October 16, 2009

District Meeting - Mr. Schmidt will be meeting with all staff on Wednesday, October 21st, at 3:30 pm in the high school auditorium.  He will be discussing what he and the school board know and have discussed up to that point in regards to the state wide 10%-across-the-board budget cut.  This meeting is voluntary for support staff and is the only scheduled meeting at this point.  The Department of Education has posted some information about the budget cut on their website. If you have questions, please see me.

Special Board Meeting has been set for Monday, October 19th, at 6:00 pm in the Sue Wagaman Board Room.  The above budget issues will be discussed during this special meeting.  The public is welcome.

Writing Instruction - I have enjoyed seeing what some teachers are doing to incorporate writing within the literacy, science, social studies and even math units.  Through conversation and observation, I do identify this as an area of growth for all classrooms though.  Ask yourselves the questions below to assess where you are with writing expectations as we begin our 2nd quarter Monday.  If you answer 'no' to many of the questions below, think about how you can change your instruction to provide daily exposure to writing and writing instruction.  A good article can be found on the National Writing Project website (and links below can give you ideas!!)
*  Are my students expected to write more than single-sentence responses on a daily basis?
*  Have I provided & instructed students how to use the writing checklist handed out last year? (copies in the office)
*  Do my students write in a daily journal?
*  Do I allow time for self editing, peer editing or teaching editing? 
*  Have I had students "publish" work using the writing checklist and editing strategies (for room, hallway, parents, online)?
*  Have I looked over the Iowa Core Curriculum writing concepts 4th and 5th grade students are expected to understand and apply?  (This would be something everyone needs to do today)

Language Acquisition Team (LAC) - Thank you  to Sonia Kunze, Hayley Perkins (MS), Deb Graber (IPS) and Rhoda Sorensen for attending the LAC training with me this week.  This newly formed committee (we needed another one, right?) will be a district-wide SAT-like team to create awareness of the ELL program and help teachers address ELL questions and concerns.  We learned a lot on Tuesday and have a couple 1/2 day follow-up training dates to assist us with implementation. 

Fall Conferences - The data from this fall's conferences are below.  If you did not have a face-to-face conference with the student's parent(s), please indicate to me how-and-when you'll meet with them.  I appreciate your efforts to get more students involved with conferences and would like to see that increase during the February conferences. (click below to enlarge)

Picture Retakes are scheduled for Tuesday, October 20. These will begin shortly after the school day begins. Please let the office know who you have from your room for retakes. Remember, this also includes students and staff members that were absent or moved into/started in the district after pictures were taken.  If your first picture didn't turn out, you can get retakes too.

Extra PE Schedule - Thank you to Brenda for emailing out the extra PE schedule.  Please note that it may change if we have snow days or other unforeseen events/changes.  The schedule can be found at the bottom of our home page. 

Dates to Note
Friday
- Last day of the quarter!  Lunch Potluck.  Bates gone all day; Barry gone in PM; Ehmke in charge (like she always is anyway!)
Monday
- First day of 2nd quarter; grades due at 4 pm!
- Barry at AEA 14 mtg (9am-1pm); ELO Site Visit mtg (Barry & Bates 3:30-6:00 pm)
- Special Board Mtg (6pm @ Webster)

Tuesday
- Student Information System Mtg (Barry, Ehmke & Haufle; 3:30 pm @ Webster)
Wednesday
- Building PLC (1:30-3:30 pm); District discussion with Mr. Schmidt (3:30 pm @ HS Aud)

Website of the Week

Wonderful web resources, including writing resources and strategies.  Plus, it is organized by age and is nicely color coded for your visual learners.  :) 
http://www.teachersfirst.com/matrix.cfm