Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Correction
CORRECTION: Stephanie will change her time at WIS from 7:45 to 4:00 pm (not 4:15 pm) starting Monday, November 30th.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
November 25, 2009 (Wednesday Turkey Report)
The shortened week brings a midweek WTR edition. I hope the four-day weekend allows you and your family the time to be together, share in some laughter and provides you the needed rest to be productive and energetic during our three-week run to Christmas break! As I have mentioned before, you all go the extra mile for kids each day and I know this can be exhausting. Your effort is appreciated and noticed. He who laughs, lasts - DB
Gobble Goodsearch – We received a check this week from Goodsearch for $47.47. Although this is not $1000's of dollars, every little bit helps. Please continue to promote the use of Goodsearch with family and friends and continue to use the websearch yourself!
Holiday Celebration is set for Friday, December 18th for both 4th and 5th grade. I will tweak the lunch and recess schedule to allow both parties to start at 12:20 pm. Please send appropriate communication home with students next week regarding the particulars for your grade level. That will allow parents enough time to plan in case they need to take time off or provide any needed items.
A Schedule "Maize" – Okay, poor Thanksgiving pun, but the changes in hours for Brenda and Stephanie may cause us to feel like we are in a maze for a bit. I appreciate those of you who have already volunteered to step up and help or gave suggestions. Beginning Monday, Brenda will be with us from 11:30 am through 2:30 pm every day. Stephanie will change her time at WIS from 7:45 to 4:00 pm. If you need a substitute, please call Stephanie by 6:45 am that morning! Thank you in advance for adjusting with the changes.
Music Gravy – Ms. Mann has scheduled Yvonne Johnson from Clarinda to come speak with the 5th graders next week during music class. She's a retired music teacher living in Clarinda and she plays in a recorder consort (This is an ensemble of recorders from soprano to bass). She might be bringing one or two other members of her ensemble with her (also retired music teachers!) and will bring all the different recorders to show and demonstrate for the kids. She will also talk about the history of the instrument. This is "gravy" for our music curriculum and program. I appreciate Ms. Mann "trotting" the extra mile!
Tiger Behavior Plan Results: "Tough Turkeys" – Brenda ran referral numbers for our first five weeks of implementation for our Tiger Behavior Plan and they look great already! I hope the numbers from the last couple weeks indicate students are getting the point that we are all going to be consistent on what is expected and not an indication of a relaxing of expectations. This would be good conversations for your PLC teams during your next meeting. I do tend to believe and observe that we are being consistent but there is always room for improvement. As we discussed, the key in continuing the program's success is consistency and teamwork! The chart is in the lounge, but I have included it below too.
Click Image to Enlarge
Dates to Note…Nov 26-27 NO SCHOOL: Thanksgiving Break!
Dec 2 - 2 hr early dismissal (PLC - Technology)
Dec 2 - Barry at SAI Mentor Meeting (DSM all day)
Dec 3 – Nita Martinez's birthday!
Dec 6 – Melissa Schafer's birthday!
Dec 8 – Janet Duke's birthday!
Dec 9 - 2 hr early dismissal (PLC - Building)
Dec 9 - Barry at Homeland Security Training (Oakland all day)
Dec 11 - Staff Party!
Dec 17 - Fourth Grade Music Program (6 pm @ HS auditorium)
Dec 18 - Classroom parties 12:20-1:10 pm; 2 hr early dismissal (Winter Break begins)
Dec 18 - End 1st semester/2nd quarter
Dec 18 – Susan Noonan's birthday!
Dec 24 – Geoff Maurer's birthday!
Dec 31 – Janelle Erickson's birthday!
Jan 4 - Begin 2nd semester/3rd quarter
Jan 5 - Grades due by 4 pm
Jan 6 - 2 hr early dismissal (PCL - Curriculum)
Jan 7 - 1st Semeser Report cards go home
Thursday, November 19, 2009
November 20, 2009
Changes in Staff – Monday, Lacey McCormick will start working in Amy Mathisen’s room as we will have a new student beginning next week. With the addition of this student and the impending return of another student, Amy will need “all hands on deck.” Please welcome Lacey to Washington – she will be a great addition to WIS and Amy’s program (on a related note - Lacey graduated from the same high school as I did so we know her educational background is top-notch!! Go Hawkeyes!) Secondly, through changes with the high school office staff, Brenda Black will begin a new sharing position between WIS and the HS. She will be with us from 11:30 am through 2:30 pm every day. Stephanie will change her time at WIS from 7:45 to 4:15 pm. What does this mean for all of us? For starters, we will need additional help in the office to start the day and we need to make sure we communicate through Stephanie for morning announcements. I’m sure we will learn as we go, but I know the collaborative nature of our staff will allow us to make this adjustment a successful one for WIS, the HS, Brenda and most importantly, the students and parents!
