September 27, 2013

Transcript

Department of Instruconal Services & Connuous Improvement Instructional Friday Focus VOLUME III SE PT E M BE R 2 7 , 2 0 1 3 Upcoming Dates Mark Your Calendar! September 30th Supt. Principals’ Mtg FEPD - 8:30 AM October 1st MAP7 & Asst. Principals Mtg. FEPD October 9th ERPD October 10th QC & SIT Meetings NWE—9:00-10:30 AM October 30th NWE ERPD The Onslow County School System will kick off a series of District Community Engagement Events focused on Transformation and Innovation on Thursday, October 10th at Northwoods Elementary. 6 Week Calendar This inaugural event will occur at the end of our scheduled System Involvement Team and Quality Council Meeting. These two communitybased groups will have an opportunity to provide feedback throughout the year as it relates to transformations and innovations that have occurred and next steps. Various community groups will be invited throughout the school year to district community engagement events. More information is forthcoming as the Onslow County School System prepares to celebrate the outstanding work that occurs in our classrooms each and everyday. 9 Week Calendar NWE Year Round Calendar PAGE 2 DIVISIONAL UPDATES “GATHERING LEAVES Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. I make a great noise Of rustling all day Like rabbit and deer Running away. But the mountains I raise Elude my embrace, Flowing over my arms And into my face. I may load and unload Again and again Till I @ill the whole shed, And what have I then? Next to nothing for weight, And since they grew duller From contact with earth, Next to nothing for color. Next to nothing for use. But a crop is a crop, And who's to say where The harvest shall stop?” ― Robert Frost Secondary Services-Brent Anderson Creativity and collaboration are two areas we want to promote with our students. In the October 2013 edition of Tech & Learning magazine, author Ellen Ullman describes four projects for combining creativity, collaboration and the Common Core. The projects are listed below, and you can read the full article here - http://bit.ly/ secondaryiff_september27. Project 1: iMovie Book Trailer and QR Codes (Elementary Writing and Language Arts) Project 2: Immigration Project (Language Arts and Social Studies) Project 3: European Colonialism of Africa (9th Grade World History) Project 4: “Yo Soy Yo” Original Spanish Songs (7th Grade Music and Spanish) For help on issues or questions related to middle and/or high school, please feel free to contact us: • Brent Anderson, Director of Secondary Services – [email protected] / @SecondDirect670 / (910) 455-2211 x20228 • Bobbie Jones, Administrative Assistant to Secondary Services – [email protected] / (910) 455-2211 x20275 Career & Technical Education-John Shannon The Career & Technical Education (CTE) Division would like to give a giant shout out to our middle school testing coordinators, CTE teachers, and principals for their great work during the administration of the Birst MSL’s for middle school CTE courses. The Department of Public Instruction released MSL’s for all CTE middle school courses which included both a pre-and post MLS assessment. Many of the MSL’s contained performance components. Over 2700 middle school students completed a pre-MSL in Exploring Career Decisions, Computers Skills and Applications, Exploring Business, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship, Exploring Biotechnology, Technology Design and Innovations, and Technology Systems. The post MSL assessments are scheduled to be administered during the last Bive days of the semester. Upcoming events: September 26 – Swansboro/White Oak CTE District Meeting, SBHS Media Center, 3:00 Career & Technology Education Division (ext. 20220) John A Shannon – Director Madeline Tucker – Instructional Management Coordinator Wanda Costner – Financial Secretary VOLUME III DIVISIONAL UPDATES PAGE 3 Elementary Services-Dwayne Snowden Fire Prevention Week Kick-Off takes place at Lowe’s on Western Boulevard on Saturday, October 5th from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The event features fun and educational activities for families, prizes, food for purchase, and clowns. Displays will include “build your own Bire truck”, a car seat clinic, air medical helicopter, forestry plow, Bire trucks, and Bire safety house. Free Bire extinguishers will be given away. Through real-life stories and interactive games, kids can learn important Bire-safety messages to keep their families safe. A mobile app has been developed for students in grades Prek-2 that is packed with animation and games, while an eBook, for grades 3-5, mixes Bire-safety messaging with fascinating stories of courage, quick-witted kids, science facts, and more. The app is aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Math. Go to http://www.sparky.org/appworld/index.php for more information. Additional Fire Prevention Week reading activities for teachers may be found at http:// www.nfpa.org/safety-information/Bire-prevention-week/for-the-Bire-service/join-sparkythe-Bire-dog-for-read-for-Bire-safety. Interactive Whiteboard Lessons for Fire Prevention Week may be found at: http://sparkyschoolhouse.org/teachers/?order_src=C248 Elementary Services_K-12 AVID Upcoming Dates September 30th AVID Elementary BOY Student