Curriculum Update
Spring 2016
Up, Up and Away...NJ presents revised standards for adoption
Since the governor's announcement last year to "rethink" the Common Core State Standards, there has been a lot of work at the state level. A standards review committee comprised of educators, parents, and representatives of the business community met periodically for three months to review the current standards and determine where revisions needed to occur. More than 70 committee members were divided into three subcommittees to focus on grades K-2, grades 3-12 ELA, or grades 3-12 math.
The hard work and collaboration are evident in the finished product. The most significant shifts can be seen by viewing the following presentation:
http://www.state.nj.us/education/standards/resources/011116pres.pdf
Use these links to see side-by-side comparisons of the two documents:
ELA shifts ~ http://www.state.nj.us/education/standards/resources/ELARec.pdf
Math shifts ~ http://www.state.nj.us/education/standards/resources/MathRec.pdf
In order to provide school districts with adequate time to implement the revised standards, implementation is scheduled for September 2017.
The March 24th In-service was a Success!
Spring Workshop Highlights
Differentiating Math Instruction
Writing PD Just for Special Ed Teachers
Moving in the Right Direction
Volunteers Needed...for a District-Wide Curriculum Night!!!
Kindergarten Students are Writing Like Real Authors!
MTES Enjoys Professional Movie Lunches
Basic Skills Teachers Across the Region Create a PLC
On the Horizon...It's Take Your Child to Work Day!
We are looking for teachers who are willing to volunteer their prep time, to share some outside the box, school "goings on" with our visitors. Perhaps, you have a great science experiment to share? Or maybe, you would like to take the children for a tour of the school so they can see different classrooms or offices, take a ride in the elevator, or even see the kitchen! You may even choose to provide a demo of our technology...maybe even our 3-D printer!!!
Administrators will be volunteering to share their expertise, and they would love to have some teachers join in too! This day will not be a success without your help! Please reach out to Tiffany and Keira if you are interested in participating.
Mark Your Calendars
NEW ~ District-Wide Math Professional Book Club will begin every Wednesday morning, before school at either Bagelissimo or Pandora for "Breakfast and Book Club." Our first meeting will take place on April 27th at 7:45. The book we will be using is "Putting the Practices into Action: Implementing the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice, K-8." A pdf of this book is available using the link at the bottom of this page. This is an excellent resource which provides lesson samples and best practices in a clear, upbeat way. Please let Keira know if you plan to attend so she can reserve a few tables at Bagelissimo on April 27th.
Parent Advisory Curriculum Committee Meeting will be held on April 12th at 6:30. Staff members are invited to participate in the collaboration between parents and teachers. During our last meeting, we had several MTES and Hydock teachers join us to make the discussion informative for everyone.
MTES Writing Professional Book Club for Grades 3-6 is invited to meet on April 19th at 8:00 on the MTES conference room. We have met once to discuss the first chapter of the book, "The Unstoppable Writing Teacher" by Colleen Cruz. If you are interested (it's ok if you didn't make the first meeting) in attending, please RSVP to Keira, so a copy of the next chapter can be placed in your mailbox. I will be placing an order with Bagelissimo, so breakfast will be waiting for you that morning!
Grade Level Meeting for kindergarten will take place on Friday, April 8th. The hot topics we will have on our agenda include: kindergarten readiness testing, revisions to the writing report card criteria, and discussion of our vision for the coming school year.
Report Card Committee - Our district report card committee will continue their hard work the first week in May. Teachers on this committee will be using Thomas Guskey's Book, "Developing a Standards-Based Report Card" as a guide to create a purposeful, communicative tool for our district families.
NGSS Regional PD will be held in Mansfield on Thursday, May 5th. The purpose of this meeting is to work with regional teams to continue adding to our curriculum framework. Diane, Rob, and Denise have made so much progress toward building a wonderful science curriculum.
Basic Skills Teachers from neighboring districts will meet for our Second Leveled Literacy Intervention PLC on May 13th at MTES. Teachers have read and reflected on an article about literacy interventions, and now they'll explore ways to apply new understandings to their daily instruction. The plan is to share some "outside-the-box" strategies we can use with our tricky students...strategies we won't find in the teacher's manual.