May 18th, 2015

High Point News

Week of: May 18th, 2015

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

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Welcoming Baby Billits!
We are so excited to welcome Chance Joseph Billits into the world! Shannon had her 7 lb 10 oz baby boy Friday. We are very happy for Shannon and her husband!!!!

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Congratulations!!!  
Congratulations to Rachel Salmons on her engagement Thursday night!!!!  We are so happy for her and Alec!!!

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Hall Sale!!!!!!
We have heard that a lot of you have great things you don't wish to keep next year so we are going to have a "School Hall Sale" Tuesday afternoon. Beginning at 3:00, please put whatever you would like to get rid of outside your classroom door for others to take. Please only put out items that were purchased with your personal funds and not items that belong to the school.

We will have from 3:00-3:45 for everyone to take advantage of "someone's trash is another's treasure!"
At 3:45, if you have anything that was not taken, please bring it back into your classroom or discard it in a large trash can.

Thank you!!
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Kindergarten EIEI Oops
The kindergarteners presented EIEI Oops last week to their parents and our Pre-K students. The students did an amazing job!!! Many thanks to every Kindergarten teacher and paraprofessional as well as Amanda Reich for pulling off such an amazing show!!! 

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Social Studies Standards Review meeting with Hess:

This Thursday, (May 21^st) during your common planning time, each grade level will be meeting with me to look at our current Social Studies standards. Periodically, the State Department of Education asks for teacher comments about the standards and revises them according to the feedback received. We will start the discussion during your common planning time to look at possible changes to the content, the wording, and/or the sequencing. As a team, you will all meet that afternoon (short PLC) to complete the State Dept. of Ed. Survey, that the county is requiring us to complete.

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Collegial Days
Bring your completed Pink and Blue index cards to your ½ day collegial with Hess.
You will be in Lib’s Portable.

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Summer Bridge Books
Summer Bridge workbooks will be placed in your boxes over the next few days.
Please send home with the students on THURSDAY.

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Office 365 

All Fulton County Schools are changing to Office 365 which includes cloud-based email and collaboration tools to modernize and improve productivity – including desktops, laptops and iPads. 

High Point staff will be upgraded to Office 365 this week.

When we get notice, EVERYONE MUST EXIT FROM ALL MICROSOFT OFFICE PROGRAMS INCLUDING OUTLOOK, WORD, EXCEL, POWERPOINT, AND PUBLISHER on our assigned day. You will not be allowed to access any of these programs after 4:00 on our assigned day (even from home!).

Some benefits of Office 365:

·         Share your own documents with others through Office 365 or, upload documents to a team site to build a document library and a project history.

·         Use Outlook and Outlook Web App to access your email, calendar and contacts.

·         Create a customized Office 365 site to collaborate with others.  Create document libraries, add apps, and use community features to enhance sharing.

·         Use Lync for online meetings that have full web conferencing features, including audio, video, sharing and presentations.

*******MATH CORNER*************

Strategies of Assessment for Learning: How Can I Close the Gap? 

Strategy 7: Provide Opportunities for Students to Track, Reflect On, and Share Their Learning Progress

Any activity that requires students to reflect on what they are learning and to share their progress reinforces the learning and helps them develop insights into themselves as learners.  These kinds of activities give students the opportunity to notice their own strengths, to see how far they have come, and to feel in control of the conditions of their success.  By reflecting on their learning, they deepen their understanding and will remember it longer.  By sharing their progress, students develop a deeper commitment to making progress.

Formative Assessment Strategies as a Progression

1.     Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target.

2.     Use examples and models of strong and weak work.

3.     Offer regular descriptive feedback during the learning. 

4.     Teach students to self-assess and set goal for next steps.

5.     Use evidence of student learning needs to determine next steps in teaching.

6.     Design focused instruction, followed by practice with feedback.

7.     Provide students opportunities to track, reflect on, and share their learning progress.

The seven strategies are not a recipe to be followed step by step, although they do build on one another.  Strategies 4 & 7 are “destinations,” Strategies 1-3 are “enablers,” and Strategies 5 & 6 are “floaters.”  The destination strategies are where we want students to arrive as a result of being learners in our classrooms.  These essential college and career readiness skills can be developed as early as pre-K.  The enabler strategies, especially strategies 1 & 2, are generally undervalued, and yet without them-without a clear picture of where we are going-it is hard to determine where we are now and even harder to identify actions to close the gap.  Imagine attempting to get from Point A to Point B using a GPS system only gives your current location, which is akin to what grades do.  Strategies 1 & 2 equip the GPS with information it needs to communicate next steps.  The floater strategies 5 & 6 can happen at any time and often follow strategies 1-4 as part of a series of lessons.  Taken together, these formative assessment strategies represent actions that will strengthen students’ sense of self-efficacy, their motivation to try, and ultimately their achievement.

Chappuis (2015). Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning.

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

The pledge is hosted by the Pre-K classes this week.

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

Monday, May 18th 

8:00 - 5th Grade Ceremony Practice
Move-Up Day for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

Tuesday, May 19th 

8:30 - 5th Grade's Wax Museum
1st Grade Collegial AM
2nd Grade Collegial PM
10:30 - 5th Grade to Ridgview for Picnic
1st Grade EOY Celebration
STAFF MEETING CANCELED

Wednesday, May 20th

3rd Grade Collegial AM
4th Grade Collegial PM
8:30 - 1st Grade Awards Celebration
12:00 - 3rd Grade EOY Celebration

Thursday, May 21st

8:00 - 5th Grade Completion Ceremony
Grade Levels meet with Hess during Specials
12:30 - 4th Grade EOY Celebration
12:30 - 2nd Grade EOY Celebration
1:15 - Pre-K EOY Celebration
2:50 - PLC to fill out SS/Science Survey

Friday, May 22nd  
Last Day of School!!
1:00 - 5th Grade EOY Celebration

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

Happy birthday to Lori Simon on the 19th, Yolanda Charles on the 22nd, and Staci Arnold on the 27th! We hope you each have a wonderful birthday!!!