April 28, 2017

Push on...

Woo hoo! We have met the deadlines of April! 

Thank you for your perseverance through the trials of this month!

It's been challenging to look at student progress this month knowing that test scores and standardized measures such as iReady, are just one measure - and a narrow measure - of what we know about our students. Step back for just a minute, turn your head away from the contrived measurement tools, and look at how far you've supported your students in growing. What celebrations there are all around you!

Katie is a student in our school, who over years of support and teacher expertise, has come so far. You are doing this every day in your classrooms.

 I'm excited to share what Katie has created as a writer this year. Take a look...

Katie's Writing Blog

Information Updates:

Staffing Progress:

We completed hiring for our teachers and classified positions this week. Whew! It was a long process and we were fortunate to have a tough time making decisions! We had some really qualified applicants! I will share their information with you in the next week or so as it comes to me. 

Stand Up Meeting After School: Tuesday, May 9th

You'll see in the calendar below that I am calling a stand-up meeting on Tuesday, May 9th. I'll share any updates to the staffing decisions with you then. The purpose of this stand-up meeting will be to quickly review the roles and responsibilities of panel members for the Showcase Celebrations. It's been a year so I thought we could use a quick 'refresh' to ensure we are unified as we step into this grand celebration!

We are still short panel members if you have any influence!

Calendar

May 1st - 5th:

Benefits Open

Student-Led Conference week (for some)

Tuesday:

* No MTSS

Wednesday:

* School Musical Performance for school

* PD: Student Led Conferences

Thursday:

* Deborah out of the building - Admin. Mtg.

* Beginning of Staff Appreciation Month!

* 6:00 Apple Award Ceremony

Friday:

* 7:00 Musical Performance

Saturday:

* 7:00 Musical Performance

May 8 - 12th:

Tuesday:

* MTSS 7:30 a.m.

* Stand up meeting after school 4:20 - quick meeting to prep for Panel responsibilities for Showcase Celebrations

Wednesday:

* Showcase Celebrations 3rd grade 1:15 - they begin at 1:30 so it will be a scramble to be ready.

Thursday:

* Staff Appreciation Day

* Deborah out of the building - admin. mtg.

Friday:

* Deborah out of the building supporting 2nd grade fieldwork

Stay Strong!

Deborah

Friday, April 14th

Living the Mission

Field Work

There are amazing things going on daily for our kids, and I was fortunate to be asked to 'shuttle' students to a real live recording studio and then to a destination for photography. Kim, Hanni, Tyler, Chelsea and Pam collaborated to design a powerful Learning Expedition and then collaborate on the summative performance assessment (a documentary) and it will be shown at our local high school. 
I just had to include one of the videos I took on Wednesday. My eyes were misty as I watched Chelsea do the 'real thing' and watched our students perform, over and over again, as the reality of what real life for recording music is really like. I watched them start out strong - jazzed about what they were doing. I watched the fatigue set in. I watched them draw on their resiliency and stamina to draw forth their best over and over. I chuckled to listen to the comments they had: "Urgh...we almost had it!" "Oh, I could hear it when we lost it." "What? Again?" 

I hope we will all get to see the documentary at The Beat!

This is just one example of things going on - but important to be reminded, collectively, that we really do make our mission come to life.

Growing and Learning

I have immensely enjoyed our summative conferences - and looking forward to those yet to come. Initially, I thought that shortening them seemed efficient. Wrong. These conferences are so meaningful to me. I am so inspired by each of you - your personal reflections and what has been on your minds and in your heart. I learn so much and get so excited about you as learners.  

Could I ask that you make a comment on this post - to share with one another some of the books, blogs, on-line opportunities, that have been especially powerful for you this year and in the near future? There's all kinds of potential for tapping into what others are doing - maybe even joining them? Rather than momentum slowing down, it is ramping up, and you are all sharing what learning you are looking forward to doing this summer!

Conferences abound this summer. Chelsea shared that EL will have a 'Slice of a Learning Expedition' here in Denver this summer! Since we are out of the network, we can't register now, but we can be ready to jump when it opens up to out of network attendees. Let me know if you are interested! (I haven't been able to find the dates on their website.)

Here's an opportunity in our school district June 6, 7, 8 & 9th: Ron Berger from EL is offering several keynotes, as is A.J. Juliani.

Summer PD opportunities
Need to register for the event in InspireEd and then when you are 'in' after registering, then you can register for individual courses. You are still PGI eligible during this time. PGI window goes through the end of June. Re-licensure credit included.

Bravo Martha!

With the exceptions of a few make ups - we are through the PARCC assessment! Martha did an amazing job of organizing, facilitating and attending to precision! We all know so well that the 'behind the scenes' is full of a million details. I know Martha got very little sleep as she rehearsed all the details, of each day, as she lay in bed at night. She carried a huge responsibility, with some heavy consequences for our school. Not a surprise at all that she was so incredible at this - especially for the first time! Thank you, Martha!

Calendar:

(Can you believe there are only two more weeks in April?!)

Week of April 17th- 21st:
CMAS testing

Tuesday:
* No MTSS meeting
* REA and SAC meeting 4:30


Wednesday:
* Site visit from Erica Mason (assessment office)
* PD: Writing ALP's - current and newly identified

Friday:
No School


Week of April 24th - 28th:
School-wide Writing Assessment must be administered if you haven't already - and scored by Wednesday.
Absolute last few days to complete your CITE 6 data entry and submit.

Monday:
* 6th grade fieldwork

Tuesday:
* MTSS meeting 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
*T he Beat
* PD: Dialogue around Writing Assessment results

Thursday:
Absolute last day to finalize your CITE 6 data and email me that you are finished. I must be done myself by midnight.
* Deborah out of the building to admin meeting
* Kathy's Crew out on field work

Have a wonderful weekend!

Deborah