The Middle School Falcon Files
Your Weekly Falcon Updates for Staff
January 20, 2020
Words of Inspiration
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so
long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
-Helen Keller
A Special Applause To....
Jill Binau for organizing and leading our staff and students through the spelling bee. Noel Gasaway was our winner and will be moving on to possibly competing at the state level.
Thank you staff for being flexible and for helping provide this opportunity for all of our students! #studentsfirst
Professional Learning on the Go
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/starter-kit-differentiated-instruction/
Professional Library for YOU!
I have created a professional library in the teachers' lounge. It is located in the cupboard by the TV for now. If you would like to check a book out, go to this link.
This is the book that Jennifer Gonzalez (the author of the article above) recommends for differentiating in a mixed ability classroom. I think the book is very good but is best for the new to differentiation teacher or the one who has jumped in and just want to make sure they are on track. As she says in her article, it is a quick read that "is full of useful information that will set you on the path toward high-quality differentiation."
Goodread description:
In this 2nd edition of a book that has provided inspiration to countless teachers, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers three new chapters, extended examples and information in every chapter, and field-tested strategies that teachers can use in today's increasingly diverse classrooms. Tomlinson shows how to use students' readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles to address student diversity.
For the week of January 20th....
Monday, January 20th
- No School
Tuesday, January 21st
- Jeans January
- Make-up MAP testing
- Don't forget to nominate your student for the #fuelthepositive award. This week, Rachel Starnes, Jen Henderson, Jana Davis, Kate Edington, Brenda Jones, Tyler Hayslip, Sandra Achor, Jill Binau, and Sarah Martin will be nominating students. Here is a link to the spreadsheet.
Wednesday, January 22nd
- Jeans January
- Make-up MAP testing
- All TBTs are meeting today - David Moss is our guest
- BLT - Scheduling meeting (creating daily schedule) Anyone can attend if they would like.
Thursday, January 23rd
- Jeans January
- National Junior Honor Society meeting at 2:40 in Mrs. Davis' room.
- Your #fuelthepositive nomination is due
Friday, January 24th
- Hat Day - see flyer - we will do this by 1st bell. Keep track of who paid a dollar for your first bell. Please give the money you collect to Jill.
- Jeans January
- #fuelthepositive awards will be given during Falcon time
We Need Your Feedback...
Thank you for your participation!
Please Announce to Students
Hat Day for Virginia - See flyer above but basically we will collect a dollar from anyone who wants to wear a hat on Friday, January 24th. All the money collected will go to Virginia and her family.
Library Cards - Students and teachers wanting to check out books on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from the Clinton-Massie Branch Library will have to have their card with them. The library is switching over to a new circulation system and can't check out books without the actual library card. So please remember to bring your card with you to school next week!
National Junior Honor Society - Current members have a meeting on Thursday after school. New member applications will be available on Friday for 7th grade and 8th grade. An induction ceremony for new members will be planned for the end of February.
#fuelthepositive Award Opportunities
*Take a moment to introduce what you will be looking for and what will happen. We start again on Monday and go through Wednesday. We will present awards during Falcon Time on Wednesday. We will announce the Falcon of the Month at the assembly on Friday.
Falcon of the Month
*This student will be chosen randomly from the pool of #fuelthepositive award winners. Next Falcon will be chosen on the 20th.
Library Events for our Students and Families
*Dungeon and Dragons for students and parents on Wednesdays from 2:45 - 3:45.
*Retro Cinema - Fridays in January from 2:30 - 4:00 pm
*Kanapy - Movie Streaming App - If you have a library card (which also include teacher and classroom cards) you can download the app and stream various movies and educational films for your class and yourself! The service includes not only entertainment films, but also instructional films and lessons for k-12 students, as well as teacher education development videos.
Just login through your computer or download the app to your tv streaming device, create an account with your library card and you're there! Click Here to sign in.
All Grades
* Snap-On Cases MUST be on computers at all times. If they do not have them on, warning first, then an after school detention, then up the discipline matrix. Why? The cases protect our warranty which is void if they are not on. This is a new policy for us all. Please help me spread the word. If you have questions, please ask Rachel or myself.
What is happening in the classrooms?
Spelling Bee
Pizza with the Principal
On Friday, students from 6th and 7th grade earned lunch with the Principal by modeling positive behaviors that mirrored our pillars. We enjoyed pizza, pop, cookies, and great conversation. I don't know about them but I had a blast! We also had some surprise visitors, Mr. Baker and Mr. Moss, that provided us with some entertainment!
6th Grade: Sophia Purvis, Annalyse George, Baylie Wulf (not pictured), and Elizabeth Taylor (not pictured) were the 6th-grade winners.
7th Grade: Holden Ruby, Owen Goodwin, Zoey Sheldon, and Halle Dennis (not pictured) were the 7th-grade winners.
8th Grade Incentive
Our One Word
#fuelthepositive Award Winners for Last Week
Info For The Staff
Curriculum Team - Jen Henderson and Jill Binau will be our curriculum team leads. They will be working together this spring to establish essential standards for both English and math. We will share more information as we move forward. We will be starting our work this month.
Field Trips - Just a few reminders/procedures to ensure the safety of all of our kids! If any questions let the office or your team leader know.
