K-2 Team Newsletter
August 31 - September 4
Principal's Message
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all you have done to ensure our scholars had a successful first month of virtual school. I know we all hoped that COVID-19 cases would decrease so that we would be able to get our K-2 scholars back in the building but that was not possible. I appreciate ALL the time-consuming work you have put in with the admin to prepare for materials pick up round two! Our scholars and families are beyond lucky to have you as their educators, teachers, school moms and dads, and advocates. You are the unsung heroes of virtual learning!
Priority #1: Anti-Racism
DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)
Thank you for participating in today's March on Washington and DEI breakout groups. This work is difficult and while it seems like this world is full of darkness we as educators can shine our lights for our scholars. We show up for them every day and we provide safe spaces as allies in this fight. If you need support as you continue to process after our DEI convos, please reach out to Dr. P!
Deans of Academics
General Academic Deliverables
Academic Pushes for Week 5:
- Pacing: New Push: We know that students may still be slow to unmute which may affect pacing. Please start your groups with all students off mute; mute students as needed if there is excessive background noise. We know some teachers have already begun implementing this - keep it up!
- Continued Push: Limit wait time after checks for understanding. If a scholar struggles, prompt them, call on another scholar, or give the answer. Then, go back to the first scholar to restate or stamp the answer.
We will have our first academic and culture night for families! DOAs and DOC will be planning and executing so there are no action steps for teachers nor are teachers required to attend the Zoom call. We will be putting the announcement and flyer in your Google classroom and reminding families to please attend so they can get questions answered! Caroline Rhodes will also be doing a call out Friday and Monday to advertise to parents.
ELA
ELA Deliverables, Updates, and Reminders
Friday, August 28th to Friday, September 4th
Grade Level Group IPP Meetings - Lesson for discussion submitted by 5 pm to AFT. See below for a link to your grade bands schedule.
Mondays at 2 - First Grade Group IPP Schedule 1st
Tuesdays at 2 - 2nd Grade Group IPP Schedule 2nd
Wednesday at 2 - Kindergarten Group IPP Schedule K
All videos, independent work and Exit Tickets for the week of September 7th are due in Google Classroom by 5 pm on Friday, September 4th.
1st and 2nd: Please make sure that you have provided the link for the Foundational Skills Boost as a MTWTh assignment in Google classroom. You may copy the message below into the assignment as directions.
LInks:
Sample Directions:
Hello Scholars and Families! We are so excited to be able to provide you with the Foundational Skills Boost. This website is a video-based, self-guided instruction that scholars can do by themselves. This instruction focuses on unfinished foundational skills instruction from the spring of 2020 and consists of 9 weeks of lessons. The website is free through our curriculum purchase and your scholar does not need a login. As soon as you click on the link, they can begin! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ms. Fletcher-Tyson at 901.262.3039.
Directions for accessing the CKLA Digital Materials: CKLA Digital Materials Directions
Due by Friday, September 4th EOD
Complete the IPP Process for Skills lessons for the week of September 7th using the Skills IPP Template to guide you.
Submit the lesson for your grade level’s IPP meeting. See Group IPP schedule linked above for the specific lesson.
All CKLA assignments, video and Exit Tickets
MATH
Math Deliverables, Updates, and Reminders
Week of Friday, August 28th to Friday, September 4th.
Week of August 31st- September 4th
Reminder- I’ll be popping around to observe and potentially filming your Math lesson. Recording videos is a requirement of the AF program to ensure I am giving you the best feedback possible.
Group IPP Meetings (Kinder Monday, 2nd Grade Tuesday, 1st Grade Wednesday- MJ sent invites on 7/29):
Pre-Work:
Turn in Annotated Unit 2 Unpacking-Kinder, Lesson 10-1st, Lesson 9 -2nd)to Molly by 8/28
Meeting Agenda:
Group IPP Process
Weekly Check-In (2nd Grade Tuesday, Kindergarten/1st Grade Friday- MJ sent invites on 7/29)
Pre-Work:
None
Agenda:
Pacing
Due by Friday, September 4th EOD
Complete the IPP Process using the Independent IPP Checklist for all lessons for week of September 7th (See Course Blueprint for clarification if needed)
Email Molly (Kinder- Unit 2 Unpacking, 1st Grade-N/A, 2nd Grade-IPP Lesson 11)
Dean of Culture
Glows/Grows
We will continue to focus on these glow and grows this week:
Glows- Enthusiasm/Participation
Grows- Not Following Directions
September Incentive: Just Dance Party!
September 4- Trimble Video on How to Earn to Attend Paycheck Party
September 11, 18, and 25th- Just Dance Party!
(more details to come at your grade team meeting)
Grade Team Meetings
Ms Trimble will meet with Grade Level Teams to discuss the parameters for participation in paycheck parties, attendance updates, and the next set of glows and grows at the following times listed below:
Aug 31st- 2nd grade 2:30- 3:00
Sept 1st - Kindergarten 2:00-2:30
Sept 1st - 1st grade 2:30-3:00
How to Notify Parents for Incentives
Please notify the parents of the incentives using DeansList, following the steps outlined below.
