Monday Morning Motivation
Central Elementary Staff News---October 23--October 27
Welcome Back!
Dear Staff,
Hopefully, you have had the opportunity to unwind and regroup during your fall break. I don't know about you, but before break I was feeling much like the lyrics from the Alabama song, I'm in a hurry to get things done, Oh I rush and rush until life's no fun.
Now that I have had time to walk on the beach and spend time with my family, I am looking forward to all that is to come this second quarter and excited to continue this expedition with you. We have a great deal ahead of us.
Please note that I am putting together a Growth Mindset informational packet for our parents, which I would like you to pass out at conferences. This letter and information will be placed in your mailbox over the next day or two. Since you have limited time with parents, passing it out rather than go over it will suffice. We spend a great deal of time talking about Growth Mindset as a staff and with our students, so it seems fitting to bring our parents along in our journey to teach grit, perseverance and the power of YET.
Conferences can be emotionally draining. Remember to take some time yourself during the day by stretching, taking a lap or even stepping outside for a minute or two. Above all, know that I am here to support you as you meet with parents.
Have a great week!
Julie
Central Calendar
Monday, October 23
- PTO meeting 7:00 p.m. (tea time with Mrs. Thacker 6:30)
Tuesday, October 24
Wednesday, October 25
Thursday, October 26
- Brag Tag information due in Amy's mailbox
- No school for students
- Parent Teacher Conferences (dinner arrives at 4:00)
Friday, October 27
- Brag Tags in Specials except Kindergarten :)
Monday, October 30
- Fire Drill 2:00
Tuesday, October 31
- Fall Parties (see times below)
Wednesday, November 1
- Technology Application Committee (Admin Office 7:15)
- Data Team Meeting during prep
Thursday, November 2
- ISTEP Infrastructure test (No Computer Labs from 10:00-11:00)
Friday, November 3
- Picture Make-Up Day
- HIgh School Spanish Class Students to Visit 9:00-9:30 a.m.
Announcements and Reminders
Post Observation Meetings: I have completed all but 4 observations. Please schedule a time to meet with me to go over it. This is required as part of the observation process. Thank you!
Email information to 4th and 5th grade parents: It was decided at a principal meeting that this notification would come at the district level in the next couple of days. November 2 at 10:00-11:00 a.m.: We will be conducting a test with 5th grade students in the labs and using laptops. Labs will be unavailable. I will print generic test tickets for 5th grade students.
Parent/Teacher Conferences: Reminder that special education concerns must come through data team. However, let me know right away if a parent requests testing
Pearson in the Library for Conferences: Please send parents to visit. (see below what it will look like for parents)
United Way Fundraiser: Jill Maple is coordinating this event again this year. Thank you! Please look for information this week. We hope to make this a fun one-week event the last week of the month.
Staffing Changes: Mandi Klinger is moving from her full-time special education assistant position to a part-time general education assistant position. Camryn Johnson will be joining us full-time in the special education classroom. She is a Plainfield grad and a college student, studying education. Please welcome her.
Complete Background Checks: You will receive a link and these are to be completed Oct. 30-Nov.3. After this date you could be charged. Everyone must to this unless you were hired after July 1st.
Pearson to Present During Parent Teacher Conferences
In the library we will have the following opportunity for our parents:
The Pearson trainer will run concurrent sessions orienting parents to online(at home) resources.
Set up:
Parents will visit stations - logging in to Realize, how to access etext and support videos, games and tools, understanding a lesson
Pearson will provide the following:
Task cards for stations, copies, a trainer at each building
District will provide the following at each school:
Tables, computers for parent use, student books, manipulatives, user names and passwords, additional staff member(s)
Per Team Leader
ISTEP Applied Skills
· 2018 4th and 5th grade ONLINE (both tests)
· 2018 3rd grade Applied skills paper/pencil, Multiple Choice ONLINE
· 2019 ALL grade levels ONLINE
Student STAR 360 Growth--How can keep the momentum going? Grade-level teams brainstormed ideas. (sticker rewards in data binders and individual conferences iwth students) Progress monitoring in November can be tier 2 and 3 only before data meeting on the 29th.
Report Cards—make sure you get envelopes returned with parent signature
Recess, Supervision and Competitive games--Competitive basketball games are being played at recess, which have caused some discipline problems for some students. If you wish to allow students to play team soccer, basketball or football and are willing to supervise closely, I am open to it. However, this would require a teacher to serve as referee of sorts. If we continue to only have two teachers per grade level supervise, this could be difficult.
Our job is to set students up for success and allowing students to play these games requires us to really watch what can naturally go from fun to aggressive competition. When recess play begins to spill over to students missing academics, then we need to rethink allowing these types of activities.
Fall Parties are October 31st.
K- 2:45-3:30
1- 2:00-2:45
2-2:30-3:15
3-2:45-3:30
4-1:30-2:15
5-2:45-3:30
Team Items
- Mirrors in bathrooms--Guy and I are working on this.
- Announcements during school events--There will be a 15 minute warning the event is ending and an ending of event announcement
- Talked about how to have more access to technology and time to teach not only keyboarding, but basics like typing an essay and short answer response. The idea of making technology a rotation came up.
Red Ribbon Week--October 23-25th
Tuesday, October 24--Show Central Character Company Video
Wednesday, October 25--Sign a Pledge and hang on door, nearest bulletin board
Friday, October 27--Central Spirit Day--Learn Like a Champion
NEW! 2018 ISTEP, Science Blueprints, & ILEARN INFO
Assessment
NEW! Instructional Supports Available: ISTEP+ Grade 10 Math and ELA test blueprints now contain more information to help guide schools as they prepare students for the assessments. In addition, a document containing ELA passage specifications is now available on our website. These new/updated resources have been reformatted to match the structure of the new science and item specifications documents.
ISTEP+ Blank Practice Forms are also available for instructional use on our website. These forms offer the platform functionality, but can be used with an educator’s own items, bell ringers, or activities. Browser functionality also allows these to be printed to capture student responses on the blank forms.
The new Item Specifications for Science Grades 4 and 6 and Biology are now posted on the IDOE website. This memo explains the purpose of these documents as they relate to Indiana’s assessments and includes access to a video designed to assist the schools in understanding how to use these resources.
Assessment
ILEARN is Coming!: ILEARN presents an exciting opportunity for Indiana to increase effectiveness in measuring student academic progress. ILEARN will be computer adaptive and custom-built to meet Indiana-specific standards and requirements. This includes blueprints and specifications. This FAQ answers some common questions about the new assessment. Additionally, there are several key factors to understanding the new assessment. You can use this infographic to dive deeper into the process of developing ILEARN.
EnVision Math Testing and Common Assessment Information in One Place (see below)
Staff Celebrations!
The attendance rate for this week is 96.96%
Huge thanks and shout out to the Central Celebration Committee for an outstanding job! It was fun and so well attended. We are blessed to have such amazing parent support and teacher leaders. It is not easy getting up in front of such a huge crowd and I am proud of those of you who did.
October Birthdays!!!
Diana Cragen 4
Jill Maple 11
Shonda Meranda 21
Shelly Weaver 23
Erin Shelley 28
Megan Johnson 31
Our Mission
Providing engaging academic experiences, the Central Elementary Community will inspire and support students to become caring, confident, lifelong learners.