February 16th, 2015

          High Point News

Week of: February 16th, 2015

********NEWS*************************

Teacher Appreciation Week
We had a great time!!! Thank you to everyone who participated and congratulations to our winners and finalists!!! 

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Congratulations!
Congratulations to Staci Arnold who will be expecting her first child in September!! We are very excited for her and welcome the new addition to our High Point family! 

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TKES Walkthrough #4 and Formative Assessment #2
We will be beginning our fourth walk-through this week. We will be assessing standards #8: Academically Challenging Environment as well as #5: Assessment Strategies. 

We will also be starting the second formative assessment after your fourth walk-through is completed. This formative assessment will be based off the third and fourth walk-throughs as well as the formative observation. A few things to note regarding the second formative assessment:

• The second formative will be unannounced. 
• It will be conducted during a math or reading block (unless you are a special area teacher)
• The second formative will only have comments if you receive a score of IV or II on a particular standard. Comments will be written to support why a level IV was given or offer feedback and suggestions when a level II was given. There will not be any comments if there is a Level III score on a standard. 
• Conferences following the second formative are not mandatory but can be given if requested. 

Your summative evaluation will follow soon after the second formative is finalized. You will receive comments on all 10 standards as well as have a end-of-year conference with Alexander or Pitchford. 

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask. 

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PKES Employees
Due to the weather, we will have our quick PKES meeting Wednesday from 2:30-2:50 in the media center. Please bring your PKES goal sheet with you for this meeting. 

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Charitable Fund

A huge congratulations goes to our school for being recognized as one of the top 5 elementary schools with the GREATEST INCREASE IN GIVING in 2014-2015. This year's campaign resulted in a 26% increase in giving compared to last year. We appreciate every single person's donation and support!! A huge thank you to Jenna Chapman as well for spear-heading this effort and taking on the role of the Campaign Coordinator in Ms. Anderson's absence. Thanks again and congratulations!!!

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School Quality Review
As some of you might remember, our school went under an intensive School Quality Review by the North Highland Group about four years ago. Just last week, our school was chosen to participate in this review again. Unlike the last time where the focus was on the entire school, this review will only be focused on Learning and Teaching. 
The group is excited to see the growth we have made in the 4 years since the review. 

 As of right now, the review will take place at the beginning of March. More information about the day of the review and expectations will be coming soon.

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PBIS This Week

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Why Should Educators Use Twitter?  

1.     Professional Learning

2.    Collaboration

3.    Communication

4.     Engagement/motivation of students

Come on Wednesday, February 25^th from 3:00-4:00 p.m in the computer lab to find out more…..

You will sign up for a Twitter account, learn about some educational experts to follow, and finally the presenters will help you tweet out something in your classrooms.

**Presenters are two classroom teachers from Lake Forest and Kelley Webb (our Humanities specialist)**

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Student Survey for Grades 3-5

Teachers of students in grades 3, 4, and 5, your results from the TKES student survey should be available for your viewing now. We will also be pulling your results and using them towards your summative evaluation. 

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your results with someone on the administrative team, please ask! It's great information to guide your teaching and your classroom practices. 
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Lesson Plans Posted
Please do not forget to post lesson plans each Monday morning by 8:00 a.m. The administration uses the lesson plans to determine what you are teaching as well as when you are teaching a specific subject or unit. Lesson plans are also used  to collect additional evidence in case there wasn't something observed during an observation. If the lesson plans are not posted then we will give a score only based on the observation. 

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Attention all 3^rd,4^th, and 5^th grade teachers (SPED and ESOL teachers of those grades too)

There will be a brief meeting about the Ga Milestones Diagnostic test that will be given next week.  

We will meet at 3:00 p.m Wednesday in the computer lab. Bring something to write with and write on. 

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Ga Milestones Diagnostic Test Next Week!

