Husky Bytes February 12, 2024
Today's Learners, Tomorrow's Leaders
DES Vision
By educating and empowering the whole child, Dowell Elementary strives to develop life-long learners who become productive members of society.
DES Mission
Dowell Elementary seeks to cultivate a love of learning within all students. We will accomplish this by maintaining high academic standards in a learning environment that is inclusive, equitable, and that supports the academic and social-emotional growth of our students. Staff will strive to implement effective teaching strategies in an engaged, targeted, student-driven learning environment through the use of technology, collaboration, and deep knowledge of resources. We believe that effective communication builds stronger relationships with families. Our success in this mission will empower all students to be productive members of society.
Our Focus for 2023-2024 - Data Driven Instructional Practices, Flex/Acceleration and Collaborative Planning
Set the Bar...Meet the Bar... Exceed the Bar... Raise the Bar!
Week at a Glance:
PLC Schedule: 8:10 - 8:35 (room 104)
2/12/24 - PBIS team
2/13/24 - Grade 2
2/14/24 - District PLC
2/15/24 - District PLC 5th Grade (change from original schedule)
2/16/24 - No PLC
Collaborative Planning: 2:40-3:40 (room 104)
2/12/24 - Grade 1
2/13/24 - Grade 1
2/14/24 - Kindergarten
2/15/24 - Kindergarten
2/16/24 - No Collaborative Planning
2/12/24 - Renzulli Club
2/12/24 - Destination Imagination
2/13/24 - Destination Imagination Rising Stars
2/13/24 - Roy Roger's Spirit Night
2/13/24 - Musical Theatre Club - Full Cast
2/14/24 - Happy Valentine's Day
2/15/24 - Girls Who Code
2/15/24 - Valentine's Dance sponsored by PAWS.
2/16/24 - School closed for students (Professional Learning) Please see below for updated schedule since iReady consultant PD has been canceled.
Looking ahead...
School Appreciation Days: February
Black History Month
Career & Technical Education Month
National Financial Aid Awareness Month
5-9 National School Counseling Week
15 School Resource Officer Appreciation Day
19 Presidents’ Day
Friendly Reminders and Announcements:
- All instructional Staff - Please select 2 sessions to attend at PHS on 2/16/24. Here is the form to complete. https://forms.office.com/r/f4tFqZp6pF Session descriptions are attached below.
- The i-Ready Diagnostic parent reports should be printed and shared during parent/teacher conferences on 2/16/24 or sent home with your students. We will print reports and put them in your mailbox this week.
- 11th Annual Science and Engineering EXPO - On February 24, 2024, Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) will host the 11th Annual Science and Engineering EXPO at Calvert High School from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. This family event is free and open to the public
- This is just a friendly reminder for anyone who plans to host an after-school club. The following steps must first be completed before students stay after:
- Club flyers must be approved by an administrator.
- Building use form approved by Kiley Bauer
- Club roster submitted to Barb Mowery
- Volunteer list submitted to Barb Mowery
A digital copy of the Building Use Form is attached below.
Please see the information attached below regarding the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition.
Please consider signing up for a coaching cycle with Denise, Veronica, or Brandi. The interest form is attached below.
PAWsome Shout-outs!
A HUGE SHOUT-OUT to the fifth-grade team for being so AWESOME!!! Each of you put your heart and soul into teaching and I am so thankful to witness this every day! You ALL are AMAZING!!! Cheryl
- Becky and Jess, your dedication and attention to detail for our students and their needed supports does not go unnoticed. You ladies ROCK!!! Your "roomie"
- KUDOS to the bus duty team who help support student safety during arrival and dismissal each day! I could not do it without you ALL! YOU are the BEST!!!! Cheryl
- THANK YOU to our DEDICATED DES Building Service Workers who work tirelessly to keep our school in pristine condition! YOU ALL are AWESOME!!! Cheryl
- SHOUT-OUT to TEAM Mowery and Conklin! You truly are the heart of DES!!! THANK YOU for ALL YOU do for each of us EVERY DAY and for keeping me in "the know" with the many daily changes during bus arrival/dismissal! YOU ROCK!!!
