Great Things Noticed:
Assessment: The best part of any assessment is the feedback it provides to teachers, students, and parents. It allows us to see where a student's strengths and weaknesses are. Attached is an example of how a teacher is using Google Sheets to provide specific feedback on an assignment and how she is able to translate that feedback into a score. Although this is an example of an ELA class, it could be adapted to many other classrooms as well.
Kahoots: I think if the students had to vote on their favorite way the Chromebooks are being used, Kahoots would win. We are amazed at how quickly this tool has been adapted by so many of the teachers, and it says so much about our staff, that you are willing to help one another learn new types of technology.
Virtual Debate: The 7th grade has connected with another school for a virtual debate. The topic is, “Should there be a police presence in schools?” The students are currently researching in their social studies class, and then will move to writing an argumentative essay in their language arts class, they will then debate with another school via Google Hangout. The students have been very eager to research this topic and are excited for the debate.
Writing Across the Curriculum: Science isn't’ thought of as a writing subject, but it has been great to see our science teachers push the students to express their findings through writing throughout the year. This we noticed how one science class had an interesting assignment, “Was Frankenstein a Living Creature?” The students had to use the facts they learned about living organisms to support their answer.
Behavior: We have already had teachers come to us and say how they have handled situations differently after our Olweus Training. Thank you for not waiting to address behaviors until the kick off.
Mystery Skype: A class this past week connected with another class from Arkansas to conduct a Mystery Skype. They asked each other a series of yes/no questions until they were able to identify where each class was from. As students asked questions other students in the class researched clues on their computers to help determine the location of the students that were on projected on the SMART -Board
Upcoming Events:
January 28 Board of Education Meeting
January 29 Department Meetings
January 30 TNT Game
February 2 End of MP 2
February 3 Genesis Closed for Grade Reporting @ 4 PM
February 5 SciP Team Meetings
February 6 MP Report Cards available to Parents
Nuts and Bolts:
Pictures: I will be at a PARCC training Wednesday and then a conference on Thursday and Friday, so I will not be able to stop in and take pictures of the great things you are doing in your classrooms. If you have an activity you would like to share on social media taking place in your classroom please take a picture and send it to me with a brief description. I’ll take a look to make sure all the students in the picture can appear on the internet and do my best to publish it. I would love to keep parents informed of the learning opportunities you continue to create for the students.
Faculty Meeting: We are moving our scheduled Faculty Meetings for the month of February to the 2nd and the 9th in order to provide training for the PARCC in a more timely manner. These meetings must be attended and you will be asked to sign forms saying you were trained to administer the test. Make up meetings will take place the following Tuesday starting at 8:00 AM.
QSAC (Quality Single Accountability System): The state has told us they are coming the middle of February. If you see Brian and Alice poking their head into your rooms, chances are they are doing so to make sure we are in compliance. Something I was just made aware of is that we are not allowed to have any curtains hanging from windows or anything above a heating vent. Thank you for making sure your rooms are up to code.
SGO: January 31st is the last day we can modify SGO’s. If you haven’t yet, think about creating an assessment to check in and see how students are progressing with the SGO you have created.
Documentation and Domain 4: This is the first year we will be evaluating each teacher according to Domain 4. Click here and scroll down to page 59 to view examples of how Domain 4 will be evaluated. Please make sure to document a few examples of how you are meeting these requirements.
Tech Tips:
The math and science of football - A great time of year to connect math and science after the the Super Bowl.
PowToon - You can use this application to teach students short lessons or concepts. It allows you to create a short animated video while you voice it over. Then if students finish work early they can grab their chromebook, watch your video and try to work on the next assignment.
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