PKMS Update 11.18.19
A Close Look At How We Did & Will Do Our Work
Good Day, PKMS Family.
We are beyond proud of Ariana Okoth whose creative writing piece won first place in the state, but also won first place on the national level for the General Foundations Womne's Club. Her piece won over entries from all fifty states, putting Ariana and PKMS ON THE MAP!!! During this past May (if you remember), five students from Peekskill Middle School received awards for their outstanding writing. This is the fourth year in a row that students from PKMS have placed in this contest. For the first time, we had children from Peekskill competing at a national level. We want to thank all of you for helping our students along the way. A special note of gratitude to our literacy teachers, Ms. Simon, and Ms. Luongo for leading this campaign and working with the students throughout the process.
Dr. Mauricio and the Board will acknowledge Ariana's great accomplishment at Tuesday's board meeting. If you are able to join us, at 7PM in the Ford Auditorium (District Office), that would be fantastic.
We continue to be appreciative of your dedication, planning, collaboration, assessment of students, focus, hard work, and family outreach. Thank you for another great week of instruction and student learning.
This week’s quote speaks to our Social Emotional Learning Theme of Gratitude & Kindness: “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.”— Harold S. Kushner
As has become a part of the PKMS culture, please allow these words to inspire you as you design and redesign lessons, tasks, and questions, and reflect on practice.
Remember, to SMILE (Show My Infectious Lovable Energy) as it is the first thing students, families, and colleagues see.
Let's Keep These Thoughts in Mind:
- Laugh a little. Laugh a little more.
- Gladden the heart of a child.
- Always operate from a honest place.
- Give a soft answer
Turning Up The Heat!
Thank you to Thomas Grimes for his conversation with our Grade 8 students regarding Internet Safety and Awareness - Thank you to Katie Geider and Casandra Lewis for organizing this assembly
Thank you to everyone for your discussions with and support of our students during our Parent Teacher Conferences - Thank you to Lurana, Debbie, and Nancy for assisting with scheduling the meetings and report card distribution and mailings - Thank you to staff who translated
Thank you to Diane Eckhart for supporting the guidance suite
Thank you to Jonathan Harrison for supervising Picture Retakes
Thank you for the RtI Meetings and Discussions this past week
Thank you to our security: Chemay, Nigel, Merriweather, Billy, and David for their work
Thank you to Tim, Mike, Mark, Kristen, Billy, Keith, and Manny for their work
Thank you to Parketha Evans and her Food Services Team
Thank you to our Clinical Team for continuing to support students, families, and staff
Thank you to staff for parent and family outreach and meetings conducted this week
November 19 - May 7th - Tuesdays & Thursdays
Grade 6 Math - Diane Tual - Room 325
Grade 7 ELA - Mattie Settembre - Room 225
Grade 7 Math - Daniel Robinson - Room 230
Grade 8 ELA - Kiah Mahy (PHS) & Jonathan Harrison - Room 329
Grade 8 Math - Nicole Fervan - Room 326
We thank these teachers for the great work they will be designing and delivering using the Newsela and Aleks programs.
A Humanities Lens
The Arts Live Here
Students coloring by using the color combination chosen with watercolor pencils patterns in each letter - reviewing the rubric and make changes accordingly - identifying and defining musical symbols/terms and demonstrate corresponding performance techniques - reflecting n individual and collective progress in performance of concert repertoire - applying articulation techniques and dynamic contrast to music - keeping a steady beat - identifying the basic elements of film scores - identifying and performing whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes by performing rhythm activities - learning/listening to the sounds on Garageband to create a Thanksgiving Soundtrack/Friends and Family Dinner Party Soundtrack - determining how many measures and tracks to use for the soundtrack - examining and reviewing measures, time signature, half rest, final bar line, dynamics, chromatics, diatonic patterns, airflow
A Health-Conscious Mind & Body
Students choosing a condition they would like to learn about to complete an article analysis - completing a self-esteem All About Me project - analyzing an article analysis based on the topic students chose - partnering with Margaret’s Place in regards to healthy relationships and anti-violence/bullying
We Got STEM!
