HAWK HAPPENINGS
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Every single student, every single day, in every single way.
March 17, 2019
MUST READ
Weekly Announcements
Teachers: when it is your class' turn, please send your 2-3 volunteers to the office right away so they can begin announcements at 8:30.
ACTION REQUIRED: NEWSLETTER
Family Communication was a big theme of the state visit, and they were impressed with the new newsletter we began in January -- and now we have to keep it up. There is quite a lot missing before it can go home -- and I don't want to send it with the blank boxes.
In order for that to happen, we need your contributions regarding curriculum! Click here to contribute to the MARCH/APRIL NEWSLETTER as you have done in the past. If you would like to reference what you posted in the previous months, you can find it Here for January and Here for February.
PLEASE complete this for your grade level, your content area, etc. ASAP.
DATA Meeting Follow-up
- Students whose scale scores we highlighted in pink are students we want to keep a special eye on in the weeks to come. They are students who scored a high level 2 or a low level 3 last year. If we could push these students to all score at least a level 3 this year, we would be very successful.
- If you have students who refused the exam last year but could possibly score a 3 or 4 on the assessment this year, and you have a positive relationship with the parents, think about encouraging them to take the tests this year. The tests are untimed, shorter than in the past, and can be good practice for them now when they are "low stakes" for them before they take Regents exams (which can't be refused) which sometimes start in 8th grade. Their passing score could have a positive impact on our school rating, so we hope they might love our school more than they hate the test.
- Don't forget to submit RTI paperwork on students if we flagged them for that during our meetings.
ELA HAPPENINGS
Christine McCourt’s Schedule for Wednesday- 3/6/19
8:45-9:25- Galiano- Room 21
9:30-10:10- Flores- Room 28
10:15-10:55- Lunch
11:00- Rossi/Tama- Room 25
11:30- Levy/Tama (Debrief in classroom) - Room 24
12:30- Thompson (Debrief in classroom)- Room 16
1:15- Fernandez- Room 30
Debrief Time: (In Art Room)- Room 8
2:00-2:10- Fernandez (Solia will cover)
2:10-2:20- Flores (Solia will cover)
2:20-2:30- Galiano (Hess will cover)
2:30-2:40- Rossi/Tama (Mendello will cover)
WRITER'S BLOCK IN WRITING WORKSHOP
Two authors who I follow on Facebook recently made posts that I wanted to share with you, so you can share with your students during Writing Workshop. I do not personally know Kate DiCamilo, but I like her work. I have met Jarrett Krosoczka because he did an author visit at my old school and I really like his story. If you haven't read his kids books or seen his TED Talks, I encourage you to do so. (How a Boy Became an Artist and Why Lunch Ladies are Heroes)
Anyway, I think it would be good for kids to see that professional authors also feel the frustration in writing when the ideas don't come easily and self-doubt begins to set in. So show them these posts, and show them all of the books these authors have published, so they can see they are in good company. See below:
MATH HAPPENINGS
Dr. Ardito will NOT be here this week. We look forward to seeing him next week again!
While this article deals with a middle school, it has some cool ideas for infusing math into daily life and other content areas. It's short -- take a look:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/math-all-around-us
We have a Math Interim Assessment scheduled for Friday, which will mean testing conditions. The modifications for some students may be slightly different from the one we administered for the ELA, so pay close attention.
LESSON PLANS
Reminder: THREE THINGS TO FOCUS ON IN 2019
1). Authentic, caring relationships with every student
2) Differentiated, data-informed instruction
3) Common, standards-based assessment with timely, actionable feedback
If we are successful with these three priorities, we will truly positively impact every student, every day, in every way.