Forest Heights News
The week of 4/13/15
What is happening at the Heights...
April 13 - 1st day back at FHES after Spring Break!
April 13 - Rice @ NC Ready Principal's Meeting
April 13 - NO EC CLASSES until your students are called for please.
April 14 - Scholastic Book Fair
April 16 - 8-11 am Doughnuts for Grands at our Bookfair.
April 20 - 10am PreK from Rankin 1-3 (20 children) Visit to Kindergarten
April 20 - Bookfair Ends
April 20 & 21 - Dr. Goins at PLC @ FHES
April 21 - Principal Meeting
April 22 - Hunter Huss Students Earth Day Project @ FHES
April 22 - 5th Grade to Catawba Science Center
April 23 - Cardinal of the Month
April 23 - Flex Benefits Meeting
June 12 - Flexible Benefits enrollment closes
April Birthdays
Savonne Roberts Birthday April 1st
Stephanie Watt's Birthday April 4th
Barbara Putnam's Birthday April 9th
AR IS NOT DEAD @ FHES
Research says...
Results:
Overall, students using AR™ experienced better than expected growth The median student growth percentile (SGP) was higher for students using Accelerated Reader, meaning AR students realized more annual growth than students not using the program. The better AR was implemented, the more students grew.
Students who complete the recommended amount of reading with AR nearly twice as likely to be college and career ready.
Rice says...
Set the goal high for the 4th 9 weeks. Let your students know that there will be a CHROMEBOOK given away at the end of the quarter so get to reading and reflecting. Please issue your students spiral notebooks or some way to document their reading; who what when where and why from their reading. I would also suggest that they document or identify the setting, characters, and the different parts of the story, such as the beginning, middle, and end or conclusion. This documentation can be a student's pass to go to take the AR test. I really like the resource below that inspires teachers to set up teams within the class. Read more by clicking the links below.
"Teachers you are the beginning to helping this community bring back hope and believe in themselves. Can you inspire reading? I think you can! Reading can ignite learning, imagination and dreams and students can do whatever they dream."
-original quote of LRR :-)
Benchmarks
EC Changes
We would like to Welcome Mrs. Rhonda Tindall and Mrs. Joy McCray after Spring Break.
EC will operate a slight bit different to get us to the end of our school year. This is good news for our kids. . . Help is on the way. Think of it as great opportunity to run other interventions or get student specific help!
- The student schedules may be tweaked just a bit to fit the hours the ladies have available and meet the service requirements of our students.
- Teachers will place work for students in EC Department Box. I will go over this briefly on Tuesday with your grade level facilitator. Go ahead and start finding things now.
- If your student has read aloud, separate setting or other testing accommodations, Please place his or her test in the work folder and place it in the EC Department box. It is located mid-way on the right side of the teacher boxes in the work room. We will use the mailbox system to send items back in forth unless you have new material or items that must travel with the student. (folders will be provided)
- Kim Harmon, our district level DEC facilitator, may at times email you for IEP specific information such as struggles and strengths of a student.
- NO EC CLASSES ON MONDAY
What the Best North Carolina Teachers Do
What the Best North Carolina Teachers Do: A Video Series - Want insight into the strategies and techniques that award-winning North Carolina teachers use in their classrooms? The video series, “What the Best North Carolina Teachers Do,” provides you with these insights, straight from the teachers themselves! District, regional and state Teachers of the Year were asked about what makes them successful and their students soar. Among the topics addressed in the series are:
- differentiation;
- classroom organization;
- “hooking” reluctant learners; and
- advice for new teachers and much more!
To find out more about the project and view the interviews, just participate in the mini-module through Home Base or visit the project website at http://rt3nc.org/ncvideo. If you are interested in sharing your best practices, please contact Educator Effectiveness Web Manager Andrew Horne at andrew.horne@dpi.nc.gov.
Information about Ron L. Ensley mini-grants for teachers
Attention, Teachers: Information about the Ron L. Ensley mini-grant program is available now. Click here to print the application. The mini-grants are presented by the Gaston County Education Foundation and fund innovative classroom lessons and projects. The application deadline is Friday, April 24.
Spotlight
New Dates for Teaching & Learning Conference 2015
New Dates for Teaching & Learning Conference 2015
The new dates for the annual Gaston County Schools Teaching & Learning Conference are August 11-12 at Gaston College -- make sure to update your calendar! (The original dates were August 5-6.) The Teaching and Learning Conference is an outstanding professional development event for teachers and school employees and helps us to get the new school year off to a great start. Make plans to attend!
Don't forget to sign...
Adopt -A- Class / Foster Classes
I did not want to get students off track from studies, learning and working; so I only planned for the 2 weeks prior to testing. Please do not interrupt our students instructional time to show your support. Make arrangements with your Foster Classroom Leader to find suitable times to drop in if the item can not be left in the teachers box or electronically delivered into the classroom. Recess and Lunch are always winning times.
You are receiving this information early so that if you need to plan, class list and counts there will be time. Have fun and make sure you keep me updated on your plans.