Last Two Days of Instruction

Team,

We have two instructional days and your last day to complete the 2019-20 school year.  This year has been filled with challenges and success that has proven that we are a school on the rise.  From audits to building a school in a virtual environment, we have persevered and together we will continue to build our collective efficacy to support students, families, and one another to be great.  Thank you for your consistent outreach to students and families and your collaboration with one another.  As we close the year, there is some information and reminders I need to share.

Closeout Schedule:  Please be sure to stick to your scheduled time (3 hours max) to close out your room/office.  If you have a conflict with the schedule, please talk with me.

Closing Checklists:  Teacher closeout and Instructional Support/Classified closeout

Health at Work Guidance:  Please read this document before returning to work to close out your classroom.  All staff must complete the HEALTH SCREENER linked to this document.  You must wear a mask and practice social distancing.  Please do not bring children or other people with you.

Grades for the 4th grading cycle are due in Infinite Campus by 4PM today per our contract deviation.

Please review attendance/participation from last week and update any changes in Infinite Campus by 4PM today.

We will have a short faculty meeting Thursday at 3PM to close the year.

Have a great day!

Seven days of NTI

Team.

As we embark on the next seven days of instruction, continue to keep engagement in the forefront.  Please encourage students to complete work that has been assigned over the past few weeks to finish NTI strong.

As you move through the last eight work days, take time to reflect on your growth and performance throughout our time of Non-Traditional Instruction.  It is very likely we will begin our school year in the same manner, so this is a time to reflect and think of how we will refine our practices and build our individual and collective tool boxes for the 2020-21 school year.

Take a second to think of how far we've come.  We went from a stressful February and March to creating a whole school online for students.  Not everyone can do that and we have been successful in creating this foundation for students.  Our jobs are not easy and rarely perfect, but look at the amazing work we have put in over the past six weeks.  To say that I am proud of Team King is quite the understatement.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your dedication to our students.

Our attendance/participation last week was 86.68% with 49 students showing no participation.  Please review work from the weekend and ensure all participation is accounted for in Infinite Campus.  I will forward the list of non-participating students for comparison.

See you at Faculty Meeting -- 10:30 AM -- link is on the blog email.

Have a great week!

12 Days of NTI to Go

Good morning and Happy Mother's Day to all our mothers at King.  As of today, we have 12 days of NTI left for students and we want to close the year strong.  Our attendance and participation last week stands at 91.85% with 30 students showing no participation.  As you start the day, please take a few moments and double check your non-participation students and make any updates to attendance in Infinite Campus by 3PM today.

Thank you for your work with NTI Weekly Progress Monitoring Sheets, this not only shares the work students are doing and the feedback staff is giving, but it prepares us to continue the feedback loop with students so that every students/family is aware of student progress and what they need to be successful on assignments and over the course of the school year.

At this time, we must complete plans to close out the school year and make plans to celebrate our fifth grade students. I have received some ideas from the fifth grade teachers and have been talking with other principals to see what others are planning. If you have any ideas to contribute, please let Ms. Jones or Mrs. Mozier know so we can finalize plans this week.  Thus far we have ideas of a parade, picture slide show, yard signs, and certificates.

I am still waiting on guidance for how staff will close the year, I will keep you informed as I learn more information.

Staff Assignments 2020-21

Kindergarten:    Schmidt/Andrews and Wilkerson/Drane
First:                  Edeburn-Ward/Helm; Mellett/Fortwengler; Mary Miller/Frazier
Second:             Hayley Miller/Lee; Wendy Smith/ (assistant vacancy)
Third:                Butler; Embry
Fourth:              Stivers; Morgan Andrews
Fifth:                 T. Johnson; Holloway
Fourth/Fifth:     N. Williams
EBD SC:           Teacher Vacancy/Forrest
ECE Resource:  McBride; Lamb; Pam Sheehan
ESL Resource:   Mina; Tomanic; Hassan; Velazquez
Resource Staff:  Camp, A. Williams, Ross, Allen, Buckley, Vialpando, K. Johnson
Special Area:      Gamble, Martin, Newton
Security:             Perissi

