Winter Break Week

Staff,

A few reminders regarding some of the events going on this week. Below is the PBIS hot chocolate and candy canes schedule for Monday. Students will be independently reading while having their hot chocolate. During your scheduled time, please tune your Smartboard to channel 82 to project the bonfire in your classroom. Turn up the volume and your students will even be able to hear it crackle!

(9:00-9:40) Kindergarten-2nd Grade (Mrs. Strop will check in to make sure everything is running smoothly).  K classes will be served first, then first grade followed by second. Here are the morning parent volunteers:  Melissa Steiner, Laura Ludeman and Michelle Alters.

(1:00-1:40) Third-Fifth Grade (Mrs. Kiesler will check in to make sure everything is running smoothly). Third grade will be served first, then fourth followed by fifth. Afternoon parent volunteers are as follows:  Sutheree Lovell, the Dickmans and Jenni Derrick.

On Tuesday, weather permitting, we may get a fire drill in prior to the start of specials. After second recess on this day, I will also announce the classroom that will have the additional recess on Wedneday based on having the least amount of minors/majors during our December competition.

If you haven't already submitted your fun fact using the the following link please do so. I need all fun facts submitted by the end of the day tomorrow so I can prepare for the Tuesday Staff Meeting. Fun Fact Link 

Finally on Wednesday we will have our All School Sing Along starting at 2:45pm, and it will last about 36 minutes. Wishing you a great three days with your students and a well deserved winter break!

This Week's and Next Week's Staff Meetings

Staff,

A reminder that Andrea Voelker will be coming to our staff meeting this Tuesday to review the compensation model approved last year for certified teaching staff.  Here is an informational link to the information I sent out through email previously:  Teacher Compensation Handouts

At the staff meeting on Tuesday, December 22nd we're going to have some fun prior to winter break. Any staff (certified and support) may attend, but must fill out the following google form before the meeting. Fun Fact Link Try to choose something your colleagues don't know about you. Maybe you've traveled to all the continents, had a brush with fame with Bon Jovi or were a nationally ranked badminton player. Whatever your fun fact is, it will be used to play a "Guess Who" game where groups of staff will try to match each fun fact with the correct staff member. 

Day 6 Progress Monitoring and Late Start Planning

Staff,

On Tuesday we have our second progress monitoring Day 6 of the year. We will meet in Kara's classroom for these meetings. Please bring any student data/anecdotal notes you feel will assist with the discussions and decision making.

As I emailed out last week, our late start on Thursday is building based with the focus on lesson planning using the "New Old ELA Maps." This should allow you to continue the planning you began at your most recent district ELA professional development. Below are links to each grade level's "New Old Maps."

Finally during the weeks leading up to winter break, if you have opportunities to recognize students through Celebration Reports, please do so. Recently more Celebration Reports have been turned into the office and the students who received them have been so proud of their accomplishments. This is a great way to send our students into their break on a positive note.

Kindergarten Curriculum Map  

First Grade Curriculum Map

Second Grade Curriculum Map

Third Grade Curriculum Map

Fourth Grade Curriculum Map

Fifth Grade Curriculum Map

Progress Reports and ELA Professional Development

Staff,

One last time, here is the schedule for progress reports for this week. 3rd-5th grade teachers make sure your progress report envelopes include the individual MAP report and letter explaining it. K-2 you should also have these two documents, as well as the student PALS report and the PALS informational letter.

Monday - 11/30 - Grades in Skyward by 11:59 pm

Tuesday - 12/01 - Progress reports will be printed in the morning

Wednesday, 12/02 - Reopen the grade window @ 8:00 am until 11:59 pm to make any changes. Give Sue a list of students who need a progress reports reprinted

Thursday - 12/03 - Final printing and progress reports go home with students:  this will include MAP reports with MAP letter and PALS reports K-2 with PALS letter.

During the month of December, we won't have an All School Meeting because of our All School Sing Along on Wednesday, December 23rd. 

Finally, this week we wrap up our second round of district ELA planning. Once you have had your professional development, please connect with your SMART Team grade level member on what you believe is the most pressing next steps for ELA/SLO planning. The SMART Team and I will use this information to develop our building late start plan for Thursday, December 10th.  Here's the PD schedule for this week. 