How to send parents messages using DeansList:
Open the Record Student Data Tab
Click on Send Message tab
Choose Message Type (email, text, voice message)
Click on Parents
Use drop down menu to choose your name as the sender
Select recipients by Students or Roster
Add the Subject Line (ex: Friday Incentive)
Write your message and add any attachments
Preview Message
Send/submit message
Attendance Tracker
Dean of SEL
Thank you all for inviting me to your morning meetings! Please keep reaching out if you need any support for morning meetings, etc. This week I will be posting a video specific to control and Coronavirus. It is a topic that kept surfacing during my meetings in all classrooms, and seems like a high need in all of our grade bands. I am also open to suggestions for topics to present, especially as you think through the work we are doing in our DEI groups.
One resource that I wanted to share with you all for current events is Kid Post, which is the site Washington Post has for kids. It’s really great and even has activities!
As always, reach out if you need anything! Sending love to you all!
Habit of the Month: Put First Things First!
Work first, play later.
Figure out what your “big rocks” are!
Prioritize your “big rocks”.
Create a schedule for yourself to maximize the time you have for all the small rocks that you have!
Gamble Tech Support
Moving forward into September and beyond we will not have tech office hours from 2-3 pm. Instead, if you have families that are in need of tech support you can reach out to her with the family contact information, scholar’s name, and a description of the tech issues in the following ways:
via Slack → @Victoria Gamble
by email → vgamble@eastendprep.org
through text message → (843) 323-7810
PD Schedule (subject to change)
September 4th - Mental Health Day starts @ 2:30 pm (No PD before Labor Day)
Sept 11th - SEL PD
Sept 18th - DEI PD
Sept 25th - Culture PD
Materials Bag Pick-Up #2
This is going to happen next week Aug. 31-Sept 4th. Families would come from 9 am - 3 pm to pick up their new bag for the rest of the quarter. Admin will be available in case families were having issues with tech to bring in their technology to review how to log in and access information. If you know that a scholar needs a desk - please flag their names by emailing Dr. P so we can have desks put to the side and ready for them!
Weekly Family Email Blast
If you have something you want to be added to the weekly family email blast just email Dr. P by Thursday evening so there is time to review it and ensure it will fit with the messaging already set to go out that following week. Shout out to Stacey for sending me some awesome items to include for next week!
Operations Updates
Family Contact Information
If you have an updated phone number or email for a parent, please email that to Ms. Welch and Ms. Wahidi, along with the scholar's first and last name.
Welch and Wahidi will update the official record in Infinite Campus which we then sync to all our systems.
Please do not make manual edits to parent contact information in DeansList as these will be overridden by our syncs.
Technology Update
If scholars are having problems with their hotspot, put the hot spot by a window or try changing to a different location in the home.
If a scholar needs a chromebook, those are available. Call or text Antjuan (615) 397-7329
If someone is having technical difficulties, call or text Antjuan (615) 397-7329
We are hopeful that we will get a new shipment of hotspots by Labor Day if not sooner.
Grades
Our first progress reports will go home on Thursday, September 17
The progress reports will include the scholar's overall grade average in each content area and will also include attendance and behavior information so that is all in one place for families.
We are working on getting families access to the parent portal in Illuminate so that parents can check on student grades anytime, and so that they can see detailed information about assignment grades for their child.
If you have a parent who wants detailed assignment grades now, please run an individual progress report for their child and email it to the parent. Click here for a short how-to video. Please ensure gradebooks are shared across your grade level to be able to pull a progress report that includes all classes for the scholar.
Upcoming Events
August 31st
Kindergarten Math Group IPP 2:00-3:00
First Grade ELA Group IPP 2:00-3:00
Second GLM @ 2:30
Academic and Culture Family Night @ 6:00
September 1st
Second Grade Math Group IPP 2:00-3:00
Second Grade ELA Group IPP 2:00-3:00
Kindergarten GLM @ 2:00
First GLM @ 2:15
September 2nd
1st Grade Math Group IPP 2:00-3:00
Kindergarten ELAGroup IPP 2:00-3:00
September 3rd
Kindergarten Lead Check-In 10:00-10:30
Kindergarten AT Check-In 10:50-11:20
1st Grade Lead Check-In 11:40-12:10
1st Grade AT Check-In 12:30-1:00
K-8 Progress Reports
September 4th
Mental Health Day
2:15-2:30 Announcements & Shoutouts (Dr. P’s Link)
2:30-4:00 Mental Health Day - NO PD
- Tori Rockick's Birthday
Teacher Spotlight
Core Value - Teamwork
Victoria Gamble exemplifies the core value of TEAMWORK! She goes above and beyond to help support the K-2 team in this virtual space. From making phone calls with Trimble to helping families with tech support, you ensure that our team is successful. Thanks for all you do and for having such a giving spirit towards our teachers and scholars!
Core Value - Enthusiasm
Core Value - Growth
Quick Find Docs
Class Rosters click here
Groups List Virtual Learning click here
K-8 Staff Contact Info click here
MNPS Mental Health Resource Guide for employees - click here
Parking Lot click here
Rubric Virtual Learning click here
Scholar Communication Log click here
School Calendar click here
Scholar Birthdays click here
Sunshine Survey click here