Parsons ES Partyline
Friday, November 15, 2019
Proud Principal
Some days you just need to 'kick off the heels' and put on your cozy shoes. My feet were killing me after two days of wearing high heels and being on my feet for hours. Especially when the heels are what I refer to as church shoes (you wear them in, sit down, and wear them out). Anyways...I began thinking about how tired my feet were and they were actually demanding me to do something to take care of them. Just like our feet, our bodies become physically and mentally drained and it is important that we make sure we take time to 'put on our cozy shoes'. Take time for you. Do something that makes you happy.
Dr. Williams visited on Tuesday for our 45 Day Review of our Local School Plan for Improvement. Yolanda and Sheri did an amazing job sharing their grade levels' data and the action plans that classroom teachers put in place when analyzing their class data. She was very impressed with our grade level Data Analysis and the work grade levels did comparing common assessment items to District Assessment items. Dr. Williams' stated that if she were assigning the points for WSA Data Analysis and LSPI Monitoring, we would earn full points. WooHoo...now we just have to sustain this for the 90 day, 135 day, and 190 day reviews :-)
I am so proud to serve as your principal and I am reminded daily by all the BLESSINGS I have at Parsons. Have a great weekend and take care of YOU!
Thank you for making the Thanksgiving Luncheon such a special time for our families!
Performance Based Compensation System
All teachers will receive an email on December 13th letting them know their status regarding performance-based awards. Teacher awards will not be recognized publicly by the district or local school. If you want to refresh your memory on how these awards are calculated, please visit the following link on the GCPS website:
A Review of mini-lesson
As you are planning your lessons for the coming week, keep in mind that a mini-lesson lasts about 10 to 15 minutes (give or take). Whether you call it a mini-lesson or not...this is the time that you are giving explicit directions about the lesson: Connection, Today's teaching point (Learning Target), Teaching (the specific learning target and task) , Active Engagement (Release to begin putting the work in to practice), and Link/Summarize. During the mini lesson, only about 30% of students "get it" during the mini-lesson. The small group conversations and conferring time are when more learning occurs. Your Teaching portion of the mini lesson should not be a video. It should be YOU showing and modeling. Having a timer available helps to keep to this structure so you have plenty of time for small groups and individualized teaching. The architecture of a mini-lesson is included below:
Teacher of the Year Gala
Our Parsons 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year
Ms. Monaco receiving her award from Dr. Murphy
Mindful Copying
So far this year, we have made 665,214 IN HOUSE copies.
This is a large amount of copying compared to years past and we're not even halfway through the year.
Here is the breakdown of the cost of this many copies...
$3, 497.70 - Paper cost (based on plain white copy paper. This amount is actually more due to cardstock or colored paper being used.)
$4, 268.72 - Per copy cost that we have to pay Ricoh.
_________
$7, 766.41 - Estimated total amount copying has cost our school so far this year.
That being said, we need to be mindful of what we are copying. I always try to be transparent with you because our school budget is owned by all of us. We are running on a very limited budget this year and it is our goal to be able to fund half day planning. All we are asking is prior to making copies determine if the students can do this same work in their journals or composition books or can this be sent to the county for printing?
Mock Digital Learning Day 2: November 18, 19, & 20
Digital Learning Day Practice 2 is around the corner. CLASSROOM TEACHERS- Make sure you have signed up for a one hour session on either November 18th, 19th, or 20th. Remember that you are leading this with your students, and Lisa Eubanks and Stacey Gist will be in and out that day.
PLEASE SIGN UP BY: November 1st.
Sign Up for Practice DLD 2 here: Schedule
Please begin creating the content that you would like to use for that day. Stacey & Lisa will touch base with you on this at our Nov. 14th Professional Learning. However, it is expected that the lessons and the copying (if needed) to your page has already been done by the 14th. They would like to spend the 14th solidifying plans for actual digital learning days.
Practice Day 2 Expectations:
Activity Feed with comments enabled
Language Arts AND Math activity
Discussion and/or eClass Quiz
If copying from the Lead Innovators content, each teacher should preview and know content that the students will be working on.
Teacher should "mirror" a student to confirm that all links work from the student point of view.
If your grade level needs help copying over any content please book time with Stacey:
https://staceygist.youcanbook.me/
Begin thinking about actual Digital Learning Days....actual DLD content should be completed by the end of December.
Sign up for the Parsons Professional Development Courses in the PD&E
Reading Boot Camp- Quarter Three
- In this four-hour intensive workshop, participants will plan for reading instruction for quarter two. Teachers will study their instructional calendars and the AKS that will be taught and assessed in the quarter. Participants will discuss vertical alignment of the AKS, misconceptions, assessment, student actions, and teaching points. In addition, participants will have opportunity to develop lessons and plan for implementation with their students.
What: Reading Boot Camp
When: December 14, 2019 (8:00 AM-12:00 PM)
Where: Peachtree Ridge High School
Participants should register in PD&E by December 9, 2019 when registration will close so that we can ensure that all participants leave receive the planned texts and lessons. Participants should register using the following section numbers:
- Kindergarten- # 37135
First Grade- #37136
Second Grade- #37137
Third Grade- #37138
Fourth Grade- #37139
Fifth Grade- #37140
Safety Awareness
Online Security Awareness Module
We have one last online module that we must complete. It will take an hour to complete and is interactive. You will find the module icon on the front page of your portal near where you access eCLASS. Please have this module completed by December 2nd.
Weekly Happenings
American Education Week
Monday, November 18
United Way-Fake Moustache Day
Tuesday, November 19
Practice Digital Learning Day 2
7:30 Kid Talk in grade chairs room
United Way-Duct Tape the Principal
2:30 Spelling Bee Practice (send winners to the media center)
Wednesday, November 20
Practice Digital Learning Day 2
United Way-Stuffed Animal Day
9:00 Spelling Bee in MC (broadcasted LIVE)
Grade Level Collaboration ELA/SS in PL
1st Grade Field Trip
Thursday, November 21
United Way-Guess Who?
Principal for a Day with Ms. Kyung Hwa Kim
Grade Level Collaboration Math/SC in PL
Puppet Show in MC (K-11:15-11:45, 1st 9:25-9:55, 2nd-10:00-10:45)
ILT in PL with Stacey & Nadira
Friday, November 15
No Personal Leave
United Way-Comfy Cozy Day
2nd Grade Field Trip to Elachee
Tara Harris - 11/3
Whitney Cooper - 11/9
Kimberly Davis - 11/11
Stacy Balthrop - 11/23
Back by Popular Demand...Half Day Planning
Hip, Hip, Hooray...Half Day Planning is BACK! Mark your calendars. Emily will be scheduling substitutes for you. Grade Level APs will work with grade chairs to set the agenda. Pacing for 3rd Nine Weeks will be on the agenda for sure.
Half Day Planning
Monday, December 9 Kindergarten AM / 3rd Grade PM
Tuesday, December 10 1st Grade AM/ 4th Grade PM
Wednesday, December 11 PreK 12 to 4
Thursday, December 12 2nd Grade AM/ 5th Grade PM