Spartan Scoop #22
February 14, 2016
Thought for the week:
Be the change you want to see in the world. Gandhi
Be that person and that light for those that cannot find it== be it a student, a parent, or a teammate. The change starts with one.
Building Items:
Student Behavior - I do not know if it was a coincidence or not, but our number of students receiving referrals last week was half from our average over the previous two weeks. Last week I wanted you to pre-correct students to no end and it may have worked. One week is not a trend, but I will take a victory any way I can get it; without cheating of course. Let's continue to pre-correct students in the areas I highlighted last week. I will enter those below again for your convenience. The PBS lesson this week will focus on "Away from the Assigned Area".
Recent Common Behaviors
Pre-corrects for those behaviors
Cheating
We can assume that a student should not use books while they take Reading Counts quizzes, but I want you to remind them of this prior to testing. When giving assignments be very direct on whether students should be doing this on their own or if they may work with a partner or partners.
Physical Contact
Prior to recess or going in the halls, remind students to keep hands to themselves for safety purposes.
Bus Safety
Before going home remind students to have a safe ride home and to follow our guidelines of being respectful, responsible and safe.
Theft
Remind students that if something does not belong to them that they cannot take it. This is stealing.
Away from the Assigned Area
Remind students that they must take the most direct route to another location. In fact, if a student is going to the office, tell them exactly how you want them to get there.
Disrespect to Staff
Let students know that as adults you ask a lot out of them. One thing you will not do is ask them to do something that is unsafe. Any request you give is a reasonable request and they should follow it without rolling eyes, making a noise, or refusing to follow the request. Let the students know that they have a choice to follow the request or not. Following the request results in a positive outcome, choosing not to follow the request will result in a negative outcome.
February Fire Drill: Thursday, February 18 at 10:05
How to Check your Lunch Account: Go to SIS
click on the little house in the left corner
Click on the arrow button in the Actions box (in the middle of your screen)
Then click my lunch account
**This is a reminder that staff members cannot carry a negative balance on their meal accounts. Central Office keeps a close eye on this and expects you to have a positive balance. Please make a payment as soon as you can.
Peer Observation is due March 1 to Dave.
Floating Work Day Form is due May 1 to Dave.
PD Log is due to Dave May 1.
"PD isn't just something you go to. It's a mindset. It's a commitment to improving for our students, whenever, wherever, from whoever." I ask that you always look for a way to make yourself better as a professional.
"Effort and attitude are the two things you can always control." As professionals this should never be compromised. Remember what you do and who is around you. The students are always watching and listening.
Did you hand out 50 PBS tickets an hour last week? If not, why not? When we focus on positivity we will breed positivity.
Mr. Samuel's Weekly Challenge - People often ask me how I stay positive all of the time. I have a simple answer; I choose to be positive. I want all of you to do the same.
Calendar Items:
Monday, 2/15 - No School - President's Day
Tuesday, 2/16 - Angie’s Coaching Day, PBS Lesson @ 9:20 "Away from the Assigned Area"
Wednesday, 2/17 - SPED Staffing 7:45, Dave’s Coaching Day
Thursday, 2/18 - Angie’s Coaching Day, Fire Drill at 10:05
Friday, 2/19 - Bowl For Kids’ Sake $2 Jeans Day; Super Grants are Due;District Items:
- Super Grant Applications are due next Friday, February 19th. They are to be sent to Mrs. McCluskey electronically or hard copy with your administrators signature. Please give it some thought and apply.
- No Tax Bond Issue in April: Remember we as district employees can ONLY educate while on contracted time and we can not use district resources to promote the Bond Issue. Please do not use your school email to encourage people to vote for the Bond issue. The main pieces of this issue to communicate is
- This is a NO TAX INCREASE $9.5 Million Bond Issue
- This issue will address safety and security. Every building except the HS will have the main entrance addressed for security reasons.
- NP and EP will be handicap accessible through the main entrance
- NP and SP will have additional classrooms build to alleviate the need for the trailers
- The Performing Arts area of the HS will be renovated. This will include the Band and Choir rooms.
Vision Items:
You have also been given the look at the online tools and the practice piece for MAP. Mrs. Buxton will begin this with students when we return starting on Tuesday, 2/16, and run the practice up to the week of testing. There are two mandatory requirements from classroom teachers from this point on.
1. You must stay with your class the first two weeks of practice, Week of 2/15 and 2/22, during Computer Lab and help Mrs. Buxton assist students. Mrs. Buxton and I have discussed that each of you will be there to assist, and I will make an announcement each morning to remind teachers.
2, Teachers must take 30 minutes every Friday and carve out a time that you use the practice and the tools as a whole group with your students.
https://sites.google.com/site/moberlyassessment/home/map-eoc-resources
At CLT we also discussed those students not on an IEP or 504 that will need some of the Universal Tools and Accommodations that we do not want to give unless part of what we would do on a daily testing basis for that student. We will look at these lists and make sure those that are necessary are given. Due to computer lab schedules it may be necessary to pull these students together in a small group in the lab during that time for training. We do not want to take them out of regular class time at this point. I will make sure to communicate to you how we will do this by Tuesday.
Data Wall: As you give your topic tests and SLO's please enter these scores into the Data Wall yourself OR you can send them to Mrs. Patrick to do so. We would like to try to move to everyone entering these themselves to save time and get us used to entering our data and coding it for data discussions in the future.
Reading Program:
Journeys grade level kits have arrived. I am going to sort these and get them to grade reps to share with teams. We will not make our final decision on the purchase until July. There are many conversations taking place and we will be sure to keep everyone in the loop. All aspects are being considered before a final decision will be made. I also sent out links from the reps that were shared with me.
PBS: Lesson for Tuesday-- Out of area
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_sF3YLu-zjYVS-OR9gf6XwIFmJq0POurmLX69AmT9Q4/edit
Grant Writing Sites shared by Mrs. Aruchibeque:
Grant $$$$
Matchcode
Donors choose
Go fund me
Kohls
Tapestry Grant
MO Farm Bureau
Enterprise
ITEF Electronics Grant
Adopt a classroom
Get Ed Funding
Micro Lending
Vision 20/20
Externship
Boeing
Kickstarter
Emerson
Scholastic
Staff Birthdays:
February
Dawn Rasdale-8th
Brandy Forsyth- 12th
Tessa Rivera- 16th
Dee Noel-17th
Melissa Slater - 21st
Ashley Patrick-21st
Lollipop Moments:
Della,
You do your job so amazingly. you keep such a positive presence here at our school- it's easy to forget you split your time among schools. Thank you for all your hard work with my EAGLES students. They LOVE you! And thank you for all those referrals I've given you. I appreciate your patience and communication. (Royce)
Janene,
Thank you for vacuuming my office when I decided to make a mess, but most of all my appreciation is for the encouragement you provide on a regular basis (and the chocolate, of course)! You are an amazing co-worker!! (Jackie)
Mrs. Lewis wanted to give Mr. Welch a round of applause for getting the students ready and respectful as they transitioned from pledges to the National Anthem in the gym on Monday-- she appreciates his positive words that help our students have fantastic days here at GBE.
Amanda Anderson and Amanda Eiberger - You two have done a wonderful job of jumping into GBE and taking on students head on. I appreciate how you have become an active part of the GBE team. Thank you for providing rigor for your students. Your work has not gone unnoticed. (Dave)
Gabe - You continue to do your job as usual even with high frequency off task behaviors from a few of your students. Thank you. (Dave)