Sunday, October 10, 2021

Week of 10/4 - 10/8

Hey Panda Family,


Thanks for hanging in there this week with us with the extra trainings! We greatly appreciate your grit as we work to improve and grow. This upcoming week is Book Fair! Don't forget to fill out your teacher wish list 😊📚 We also have our PTA Fall Festival on Saturday, October 16 for anyone that would like to come! 

Here are the Weekly Wrap updates for this week:


iReady Lesson Checks: We will start iReady checks in the coming weeks. We will be checking for 3 main components each week:

  • Number of students that did not pass at least one lesson
  • Class average % of lessons passed
  • Average number of lessons passed per student
K-2 students should spend 30 minutes in both Reading and Math each week. 
3-5 students should spend 45 minutes in both Reading and Math each week. 


LETRS Support: In an effort to provide certified teachers some time during their work hours to complete their LETRS coursework, we are going to creatively utilize Ms. Lloyd. All certified teachers that have to complete LETRS may sign up for one 1/2 day on Ms. Lloyd's schedule to work on their LETRS coursework. This is how it will work:

  • Pull up Ms. Lloyd's schedule here - Ms. Lloyd's Schedule
  • Pick one 1/2 day that is available between now and Winter Break
  • Write your name and LETRS in the box - i.e. "Cox LETRS"
  • Ms. Lloyd will cover your class for the 1/2 day that you sign up
  • On your day, you will stay on campus and find a quiet space to work on your LETRS coursework
    • Teacher workroom, Teacher lounge, etc. 
  • If a Covid situation occurs and Ms. Lloyd must cancel, you will be able to pick another date and time
  • This is optional, and is not required

We plan to see how this goes between now and Winter Break. If it goes smoothly, then we will consider offering it again for the spring semester. We hope this helps some! 



Posting Student Work: One of my goals this year is to visit other schools that have successful growth and performance measures. I plan to pick the brain of their principal, visit classrooms, and learn how we can better improve our practices. This past week I visited Vienna Elementary. One simple practice that I thought was rather neat was posting "We can" statements when you post student work in the hallway. This shows what the class learned as a whole after working on the "I can" in their classroom. See the picture below for a visual. 




Testing- We will test next Thursday, October 14 through October 22, if needed.  Click on the link above (Testing) to view all testing plans.  
  • Make-up plans will be developed and shared. 
  • Reach out to Mrs. Gardner if you have any questions.


Safety Plan Cheat Sheet: We have created this safety plan cheat sheet for all our drills and safety measures. We will also print a copy and put in every teacher's box. PGE Safety Plan



October Drills: Our 3 drills for the month, Earthquake, Tornado, and Fire, will take place the week of October 18th.  Please make sure you have reviewed Earthquake and Tornado drill procedures. 



Performance Matters: Don't forget about utilizing Performance Matters database to quickly get to all your student's iReady, Mclass, and EOG data. This is the tool that Andy Kraft showed teachers in PLTs. Here are the directions again:

  • Go to PowerSchool
  • Click on the box with the arrow in the upper right corner to access Performance Matters
  • Click on Reports and Baseball Card report


Small Group Instruction: As you complete your iReady BOY diagnostics you will be able to see your student's progress in their specific iReady Reading & Math domains. As we have discussed in PLTs, you should use this data to determine how you pull groups for your small group instruction and your intervention time (remember the basketball analogy - working on free throws, dribbling, etc.). We should be working on the specific skills our students need. We expect these small groups to be planned and in effect by October 11.



PBIS Updates: Our first PBIS incentive, the glow stick dance party, will happen on Friday, October 22 during specials.

Classroom teachers, here's your info:
  • The event is 50 Paw Bucks.  Please have students pay this to you by Monday, October 11.
  • Enter numbers on this Google Sheet.  (If you want to put names next to your row, in column C, feel free to.)
  • Remind your students that they will have the Paws Store in November and bowling (100 Paw Bucks) in December.  (Great time to discuss budgeting! 😉)
  • You will provide supervision during the first 20 minutes of specials for the event on 10/22.
Specialists, here's your info:
  • You will provide additional supervision if needed, but otherwise you'll teach your class.
    • Please refer to the Google Sheet (above) to see how many from your class will be attending.  Then, work together to determine if you should combine with another specialist.
  • We'll be using the gym for the event.

Observations: Everyone will have their first observation announced no matter what type of cycle you are on (comprehensive, abbreviated, standard).  If you are on the abbreviated plan, begin thinking about your first observation. We will begin scheduling these the first week of Quarter 2 (October 25). 


Scholastic Book Fair: Book Fair is this week October 11-15. Fall Festival Family Event will be on October 16 from 10:00-2:00.

Scholastic Book Fair website link (https://www.scholastic.com/bf/pgepandas)



Dunking Booth: At our fall festival next Saturday, we will have a dunking booth.  Mr. Elkins and Mrs. Gardner will take turns sitting in the booth.  If anyone wants to take a turn, sign up for a time by clicking the link above. 



Morning Announcements: We are going old school for Morning Announcements next week! Mr. Elkins will do Morning Announcements over the intercom beginning at 8:20. They will last between 3-5 minutes. Our student led announcements will resume the week of October 18th. 


Staff Spotlight: Thank you to Ms. Holbrook for your help as a long-term sub while Ms. Brown was away. We greatly appreciate your help and support! We will miss you, but we are also excited to have Ms. Brown back with us 🐼


From Ms. Grubbs - Shout out to Mrs. Gardner for stepping in and helping with CogAt at a moment’s notice.  Shout out also to Mrs. Epperley who helped us with technical issues very quickly.  Thank you for being so willing to help out when needed!



IF Updates  


LETRS pacing reminder: Unit 1 sessions 1-4 are due before the training date at the end of October. Unit 1 sessions 5-8 are due before the training date in November (which I believe will be 11/22 and 11/23 RS days).



Intervention Schedule: Here is the intervention schedule for Mrs. Christopher, Mrs. Bolchalk, and Mrs. Secrest.  Please check that between their time and your time, all areas of intervention are being completed with fidelity.  If you have an issue with the schedule, please let me know so we can work through it together.



Technology Updates


Technology Updates (from Mr. Younts):

  • Check out this month's edition of Timothy's Technology Corner

    Headlines for October include:
    • HP Classroom Manager
    • Thought-Provoking Math Resource
    • Canvas Studio
    • Evolvement of Technology Professional Development
    • Science Resources: Explore Learning
    • Aw-FALL-y Funny Jokes!




Items from Previous Weeks


Testing Updates: Training for NC Check-Ins will be held soon.  We will do this during PLT's. All students in 3-5 will complete the online tutorial prior to testing. Here are important testing dates coming up. 

  • 4th grade R2A - October 14th (select students)
  • 5th grade Science Check-in - October 14th 
  • 3rd- 5th math Check-In - October 15th 
  • 4th and 5th ELA Check-In - October 18th 
  • Make up testing - October 19th-22nd



Upcoming Dates:
  
October 11-15 - Book Fair
October 11 - PTA Meeting @ 6:30
October 12 - SIT @ 3:30
October 12 - PTA Chipotle Spirit Night
October 14 - RTA Test (select 4th graders)
October 14 - NC Science Check-In (5th grade)
October 14 - Jayne @ IF Meeting
October 15 - NC Math Check-In (3rd - 5th grade)
October 16 - PTA Fall Festival from 10:00 - 2:00
October 18 - NC ELA Check-In (4th & 5th grade)
October 19 - Staff Meeting @ 3:30
October 21 - Leslie @ AP Meeting
October 22 - End of 1st Quarter




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