Week of 2/10 - 2/14

Hey Panda Family,

Week 23 was full of chocolates and sweets! And a little Wild West fun :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day 💕💚🤠

SIT: Reminder that SIT will meet at 3:30 this Tuesday, February 18.

2/19 Early Release Day: We will begin at 1:15 with lunch provided by SCC (thank you SCC!)  Please plan to stay until 4:00.  We will be covering more information about types of differentiation and reviewing reading adoptions.  See you in the media center at 1:15!

Istation usage (K-3rd): In the first semester, our new superintendent asked all principals to begin monitoring Iready usage. I have been doing this for a couple of months now. I will also begin doing the same for Istation (K-3rd) beginning this week. Iready is a district mandated program and Istation is state mandated. Please make sure your students are meeting their allotted practice time each week. Students who are in green (levels 3, 4, 5) should be working on the prescribed Istation lessons for 30 minutes a week.  The students who are red and yellow should be working in Istation for 40+ minutes per week.  

Jayne has gotten some good ideas about how to improve the way we monitor student progress in Istation and will be attending another Istation training next Friday.  If you have specific questions you want her to address, send them to her so she can be sure she asks the presenters at her training.

IReady/Istation Motivation: Find fun ways to motivate your students on Iready or Istation. Incorporate sticker charts for completing their time usage, go to the prize box for growth or lessons completed, find ways to make it competitive. They are tons of ways to motivate. If you need help brainstorming come find us! Also, ask an upper teacher or Jayne about Iready Central - tons of great ideas on this website. 

Random Acts of Kindness: February 17-21 is Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week.  Student Council is encouraging each class to complete random acts of kindness to celebrate.  Your class should have received a yellow Random Acts of Kindness board with 16 different tasks.  (Let Ms. Vaden know if you need a copy.)  Please post this outside your room, ask your students to complete these tasks, and they should let you know so you can either have them sign the box or mark it off.  Once all acts of kindness have been marked, please email Ms. Vaden and she'll get you a certificate.  If you complete your board and want another, she can email you another copy or a blank board that you can customize with your class.  Be on the lookout for a RAK Week challenge for teachers!

Retention: Any considerations for retention need to be shared with me and Ms. Gardner by March 27. A student must have at least a Supplemental Support Plan (SSP) to even be considered for retention. 

Arts Council: Help support the Arts Council by donating! Click on the following link - https://5934.thankyou4caring.org/WSFCS

Read Across America Bingo: RAA Week will be coming up in March. I wanted to let you know that we will be playing RAA Bingo again over the announcements that week and the winning class will get a donut party. All of the books for the Bingo game will come from my Friday night read alouds on the school Facebook page. So, feel free to watch them with your class during read aloud time if you want a competitive advantage :) 

Discretionary Funds: Don't forget about your discretionary funds for instructional materials that was allotted at the beginning of the year. Your discretionary funds need to be spent by the end of February. Send items to me, or Ms. Gardner, for approval and then complete a prior purchase approval form for Pam (yellow sheet). If you need to know how much is left in your grade level/individual account, please email Pam.   

Staff Spotlight: Thank you to everyone for working so hard to complete your mid-year parent/teacher conferences! We continue to be impressed by your dedication to your students and families 😊



Teacher Tuesday Spotlight: Our school Facebook page is highlighting a teacher each week! Our spotlight this past week was Ms. Mathis. Check it out! 

Lesson Plans: Friendly reminder that Lesson Plans should be posted to the PowerSchool Wiki the first day of each week by 8:00am.

IF Updates

Math and Reading Adoption Materials: We are starting to get samples of potential reading and math adoptions!  I can’t wait to show them to you.  If you see them sitting out, don’t peek!

iReady make up session: If you were not able to attend the iReady rescheduled after school PD session, please let me know.  I am finding out when other Kernersville schools are doing their PD sessions so you can attend one of those. 

Register for PLT: Please remember to register for PLT for 3^rd quarter in the PD system.

Promethean trainer at PGE: We are very lucky to have a Promethean trainer coming to Piney Grove on February 26.  Mark your calendar!  Each grade level will meet with the trainer during their planning time.  Please send me any specific things you would like to learn about during this session.  I have discussed other topics with the trainer, but if you have specific topics, I would love to request them.

Upcoming Dates:

February 18 - Elkins @ Principal's Meeting 8:00 - 3:00
February 18 - SIT @ 3:30

February 19 - Early Release Day

February 20 - Kindergarten Registration Day from 10:00 - 6:30
February 21 - Boosterthon Fun Run (9:00 K-1st, 10:05 2nd-3rd, 11:10 4th-5th)
February 21 - Baby Shower for Ms. Jones @ 3:30
February 24 - Baby Shower for Ms. Berrier @ 3:30
February 25 - Testing Team Meeting @ 7:30
February 25 - SCC & Media Committee @ 3:30
February 26 - Promethean Board Training (during grade level planning)
February 28 - Grade Level Discretionary Funds need to be spent by this date
March 3 - PBIS & Wellness Committee @ 3:30
March 5 - Touch Math PD @ 3:30 (Kinder - 5th grade)
March 9 - 13 - Book Fair
March 9 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
March 10 - SIT @ 3:30
March 12 - FCAE Meeting @ 3:30
March 12 - Food Lion Math Night (time TBD)
March 13 - PTA Spring Dance 6:00 - 8:00

In the comments section below, share an example of a Random Act of Kindness that someone has done for you in the past that you really appreciated - then pick one and go do it for someone on a different grade level or department! Share the Piney Grove family love this week 🐼