Friday Faculty Focus
News and Notes about #BeBCMS-
#ThankfulHearts
My heart is thankful for another great week at BCMS! I appreciate your efforts to continue to make your learning engaging and rigorous. We have just five days before we take a week off to rest and recharge, so I want to make sure that everyone is making these next five days of instruction ELITE! We will be using the high impact rubric on the 5x5 walk throughs beginning Monday. On Tuesday, be prepared for lots of visitors in your classrooms. Wednesday I will be at the Board of Education for the monthly Principal's Meeting.
A HUGE shout out to Ms. Opper and Mr. Forrester and everyone who contributed to putting together our ELITE Veterans Day Celebration! Truly it was a proud principal moment and I was just overwhelmed with pride!
Please continue to collect canned goods and non-perishable items for our canned food drive sponsored by BCMS Student Council!
I am very interested in the use of the single point rubric as we shift our focus on to feedback and less on the "grade." I would absolutely recommend using this in ELA and/or WIN as scholars continue to work on text structure and writing. I created one for us to use here: https://docs.google.com/a/bryan.k12.ga.us/document/d/1MC-lMzrhgC-xaTcowb0I7REce1EhPNQ-DsedPfCULlE/edit?usp=sharing
Please USE it and give me some feedback on it!
I know we are going to have an AWESOME week with our scholars!
#BeBCMS Elite PBIS update!
The PBIS School Store is open in the mornings!
The store will be open T/W/R for ALL grades at Breakfast time.
Mr. Dinkins will be ordering new items for the store!
The next PBIS event will be right before Christmas Break. We will use Quarter 2 data (beginning with Monday Oct. 16th) and use qualifiers: No OSS / No ISS-- we will begin to have those conversations with our scholars!
We need to be all hands on deck during BREAKS and BUS RAMP. We are seeing a spike in our behavior and our discipline.
November Data:
We have had 8 full school days in November and we have already had 14 referrals. That is half of what we had total in September. Consider reviewing appropriate BCMS PBIS Expectations for your homeroom and Goal Setting periods on Monday.
RTI News and Notes (RTI: READY TO IGNITE-- Elite Interventions!)
RTI meetings are continuing. Please remember: TIER ONE IS ELITE Instruction for ALL scholars! I appreciate everyone's efforts making sure scholars are getting the correct services and working to understand the processes and procedures that we have in place.
Please be checking the RTI TEAM DRIVE for the watch notes.
Remember: Our focus is on the learning.
TEACHERS: participating in RTI meetings is not optional. They are scheduled during your planning periods, please make sure you are attending. This is TKES standards 9 and 10. You also need to bring information and conversation to the meeting. YOU know the scholars the best!
During Thanksgiving Break we will be offering this ELITE reading incentive! You will discuss this at your team meetings on Monday!
During Thanksgiving break we are challenging each scholar to read for a total of (at least) 3 hours!! For some this is a high goal to achieve, for others, it can be done in one day. Feel free to adjust this challenge for any student(s) that could achieve a higher goal.
How this Turkey-Feather FUN challenge works:
Each student will be given a feather to fill out at home during the break.
Students will return their completed feather on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH
Students who achieved their goal will be given $20 PBIS bucks AND their name will be entered into a drawing
TWO names from EACH grade level will be chosen at random and will receive a FREE lunch from McDonald’s delivered to them AT LUNCH on that day (Monday)!
Feathers – Ms. Sines will get feathers to each teacher to hand out to students on Thurs., Nov. 16 and Fri., Nov. 17th
Bulletin Board – next to the gym there is a display advertising this Turkey-Feather FUN!
Monday, Nov.27th – Ms. Sines will be in the hallway in the morning collecting feathers, giving out the PBIS bucks, and entering them in the McDonald’s drawing – winners will be announced after the attendance!
Here is the most up-to-date RTI list. https://docs.google.com/a/bryan.k12.ga.us/document/d/1z0gCRzYHFIky-1apjSnooY0nqdOPAPPnkutAB_URbDM/edit?usp=sharing
Keep the main thing: the main thing!
Staff Celebration Breakfasts!
