SMS Weekly Update 4/11- 4/15
“One school, One voice, One family ~ All Together”
Mission, Vision, Core Values & Smart Goals
SMS Vision Statement:
“Sedgefield will be a premier middle school that produces globally competitive leaders.”
SMS Mission Statement:
“Our Sedgefield faculty is committed to providing rigorous and relevant instruction in a safe and personalized learning environment.”
SMS Core Values:
INTEGRITYSAFETY
EDUCATION
ACCOUNTABILITY
LEADERSHIP
GRIT
RESPONSIBILITY
2015-2016 EOG GOALS
40% 4/5 - ELA
35% 4/5 – MATH
55% 4/5 –SCI.
Weekly Meetings
Monday- DDI meetings will be held for each grade level & our elective department.
Electives: 11:15-12:00
7th grade: 12:45-1:30
8th grade: 2:00-2:45
6th grade: 3:15-4:00
Tuesday- Grade Level Department Meetings: Collaborative lesson planning
Wednesday- General Staff Meeting (Professional Development) 7:45-8:30
Grade Level Meetings: Facilitated by Grade Level Administrators or
Grade Level Chairs (conducted during planning
periods)
Thur. & Fri- Individual Teacher Planning
Lesson Plan & Instructional Action Plan Next Steps
1. Post a printed copy of your 6 week instructional plan along with your daily lesson plans near your classroom door. Both documents should be easily accessible to administrators and facilitators visiting your classroom.
2. Administrators and facilitators will provide feedback on alignment between daily lesson plans and instructional action plans during our classroom walk-through visits.
3. Mastery Connect will be reviewed on a weekly basis (Saturdays) to ensure that student learning trends from the previous week are being assessed and tracked in our designated data management platform. This data, along with other formative assessment data you've observed in your classroom should guide your week to week planning between April 11-May 20.
Also remember
1. Major areas of instructional focus (by standard & objective) between April 11-May 20. Please be strategic about which standards you prioritize over the next 6 weeks.
2. Small Group Instruction vs. Whole Class Instruction (what will you teach whole class and what data points will be used to create small groups?)
3. Specific remediation strategies / activities that will be implemented for standards not mastered (less than 80% on CIA 3)
4. Specific extension strategies / activities that will be implemented for scholars who are ready to move on.
5. In-class formative assessment schedule between April 11-May 20.
We will not conduct a school-wide mock EOG in April or May. The 6 week instructional plans will take us right up to our end of year testing.
Report Cards Distribution Wednesday 4/13/16
TNTP Spring Survey Window Opens Monday April 11
* TNTP’s Insight (Instructional Culture) Teacher Survey is different and distinct from the
K-12 Insight Employee Engagement Survey.
* The survey is administered online and each classroom teacher has a unique sign-in just
for them.
* Teacher responses are 100% confidential. CMS does not see or have access to
individual teacher responses.
* The survey typically takes about 25 minutes to complete.
* Insight is administered twice a year, once in the Fall/Winter and again in the Spring.
* Each school will receive a report for administrators and another for teachers if a
minimum response rate of 40% is reached.
WLC Principal's Meeting at SMS on Tuesday 4/12/16
School Leadership Team Meeting Tuesday 4/12/16
On Tuesday, April 12 we will hold our school leadership team meeting in the media center from 5:00-6:00pm. Please join us as we review our school improvement plan and discuss recommendations to adjust and update the improvement plan.
Youtube & Netflix Update
Use of YouTube during instructional time has become a major challenge in CMS. Teachers and school leaders have shared numerous concerns about students accessing inappropriate content and/or videos not directly related to instruction. Technology Services charted usage; the bandwidth report indicated YouTube used 7.8 Terabytes of data in one day and is the application with the highest usage in the district. Netflix has also become an issue and is a drain on CMS bandwidth.
Such high usage of YouTube and Netflix is contributing to the slowness of computers. We shared the challenge with Cabinet, Learning Community Superintendents, school technology contacts, and the Superintendent's Teachers Advisory Committee (STAC) and have decided to make an adjustment. Protecting students is our highest priority: we must comply with Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and we want to protect students from inappropriate content. School districts are required by federal law to adopt and implement an Internet safety policy and process to address access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet.
Therefore, CMS will implement Google-filtered YouTube (YouTube Restricted Mode) effective April 11 for students only. All adults will retain the same access they have currently provided they are signed into YouTube with their CMS Google Apps for Education account.
Google-filtered YouTube has huge resources; however, teachers may want to use content outside of this library of filtered content. If so, teachers can approve videos that are not in Google-filtered YouTube; but should do so judiciously, carefully reviewing any video outside the filtered ones for appropriate content.
Any videos created within CMS by teachers or students will need to be approved by an adult before they can be viewed. For additional information and to access directions for approving content outside of Google-filtered YouTube, click here.
In addition, Netflix will be blocked for all students/all staff effective April 11.
We will monitor this change through the rest of this school year and seek feedback from principals and Learning Community Superintendents at the Summer Leadership Conference, from tech facilitators at summer training sessions, and from STAC.
CASTLE Learning is Available to ALL 6-12 CMS Educators
What is Castle Learning?
An online program that creates assessments using questions aligned to the content standards. Castle Learning offers custom pre-tests and post-tests to show growth and it also analyzes data to differentiate instructions within your core curriculum.
How do I get access to Castle Learning?
All 6-12 CMS full-time educators have an account. Additional accounts can be added as necessary by contacting the district administrator for Castle Learning, Michael Pillsbury.
Link to Site: www.castlelearning.com
How does Castle Learning Support Procedural and Conceptual Learning In Your School?
Castle Learning can support your core instructional process by:
· Providing a variety of questions addressing state standards that can be filtered by difficulty and type.
· Providing real-time feedback and support on leveled questioning for students.
· Providing a variety of selection and delivery methods, while automatically scoring items for educators.
· Provides comprehensive reports to allow educators to make data driven instructional decisions.
Who Do I Contact?
For Access: Email Michael Pillsbury, Castle Learning District Administrator (michael.pillsbury@cms.k12.nc.us)
For Professional Development Opportunities: Go to the Sign-Up Genius http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0a48abae2ca64-201520161
For Troubleshooting Issues: Email Michael Pillsbury, Castle Learning District Administrator (michael.pillsbury@cms.k12.nc.us)
2015-2016 Middle School Honorariums
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Honorariums are designed to be paid to individuals in Teacher Level Positions. In some instances, these duties are performed by the Principal or Assistant Principal. Although this is appropriate, those positions are not eligible for honorariums.
The intent of the honorarium is to recognize teachers who work directly with students outside the regular duty hours for teachers. It is not to be used for cafeteria duty, bus duty, grade level or department chair duty, TAC, PTA Board, or chaperones for school dances or athletic events. In addition, no points may be assigned to any activity for which an individual receives a supplement, extended employment pay, or payment through athletic receipts.
Final decisions at each school must be made by the faculty advisory council of the school. The plan prepared by each faculty council must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate Zone Superintendent.
Wednesday Bowling League at AMF Centennial Lanes
6th Scholars Extend Learning to the Aquarium
Character & Exposure Clubs this Friday 4/15/16
PD Corner
Soccer & Baseball Games on Monday & Wednesday. Track meet on Thursday.
This week our baseball & soccer teams are back in action. On Monday we travel to Kennedy Middle School & on Wednesday we host Waddell Language Academy . Our track team will take on McClintock and Eastway Middle at Eastway on Thursday. Please come out and support our talented scholar-athletes this week.