JM Staff Bulletin
Week of November 30, 2015
Crazy Week!
Dear Incredible Joaquin Miller Teachers and Staff,
I want to wish you the best of luck on your conferences this week and offer support I can provide to make them smooth. I also wanted to remind you that I am more than willing to proofread/edit your comments if you'd like me to.
Last Thursday, my principal professional development session was focused on Balanced Literacy. We went through how to do a reading record and were also given a packet entitled "Running Records Progress Monitoring" that I have placed in your boxes. We discussed that since the last F&P assessments were done in the beginning of the school year, many of our students have improved and possibly advanced to higher levels. Many of you reassess using a "reading record" on a regular basis when you think a student has improved. If you don't have time to do this, a quick and dirty way to assess their current level is to do a simple "running record" using the templates in the packet. There are grids with 100 boxes, 50 boxes, 25 boxes, and 20 boxes. The idea is that you listen to the student reading a book at the pre-determined level while marking a check in each box for each word the student reads correctly and writing any words the student reads incorrectly. For students who are reading at higher levels, use the 100 box grid. This would also be quite easy for your teachers aides or PTA funded tutors to do.
Another part of our discussion this past Thursday was on the discrepancy between the SRI and F&P levels for students. One of the principles mentioned that some of the discrepancy might be due two teachers not doing the comprehension portion of the F&P reading records assessment. If a teacher does not do the comprehension section, you are simply doing a fluency assessment.
On a completely different note, Congresswoman Barbara Lee will be visiting our school this coming Friday for the Ocean Guardian grant ceremony! We will have several visitors and members of the press on campus that morning for the ceremony. I will need to block off part of the yard for parking after the morning recess until noon. If possible, I would like our Student Council officers to greet the Congresswoman when she arrives, and then bring her to the multipurpose room for the event. Unfortunately, this is not a whole school event. Miss Cohn's class will be the only class present at the assembly as they are the class that received the grant.
Lastly, Kindergarten Tours will be held on the next two Wednesdays. If you see large groups of parents in the hallway, smile! We will also be having our Prospective Parent Night on Thursday if any of you would be interested in attending.
I hope you all have a fantastic week. And, remember...there are only 2 more weeks until Winter Break!
Take care,
Sara
P.S. Mrs. McQueen has sent out the invites for our staff party. If you didn't receive the invitation, please email her at gcmcqueen@aol.com.
This Week
Minimum Days all week for parent-teacher conferences.
Monday:
Tuesday: Mr. Jackson and Ms. Reid off-site at district math PD
Wednesday: Kindergarten Tours; Lexia training from 3:10 - 4:10 (teachers will be paid for their time)
Thursday: Prospective Parents Night
Friday: Ocean Guardian Ceremony (10:30 -12:00); SIRA scores due in Illuminate
Weekly Deliverables (To-Dos)
- Report cards!
- Prepare for conferences.
- Go to our Staff Google Calendar and add any important dates you feel are missing.
- Fill out Gotcha slips for your kiddos who are exemplifying the Wolverine Way.
- Check Konstella and your OUSD email at least twice weekly.
- Send a message to your parents via Konstella about what's happening in your class! (Remember: the more they know, the less they make up.)
- Submit COST referrals as needed.
- Smile!
Upcoming Dates- Not including this week
12/14: ILT at 3:00
12/15: Visit from Kyla (9:30 - 11:00)
12/16: ELAC Meeting (1:15 - 2:00); Staff Party!
12/17: Sara off-site at Principal PD
12/18: Winter Sing at 10:20 in the MPR