PTO Assembly - Will be on Monday, November 23rd, in the gym. We will begin around 9:15 am but will make an announcement when our presenters are here. They will announce trashbag winners and talk to students about the upcoming Box Top contest.
Flip Camcorder - Bob's email this week is a good offer if you're interested in spending grade level PTO dollars. I've seen the flip cams in action and they are very handy and extremely easy to use. Start by going to DigitalWish.org (which looks a lot like DonorsChoose.org) and go from there. Bob's email: While at the Technology Conference in Denver, Janelle Erickson & I attended a grant writing workshop. The attached document is from http://www.digitalwish.org/ (requires no writing). They are offering a “buy one, get one free” promotion for Flip Camcorders for use in your classroom. The cost for 2 cameras is $150.00 plus $12.00 shipping. Each teacher is limited to 2 purchases (4 cameras).
Winter Assessment - The teams will need to discuss and let me know what you'll be doing for Winter assessment process. Please let me know what your PLC decides by next Wednesday!
When to test (joint discussion or agreement between 4th and 5th)
a. In the past, we have always tested the first week back in January. Please confirm or let me know if you would like to change to the last week of December. This change in date was brought to me as it was suggested it would allow the teachers to ‘get right back to work’ when we return from Christmas break instead of testing.
Who to test?
a. Test all students using Gates (or SRI…whatever tool you used in the fall to place students into levels).
b. Test all students who were identified as needing additional and needing substantial interventions (and ‘borderline’ kids).
How will the team report out and share growth?
a. A grade level report was not completed in the fall. There needs to be a grade level report showing students as to where there are now as compared to the fall (% at NSI in fall vs. winter and so on). I met with the 5th grade team Thursday and we came up with plan - 4th grade see me!
Math assessment – is it needed?
a. Will students be given a mid-year math assessment?
b. How do we know if students are progressing at the level they need to be?
IPI Walkthroughs - We will be doing one more round of Instructional Practices Inventory walkthroughs in December before I share the data with the staff. During these walkthroughs, we are looking for the level of student and teacher engagement with the learning. Some questions will arise from the data and we may discuss: Are students engaged in higher-order thinking skills on a regular basis? Is the teacher engaged in instruction and supporting learning?
Website of the Week - There are likely 1000's of teachers and administrators out there sharing ideas and resources via blogs. In fact, a search for "education blog" on Delicious.com results in 74,475 links...not sure if this one made the cut or not. One good one I have found for elemetary teachers is "Teaching Challenges" by an Australian 4th grade teacher. She does a weekly "Tech Tip Tuesday" article and talks about the ups and downs of teaching little ones.
Click here for Upcoming PLC Dates
Dates to note....
• 11/23/09 PTO assembly in gym – 9:15 (to award trash bag sales winners)
• 11/23/09 Midterm grades due to the office by 4 pm
• 11/25/09 2 hr early dismissal; Midterm grades go home
---Teachers may leave 1 hr after bus departure
• 11/26 & 27 No School – Thanksgiving break
• 12/2 2 hr early dismissal
• 12/9 2 hr early dismissal
• 12/11 WIS Christmas party – 5:00 pm
• 12/14 School Board meeting – 6:00 pm
• 12/17 1st Semester Cutoff for grades
• 12/17 4th grade music program – 6:00 pm – HS Auditorium followed by 3rd grade music program
• 12/18 2 hr early dismissal; End 1st semester/2nd quarter
• 1/4/10 Begin 2nd semester/3rd quarter
• 1/5/10 Grades due to the office by 4 pm
• 1/7/10 1st Semeser Report cards go home
PTO Assembly - Will be on Monday, November 23rd, in the gym. We will begin around 9:15 am but will make an announcement when our presenters are here. They will announce trashbag winners and talk to students about the upcoming Box Top contest.