This Friday is our FIRST All Staff Celebration Breakfast!
Here is the link to sign up:
Friday November 17th- All staff contribute
Friday December 15th- Office Squad and PTO
Friday January - 6th grade team
Friday February- 7th grade team
Friday March - 8th grade team
Friday April - Connections
Friday May - Office Squad
This week with our ILT
Beginning next week, in your weekly work with Katherine, you will be getting your domain grade level Milestone data and then you will drill down to your own specific data.
Science and Social Studies (6/7) will look reading data aligned with the literacy standards for your subject area and we will make sure you are embedding that literacy in your subject area. Please prepare yourself to do some intense work and study within our schoolhouse data and your content data. This practice will help us grow our scholars.
Important Events!
Monday- #CelebrateMonday,
Tuesday- #TerrificTuesday, Georgia Department of School Effectiveness Visits, Home Basketball Games
Wednesday- #WinWednesday, Principal's Meetings at BOE
Thursday-#ThankfulThursday, Leadership 7:40, Ms. Jersey's Thanksgiving Feast
Friday- #FocusFriday, Staff Potluck (workroom), Clubs
No School The week of November 20th
Classes resume Monday November 27th!
Upcoming:
11/29 Scholars of the Month DUE to Mr. Scott
11/30 Kona Ice!(Thursday!)
11/30 Scholars of the Month celebration
12/12 Holiday Concert and Art Gallery
12/12 Parent University Expo
12/19 Holiday Concert and Ary Gallery
Focus on..... QUALITY instruction...What IS Collaboration?
What is collaboration? I can tell you what it is NOT: It is not grouping your desks into pods of four or groups of two. And you know what else? Just because you have your class set in rows doesn't necessarily mean you aren't collaborating.
So: what's the golden ticket? YOU. You are the factor in creating collaborative environments.
Collaboration happens when two or more people share ideas built on learning or thoughts and then those little ideas grow into BIG time thoughts!
HOW can you create collaborative learning environments? You must have the relationship! That goes for adult learning too! Be transparent, value everyone's ideas, take time together...that is true collaboration. With true collaboration, your learning experiences will be out of this world!
THIS:
Heads together excitedly sharing thoughts and ideas with an end result that surpasses expectations.
That is collaboration.
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 are ExExExCited for this incredible professional learning!
Preplanning: Q3 and Q4 offerings will be out in November so you can decide which quarter will be your passion project (off)
PLEASE DO this survey on our Innovation Center. We need this feedback so we can continue to work on providing the best professional learning opportunities for you to grow our scholars!
- Supervision: PLEASE make sure you are at your supervision spots on time. The supervision schedule is here:
If supervision at lunch does not improve, we will be assigning supervision posts.
- Lesson Designs: Make sure data is driving your planning and have your lesson plans uploaded in the Team Drive Folders and on your clipboards available. AB, KW, and I look at all lesson plans as we continue TKES classroom walk thrus. We are looking for ACTIVE engagement. Lesson plans are not optional. Get them updated and get them posted and accessible.
- November begins the FULL 30 minute TKES observations.
- CANNED food goes until the end of the week. Our school goal is 2 cans per every PERSON in the schoolhouse! Winning homeroom wins a doughnut party! All food is donated to Bryan County Family Connection! We have many families who rely on Family Connection! We are 1000 cans away from our goal!
- Please start reminding scholars to eat breakfast as soon as they enter the gym. We need scholars to be ON TIME to class and we need to model and remind this basic LIFE expectation!
- Please take a look at this information in regards to building capacity as a Title 1 school for us as professionals. We will discuss this information at your next Team Meetings.
http://www.gadoe.org/School-Improvement/Federal-Programs/Partnerships/Pages/Handbook.aspx
- Compliance Checks - #CelebrateMonday with 5x5s! Lesson designs need to be standards based and match standards based instruction. The new 5X5 feedback reflects this.
- Meetings Schedules: Monday: TEAM, Tuesday: RTI, Wednesday: Math ,Thursday: ELA , Friday: Science and Social Studies
- "YOU are LATE to school" passes will be on sale. Buy packs of 4 passes for $10.00 and come to school at 8:00 AM.
