East Middle School Staff Memo
V.2017.18. Issue 33- April 8
NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE
Building Open Sunday, April 1st 9:30-12:00pm
Monday — 4/9 - CMAS Testing Day 1 - Unit 1 ELA
- 8:00 am - 7th Grade Boys Soccer vs. North @ North; 8th @ East
- 8:00 am - 7th Grade Girls Basketball vs. North @ North; 8th @ East
Wednesday - 4/11 - CMAS Testing Day 3 - Units 1 & 2 Math
Thursday - 4/12 - CMAS Testing Day 4 - Unit 3 ELA
- APS School Leader's Meeting - Houston Out
- 8:00 am - 7th Grade Boys Soccer vs. AHills @ East; 8th @ East
- 8:00 am - 7th Grade Girls Basketball vs. AHills @ East; 8th @ AHills
- 4:45 pm - East Happy Hour @ Bar Louie's in Northfield
KUDOS
Kudos to Sarah Christensen for supporting staff when they are out of the building. She used her lunch to help create sub plans after the sub LOST the plans the teacher provided!
KUDOS to all the staff that made videos to pump up our kiddos for the test. They absolutely loved it!
KUDOS to Abby Hinga for "bow tieing" some of our amazing soccer players! Thank you for all you do!
KUDOS to Barb for getting all the testing bins ready to go. It's time to CMAS!!
KUDOS to Corey Ryan for getting us ready for our inaugural year of Passion Projects! Thank you for thinking outside the box! Thank you to Michelle for all her help getting these courses scheduled into IC - not an east feat!
KUDOS to the RL's for training our student mediators on Peer Panel (peer court)! Students will take their first case this week - how exciting!
10 Reminders for Testing...
10. Every testing classroom will have a breakfast cooler that will need to be picked up from the cafeteria. When students are done with breakfast, the cooler should be left outside the classroom.
9. One student out of the testing room at a time with a pass to get a drink or use the restroom; please e-mail eastsupport if a student needs to go to the nurse, so the student can be escorted. We really want students to finish testing before going to the nurse if possible.
8. Place the "Do Not Disturb" Sign on your door, and display the table below on your Promethean board or dry erase board. (see email for table).
7. No electronics!! Have students write their name on a sticky note and place it on their cell phone (and any other electronics) before turning it in. Remind students to turn off their electronics! Secure the electronics during testing, and the test administrator should hand back the electronics to individual students at the end of the testing unit.
6. On your roster, mark who is present/absent each day of testing. Also, mark how many rock the test tickets students received for that day. Please indicate on this spreadsheet your start/end time for your testing session so we can monitor if we need to make any adjustments to the daily schedule.
5. One "Stand and Stretch" break up to 3 minutes is permitted during each testing unit. The clock does stop for this break, but students can't talk or use their phones during this time.
4. Tickets are double-sided! Make sure students are using their username/password from the ELA side of the ticket.
3. Only students, test administrators, and authorized school/district personnel are allowed in the testing room. Parents/family members and the media are not allowed.
2. Test administrators may not assist students with technology enhanced items or provide any feedback to students. Also, never take any pictures of test items!
1. To kick off testing, we will have doughnuts and coffee in the lounge starting at 7:30. You can also pick up your bin starting at this time in the Main Office.
CMAS Testing Day Resources
Below you will find links to the resources that Dr. Gelman provided on the day of CMAS training. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Gelman.
Final CMAS Rosters
General Resources
- Training PowerPoint
- CMAS Schedule-2018
- Staff CMAS Website with links to Resources/Directions
- CMAS Test Administrator Manual
Directions
Passion Project Update
When it came to scheduling students:
- In almost all cases, we scheduled students for one of their top two choices.
- In many cases, we were able to schedule students for their top two choices.
- In all cases, students are in two of their top four choices (unless they selected a class more than once on their form).
Teachers, you should be able to view your rosters in IC. Let Adam know if you can’t!
Students will receive their “passion project” schedule on Monday at the end of the testing session. These are being put in testing bins right now.
Rock the Test Tickets!
This year, every student can receive one “Rock The Test” ticket at the end of each testing unit. This will be based on students taking their time during the test, effort, going back and checking their work, etc. The week after testing, students will be able to use their “Rocked The Test” tickets to buy their way into an event of their choice during the school day. Options for those events will include staff vs. student dodgeball, extra recess, movie in the auditorium, etc. We want to find out what events students would like to attend now (and to see if they have any ideas we haven’t thought of), so we can start figuring out the logistics.
During the CMAS practice session tomorrow (or before), you will receive forms (like the one below) for students to fill out and vote for their reward. Please return these forms to Barb once your class has filled them out.
Jeans for $5 and the Carnival!
Just a friendly reminder that you can wear jean tomorrow and the rest of this week for $5. Money will go towards the end of year carnival for our students.
If you are interested, please pay Susan on Monday!
Thanks,
PBiS
East Happy Hour (Buy YOD)
Friday, Apr 13, 2018, 04:45 PM
Bar Louie, Northfield Boulevard, Denver, CO, USA
Writing Committee Updates
As you know, the writing committee has been working hard to develop our school wide approach to supporting writing across the content. Below are the committees current thoughts and findings for the next stages of this work.