Flip Camcorder - Bob's email this week is a good offer if you're interested in spending grade level PTO dollars. I've seen the flip cams in action and they are very handy and extremely easy to use. Start by going to DigitalWish.org (which looks a lot like DonorsChoose.org) and go from there. Bob's email: While at the Technology Conference in Denver, Janelle Erickson & I attended a grant writing workshop. The attached document is from http://www.digitalwish.org/ (requires no writing). They are offering a “buy one, get one free” promotion for Flip Camcorders for use in your classroom. The cost for 2 cameras is $150.00 plus $12.00 shipping. Each teacher is limited to 2 purchases (4 cameras).
Winter Assessment - The teams will need to discuss and let me know what you'll be doing for Winter assessment process. Please let me know what your PLC decides by next Wednesday!
When to test (joint discussion or agreement between 4th and 5th)
a. In the past, we have always tested the first week back in January. Please confirm or let me know if you would like to change to the last week of December. This change in date was brought to me as it was suggested it would allow the teachers to ‘get right back to work’ when we return from Christmas break instead of testing.
Who to test?
a. Test all students using Gates (or SRI…whatever tool you used in the fall to place students into levels).
b. Test all students who were identified as needing additional and needing substantial interventions (and ‘borderline’ kids).
How will the team report out and share growth?
a. A grade level report was not completed in the fall. There needs to be a grade level report showing students as to where there are now as compared to the fall (% at NSI in fall vs. winter and so on). I met with the 5th grade team Thursday and we came up with plan - 4th grade see me!
Math assessment – is it needed?
a. Will students be given a mid-year math assessment?
b. How do we know if students are progressing at the level they need to be?
IPI Walkthroughs - We will be doing one more round of Instructional Practices Inventory walkthroughs in December before I share the data with the staff. During these walkthroughs, we are looking for the level of student and teacher engagement with the learning. Some questions will arise from the data and we may discuss: Are students engaged in higher-order thinking skills on a regular basis? Is the teacher engaged in instruction and supporting learning?
Website of the Week - There are likely 1000's of teachers and administrators out there sharing ideas and resources via blogs. In fact, a search for "education blog" on Delicious.com results in 74,475 links...not sure if this one made the cut or not. One good one I have found for elemetary teachers is "Teaching Challenges" by an Australian 4th grade teacher. She does a weekly "Tech Tip Tuesday" article and talks about the ups and downs of teaching little ones.
Click here for Upcoming PLC Dates
Dates to note....
• 11/23/09 PTO assembly in gym – 9:15 (to award trash bag sales winners)
• 11/23/09 Midterm grades due to the office by 4 pm
• 11/25/09 2 hr early dismissal; Midterm grades go home
---Teachers may leave 1 hr after bus departure
• 11/26 & 27 No School – Thanksgiving break
• 12/2 2 hr early dismissal
• 12/9 2 hr early dismissal
• 12/11 WIS Christmas party – 5:00 pm
• 12/14 School Board meeting – 6:00 pm
• 12/17 1st Semester Cutoff for grades
• 12/17 4th grade music program – 6:00 pm – HS Auditorium followed by 3rd grade music program
• 12/18 2 hr early dismissal; End 1st semester/2nd quarter
• 1/4/10 Begin 2nd semester/3rd quarter
• 1/5/10 Grades due to the office by 4 pm
• 1/7/10 1st Semeser Report cards go home
Friday, November 13, 2009
November 13, 2009
Prayers and Positive Thougths Needed - I know that many have heard of a construction accident that occurred earlier today involving a member of the Gene and Nadine Redd family. Their son, Brian, fell from a large two story house in Stanton that he was re-roofing. The fall resulted in injuries that required him to be taken by helicopter to Omaha. I spoke with Nadine this morning and she said he went through six hours of surgery last night and is still in critical condition. Please keep the entire Redd family in your thoughts and prayers. I told Nadine that if they needed anything from us at Washington, not to hestitate to ask.
Daily Recess Policy - Recent conversations made me realize I have not revisited our board policy regarding recess and appropriate consequence. Although not necessarily ideal in keeping kids accountable for work and/or discipline, it is the policy we have. It is extremely important kids get some physical activity during the day. Some kids have access to before school recess but the bus kids do not. I've included the post from 2/12/2009:
Please note the following board policy (adopted June 26, 2006) we need to begin following on a regular basis. This may change the way you handle punishment for missing work and may require us to look at other possibilities as a team or building.
