Birdneck Briefing
Updates-Info-Links Week of 3/06/17 to 3/10/17
FYI Week of 3/06/17 to 3/10/17
3/5 Garden Club (flexible learning space) 3:15
3/7 Progress reports go home
3/7 BEAR 9:00-10:00
3/8 Book Fair Set up
3/8 1st Presbyterian mentors
3/9 Book Fair Preview
Upcoming:
3/14 March Madness Donuts with Dads 7:45-8:30
3/16 PTA meeting/Spring chorus concert
This is your Captain Speaking!
Hello Staff,
I hope you were able to introduce yourself to Sara Awbrey this week. We are excited that she has joined us and look forward to getting to know her as she helps our staff, students, and parents in her new role in our main office.
We are moving into our final nine weeks of the year. It is important that parents are aware of where their students stand academically, socially, and emotionally. I know you have been working hard on preparing report cards and giving productive feedback to parents. If you haven't had a chance to discuss remediation or enrichment concerns with parents, this is a perfect time to have those conversations. I've found the best conversations always start and are led with data. Sharing data with parents keeps the conversations focused on the issues at hand and can lead to positive outcomes. My challenge for you this week is to share data with your students so they know how they are meeting their own goals. Students need to get feedback from us so they can grow
Captain out,
RV
Shifting Manipulation to Motivation
Published on Jan 20, 2015
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
Jennifer Nacif tells us how to shift manipulation to motivation when it comes to communicating with our children. Jennifer plays the characters of four different children, and in clever fashion, shows us how different personalities require different reactions from parents. The needs of each personality are not only relevant to the children in our lives, but to everyone we encounter, and Jennifer provides easy and actionable ways to motivate and empower those around us. See the video below:
Preparing for and Conducting Parent-Teacher Conferences
http://www.nea.org/tools/parent-teacher-conferences.html
Parent-teacher conferences can be stressful, for you and the parents, but with proper planning and organization you can lay the groundwork for a production relationship that will benefit the best interest of the child. Explore the following resources for advice on getting the most from your parent-teacher conferences.
We present advice collected from seasoned classroom veterans, from NEA members who posted their ideas on our discussion board, and from Jerry Newberry, head of the NEA Health Information Network, who used to train teachers to work with parents.
To read other tips and the rest of the article click here.
Reading Rocks!
Did you know that Jan Richardson provides weekly Literacy tips? You can read her weekly tips and subscribe to her posts at http://www.janrichardsonguidedreading.com/literacy-tips
Here is last week's tip:
Literacy Tip of the Week: Week of February 26th
posted Feb 26, 2017, 12:54 PM by Courtney Richardson
Attend to the Details of Comprehension Instruction
Teachers of transitional and fluent readers often struggle with teaching comprehension during the guided reading lesson. The first challenge is to identify a focus. Understanding that self-monitoring is the very first comprehension strategy to teach, I follow it with visualizing and self-questioning. These three strategies seem to be easiest for teachers to implement and most valuable for readers to use. When I conduct workshops, I first model specific comprehension strategies and provide guided practice before I have teachers apply one of the comprehension strategies to the text they plan to use with a group of readers.
Knowing how to chunk the text is another challenge. Some teachers have students read huge sections of text without asking students to stop to reflect on their thinking. I show teachers how to chunk text into smaller segments and then have students write short responses that connect to the comprehension focus. Getting readers to stop, think, and jot helps them reflect on their reading.
Making inferences through analysis of characters has such power. Jan's professional text provides suggestions and graphic organizers to help teachers with this instruction. I model it, we do it together, and then teachers have an opportunity to apply it during the planning session.
Improve your comprehension instruction by attending to these details!
Sophie Kowzun
Page Turner Consulting
REMINDERS
Reminder:
PLP points are your responsibility to earn outside of your contract hours and should be completed by the end of the month. There are many opportunities that our specialist will be providing in addition to the 5 hours you can earn by completing the activities for our book talk on Five Dysfunctions of a Team. To receive full credit you will need to complete the reflections in Google!
PLP Opportunities
Our book study The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable will be finished on March 15th with all assignments due. You will receive 5 site-based PLP points for your participation. New assignments will be posted on January 27th, February 10th, and February 24th so please continue to check Google Classroom.
As noted in the Road to Gold document distributed at the Administrators’ Conference, one focus area for school staff for 2016-2017 is to make use of resources, including professional learning opportunities, developed to build awareness around personalized learning, a critical component of Goal 2 of the strategic framework, Compass to 2020.
Personalized learning resources include the following:
Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Personalized Learning Website- http://vbplearn.weebly.com – This site is continuously updated with resources, videos, and artifacts aligned with the VBCPS definition of Personalized Learning.
Personalized Learning Overview and Introduction to Essential Components (Online) – This online course is running continuously through Apr. 30, 2017. Participants receive three Professional Learning Program (PLP) points for completion of the course.
Wading into the Waters of Personalized and Blended Learning - This site-based course can be provided by each school’s instructional technology specialist(s).
Join our PTA
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Join the PTA! Our goal is to have 100% Staff participation!!!!!!!!!
Support Birdneck Elementary students by joining the PTA. Don't miss out on the benefits from joining the PTA. Receive over $300 in savings... all for just $5 for a membership. Check out the PTA website at http://birdneckpta.weebly.com/
Licensure: Technology Standards for Instructional Personell (TSIP)
All teachers new to Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) are required to meet the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel (TSIP) within the first year (12 months) of employment.
This is a licensure requirement for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).
Your TSIP requirement must be completed no later than: May 31, 2017
Between now and June 30, 2017, please work with the Instructional Technology Specialist (ITS) to identify the dates and times to take and pass the TSIP tests in your school. Make every effort to complete this requirement prior to the end of this school year.
Additional TSIP testing sessions will be made by appointment through the Department of Human Resources during the month of July 2017.
For questions about licensure requirements and other options, please email your licensure analyst:
Last names beginning with A-Gn ............ Patti Perger, patti.perger@vbschools.com
Last names beginning with Go-N ........... Leslie Miller, leslie.miller@vbschools.com
Last names beginning with O-Z .............. Ila James, ila.james@vbschools.com
BIRDNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BIRDNECK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
BIRDNECK MISSION
The mission of Birdneck Elementary is to dedicate ourselves to the success of all children, preparing them to meet today's expectations and tomorrow's challenges.
BIRDNECK VISION
Children are our future. We are dedicated to their success.
BIRDNECK BELIEFS
We believe in a collaborative community in which teachers, administrators, students, and parents work together for student success.
We believe in creating a safe, nurturing, and positive environment in which all students can strive for excellence and achieve their individual potential.
We believe we will prepare our students for success by providing 21st century learning and developing within our students critical thinking, effective communications and problem solving skills.
Website: http://www.birdneckes.vbschools.com/
Location: 957 South Birdneck Road, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: 757-648-2120