Monday Morning Motivation
Central Elementary Staff News----April 24--April 28, 2017
Our Mission
Providing engaging academic experiences, the Central Elementary Community will inspire and support students to become caring, confident, lifelong learners.
Try out new strategies!
Dear Staff,
The end of the year is a great time to try out those strategies or ideas that you never think you have time for (like a growth mindset lesson, a creative writing assignment, or some new stations/activities). There are a ton of resources out there and below are just a couple.
Teach Hub (I especially like their video writing prompts that are leveled.)
http://www.teachhub.com/video-writing-prompts
Growth Mindset
Recently, I read an educator/author say that every time she opens her mouth in her class it should be to enhance critical thinking or to give feedback. I thought that was an interesting notion and am still processing that statement. It would really make you focus on how you are using your time in front of the students.
Hope you are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful day!
Have a great week!
Julie
Two Weeks at a Glance
Central Calendar
MONDAY, April 24
- 5th grade ISTEP
TUESDAY, April 25
- 5th grade ISTEP
- High Ability Broad Based Committee Central Office 4 PM
- Brag Tags--grade 2 (2:45 in LGI) and grade 3 (3:10 in LGI)
WEDNESDAY, April 26
- 5th grade ISTEP
- ISTEP online 10 minute meeting-5th (2:20) and 4th grade teachers (9:40) in TL room
- Brag Tags--grade 4 (2:50 in LGI) and grade 5 (3:10 in LGI)
THURSDAY, April 27
- RTI Committee 7:45 AM-Library
- Brag Tags--grade 1 (2:40 in LGI) and grade K (3:00 in LGI)
FRIDAY, April 28
- WalkATho
MONDAY, May 1
- 4th grade ISTEP science online
TUESDAY, May 2
- 5th grade ISTEP social studies
- Flat Rock parent meeting 6:30 PM
WEDNESDAY, May 3
- Pack up computers in the basement lab
THURSDAY, May 4
- Show CCC video
- Incoming 6th grade meeting at PCMS
FRIDAY, May 5
- Central preschool transition conferences
Announcements and Reminders
- In your mailbox you will find class list parameters for the 2017-2018 school year. Please see me if you have questions.
- Brag Tags sheets need to get to me the day before your presentation.
- Please note that the final STAR Growth Reports showing your final math and reading data is due to me no later than May 19th. You may turn it in earlier. Please highlight 33+ on the SGP and/or 60% PR Reading and 70% PR math on the report.
- Give the Math Common Assessment--May 15-19
- IREAD-3 Student score reports will go home in sealed envelopes on May 8th.
- High Ability letters will go out this week to students/parents who are in high ability. Letters will go out later in the week to those students who are no longer in high ability. Please make sure you have made contact with parents prior to my letter. Once I have your 3rd grade (math and ELA), 4th grade (ELA) and 5th grade (ELA) lists, I will send out letters in early June letting parents know students will be in more rigorous classrooms receiving service, but not formally identified. Hopefully, this added layer of communication will help misconceptions about those students who are not formally identified but in our honors classes. As these letters go out, I will send copies to teachers so you will know what parents are receiving.
- PTO Grants--Due May 8th. I encourage you to apply for a grant because they have money they want to give back to the school.
- As we prepare for the summer renovation of the hallways and lockers, we must take everything down and clean out all lockers before the last day of school. Demolition begins in the basement after May 3rd.
Please share with students that the reward for completing the Math Facts Challenges in your grade level this year will be an "out of this world" experience! A dome planetarium will be in our gymnasium on May 17th to allow every student who has met the challenges to attend a 1/2 hour to 45 minute program, depending on the number of students. As we get closer, I will ask for an estimated number to begin creating a grade-level schedule for the experience. This "reward" goes along well with our math facts initiative since many are trying out the Rocket Math program this year.
Letter to new class-Putting this on your radar that you will write a letter to your new students next year introducing yourself to them. You should have your letter last year that you can tweak. Please share these with your new teammates. Again, you can give these to us in envelopes. We can put labels on and mail. Thanks.
Curriculum and Instruction
ISTEP+ Grades 3, 4, and 5
We are halfway through Part 2 of the ISTEP in grades 3-5, which includes multiple-choice and technology-enhanced items. Below you will find our testing schedule for each grade level.
Grade 5--Monday-Thursday and then we are online next week Monday and Tuesday. Proctors:
D. Harris/M. Strange
M. Moser/H. Schwettman
J. Wilson/S. Meranda
D. Cragan/M. Klinger
(5th grade will switch specials with 4th grade Monday, April 24-Thursday, April 27)
Grades K-2--Again, please make note of how this schedule may impact your specials times, assistant availability, etc. It takes our entire school to provide the kind of testing environment we want for our students!
Central's Teacher of the Year--Katy Riester!
Congratulations to Heidi and Jennie for being our 2017 Optimist Winners!
Staff Celebrations!
- Congratulations to Heidi Schwettman and Jennie Menser who were recognized on Wednesday at the Optimist dinner.
- Congratulations to all our ROSE winners. We had so many people recognized both at the Classified Dinner and at school on Tuesday. Thank you to those who took the time to write about and honor colleagues.
- Congratulations to Krista Bullington, Emma arrived weighing 7.14 and 19.5 inches. Krista and baby are doing well. We are so happy for you and your husband!
- Attendance was great this week--98.58% Thank you all for encouraging students to be here for ISTEP. We had very few make-ups.
- Awesome job to 3rd and 4th grade for an error free ISTEP. I appreciate your dedication to ensuring all procedures were followed.
- Mrs. White, Mrs. Burkert, and Mr. Lease thank you for giving the growth and development talk to our students. For some, you will be the only adult giving these words of wisdom to our students. We appreciate you!
- We got through the Title One audit in a very painless way. There are a couple suggestions surrounding how we notify student receiving Title One services and they way we document it. Overall, it went really well. Thank you for your flexibility as I did have to reschedule a couple of domain 1 and 3 meetings.
Happy April Birthdays
- Heidi Schwettman (3)
- Amanda Klinger (25)
- Sarah Tobey (29)