FMHS Info Swarm
October 4, 2016
Reach Out to Failing Students and Their Families
Please notify them not only of your concern for their child's grade but also to offer suggestions and interventions to help the student turn around their academic performance. Take this time to encourage these student to see you during extra help hours and FLEX. Provide them with strategies on how to make the most of your assignments, take better notes, and study for your tests. I know that you do these things for each of your students all the time, but please be sure to set aside some time for a personal word with these students and families.
It is still early enough in the semester that hope remains for students even in the most dire of academic situations. Please take some time this week to encourage these academically at risk students and their families.
Unique and Engaging Instruction at FMHS
Teacher Cadet Puppet Show
SOaR STEM Event
Physical Science Projects
Read to Succeed
It may be hard to believe but--with 17 of the required 60 hours behind us--we are already a quarter of the way through our Read to Succeed course. Hopefully everyone feels pretty comfortable with using Google Classroom and the general pattern of assignments at this point.
October's schedule will look a lot like the one we followed in September, with the main difference being there will not be a CIT meeting this month. Last month's reading and activities focused on foundational knowledge. This month we will look at topics relating to a literate environment. You will find the schedule for October below, which outlines how we will earn 5 additional hours for Read to Succeed this month.
Week 1 Professional Reading (10/3-10/7)
Week 2 PSG (Wednesday 10/12)
Week 3 Google Response (10/17-10/21)
Week 3 Department Meeting Reflection (Wednesday 10/19)
Week 4 Classroom Connection Journaling (10/24-10/28)
In other news, it appears that College of Charleston is going to articulate graduate level credit for teachers enrolled in our R2S course. We should receive final approval for the graduate coursework endorsement soon. Once the course is officially approved by College of Charleston, teachers wishing to earn graduate level credit for the R2S course can opt to pay a nominal fee (approximately $150) and complete some additional assignments from January through May. Gina Jenkins will oversee the additional assignments, which may include two book studies and some supplementary reflective responses.
Food for Thought
How Moxie Can Help Students Succeed
Click here for the Edutopia blog on moxie
Let's Teach For Mastery--Not Test Scores
Every Lesson Needs a Storyline
SLOs
What you should have accomplished thus far:
- administered your SLO pre-test assessments to all sections of your SLO course
- reviewed your SLO in Classroom Mosaic to complete the following sections: "Complete SLO Draft", "Select Students", and "Upload Pre-Scores & Set Targets"
- begun inputting student scores into Classroom Mosaic (Due by Tuesday October 11)
What you should work on next:
- sometime after October 11th an administrator will sign off on your SLO in Classroom Mosaic, after that you will need to electronically sign as well under the tab "Signature" below the "Preliminary Period" heading
- engage in ongoing progress monitoring and adjust instruction to ensure students are making appropriate growth towards meeting their SLO goals
- select one piece of evidence of progress monitoring to bring with you to the mid-point conference, you will want to bring 3 examples (i.e. quintile 1, quintle 3, quintile 5)
- all SLO teachers will have mid-point conferences and final conferences where they meet with an administrator to discuss the progress their students have made
- your overall score (1-4) will be determined by your progress monitoring this year instead of the percentage of students meeting their target score
Quote of the Month
Grade Books and Grade Reporting Dates
Also, please remember to hand calculate the grade for at least one student in each of your classes every 6 week marking period. This serves as an important safeguard against errors in our electronic grade book.
The 2nd six weeks will end Wednesday, November 9th and grades will be due by 8:40 am the following Monday--November, 14th. That gives teachers two days and a weekend to wrap up grading, allow for any makeup work you choose to accept, and finalize the Power Teacher grade book. Please plan accordingly to ensure all grades are in by the November 14th deadline.
Calendar of Events
October
- October 5 Report Card Distribution--2nd Block
- October 5 FMHS Family Meeting--3:55 pm
- October 6 College Application Day--3rd & 4th Blocks
- October 10 R2S Leadership Team--7:45 am
- October 12 Homeroom--10:10 am
- October 12 PSG--Planning Periods
- October 14 Fall Fling--3rd Block
- October 14 Pep Rally--4th Block
- October 18 Midterms Distributed--1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Blocks
- October 18 Leadership Team Meeting--3:55 pm
- October 19 PSAT/ASVAB Testing--1st & 2nd Blocks
- October 19 Department Meetings--3:55 pm
- October 21 Students of the Month Recognition--10:20 am
- October 24 New Teacher Meeting--3:55 pm
- October 24 School Improvement Council--4:30 pm
Gales Scroggs
Fort Mill High School
Email: scroggsg@fortmillschools.org
Website: http://fmhs.fortmillschools.org/
Location: 215 N Highway 21 BYP
Phone: 803-548-1900
Twitter: @MrScroggs