Friday Faculty Focus
News and Notes about #BeBCMS-12.1
Welcome December!
I can't believe it is already December! It doesn't seem like Christmas without snow to this Midwest Indiana / Ohio / Iowa girl! But this is definitely something I can get used to! I am very ExExExCited about all the ELITE activities and events we have coming up in December! The next three weeks are truly going to fly by!
Celebrations:
Thank you to the Connections team for working to ensure WIN time is supported!
Thank you to MATH team for finding the app GOOD NOTES! ELITE engagement is happening!
AWESOME work to Ms. Beasley for all her scholars passing the READ 180 test!
Keep up the ELITE WORK Ms. Sanchez for rocking WIN period!
THANK you to Ms. Swindell for organizing the awesome Holiday Tee Shirts!
Way to go Ms. Jersey and her scholars for another awesome Café Lunch!
THANK you to Ms. Adams and Coach Butler for creating an ELITE BETA experience!
I would love for you to take some time to fill out this form to prepare for our Learning with Liz on Monday! What questions do you have for me? What can I help clarify or understand? Fill this form out and I will make sure to get all your questions answered!
#BeBCMS Elite PBIS update!
Great work keeping your eyes on the prize and helping scholars stay focused on our PBIS mission and mantra! We had a great decrease in discipline for November!
Today's PBIS Celebration was ELITE! Congratulations to our new Scholars of the Month and to Ms. Durrence for our Staff of the Month!
The next PBIS event will be right before Christmas Break. We will use Quarter 2 data (beginning with Monday Oct. 16th) and use qualifiers: No OSS / No ISS-- we will begin to have those conversations with our scholars!
We need to be all hands on deck during BREAKS and BUS RAMP.
Final November DATA:
31 MAJORS- 51% DECREASE
75 MINORS- 51% DECREASE
ELITE work staying focused on the positive behaviors and rewarding them!
Last November (2016)
63 majors
152 minors
OSS/ISS update:
To date:
156 days of OSS
122 days of ISS
Last year (2016) through Nov
160 days of OSS
92 days of ISS
RTI News and Notes (RTI: READY TO IGNITE-- Elite Interventions!)
I am executing an intervention for RTI meetings! :)
Great work at our first Learning with Liz on Instructional Strategies. I love the learning that we do and then seeing it implemented right away in your learning environments! I am looking for that Instructional Objective (otherwise known as the learning target/goal/SWBAT) every time I am in your learning environment.
Please remember our Learning with Liz for the upcoming week is Monday and I have an awesome activity planned that I am ExExExCited about. You don't need any materials for Monday except yourself!
We will also review the RTI Tier 2 and 3 list so please bring any progress monitoring you have on those scholars. Check the list for updated information. Here is the most up-to-date RTI list. https://docs.google.com/a/bryan.k12.ga.us/document/d/1z0gCRzYHFIky-1apjSnooY0nqdOPAPPnkutAB_URbDM/edit?usp=sharing
Please remember that Amy is meeting with teams after Learning with Liz on Monday for a quick check!
Keep the main thing: the main thing!
Staff Celebration Breakfasts!
Thank you to everyone for an AWESOME first Staff Celebration Breakfast! Our next celebration is Friday December 20th!
Friday December 20th- Office Squad and PTO
Friday January - 6th grade team
Friday February- 7th grade team
Friday March - 8th grade team
Friday April - Connections
Friday May - Office Squad
Important Events!
Monday- #CelebrateMonday, Learning with Liz- times assigned, Basketball HOME
Tuesday- #TerrificTuesday, No Leadership today!
Wednesday- #WinWednesday,
Thursday-#ThankfulThursday, Leadership 7:40
Friday- #FocusFriday
Upcoming:
12/12 Holiday Concert and Art Gallery
12/12 Parent University Expo
12/14 BOE meeting hosted by Bryan County Middle School! Join us!
12/19 Holiday Concert and Ary Gallery
12/20 PBIS Event
12/20 Winter Dance Celebration!
12/20 Staff Breakfast
Focus on..... QUALITY instruction...Strategy #2
I loved our learning on Tuesday! The expectation is what we learn on Tuesday will be implemented in your classrooms beginning the next day! On Monday, we will be using the 5x5 High Impact Observation tool. The main thing we are looking for is your instructional objective.
You all know curriculum and instruction in our learning environments is my first real true love...it isn't football. :) As I read and think about how far we have come, it occurred to me that before you can Teach Like a PIRATE (My favorite!) you have to Teach Like a CHAMPION! Our focus is to get everyone to CHAMPION level! From champion level you can then determine if you want to take your teaching to PIRATE level. Pirate level can be TRANSFORMATIONAL. GREAT teaching happens in champion classrooms too! You have to know you and your style.
Monday's Learning With Liz will begin in the Parent Resource Room but we will be moving to different parts of the building for our learning! I am ExExExCited!
Instructional Strategy #2 is: Curriculum -driven opportunities for students to determine the meaning of general and domain specific words and phrases
Everyone will leave with suffix/prefix/and root word cards for their desks in their classroom
As a reminder:
1. Collaborative Planning is made up of three buckets:
- Lesson Designs
- PLCs
- Data Analysis / Digging
7th grade 8:45-9:15
6th grade 11:15-11:45
8th grade 2:00-2:30
Connections 1:00-1:30
ALL teachers are expected to attend and there will be a sign in sheet.
Check out this lesson design template: (make a copy first) https://docs.google.com/a/bryan.k12.ga.us/document/d/1YGAYfD7wP-xieqvJk0PXu7CXLgonm7JfSTQAuTpWOKY/edit?usp=sharing
The Innovation Center Quarter 3 will have classes all geared TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION! Stay tuned for information! We are ExExExCited for this ELITE Q3 Innovation Center!