Faculty Meeting Link

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/852157074?pwd=TzVXVDgrQndjMFVCQ0FhbzIyZUxjZz09

Meeting ID: 852 157 074

Password: 3fFkQR

Have a great week!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Team,

Thank you for your work, your presence, and your professionalism over the course of this school year and as you continue to provide engaging instruction for our students at King.  We appreciate the time you invest in students as well as your professional growth.  While we are not physically in the same place, the collective work of our team has accomplished the task of creating a school in a virtual space for students to thrive and continue their learning.  This is not an easy task and I thank you all for making it so.

We do plan to have a celebration for teacher appreciate once we are all in the same space.  In the meantime, please accept my gratitude and an IOU.

Our attendance for last week is currently at 95.65%,  with 16 students having no participation.  We have until this afternoon at 4:00 to make any changes or adjustments to attendance for last week.

Below is the link for today's faculty meeting.  Have a great week!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/852157074?pwd=TzVXVDgrQndjMFVCQ0FhbzIyZUxjZz09

Meeting ID: 852 157 074

Password: 3fFkQR

Half Way Through NTI

Team,

This week marks the half-way point of NTI, with the last student day being May 27th and the last day for teachers as May 28th.  We have 22 days of instruction with each day being an instructional day other than May25th -- Memorial Day.  The Kentucky Department of Education requires 1,062 hours of instruction per school year and Commissioner Brown is allowing every school district to count NTI days  as 7 hours of instruction as opposed to the 6 hour and 15 minutes we were previously allowed to count.  As a result, we will reach the 1,062 hours at the end of the day on May 27th.

Thanks to our Instructional Leadership Team and Ms. Jones, we now have a teacher choice board for all things NTI available in our school Google Classroom.  The link to the classroom is here
and the class code is dpysfia.

Updates:

• Evaluations will be moved to next year for all non-administrative staff.  If you were due for a yearly or summative evaluation, it will be moved to next year -- pushing all summative evaluations a year.  For example if you were due to have a summative this year 2019-20, it will be moved to the 2020-21 school year and so on.

• Materials from the building -- at this time, there are no plans to have staff re-enter the building to retrieve materials or break down classrooms for the summer.  We will continue to follow the guidance of Governor Beshear and I will advise when we are able to re-enter the building.

•  Principals have been advised that summer professional development may be virtual as we are unsure of when large groups can return to the school building.  More to come on this.

• Within the next few weeks, I will schedule short meetings with all staff to have opportunity to communicate with all individually regarding progress, growth, and feedback.  Just a heads up so everyone is aware.  

Have a great week, I appreciate you all!

NTI Week 3

Team,

Thank you for your work with Non-Traditional Instruction.  As we move into week three, please continue to engage students with meaningful learning activities and provide feedback.  With the progress monitoring sheet you turn in, there are three types of feedback we want to be sure students are receiving.  When you hover over the columns for feedback they give you a brief description of the type of targeted feedback so you can enter information accordingly.

1. Wellness Check (This column is for just checking on students and their families).
2.  Learning Progress Point (What has the student told you about their learning-- is it on track, what is their biggest Ah-ha moment?)
3. One - Three Specific Feedback Points (What are 1-3 points you have gone over with students to support their learning or clear up misconceptions?)

Please keep this in mind as you provide and record feedback for students.  With the activities tab, that is for you to write non-student specific activities you have completed such as field trip planning, transportation verification, working on school plans, etc.

I'm very proud to report our student participation rate improved from 89.4% in the first week of NTI to 91.3% in the second week.  We still have 32 students that did not participate last week, so we still have room to grow.  Please continue to make effort to reach these families and refer any that you have had no success reaching to me by the end of the day Tuesday.

I appreciate all you do to support our students and families.  Have a great week!

Non-Traditional Instruction Week #2

Team,

I am so proud of our team and the way in which everyone has tackled the task of creating online and remote learning environments for our students.  I've had the opportunity to view the choice boards and Google Classrooms and thank you for preparing engaging activities for our students. 

