The CIA Report
April 2017 Edition
Welcome to the April 2017 Edition of The CIA Report!
Please be sure to take time to read this newsletter prior to the April 27 administrator meeting. If you have any questions about the content, please list them on this Google Doc, and we will address them during our meeting.
Thanks!
Learning Today...Feeding Your Professional Soul...
Being Human
It's that time of year. That crazy time when everything seems to completely collide. The scheduling, the hiring for next year, the standardized assessing, the preparations for summer school, the purchasing and planning for movement for the next year, and all of the millions of other things that are happening. All.right.now.
It's a time to realize that we may not have all of the answers, but to acknowledge that with time (and maybe by asking for help), we'll eventually have them.
It's also a really critical time of the year to remember that laughter is important, to consider the significance of reflection, and to acknowledge that we are all human.
If you need help with any of these - laughter, reflection, and remembering that you, too, are human, take a few moments to watch this short, entertaining talk by Ze Frank.
Warning and Disclaimer: He uses two separate swearwords in the talk, and I do not endorse the use of such words as being "professional." I just think the message is good and the opportunity for a giggle is important.
Cheers!
Keri
Teaching & Learning
Curriculum
All curriculum development and revisions are near completion for the school year. Curriculum will be shared with and reviewed by the Curriculum Review Committee on Wednesday, May 31 (6:00-8:00 at Berrey-Place Center). The curriculum will then go to the Board of Education for final approval at the June 15 Board Meeting.
New curriculum resources (including books and/or materials) are being purchased for several new or revised courses. This means that we may have outdated resources to surplus. Communication will come from Keri or from Janet Murphy if something needs to be done within your building.
Elementary Social Studies
FYI - Nichole Nolan has done some work with our current Social Studies curriculum, aligning the current curriculum objectives to the new strands for the Missouri Learning Standards. She will be sharing this resource with grade chairs so they may share it with their teams. Nichole is hoping this will be a useful tool as teachers begin to plan for their daily minutes of Social Studies for the 2017-18 school year.
K-6 Science
K-5 science minutes are changing next year - we have some great ideas to help teachers utilize those minutes with activities that start to head teachers towards the new standards that WSD will begin to following in 2018 -19. If you have teams who are unsure of how to full their science minutes, please send them Meghan's way! She would love to meet with them!
Elementary ELL
With the addition of two new elementary buildings, we will be shuffling building assignments for our ELL teachers. Here is a link to the assignments for 17-18. The numbers refer to the projected number of ELL's in each building (however those may have already changed). These assignments have already been shared with the current ELL teachers. Please email Keri with any questions. https://goo.gl/UCKvrS
Cool PD Opportunity
Many educators have been investing time in learning about the role of play within education. It is becoming more and more evident that students need time to engage in purposeful play as part of their learning experience. This workshop is a fantastic opportunity learn more about the role that play has in education! Learn more by clicking HERE: https://goo.gl/LdNLDc
Solar Eclipse Information
We have a district wide task force that has been meeting to make plans for this amazing educational opportunity!
Please reach out to your rep if you have not met with them yet to be sure that planning is underway!
Our goal is to make the event a celebration at each school. We are hoping that all students and staff can be outside prior to the totality portion and have come up with the following time suggestions:
K-2 go outside 45 minutes prior to totality
3-5 go outside 60-70 minutes prior
6-8 90 minutes prior
9-12 90 minutes prior
The district has purchased glasses for every student and staff member! Building reps have been asked if buildings want to purchase glasses for parents/ community members - the cost will be 25 cents a pair and schools can order in lots of 500.
During the partial phase of the eclipse, glasses need to be worn if you look directly at the sun. During totality, glasses will be taken off - or they won’t see anything!
A couple of ideas that were discusses particularly for 7-12:
Follow the early release schedule that is used at the end of the quarter so that all classes meet OR
Use the morning to cover rules/ class meetings/ etc.
Please let Meghan know if she can be of any help.
Assessment
Thank you for all of your help this year with assessments! Pending Canvas final approval, I will be adding every secondary high school SGA in Canvas this summer for use this fall.
End of Year Testing Windows:
Secondary
EOC-May 8-16
AP- May 1-12
SGA- May 8- 19 (second semester only courses)
Elementary
SRI- May 1-19
MAP- April 3- ALL testing (including make ups) May 19
DRA- April 24-May 18
Elementary DRA Reading Folders- Please refer teachers to the Literacy Handbook for any specific questions regarding DRA testing protocols Literacy Handbook
Technology
Student H Drives...a quick reminder that all student H Drives will removed on August 1 for students 6th grade through 12th grade. H Drives for students kindergarten through 5th grade, were removed on January 1. All students will use Google Drive for their online storage.
Technology Purchases...all technology purchases must be approved and purchased through the Technology Department. This will ensure that all licenses and devices will work properly on the network. Please contact myself or Katie (Catherine) Kruchowski for purchase information.
New Technicians Assignments...starting July 1, the Technology Department will be shifting a few district technicians to be more geographically located to schools/buildings to allow for faster response times. Please check out the following grid to view the assigned Technician to your building.
Professional and Program Development
Action Items
Everyone -
2017/18 PD - Our goal is to have your Draft Building PD Plans submitted by 5/15. FYI - District PD has the same deadline.
8/9 12-4p New Teacher Training: Building Time - We heard you!... and have scheduled this time for you to meet with your new teachers and give them time to work in their rooms. I sent a google calendar invite.
Choosing 1st year Teacher Mentors / 2nd year Buddies AND Schedule - Choose your best teachers to mentor your new teachers! Please communicate your Mentors to Karen as soon as you can. (Stipends: 1st year mentors (2%), 2nd year mentors (1%), buddies (our gratitude!)
Somebody has made your day… Let them know! Energy Bus award!
Coaching for Equity
Joshua Parker, an instructional coach at Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior High School in Washington, explains how equity is an essential focus of his practice. He provides teachers with the support and tools to reach all students and to recognize their diverse learning needs.
A grading strategy for Math - 7 min video
Updates
HS Canvas Pilot - The pilot was successful in: 1) automatically grading and importing those grades into SISk12 (No more double entry!), 2) automatically setting up teacher/student accounts and classes, 3) integrating with Google Suite, 4) sharing content, and more! We are still working on pulling SGA scores without teacher involvement. We are extremely hopeful we can do this. The pilot teachers have strongly recommended we move forward with implementation.
Canvas for Elementary and MS? - It is likely that we will want all SGA’s to be taken or entered (for lower elementary) into Canvas beginning with the 2018/19 school year. We will firm up these plans as we learn more from the HSs. Training would likely begin 2nd semester 2018 if all goes well.
School Improvement
Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith
Email: greggklinginsmith@wsdr4.org
Twitter: @GTKling
Dr. Karen Hill
Email: karenhill@wsdr4.org
Twitter: @karenhill03
Mr. Greg Lawrence
Email: greglawrence@wsdr4.org
Twitter: @greglawrence
Dr. Keri Skeeters
Email: keriskeeters@wsdr4.org
Twitter: @keriskeeters