BARBER BULLETIN
October 16-20, 2017
Pontiac Pride!
School spirit is the positive attitude students and teachers have about their school. ... School spirit and school pride go hand in hand.
I am so proud of our school, and more importantly, the people inside the building that make it such a special place.
Recently, however, rather than it just being a cliche, I have really spent time reflecting and journaling what makes Pontiac such a special place.
Our school vision captures it beautifully.......We are creating joyful leaders and learners!
I think of our recent Fall Fest! Over 400 students and their families came out to support this PTO event and enjoy savored time together beyond the school day! What a special event it was for our students!
I think of the sense of pride I felt after Dr. Sheley's visit on our campus. She was incredibly complimentary of the warm welcome she felt as well as how focused each classroom was as she walked the building.
I revisit Dr. Baron Davis' visit and how impressed he was with the innovative teaching he saw in multiple classrooms.
I continue to be humbled by our experience at Teach to Lead - only 28 school teams from around the COUNTRY were accepted, and Pontiac was there and invested in building a culture of innovation at our school.
I applaud our Kindergarten teachers who completed a very daunting KRA state assessment with all of their students more than 10 days prior to it's due date!
I stand in awe of our ACTION TEAMS and the good stuff that is coming from each team's work for our school. Student leadership roles are plentiful and students are eager to serve their school in multiple ways!
I congratulate teachers for adopting a new district instructional model with such ease this school year. Your classrooms exemplify learning and high engagement.
I appreciate the RTI instructional assistants that synergized with new team members to benefit students and maximize student learning outcomes!
Our Global teachers continue to fill my bucket. Did you know that they welcome Mr. Koch's and Ms. Yarbro's students each morning into their classroom for 20 minutes? What great joy this brings to these students to paint, play music, and be active! They practiced the habit of Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood to pull this together for these students!
I am beyond grateful for Chloe Abbes and Cami Bruns who keep our media center buzzing with kids excited about reading! These two continue to seek out new ideas for our school library and their excitement is contagious!
Our office staff does so much for us behind the scenes without the need for applause or appreciation - though they deserve it so often for the help they provide for special school events, teacher needs, and parent requests!
I could go on and on with the pride I feel for our school community!
Our school is our home away from home. It is a safe place for our students and a place where the staff has established beautiful, lifelong friendships with one another.
School pride is a feeling deep down inside of us. We feel it each morning when we walk through the front doors of our building. It’s pride, it's caring, it's treating each other with respect and it is stretching ourselves for others.
Can you think of examples of school pride at our school? I would love to hear your thoughts this week at Coffee and Conversation.
Updates from Faculty Advisory Council
- Choices for school calendars for 2018-2019 are coming soon! Please look closely at these and vote for your preference!
- BlackBoard messaging, primarily used for parent communication, is being piloted by specific teachers around the district in hopes that this becomes an easy, systematic approach to communication district-wide.
- Rubicon Atlas has been released by our district curriculum team. Pacing guides and resources are available on this site for all grade levels.
Please let our FAC reps know if you have additional questions about any of these updates!
Learning from Others
- Are you a K-2 teaching interested in learning more effective ways for implementing Lucy Calkins? I have arranged a school visit to LCE Lower on November 1 and 2.
- Are you still looking for ways to integrate the Leader in Me in the teaching and learning process? Saxe Gotha conducts a school wide leadership pep rally each month for grades K-2 and grades 3-5.
- Are you interested in Blended Learning but not quite sure what it looks like? Visit Blythewood High and Rice Creek for classroom models of this teaching strategy.
I look forward to hearing from you if you are interested in these opportunities!
A message from Deputy Proctor:
A Look at our Week Ahead:
3:30pm Lighthouse Team meeting
Tuesday:
Math PD with Carol and Elizabeth during planning in the BrainForest!
3:30pm Byte of Technology PD hosted by C.Turner
5:30PM Strategic Planning meeting
Wednesday:
7:30am Coffee and Conversation with Katie in the BrainForest! Come get a cup of coffee and share your joy, share your questions, or share your concerns with me!
10:05am Montessori Community meeting
3:30pm AVID site team meeting in the BrainForest
Thursday:
Understanding Others Day
11:30am Early Dismissal
12pm Paper Tigers Trauma training for all teacher assistants in the media center
Friday:
District Inservice - did you sign up in SCHED?
Clemson is offering ESOL add on certification and Masters of Education in Literacy!
Are you interested in becoming certified in teaching ESOL? Starting this spring, Clemson University College of Education will be offering the ESOL add on certification courses online. The five required courses will be offered fully online from Spring 2018 through Fall 2018. If you are interested in more information about this certification, K.Barber has a detailed flyer for you!
If you are interested in attaining their full Masters of Education in Literacy, Clemson University offers the program with two possible endorsements: Literacy Coaching and ESOL. Additionally, all Read to Succeed coursework is completed through the M.Ed. K.Barber has a detailed flyer for you that contains more information about the degree.