The Eagle’s Eye
King Elementary School Instructional Newsletter
Week of December 7th-December 11th
Principal's Message
This week I would like for you to reflect on what is the “voice” your students hear in the classroom when they start their day. Does the voice they hear inspire them? Do they hear, “this will be hard, but you can do it!” Or does the voice they hear discourage them and make them hear, “I don’t believe you can do this!” This voice, what we call self-talk, can be positive and motivate our students---or it can be negative and act as a deterrent to their success.
It is important that students hear our expectations not our frustrations all of the time. This week think about how well are you conveying your expectations to your students….are they high or are they low? I have always found that students will rise and fall to the expectations we have for them. Will your words speak life and success into your students or will it shatter their self-esteem and self-concept?
There is great power in building positive relationships…think about what your relationship with the students in your classroom looks and sounds like?
Be Great,
Dr. Jermaine Wilson
Kudos and Care Corner
KUDOS to the following staff members for outstanding instructional practices observed during the KCPS principal walkthrough: Kindergarten Team, Mrs. Madden, Mrs. Abram, and Ms. Ramirez!
KUDOS to the following staff members for outstanding classroom management practices including walking with PBIS expectations observed during the KCPS principal walkthrough: Mrs. Madden, Ms. Wheeler, Ms. Ramirez, Mrs. Abram, Ms. Hawkins, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Majors!
KUDOS to Ms. Culp, Ms. McRoy, and Ms. Scott for chaperoning and coordinating the IBM Christmas for Students in Need program.
KUDOS to Mrs. Cunningham for organizing our field trips and coordinating activities outside of the school for our students.
KUDOS to Ms. Rohr, Ms. Wilson, Mrs. Carter, Ms. Stockwell, and Ms. Willeford for representing our district exceptionally well during the state Exceptional Education audit that occurred last week. The audit team gave them high praise and compliments on their documentation and skills!
Early Retirement or Resignation Notice
Forms must be completed by the employee and submitted by the principal. If you would like a packet, please email me ASAP.
Data Consults
Due to the many activities/professional development we have this week, the Data Consults for K-6th Grade King Elementary teachers have been rescheduled. You should have received an email stating the change of date for your meeting.
As an unaccredited school in the district, we must monitor and engage staff members in a process of reflecting and discussing the impact of core instruction occurring within their classrooms. We will either have a person from the BOE or MOSIG to sit on the consult team with our staff. Staff members should create a PowerPoint presentation and additional anecdotal data to share with the team.
Each consult should only take about 30 minutes and we will have a substitute scheduled as to not interfere with your planning periods. If you need assistance, please ask a veteran team member, administrator, or a TMC to help you gather the data that you will need. I will be sending out a Powerpoint Template that you can use if you do not wish to create your own. Below are the data points you should be ready to discuss (revised):
1. Provide us with a review of student learning from the beginning of the school year to the present date.
2. Where were students in August (baseline data for ELA & Mathematics- MAP and Fall NWEA)?
3. How many of your students met their growth targets from NWEA Fall 2014 to Fall 2015?
4. What does the trajectory of progress look like from month-to-month? What are your STAR Progress Monitoring results telling you? (if applicable) If your grade level is not using STAR, how are you monitoring growth?
5. How many of the individual students met their growth targets? How many are on track to be proficient, close to proficient performance, and far from proficient performance? (proficient= on grade level)
6. What do I expect students to learn as a result of my class? (evidence)
7. How do I know that my students are learning? (evidence)
8. How do I respond when my students do not learn? (evidence)
9. How do I respond when my students have already mastered the content? (evidence)
10. What is the 90/90 Attendance Rate for your class? What improvements have you noticed? Who are your students that need attendance intervention? What are you doing as an intervention?
11. What things are you implementing to make students enjoy and look forward to being a part of your classroom?
12. How many discipline referrals have you submitted this year?
13. What are the strategies and interventions you have used for Tier 2 and 3 Behavior students?
Schedule- December 10th
- 9:00- Reese
- 9:40- Wheeler
- 10:20- Hill
- 11:40- Ricketts
- 12:20- Ramirez
- 1:00- Gotschall
- 1:40- Abram
- 2:20- Powell
Schedule- December 11th
- 9:00- Madden
- 9:40- Davis
- 10:20- Haidara
- 11:00- Hawkins
- 11:40- Ihus
- 12:20- Warren
- 1:00- White
- 1:40- Majors
- 2:20- Jones
Schedule- December 14th
- 11:00- Wendell
Schedule- December 16th
- 8:45- Rodenberg
- 1:40- Poulsen
- 2:20- Walter
Classroom Management, PBIS, and School Culture
The 12 Days of "Kingmas" PBIS and Attendance Challenge
Remember that leading up to our Holiday break, each student will receive (1) Daily Attendance Ticket for a daily attendance drawing.
The winners will be able to select any item of their choice from the Eagle Bucks Store plus other special goodies. The winning students will be called to the office between 10:30am and 10:45am to shop in the Eagle Store for their prize. There will be (1) winner per classroom daily. Late students forfeit their opportunity to enter the morning drawing with no exceptions other than school bus/breakfast delays. Please encourage your students to be at school on time to get their name in the class drawing.
