Hillcrest Hawk Happenings
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
Supporting, empowering, & championing every single student, every single day, in every single way.
February 23, 2020
IMPORTANT DATES
TO ACCESS THE MONTH-BY-MONTH CALENDARS for the whole year, click HERE. Please know that these are still works-in-progress, so check back often to see the updates.
MUST READ
PRINCIPAL'S PARKING SPOT: TARA KING
Last year, the monthly winner of the PBIS Hawk Hero Award received the honor of parking in the Principal's Reserved Parking Space. This year, in order to extend that privilege to more people, we will honor an individual each week who will have the honor of that parking spot for the week ahead.
This week, February 24-28, that honor goes to TARA KING. Thank you, Tara, for modeling the new AIMSWEB+ for our teachers, and for being there to support folks who needed it during their first attempt at this new system. This is just the most recent feat you performed for our staff, as you do so much to contribute to our school community (the book study bulletin board, LightHouse classroom visits, and the list can go on and on!) THANK YOU TARA for all that you do each and every day for the students, staff and families of Hillcrest!
To nominate an individual for this special privilege, click HERE.
FAMILY NEWSLETTER
HANDWRITING ASSESSMENTS
Please make sure students complete this brief handwriting assessment as soon as possible this week, and return them to the main office.
ED-DATA SUPPLY ORDERS
Ed-Data orders due Friday, March 6th
Catalogs can be signed out in the main office
Apply Now : The Peekskill Education Foundation Grants
Teachers and District Staff can apply for grant money from The Peekskill Education Foundation via a 2 phase application process. All applications are reviewed by the Grants Committee based on seven criteria of evaluation. Once an application has been chosen to advance to the second phase, the applicant will receive the Phase II application via email.
*Phase I Applications for 2020-2021 school year are due on March 15, 2020
*Phase I Applications notifications will go out on or about May 1, 2020HILLCREST REPRESENTS AT PTO BLACK HISTORY MONTH PRESENTATION
Reminder: BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Here are some links to lesson/activity ideas:
Some suggestions from National Education Association
Some suggestions from Scholastic
Some from Edutopia
Please click the Black History Month Google Doc to add what you will be doing in your class to celebrate and acknowledge Black History Month.
Reminder: PRINCIPAL'S PRIDE BULLETIN BOARD
I will be selecting one piece of work from each class's bulletin board to be highlighted in the front by the main office for all of our visitors to see. I will be making a photocopy of the student piece, and the accompanying task/rubric/etc. so visitors can see the amazing work you and our students are working on, and so students can have that additional sense of pride for a job well done. If you have a particular student who whose work you would like me to consider, please send me an email with the subject heading "Principal's Pride" and tell me the name(s) of students you would like to recommend. I plan to select one per homeroom class, and it will be hung with the teacher's name for easy identification.
New Weekly Meeting Structures
First week of the month: Ellen Gerace
Second Week of the month: Janice Reid
Third Week of the month: Anchala Sobrin
Last week of the month: Madeline Sanchez
Messages from the Technology Department
Clever Issues
Any teachers who are having Clever issues, please continue to use the form to report them. Janice is working with Clever and the companies to figure it out. It is a process.
LITERACY HAPPENINGS
F&P Assessment Period
Timeline- F&P's will start on 2/24 and will end on 3/18. Please make sure that ALL F&P data is in Infinite Campus in the F&P tab and on our Master Data Sheet in Google by 3/18. Christine McCourt suggests that everyone review pages 22-23 of the Assessment Guide prior to beginning your assessing.
MOCK ELA/TRIMESTER ASSESSMENT
We will be administering the 2nd Trimester/Mock ELA Assessment on February 25. We will be simulating testing conditions with all modifications. Here is a link to the current list of mods, testing locations, and testing proctor assignment (subject to change).
Thank you to all who helped get most of our students assessed on AIMSWEB+. Special shout out to Sal and Tara for spearheading these efforts. We expect to have the students who were absent completed early this week. Stay tuned for details! This will also mean that Sal will likely NOT be following his usual tech visits to all classrooms so that he can be available to assist/troubleshoot.
COUNTDOWN TO THE ELA
21 instructional days until the ELA; what are you doing to make sure each and every day matters? This number includes the mock assessment dates, and the days you will be administering AIMSWEB+, so it will feel like even fewer. Who are the students, and which are the skills, that you will be focusing on in these short days?
FISH IN A TREE:
- How is the book study going in your classroom? Literacy Leaders will be sending some questions your way this week to elicit some opinions/thoughts from your students on the themes of the book. If you haven't already done so, please let us know where you are in the book by submitting it HERE.
- As you read, continue to have students describe the characters and prove it with evidence on cards, and add them to the bulletin board in the hallway.
NOMINATIONS FOR SCHOOL-WIDE READ-ALOUDS for next year can be submitted by clicking the School-wide read aloud link. Titles should be 4th-5th grade level chapter book that reflect a theme of kindness or anti-bullying.