Students simplifying fractions to form equivalent fractions - writing and solving inequalities - solving two-step equations - analyzing, discussing, listening to, and graphing equations of lines in slope intercept form through Interactive student journal and online textbook software - discussing types of organisms Unicellular Vs. Multicellular - exploring matter and chemical interactions (phase changes, adding and removing heat, and phase change diagram) - creating a Solar System Travel Brochure - explaining what a conditional statement is in coding and give at least one example - predicting whether objects will sink or float based on Density and Buoyancy - coding robotics to complete different objectives using the NXT graphical programming language and Sphero EDU programming software - understanding why the tools of navigation are so important in a 3D modeling environment
Town Hall - Student-Building Work
- This week’s quote speaks to our Social Emotional Learning Theme of Gratitude & Kindness: “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.”— Harold S. Kushner
- Please refer to the counselors' email on the Town Hall's New Format/Structure - See them for any questions for additional details
- Tuesday - Friday (Work Completion Days – Please structure it so that students can complete homework, work on projects, and get work from other teachers - Fun Days - Students who have met behavioral expectations will enjoy recess or whatever classroom activity designed)
Collaborative & Department Work
- Full Department Meetings from 3-3:40PM: 11/18, 12/9, 1/20, 2/10, 3/9, 4/20, 5/11, 6/8
- November 19th - Dept Members present latest assessment data analysis using District Data Analysis Form with Action Plan - Please focus your analysis on a population subset - ELLs, Spec Ed, African American, etc. - Boys, Girls, etc
- November 26th - Dept Members present latest assessment data analysis or discuss December's Upcoming Work
- Month of December:
- For the month of December, please take a close (or closer) look at the 2019 ELA, Math (take a look at the Regents to determine what adjustments are necessary), and Grade 8 Science or Earth Science exam - Social studies will review the American History exam
- The goal is to identify trends, patterns, academic vocabulary, sentence phrasing, and what is the student being asked to do that he/she was not previously asked to do - From there, look at how you can add additional components/tasks/assessments to Rubicon Atlas and what instructional adjustment/supports will be designed
Grade-Level Work
- For the months of November & December, - RtI Meetings where applicable - Leslie Detres will communicate specifics
- November 20 & 27 - Reintroducing the Data Driven Instruction Model & Examining NYS ELA & Math Level I Reporting (What do the indicators tell us)
THANKSGIVING DRIVE
GOT DATA???
We thank everyone who has administered and who will administer our assessments - We appreciate the instructional adjustments you will design to further enhance learning - #datadriveninstruction
Must ask: Are Our Students Learning
What do my students need to learn? Why?
What have my students learned? How do I know?
What are my next steps? Why?
Task Predicts Performance
Questioning - are we posing low-level questions that address the standard or are we challenging students to think critically while addressing the same standard
LEVEL OF MASTERY THAT WILL BE REACHED IS DETERMINED BY WHAT SORT OF QUESTIONS STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO ANSWER
Work Dates
- November 19th - SLT Meeting @7:545AM
- November 21st - New Staff Meeting @7:45AM
- November 28th & 29th - Thanksgiving Recess - SCHOOL CLOSED
- December 2nd - Faculty Meeting - DASA Law Overview
- December 5th - Data Team Meeting @7:45AM
- December 5th - Author Thanhha Lai Workshop - 10:00 am - 12:00 pm (Grade 8)
- December 9th - Department Meetings @3PM
- December 10th - PKMS Winter Concert @7PM
- December 12th - Technology Team Meeting @7:45AM
- December 13th - BERT Team Meeting @7:45AM
- December 23rd - Jan 3rd - Holiday Recess
Work Reminders
- Take attendance for each of your instructional periods
- Ensure 504 and IEP Plans are being supported
- Ensure grade content colleague planning - reflecting Rubicon Atlas
- Ensure Gradebook and Teacher Webpage/Google Classroom reflect current information and assignments
- Communicate with families and maintain that communication in PLP
- Data Driven Instruction Model
- Always Ask: Have They Learned? How Do You Know?
- Training One Another
- Discussing Student Performance Information
- Designing Tiered Instruction
- Reflecting on Daily Practice
- Reviewing Assessments from All Content Areas (Formative, Summative, Interim)
- Discussing Progress Monitoring Efforts
- Pacing through Rubicon Atlas
- Lesson Plans Should Be Designed with the following in Mind
- Questions Posed - What is the level
- Tiered Instruction
- Guided Instruction
- Driven By Data
- Clear and Articulated Assessment Throughout (assessments must contain spiraling back questions)
- Groupings (Fluid)