Bring or have EMF’s accessible
Be aware of student allergies, epi-pen needs, etc
Sign out sheet if parents are leaving with their child before you leave
Remind parents to sign off on final forms permission slip and communicate date and time of field trip
Notify Nurse-the nurse will give you a first aid kit and other safety items needed
Notify Tracy Matthews-Food services
Notify Mr. Ford-transportation
Take attendance before leaving the field trip site
Fill out field trip form .
Writing Club - Jen Molitor kicked off the writing club before break during study halls and will continue for the rest of the semester. As mentioned in the TBTs, this is just an opportunity for students to write, collaborate, peer review, and explore their inner writer. This is extra-curricular that is student-paced and to be done once their school work is complete. We are really excited to see what happens with this and see where it goes!
National Junior Honor Society - Jana is having a meeting with the current members this Thursday. On Friday, she will be making available applications for 7th and 8th-grade students who would like to apply to be a part of this organization. We will hopefully have an induction ceremony around the end of February.
#fuelthepositive Awards - We begin again on Monday with new nominations. Please use the spreadsheet to let us know who is up for the award each week. You can find the spreadsheet HERE. If you can get the names in here by Tuesday evening this week, it would be helpful. I try to print the certificates if possible the night before.
This week the following will be nominating: Rachel Starnes, Jen Henderson, Jana Davis, Kate Edington, Brenda Jones, Tyler Hayslip, Sandra Achor, Jill Binau, and Sarah Martin.
Schedules - BLT will have a work session on Wednesday to hopefully finalize a daily schedule. What would you like to see? Dedicated time during the day to plan? 1 hour for lunchtime (not the hour and a half we have now)? Intervention time once a week? Throw out your ideas! Club days like the elementary? If you would like to com on Wednesday, please do. We could use all the help we can get.
Clinton-Massie Letterhead - If you are sending anything out to parents, please use the Clinton-Massie Letterhead located in our templates.
#fuelthepositive Website - Don't forget! Our day to post things is Tuesdays! 1st Tuesday is Admin, 2nd Tuesday is 6th Grade (Kate is with them), 3rd Tuesday is 7th Grade (Nicolin is with them), and 4th Tuesday is 8th Grade (Tammy and Robyn are with them). You all can decide if one person is responsible for the media that day....maybe do it once a month? Tell our story! It helps our culture! Please send to Lorinda and David.
A Couple of Dates you should know about:
- January 27th - ELA data dig in the morning and Math in the afternoon - I have gotten subs for ELA and math teachers. Intervention teachers let me know what you would like to do.
- January 27th - Digital Citizenship with David Moss (meet with 6th grade social studies)
- January 28th - Digital Citizenship with David Moss (meet with 7th grade social studies)
- January 29th - Digital Citizenship with David Moss (meet with 8th grade social studies)
- February 7th - Interims
- February 26th - 28th - Project Trust
- March 12th - End of third quarter
- March 13 - Professional Learning Day
- March 16 - 20 - Spring Break
- April 15th, 16th - AIR English
- April 22nd, 23rd - AIR Math
- April 29th - AIR 8th Grade Science
- May 4-6 - MAP
Helpdesk - A reminder to please send your technology requests to helpdesk@cmfalcons.org. There is no need to send an email to helpdesk, Michael, and David. In fact, it makes it more confusing on their end as to who needs to provide support. They are making a concerted effort this year to be more timely and responsive to helpdesk tickets. The start of the year is always tough but as they fill out their Tech Team and the Oaks Interns, they need their process to be clear. Thank you for your attention to this.
Digital Citizenship Discussions
Professional Learning Opportunities
Grant Opportunity for Professional Learning Opportunities
American Wilderness Leadership School
Storytelling through Animation Creation - February 26th - For ELA and History Teachers
Come talk to me about this if you are curious.
Storytelling through Animation Creation -
Storytelling through Animation Creation is intended for Middle and High School Language Arts teachers and Social Studies teachers who are interested in providing students alternatives for demonstrating understanding.
Use code to tell fun and interactive stories.
Program a conversation between two characters to explore the role of dialogue in storytelling.
Provide details about a character and use code to describe the character's actions, thoughts, and words.
Take an existing story and explore it from a first person and third person point of view.
Create a presentation using animation
You will also learn how to access Google's CS First lesson resources and how to access Scratch's lesson resources.
Important Session Information:
In this workshop, you will learn how you can leverage Google's CS First along with a free online program called Scratch to help your students tell stories by creating animations using code. You do NOT need to know how to write code! Scratch is an easy to use "drag-and-drop" program that is very intuitive and allows students to quickly create animations and stories. Furthermore, Google's CS First curriculum has lesson resources, videos, and how-to guides for you and your students to use that are aligned to the ISTE (International Society for Technology Education) standards and to the CSTA (Computer Science Teachers Association) standards.
Bring your own laptop. Lunch will be on your own.
Rapid Fire Google
Blended and Personalized Learning Tips
2019-20 Student Handbook
Birthdays
Nicolin Haines - January 20th
Stephen Ford - February 14th
Kayla Brown - February 21st
Our Gold Standards
Our Gold Standards
Email: lorinda.ottaway@cmfalcons.org
Website: cmfalcons.org
Location: 2556 Lebanon Rd, Clarksville, OH 45113
Phone: (937) 289-2932
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clinton-Massie-Middle-School-169983643627883/
Twitter: @CMFalconsMiddle