High Point News
Week of: April 27th, 2015
********NEWS******************************
IB Candidacy Accepted!!!
We are pleased to say that our application for candidacy for the Primary Years Programme has been accepted!! High Point Elementary School is recognized as an IB candidate school for the Primary Years Programme as of 01 September 2015. A huge thank you to Lib Roberts who has done a ton of work on our request for candidacy!! We are so excited for what the future holds!!!
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Condolences
Our sincere condolences to Ashley Jones in the loss of her grandfather and Kristen Trenbeath in the loss of her father-in-law. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
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Beautification
Thanks to our PTA and specifically Donna Cobb, our grounds look amazing!!! If you haven't already, check out the new trees that are planted, the wall that has been put up in the front, as well as a courtyard built at our Daycare entrance.
Formative and Summative Assessments
This is a friendly reminder that we will be completing teachers' formative and summative assessments over the next month. We are not asking teachers to submit additional artifacts,however, if there is additional information that would change your formative score, please let your reviewer know and do not sign off until you have discussed your formative assessment.
Since there is a tight timeline to fit in observations and conferences, your immediate response listing available conference dates is greatly appreciated. If you teach students in grades 3-5, you will need to bring your student survey data with you to your summative conference.
Once you have completed your summative conference, you will sign-off on your formative assessment as well as your summative assessment. You will get a green check once you have officially signed off. Please check for the green check mark!
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Girls on the Run
Congratulations to the following 3rd and 4th grade students who finished the Girls on the Run 5 K this past Saturday:
Saylor Bardin
Frannie Bradberry
Anabel Jerez
Emmy Liniado
Allison Lopez
Ryan Price
Iyona Turnquest
Lily Ward
Abby Zilberkant
Also, a HUGE thank you to the staff who supported and ran with these girls for the past few months. Their support has made a huge difference in our girls' self-confidence and health!!!
Thank you to our coaches Jenna Chapman, Sarah Griffin, Rebecca Negrin, and Calin Todd. Also, thank you to Jessica Bassett, Tashika Truesdale, and Jennifer Silverman who supported the girls in the race!
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Collegial Days
Collegial Days
We have set up a ½ day
collegial planning for each grade level to make classes for next year. The
schedule is below and is on the staff calendar.
Subs have already been arranged for you in CASE. Please note that SPED teachers
will have a sub so be sure to have lesson plans, as usual. ESOL and EIP teachers
will NOT have subs so you will need to cancel your classes for the ONE
½ day that you attend.
Please provide activities for your students in their general ed classroom.
May
13th
7:30-11:00
– 5th grade collegial *Bassett, Wright, and Truesdale
included to do PRs
11:30-3:00
– Kindergarten collegial
May
19th
7:30-11:00
– 1st grade collegial
12:00-3:30
– 2nd grade collegial (later start time so you can eat)
May
20th
7:30-11:00
– 3rd grade collegial
12:00-3:30
– 4th grade collegial (later start time so you can eat)
**
Jones will be with K and Noel will be with 3rd *
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GA Milestones Testing Continues
Please feel free to wear jeans and soft-soled shoes during GA Milestones testing this week.
Please adhere to the specials and lunch schedules until the end of testing on May 1st.
Also, do NOT take your class outside until an announcement is made. Testing is happening throughout the building and in the portables.
Also, do NOT take your class outside until an announcement is made. Testing is happening throughout the building and in the portables.
The schedule is as follows:
Monday - Science Paper/Pencil and Online
Tuesday - Science Online Only
Wednesday - SS Paper/Pencil and Online
Thursday - SS Online Only
Friday - Make Up Only
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Class Lists
This week, you will be meeting with Hess (but not for Writer’s Workshop) during one of your planning days. Each grade level should have gotten a calendar invite for the day and time that you will be meeting with her.
**Please bring your yellow star cards to this meeting and something to write with.**
Class Lists
This week, you will be meeting with Hess (but not for Writer’s Workshop) during one of your planning days. Each grade level should have gotten a calendar invite for the day and time that you will be meeting with her.
**Please bring your yellow star cards to this meeting and something to write with.**
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Teacher Rep Needed for SGC
It is time for the election of new members to our School
Governance Council. The
School Governance Council (SGC) has one teacher position open for election. The position is for two years.
For those unfamiliar, the School Governance Council (SGC) works with school
leadership and the community to help determine the long-term direction of the
school.
Teachers interested in running for a position on the
School Governance Council must submit a Candidate Declaration Form to the
district by 5:00 pm on April 28, 2015. This form can be found and
submitted online at http://www.fultonschools.org/en/about/charter/Pages/electionresources.aspx
or a binder by the sign-in
computer in the front office.
