The School Scoop
Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.
February 26, 2016
Upcoming Events
- Monday, February 28 - Box Top Collection (a parent volunteer will collect Box Tops)
- Tuesday and Wednesday, March 1 and 2- Quarterly/ Benchmark Testing (Schedule below)
- Wednesday, March 2 - VAEF Grants Submitted to Ryan
- Friday, March 4 - Conference Meetings
- Friday, March 4 - VAEF Grants Submitted to the Foundation
- Friday, March 4 - Star Card iPod in Advisory
- March 7 - 11 - Spring Break
Remember, VAEF grants are due to me this Wednesday. BE INNOVATIVE!
Plans for Next Year
Check out the video of the debriefing strategy Mrs. Littlejohn used in her class this past week
TSR Sections II and III
It's that time of year again. Please login to Eduphoria and complete sections II and III of your Teacher Self-Report by Monday, March 18th. These questions are where we get our information for domains 5-8 on your PDAS summative. The information you give us is the only way we're going to know about some of the things you are doing, so be sure to brag about all the great things you are doing. For instance, for professional development: what conferences/ trainings have you attended? What books relevant to teaching have you read? Did you observe any colleagues beyond you Teachers Observing Teachers observations? etc. Let us know what you've done as far as communication with students and parents...did you send postcards to your students or email parents when students did something positive? On question 9, I want you to set 2-3 professional goals and be prepared to discuss them during your summative conference- this will be a critical part of next year's T-TESS teacher evaluation system, so put a lot of thought into it. Also be thinking about your plan for your summer exchange days (7 total days- one will be the Tech EdCamp on June 7, one will be the training with Gunter on June 13, one will be a follow-up lesson-planning day after the Gunter training, and the other 4 are specific to you). Come up with ideas to help you reach your goals. If you have an idea that will be more helpful towards reaching your goals than attending a summer seminar or conference, run it by us. Lastly, be sure to briefly describe the two required PBL's you did this year. Next year's standard will be the same.
If you have any questions, stop by or catch Kelly or I in the halls and we will be glad to answer them.
Shout-outs
- Shout out to Amy Long for the great job she did organizing testing! Giving each student the slips that tell what room to test in, the accommodations, etc. is very helpful.
- Shout out to Cammi Bruton for meeting with the 5th and 7th grade teachers individually (6th and 8th are coming up shortly) to debrief what worked/ didn't work during testing and to discuss individual student accommodations to ensure each student gets what they need to show the most success.
- Shout-out to Korey for the innovative idea he has his honors students doing based upon their reading of "The Wave". His students are creating a "movement" based on real-world issues to see how far of a reach/ impact a small group of students can have. Students earn points based on their numbers and types of "followers" through social media, and other mediums. For instance, a mention or retweet, etc. from a celebrity earns the team 25 points because that celebrity's retweet will have an impact on a large number of people. Students who earn 500 points or more within the next week receive a 100 on the assignment. Excellent idea Korey!
- Shout-out to Lindsey Boevers for coming in here and filling some big shoes (not literally, so no offense) with Amy Long moving to the Learning Lab. Lindsey has fit right in with the team and has been doing great things for the 6th grade students, teachers, and out campus. She is also going above and beyond by not only observing great teachers on the 6th grade team, but also observing other teachers outside of the 6th grade when she can, to learn all she can in preparation of becoming a great teacher next year.
- Shout-out to Stephanie Wolfe for helping us out in monitoring 5th grade PE!
- Shout-out to our wonderful custodial and cafeteria staffs. They do so well we often take their jobs for granted, but their jobs are critical to the success of our school. Our cafeteria ladies make all of our students feel welcome and important as they go through the cafeteria lines, and our custodial staff keeps our school in impeccable condition, and disinfect regularly so our school is not a petri dish of germs. Thank you guys for all you do!
Quarterly Test Schedule By Grade Level
5th Grade
Tuesday, Mar 1 - Math
Wednesday, Mar 2 - Science
6th Grade
Tuesday, Mar 1 - Math
Wednesday, Mar 2 - Science & Social Studies
7th Grade
Tuesday, Mar 1 - Math
Wednesday, Mar 2 - Science & Social Studies
8th Grade
Tuesday, Mar 1 - Math
Wednesday, Mar 2 - Social Studies