Week 24

Welcome to the "last week of February" Team...

This week will wrap up our Moral Focus virtue of Courage.  I want to thank you for your courage...the courage you demonstrate every day! Thank you so much for enduring the difficult times that can occur with students, staff, and/or parents, while taking the time to remember that we all carry "invisible" baggage into each day which can impact the decisions and choices that are made.  

In addition, each and every day we have to practice with our students as we work toward the "end of year race" which is our interims, PSAT, M-STEP, and NWEA. We practice routines and procedures consistently, use our social contracts and moral focus to teach our students how to treat one another, and use our classroom framework to guide our planning and instruction to ensure our students are learning. 

I want to thank you for being courageous when going above and beyond to help our school community. You are my heroes!

Have a great week...

Specials:

• Team Meeting on Thursday, 2/26
• Time to start working on Report Cards. Please plan to have your grades input by 3/3 so that they are available when classroom teachers need to print. Report Cards go home on 3/6.
• Trimester 3 begins on 3/9.  

Special Education...

• Time to start working on your Progress Reports.  Please have them to me by 3/4, so that I can distribute them to the teachers.  If you need assistance, please ask...
• Child Study - 3/12.  This will be the last Child Study where we will have new students going through the process.  

Intervention...

•   Progress Monitoring continues for AIMSWeb
•   Caseloads - make sure that you continue to stay updated 

Important Dates...

              February - Staff Work Out Wear on Mondays

             

              2/25 - Beat the Streets Gr. 5-8 Assembly 2:30 pm

              2/28 - Progress Reports; Grade Book Closes

             

             March is Reading Month!

             3/2 - Hat Day

             3/4 - Staff Meeting 7:30 am; Dean Prep @ Laurus

             3/5 - Blue Ribbon Students Field Trip

             3/6 - Trimester 2 Ends; Report Cards Home

Week 23

Welcome to a new week Special Pops People...

I hope that you all had a nice Valentine Weekend and enjoyed having Monday off, as well.  This week I would like us to reflect on this months' Moral Focus Virtue...Courage. 

Courage comes in many forms.   Self-reflection takes courage. It takes courage to acknowledge that you do some things really well and some things not so well. The courage to identify where you need support is when you realize that we are always learning!

Our students, believe it or not, are very courageous. Every day they brave our classrooms with the same ideas that we self-reflect upon...that they do some things well and some things not so well. We can truly observe them so that we can provide the support they need but are sometimes afraid to ask for.  We can take time to learn more about them that will help them to engage more in our classrooms. We can take time to ask them about their lives and honestly take a minute to listen to them. Imagine what kind of classroom we would have if we did this MORE!

I dare you to champion a student in your class and continue to build them up. I pray that you are daily affirming them so that they know you care because children don't learn from people that they don't like. I ask that you make them feel that they matter to you because you were born for this! I beg of you to talk with them and not always "at" them. Looking within first and self-reflecting on what you can do better takes courage. Are you up for it? Who will you champion?

Important Dates...

              

              February - Staff Work Out Wear on Mondays

             

              2/17 - No School

              2/18 - Gr. 3-8 ELA Interims, 6-8 Math Interims

              2/19 - Gr. K-2 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/20 - Gr. 3-5 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/21 - Staff Potluck; Interim Scan By Date; Gr. 6-8 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/28 - Progress Reports; Grade Book Closes

Week 22

Hello Team!

I hope that you all had a great weekend... I don't know about you, but I need a "SNOW DAY". 


Progress Monitoring

So, as a reminder...AIMSWeb Progress Monitoring must occur!  If you support a Novice Class or students in a Novice Class, PROGRESS MONITORING MUST BE DONE WEEKLY.  This includes Special Education.  NO EXCUSES!   I suggest that you schedule this to occur Tuesday-Thursday, so that if a student is absent, we can still PM them.

Students in the Proficient Classes must be Progress Monitored by their teacher every other week and students in the Honors Classes should be done once a month.


Interim Testing
Interim Testing #2 for Grades 3-5 Math will occur this week. Testing for 3-8 ELA and 6-8 Math will occur next week.  More information on K-2 testing will be coming.  It is the expectation that every student completes their Math/ELA interim, so if the student is absent on their class testing day/week you must insure that they do complete their testing.  

Wing Meeting Wednesday, 2/12 at 7:30 am.

Important Dates...

              

              February - Staff Work Out Wear on Mondays

             

              2/10 - Gr. 3-5 Math Interims

              2/12 - Count Day; Free Dress; Wing Meeting 7:30 am

              2/13 - Progress Reports; Spring Pictures

              2/14 - Half Day (12:00 pm); Red vs. Pink Day; Lockdown; No Specials

              2/17 - No School

              2/18 - Gr. 3-8 ELA Interims, 6-8 Math Interims

              2/19 - Gr. K-2 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/20 - Gr. 3-5 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/21 - Staff Potluck; Interim Scan By Date; Gr. 6-8 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/28 - Progress Reports; Grade Book Closes

Week 21

Hello Team!

Happy first week of February!  I hope that you all had a great weekend and enjoyed the Super Bowl...game, halftime show and/or commercials. I don't know about you, but I am sure glad that January has ended.  It seemed to last forever....!

Well, we have completed the Middle of Year testing.  I want to thank each and every person who supported completion of it...NWEA, AIMSWeb and MSTEP Writing.  It truly takes a village...but the data obtained is so valuable to the grade level teams as they plan and prepare for End of Year testing. As such, we can't let up with our support...whether it be Instructional Support, Progress Monitoring, or planning, your job is invaluable and we must continue provide the assistance that the students and teachers are counting on.  

Progress Monitoring

So, as a reminder...AIMSWeb Progress Monitoring must occur!  If you support a Novice Class or students in a Novice Class, PROGRESS MONITORING MUST BE DONE WEEKLY.  This includes Special Education.  NO EXCUSES!   I suggest that you schedule this to occur Tuesday-Thursday, so that if a student is absent, we can still PM them.

Students in the Proficient Classes must be Progress Monitored by their teacher every other week and students in the Honors Classes should be done once a month.


Interim Testing
Interim Testing #2 will occur for grades 3-8 in February.  More information on K-2 testing will be coming.  It is the expectation that every student completes their Math/ELA interim, so if the student is absent on their class testing day/week you must insure that they do complete their testing.  

Rowden Out - Wednesday, 2/5.

Specials:

• We have a Team meeting this Thursday at 7:30 am

Special Education...

• Our Team meeting will be Thursday this week, as Hopewell and I will be out on Wednesday.

Intervention...

• Progress Monitoring...this is one of your top priorities.

Important Dates...

              

 
              February - Staff Work Out Wear on Mondays

              2/5 - Staff Meeting at 7:30 am

              2/7 - Wear Red Day $2.00; African American Dance Troup

              2/10 - Gr. 3-5 Math Interims

              2/12 - Count Day; Free Dress; Wing Meeting 7:30 am

              2/13 - Progress Reports; Spring Pictures

              2/14 - Half Day (12:00 pm); Red vs. Pink Day; Lockdown; No Specials

              2/17 - No School

              2/18 - Gr. 3-8 ELA Interims, 6-8 Math Interims

              2/19 - Gr. K-2 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/20 - Gr. 3-5 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/21 - Staff Potluck; Interim Scan By Date; Gr. 6-8 Black History Wax Museum 1:00-2:45

              2/28 - Progress Reports; Grade Book Closes