Current staff members on SGC are: Jennifer Taylor, Rachel
Salmons, Kerstin Long, Carrie Pitchford and Anita Collins. Please ask any one
of these people if you have any questions.
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Meeting with Pitchford
As a reminder, all teachers will be meeting with Pitchford next Monday (May 4th) during your specials to discuss non-negotiables for the 2016 school year. If you are not returning next year, you do not need to attend. The location of the meeting is still being determined.
Please come on time as the meeting will start promptly 5 minutes after your specials time. Thanks!
Please come on time as the meeting will start promptly 5 minutes after your specials time. Thanks!
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What I've Been Thinking About…
We have been having some great conversations about how to involve students more in their learning. Below is a GREAT article that Sheri found about how to make your classroom more student-centered!!! Take a moment to read this article and think of your classroom through the lenses of the students!!!!
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/12/24/ctq_powell_strengths.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW
*****VISUALS OF BEST PRACTICE******
In Ms. Rutledge’s Kindergarten class, students wrote a “How To” book.
They took pictures of it and recorded themselves reading their book using the Book
Creator app.
Students celebrated their published work by sharing their “How
To book” with the class. Talk about the student engagement in her classroom-
Love the digital storytelling!!!!
*******MATH CORNER*************
Strategies of Assessment for Learning: Where Am I Now?
Strategy 4: Teach Students to
Self-Assess and Set Goals for Next Steps
With this strategy, we transfer the
ownership of learning to the student. In
essence, when we teach students to self-assess and set goals, we teach them to
provide their own feedback. To be
accurate self-assessors, students need a clear vision of the intended learning
(Strategy 1), practice with identifying strengths and weaknesses in a variety
of work examples (Strategy 2), and exposure to feedback that models
“self-assessment” thinking: “What have I done well? Where do I need to continue working?”
(Strategy 3).
This strategy is a proven contributor
to increased learning and a necessary part of becoming a self-regulated
learner. It is not what we do if we have
the time or if we have the “right” students-those who can already do it. Monitoring and regulating their own learning
can be taught to all kinds of students, including those with mild to moderate
learning disabilities (Andrade, 2010).
Struggling students especially are the right students, and they have the
most to gain from learning to do this kind of thinking.
Ideas for Quick-Self Assessment
Checkers, Buttons,
Chips
Young
children can move checkers, buttons, or chips to track learning. Each time children move a checker, button, or
chip, they are celebrating a bit of progress.
For young children who require immediate gratification or who haven’t
yet made the connection between effort and success, simple concrete actions can
be helpful. Students can put a button on
a string for every math strategy mastered.
Or you can put checkers in a jar, representing a learning target, and
have students move the checkers into another jar as they master the
target. Be sure students can link the
action to the learning they have accomplished.
Learning Chains
Students can
make learning chains by completing links from a template such as the one
below. When students have mastered a
learning target, they complete a link and save it in an envelope or bag. Periodically, have students tape their links
together and add them to a class chain.
Each link makes an equal contribution to the total length of the chain
no matter whether the link represents the work of the most advanced student or
the work of a student who is just beginning to make progress. You can make color-coded chains, with each
color representing a subject for a multi-subject class chain or different
learning targets for a subject-specific chain.
Name ___________________________ Date ______________________
I have learned to
Evidence
|
Reserve the ends for taping.
Chappuis (2015). Seven Strategies of
Assessment for Learning
TIPS for Formative
Assessments
The items on
a formative quiz or test should match the learning targets you are
teaching. If it’s not clear which
learning target an item is intended to assess, rewrite the item or delete it.
How Do We See Math-As
Memorization or as Discovery and Exploration?
How we
approach math impacts whether or not students’ minds build pathways for
tackling the real world. Find food for
thought in this article from The Boston Globe.
*****WRITERS' GALLERY**********
The writers' gallery/pledge is hosted by Ms. Wright's class this week.
The writers' gallery/pledge will be hosted by Ms. Spears' class next week.
******CALENDAR OF EVENTS*******
Monday, April 27th
GA Milestones Testing
Tuesday, April 28th
GA Milestones Testing
2:50 - Faculty Meeting
2:50 - Faculty Meeting
Wednesday, April 29th
GA Milestones Testing
Thursday, April 30th
GA Milestones Testing
2:50 - PLCs
2:50 - PLCs
Friday, May 1st
GA Milestones Make-Up Testing
Send your tickets down and change your Student of the Week!
GA Milestones Make-Up Testing
Send your tickets down and change your Student of the Week!
******BIRTHDAYS! ****************
Happy birthday to Bjorn Clarke on the 29th and Claudine Saunders on the 30th!! We hope you both have a wonderful birthday!!!
