February 5, 2010

*** Next Monday through Wednesday ***
Ms. Bates is the 'go-to' person in the building if needed. 
Mrs. Sims is available also. 
Thanks for taking care of business while I'm out of the district!

CONFERENCE WEEK REMINDERS

1) Specials - Wednesday will be a “Friday” schedule. Classroom teachers need to work with the special teachers if you are attempting to schedule or make-up a class next week on an early out day. COMMUNICATE!!!...please. . Monday and Thursday's only scheduled special is PE. Click on the image below to enlarge.

2) Time - I want to make sure we are all on the same page about times that week. Many of you set up conferences outside the times on the calendar to meet the needs of parents. I appreciate this and I'm sure the parents do too. Know that Friday is an 8-hour comp-day so you must be in conferences or be working within the building that week for 8 hours outside the 8am-4pm work day.

3) Schedules - I do need your conference schedule and "office hours" (see #2) before you leave this Friday. Emailing them to Stephanie and I would be fine. Please let me know if you need me at a specific conference - otherwise, I will drop in at random.

4) My Schedule next week is crazier than the specials’ schedule! Linda G, Sonia K, Debbie G, and I will be leaving early Monday morning for the annual Iowa Culture and Language Conference. We will be returning Wednesday afternoon/evening. If you need a sub for any of those three days, please contact Stephanie.

5) Needed Data - Last fall's conference data can be found here.  I would need the same data turned in to Stephanie after conferences.  Shoot for 100% student involvement!

Skills Tutor Reports - Sharing student reports and progress from the Assessment Center or Skills Tutor at conferences is a great idea! Jim Lippold sent me the following about Assessment Center reports (specific to math and literacy benchmark tests): To look at a single student's progress, you want to log in as the teacher and choose the "Student Performance" report, NOT the Overall Student Performance report. Choose the two assessments you want to compare and click on show report. If you want to look at all of the students, you want the "Compare Assessments" report.

Deb Karwal Needs Our Support!!  - A letter from Deb Karwal was placed in classroom teachers' boxes on Thursday.  She met with me to request letters of support for her program as budgets are tightened and we do not want to lose her programs in our schools!  I would hope that you find time over the next week to write a letter to our Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in support of Deb, Anderson Conservation Area and of the Environmental Education and Interpretation programming we have in our classrooms. If you ask any student in our district what they most remember about school and science, I know Deb’s name would be at the top of the list. She is vital to our science education and has been a wonderful partner for our school district. Please send the letters to Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, PO Box 469, Red Oak, IA 51566. 

Belin-Blank Fellowship Program - is a unique opportunity for teachers to learn more about the area of gifted education. Its purpose is to help teachers learn better methods for working with gifted children in their classrooms. This is an awesome opportunity to learn from the Who's-Who in education and gifted education in our own backyard (Iowa City) and do so at minimal cost (paid for!)!  Teachers may enroll in 2 graduate credits and receive an automatic tuition scholarship that covers half the cost. The program is designed to:
• help teachers provide appropriate education for gifted students;
• develop in students a heightened sense of social responsibility in the use of their talents
• provide leadership in gifted education.
To learn more or apply, visit their website.

Dates to Note…
Feb 8 - 2 hr early out – P-T conferences; Board Mtg @ 6pm
Feb 11 - Valentine parties – after lunch
Feb 11 - 2 hr early out – P-T conferences
Feb 12 - No School
Feb 15 - No School – PD
Feb 18 - SAT Mtg
Feb 19 - 4th grade field trip to the Holland Center, Omaha, 8:25 – noon
Feb 24 - 2 hr early out - PD
Feb 25 - Country Critters (PM); Board Mtg @ 6pm