Great Things Noticed:
Interdisciplinary Units: We walked into several different ID classes this past week and it is great to see how engaged the students are. All of the units we saw this past week had at least one ‘hands-on’ component to them, and several also incorporated student choice. We know the time spent creating and managing these units is a lot, but we are so please with level of student engagement.
Hands On: In a science class we saw the students conducting an experiment and recording the results. The students would then use their book to classify the material they had in front of them. It was great to see the students applying what they had learned from the book into an experiment.
Reading: It is wonderful to see so many students falling in love with a good book. In many different classes students can be seen sprawled out across the room with a book of their choice during the first 20 minutes if ID.
REN Learn: Several ELA classes are using the REN Learn system as a way to help motivate and track student reading and comprehension. The students get points for passing a comprehension test after every book they read. Our school leader has over 300 points right now!
JigSaw: In a few classes we saw students break up into groups and each group learned about one topic. The groups were then brought back together and each expert group taught the the other students about their topic. The teachers made sure to include enough scaffolding so that all students could record their notes accurately using Google Docs, and the teachers ensured the most important points were covered by all groups. It was great to see students take on the role of instructor.
Upcoming Events:
January 22 Department Meetings
January 23 BIS Spotlight 2:15
January 26 Faculty Meeting
Genesis Open for Grade Reporting
January 28 Board of Education Meeting
January 29 Department Meetings
January 30 End of MP 2
February 3 Genesis Closed for Grade Reporting @ 4 PM
February 5 MP Report Cards available to Parents
SciP Team Meetings
Nuts and Bolts:
Locked Doors: On Friday we had about half of the doors locked at the end of the day. Please make sure to lock your doors every night before you leave.
Lesson Plans: We have begun to receive unit plans from teachers as they have begun a new topic. We are asking you to create the plans and share it with both us. Click here for the hybrid version Fran created. Feel free to make a copy and use it.
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 for a brief overview of how Domain 4 will be evaluated. Please make sure to document a few examples of how you are meeting these requirements.
PARCC Testing: As you know during the months of March and May we will be having PARCC testing for grades 3-8. During this time we will be asking you not to use the internet if you are not testing. Fran and I love how quickly you all have adapted to the new technology in the building and we understand your frustration that we will not be able to use the Chromebooks while testing is taking place. It is our hope once we learn how much band-width the PARCC eats up we might be able to make adjustments to this requirement.
Hats: There has been some controversy over if hats are allowed in school. Please make sure we are adhering to our dress code policy 5132, "Coats, gloves, any head wear (i.e.: hats, bandannas, kerchiefs, hood of sweatshirts or shirt...), and sunglasses are prohibited in school. Essential Religious garb will be acceptable.)"
Hats: There has been some controversy over if hats are allowed in school. Please make sure we are adhering to our dress code policy 5132, "Coats, gloves, any head wear (i.e.: hats, bandannas, kerchiefs, hood of sweatshirts or shirt...), and sunglasses are prohibited in school. Essential Religious garb will be acceptable.)"
Tech Tips:
Insert videos onto a Google Form: Google Forms are a great way to do a quick check to see if students have a good understanding of a certain topic. Now you can insert videos right into the form.
Updates to Google Classroom: There is now a mobile version for both iOS and Android to download to your SMARTphone. Updates have also been made to the desktop version:
- Teacher Assignments Page: On Classroom for desktop, we’re launching a teacher assignments page, where teachers will be able to get quick access to any assignment, see how many students are done and mark assignments as reviewed.
- Archive Classes: We also know that classes don’t go on forever —that’s why today we’re launching the ability to archive classes. Archiving a class will remove it from the home page and make it read-only — teachers and class members can still view valuable information in archived classes, but can’t make any changes or turn in assignments.
5 +1 Great Google Plus Communities: Groups of teachers who are using Google Drive and Chromebooks. Check out their discussions to see what they have learned or ask a question to the group and they will be able to help you.
Worth a Read:
No comments:
Post a Comment