Electronic Checklists Due (All sites except Northwoods Elementary Magnet School of Technology and Innovation) October 1st AVID Secondary Site Team Plans Due AVID K-12 Site Coordinators (Electronic Meeting) Exceptional Children-Luisa Neumann Homebound Services for EC Students: The North Carolina Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities deBines homebound instruction as “educational services provided to a student outside the school setting.” Appropriateness and service delivery is decided by the student’s IEP team, and continued appropriateness is evaluated monthly by the LEA (Principal) or LEA’s designee of the student’s IEP Team. If this change in placement is as a result of a disciplinary action, a manifestation determination must be conducted. Homebound placement, in most cases, should be considered temporary. For more information, please contact Clara Talton at ext. 20203 or Misty Williams at ext. 20238. Upcoming dates: October 4th – Speech/Language Staff Meeting Listen! The wind is rising, And the air is wild with leaves, We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves! -Humbert Wolfe PAGE 4 DIVISIONAL UPDATES Academic Innovation-Michael Elder & Michelle Chadwick We are so excited to be getting so many great projects, events, and enrichment activities rolling this year. One exciting event is Odyssey of the Mind. This Thursday an informational session was held for schools and coaches. The information shared at this session can also be found on our website. Please visit our Onslow County home for Odyssey of the Mind information at http://onslowaig.weebly.com/odyssey-of-themind.html. Academic Innovation will work with other divisions to provide as much support to OM teams as possible. Over the past several years, Onslow County has been well represented at the regional, state, and world levels. Good things happening thanks to the good people of Onslow County Schools! We are thankful for our local OM experts including Tim and Robbie Cornell, Patti Young, Melissa Light, and all the others who make this possible for us and for the state. Cultural Initiatives-Janae Copeland “Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand Binale.” ― Lauren DeStefano, Wither Dorien Dotson from Northside High School has been selected as a member of the 2013 NAfME All-National Honors Ensemble (Concert Band) sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Dorien Dotson will join more than 670 of the most musically talented and skilled high school students in the United States to perform at a gala concert on October 30, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. Dorien, a percussionist and now a HS junior has added yet another accomplishment to his resume which already includes performances with the NC AllState Concert Band, NC All-State Jazz Band, NC Eastern Region Concert Band, UNCG Honors HS Concert Band, and UNCG Honors HS Jazz Band. Curriculum, Research & Development-Susanne Long In Shakespeare’s play, Henry the IV, stated, “When we mean to build, we Birst survey the plot, then draw the model, and when we see the Bigure of the house….” Onslow County educators are planners and assessors. As we complete the Birst school month, “What conversation is taking place during your PLCs for the following topics?” • Academic success for every student • Increasing student engagement • Qualities that characterize true teacher leadership The dates for fall Teacher Leadership Councils are: September-electronic, October 24th, November 21st, and December-electronic. Face to face TLC meetings will be held at JHS from 3:00-5:00 pm. The Department of Instructional Services greatly looks forward to seeing the 2013-2014 TLC members. VOLUME III DIVISIONAL UPDATES Accountability & Testing Services-Lisa Thompson With any type of assessment, whether it is ClassScape, classroom assessments, USA Testprep, etc. -- the vital process we cannot forget to complete is the analysis of all data. Without analysis – how we can take any action? If we assess and never review the results (delving into speciBic standards assessed, etc) – where does this leave us? Teachers investigate the current status of students to ensure students continuously improve in their learning. All can be guided by asking these four questions in which we are all well-versed: • What do we expect our students to learn? (Goals/Expectations) • How will we know they are learning? (Assessment) • How we will respond when they don’t learn? (Intervention) • How will we respond if they already know it? (Gifted/Advance) Elementary school principals/teachers may analyze the raw scores from the BOY ELA3. The range of the raw score is 0 to 44 with some students in our district obtaining raw scores of 42! This brings us back to the question – How will we respond if they already know it? (We do not have scale scores or achievement levels, but the use of the raw data will allow for an initial analysis). Future dates: October 3rd: EXPLORE and PLAN training (M/H/OCLC) Test Coordinators MR4 @ 8:30 October 8th: Required 1st six weeks assessments for Math I/Algebra I, Biology and English II (high schools and OCLC) October 16th: PSAT October 17th: EXPLORE (8th grade students) and PLAN (10th grade students) administration Student Information-Wendy Grantham PowerSchool I want to thank everyone that