Principal Update
Week of November 27, 2017
Let's be elite in our 20 feet!
Good Morning,
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends! I know this is a busy and exciting part of the year, but we must remember to stay the course and focus on teaching and learning. Thank you for everything you've done this school year. I continue to be proud of each of you and the growth that you've shown. If there's something that Kimenya and I can do to support you, please let us know.
Positive Challenge
Last year we designated Tuesday as the day to focus on making only positive comments and we gave gentle reminders to colleagues who were making negative comments. I'd like to challenge everyone to make positive comments from now until Christmas break. Our goal is not to ignore concerns but let's address any concerns or issues in a positive way. When you have a concern or issue, please offer a possible solution. Let's put our time and energy on solutions and not the problem. Remember it is up to us to hold each other accountable. To support this effort, I would like for everyone to post his or her favorite encouraging quote on the bulletin board outside of the cafeteria.
Whew, what a awesome American Education Week! Thank you to our Literacy, Math, and Science/Technology teams for your contributions! A special thank you to Dina Genco for coordinating our book fair!
Expectations
Please make sure that you take attendance by 8:15 a.m. each morning.
The F&P Window is open until December 15th. It is recommended to assess 1 student per day (possibly two depending on how many students you have in your class). Remember you should begin with your higher students first since this will allow your lower students more instruction time before being assessed.
Please enter updated Fountas and Pinnell levels into Canvas by November 30th.
Remember students should be greeted at the classroom door each morning. We do this because it's not about us. It's about children. Our students need to know we're happy to see them each day. This also shows students that you are prepared and ready for the day. Thank you to everyone who is greeting your students each day!
Every teacher should complete at least one peer observation by Friday, December 15th. Observations should not be done during the week of December 18th - 21st. Remember this is not just one more thing to do. We have many highly effective teachers in our building and it is imperative that we learn from each other. Please coordinate with a colleague to observe a guided reading group, writing workshop, a science lesson or a math workshop lesson. The peer observation should support your GBE. A brief summary including at least one take away should be uploaded into Canvas by December 21st. Our 5K teachers continue to have high student achievement and Deborah Redmond's student achievement and student growth for the 2016 - 2017 school year exceeded expectations. We have many teachers that are doing great things in the classroom. As staff share, please take note and arrange to observe in some of these classrooms. If you need coverage, please let me or Kimenya know.
PLC
It continues to be our intention to emphasize and focus on good and effective instruction. While instruction and student achievement are of the utmost importance, it is also imperative that we adhere to school and district expectations. In an effort to be consistent and fair, all artifacts and tasks will be checked and feedback will be given as needed. This includes reporting to work on time, uploading lesson plans into Canvas on time and enforcing the commitments that we all agreed to uphold etc.
Formative Feedback
Please revisit the November 6th Principal Update on Formative Feedback. During our professional development time on November 14th, I shared that we would have a time that we would have a school wide focus on giving students feedback without grades. Please plan with your grade level team to provide students with an assessment during the week of December 4th - 8th that will only have formative feedback. I would like to discuss these with you during PDT on December 19th.
Feedback is for learning and should:
- primarily help the student to improve their future academic performance (be formative);
- affirm ability and offer encouragement;
- build students’ confidence;
- be provided in all modules during the teaching period through a variety of methods appropriate to discipline and class size;
- embrace peer- and self-assessment as valuable learning tools;
- provide an opportunity for reflection on module feedback via their personal tutor;
- use appropriate technology to achieve these aims.
A variety of types of feedback should be offered, with greater emphasis on formative feedback that leads to improved future performance. Feedback should be provided in all modules during the teaching period through a variety of methods that enhance learning; part of the iteration of feedback should offer varied types of feedback, e.g. verbal, and provide opportunities for reflection. Encouragement is needed for students to look at their performance across all modules in a holistic manner to see where they're going and make connections between strengths and weaknesses across the board.
November 30th at 3:00 p.m. - Safety Team will meet in the media center.
SafeSchools
Please make sure that you have completed all of the assigned training by the designated deadline. This training is not optional.
Please mark your calendar
December 2nd -Piedmont Medical Center's Reindeer Romp at 8:00 a.m. - Please come out and support our Girls on the Run. Location - Downtown Rock Hill
December 5th - Professional Development time with Shemia Thompson. Please report to the conference room 5 minutes after your planning time begins.
December 8th - Enrichment Day - This time will may be used to plan for the upcoming 9 weeks. Every grade level will be expected to provide what was accomplished during this time. We will have Jeryl Christmas, local author, and Dr. Kokolis and Dr. Wilks. Students in grades 3-5 will have a session with Dr. Wilks and Dr. Kokolis and a session with Jeryl Christmas. Students in K - 2 will have a session with Jeryl Christmas and I'm waiting for confirmation on their second session.
Math At a Glance
Every teacher will be attending the district Math Quarter at a Glance training in December. Please go in to MyLearningPlan and register and secure a substitute through Kelly Services. Math at a Glance training will be held on the following dates:
December 5th - 1st Grade- AM
K5- PM
December 7th - 3rd Grade - AM
2nd Grade - PM
December 12th - 5th Grade - AM
4th Grade - PM
Please secure a substitute asap.
December 12th - It Takes A Village
December 14th - Chorus Program - 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
December 19th - Professional Development Time with Kimberly Massey
Please report to the conference room 5 minutes after your planning time begins.
January 4th- Professional Development for teachers who did not attend in July.
January 5th- All teachers return
January 5th - Grades due with verification(completed by 3:00pm)
Duty Free Lunch will be on Mondays during 2nd semester beginning on January 8, 2018.
Below is the link for the Third Grad Retention Guidance Document that I shared during our last professional development time:
R2S SCDE website: https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/early-learning-and-literacy/read-to-succeed1/
X Factor Song About Bullying
You all know I have absolutely a zero tolerance for bullying. Let's remember to be diligent about addressing issues as they arise. Please watch this video of 2 boys rapping about their experience with bullying. It is up to us to give our students HOPE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHMWQNSn61M
Quote of the Week
"Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students."
Solomon Ortiz