- There is a need for more cohesion with the C-E-R colors across the building. Green = Claim & Conclusion, Yellow = Evidence, Red = Reasoning
- There is a building wide need to dig into “reasoning.” Many students are repeating the evidence as their reasoning. Guiding Question: How do we teach reasoning?
- The reasoning is the “so what?” question to the evidence.
- Some teachers are using these frames for reasoning: “This means…. This matters…”
- There is a difference between a “reason” and the “reasoning.”
- How do we support each other in the building with using the East C-E-R rubric?
Writing Committee Goal:
- Post annotated examples of P and PP grade level writing across contents in hallways. Please share C-E-R work with us from your grade level and content area. You can use the following link to add student writing for your grade and content: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CNpx2SNE8ISIvkgxJfO4tSpC_3ldhU_76387pKu2lFk/edit?usp=sharing
A couple of things...
Reminder about Passes
Students must have a written pass anytime they are:
- out of the classroom during classtime (going to the bathroom, water, counseling, etc.)
- in a part of the building during a time that they should not be there (in the Media Center during lunch, in their hallway during a passing period when they should not be in that hallway, etc.)
- in a part of the building that they should not be in (8th grade student in the 7th grade hallway)
If you need a new copy of the log for your clipboard, you can find it here. Please make sure the log is filled out (teacher initials or signature) before the student leaves your room.
Passes must be written in ink and contain
- the student’s full name (only one student’s name per pass – each student needs to have their own pass)
- where the student is going
- the date
- the time
- staff member's signature or initials
If a student arrives tardy to your class without a pass, do not send them out of the class to get a pass as they will miss further instruction. Teachers need to accept students late to class, even if they do not have a pass, and mark them with an unexcused tardy on IC. Please send an email to Francely if you wish to further investigate the reasons behind the student’s tardy.
- Students login to their IC account using their google username (without @aurorak12.org) and password.
- They can download the Infinite Campus app for easy access.
- Please notify the front office the name, student, and time that is scheduled - sometimes parents forget or get the time wrong
- If it's for a meeting being held in a location different from the front office, please either have someone come to the front office to escort the parent or notify the office that you will need this assistance so that parents are not waiting for extended periods of time
Attendance - Morning Corrections
- Staff just a friendly reminder, when students come in late in the morning, please verify the time on the pass with the time of their arrival. It there is an excessive gap in time, please notify the grade level RL so that a conversation can be had with the student.
- If you notice that a student is marked tardy in IC but they never show up to your class, please email Fracely Lopez so that she can get it corrected.
Are You Ready? Transitioning from Outlook to Gmail and Google Calendar
All district staff will transition from Microsoft Office’s Outlook email and calendar to Google’s Gmail and Google Calendar by July 1.
Here is what you can do prior to transitioning to ensure you are prepared:
Review our Google Help Site for FAQs, help sheets and in-depth training.
Contact Personalized Learning for a training session.
Restore archived items and any items in your trash folder that you don’t want permanently deleted.
For assistance with your Google account, please contact the Service Desk at ext. 28203 or helpdesk@aps.k12.co.us .
Call for Proposals for the First Annual EngagED Conference on May 29
The Personalized Learning Department is excited to announce we are “gearing up” for the first annual engagED 2018 at Hinkley High School on May 29 from 8:30am - 3:30pm!
We are now accepting proposals from both teachers and leaders to present until April 6. EngagED is designed to create equity in K-12 education by building the capacity of educators to implement student driven learning. The future of Aurora Public Schools will be shaped by leaders like YOU! Don’t miss this awesome opportunity. Read more information about the conference here and register here
CLDE Credential Information Update and Upcoming Summer Courses
The CLDE Credential Information document has been revised to clarify requirements by license and role. More information regarding 2018-2019 course offerings will be available later this semester. Email cldepl@aps.k12.co.us with any questions.
Save the Date: Summer CLDE Offerings: June 4, 5, and 6
1. Secondary Constructing Meaning
2. Systematic ELD (Dedicated ELD teachers only)
More information regarding registration coming soon.
Upcoming Dates...
- 4/6 - CMAS Practice Test Day (Math)
- 4/6 - Girls Tech Camp - PLCC
- 4/10-4/12 -Literacy/Math CMAS Testing
- 4/13 - 8th Grade Science CMAS Testing
- 5/4 - Professional Release Day, No School
- 5/15 - Skate City Night
- 5/22 - 8th grade Awards Ceremony
- 5/23 - 8th Grade Continuation - Hinkley High School
- 5/24 - Last Day of School - 6th & 7th Grade Carnival
- 5/24 - Last Day 4th Quarter
- 5/24- End of the Year Staff Party @ Boondocks
- 5/25 - Teacher Workday, No School
Interesting Articles...
2017 East Middle School School Performance Framework
Staff Resources
Staff & Parent Calendars
- ILT Meeting Schedules
- IDT Meeting Schedules
- Professional Development Calendar
- Assessment Calendar
- Staff Celebrations
- Athletics/Activities
- Assessment Calendar
- Parent/Teacher Conferences
- Back to School Nights
- Award Nights
- Parent Meetings
- Etc, etc, etc.
- Etc.