Hillcrest Hawk Happenings
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Supporting, empowering, & championing every single student, every single day, in every single way.
February 2, 2020
IMPORTANT DATES
TO ACCESS THE MONTH-BY-MONTH CALENDARS for the whole year, click HERE. Please know that these are still works-in-progress, so check back often to see the updates.
MUST READ
PRINCIPAL'S PARKING SPOT: KAREN VOGEL
Last year, the monthly winner of the PBIS Hawk Hero Award received the honor of parking in the Principal's Reserved Parking Space. This year, in order to extend that privilege to more people, we will honor an individual each week who will have the honor of that parking spot for the week ahead.
This week, February 3-7, that honor goes to KAREN VOGEL. Karen performs miracles daily as the classroom aide working with Mr. Harrison, but last week she went above and beyond the call-of-duty and really pitched in and helped out with some needs outside the classroom. Thank you, Ms. Vogel, for all that you do each and every day for the students, staff and families of Hillcrest!
To nominate an individual for this special privilege, click HERE.
Bulletin Board Dates - Feb. 7th is next!
Please adhere to the due dates for the bulletin boards. Refer to the memo in the Staff Handbook for more information. Bulletin boards should have a title, should have the name(s) of the teacher(s), a description of the Task, grade level standards addressed, and a copy of the rubric. Because feedback is so important, please provide feedback, which may be in the form of a glow/grow.
Grades 4/5 Bulletin Board Schedule
(Subject to change)
Due Date
February 7th
March 6th
April 3rd
May 1st
June 5th
Tier 1 Time Out: Copy - Cover - Compare
Here is a link to the slides from the faculty meeting with additional details.
Messages from the Technology Department
All buildings have at least one demo interactive display. Once ours is set up, we encourage teachers to try using the board in our building. Janice is setting up an afternoon with all displays in one room for staff to evaluate and provide their input as we make the choice of interactive display for the district. She is still trying to confirm the logistics, but at this point the plan is for Monday, February 10th from 3:00 - 5:00. The sales reps will be present. She will send out an invitation flyer to staff next week once all is confirmed.
Clever Issues
Any teachers who are having Clever issues, please continue to use the form to report them. Janice is working with Clever and the companies to figure it out. It is a process.
LITERACY HAPPENINGS
All teachers of ELA will meet THIS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4 at 7:40 for a brief training on the new AIMSWEB+ in anticipation of trying it out with all of our students within the next two weeks.
COUNTDOWN TO THE ELA
31 instructional days until the ELA; what are you doing to make sure each and every day matters? This number includes the mock assessment dates, and the days you will be administering AIMSWEB+, so it will feel like even fewer. Who are the students, and which are the skills, that you will be focusing on in these short days?
F&P Assessment Period
Timeline- F&P's will start on 2/24 and will end on 3/18. Please make sure that ALL F&P data is in Infinite Campus in the F&P tab and on our Master Data Sheet in Google by 3/18.
MOCK ELA/TRIMESTER ASSESSMENT
We will be administering the 2nd Trimester/Mock ELA Assessment on February 25. We will be simulating testing conditions with all modifications.
FISH IN A TREE:
- How is the book study going in your classroom? Literacy Leaders will be sending some questions your way this week to elicit some opinions/thoughts from your students on the themes of the book. If you haven't already done so, please let us know where you are in the book by submitting it HERE.
- As you read, continue to have students describe the characters and prove it with evidence on cards, and add them to the bulletin board in the hallway.
FEBRUARY 12 Family Book Kick-off
We will launch our first Family Book Project on February 12. Stay tuned for more details under s separate email.
NOMINATIONS FOR SCHOOL-WIDE READ-ALOUDS for next year can be submitted by clicking the School-wide read aloud link. Titles should be 4th-5th grade level chapter book that reflect a theme of kindness or anti-bullying.
F&P Assessment training with Christine McCourt
In addition to the days she will be working in classrooms to support Writing Workshop, Christine will be working with small groups to train/calibrate so we can be sure we are utilizing the F&P BAS with fidelity. The day will be structured so that all teachers in the GROUP will meet with Christine from 7:40 - 8:20 on the dates she is doing the training, and then half of the group will meet with her in the morning, and the other half will meet in the afternoon. Teachers will be trained in small groups on the dates designated below; for the division of AM/PM sessions see the whole schedule at THIS LINK.
GROUP A:
February 13th
King, Salumn, Perlowitz, Esposito, Volpe, Rivard, D’Alfonso, Rice, Harrison
GROUP B
February 24th
Levy, Doino, Macpherson, Galiano, Connor, Sicherman, Ramos, Anzovino, Vichitlakakran
GROUP C
February 26th
Badurski, Fernandez, Pena, Flores, Bruno, Rodriguez, Diaz, Hernandez
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH HAPPENINGS
SEL Focus:
How Strengthening Relationships with Boys Can Help Them Learn
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/54878/how-strengthening-relationships-with-boys-can-help-them-learn
Teachers who praise see a 30% increase in good behavior from students
MATH HAPPENINGS
- Math Teacher Meeting this Wednesday, February 5 at 7:40 regarding Assessment creation with ProblemAttic
COUNTDOWN TO THE NYS MATH ASSESSMENT
43 instructional days until the Math Assessment; what are you doing to make sure each and every day matters? This number includes the mock assessment dates, the two days of the ELA, the days we will be administering AIMSWEB+, days we will be doing F&Ps....so it will feel like even fewer. Who are the students, and which are the skills, that you will be focusing on in these short days?
MOCK MATH/TRIMESTER ASSESSMENT
We will be administering the 2nd Trimester/Mock Math Assessment on March 9. We will be simulating testing conditions with all modifications.
- The 100th Day of School (barring any Snow Days!) will be February 27th. Please be thinking of developmentally appropriate and fun ways to celebrate and engage students. Think about what might happen for students in lower grades and let's build upon that so they aren't doing the same kinds of activities they did in lower grades, and how we can use multiplication, division, fractions and decimals to explore the number 100 and our base 10 number system.
If you are having any issues with Zearn, ST Math, or Problem Attic, please let us know.
- Whenever possible, please have students log on to Zearn through Clever, as that is how we can see data on their progress/challenges/setbacks, and how much we are using it.
PBIS HAPPENINGS
The SEL theme for the month of January is LOVE. Please look for opportunities to connect classroom learning to the district's monthly theme, and help our students understand the broader meaning of love beyond just "romantic love" (which is likely where their minds will go).
INDIVIDUAL REWARDS
Watch for HAWKS BUCKS coming your way soon!
Please be sure to:
- Hand them out liberally during the initial rollout.
- NAME THE BEHAVIOR you are commending and CONNECT IT to the HAWKS acronym. (Circle the letter on the HAWKS BUCK or have the student circle it)
- Have students write their names on the back.
- Listen for the announcement for the first Friday Redemption Day.
Here is a link to the slides from the faculty meeting with additional details.
THANK YOU TIFFANY (and Welcome!)
WELCOME BACK GLORIA
FIRE SAFETY
Here is a link to the slides from the faculty meeting with additional details.
Here are three important FIRE SAFETY GUIDELINES which we distributed previously: One and Two and Three. Please read them thoroughly, and re-mediate your spaces as necessary as we will be checking spaces soon!!!
SPECIALS HAPPENINGS
To submit something for this section of the Hawk Happenings in the future, submit it by clicking HERE and it will appear in the next Hawk Happenings.
WHO'S THAT?!?!?!
I received a few entries this week, but I wonder if you can guess:
WHO's THAT?!?!?!
Submit your guess using this Google Form.