Tiger Beat
Acton Weekly Update 1/24/2020
Things to Know
The Acton vs. South Creek staff basketball game will be on Friday, February 29th at the Franklin Central HS gym at 6:00. I really appreciate the enthusiasm and commitment many of you have made to participate either as a player, cheer squad coach or leading the half-time show. This is going to be a lot of fun. We will be purchasing a shirt for each staff member who volunteers for the event and I'll be coming around to confirm your roles and size of shirts, next week. I know we all won't be able to attend every practice, but I hope you can each make 1-2 practices. Our PTO is working collaboratively with the SC PTO to purchase noisemakers and concessions. There will be no admission charge but we do ask every attendee to bring a non-perishable item.
Practices will be:
February
5-Wednesday
11-Tuesday
19-Wednesday
27-Thursday
There will be a High Ability workshop in early June in Franklin, IN. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. The district will pay for your registration fees.
The Franklin Township Education Foundation is excited to share the 2020 Spring Grant application with you! We know that many creative and innovative ideas are ready for funding!
- Visit https://fteducation.org/request-a-grant/ to complete the application
- Remember to send your complete COVER FORM and signed GRANT AGREEMENT to the FTEF office at CTEC.
- PDF attached
- Please note the application deadline is March 20, 2020.
Fast Track: It may only be January but planning for Fast Track starts NOW! Please read the flyer below and the presentation (button below) to learn more about the needs of Fast Track and how it positively impacts so many of our students. We need volunteers and donations to make it happen. Monetary donations are most helpful. To fill a bag for each student is approximately $40. If you could, please sign up to volunteer, make a donation, or share this information with your churches, community groups or family members so we can make this coming Fast Track event a huge success again next school year.
English Language Learners Spotlight
Coaches Corner
Upcoming Dates:
Q3C1 Post-test given by January 31st
Q3C1 Post-test data entered by February 3rd
Q3C1 Post-test data discussion on February 5th
Half day planning: Week of February 24th
Pre-test for Unit 6 in EDM grades 3-5: Jan. 29th - Feb. 4th
Unit 5 Post-test grades 3-5: Feb 3rd-7th
Deadline to enter results of Unit 5 Assessment into EDM: 8:00am Feb. 11th
Begin teaching Unit 6: Feb. 4th-8th
I will be meeting with grade levels in February to go over how to use the comprehension modules in Jan's yellow book to teach mini lessons, GR lessons, and Independent practice. Each module contains all three components and many provide videos to watch that model how to implement each module. These modules are an extremely effective and efficient tool to use to help us weave a common thread from whole group to small group to independent practice. Using these modules will not only save you time in lesson planning, but will provide students with effective instruction based on the comprehension skills they need to master.
We should be weaving a common thread throughout our mini lessons, GR lessons, and our daily 5 activities. This is something we are now working on after our PD with Carolyn. Initially she gave us the "bare-bones" of GR. Last week she went deeper into how to make our block more meaningful and intentional for our students. The comprehension modules are perfect for this because they not only provide the mini lesson and GR lesson, but they also provide a way to tie these into your daily 5. For example, if your mini lesson and /or GR lesson is about compare and contrast, you can have students compare and contrast characters from 2 different books they have read during Daily 5. If you are working on retell, you can have students write a retell of one of the books they have read using BME or 5 finger retell, etc.during their Daily 5 practice. This is what Carolyn referred to as "directed choice".
Many classrooms are still struggling to achieve classroom participation with the reading logs. Please look at the above spreadsheet to see how your class is faring compared to your colleagues. Encourage your class with various incentives. The more excited and passionate you are about this program, the more engaged and excited your students will be. Please let them know that this figures into their citizenship grade and that the school as a whole will not get to the million minute mark and win a school wide party unless we all work together.
Thank you to all who responded to the Google Form that I sent out. I will be meeting with each of you to address all of your guided reading questions and concerns. I have scheduled a date to meet with most of you already and am very excited to collaborate with each of you.
Guided Reading Grade Level Data
Reference the above link to examine your grade level's progress from BOY to MOY. This Google slide compares your BOY GR levels to your MOY GR levels. Celebrate the amount of growth in not only the "exceeding benchmark" category, but in the "achieving benchmark" category as well. You have made amazing growth this year with your students.
Counselor Corner
We are and will be learning more about CD in the videos that it can seem overwhelming or unclear about what you are expected to actually be doing in your classroom. You are only expected to be implementing the following elements of CD daily:
- Greetings Every Morning
- Brain Smart Starts Every Morning
- Working on Composure
That is it! I know we have more elements of CD in our school which is awesome, but when we learn about new things do not feel like you will be expected to start implementing those things asap. CD is all about a mind shift. As long as we are reflecting on what we are learning and working on our own composure we are doing well!
Here is the link to the Conscious Discipline mid-year survey I sent out Thursday. This is not to assess you at all, it is just to see where I can help and provide more resources. Please be honest! Help me help you!
Coming Up
Monday 1/27/2020
Makey Makey Training- Rigsby
Leadership Meeting- BWB, Pryor, Cordes, Poole
Tuesday 1/28/2020
Collaboration:CD Video #6
9:30 Dr. Stevenson building walk-through. I look forward to Toni seeing the tweaks you've been making since the training last week. You are doing well and the data celebrations we are seeing are great!
Wednesday 1/29/2020
Collaboration: Finish CD VIdeo #6 and update GR data wall
Thursday 1/30/2020
Second Grade Field Trip
Friday1/31/2020
Third Quarter Lunch Pitch-IN provided by 2nd/3rd grade/gen-ed and EL IA's
Major Saver Limo Ride for qualifying students
February:
3 Drills (All)
3 Counselor Appreciation Day
5-10 Teacher window open
6 PTO Meeting
12 Mid term grades posted for parents
13 1st grade field trip
14 Friendship parties
14 Kids Heart Challenge
17 President’s Day (make up day if necessary)
20 4th grade field trip
21 All Pro Dads
21 Father Daughter event
24-28 Book Fair Week
27 KDG Field Trip-Clowes
FTCSC Hedgehog Focus
The Hedgehog Concept is based on an ancient Greek parable that states, "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." ... Hedgehogs, however, simplify the world and focus on a single, overarching vision, which they then achieve.