Monday Memo
Hemlock & K.C. Ling Elementary Newsletter
The Week of May 7th - 11th
Peek at the Week
Monday, May 7th
Pledge Rotation - Mrs. Grandy's Class
Interview Committee Meeting - 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (Klopf, Hahn, Siler, Gensch)
Tuesday, May 8th
K & 1st Grade Art Club - 2:45 - 4:00
M-STEP Testing - 3rd Grade
Love of the Arts Night - Hemlock High School 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 9th
M-STEP Testing - 4th Grade
Admin Council - 12:45 p.m. (Lori)
Staff Meeting - 2:55-3:55 p.m.
Thursday, May 10th
Interviews - 8:00 - 2:30 p.m. (Klopf, Hahn, Siler, Gensch)
2nd - 4th Grade Art Club - 2:45 - 4:00 p.m.
PBIS Meeting - 2:55-3:55 p.m.
Friday, May 11th
Popcorn Sale for 2nd Grade - Regular $0.50 or Red, White & Blue $1.00
Muffins with Mom
FIRE DRILL - TIMES TBD
Candy Bingo - K.C. Ling 6:00 p.m.
From the Principal's Desk....
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! As a small token of my appreciation for all the time and energy you devote to our students, I would like to celebrate each of you with special treats throughout the week. Please refer to the schedule I sent out earlier for details.
Fire Drill - We will conduct our final fire drill of the year on Friday, May 11th. Times will be announced later in the week.
Staff Meeting - We will have our final staff meeting of the year on Wednesday, May 9th. Please make every effort to be in attendance.
Teaching Interviews - Interviews will take place in the STEAM room on Thursday, May 10th.
Announced Observations - If you haven't done so already, please schedule a time for me to observe in your classroom as soon as possible.
Love of the Arts Night- Love of the Arts Night is scheduled for May 8th from 5-9 p.m.
Field Day - Field Day has been scheduled for Monday, June 4th.
PAWS Passes - Please make sure you are consistently giving out PAWS passes throughout the week. We want to make sure we are reinforcing positive behavior. Also, please spend some time when we return from Spring Break reviewing the expectations in shared spaces.
- Lesson Plans - Lesson plans should be up-to-date on the first student day of each week.
Important M-STEP Reminders
· Online administration manuals were placed in your mailboxes last week. Please be sure to read through this prior to the start of your first testing session.
· Testing tickets – On the morning of each scheduled testing session, your tickets will be placed in your mailbox for pick up. Testing tickets must be collected after students have logged in as they may need them later in the day. Please be sure to turn in all of your testing tickets by the end of each testing day so that I can ensure that they are disposed of properly.
· Students that miss a session, or simply do not finish, need to be added to the Google Sheet. This will help me schedule make-up sessions. Additionally, students that arrive late to a testing should be allowed to begin and complete as much as possible, unless you deem otherwise.
· You must complete a seating chart for each test session you administer.
· It is imperative that students/classes are quiet when traveling the hallways.
· Students should only be allowed to read their independent reading books following a testing session.
· Classroom posters/charts must be covered.
· At any point if a problem arises during testing, or if you have a question, please contact Becky at 3000 or myself at 3010. I will make sure you get what you need as quickly as possible.
Two M-STEP Sessions in the Same Day
· Please caution students that there is a difference between PAUSING and ENDING an online test. This difference can significantly impact what happens when students intend to resume testing after a scheduled break.
Any online test can be paused by using the blue Pause button on the bottom of the screen. When pause is selected, the screen immediately displays a digital clock that is ticking down from 20 minutes. The clock displays the minutes and seconds remaining until the test status is changed to “exited”. If a student resumes testing within 20 minutes it is NOT necessary to re-enter a username and password. If the test has been “exited”, it is similar to a time-out feature and will require the student to have their original ticket and re-login in with username and password. Pause should be selected for a scheduled break. Pause then Exit should be selected if the break is scheduled to exceed 20 minutes. This is extremely important when you have two testing sessions in the same day with just one testing ticket. You will need to redistribute test tickets so that students will be able to login again.
Ending a test, which is accomplished by clicking on the green Review/End button on the bottom of the screen should only be selected when the student has completed the test. The Review/End button is used to submit the test and if a test is submitted before it is completed, it will be locked and CANNOT be re-opened.
When the Review/End option is selected the student will see a screen that shows item numbers and item type. Completed answers are shaded in gray. From this screen, students may return to questions to complete any item that is not shaded or, End the test. If the student chooses to click End, they will receive an additional warning screen that advises students to be sure they have answered all of the questions. At that point, a student can still return to the review screen or continue to End and submit the test.
Starting an Online Testing Session
Once students have logged in, the teacher must then read the directions as the students navigate them on the computer. Please make sure that students are not clicking ahead, and thus, accidentally ENDING their test session. If students happen to race ahead of the teacher, they may try to get back to where they should have been and inadvertently END their test. Teachers, please stress the importance of staying with you during the directions portion of the M-STEP testing process.
Calling All Teachers....
Lori Gensch, Principal
Hemlock & K.C. Ling Elementary
Email: gensch@hemlockps.com
Website: www.hemlockps.com
Location: 835 North Pine Street, Hemlock, MI, United States
Phone: 989-642-5235