have 100% participation in our BCMS Sunshine Club! Dues this year will be $20.00 to Shelby and you will get one free "anytime" jeans pass. This is the only we have as a school house to show people we care about them when they go through hardships. We are a family! Please consider this donation.
- MAP testing continues THIS WEEK: Look for updates to come out Monday or Tuesday. The group that was to test Friday should plan on testing our first day back!
- Morning Times: If you have scholars you want to work with in the morning (Tutorial) please write them a pass. It's an AWESOME idea to work with scholars
- Principal's Advisory Council: I will be looking for members for my council. This is an application process. I will begin announcements tomorrow.
- September Jeans passes still on sale: 10.00-- make up for Friday Jeans day will be our first day back from Sister Irma.
- Friday- 9/15 will be Red/Black/White spirit day and $1.00 HAT day!
#BeBCMS
#BeBCMS
#BeBCMS
What I'm Reading....
You know how much reading I am going to do on these Hurricane days? A BIG bunch! I am going to read "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. It is a middle school novel and my own middle schooler is reading it! I can't wait!
I am also going to buy "Game Changer" by Dr. Fergus Connolly. I can't wait to dive into that--the foreword is by Coach Harbaugh!
I am also re-reading EMPOWER by John Spencer and AJ Juliani. It was so good I need to refresh my learning. Think about this:
"The SHIFT from taking an assessment to assessing your own learning.....Assessment is everywhere, but it feels invisible because it's less like a noun and more like a verb. In other words, assessment is something we do-- not something we give and take....How do we make assessment more more like LIFE and less like SCHOOL?.....The answer lies in STUDENT OWNERSHIP."
"Empowered students are able to set goals, monitor their own progress, and determine what kinds of assessments they will use for specific outcomes. Instead of seeing assessment as a dirty word, they embrace it as vital to the learning cycle."
#SoMuchTruth
What are you reading right now?
L
Working on....
I am working on a grant through the Georgia DOE to implement the Learning Blade STEM curriculum into our schoolhouse. Please check out the website below and let me know your thoughts! The grant is due Sept. 11th and I will be working on it during our Hurricane days. Please email me if you have thoughts on how we could integrate this with our current class schedule.
Tweet....Tweet....Tweet...
This week on Twitter....
Michelle Papa @MPapaEdu Sep 2
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A6: Be that leader that says, "go nuts, take risks, innovate!" Then watch as teachers promote that same mindset with students #leadlap
Trent Hamilton @mrThamilton Aug 29
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Servant leaders put others before themselves. They turn the power pyramid upside down, inspire & enable others to lead. #LeadLAP #edchat
Travis Jordan @Supt_Jordan 5h5 hours ago
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Don’t rip joy away from yourself. If you keep trying to be someone else there will be nobody to be you. #joyfulleaders
Yann Girard @girard_yann 15h15 hours ago
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The people who are winning today are the ones who master the art of going from teacher to student and from student to teacher and back.
Dr. Justin Tarte @justintarte Sep 6
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Use your voice for good; use your actions to inspire; listen to learn & always give the benefit of the doubt. #life #leadership
WIN Period
- Monday- Set goals, review personal data and school data, grade check
- Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday- SEL time (Kindness lessons)
- Friday- Clubs or READING time
the link for kindness lessons remains here:
http://kindness-matters.org/THANK you for doing your KINDNESS projects. Resume that work with our adoption of Wertheimer Middle School in Texas. Of course, I have communicated that we are out of school due to a hurricane, but we will resume these efforts when we are back on campus!
Katherine, Amy, and Blaine has put together an ELITE plan to begin intense, focused literacy work in WIN! Please look for that plan to be emailed out and discussed at Leadership Thursday. We will plan to begin this plan on Monday September 18th. Clubs will begin this week-- picking clubs on Thursday and starting them on Friday. The club link is here:
College Football warms my heart!
My favorite team is kicking off at APP State tomorrow! I know you Southern fans aren't fans of APP State! How cool would it be to pull off the upset! I am headed with my kids to the game Sat. morning and hope to return to our home, on the island, SOONER rather than later! It is also IOWA vs. IOWA State week. We have TWO coaches in our coaching tree on the Iowa Staff (Plus I earned one of my Master's there) BUT the Iowa State HBC was in my brother's wedding and is also a dear friend of ours........I'm still going with my Black and Gold this week.
Ga Tech plays Jacksonville State...#buzzzzzz
and your dAwgs play my IRISH......it's going to be an awesome weekend to watch football!
Still my favorite BCMS football picture!
L