Sunday, February 28, 2016

Week 26: February 29th-March 4th

Bullock Brief
 Stay on that train to Charleston!!!

week for duty.

Habit 7 Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
A
B
C
D

Upcoming meetings and events for February 29-March 4, and March 7-11.  
The most up-to-date calendar is located online in Google calendar. 






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Celebrations
I do hope you'll take a few seconds to celebrate the great things happening at B.T. Bullock.

Stop by Celebration Station.
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The focus this month: Think win-win

We are on week 6 of our 7x7 contract. The 7x7 helps us reconnect with the 'why' behind all we do.  Week 6 guide

Our first Leadership Day will take place on March 23rd. Parent day is March 22nd.   

Auditions for Leadership Day positions will be held on Friday starting at 1:00pm in the Depot.  All students interested in applying for a position should prepare a 1 minute speech about B.T. Bullock and leadership.  It can be memorized or written down. Applicants should focus on:  1) controlling themselves while waiting for their audition time, speaking clearly and loudly, looking at their audience, and holding themselves confidentially.  We will have reminders on the news as well. 

Please make sure your bulletin boards are updated as we approach Leadership Day.  There are some blank boards in the building.  Please use the bulletin boards to showcase rigorous and exemplary student work.  Please make sure all bulletin boards are updated no later than March 16th.  

More resources are located at the Leader in Me website.
You can also follow Sarah Ann's blog at sarahanntaylor.org or email her at sarahann.taylor@franklincovey.com.  

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 For several weeks, I included information about Costa's Level of questioning.  I would like to revisit those question levels and challenge all teachers to review the questions being used for nightly reading responses, independent work and small groups to ensure that the questioning used is rigorous and higher-level.  Ideally, we want our students to spend more time on Costa level 2 and 3.  

Examples:

Costa level 1 - Who is favorite character and why? (describing)
Costa level 2 - Compare and contrast_________ with ___________.  Use details from the story. (compare and contrast)

Costa level 1 - What is the setting of the story?  (recall)
Costa level 2 - Explain ________.  Use details from the story. (explaining)


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Data Meetings:  Data meetings continue.  If you have not set a time please do so at http://www.meetme.so/StefanieClarke.  A summary of our school wide data is located here

Leadership Day meeting before SIT:  We will have a brief Leadership Day meeting tomorrow, February 29th from 2:45-3:00pm tomorrow in the Platform directly before SIT.  

SIT meeting: SIT will be meeting tomorrow, February 29th from 3:00-4:00pm in the Platform.  

AR Spring Testing window (3-5 only):  AR screening window continues through March 4th.  

Book room:  A complete list of ALL the resources located in our 3-5 book room are located here.  Thank you again Ms. Lyon for compiling this list to help with lesson planning and pulling appropriate resources for our students.  

1st grade performance:  March 3rd at 1:15 in the Depot and 6:00pm for parents. Attending the assembly is not a requirement.  Please remind students of assembly expectations.  Students who are not checking their 4 Hs will be dismissed from the assembly.  

Student led conferences:  Our first stab at student led conferences at B.T. Bullock were a huge success.  4th grade teachers tried student-led conferences as a grade level.  They held all their conferences in 1 hour (wow, that is a time saver!) and the students led rich and meaningful conversations about their learning.  A win-win! Ms. Townsend also held student-led conferences in 3rd grade which much success.  Ms. Townsend has graciously shared the materials she used and was open to sharing those materials with all of you.  Thanks Mindy! Materials can be downloaded here

Bathroom Cleanliness:  We are in need of your help in our restrooms.  I will spare you the gross details, but it is suffice to say the restrooms smell unfresh.  Please remind students not to use excessive tissue paper, to flush the toilets and to never lock doors and crawl under bathroom doors.  Students should use the restrooms under adult supervision if at all possible.  

Election on campus March 15th:  We will hold an election on our campus on March 15th  Teachers can do a provisional out-of-precinct vote at Bullock.  You will need to show your ID.  

Tornado Drill: I know we are ready for this one.  The statewide tornado drill will be held March 9th at 9:30am.  

Quarterly Tests:  The week of March 14th.

IMPORTANT....Instruction at Bullock: Please remember the high-yield strategies that need to be included in your instruction.  

  • Reteach 2-3 concepts each day.
  • Include many opportunities for open-ended writing (with guidance and correction).
  • Use tutors for remediation and using research-based programs to help our struggling readers.
Continue
  • To require reading EVERY night and provide time for reading during the school day.
  • To select materials that push reading levels.
  • Teach academic vocabulary.  Teach and review, review, review.  
  • Provide time for error correction.
  • Review multiplication (in upper grades)
  • All teachers in grades 3-5 must should be using Stretch Math as part of your instruction.  


Visit http://www.meetme.so/StefanieClarke to schedule time to meet with me. 

The instructional non-negotiables at Bullock are located at this link.

Should have recently completed (check that it's complete):

  • Leadership day applications due - February 26th
  • Mid terms due - February 26th (extended from last week)
  • Druthers form - February 22nd

Due this week:
  • AR Spring testing window - Ends March 4th
  • Leadership Day auditions - March 4th
Upcoming due dates:
  • Staff meeting - March 7th
  • Bulletin boards update - March 16th
  • School wide clean-up - March 18th
  • Committees - March 14th
Please sign-off on reading the brief here.  



This was the quote on my bedroom wall in junior high school on a poster with MaryLou Retton.  :)

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