THE FLIGHT RECORDER
Statesville Road Elementary's Weekly Staff Newsletter
Principal's Point to Ponder
A declaration is a statement that is finite and concrete. Declarations do not need anything added to them. They stand alone when delivering their message. They do not include ifs...ifs mean the declaration comes with conditions. They do not include ands....ands mean the declaration is contingent upon something else being connected to it. They do not include buts...buts signify why something cannot be done or why something is not true. In order for us to finish this school year strong, we have to make some strong declarations. We must declare that we will follow our data driven instructional plans. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. We must declare that the adults set the tone and culture in the building. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. We must declare that we will make student centered decisions. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. We must declare that student and staff relationships are the foundation to our school's success. No ifs, ands, or buts, about it. We must declare that our student's demography will not determine their destiny. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. These declarations backed up by our actions will ensure our goals are met. NO ifs, ands, or buts about it!
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK
After completing a short spiral review quiz that was graded in class by a peer, each student in Ms. Taylor's science class has to bring their graded paper up to her at the computer where the student's grade is immediately recorded into a data tracker. This classroom routine serves several purposes: 1. Students receive immediate feedback and the teacher completes recording the grades immediately 2. students are held to a higher level of accountability because they have to stand before their teacher with paper in hand and tell her their grade. The student ownership of the work becomes very personal as the recording of the grade is not done remotely by the teacher at another time. 3. The teacher takes time to conference with students as they tell her their grade. This happens very quickly but is powerful as the teacher is able to address misconceptions of individual students. The pic to the left shows 4 students at a time waiting to give account to the teacher for their grade. What are your grading and student accountability routines?
Kudos / General Reminders / Agreements
- Kudos to the Student Services Team (Pickett, Burgess, Nicholas, Dufore, and Morris) for planning the spa day last Friday. We all felt pampered! Looking forward to this Friday!!
- Kudos to the 2nd grade team for working together to implement instructional changes that benefit your students. Teamwork makes the dream work!
- Kudos to S. Taylor, Freeman, and Digh for being selected as 2015-16 Teacher Leaders. These ladies went through a rigorous interview and completed a data analysis project as part of the selection process. They presented well thought out plans, gave excellent responses to the interview questions, and have some good ideas about how best to ensure student success using this new structure. Looking forward to next year!!
- Teachers, as we move into the final quarter of the year, we cannot slack on lesson plans and intentional instructional alignment. Lesson plans are still expected to be posted to the google drive for your literacy, math, and science blocks. Grades K-2 your intervention block plans are on your multi-week intervention plan. Grades 3-5, your intervention block plans are embedded into your 6-week instructional plan (the green section). As walkthroughs are conducted, we will make a point to pull up your lesson plans from the google drive to check for alignment. This is not anything new, just making sure that what you plan is aligned to what is observed in your classroom.
- This Thursday is our last Chick-Fil-A Night. Chick-Fil-A has been a great partner for our school this year. Let's all plan to show up for dinner at Chick-Fil-A this Thursday between 6pm and 8pm as a way to say thank you to the management for their support of our school this year. Bring your kids, significant others, and/or friends and let's make this a true Statesville Road Family affair!!
- Heads Up: Monday and Tuesday of next week is our IB Re-authorization visit. As you plan your lessons for next week, make sure your lessons incorporate the IB theme, utilize the IB inquiry board, integrate the learner profiles, and are inquiry based. Also make sure your student work displays are updated (inside the classroom=current theme, outside of the classroom=previous theme). I am confident we will receive glowing feedback from our visit. We are IB!
Monday, April 20, 2015 (Day 1)
- 7:55am - Monday Morning Meeting
- Williams at PLAT meeting (PM)
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 (Day 2)
- Williams, Lungarini, Hall at Project LIFT Meeting (all day)
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 (Day 3)
- NO STAFF MEETING today, but use this time to complete the Spring Teacher Insight Survey if you have not already done so.
Thursday, April 23, 2015 (Day 4)
- 5:30pm - 8:00pm: Chick-Fil-A Night (Davis Lake Chick-Fil-A)
Friday, April 24, 2015 (Day 5)
- 8:00am - 8:30am: Real Men Read (give book to Lungarini before Friday if you have not already done so)