attended the PowerSchool Joint Training session on Friday, April 20th for administrators and data managers. It was great to have everyone together and on the same page for training. I would like to thank Jessica Capps, Tashia Foster, Lori Jones, Kristy Maready, Becky Sewell and Stephen Taylor for the tremendous job that they did instructing everyone. NCDPI did not complete all of the processes that they were hoping to during the 09/21 maintenance week-end so there will be another one on 10/5. Transcripts were loaded during this week -end but the EOG scores were not so schools should continue to use the transcripts out of NCWISE. Athletic Eligibility was not loaded this week-end at all so hopefully that will come with the October maintenance. The Parent Portal is up and running. I checked and today it has already been accessed by 1989 parents. I am sure that more parents will be added each day. Please let me know if any of our parents are reporting any issues to you. PAGE 5 PAGE 6 DIVISIONAL UPDATES Professional Development & Academic Enrichment-Michele Halley Onslow County Schools Guest Speaker Series "The best teachers are those that show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see." -Alexandra K. Trenfor “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a @lower.” ― Albert Camus As an extension of the 2013 Summer Institute, Instructional Services is proud to present the OCS Guest Speaker Series. We will be having three guest speakers throughout the year presenting topics that are educational relevant and timely. The presentations are appropriate for all persons in the educational setting (administrators, teachers, coaches, facilitators, etc.). Date/Presenter/Topic: October 14, 2013 Diane Heacox, Differentiation: Where do we go from Here January 23, 2014 Sharon Faber, The Brain: Learning & Best Practices for Every Subject Area February 17, 2014 – Judy Stoehr, Helping At Risk Kids There will be four identical sessions offered throughout the day for each presentation: Session 1: 8:30am – 10:00am Session 2: 10:30am – 12:00pm Session 3: 1:15pm – 2:45pm Session 4: 3:15pm – 4:45pm It is our hopes that by having Blexible presentation times all interested persons will be able to attend. Please share this information with your school and encourage your staff to attend. Contact Michele Halley for additional information. Science Safety/Chemical Hygiene Training Science Safety is alive and well in the Onslow County School System. The county-wide training was held in an electronic/Blipped version where schools were provided a DVD with relevant information and activities. School representatives attended a face-to-face training where the information from the county-wide training was discussed. This will be the format for the training for the 2013-2013 school year – electronic Blipped/face-toface. We are excited to be utilizing this blended model of professional development. Upcoming Events Monday, October 7th – Emerging Authors Organizational Meeting, FEPD (3:45pm – 5:30pm) Onslow County Schools will be sponsoring and Emerging Authors competition for students in grade 3-12. This is an opportunity for students to share their original poems and short stories. Students compete at the school-level and schools submit their best works for county-wide judging. County-level winners will be published in the OCS Emerging Authors’ book. During our organizational meeting, we will discuss all aspects of the competition as well as network with other schools for ideas on how to best implement the initiative. Please plan to send one person from your school for the meeting. Media & Instructional Technology Services-Ross Friebel Join the conversation about the use of technology for learning through Speak Up, a National Research Project. The online survey is open to students, educators and parents. It's quick and easy to get involved. The survey will be open October 2nd- Dec. 20th. To take the survey, visit http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2013 starting Oct. 2nd! To ensure con@identiality all students will need to enter in the secret word: onslow to take the survey. Upcoming events: October 2 Speak Up survey opens October 9 ERPD for Media Coordinators and ITF/ITCs. Family Ed Center. 10:00AM to 2:00PM VOLUME III DIVISIONAL UPDATES PAGE Safe, Civil and Caring Schools-Judy Yeager A story of integration. With two sizzling pieces of pizza precariously stacked on a wafer thin paper plate, she ambled back into the living room in search of her favorite chair. Just before she settled herself, she bent down to retrieve the cuddly quilt that fell to the Bloor just moments ago when the microwave signaled pizza perfection. Her thick velvet brown hair almost brushed the bubbling hot cheese as she reached forward for the wayward quilt. Just as her Bingers touched the soft fabric, she startled everyone in the room with an agonizing groan, quickly followed by a terse comment: “I hate obtuse angles!” Obtuse angles? All eyes turned to her in confusion as observers tried to make a mental connection between pizza, quilts, and obtuse angles. Seeing the bewilderment on the faces of her family, she explained. “Today in PE, Mr. Grimes (WOHS) asked us if any of us were in Geometry. Then he told us we were about to Bind out about some angles. We had to lie on the