Report cards have been dropped off at 6:30 and an extension will be given to allow for revisions.
New report card day will be Wednesday, January 28, 2009.
Andrew Sams was present to discuss plans for the PD day on February 13.
Michelle Gerbrick was introducted to the staff as the new Elementary Technology Integration Specialist
PD day will be devoted to creative collaboration using new technology.
K team will create a sample of content using new technology to be posted on Google.
Michelle and Andrew will be available throughout the day to assist teachers with their PD on Feb. 13th.
Online tutorials and after school workshops will be offered for teachers before PD day to gain experience with new technology
Under Down loads and links...Technology for learning leads to wiki space for tech integration
$3500 has been spent on new technology for Miller and Craddock Schools
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
PLC January 12, 2009
AIMS Web Materials will be distributed by Linda P.
Social Studies - Bring nonfiction books to next PLC meeting that might be purchased for the social studies revision
Special Needs Students - begin making a list for Lisa V. about concerns, ideas to improve communication, etc...
Science Schedule - Thursdays 12:50 - 1:35 beginning January 22
Social Studies - Bring nonfiction books to next PLC meeting that might be purchased for the social studies revision
Special Needs Students - begin making a list for Lisa V. about concerns, ideas to improve communication, etc...
Science Schedule - Thursdays 12:50 - 1:35 beginning January 22
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
PLC January 7, 2008
AIMS Web Schedule - TBA. Please check for posting of official schedule.
Coverage needed in all day K
Coverage and testing help needed in 1/2 day K
2009-2010 Supply List--Removing labels from most supplies, reducing # of folders, and eliminating art boxes from half-day. Please check with Sherry for official list.
Computer lab--Emailed helpdesk about homepage in computer lab. Still unable to come in until all home pages are set to Aurora Schools homepage.
Coverage needed in all day K
Coverage and testing help needed in 1/2 day K
2009-2010 Supply List--Removing labels from most supplies, reducing # of folders, and eliminating art boxes from half-day. Please check with Sherry for official list.
Computer lab--Emailed helpdesk about homepage in computer lab. Still unable to come in until all home pages are set to Aurora Schools homepage.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
PLC December 17, 2008
Kindergarten PLC - December 17, 2008
Kindergarten Report Card changes to a standards based report card as of January 2009.
Report card grading code has been agreed upon for all standards, and a copy will be given to the kindergarten teachers by 12/19/2008.
Bus safety concerns including ice on steps, ice and snow not being removed from the sidewalk, distance of travel to the buses, difficulty loading in inclement weather, as well as emergency situations such as illness of young students were discussed with Mrs. Minrovic. Also discussed was the possibility of loading the Miller children on the buses at Miller School instead of at Leighton. Mrs. Minrovic commented that she would look into this possibility when construction is completed at Miller School. The kindergarten teachers thanked Mrs. Minrovic via e-mail for her time and concern with this bus safety matter.
Kindergarten Report Card changes to a standards based report card as of January 2009.
Report card grading code has been agreed upon for all standards, and a copy will be given to the kindergarten teachers by 12/19/2008.
Bus safety concerns including ice on steps, ice and snow not being removed from the sidewalk, distance of travel to the buses, difficulty loading in inclement weather, as well as emergency situations such as illness of young students were discussed with Mrs. Minrovic. Also discussed was the possibility of loading the Miller children on the buses at Miller School instead of at Leighton. Mrs. Minrovic commented that she would look into this possibility when construction is completed at Miller School. The kindergarten teachers thanked Mrs. Minrovic via e-mail for her time and concern with this bus safety matter.
Monday, December 8, 2008
PLC Monday, December 8, 2008
Technology Update - Dept. getting an overhaul - New Miller Tech Person - TBA
Redo help desk - new procedure - only help desk for maintenance issues
All other issues - such as curriculum, programs, smartboard - e-mail Andrew directly
Computer Lab @ Miller not yet ready - several computers are still down
Report Card Update - Andrew will enter standards - Release day TBA to link assessments, etc...
Math Formative Assessment - What Comes Next? this week
Math Summative Assessment for Patterns - Will be completed the first week of January
Math Diagnostic Pattern Example is ABAB
Math Fluency - add to your morning routine - flashcards 0 - 10 - number recognition
AIMS WEB - will be added for math next year 2009-10
Discussion - Should all students be required to take the same formative and summative assessments? - Teachers need to be flexible to meet the needs of the students, however, teachers still need to cover the same material.
Redo help desk - new procedure - only help desk for maintenance issues
All other issues - such as curriculum, programs, smartboard - e-mail Andrew directly
Computer Lab @ Miller not yet ready - several computers are still down
Report Card Update - Andrew will enter standards - Release day TBA to link assessments, etc...
