The CIA Report
November 2018 Edition
Welcome to the November 2018 edition of The CIA Report!
Please take some time to read through this prior to the November 27 administrator meeting. If you have any questions, please post them in this Google Doc.
Thanks!
Learning Today... Feeding Your Professional Soul
Today this blog post showed up in my inbox, and I think it's so relevant - AND important for us to remember.
As leaders, regardless of what our actual positions or titles are, we must find ways to express gratitude. We are the motivators, the cheerleaders, the encouragers. As such, it is our responsibility to recognize the good that people are doing and to express gratitude for that goodness.
As Skip mentions in this post, it is important for that gratitude to be authentic, personalized, and specific. When gratitude is expressed in a manner that is not authentic, it doesn't do anything for anyone - no one feels good about it afterward.
As leaders, we must set the example of gratitude for all those we serve. And the really awesome thing is that if you aren't good at it already - you CAN get good at it! It just takes, like most things in life, intentional and focused practice.
This Thanksgiving break is a fantastic time to reflect on our gratitude practices and to find ways to make sure those who work with us and for us genuinely feel appreciated.
Teaching & Learning
Celebrations!
ELL Family Night Success!
Thanks to the dedication of our 6 ELL teachers, the ELL family night was a HUGE success! Our families filled the cafeteria at Prairie View Elementary and enjoyed a dinner of pasta and salad. After dinner. ELL teachers Sarah Hoffman (PVE) and Lindsay Evans (GTE, CRE, DRE) led our families through a reading activity about a woman who spreads beauty throughout her little part of the world by planting flower seeds. After the story, our families were encouraged to decorate stones and take them out into the world to make it more beautiful.
Thank you to the administrators who came out to support our ELL teachers and to engage with your ELL families. Your teachers truly appreciate it! If you missed out on this awesome event, don't worry, we're planning to hold an ELL Family STEM night in the spring!
Professional Development
The Content Leaders, Lead Teachers, and Coaches are hard at work planning relevant, content-specific professional learning opportunities for our teachers for the January 18 PD day. They are excited to have you join in their sessions on this day! Here are just a few things that are happening:
- Social Studies Resource Rally (Grades 6-12) - Nichole Nolan has invited people from all over the state (judges, representatives from MO Archives, etc.) to come to our district and share the resources they offer to teachers and students.
- Science Grades 7-12 - Teachers will continue their focus on integrating Argument-Driven Inquiry into their science instruction
- Math (Grades 6-12) Are having their own Math focused version of a "Best Practices Mini-Conference." Our own teachers are sharing/presenting to their colleagues.
This is just a sampling of the good things happening that day. We can't wait to have you join us!
National STEM Day (K-8) - November 8
National Day of STEM was an incredible success in the Wentzville School District! Thank you to all of you for supporting and encouraging STEM activities in your buildings on this day!
For a glimpse of what happened throughout the district on the National Day of STEM, check out this Twitter stream - our teachers used this hashtag throughout the day: #stopdropandstem and take a look at the below video compiled by Dr. Derek Scott to celebrate the day's success!
Updates and Reminders
The WSD Literacy Handbook has been updated to reflect some of the questions and practices (specifically regarding assessments used for screening for Dyslexia).
Reading Data (for Dyslexia and Intervention) at Elementary
Please, please be sure that ALL teachers are completing these spreadsheets. Not only are we required to track and manage this data for purposes of the Dyslexia mandate, but we are also trying to use that data at the district level to inform conversations about student progress.
If you have a teacher out on long-term leave (maternity, FMLA, etc.) the spreadsheet still needs to be completed. If you need assistance with this, please reach out to us and we'll be happy to help with ideas to manage this.
Teaching & Learning Site
This resource is currently managed and updated (frequently) by the five Content Leaders and Margo (we are in conversations about how to expand this to include ALL content areas). Please use this resource and refer teachers to this resource! Our Content Leaders and Margo are using it to share images and video of classroom work and interactions, as well as to share information and content specific resources. Check it out!
Assessment
Finally!
MAP data is set to be released on the testing platform on November 26th. Individual student achievement levels are allowed to be shared with students and parents. Grades 3-8 will receive individual student reports sometime in December. These reports will be in color and will be sent home to parents to communicate how their students did on last years state exam. The two links below are guides for interpreting the Grade-Level and End-of-Course assessments.
