Deerfield Bulletin
October 29, 2018
November Character Trait
Calendar of Events
Monday, October 29 - C Day
Absences: KL, 2L, 2St, KH 1H, Feighny
Tuesday, October 30 - A Day
3:15-4:00 SSP Meetings- SSP AGENDA HERE
Absences:KL, 2L, 2St, KH, 1H Feighny
Wednesday, - October 31 - B Day
Fall Party Day!
11:00 SPED Meetings
1:45-3:15 Regular Collaboration - Agendas Here
Absences: Feighny
Thursday, Nov. 1 - C Day
8:00-11:00 - Joni gone - Admin PD Mtg.
Absences: Feighny
Friday, Nov. 2 - X Day
No School- Elementary Record Report- Progress Reports done by 3:30.
Absences: Wolcott, Appleman, Feighny, Bonner
Monday, Nov. 5 - A Day
Teach November Character Trait: Digital Citizenship
Progress Reports will be in your mailbox by the end of the day- Send home Tuesday.
Absences: Day, Mefferd
Tuesday, Nov. 6- B Day
ELECTION DAY!
PROGRESS MONITORING DUE
Progress Reports Should be sent home today!
3:10-4:00 Staff Meeting - Use this time to continue working on Trauma Modules
3:15-5:15 Book Fair
Absences: Houston
Wednesday, Nov. 7- C Day
Book Buddy Day
Deerfield Dines Out- Papa Kenos!9:30 Mental Health Team Meeting
11:00 SPED Meetings
1:45-3:15 Building Collaboration: Agendas Here (Please do not schedule parent conferences until after 3:30!)
3:30 Parent Teacher Conferences official start time.
7:00 Parent Teacher Conferences official end time.
3:30-7:30 Book Fair Open
Absences:
Thursday, Nov. - 8 X Day
No School
7:30 a.m - 7:00 pm Parent Teacher Conferences
7:30-7:30 Book Fair open
Absences:
Friday, Nov. 9 - X Day
No School
Absences:
Interim State Assessments - from Terry McEwen
Interim Assessments…From Terry McEwen (LC)
Teachers Grades 3-5:
Interim State Assessments are now available for you to use with your students on the KITE Educator Portal. Interim assessments can be given during the following Windows:
Interim Assessment Windows:
o Winter – Dec. 3 – Dec. 14, 2018
o Spring – Feb. 4 – Feb. 15, 2019
Kansas Assessment Program Window:
o Mathematics, ELA and Science: 3/11/2019 – 4/26/2019
o KELPA2: 2/4/2019 – 3/8/2019
Junior Acheivement
Debbie Harmon from Junior Achievement will be stopping by your classrooms on Friday, November 2nd to schedule your Jr. Achievement lessons.
Please complete the PDF form below and she will pick it up on Friday or you can email it to her at debbie@kansasja.org.
Technology News
Safari/OS Updates -
We are restricting updates to the Mojave OS on MacBooks until we have fully tested its compatibility with our ancillary systems. We will communicate out when this OS is ready to be downloaded/installed. High Sierra OS is being restricted on elementary classroom/lab MacBooks until this summer, as Type to Learn will not work with High Sierra or above.
Avoid being locked out of your device! Update Teacher Macbook and IPAD to Mosyle by Wednesday, October 31st!
RAZ Plus
The RAZ Plus eLearning course is a great way for teachers to get up to speed with some of the very basics of RazPlus. It’s self-paced and interactive, so teachers can do it whenever they choose. This is the same link provided in August, however, many teachers did not remember receiving it. Please forward to all K-2 and ELL teachers in addition to the survey link for the sessions attended on October 19th.
As a gentle reminder, budgetary constraints only allowed for the purchase of a limited number of licenses. Unfortunately, SpEd teachers do not have access to Raz Plus.
Click here for Raz Plus eLearning
Click here for the RAZ PD Survey
Behavior Management Tip: Respectful Classrooms
Those days are long since past . . . sigh.
But earning your students’ respect isn’t so difficult. It doesn’t take lengthy lessons, how-dare-you lectures, or impassioned speeches. It doesn’t take a domineering personality or a Navy admiral’s stature.
And it’s not something you have to demand from your students.Respect is earned through the honor of your word, the steadiness of your temperament, and the gentle, quiet strength of your convictions.
