Bobcat Bulletin
Week of October 7, 2019
This Week's Events
- Devon at 1:15 meeting
Tuesday 10/8
- SIT Meeting All Day
- Fire Drill - 1:00pm
- Lighthouse Meeting - 3:50pm
Wednesday 10/9
Thursday 10/10
Friday 10/11
Next Week's Events
- Devon at PD all day in Lansing
Tuesday 10/15
- Devon at PD all day in Lansing
Wednesday 10/16
- ET in Hartnett 3:50 - 5:35
Thursday 10/17
- First Grade AM Field Trip to Maybury
- Devon at 1:15 Meeting at RW
Friday 10/18
- K-3 Kindness Assembly 9:15am
- 4-5 Kindness Assembly 10:00am
Due Dates
October
- Meeting to review growth plan
LET’S GET WIGGY!
“Decide you must how to serve them best.”
- Yoda, Empire Strikes Back
As you are already aware, it is the expectation at Amerman that classroom teachers post at least one WIG (Wildly Important Goal) in your classroom and track the lead measures aka strategies each month.
There has been meaningful discussion about adding an SEL WIG, so one has been created for this year. We made it broad enough, like the math, reading and science ones, to give you the flexibility to tailor the WIG you choose to best meet the needs of your classroom and students in a meaningful way while still being connected to our overall school goals.
You once again have choice this year in terms of picking which goal you want to focus on for your class and how you want to track your students’ lead measures. Choose the one that serves your students best.
Use these resources to help with your decision:
Each month, please remember to record the % of your students who have met the lead measures (strategies) each month. We will use this data on our school-wide data scoreboard again this year.
Think Kindness Assembly
In a couple weeks, thanks to the PTA we will be having a Think Kindness Assembly. The aim of the assembly is to spark Kindness Movements in schools and communities across the United States. They have a team of dynamic and inspirational speakers and thought leaders to create programs that not only talk about being Kind, but inspire people to take action.
Each year they travel the country on a national ’15 Days of Kindness’ school tour, where they challenge schools to change the world in just 15 days! It’s more than just a 1-hour presentation, it’s a 15 day challenge that calls students to action. I am so excited to see how this assembly can motivate our students (and us) into kindness.
To go along with this I feel it's important that we start to model kindness as adults and take part in spreading kindness. As a teacher in this building reminded me, being kind is like anything else, we need to practice at it to get better. Below you will find the Kindness Calendar for the month of October. I challenge you practice at being kind.
Extended Time
Our next ET will be Wednesday, October 16th in Mr. Hartnett's room. We will cover the following topics:
- EpiPen
- NaviGate
- LIM website
- K-3 F&P Word Study
- 4-5 Bridges next unit overview and workplace
- Humanities - Building a cohesive humanities unit
Growth Plan Meeting
Data Dig from September ET
LC Corner - Curriculum, Literacy & Learning...oh my!
BALANCED LITERACY - ASSESSMENTS -
A F&P BAS Refresher
There have been lots of questions this week about the F&P BAS, so here’s a brief refresher and some resources to help you on your way. Remember the District’s guidelines is that every student is assessed three times a year. Scores are due November 1st, February 22nd, and May 24th according to the implementation FAQ, N.P.S. Fountas and Pinnell BAS 10.4.18_ Frequently Asked Questions. Kindergarten has a slightly different schedule.
We know that it is best practice to regularly use one-on-one formative and summative assessments in order to identify and document our students’ instructional reading levels. The F&P BAS system is our go to tool for this. The District’s Implementation Folder has some resources that can help.
Over the last few years of implementation, we have discovered a few more resources that may be helpful. When trying to determine if a student has reached his/her highest instructional level, these two forms may help guide those decisions: Assessment Summary Form and Finding Easy, Instructional and Hard Texts.
The Comprehension Conversation portion of the BAS is a source of valuable information to help us as teachers guide our instruction and make decisions not just on a level, but also strategy groupings and even determining where Tier I support for the majority of students might be needed. These documents can help you with the scoring of this section.
A-K Rubric for Scoring the Comprehension Conversation
L-Z Rubric for Scoring the Comprehension Conversation
One final tip, that again comes from our resident Reading Expert, Julie Warum. She has shared these in the past and they are worth considering as you assess your students. This conference form is a way to get more information about your students than just a level. It's nice to have multiple students on a page so that it is easy to see which students you could group together because they have similar learning needs. This could lead to strategy groups as well as letting you know where to focus in guided reading groups. (Sample Form)
Testing Tidbits
Thanks again to everyone for their cooperation and patience during our Fall NWEA-Map Window. Testing is complete for this window. The reports will not be complete until sometime the week of October 6, 2019. We will once again be preparing and sharing parent reports with families at the end of the 1st card marking. If you have families requesting a report earlier than that, you are welcomed to share one with them.
The Growth Reports section of NWEA has a whole new look which makes it easier for you to find the report you are looking for whether you are looking for the Student Progress Report to share with families, the Student Goal Setting Worksheet for your students’ leadership binders, or the Learning Continuum and Class Breakdown for your own use there is now an image and short description to help you find the report you are looking for.
Happy analyzing!
What's Deep about Deep Learning
"Deep Learning is quality learning that sticks with you for life. Our first step in reimagining learning was to identify six Global Competencies (6Cs) that describe the skills and attributes needed for learners to flourish as citizens of the world. In our definition, Deep Learning is the process of acquiring these six Global Competencies: Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. When learners are immersed in the 6Cs, they learn more—much more—and this learning contributes to their own futures and often to the betterment of their communities and beyond."
As we continue our work with SEL I found this article both insightful and meaningful. It's a quick read for those that are interested.
Reminders and Requests
- Remember to login to Navigate Prepared so we can review accounting for our students at the October ET. If you have not received an email, contact Judy Huggins or Rebecca Pek to assist you in accessing the site.
- Consider sharing your expertise during a 40 minute session at the District Best Practices Palooza on November 5th. Sign up using the following link. Best Practice Palooza, Session/Topic Interest Notice
- Safe Schools Required Employee Trainings: This is your VERY early reminder to please be sure you have completed your annual mandated Safe Schools modules. https://northville-mi.safeschools.com/login . You may simply login using your email address. “Suggested” training modules are optional, but “required” modules must be done by late October.
Now that I've been observed...how do I upload and label evidence into pivot again?
1. Upload, name, and code evidence to a specific indicator.
2. To check where you have evidence by indicator.
Halloween Costume Update
This year, we'll be going with last year's runner-up in the costume idea voting contest - Scrabble Tiles! Cardboard is being collected and Scrabble tile stencils have been ordered. We'll have all the materials for you here at school in the next week or so. Picture this but with a smaller tile!
Dismissal Duty
Week of 10/7
- Bus - Willerer
- Loop - Cowger, Pinkelman, Rohrhoff, Wayne
Week of 10/14
- Bus - Borchard
- Loop - Babich, Vertrees, Beson, Long
Random Useless Facts
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.
- A Boeing 747’s wingspan is longer that the Wright brother’s first flight.
- Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so they could afford a proper burial when they died.
- The cells that make up the antlers of a moose are the fastest growing animal cells in nature.
- A bowling pin needs to tilt only 7.5 degrees to fall.
- Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.