Each afternoon the staff should ensure that you have given your students a punch on the 12 Days of Christmas Positive Behavior Card. The PBIS Punch card will become the student’s ticket into the PBIS Winter Dance on December 17th. Students should work towards good behavior daily regardless of the required number of punches. (PLEASE TRY TO SPARE PUNCHES AND GIVE STUDENTS A LIMIT...(i.e. if you can follow the rules until lunch you will get a punch, if you can meet the expectations through dismissal--you can get a punch). There were some students that had an excess of 6 punches in one day. Remember to give students something to work for!
King Instructional Non-Negotiables
As we discussed at the last faculty meeting, due to the high need of instructional foci to help student achievement to increase at King Elementary there are some non-negotiables that we will be implementing with look-fors in all classrooms. The 6 non-negotiable areas are:
1. Lesson Plans
2. “I CAN” Statements
3. Direct Instruction
4. Small Group Instruction
5. Vocabulary Acquisition
6. Student Engagement
Lesson Plans
•Must be submitted electronically by midnight on Saturday for the upcoming week
•Feedback will be distributed among the administration and coaches
•All teachers will utilize the approved King Elementary School template
•Lesson Plans posted on or by the door
•All lesson plan components should be evident during the Instructional Week.
"I CAN" statements
•Should be based on Missouri Learning Standards in ELA, Math, and Science
•Should be visibly posted on whiteboards and can be seen by students in the classroom
•Students should be able to retell the I CAN statement
•The I CAN statement should be explained to students and revisited during the lesson at least 3-4 times.
•The I CAN statement should be aligned and be reflected in student work
•The I CAN statement should be directly linked to the success criteria (outcome of the lesson)
Direct Instruction
•Teacher restates the importance and relevance of the learning objective “I CAN” statement
•Teacher demonstrates (MODELING) the skills correctly for students. The teacher should present step by step sequence for solving problems or utilizing the skills for success; the students should have a method for recording information; and collaboratively develop an anchor chart for reference.
•The teacher should solve sample problems collaboratively with students to address student misconceptions and errors. (GUIDED PRACTICE)
•Teacher should frequently use a variety of methods to CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING.
•INDEPENDENT PRACTICE is distributed between Small Group Stations and Homework and should be explicitly stated in the lesson plan.
•The teacher should have a summarizing/assessment strategy to ensure that the learners have mastered the I CAN objective. (CLOSURE)
Small Group Instruction
•Students are grouped using a data metric (STAR or NWEA assessments)
•Protocols and rotation structures are used for Small Group Instruction
•There should be at least 3 mandatory ELA or Math activities: Re-Teaching/Enrichment @ the Teacher Table; Technology (Reading Eggs/Study Island/Imagine Learning); Practice
Activity aligned to the “I CAN” statement
Vocabulary Acquisition
•Teacher should be using instructional or grade level specific academic word lists
•Teacher should identify 6-10 academic terms per lesson to emphasize
•Teacher should implement the Frayer Model or 4-Square Diagram when introducing new words.
•Students should be maintaining vocabulary folders or journals in the classroom
•Students should practice/interact with academic vocabulary in at least one of four ways: Word Walls (authentic); Practice Stations for Vocabulary; and Vocabulary Games
•A functional word wall should be referenced by the teacher and utilized by the students in structured dialogue
Thoughtful and efficient lesson planning can help you to achieve all of these aspects. We will continue to get feedback on how you can support your team members in achieving success with these 6 areas. Below you will find a link for the look-fors and aspects of each non-negotiable with the exception of #6.
Staff Holiday Activities
THANKS to the Faculty Advisory Committee for planning our Holiday Activities for the month of December! As always...we encourage 100% participation!
- All door decorations must be completed by December 4th. Judging will take place between December 10th and 11th. Categories for judging will be: Creativity, Neatness, Originality, and Overall Appearance. Grading scale will be 1-5 (1- low and 5- high). The Judges will be Dr. Wilson and Mr. Kinkade. Prizes will be 1st Place- $50.00 gift card, 2nd place- $20.00 gift card, and 3rd place- $10.00 gift card to be presented at the December 16th Wednesday meeting.
Week of December 7th (Staff Card Exchange)
- Staff will bring holiday cards to either be given or placed in the mail boxes of other staff members. The exchange will take place December 7th-9th. All cards should be displayed in your classroom, door, or office.
Week of December 14th (The Nutcracker "Sweet")
- Staff members will bring Holiday goodies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week based on floor location. Each day will have a theme for the type of food to be displayed. The treats will be housed in the 1st floor conference room
- Tuesday, December 15th- 1st Floor Theme is "The Candy Bar" ...
- Wednesday, December 16th- 3rd Floor Theme is "The Cookie Bar"...
- Thursday, December 17th- 2nd Floor Theme is "The Sweet and Salty Bar"...
- Items should be dropped off in the morning upon arrival. If you would rather bring a healthy item, feel free. Don't forget to pick up any trays or utensils you brought at the end of the day.
FRIDAYS in December- Staff and Students are ENCOURAGED to wear Holiday Attire!
Upcoming Dates to Remember
December 10th- Data Consults
December 11th- Data Consults
December 14th- Data ConsultsDecember 14th- MOSIG Site Visit (PM)
December 15th- MOSIG Site Visit (AM)
December 16th- Data Consults
December 17th- PBIS Celebrations (Polar Express K-2 / Dance 3-6)
King Elementary School
“Ensuring Student Success through Quality Instruction and Culture”
Email: jwilson@kcpublicschools.org
Website: www.kcpublicschools.org/king
Location: 4848 Woodland Avenue, KCMO, MO, United States
Phone: (816) 418-2475