#LoveTheProcess
November Teacher Challenge!
Get ready for the tickets! They are coming out Monday! I am ExExExCited to see the awesome engagement activities you have planned this week!
The prize?
A day off the first week of December and I will teach your classes! You better leave me ELITE lesson plans! :)
What I'm Reading....
#BooksForDay
I spent much of this week looking for and reading articles that center around the idea of "support". What does it mean when you say "let me know what I can do to support you?"
I love the work of George Couros and found one of his blogs titled "Successful People Initiate." The blog illustrates what separates average from ELITE, what separates good from great..... being successful means you are ACTIVE...you go get it!
People who are constantly saying "what can I do to support you" are not true innovators of change or success. They find time to say those words and to go to meetings or my favorite...go on the conference tour (!!!) but they aren't implementing those things back into the schoolhouse that could be beneficial for our scholars or teachers.
Your challenge this week is to read one of his blog posts and critically think about what you can do to separate yourself from good to great. What is one practice you can amp up in your classroom and take to the next level? What is something that you need from ME to be an ELITE educator?
And I promise you, I will limit my use of the "support" mantra, and increase my DOING the work platform!
https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/7817
L
Tweet....Tweet....Tweet...
KEEP tweeting and telling our story! We are changing the narrative of what people know and think about Bryan County Middle School #OneTweetAtATime
Also, tag me @missliz31 and BCMS @BryanCountyMS in all your awesome tweets please!
Classroom management isn't control. It's about engagement, building relationships, & coaching kids to self regulate. #satchat #LeadLap
C.J. Cain @CJCain7 22h22 hours ago
If you are striving to get better, then you are always growing. To be the best you have to be willing to be uncomfortable. #leadlap
Craig Smith @CSmithGoBlue Oct 30
Genuine enthusiasm: If you visibly enjoy what you do, there's a much better chance people around you will, too. #edchat #LeadLAP #LeadUpChat
aromoslawski @aromoslawski Oct 30
"Programs don't teach kids; teachers do AND teachers are capable of making magic happen for kids." #LeadLAP
Sign Up to Help Winter Athletics
Winter Athletic Season is upon us! We are ExExExCited for both Boy's and Girl's Basketball. Please use this link to sign up for volunteering for Tickets and Concessions.
Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_1OMOYKnSbHYTcz-Updx9acfZBlXreyGefYeiYjv2-0tpVg/viewform
WIN-- Whatever I Need!
WIN update!
The new guidelines are in place for WIN. It is a MORAL IMPERATIVE that we grow scholars during this time.
By now, everyone should have realigned the class and given the Short Form Map in either ELA or Math. Now, it's time to get down to the teaching and the lesson designs. We have 15 schools days until the next short form progress monitoring MAP test.
Math teachers, you have all been entered into GRASP to use for additional progress monitoring tools and formatives.
We will continue to discuss WIN obstacles and work through them together as a team. It is easy to identify the barriers of WHY it won't work: be an innovator: MAKE it work.
Counselor News and Notes
United Way donations are due by Thursday! PLEASE consider making a donation! Even a $20.00 donation! If we get to 100% of our staff donating in some form, we will have a Celebration Party. Last year, BCMS raised $300.00 for United Way. I would be so ExExExCited if we got to $1000.00! If you want a payroll deduction form, please see Ms. George. Thank you for supporting our families through the United Way.
#RTB
Josh Adams is my favorite player in FBS football right now. Of course, living in Indiana for eight years makes me an automatic IRISH fan....BUT I am in love with that U "Turnover Chain" (PLUS Mark Richt might be one of the most amazing humans on the planet)
With all the hype surrounding the U vs. Norte Dame, I thought it would be sweet to highlight the eliteness that is Josh Adams. He has a great story-- but even more than that, running backs are like educators! They have to tuck the ball and run fast (sometimes), they have to make cuts and turns on a dime (often), and they need to keep their feet (always). No matter the circumstance, we always have to keep our eyes on the prize (growth or touchdowns) and keep rowing the boat!
I hope you enjoy your football Saturday! #PlayLikeAChampionTODAY
#BeBCMS
L