Westwood Updates
Week of 5/4/15 - 5/8/15
This Week's Happenings - Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Monday-5/4/15
SBAC testing -Computer Lab
Teacher Appreciation Lunch
Tuesday- 5/5/15
SBAC testing -Computer Lab
Continuing registration packets go home - due Friday
Wednesday-5/16/15
SBAC testing- Computer Lab
2:20 pm Staff Meeting- ELA Roll out Continues with a Treasure Hunt - bring binder
6:00 - 9:00 pm Family Science Night
Thursday- 5/17/15
SBAC testing -Computer Lab
Friday- 5/8/15
8:00 Friday Flag -
SBAC testing -Computer Lab
Input Needed by Wednesday- Voice Your Priorities on $$$
Please add your voice by completing the survey crafted by Kristin, Renee, and our admin team regarding priorities for Foundation and funding. Thank you to those who have already completed the survey. We will present the data at the Thursday's board meeting.
Ms. I and Kendama Wednesdays - Please Share with Students
Let Shaylene know if you have questions.
Summer Math Training Opportunity
LSS will be offering a full day of training from Houghton-Mifflin consultants on Math Expressions Common Core Edition during the summer. The training will be held on Tuesday, July 21 from 8:00-3:00 and will be grade level specific. Details on location will be coming soon. You will receive a special daily rate for attending, but if you are unable to attend the July date, there will be a make-up date scheduled in August. Since Math Expressions has been taught in our district for a while, this training will be specifically designed to highlight the changes in the Common Core edition, how to use the resources available to support your instruction, and how to manage the resources found in Think Central. We hope you can take advantage of this opportunity to learn! Please RSVP as soon as you can so that we can reserve our trainers for the day with the following link:
Help Needed- Playground Issues
You can use this Kid President's Top 20 Things to Say video as a springboard for discussions about how being NICE to each other is Awesome! You can also remind students that our Peace Partners are on the playground to help every Roadrunner get along.
As always, we will continue to speak directly to any students have been involved in playground issues.
SBAC Testing Continues This Week & 5th Grade Maps
- 4th graders have completed all SBAC sessions!
- 3rd graders begin ELA Performance tasks and math testing
- We have held 72 testing sessions thus far!
- 5th grade starts MAPS Friday!
Innovation University- Forum this Wednesday
Last month we concluded our Personalized Learning InnovationU Challenge. This Wednesday we will be hosting the InnovationU Forum where the authors of the top ten ideas will come together to begin the process of shaping a proposal that takes the thinking that occurred on InnovationU from the idea stage to the action stage.
The Forum is open to all interested employees who would like to join us on this next step in our journey to create more personalized learning opportunities for our students. At the Forum we will be focusing on prioritizing the ideas and developing a strategy to engage staff across the system to deepen and enrich the conversation around these ideas.
If you would like to join us, we will be meeting at Del Norte High School in the Staff Lounge from 4:00-6:00 this Wednesday, May 6, 2015.
As a reminder, the following are the top ten ideas and the idea originator:
1. Make Career Technical Education a Priority (John Campillo, Teacher, Del Norte High School)
2. Preparing Students for Real Life (Connie Rivera, Instructional Asst. I-Special Ed, Black Mountain Middle School)
3. Infusing Technology for Learning and Teacher Support (Dena Glynn, Teacher, Tiera Bonita Elementary)
4. Change Policies Around Homework: Focus on What is Essential: Its Free (Naomi Lukaszewski, Teacher, Pomerado Elementary)
5. Educational Equity: Availability of Technology Resources for Economically Challenged Students (Jo Ann Cooper, Assistant Principal, Black Mountain Middle School)
6. Make Visual and Performing Arts a Priority in TK through 12 (Kimberly Bourda, Teacher, Bernardo Heights Middle School)
7. Project Based Learning (Amy Scott, Teacher, Park Village Elementary)
8. Supporting Teachers During the Rethink/Refresh Process (Evan Grant, Teacher, Tierra Bonita Elementary)
9. Computer Science Curriculum from Kindergarten to 12th Grade (Anne Smith, Computer Resource Asst. II, Sunset Hills Elementary)
10. Implement a Systemic Approach to 21st Century Learning by Providing Training, Resources, and Global Collaboration Opportunities for Teachers and Students (Linda Foote, Technology Integration Specialist, DO)
Feel free to email Rich Newman if you have any questions.
Reminders & Updates
From LSS
Math Videos
Our wonderful math TOSA, Lynne Haman, has shared two different videos on math performance tasks. The first video has no narration, but it gives the information in written form that the viewer reads. It tells what the performance task is, what it asks students to do, and then it gives the sample fourth grade performance task from SBAC.
The second video is a third grade teacher doing a real world performance task on designing the floor plan with furniture for their bedroom. It is seeing a performance task in action. This type of lesson will help prepare our students for performance tasks, although the SBAC performance tasks will not be as activity based. They are a scenario based, six question format, with questions that build in complexity.
My Connect Courses - Your Quick Link to Resources
LSS has linked all your resources in an easy to use location called My Connect Elementary Courses. Click here to get access to great tools from Math Central, Writing Central, and more!
Upcoming Events
May 12-15 - Last week to visit the library
May 13th- grades 1-5 NEW enrollment 9-noon daily
May 22- All books due to the library