Tuesday, December 01, 2015	District PD	Bldg	2nd	ELA/IUI leaders, LSS
Wednesday, December 02, 2015	District PD	Bldg	1st	ELA/IUI leaders, LSS
Thursday, December 03, 2015	District PD	Bldg	Kndg	ELA/IUI leaders, LSS
Friday, December 04, 2015	District PD	Bldg	5th	ELA/IUI leaders, LSS

Thanksgiving Week Fun

Staff,

5th grade has fun activities planned for our two day school week! Again here is the PBIS acknowledgement schedule. 5th grade will come to your classrooms at the scheduled time. Within the table below, I've also listed the differentiated activities based on each grade level. On Tuesday, Turkey Bingo will start at 10:25am and run until 11:00am.

	Monday, November 23rd	Tuesday, November 24th
10:15-11:00am	2nd Grade-Catapults	Turkey Bingo
11:15-12:00pm	4th Grade-Balloon Cars	3rd Grade-Airships
1:30-2:15pm	Kindergarten- Art (William Wegman)
2:30-3:15pm	1st Grade-Flight

The early release is set aside for you to work on your progress reports and to update your students' instructional reading levels in Skyward. If you have forgotten how to do this, my October 4th blog can help you out. Here is a review of the progress report schedule for this week and next. Wishing you all a great work week and five day weekend!

Tuesday - 11/24 - Early Release - work on progress reports and update your instructional reading levels within Skyward before you leave for the day. 

Monday - 11/30 - Grades in Skyward by 11:59 pm

Tuesday - 12/01 - Progress reports will be printed in the morning

Wednesday, 12/02 - Reopen the grade window @ 8:00 am until 11:59 pm to make any changes. Give Sue a list of students who need a progress reports reprinted 

Thursday - 12/03 - Final printing and progress reports go home with students:  this will include MAP reports with MAP letter and PALS reports K-2 with PALS letter. 

Day 6: Submitting SLOs and Growth Mindset in Math

Staff,

Tomorrow with your Day 6 time, please use this to finalize and submit your SLOs. If you've submitted your SLOs already, you may use this Day 6 for your most urgent planning. My goal is to finalize your SLOs next week, and I'd like them all submitted by the end of this week to make this possible. On a separate note, I wanted to share a great mindset video on math by Jo Boaler and some of her students. A few of us on the district math committee were able to see her speak last year regarding math and mindset. You'll notice familiar themes we've discussed previously in our building about the positive impact of a growth mindset, specifically through the lens of math.

Planning Your Next Steps in Guided Reading

Staff,

A week removed from your SLO data day many of you have reflected upon, made adjustments and finalized your SLOs. As you begin to implement your SLO action plans, this article from Fountas and Pinnell highlights a lot of the practices we've implemented and provides some tips you might want to include in your guided reading instruction. This is an article you may want to dig into over time or with your grade level teams. Guided Reading: The Romance and the Reality

Friday Data Day: PD on Teacher and Specialist Assessment Standards and SLO Creation

Staff,

This week our conferences are sandwiched by assessment:  Day 6 progress monitoring on Wednesday and our Data Day on Friday focused on the Stronge teacher/specialist assessment standards and SLO development. Classroom teachers, if you did not upload your instructional reading levels on Friday, please do so on Monday, so I can get our progress monitoring spreadsheet updated by Wednesday.

Below I have attached a link to a video tutorial reviewing how to complete your self assessment (step two) in the EP professional goal setting plan followed by completing the SLO process (step one). I will walk staff through the process in person on Friday, but I also wanted to give a virtual option for those who felt that was all they needed.

Standard Reflection and SLO Development

Parent Teacher Conferences

Staff as you prepare for your conferences this week, below I  shared some tips I found helpful from the Harvard Family Research Project.  Also remember we have a District Forum on Tuesday at 8:05am, and your Day 6 collaboration time is set aside fo you to prepare for your conferences. Have a good week and a great start to your conference nights!

Entering F+P Instructional Levels into Skyward

Staff,

This year instead of entering your F+P Instructional levels on the T drive, you'll be entering them in Skyward through your class options under test scores. The video below will walk you through the process, and on Monday there will be a hard copy of the directions in your mailbox. The first update of F+P instructional levels is Friday, October 16th. Please do not start entering into Skyward until I verify ITS has aligned each F+P test score session with our assessment calendar dates.

A reminder that your collaboration time will be on Wednesday with Kelli instead of tomorrow. She will first review Big Universe and the other platforms available through the media center homepage. Then she will have time to plan with you regarding what blended learning support you'd like to develop within your class/grade level. 

Finally, Monday is the start of using minor communication forms for reteaching below the line behavior. The reteaching video will be shown on the news tomorrow.

Importing Reading Data into Skyward