Principal's Weekly Update
Success is our only option!
Mustangs on the Move!
Weekly Message for 9-5-2017
We will be consistent and pervasive with effective instruction, assessment, and monitoring (aligned with the AKS), by collaboratively planning lessons that implement the Gradual Release Instructional Framework and Formative Instructional Practices.
Greetings to All:
We hope that you've had an enjoyable and restful long weekend! In addition, we would like to thank you for facilitating interactive Curriculum Night Sessions for our parents! Let's continue to make everyday our best! Please continue to provide students with optimal opportunities to read, write, think, and discuss. We must align all student work, activities, and assessments to the intent of the AKS-Achievement Level Descriptors- "Distinguished", and implement all phases of gradual release extraordinarily well. Remember, this includes our Target Time activities and Mustang Minutes ELT too. Continue to uphold, teach, and practice classroom and building-wide expectations.
Don't forget to post your AKS (for LA-your AKS cluster-numbers only and Session number, EQ, LT, and daily agenda. Just a reminder, all "Reserved Parking" spaces are for administrative and front office staff. Please do not use "Visitor" and "Reserved" parking spaces. Thanks for walking your students to their buses at the end of each bus load. A big difference has been noticed. Staff members can't leave before walking their children to the second load of buses. Leaving school early or coming in late without approval will lead to unpaid leave. Don't forget to receive approval and sign out in your grade level office, if you need to leave during the school day.
Have a great week LMS Super Stars!
"The Release of Learning" by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey
Please read "The Release of Learning" article attached below. We will integrate the article in our collaborative planning work on Tuesdays.
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/fisher-and-frey/documents/release_learning_nassp.pdf
Also, please view the video attached below for a sample focused lesson "I Do".
Mustang KUDOs:
Kudos goes to our 8th grade language arts team. Your Target Time provides students with authentic reading opportunities. Also, it holds students accountable for independent reading both inside and outside of school. You are doing a great job of implementing the units of study with fidelity.
Kudos goes to Mrs. Marlene Collector for working to get hardware working effectively in our building. Thanks for all that you do!
If any names were accidently omitted, please let me know so that I can add them.
Teachers Matter the Most! Be a "Top 20" Teacher!
Kudos to science staff as they implement our new science AKS. They have used their course pages to engage students in learning about "Living and Nonliving things"! Awesome!
Please invite us to your classroom and/or send us a photo or a brief summary of the great learning happening in your classroom!
Success is our ONLY option!
Special thanks to our SNP team for keeping over 1780 children and adults fed daily. Not an easy task! In the words of Mrs. Carmichael, "Team work makes the dream work!"
To Do:
- Don't forget to complete your HR Compliance videos and quizzes and your GTES Orientation.
- Make sure that you have a student sweeper and table washer to clean your tables and silent lunch table too! All students must pick up their trash from the table and floor before being dismissed to pass to the garbage cans.
- Don't forget to sign up for supervising the basketball games. Refer to the LMS Training Page to sign up. This is a requirement for all certified staff members.
- Complete and update eCourse Pages as required
- Check gradebook weights and percent of spread
- Continue to implement to align all student work and learning activities to the rigor of the AKS, along with implementing all gradual release learning phases in every lesson, every day. We must check for understanding every 8-10 minutes, so that we can properly intervene and help students correct misunderstandings!
"Better Learning Through Structured Teaching" Quote of the Week
“An essential consideration with this approach is the students; access to the text. Many teachers project the reading so that students can follow along as the text is read, or they provide students with their own paper copy of the reading. However, in both of these situations, notice who is bearing the cognitive load; it is the teacher who is doing the reading, while students follow along silently. The teacher pauses throughout the reading to think aloud about the information, and to explain his or her own mental processes in understanding the text." p. 32.
-Nancy Frey and Doug Fisher
Let's make sure are students have daily opportunities to read, discuss, think critically, and write!