The Moral Imperatives at BCMS-
a. Come to School- BE AMAZING- Go Home! Repeat
b. Bell to Bell instruction
c. ALL instruction/teaching will be on grade level and standards based
d. Take a STAND for teaching and learning. Get up!
Nuggets and News
- The Innovation Center: Please be on time and be intentional in your learning!
I am VERY proud of the work we are doing in The Innovation Center and we are ExExExCited for this incredible professional learning!
Preplanning: Q3 will be required by all staff.
TEACH LIKE A CHAMPION!
- Supervision: PLEASE make sure you are at your supervision spots on time. The supervision schedule is here:
If supervision at lunch does not improve, we will be assigning supervision posts.
- Please start reminding scholars to eat breakfast as soon as they enter the gym. We need scholars to be ON TIME to class and we need to model and remind this basic LIFE expectation!
- Compliance Checks - #CelebrateMonday with 5x5s! The new High Impact Instructional Look For Document is the new instrument for 5x5
- Meetings Schedules: Monday: TEAM, Tuesday: Learn with Liz (PL), Wednesday: Math ,Thursday: ELA , Friday: Science and Social Studies
- December Jeans Passes: Pay $25.00 and wear jeans all month! All money raised will go to the WooWooCart!
- No Leadership Tuesday- Leadership only Thursday this week!
#LoveTheProcess
November Teacher Challenge!
#TicketsForDays
I loved all the ELITE engagement activities this month in ALL contents! MATH is the first content that is in the drawing for the "day off"
Social Studies you are next! Science, ELA, Special Education, and Connections is the order!
BUT good teaching is good teaching and we want to see it all! You never know what crazy idea I will come up with randomly!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://drive.google.com/a/bryan.k12.ga.us/file/d/1VgWOtT4McdTr8JgVxmS50etTJFgMSlh-/view?usp=sharing
What I'm Reading....
#BooksForDay
NEW BOOK ALERT again!
I am participating in this ELITE bookstudy with my PLN on Voxer! I have never used Voxer for a book study, but I am excited about it and I have already learned so many great ideas.
The book we are working through and reading is called "The Power of Moments" by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
It has already had a great impact on me! I am striving everyday to create moments that are considered peaks for our schoolhouse. I think intentionally about every interaction I have with our scholars and with us, as human beings. In the book, it talks about the story of Doug Dietz. He is an instructional designer from GE who spent two years working on a new MRI machine. His story is powerful and one that is an illustration of thinking in moments. The experience is what needs our attention. What can you do this week to create peak moments for your scholars?
L
Tweet....Tweet....Tweet...
KEEP tweeting and telling our story! We are changing the narrative of what people know and think about Bryan County Middle School #OneTweetAtATime
Also, tag me @missliz31 and BCMS @BryanCountyMS in all your awesome tweets please!
Dr. Steven Lamkin @s_lamkin Nov 30
Today, let's focus on kids. Not curriculum. Not programs. Not data.
Let's focus on hearts first. All the rest will fall into place.
#KidsDeserveIt #tlap #JoyfulLeaders #proudprincipal
Dr. Justin Tarte @justintarte Nov 25
Each kid deserves an educator who won't hold their past transgressions against them & will allow each kid to start fresh each day. #edchat #kidsdeserveit
#teachergoals @teachergoals Nov 26
Some people will be grumpy about going to work tomorrow--what message does that send to the students? Be an outlier. #spreadpositivity #kidsdeserveit #teachergoals
Everybody in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life. Who will you celebrate today? Make it count.
Dr. J Stephens @JessiStephensVP Nov 25
As educators many tasks can seem impossible but something is only “impossible” until someone finds a way to do it. What better motivation is there to “do what can’t be done” than our students? #kidsdeserveit #satchat
Bethany Hill @bethhill2829 12h12 hours ago
Today, there will be kids who are waiting on you to acknowledge them in a way that encourages and makes them feel valued. Don’t miss out on those moments. #momentmakers #JoyfulLeaders
liz raeburn @missliz31 Nov 27
••••my favorite day with ExExExCitement on deck! ••••
#CelebrateMonday
#JoyfulLeaders
#MomentMakers
Sign Up to Help Winter Athletics
Winter Athletic Season is upon us! We are ExExExCited for both Boy's and Girl's Basketball. Please use this link to sign up for volunteering for Tickets and Concessions.
Thank you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_1OMOYKnSbHYTcz-Updx9acfZBlXreyGefYeiYjv2-0tpVg/viewform
WIN-- Whatever I Need!
WIN update!
The new guidelines are in place for WIN. It is a MORAL IMPERATIVE that we grow scholars during this time.
We have 3 more WIN periods until we take our Progress Monitoring Short Form MAP test! WIN time should have an instructional objective just like your other classes have! If you have any questions regarding WIN and how to structure it, please ask! I am very excited to see our progress-- I know we will see some improvement! Data is posted in the Parent Resource Room!
Math teachers, you have all been entered into GRASP to use for additional progress monitoring tools and formatives. Please use GRASP this week for informal progress monitoring.
Christmas Angel Donations!
We are goal crushers! We are 1/3 to our school goal of $1000.00. Let's keep working to get to our school goal! Thank you to Ms. Romberg for organizing and coordinating this!
What Matters Most.....
This is a difficult time of year: coming to the end of a semester! But continue to be relentless in your pursuit of growing scholars and growing our schoolhouse. It will take all of together rowing the boat! That is the work ethic necessary to be elite! Continue to row. Embrace mistakes. Try and try again. Embrace the GRIND. I am proud of all of you and the look in the faces of our scholars tells me we are doing the work that matters the most!
#RTB
#BeBCMS
L