GROUPS B&C MEET THIS WEEK for F&P Assessment training with Christine McCourt
In addition to the days she will be working in classrooms to support Writing Workshop, Christine will be working with small groups to train/calibrate so we can be sure we are utilizing the F&P BAS with fidelity. The day will be structured so that all teachers in the GROUP will meet with Christine from 7:40 - 8:20 on the dates she is doing the training, and then half of the group will meet with her in the morning, and the other half will meet in the afternoon. Teachers will be trained in small groups on the dates designated below; for the division of AM/PM sessions see the whole schedule at THIS LINK.
GROUP A:
February 13th
King, Salumn, Perlowitz, Esposito, Volpe, Rivard, D’Alfonso, Rice, Harrison
GROUP B
February 24th
Levy, Doino, Macpherson, Galiano, Connor, Sicherman, Ramos, Anzovino, Vichitlakakran
GROUP C
February 26th
Badurski, Fernandez, Pena, Flores, Bruno, Rodriguez, Diaz, Hernandez
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH HAPPENINGS
There Are Four Foundational Reading Skills. Why Do We Only Talk About Phonics? Why I let 2 kids’ behavior ruin my school year (and what I wish I’d done differently) Anger Can Be Contagious — Here's How To Stop The Spread https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53166/anger-can-be-contagious-heres-how-to-stop-the-spread 16 Card Games That Will Turn Your Students Into Math Aces Why Is Middle School So Hard for So Many People? It doesn’t have to be this way. (This article discusses how "tween" years begin at age 9 and why this time from ages 9-13 are difficult, and what we can do to help) How School Taught Me I Was Poor Third grade was a bad year. Third grade was the year I learned in school that I was poor. Marzano’s 9 Instructional Strategies For Teaching And Learning Marzano and colleagues are famous for their meta-studies, and these High Impact Teaching Strategies are good strategies for teaching all learners. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/marzanos-9-instructional-strategies-graphic/ The 6 Facets Of Understanding: A Definition For Teachers For any fans of Wiggins/McTighe, backwards design/UbD https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/6-facets-of-understanding-definition/ Want better readers? Spend less time teaching kids to find the main idea, ‘Knowledge Gap’ author Natalie Wexler argues https://chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2019/09/16/knowledge-gap-author-natalie-wexler/ How to teach a young introvert
MATH HAPPENINGS
COUNTDOWN TO THE NYS MATH ASSESSMENT
33 instructional days until the Math Assessment; what are you doing to make sure each and every day matters? This number includes the mock assessment dates, the two days of the ELA, the days we will be administering AIMSWEB+, days we will be doing F&Ps....so it will feel like even fewer. Who are the students, and which are the skills, that you will be focusing on in these short days?
MOCK MATH/TRIMESTER ASSESSMENT
We will be administering the 2nd Trimester/Mock Math Assessment on March 9. We will be simulating testing conditions with all modifications. Here is a link to the current list of mods, testing locations, and testing proctor assignment (subject to change).
- The 100th Day of School (barring any Snow Days!) will be February 27th. Please be thinking of developmentally appropriate and fun ways to celebrate and engage students. Think about what might happen for students in lower grades and let's build upon that so they aren't doing the same kinds of activities they did in lower grades, and how we can use multiplication, division, fractions and decimals to explore the number 100 and our base 10 number system. Please add information about what you plan to do for the 100th Day of School to this 100th Day of School Google Document.
If you are having any issues with Zearn, ST Math, or Problem Attic, please let us know.
- Whenever possible, please have students log on to Zearn through Clever, as that is how we can see data on their progress/challenges/setbacks, and how much we are using it.
5th Grade Leadership Team Helps Spread Love
PBIS HAPPENINGS
The SEL theme for the month of January is LOVE. Please look for opportunities to connect classroom learning to the district's monthly theme, and help our students understand the broader meaning of love beyond just "romantic love" (which is likely where their minds will go).
March's theme is Courage and Perseverance. How might you incorporate this theme into the work you will be doing in your classrooms during the month of March!
INDIVIDUAL REWARDS
Watch for HAWKS BUCKS coming your way soon!
Please be sure to:
- Hand them out liberally during the initial rollout.
- NAME THE BEHAVIOR you are commending and CONNECT IT to the HAWKS acronym. (Circle the letter on the HAWKS BUCK or have the student circle it)
- Have students write their names on the back.
- Listen for the announcement for the first Friday Redemption Day.
Here is a link to the slides from the faculty meeting with additional details.
Commitment to Character Student Nominations
RISE students open HAWKS' NEST store
SPECIALS HAPPENINGS
To submit something for this section of the Hawk Happenings in the future, submit it by clicking HERE and it will appear in the next Hawk Happenings.
WHO'S THAT?!?!?!
I received a few entries this week, but I wonder if you can guess:
WHO's THAT?!?!?!
Submit your guess using this Google Form.