Bloor and when he called out an angle, we had to hold our legs in that position. He yelled, “right, acute—ugh, obtuse—pain and agony! Those obtuse angles almost killed me. I guess we’re lucky he didn’t call reBlex!” Join us in solidarity on Monday, October 7th! Make a statement against bullying and cyberbullying and STOMP Out Bullying™! SpeciBically the Birst Monday of every October -- this year on Monday 10-7-13 we’re asking kids, teens and adults to participate in BLUE SHIRT DAY™ WORLD DAY OF BULLYING PREVENTION by wearing a BLUE SHIRT in solidarity to make that the day that bullying prevention is heard around the world! Access celebrity videos: http://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/campaigns/celebrity-blue-shirt-world-daybullying-prevention-videos/ Promote Water Consumption with First Lady Michelle Obama According to the CDC, approximately one in four kids does not drink any water on a given day. Drinking water is one of the easiest ways to improve overall health and well-being and helps you have more energy and better focus. The campaign kicked off in Watertown, WI encouraging Americans to "Drink Up.” It's a simple action that everyone can take. Mrs. Obama led a toast to water followed by an array of festival-like water games at Watertown High School. Visit the Drink Up web site to learn more about the initiative: www.YouAreWhatYouDrink.org. And, share photos or videos of you drinking water on Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #DrinkH2O. Other links of interest: October Resources 6-12 Fire Prevention Week http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/Bire-prevention-week 14-18 School Lunch Week http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Level2_NSLW2013.aspx?id=18468 21-25 School Bus Safety Week http://www.ncbussafety.org/poster/ 23-31 Red Ribbon Week http://redribbon.org/ 7 PAGE DIVISIONAL UPDATES 8 Title I & K-5 ELA Services-Mark Bulris The Reading 3D BOY window is now officially closed. Thank you K-3 teachers for your outstanding work to ensure benchmarking was completed with fidelity and in a timely manner. A big thank you also goes out to the literacy coaches and literacy contacts for their support during this process. Now that the BOY window has closed, it is time to analyze the data in order to plan guided reading groups, intervention strategies, and progress monitoring needs. As you prepare to progress monitor, below are a few Reading 3D Progress Monitoring Reminders and Best Practices to keep in mind: Fall has arrived. Behold the changing leaves, and enjoy the crisp breeze. Let your eyes take in the bursts of color. Transformation is afoot and hope is in the air. General • Insure that interventions have occurred prior to progress monitoring. • Progress Monitor during guided reading lessons or at the time when reading intervention is occurring. • Develop a schedule/window for progress monitoring each proficiency group—red, yellow, green, remembering that it is okay to PM before the 10-day window is up for those showing ‘red’ in an area(s)--especially if you know the student has progressed. In other words, don’t try to do all your progress monitoring at one time. TRC • Administer only one text. • Complete the MSV for the passage. • Complete the comprehension conversations and mark the rubric. If written comprehension is the focus of intervention, use the OCS openended stems or construct a question for written response. DIBELS • Progress monitor only 1 DIBELS measure (should be one that is critical for the time of year or their lowest benchmark not yet met). • NWF – If a student is showing ‘red’ or ‘yellow’ in Nonsense Word Fluency (CLS or WWR), provide intervention and instruction in the foundational skills of sounding and blending. Do not encourage memorization of nonsense words. • DORF – only 1 passage is required for progress monitoring. For support in planning for PM, contact your literacy coach or Frankie Harris. Also, see the Benchmark Assessments: Recommended Next Steps distributed by your literacy coach or contact for additional information. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will Blow into you as sunshine Blows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. - John Muir Back Page Story From the desk of LFE . . . . Onslow County Schools Guest Speaker Series As an extension of the 2013 Summer Institute, Instructional Services is proud to present the Guest Speaker Series. We will be having three guest speakers throughout the year presenting topics that are educational relevant and timely. The Birst guest speaker date is set for Monday, October 14, 2013 at Jacksonville High School in the cafeteria. The guest speaker will be Diane Heacox. Dr. Heacox’s topic is Differentiation: Where Do We Go from Here. The presentation is appropriate for all persons in the educational setting (administrators, teachers, coaches, facilitators, etc.). There will be four identical sessions offered throughout the day: Session 1: 8:30am – 10:00am Session 2: 10:30am – 12:00pm Session 3: 1:15pm – 2:45pm Session 4: 3:15pm – 4:45pm. It is our hopes that by having Blexible presentation times all interested persons will be able to attend. Please share this information with your school and encourage your staff to attend. Contact Michele Halley for additional information.