A huge thank you to Felicia for a successful and delicious Souper Bowl week! I appreciate you! - Kristin Wood
- Annette- you are absolutely amazing! Thank you for all you do each day for your students. They are so lucky to have such a caring and patient teacher! - Kristin Wood
- Becca- I admire you! Keep smiling! - Kristin Wood
- Denise- Your hard work does not go unnoticed! Thanks for all you do! - Kristin Wood
- Kiley- Thank you for doing the Character Bulletin board. My students feel so excited and proud to be on the board every month. - Kristin Wood
- Thanks to everyone who made soup this week. They were delicious! Thank you for the bowls, spoons, and bread donations too! Kristin Wood
- Mrs. Commadore- your desserts were so thoughtful and delicious! Thank you! - Kristin Wood
- Thanks to everyone who brought in delicious soup and made our Souper Bowl so successful! - Felicia Castiglione
- Hawks & Schoppert – Thank you for letting me read to your classes. It was the highlight of my week! – Barb Mowery
- Kristin Wood- Thanks for being my Soup partner! Hugs 😊 Felicia Castiglione
- Stephanie - thanks for being such an AWESOME partner teacher! I’d be lost without you! – Kelly Hawks
- Huge Shout out to Felicia and the rest of the soup makers. I love this yearly tradition! Everything was so yummy, and it was great to try so many yummy new recipes. – Becky Leishear
- Shout out to Kelsey Jones and Melissa Carter. Our students made great growth on their I-Ready assessments. Our kids are lucky to have you. – Becky Leishear
- Mrs. O'Donnell for taking the time to share her resources! – Deanna Watrous
- Shout out to all those talented "souperstars" for making those scrumptious comforting soups/chilis served with bread and cheese - even sweet treats throughout the week! Soooooo enjoyable! Thank you immensely! -- Pamela Tippett
- A huge thank you to Mrs. Mowery for being such a good sport and reading one of my classes' favorites read alouds! – Stephanie Schoppert
- A big shout out to Mrs. Scott for filling in for me while I was getting over strep! – Stephanie Schoppert
- Big shout out to Ms. Sutton for letting us know when we need to realign the 5th graders' lunch priorities. – Stephanie Schoppert
- Thank you to Mrs. Hollady for running around and gathering new student materials – Stephanie Schoppert
- A big shoutout goes to Ms. Castiglione for organizing the 3rd Annual Souper Bowl. We heard lots of talk about the yummy soups made. Thank you to everyone who contributed to make the event a success.
MyPath Movers and Shakers:
Just some reminders, CCPS usage goal is 45 minutes each week. My Path will show students meeting usage goals between 30-49 minutes. Students should stay within this range and not exceed it. My Path does only track Time on Task.
Lexia Legends:
Huskies are leveling up each week! Please remember teachers should be logging in at least once a week to check on student progress in Lexia and having those 5-minute check-in with students as needed.
Usage directly correlates to the number of skills gained in Lexia. In class, your students should be focused on completing green bars while in Lexia and tracking that data. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kristin Dare.
DES Math Minute - Opportunities for students, staff and families to enhance math learning!
Professional Quick Read
Unconscious Gender Bias in Elementary Mathematics Classes
“Teachers communicate unwitting expectations of their students’ academic success through their verbal interactions during classroom instruction, their comments on student papers, their tracking of students into ability groups, and their lack of consistent support of students who need a deeper mathematical understanding,” says Maureen Neumann (University of Vermont) in this Mathematics Teacher article. She describes her work with preservice teachers who believed their classroom practices were equitable and then had Aha moments analyzing transcripts of their work with students. One teacher realized that when boys acted out or were uncooperative, she moved their desks to the front of the class and asked them to challenge, higher-level math questions. “In all cases,” she said, “the disruptive students that I engaged in high-level questioning were boys. The boys would stop the negative behavior and become engaged in math concepts that were being explored. I did not realize that this was rewarding behavior with opportunities to learn math. I rewarded girls [who demonstrated] more-cooperative behavior with non-academic praise and encouragement.” Another teacher said, “I noticed something really interesting about my interactions with students when I asked higher-level questions… When I asked a girl a question about place value and she gave me the right answer, I just told her that she was right. However, whenever I asked a boy…, whether he gave a correct or incorrect answer, I would always follow up with, How did you know? or Why did you do it like that? I was really surprised to see this.”