1. Respect your students.
Don’t talk down to students. Model mutual respect. Don’t have double standards. Give what you’d like to get back. Know every child’s story and treat each as an individual. Cater for different learning preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
2. Have a class agreement, not top-down rules.
Ask what helps them learn and what hinders learning. Use that as a basis for establishing an essential agreement as to how the class will run and what behaviours will be evident. Have everyone sign it. Put it up on the wall. Refer to it constantly.
3. Be part of the learning community.
Don’t be the boss of learning. Encourage kids to take ownership of their learning. Be an inquirer too. Don’t pretend to know all the answers. Learn with and from your students. Divide your groups in a variety of random ways, so that everyone learns to work with different people.
4. Acknowledge their physical needs.
Allow students to drink water and even to eat if they hungry. Don’t try and control when they go to the toilet. (If your classes are engaging, they will only go when they need to.) Provide opportunities for standing up and moving around during learning.
5. Be fair and reasonable.
Don’t show favoritism. Expect everyone to stick to the agreement. Don’t allow put-downs between students. Accept legitimate excuses and even some that might not be. If the homework comes a day late because they had something else to do, it’s not the end of the world.
6. Have a sense of humour.
Laugh with your students but never at them. Laugh at yourself. Show firm disapproval if they laugh at each other. Don’t take school too seriously. Take learning seriously. But make learning fun too.
7. Provide a secure learning space.
Provide opportunities for risk-taking in learning. Create a safe environment where learners don’t fear failure. Be supportive of creative thinking and new ways of doing things. Make every student feel validated.
8. Be sincere.
Talk to students in a normal tone, irrespective of their age. Students see through adults who aren’t sincere very quickly. Don’t pretend. Say what you mean. Mean what you say. Show that you care… but only if you do. (If you don’t, why are you a teacher?)
9. Be human.
Acknowledge when you’re in the wrong. Apologize when you make a mistake. Admit you’re impatient because you’re tired today.
10. Let go.
Don’t be in charge of every situation. Ask yourself ‘Is it important?‘ before you react. Don’t make all the decisions. Provide opportunities for choice. Show that you value initiative above compliance.
More Info: Elementary PowerSchool Codes for Gradebook
The Deadline for having all grades entered into Power School is November 2nd at 3:30. The office will being printing reports on Monday, The office will print one copy to be sent home with kids on Tuesday, November 6th!
Successful Learner Behaviors
To enter successful learner behaviors on the progress report, go directly to the Grading tab > Grades > Scroll to the end of the Standards.
Comment Section of Progress Reports:
There is a 250-character limit on the comment section of the progress reports. To adjust for more characters would impact the formatting and require customization. Progress reports will be revised next and the character limit will be revisited at that time.
Below is the link to a consolidated view of each grade level progress report. If teachers are currently using the PS Grade Book, it will also help them associate the PS “code” with the standard.
PE Elementary PS Standards Codes
Art Elementary PS Standards Codes
Paper copies of the progress reports can be found Here for your reference.
Worth Repeating
Parent Teacher Conferences
Please plan to use Sign Up Genius or any other "scheduler" of your choosing to schedule your parent teacher conferences on November 7th and 8th.
Conferences will be held for 3 hours and 30 minutes AFTER the duty day on Wednesday, November 7th and all day on Thursday, November 8th, plus 3 hours and 30 minutes after the duty day. Each semester’s evening parent/teacher conferences shall constitute one duty day. Therefore teachers will not be on duty on the Friday of parent/teacher conference week.
Recap - Conference Schedules:
Wednesday, November 7th - 3:30 to 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 8th - 7:30 am to 7:00 pm
Please scheudule your own lunch, dinner and plan times. Plan time may be scheduled throughout the day. However, it is imperative that teacher plan time not be scheduled
during hours most conducive to parental visitation (e.g. evening hours).
Vote 2018 Resources
While school personnel cannot advocate for political candidates or issues at school, we should encourage voter registration and voting! Here is a link to some Vote 2018 resources you may use and share: https://sites.google.com/greenbush.org/vote2018
Deerfield
Website: www.usd497.com/domain10
Location: 101 Lawrence Avenue, Lawrence, KS, USA
Phone: 785-832-5660
Facebook: www.facebook.com/deerfield497