Betsy's Bits
January 15, 2017
In Case You Missed It:
Our last home basketball game and winter pep rally were missed because of the inclement weather on Monday. We will not be making this game up due to the tournament coming up this week. The Culture Team is working with the winter sports teams to reschedule the pep eally. We are unable to do it before the tournament because of CTE end of course testing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Right now they are looking at Monday, January 23 for an end of season celebration/pep rally. More information will be coming out once everything is finalized.
We were unable to have our UnMeeting this month. Thank you to Vincent Pienaar and Jamie Cox for making sure our Stellar Stallions were recognized this month. Congratulations to Stellar Faculty Member,Cole Merricks, Stellar Staff Member, Eurince Aragon, and Student's Choice, Andrew Allen. We are lucky to have so many wonderful people that work at SanLee!
Our UnMeeting was to go over ALL the testing in the next couple of weeks. We are going to be unable to meet as a staff, so it will be imperative for you to read emails carefully from Ms. Derr. It is going to take EVERYONE being on the same page to ensure everything gets done in a timely manner. We have 2 days to do CTE testing, 3 days for benchmarks, and approximately a week to finish ACCESS tests. Kisha will be meeting with groups during planning later in the week (look for an email) to go over final testing locations and groups and answer questions. Please make sure to mark your calendars and plans that January, 25, 26, and 27 the ENTIRE school will be on a modified/delayed schedule. This schedule was sent out in an email on January 12:
The Bell Schedule on Benchmark Testing days:
6th
10:20 - 11:50 - 1st and lunch
11:50 - 12:50 - Electives
12:50 - 1:40 - 2nd
1:40 - 2:30 - 3rd
7th
10:20 - 11:20 electives
11:20 - 12:40 1st and Lunch
12:40 - 1:35 2nd
1:35 - 2:30 3rd
8th
10:20 - 11:40 - 1st (W) 3rd (Th)
11:45 - 1:30 - 2nd (W) and lunch 4th (Th)
1:30 - 2:30 - electives
*make up work and tests on Friday - redistribute teams
Elective schedule:
10:20 - 11:20 - 7th
11:20 - 11:50 - Break
11:50 - 12:50 - 6th
12:50 - 1:30 - Break
1:30 - 2:30 - 8th
Wednesday, January 18, our AVID National Demo Coach, Donna Kortvelesky, will be on campus ALL day. EVERYONE is expected to update hallway displays, ensure lesson plans detail WICOR, and student notebooks & agendas are organized. She asked to specific "regular" classrooms along with the AVID elective class. She will be looking for AVIDized lessons with WICOR incorporated, student binders with evidence of WICOR being utizlied, Cornell Notes with evidence of students going back after initially taking the notes "marking them up". She will be flipping through agendas to check that students are using these as an organizational tool REGULARLY. PLEASE take time to make sure student's have their notebooks in order and these evidences in place. I wouldn't be surprised if she asks students why they do these things and if they know what AVID is and stands for. These would make great discussions and/or quick writes... I spent last week pulling evidences for many of the things we are doing to support AVID school-wide. It is amazing how much we do and don't realize because AVID(Advancement via Individual Determination) is just who we are and what we do at SanLee. We expect all our students to work hard and prepare for their futures through high-level thinking, questioning, reading and writing and organizing. All educators teach specific strategies and provide needed supports to help all students reach college-readiness. If you need to see these evidences to understand better, see Vincent and the notebook he is pulling together.
Friday, January 20th is the Courtney Jordan's last day at SanLee. Please make sure to stop by the gym and wish her well in her new future in Wake County Schools. Our new H/PE teacher Brianna Simmons will begin on Monday, January 23.
If you know of Language Arts and/or ELA/SS teacher looking for a position, Human Resources have given us permission to fill Natalie Davis' 6th grade position with a temporary person. Natalie will not be back the remainder of this year. The position is NOT being advertised, so please let me know anyone I should contact, or share my email address with anyone that may be interested.
Please put Brian and Karen Caldwell in your thoughts and prayers. Brian has learned he has colon cancer and will begin treatment this week. At this time, Brian plans to continue teaching while undergoing the plan for his recovery.
Coming Up:
Mark Your Calendars:
Tuesday: CTE testing (Bryan, Trombley, Lyerly, Hickman, Berlauk), Basketball tournament @ LCHS 4:30pm and 6pm
Wednesday; Demo Coach visit, Sweet 16 to FLK and Westfield, CTE testing (Bryan, Trombley, Lyerly, Hickman, Berlauk), Basketball tournament @ LCHS 4:30pm and 6pm
Thursday: APLW - Achieving Rigor through Reading, Writing, and Collaboration (3-3:45)
PDP's due Monday, January 23
Leadership will meet January 23 (rescheduled because of MLK holiday)
2nd Q grades due to Joy January 26 by 3:30 pm
SafeSchools due Friday, January 27
Reading strategies and developing literacy in ALL subjects
EQ: How will you help students make meaning when reading future texts in your class?
Have you ever assigned something for students to read, but when they finished they sat and stared at you blankly? Have you ever read something and didn't understand what it was saying? Both of the scenarios have happened to me. Research supports that we, as teachers, should set a purpose for reading so students read closely for that set purpose. (A blog on setting a purpose is found here and shares an additional strategy (one of my favorites), Anticipation Guides.
It is also important for teachers to plan pre reading strategies to assist students in creating connections with the new unknown material to information they already do understand. Students should be taught how to actively engage and read closely. This state of active engagement can be achieved when teachers purposefully plan with pre, during and after reading strategies. AVID strategies like Marking the Text and Writing in the Margins also can be effective (if explicitly modeled and taught).
Vocabulary development throughout the reading process is imperative. Teachers must plan for students to interact and use new vocabulary with multiple exposures and contexts in order to make connections and understand new words. It is not enough for a student to copy and recite a definition. One idea using Cornell Notes to teach vocab is here. Concept maps, circles, squares, and scales are also ways to have students interact with and understand new vocabulary.
In summary, ALL teachers, not just Language Arts teachers, must plan, model, teach, and scaffold reading strategies in order for ALL students to be able to comprehend complex texts. The strategies like the ones linked in this section are based in research to improve student comprehension. So, now you know this, how are you going to plan reading in your classroom? What will you do differently on Tuesday?
AVID weekly:
- A switch to daylight saving time could be lifesaving for koalas, researchers say
- Ants have been farming plants for millions of years, long before people
- Millennials take social media very seriously - here's why that's not a problem
- Millions of women voted in this election. They have the Iroquois to thank.
- The secret language of urine
- Time to teach teens - and all of us - to be savvy about news on the internet
- Why the 'skills gap' doesn't explain slow hiring
- Graphic Analysis: Government reaction to climate change
- Graphic Analysis: Supreme Court balance illustration
- Keep your head up: Text neck takes a toll on the spine
- VIDEO: Text Neck" Medical Concerns (Yep It’s a Thing)
- Trump's pro-energy policies will enhance US status as global economic superpower
- Trump's proposals would wreak environmental havoc
- A Nobel that helps explain the hole in a bagel
- Countdown to college: Common mistakes in college admission essays and how to avoid them
- RedBlueAmerica: Time to replace the Electoral College?
- Trump election has young people talking