Daily Recess: Elementary schools should provide recess for students that:
* is at least 20 minutes a day;
* is preferably outdoors;
* encourages moderate to vigorous physical activity through the provision of space and equipment; and,
* discourages extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity.
Physical Activity and Discipline
Employees should not use physical activity for discipline during the regular school day nor withhold more than 50% of daily recess activities.
PTO Meeting was held at WIS on Tuesday night. Thanks to the WIS teachers in attendance. Many agenda items were covered and Kelly Maynes has created a Red Oak PTO website that will include the minutes at some point. Thanks Kelly!
Student Information System - Along with staff from all buildings, Mark, Stephanie and I listened to three presentations from JMC, Infinite Campus and PowerSchool this week. The team will be making a decision in the near future about which system to move to this coming summer/fall. If you have input as to what you want to make sure the next system includes, please see one of us soon!
Website of the Week - http://delicious.com/ Delicious is a Social Bookmarking service, which means you can save all your bookmarks online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking. The website posts the most popular bookmarks being saved right now across many areas of interest. Create your own or use one I've created: http://delicious.com/djbarry98/
Dates to Note...
Nov. 16: Mark on KCSI (6:15 am - The Coffee & Mark show)
Nov. 18: Cutoff for midterm grades
Nov. 19: SAT (3:20 pm in Braymen's rm)
Nov. 20: Mrs. Timmerman's birthday
Nov. 23: PTO Trashbag Assembly (9:15 am); Grades due by 4pm
Nov. 25: Midterms go home; Indv PD & Turkey-break begins at 2:30 pm.
Daily Recess Policy - Recent conversations made me realize I have not revisited our board policy regarding recess and appropriate consequence. Although not necessarily ideal in keeping kids accountable for work and/or discipline, it is the policy we have. It is extremely important kids get some physical activity during the day. Some kids have access to before school recess but the bus kids do not. I've included the post from 2/12/2009:
Please note the following board policy (adopted June 26, 2006) we need to begin following on a regular basis. This may change the way you handle punishment for missing work and may require us to look at other possibilities as a team or building.
Daily Recess: Elementary schools should provide recess for students that:
* is at least 20 minutes a day;
* is preferably outdoors;
* encourages moderate to vigorous physical activity through the provision of space and equipment; and,
* discourages extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity.
Physical Activity and Discipline
Employees should not use physical activity for discipline during the regular school day nor withhold more than 50% of daily recess activities.
PTO Meeting was held at WIS on Tuesday night. Thanks to the WIS teachers in attendance. Many agenda items were covered and Kelly Maynes has created a Red Oak PTO website that will include the minutes at some point. Thanks Kelly!
Student Information System - Along with staff from all buildings, Mark, Stephanie and I listened to three presentations from JMC, Infinite Campus and PowerSchool this week. The team will be making a decision in the near future about which system to move to this coming summer/fall. If you have input as to what you want to make sure the next system includes, please see one of us soon!
Website of the Week - http://delicious.com/ Delicious is a Social Bookmarking service, which means you can save all your bookmarks online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking. The website posts the most popular bookmarks being saved right now across many areas of interest. Create your own or use one I've created: http://delicious.com/djbarry98/
Dates to Note...
Nov. 16: Mark on KCSI (6:15 am - The Coffee & Mark show)
Nov. 18: Cutoff for midterm grades
Nov. 19: SAT (3:20 pm in Braymen's rm)
Nov. 20: Mrs. Timmerman's birthday
Nov. 23: PTO Trashbag Assembly (9:15 am); Grades due by 4pm
Nov. 25: Midterms go home; Indv PD & Turkey-break begins at 2:30 pm.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
November 6, 2009
Veterans Day - Please plan on doing a Veterans Day activity within your literacy block on November 11th. We received a good DVD regarding Veterans Day - this short DVD can be found in our media center or can be watched on the web at http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/jlhewitt.asp. A writing activity (writing a Veteran, letter to editor, reflection, etc.) in combination with the video would be great. Other actvities can be found on the web (example from About.com). This Friday through next Thursday, I will give a Veterans Day quiz question each morning and will announce the answer/explanation the following day.
