HAWK HAPPENINGS
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Every single student, every single day, in every single way.
May 5, 2019
MUST READ
ELLA ROSE is gardening!
Code of Conduct Faculty Meetings
Teacher Appreciation Week!
Here's a little from principal Gerry Brooks for all of our SOUP-er teachers!
Gerry Brooks Teacher Appreciation Week #1
School Nurse Appreciation Day!
Shhh! NYSESLAT TESTING THIS WEEK -- and NEXT!
Office/Main Lobby
Author Visit for 5th grade May 15
DARE trips for Grade 5
Reminder: MOTHER'S DAY/FATHER'S DAY
It's also important to think about gifts and cards for Mothers and Fathers. I know this is often a classroom tradition, but given our diverse demographics, we may not know a student's background, or what these holidays may trigger for them. Merely saying "We are doing this activity for Father's Day, but you can give it to a grandfather, uncle, or some other important person in your life" doesn't prevent a child from feeling sad, angry, frustrated, lonely, etc. It serves as another public reminder of the loss of void in their life, which a peer may or may not understand or be empathetic towards. On the other hand, school is sometimes the only place where students can have access to materials to make a card or gift.
You might have some clever ways around this already. Some ways to try to support students who wish to make cards or gifts is to plan some craft or activity that yields a product which students may choose to give to a relative for an upcoming holiday, though not specifically described as a "Mother's Day" or "Father's Day" activity. You can also provide students with some free time and some art materials the Thursday or Friday before the holiday, and some students will take the initiative to make cards or letters. You likely have other ways, too, to set students up to honor the important people in their lives, without conjuring up sad or angry feelings or causing a child to feel "singled out."
I'm sure you are already aware of this, and likely have such plans in place, but I just wanted to remind you. Thank you for all that you do to remain sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of our students and their families.
STUDENT PORTFOLIOS
As we continue to refine our student portfolio system, please plan to have samples of student writing from each of the units this year (if you haven't given them away already for previous units). Plan to have drafts, published piece, and rubric to be part of the student's portfolio for each unit, as well as the final F&P. We should also plan to send some end-of-unit Math Module Assessments, and maybe the Interim Assessment.
END-OF-YEAR ASSESSMENT CALENDAR
May 20th- Dual Language begins to F & P
May 28th- All other teachers begin to F &P
Jun 7th- Report card window opens
June 10th- Begin Aimsweb
June 14th- All F & P's must be complete/Aimsweb must be complete/Data needs to be entered into IC and Google
June 17th- Report card window closes
The reading teachers will take care of the SLO info as they have in the past with the Aimsweb data.
REMINDER re: QUICK WINS: Actions Required
We appear to be in a holding pattern with the Quick Wins, so they are turning out to be "not-so-quick" wins. As I try to iron out the kinks with the union, I wanted to provide the links for the articles I provided last week, in case you wanted to read them and didn't have time. See the post below from the previous Hawk Happenings:
Thank you to everyone who responded to the surveys regarding the QUICK WINS from the state visit. We look forward to incorporating your feedback into the implementation of the quick wins. As briefly discussed at the voluntary debrief meeting after the state's visit, each of the quick wins comes directly from feedback and observation from the stakeholder groups. They are meant to be easy-to-implement changes that feed into and build momentum towards the recommended Short Term and Long Term Priorities. To better understand how the quick wins are connected to best practices in education, I've compiled a few short articles that can help illustrate why these were chosen.
1) Provide Differentiated Professional Development: Read about Why Don't We Differentiate Professional Development? or How We Can Fix Professional Development
2) Provide Student Choice on Reading Response Homework:
Read this article on Differentiating by Providing Choices or 10 Ways to Give Students More Control Over Their Education
3) Create a school-wide system for sending at least 2 pieces of student work home to parents each week. Read about how Weekly Folders Deliver News from School to Home
Stay tuned for more information on how we will roll out the above-mentioned quick wins!
MATH HAPPENINGS
Interesting Mind/Shift post and linked TED Talk:
Why Normalizing Struggle Can Create a Better Math Experience for Kids
Math Madness
I don't know where we are with the Math Maddness, other than the quizzes Dr. Ardito sent previously. Now that the assessments are completed this week our Math Leaders can meet and we can set our plan for the following aspects which have not really taken root yet:
Multiplication Mondays
Take-Away and Total it (Subtraction/Addition) Tuesdays
What’s Inside It? (Division) Wednesdays
Think it Through (Problem Solving) Thursdays
Fraction Fridays
Everyone who sees children in the hallway, gym, cafeteria, outside, etc. should ask students questions that pertain to the daily math theme.
Math Madness Announcements will include a math riddle relating to the theme
We are piloting this system for next year so that we can work out the kinks now.
- DR. ARDITO'S SCHEDULE FOR THE COMING WEEK:
Tuesday (5/7)
8:00 - Pop in Visits
8:45 - Perlowitz - Room 14
9:30 - Calabro - Room 12
10:15 - Valenzuela Room 23
11:00 - Diaz
11:45 - Lunch
12:30 - Bruno - Room 20
1:15 - Debrief from Lighthouse visit to Troy with Melissa P., Emily Esposito, Val, and Laura Pena and Troy, in the Art Room.
Thursday (5/9)
8:00 Pop-in visits
8:45 Lighthouse visit -
Val’s Exit Ticket Strategy. Visitors include:
- Jen B.
- Stephanie
- Christine T
- Jen Badurski
9:30 - Esposito - Room 6
10:15 - Pena - Room 29
11:00 - Levy/Rossi - Room 24
11:45 - Lunch
12:30 - Diaz
1:15 - Debrief Lighthouse visit with Val (Jen B., Stephanie, Christine T, Jen Badurski) - Art Room
SHOULD READ
SOME INTERESTING READS
7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment
How Anxiety Leads to Disruptive Behavior
More Playtime Needed In American Schools, New Research Says
Yong Zhao on How Learning Should Be Assessed