Math Formative Assessment - What Comes Next? this week
Math Summative Assessment for Patterns - Will be completed the first week of January
Math Diagnostic Pattern Example is ABAB
Math Fluency - add to your morning routine - flashcards 0 - 10 - number recognition
AIMS WEB - will be added for math next year 2009-10
Discussion - Should all students be required to take the same formative and summative assessments? - Teachers need to be flexible to meet the needs of the students, however, teachers still need to cover the same material.
Monday, December 1, 2008
December 1, 2008 PLC meeting
Handwriting Discussion with Pre-K
- Is teaching handwriting developmentally appropriate in preschool? Yes, K teachers would like them to continue teaching handwriting the way they always have. K teachers are concerned about bad habits formed when no formal instruction is given.
- What handwriting program do you use? Zaner-Bloser is our handwriting system.
- What order are you teaching the letters? We follow the Scott Foresman program for the order. Judy will get the order to Lauren and Jaime.
- Do y0u expect them to write their first and last name? First name only. We try to have them start with a capital letter and the rest lowercase letters.
- What should the preschool teachers focus on? Is there an area of weakness? Keep doing what you are doing!
- How do you teach the letters/sounds in preschool? They use the same format for naming sounds as Heggerty. "Name is __, Sound is _____." They also teach rhyming and blending sounds. They cover the first 3 weeks of our blue book program over and over again.
- Do you think Handwriting Club will help? Yes!! K teachers have trouble with focusing on grips. Nice to have a small group in handwriting club.
- K teachers would like to have help with some preschool strategies. We would love to know about pay attention pie, how does your engine run, other social/emotional strategies. After the preschool teachers present to other preschools they will present to K at a PLC.
- Transition to K--We will need to discuss this further in the spring.
Cyndi has 7 boxes of Reading Recovery materials if you are interested. Please see her if you want to look through them.
Have a good week!
Monday, November 24, 2008
November 24, 2008 PLC meeting
Report Card Update
We will be changing to a standards-based report card (sample copied & distributed at meeting by Judy Dolezal. Please see Judy if you need a copy.) This means that we will be changing both the way we score our indicators and also the scoring rubric.
Scoring Rubric: We will need to switch from a P, M, I, L system to a rubric system of 4, 3, 2, 1. This change will need to be conducted for all summative assessments for Language Arts and Math. Science, Social Studies, and Health are currently or will be under review so will not be switched at this time. The social/work habits section will still be scored using the P, L, N. We will need to talk with Andrew to get the M back for this section.
The way we report our grades: This will change also. The parents will only see the standards on the report card instead of all the indicators. Therefore, we will need to report one score for the entire phonemic awareness (for example) standard even though it has 7 indicators. We have decided that the final standard score will be populated by the computer. We will only put the indicator scores in just like we did in the past. The difference is that we will have to input them ourselves under "assignments" and then link them to the standard.
For example--We would type in the indicator "Identify and complete rhyming words and patterns" as an assignment and then link it to the phonemic awareness standard. (Andrew will be showing us how to do this during a release day in December.)
Once all the indicators are all in the gradebook, all we will have left to do is to put in the grades as we always did for each assignment. Then at report card time, the computer will generate a grade for us based on all the scores we inputed for all the indicators.
We will have a release day in December to make all this clear to everyone.
If you have any questions, please ask Karen or Judy. Thanks for your patience.
We will be changing to a standards-based report card (sample copied & distributed at meeting by Judy Dolezal. Please see Judy if you need a copy.) This means that we will be changing both the way we score our indicators and also the scoring rubric.
Scoring Rubric: We will need to switch from a P, M, I, L system to a rubric system of 4, 3, 2, 1. This change will need to be conducted for all summative assessments for Language Arts and Math. Science, Social Studies, and Health are currently or will be under review so will not be switched at this time. The social/work habits section will still be scored using the P, L, N. We will need to talk with Andrew to get the M back for this section.
The way we report our grades: This will change also. The parents will only see the standards on the report card instead of all the indicators. Therefore, we will need to report one score for the entire phonemic awareness (for example) standard even though it has 7 indicators. We have decided that the final standard score will be populated by the computer. We will only put the indicator scores in just like we did in the past. The difference is that we will have to input them ourselves under "assignments" and then link them to the standard.
For example--We would type in the indicator "Identify and complete rhyming words and patterns" as an assignment and then link it to the phonemic awareness standard. (Andrew will be showing us how to do this during a release day in December.)
Once all the indicators are all in the gradebook, all we will have left to do is to put in the grades as we always did for each assignment. Then at report card time, the computer will generate a grade for us based on all the scores we inputed for all the indicators.
We will have a release day in December to make all this clear to everyone.
If you have any questions, please ask Karen or Judy. Thanks for your patience.
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