Peter Pan was amazing!!! If you were able to attend the show on Friday or Saturday you know what we are talking about. The students worked for months to put this show on and should feel proud about the work they have done. If you have a chance to congratulate Christina, Meaghan, and Dennis who made the play what was please do. Also a huge thank you to Patty and Ginette who helped to make sure it went off without a hitch.
Parents gave us good feedback about conferences this spring. So many parents were glad to have met with you and feel as though they did not just get an update on how their son or daughter was doing, but an actual plan for success. Thank you for making the time to meet with these parents. At the conferences we attended it was clear to see how much the teachers care about student success.
In a social studies class the students are learning about the branches of government and were given the task of cutting the budget. It is easy for all of us to talk about having a tighter budget, and cut taxes, but when the students are given the power to actually decide where the cuts are coming from they develop a unique perspective on how difficult this can be.
In a few language arts classes book clubs have begun to develop where 4-5 students read and discuss the same book. It is great to see students discuss their reading and ask insightful questions.
Classes across many disciplines math, language arts, science have students using trading or vocabulary cards to help students memorize their definitions. By having vocabulary words and definitions on cards it allows the students an opportunity to play games and study independently.
It has been wonderful to see classrooms that use station work consistently and how they are functioning this time of the year. The students know where to go, what is expected of them, and what type of behavior is not permitted. Teachers are able to deliver small group, or at times 1 on 1 instruction to students. This type of instruction allows for teachers to identify obstacles that might be preventing the students from learning the material and provide them strategies to overcome these obstacles.
It has been wonderful to see classrooms that use station work consistently and how they are functioning this time of the year. The students know where to go, what is expected of them, and what type of behavior is not permitted. Teachers are able to deliver small group, or at times 1 on 1 instruction to students. This type of instruction allows for teachers to identify obstacles that might be preventing the students from learning the material and provide them strategies to overcome these obstacles.
Nuts and Bolts:
PARCC Testing:
Our school will be testing for the PARCC starting May 11th, and we will be able to test every grade level at the same time. The EOY test will run 4 days for grades 6-8 and only 3 days for grade 5. Grade 5 will begin testing on May 12th. Huge THANK YOU to Jeremy, BettyAnn, and Jill who have worked tremendously hard to make this possible!
Cell Phones: We are asking for your help in enforcing a policy that is already in place: Cell Phones are not to be used in school. Over the past few weeks students have lost cell-phones, dropped them outside during recess, recorded teachers during class, and messaged one another during class. On Monday we will speak to students letting them know cellphones are to stay in their lockers, they are not to be carried around school. If a student has a situation where they need to contact mom or dad they can come to the office and make a phone call using an office phone. At the end of the day we see lots of students using cell phones as they walk to the bus, please help us to enforce that cell phones are not allowed to be taken out until the students are on the bus. If at that time they need to contact mom or dad they will have the opportunity to do so. Starting Tuesday, if you see a cell-phone please bring it to the office. We will allow the student to pick it up at the end of the day.
Music in the Classroom:
If you would like to play Classical, Jazz, or even Post Rock --Friday Night Lights Type-- you can definitely do so through the SMART Board. Research has shown that music can help to calm students and help them focus when it is something that contains no lyrics. However, students should not be allowed to use their own earbuds to listen to their own music on YouTube or another site.
Upcoming Events:
April 27 Faculty meeting
April 29 BOE MeetingApril 30 Complete final SGO Assessments
May 1 BIS Spotlight, 9:00 a.m.
May 11 EOY PARCC Testing Begins
Tech Tips:
One of the things we are passionate about is trying to break down the walls of our classroom so our students can connect with experts, authors, and other students. By doing so it provides our students to realize their work is intended for an audience greater than the teacher, and it allows our students to gain a unique perspective by people who have a different background than the ones here at Byram. We do realize these connections are difficult to make unless you know someone who lives in another state and is working on the same topic you are. @PernilleRipp is an educator in Wisconsin who has taken on this challenge and has compiled a list of over 1,000 language arts teachers who would like to connect. These teachers are from all around the country and have listed the books they are reading and would like to work with another school on. If you are interested Click Here and reach out to some of them. It might be difficult to make this happen for this year, but it would be a perfect time to begin thinking about connecting next year.
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