Acorn Woodland Elementary Memo
December 8, 2015
Ms. Ushman differentiates Math time by pulling a small group of students who are having trouble with Base Ten adding.
Teaching & Learning
Assessments: Thank you teachers for getting all of your data loaded onto the Illuminate platform. I know there are a couple of teachers who have had some trouble with loading their F&P Foundations results. Please contact Julissa If you fall in this camp.
Report cards: Also, thank you teachers for getting your report cards turned in! None of the report cards I reviewed had any glaring concerns. I do want to caution that we make sure to accurately represent student reading achievement; which means (for example) students who are reading below grade level should not receive passing reading marks on their report card.
Report Card Conferences: Today is the first day of our three day report card conference period. Please make sure to do the following during your meetings. Have parents sign-in on a sign-in sheet with date and time of conference. I will be asking for copies of these sign in sheets. And be candid with families about where their child is academically. We want families to leave with a clear picture of what academic gaps their child might have and what next steps are needed for their child to achieve their academic goals.
TGDS: I will be wrapping up teacher Long Observations this week. Short and Alternate Observer observations will begin when we get back from break.
ILT Walkthroughs: Thank you to all of the teachers who allowed out amazing ILT members to observe your practice. We saw some amazing instruction and practices. One trend that was highlighted by the team was student engagement and the teacher moves that support positive academic environments. A couple of areas we would like to investigate further are; teacher vs. student talk, timing/lesson pace, and equitable participation protocols. The Lead Team will use the information we gathered to help plan PD for the remainder of the year.
SRI: As I mentioned in yesterday's Operations Meeting, I want to administer the SRI on a more regular basis. The rationale being it is a high stakes out-word facing assessment that our students have a very difficult time on. I believe, and have heard from principals with high SRI scoring schools, that the more students take the exam the better they score ( it's a much different testing platform than what our students are used to.). I will send out a proposed SRI testing schedule along with a password so teachers can access SRI scores and student tests.
Students in Ms. Sufrin's class read a common book during their reading group period. There is a time keeper and a group process checker who can advocate for members of their group to receive Core Value Cards.
Ms. Guy's 5th grade student Rosa Stop and Jots during Reading Group time
Ms. Guy's reading group expectations
ILT Observes Ms. Guy's Reading Groups
School Culture
Chants: SEI strand’s week
Leader of the Week: Bilingual strand’s week
Awards Night: Awards night is scheduled for tonight @ 5pm. Food is ordered and will be in the staff room around 4pm.
School Culture PD: Next Wednesday's PD will be focused on School Culture particularly preparing for School Culture rotations that are scheduled the first week back from winter break.
Extended Recess: This Friday is Extended Recess. We will have a record number of students participating (approx. 12 students did not earn Extended Recess).
SSC Meeting: We will hold the December SSC meeting next Monday December 15th at 4pm. We will discuss data results from our latest assessments. All teachers and staff are welcome.
Communication Folders: Beginning in January communication folders will be sent home on Thursdays and returned to school on Mondays. See
(https://docs.google.com/a/ousd.k12.ca.us/document/d/1z7f8D2qtZ-0E9WlCob33wnv9wqAY7C8c6qpc_qeM7-4/edit?usp=sharing) for details.
Winter Showcase: Next Thursday December 17th @ 5pm. This is an amazing event that you will not want to miss.
Pancake Breakfast: The 5th grade parents are putting on a special pancake breakfast fundraiser on Friday December 18th @ 7:30am. Rumor has it that Santa might make an appearance. Proceeds will go towards 5th grade Mosaic trip.
Ms. Laux's Publishing Party: Alexis Ramirez defends his stance on the age old debate "should schools serve chocolate milk."
AWE Holiday Party
Friday, Dec 18, 2015, 06:30 PM
1095 Begier Avenue, San Leandro, CA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.