Important Dates
Labor Day- September 4th All Staff Holiday
4.5 WK LCA – September 6th (LA/SC) and September 7th (SS/MA) Regular Schedule
Count Day- September 5th
Academy Mtg –RTI/Technology– September 8th-( meetings will be one hour)
7th Grade- 10:15-11:15
8th Grade- 12:50-1:50
6th Grade-2:50-3:50
- Content Leader Mtg- September 11th at 7:30AM
Mighty Mustang Mtg- September 11th
Progress Reports go Home- September 13th
CogAT Testing 8th Grade Only- September 18th- 20th Makeups September 21-22
Early Release- September 27th –Long Day, September 28th Short Day
Faculty Meeting and Book Discussion- September 29th
Lilburn Middle School ABC report for this week
Additional Reminders:
For a full list of our LMS activities, please view the calendar through the LMS eCLASS Home Page
- Staff members hours are 8:30AM-4:30PM
- Jeans may be worn with LMS spirit wear are permitted on Fridays or with a sticker only
- Computers should only be reserved for no more than a month in advance, unless an administrator has given permission for extended reservations.
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Staff members must walk their students to the buses at the end of each bus load. Staff members can't leave before walking their children to the second load of buses.
Leaving the building during the school day requires approval from your assigned administrator. You must sign in and out at your grade level office.
Students should not use their personal internet. They must link onto the school internet only. Do not touch their personal devices. Call for an administrator, if a device needs to be removed from a student.
Please make sure that you have your students pick up all trash from your classroom floor before leaving for the day.
- No personal leave can be used the day before or after a student holiday
- Leaving the building during the school day requires approval from your assigned administration-sign in and out at your grade level office
- Lunch: Please make sure that students are cleaning their areas before getting up and that you have assigned a table wiper and sweeper.
- Wish List Opportunities: http://www.donorschoose.org/
- Grading: Please make sure that all grade books reflect the grading weights emailed out to your per the GCPS policy. Please make sure that you have the appropriate number of grades and that are being entered in a timely manner
- Dismissal: Students should be in their dismissal location by 4:05PM, thus they should have exited their 4th academic by 4:03PM. Staff members should work together to make sure that students are supervised in the halls during dismissal. All students should have gone to the restroom by 3:40PM.
- Course pages should have the following items (homework updated): Course syllabi, Calendar that contains homework assignments, test/project due dates, daily agenda. Helpful resource links for students and parents. Online Textbooks/digital resources
- Lesson Plans should be attached to your grade level course pages.
Grading Information
Only LCAs and classroom assessments can be reassessed. District Assessments (DAs) can NOT be reassessed.
Local Common Assessments (LCAs)
Regular Test (multiple choice) weighted 85% of the LCA grade. The grade goes into the “Summative” grading category.
Constructed Response (SS, MA, SC) or Extended Response (LA) is weighted 15% of the LCA grade. The grade goes into the “Summative” grading category (combine with the 85% from above)
District Assessment (DA)
Interim County Assessment - goes in the “Interim” grading category.
6th & 7th Grade: Local School Constructed Response will be developed and given in MA and LA and goes into the “Classwork” grading category. Science and Social Studies will have a county writing task embedded in their interim district assessment.
8th Grade: Local School Constructed Response will be developed and given in MA and LA, SS, and SC and goes into the “Classwork” grading category
Final County Assessment (Post Test) – goes in the “Final Exam” grading category
All Grades: Local School Constructed Response will be developed and given in MA and LA, SS, and SC and goes into the “Classwork” grading category
** Semester 1 Final Exam (ONLY): For HS Physical Science, Algebra 1, and Accelerated Algebra 1 (ONLY)- The Semester I Final Exam should be weighted 15% of the Comprehensive Final Category (20%) for the high school courses earning Carnegie Unit Credit, and the corresponding local school performance task/writing final would be 5% of the overall 20% of that category.
Zeros and Reteach and Retest Opportunities
When a student retakes an assessment, please make sure that you are not averaging the two test grades. If the reassessment grade is higher you should be replacing the old grade with that new grade based on the example below.
John received a 67 on the first assessment. John did a retake and scored a 79. You would enter in the score as "79.067". This will allow you to indicate to the parent that the grade for that assessment indicates that John earned a 79 on a reassessment, but the original grade earned was a 67.
If John's reassessment grade is lower than the retake grade. Please keep the old grade.
Zeros
Please use:
ABS for assignments if students were absent when the assignment was completed.
NTI for assignments if students were present, but he/she did not turn in the assignment or when make-up work was assigned and the student didn't turn it in.
Use EXC for excused (i.e. the student enrolled after the assignment was due), please use
Use IP for assignments that are in the progress of being graded/completed (i.e. projects).
ABS and NTI will count as zeros when entered and will be immediately reflected in the student’s average.
EXC and IP will not be counted as zeros.