Grade-Level: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-gl-gir-spring-2018.pdf
End-of-Course: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-eoc-gir-1718.pdf
SGAs
It’s that time of the year again for SGAs. The Mid-Year SGA window for year-long courses opened on Nov. 12th and ends on on Nov. 29th. The semester SGA window is December 3rd - 21st. All scores should be entered into SIS before winter break.
Here is the link to the assessment calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=d3NkcjRzdHVkZW50cy5vcmdfZzlibm1rZ2JzYXFtZjMwNmxjZ3YyMmJ1aGdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ
Here is a word version of the assessment calendar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17s64qlMTiMJjRxKy-aXY7UAGbsmb2ns6/view?usp=sharing
Upcoming Events:
EOC Manuals - December 3rd
Elementary Assessment Committee - December 4th
High School Assessment Committee - December 21st
Ell Manuals - December 18th
Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your much deserved holiday.
Professional & Program Development
1/18 PD Day: Be the lead learner to communicate what is important in your building! Content PD in the am: Where you show up on 1/18 in the morning speaks volumes. Where do you want to see improvement in your school? Think about showing up to the PD they are getting! We are working on identifying all groups and learning outcomes by 12/18. Please enter where you will be in the morning here. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th tabs have the groups/locations on each PD Day. All your Building staff should be in District PD in the am… so no need for your BPDC to plan anything for the morning of 1/18! Building PD in the pm: Remember, what you do during the Building PD time should support your Building SIP and PD Plan. You can take another look at your building PD plan in this folder. MS - You will have Canvas PD! How should I use the ARTIC data that was shared with me on Nov 2? These are just a few ideas! Share with your Trauma Team while planning for the 2/15/19 Trauma PD time. Do these results indicate we are trauma aware, trauma sensitive, trauma responsive, or trauma informed? How do the Self Efficacy and System Support sections suggest how we should support? Where do we want to be when we take it again in the spring? How will we get there? What is our next best step? What should the 2/15/19 Trauma PD include? 2/15 Share Fair PD - Please consider sharing/presenting the wealth of knowledge you learned at the workshops and conferences you attended in 2018. You can either share alone or invite others to join you! Please use this proposal link to propose your session. Show yourself as a true lead learner! Trauma PD on Mindfulness: Happify video - mindfulness Thank you to Teachers (and Admin!): John Spencer video
Technology
Student Web History
If a student’s Internet history or information from Google needs to be pulled for an investigation, please contact Greg Lawrence and/or Brett Hawkins for the requested information. Please do not ask your building technician to pull this information. Lightspeed and Google provide tools for us to quickly provide this information to you (and helps protect what content the building technician is accessing).
H Drive Discontinuing July 31, 2019
On July 31, 2019, all Staff H Drives will be discontinued. All content will need to be backed up to a flash drive, computer hard drive, or moved to Google Drive. With the introduction of Google Drive File Stream software, when installed, a new drive will be installed named “G Drive”. The G Drive will function just the same as the H Drive, any file format/size can be added to the drive and accessed anywhere, as it is backed up to Google immediately, with no storage limits. To have Google Drive File Stream installed, please submit a work order to helpdesk@wsdr4.org. *Please note: exceptions to the removal of the H Drive will be made only for district administrators.
SISK12 Password
Over Christmas break, password security will be increasing for SISK12 logins for district staff. The password reset policy will increase in length and complexity (ie - case-sensitivity, special characters). This practice will support better account login security practices and protection.
App and Content Filter Requests
The HelpDesk portal (helpdesk@wsdr4.org) is your “one-stop” for all of your technology needs. Please submit all app requests for Chromebooks and iPads and all block and unblock website requests through HelpDesk. Submitting through HelpDesk will ensure all technology requests are completed in a timely manner.
Missouri Model District (MMD)
Thank you for all that you are doing to get MMD up and running in your buildings. You have great plans for the year! Thank you for working with your consultants and welcoming them to your school. You are in charge of this learning so feel free to let your consultants know what you want from them and what you DON’T want from them. Please be sure to send Megan the dates for your MMD collaboration times and be sure that Billie has them on the PD calendar. When teachers are participating in MMD collaboration or learning time, they can not be given plan time during this time period. For instance, the last hour of the time cannot be that they go off on their own to “plan”. Let Megan know if you have any questions. Please be sure that an administrator is present during MMD work time. Of course, if you need to come and go due to building issues that come up, that is understandable.
Other Reminders
If you have not sent Megan your faculty meeting dates and times, please send those as soon as possible.
Dr. Megan Stryjevski
Twitter: @DrStryjewski