Below is a summary of data from this project, drawn from transcripts of different types of comments directed at boys, girls, and the whole class. Neumann says this type of analysis reveals similar patterns of unconscious bias toward students of marginalized groups.
• Academic praise – The teacher rewards students and reinforces the intellectual quality of their academic work: - Examples: Interesting strategy. I like your thinking in solving that problem. Marshall Memo 1021 January 29, 2024 7 - To boys 47%, to girls 53%, to the whole class 0%
• Non-academic praise – The teacher rewards students and reinforces work or activity not related to the intellectual quality of academic work. - Examples: You’re being nice and quiet today. I like how you put your name at the top of your test. - To boys 38%, to girls 0%, to the whole class 62%
• Academic criticism, intellectual quality – The teacher directs critical remarks at the lack of intellectual quality. - Examples: I don’t think you’re good at mathematics. This is a simple problem that you got wrong. - To boys and girls 0%, to the whole class 0%
• Academic criticism, effort – The teacher attributes academic failure to lack of effort. - Examples: You could do the math if you just put your mind to it and worked harder. You’re not trying hard enough. - To boys and girls 0%, to the whole class 0%
• Mild nonacademic criticism – The teacher makes negative comments about violations of conduct, rules, and forms. - Examples: Megan, you need to raise your hand. Tom, stay in line. - To boys 75%, to girls 0%, to whole class 25%
• Harsh nonacademic criticism – The teacher makes negative comments that attract attention because they are louder, longer, and stronger than mild criticism. - Examples: Tom, I told you to get in line! I don’t want to talk to you again about this. The next time I say something, no recess! - To boys and girls 0%, to the whole class 0%
• Low-level questions – The teacher asks questions that require memorization of facts. - Examples: What number follows 59? What is 6 times 5? - To boys 30%, to girls 32%, to the whole class 38%
• High-level questions – The teacher asks open-ended, probing/pressing questions that require higher intellectual processes, using information, not just memorizing it. - Examples: How did you figure out that 62 times 51 equals 3162? How did you know that 60 follows 59? - To boys 0%, to girls 0%, to the whole class 10%
• Facilitating academic interventions – The teacher facilitates learning by providing students with suggestions, hints, and cues that encourage and enable them to complete the assignment themselves. - Examples: How does solving 60 times 50 help you solve 62 times 51? Looking at the hundreds chart, what do you notice about the numbers that follow numbers that end in 9? - To boys 100%, to girls 0%, to the whole class 0%
• Short-circuiting academic interventions – The teacher prevents or truncates students’ success by taking over the learning process. Marshall Memo 1021 January 29, 2024 8 - Examples: Give me your pencil. When multiplying, you first… You’ve got this part wrong – 60 times 50 is 3000, not 300. - To boys 100%, to girls 0%, to the whole class 0%
• Academic information – The teacher gives information related to the lesson content. - Example: The sum of the interior angles for any triangle is 180 degrees. - To boys 11%, to girls 11%, to the whole class 78%
• Non-academic information – The teacher gives information that is procedural or related to classroom management. - Example: I need everyone to put their desks in groups of 4 for today’s lesson. - To boys 20%, to girls 0%, to the whole class 80% “Preservice Teachers Examine Gender Equity in Teaching Mathematics” by Maureen Neumann in Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching PK-12, March 2007, reprinted January 2024 (Vol. 117, #1, pp. 72-79); Neumann is at maureen.neumann@uvm.edu.
CCPS Vision
CCPS Mission
Dowell Elementary
Email: pattonj@calvertnet.k12.md.us
Website: calvertcountypublicschools.com
Location: 12680 H G Trueman Road, Lusby, Maryland 20657, USA
Phone: 443-550-9480
Facebook: facebook.com/
Twitter: @dowellesccps