Technology - A couple tech-items I need each of you to assist us with starting today. :) First, the question about shutting your computer down each day has come up several times. This is highly recommended for each staff member. Unplugging the computers is a bonus but not required. More tips can be found on the University of Colorado IT website (there you go, Bob - CU gets it right!!) Not related to saving energy, but related to saving time is forwarding of emails - please refrain from forwarding emails to "All Staff" or your building if it is not directly related to educuation, learning or the school. I appreciate your attention to these two items.
Differentiation - From Kelly and Christy doing Rocket Math, to Barb tutoring first thing in the morning, to Jan monitoring high achieving students on the computers, to the teams' willingness to allow students to do independent study if they already know the grade level math content, to many more unnoticed but not minor interventions going on daily - I appreciate the staffs' desire and hard work to do the extra things it takes in an attempt to meet the critical questions #3 & #4:
3. How will we respond when they do not know it?
4. How will we respond when they already know it?
Speaking of Critical Questions - The Iowa Core Curriculum team discussed yesterday how our critical questions easily could (and should!!) apply to behavior expectations of kids. As you think about our behavior plan and upcoming 4th grade life skills curriculum, ask yourself and reflect upon our critical questions:
1. What do we want our students to learn? (essential, guaranteed & viable expecations)
2. How will we know they are learning? (observation and referral data)
3. How will we respond when they don’t learn? (Timely, directive, systematic intervention)
4. How will we respond when they do learn? (Timely enrichment/extension - leadership opportunities)
Dates to Note:
Nov. 6: 5th grade reading party at the Y, 12:30-3:00
Nov. 9: Good News items are due to office
Nov. 10: PTO mtg, 5:30, WIS Braymen's Rm; Board mtg, 6:00, Webster
Nov. 11: Veterans’ Day - 2 hour early dismissal - PD; 3:00 pm assembly at MS auditorium
Nov. 12: Young Readers’ Week – HS Unity Council members coming to read to students
* 5th – 9:00-9:30
* 4th – 9:30-10:00
Nov. 18: Cutoff for midterm grades
Nov. 23: Grades due by 4pm
Nov. 25: Midterms go home; Indv PD & Turkey-break begins at 2:30 pm.
“It is of virtually no use to 'teach' a student something he or she already knows.”Technology - A couple tech-items I need each of you to assist us with starting today. :) First, the question about shutting your computer down each day has come up several times. This is highly recommended for each staff member. Unplugging the computers is a bonus but not required. More tips can be found on the University of Colorado IT website (there you go, Bob - CU gets it right!!) Not related to saving energy, but related to saving time is forwarding of emails - please refrain from forwarding emails to "All Staff" or your building if it is not directly related to educuation, learning or the school. I appreciate your attention to these two items.
Differentiation - From Kelly and Christy doing Rocket Math, to Barb tutoring first thing in the morning, to Jan monitoring high achieving students on the computers, to the teams' willingness to allow students to do independent study if they already know the grade level math content, to many more unnoticed but not minor interventions going on daily - I appreciate the staffs' desire and hard work to do the extra things it takes in an attempt to meet the critical questions #3 & #4:
3. How will we respond when they do not know it?
4. How will we respond when they already know it?
Speaking of Critical Questions - The Iowa Core Curriculum team discussed yesterday how our critical questions easily could (and should!!) apply to behavior expectations of kids. As you think about our behavior plan and upcoming 4th grade life skills curriculum, ask yourself and reflect upon our critical questions:
1. What do we want our students to learn? (essential, guaranteed & viable expecations)
2. How will we know they are learning? (observation and referral data)
3. How will we respond when they don’t learn? (Timely, directive, systematic intervention)
4. How will we respond when they do learn? (Timely enrichment/extension - leadership opportunities)
Dates to Note:
Nov. 6: 5th grade reading party at the Y, 12:30-3:00
Nov. 9: Good News items are due to office
Nov. 10: PTO mtg, 5:30, WIS Braymen's Rm; Board mtg, 6:00, Webster
Nov. 11: Veterans’ Day - 2 hour early dismissal - PD; 3:00 pm assembly at MS auditorium
Nov. 12: Young Readers’ Week – HS Unity Council members coming to read to students
* 5th – 9:00-9:30
* 4th – 9:30-10:00
Nov. 18: Cutoff for midterm grades
Nov. 23: Grades due by 4pm
Nov. 25: Midterms go home; Indv PD & Turkey-break begins at 2:30 pm.
- Carol Ann Tomlinson & Kristina Doubet (2006)
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