Monday Memo
April 20, 2015
From the Desk of your ILD
Email: schorro@tulsaschools.org
Website: www.tulsaschools.org
Location: 3027 South New Haven Avenue, Tulsa, OK, United States
Phone: 918-746-6614
Twitter: @rschornick
CELEBRATIONS & RECOGNITIONS
OK Promise Assembly at Central JH
Encouraging Words
The Assistant U.S. Attorney Mr. Gary L. Davis of the Northern District of Oklahoma and his boss the U.S. Attorney came to Central HS on Tuesday, April 14 and spoke to some of the young men about the importance of academic achievement.
Dr. Johnson kicking it off...
African-American Heritage Bowl CHAMPIONS!
TPS Visual Arts Competition
TPS Visual Arts Competition
"George" the Egg is the winner
Carver students recognized.
Michael Dillmann (VP-Exam & Compliance Manager) stopped by Carver to congratulate and interview two Carver students that took first and second place honors in their inaugural essay contest. Carver winners were Maia Anderson (8th grade) and Margaret Loy (7th grade). The two students (and their parents) will be recognized at a luncheon that will be held on Tuesday to celebrate Money Week Tulsa. Both students will receive a gift bag, various gift tokens, and checks to deposit into a 529 Plan.
Duke Talent Search
S/O to Ms. Smith for guiding her scholars in preparation for the OCCT!
"We always say positive thoughts bring positive results, and so if they think positive, they'll have positive coming to them," Smith said.
SUBTLE REMINDERS
2015 Teacher Appreciation Week
Expressions of Gratitude...some ideas
- Host a special breakfast or lunch for your school's teachers and staff. If space allows, invite parents, school board members, the district superintendent, district personnel, and prominent community leaders to join you at the event in showing appreciation for teachers.
- Create a giant teacher thank-you card for display in the school community. Place markers by the card so community members can add their words of thanks.
- Post a "teacher feature" on a school or library bulletin board, profiling teachers. Include quotes by and about the teacher, as well as the teacher's picture, background, hobbies, and philosophy of education. Alternatively, use the school newsletter to publish interviews with teachers and stories about teachers' accomplishments. Consider having students conduct the interviews and write the stories. certificates of appreciation
- Present certificates of appreciation to all teachers, as well as to substitute teachers, aides, and other support staff.
- Put flowers, snacks, and gourmet coffees and teas in the teachers' lounge during Teacher Appreciation Week. Place small gifts in each staff person's mailbox.
- Hire a massage therapist to give 15-minute head, neck, shoulder, hand, or foot massages to the teachers and staff in the teachers' lounge.
- Coordinate a car wash and invite the school staff and teachers to get their vehicles washed for free.
- Have the students in each class create their own posters thanking their teacher. Take a picture of each student holding his or her sign. Then, put together small photo albums of the thank-you messages for the teachers.
- Give teachers the gift of time. Use volunteers to help out in classrooms throughout this week.
- Ask each teacher to complete the phrase, "If I had only one wish, it would be…" Provide large sheets of paper and have each class or small group of students illustrate its teacher's wish. Display the paintings and drawings in the school.
- Work with groups of students to write, direct, and act out skits that portray "a typical day in the life of a teacher" or "what our day would be like without Ms. or Mr." Present the skits in a classroom program or at a school-wide assembly attended by students, parents, and other community members. There are sure to be some original, humorous, and endearing scenes.
- Tell parents to take time to write personal thank-you notes to their children's teachers. Also encourage parents to say thanks the next time they talk to their children's teachers, or to send a quick e-mail expressing their gratitude.
- Offer parents ideas for small tokens of appreciation, such as apples, bookmarks, homemade goodies or crafts, "World's Greatest Teacher" mugs, or coffee shop gift cards, to give to teachers at the beginning of Teacher Appreciation Week or each day of the week.
- Make sure teachers hear the value of their work from the students themselves. Have students share thank-you messages with teachers past and present through notes, artwork, videos, stories, or other means.
- Invite students to help decorate for Teacher Appreciation Week. Provide them with a long piece of butcher paper and a pack of markers and have them design tablecloths for your teacher appreciation breakfast or luncheon. Ask them to create posters and banners to hang in the school.
- Work with students or student leadership to develop a list of five nice things they can do for teachers. Have students pledge to do one thing each day during Teacher Appreciation Week. Be sure to help students identify realistic things they can do.
- Create a Social Media (EVENT) page on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram to spread the word about your Teacher Appreciation Week activities. Share ideas and photos with the community, and encourage your community to join this forum for expressing their gratitude to teachers.
- Partner with local restaurants, coffee shops, and stores for a "free item for teachers" day during Teacher Appreciation Week.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE AND BEYOND
A Note from Dr. Cynthia Brown and the OSRHE regarding EXPLORE and PLAN
As you have likely heard or read, ACT is ending EXPLORE and PLAN and moving to an online assessment, ACT Aspire. The new assessment is simply beyond our budget at this time.
ACT is offering us EXPLORE and PLAN for the 2015-2016 at a significant price increase. Two big issues:
1. A significant price increase which we cannot afford.
2. It will be the exact same test as we have used this year...This will make the PLAN invalid as an alternate EOI assessment for Algebra I and Biology I.
For these reasons, we will be offering only EXPLORE to all private and public schools for the 2015-2016 school year. We will be sending ordering instructions for EXPLORE within the coming weeks.
TECH TIP
#GoogleEduOnAir
Join Google for a free online conference and May 8 and May 9. You"ll have the best seat in the house (your own!) to learn with other educators and leaders.