3^rd grade:

·       Paper/pencil ELA only

·       Monday, February 23^rd Part 1 and 2- given in homeroom from 8-10 a.m.(take a 10 minute break after part 1)

·       Wednesday, February 25^th Part 3 (essay)- given in homeroom from 8-9:30 a.m.

4^th grade:

·       Online only

·       Monday, February 23^rd Part 1 - three classes (laptops), one class(computer lab) from 8-9 a.m.

·       Monday, February 23^rd Part 2- three classes (laptops), one class(computer lab) from 10-11 a.m.

·       Wednesday, February 25^th Part 3 (essay)- three classes (laptops), one class(computer lab) from 10-11:30 a.m.

5^th grade:

·       Paper/pencil ELA only

·       Monday, February 23^rd Part 1 and 2- given in RELA block from 10-12 p.m. (take a 10 minute break after part 1)

·       Wednesday, February 25^th Part 3 (essay)- given in RELA block from 10-11:30 a.m.

**More information will be provided Wednesday at the after school meeting in the computer lab**

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What I've Been Thinking About…

A quick article about why teaching kindness matters. It's not just about being a positive role model for kids; it's also about giving them opportunities to do kind things and feel kindness in their every day lives.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-kindness-essential-reduce-bullying-lisa-currie?utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=ways-to-teach-kindness&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_term=title-image-repost

******Math Corner*********************

Get the Most Student Learning Out of Your Targets

Using learning targets to focus teacher and student thinking during a lesson is one of the most powerful teaching strategies you can add to your daily math routine.  Here are some tips for getting the most out of your targets!

• ·         Post only one target at a time.  The one you are working on with your students.
• ·         Have the learning target in the area you are actively teaching in.  Point to it and refer to it often during your lesson. 
• ·         A discussion of the target and/or an activating strategy related to the target should lead the top of your lesson.
• ·         Check in with your kids during the lesson.  Are they getting it?  Short, quick formative assessments can really help you here!
• ·         Use your target to close your lesson.  Have kids share evidence that they are close to, or meeting the target.  What does the target look like when kids are mastering it?
• ·         Keep your targets short and sweet!  The fewer words, the better.
• ·         You don’t need to change a target every day.  A well written target should take 3-5 days of teaching to introduce, work on, assess, and support.

Like any habit we try to develop, learning targets will take conscious effort at first, but as you continue incorporating this into your daily teaching practice, it will become a natural part of your work with students.  Please let me know how I can support you with your targets!

Kerstin

****VISUALS OF BEST PRACTICE *******

In Ms. Bradshaw’s 2^nd grade math class,  the rubric was used to introduce the at-home project so that the students

would have clear expectations of what it took to truly excel at the task.  Students were required to take measurements

of people in their lives and then compare them to one another.  Children had the ability to present their information

in any way they chose to the class.  The rubric was used while they were presenting to grade the student so that

the child would have immediate feedback.  Classmates always welcomed peer critiques after their presentation as well.  

*****WRITERS' GALLERY**********

The writers' gallery/pledge is hosted by Ms. Billlit's class this week.

The writers' gallery/pledge will be hosted by Ms. Cornibe's class next week.

******CALENDAR OF EVENTS*******

**Please note that due to trainings and meetings, Pitchford will be out of the building from Thursday (19th) to Wednesday (25th) and will only have limited access to email. 

Monday, February 16th
No School - President's Day

Tuesday, February 17th 

CANCELED SCHOOL; Meetings will be rescheduled

Wednesday, February 18th
8:00 - Title I Parent Meeting
2:30 - PKES Meeting in Media Center

Thursday, February 19th

ETT - 3rd Grade
2:50 - PLCs
Pitchford to Principals Meeting and SQR Training

Friday, February 20th
7:30 am - SGC Meeting in Media Center
Send your tickets down and change your Student of the Week!
Pitchford to SQR Training 

******BIRTHDAYS! ****************

Happy birthday to Alisha Rutledge on the 19th! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!!!