We are moving into week two of Non-Traditional Instruction and our continued focus must be on student engagement, feedback, and communication.

Student Engagement:

• Review the assigned work from this week and pattern the next week in a similar fashion.  Students need consistency and repetition and this is achieved with developing routines and procedures for students to become familiar.  Types of activities, number of assignments, and the frequency of feedback.

Feedback

• What will be your routines and procedures for providing meaningful feedback to students?
• What is the frequency -- how often will you provide feedback?  This should be standardized with room for additional student questions.
• What format will it take - phone calls, written feedback (Google Classroom), Class Dojo, short video explanation, online meeting?  Make this a routine.
• Make sure students know they have the opportunity to redo assignments following feedback to improve their performance.

Communication

• How are you establishing weekly routines and procedures for communicating with  students and families?
• If you share students with ESL and ECE, how are you collaborating to ensure all students have contact each week from the teacher of record and the collaborating teacher?
• K-2, how are you sharing the communication/feedback duties with instructional assistants?
• How can families/students reach you with questions/concerns?
• Be sure families know this is a growth model, students are not penalized for making mistakes, but will be encouraged to improve performance.
• NTI will not impact placement decisions for next year (students will not fail the grade as a result of NTI work completion)
• Students who work with Ms. Allen (advanced/gifted) will still have enrichment opportunities, Ms. Allen will provide information this week.

Continuous Improvement

• There are learning opportunities this week from the digital learning department.  Click here for this week's schedule.

Reminder:  Report grades are due in Infinite Campus by Friday @ 4:00PM.

Have a great week.

Grades, Updates and Next Steps -- What we know so far...

Team,

I hope you all are rested and actively practicing social distancing as a responsible citizen within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Today, I want to provide you with some information pertaining to how we are moving forward in the next couple of weeks.

At this time, we are still slated to be out of school until April 6th.  April 6th has now been turned into a non-flex professional development day that will happen remotely (we will still telecommute) and log  on to the PD site -- More info to come with this, the district is working on this format.   April 7th will start the NTI (Non-Traditional Instruction) days.  The board of education did approve the use of these days, but they are still not set in stone at this time.  If we use NTI days, this means that students will receive work through online platforms (Google Classroom), assignments turned in online, students receive feedback and returned graded assignments.   We will have to also have a process for paperwork as well, but the push is for online learning enviornments.

For families without devices at home, the district is working on a plan to distribute Chromebooks to households so that students can access instructional materials.  This plan/protocol is not fully in in place at this time, but is a work in progress.

Changes in pay/job functions have not been shared yet.  At this time, we should assume everyone is returning to work in some capacity.

In the meantime, please be prepared in the following ways:

• Grades are due for the third grading cycle.  The window is currently open for you to post grades.  Technically, the date they are due is four working days after returning to work -- so this would ideally be April 9th, but please go ahead and get this completed.

• If you are not familiar with using Google Classroom -- start building your proficiency - this will be the format of online learning.  Create this environment and practice uploading information and linking assignments and providing directions for turning in assignments.  I do know that Nik, Haley, Allison, Sarah, Jessalyn, Mark, and Irena use Google Classroom regularly and may be able to answer a question or two.  If I left off your name, please let me know -- I'm working from memory over here.  I have also reached out to Kathleen (Zone 2) to provide some additional resources for learning how to use Google Classroom.

• Check in with your students -- give a call (Jones sent out information on creating a Google number) or send messages on Dojo to check on students.  It would also be a good idea to ask parents if they have a device and internet access at home.  As you talk with families, please keep track of who you've talked with and whether they have a technology at home.  Today, we are sending a School Messenger message to share some family resources from the Office of Access and Opportunity -- this will come to employees as well.

• Building Access -- Currently, the building is closed.  Our custodians are in the building working daily to clean the building.  Administrators are working from home this week and will be Monday as well.  Following the inclement weather schedule, we work Monday also and then are off through Spring Break.  To reach me, use email, text, or call me 502-303-0768.  

Take care of yourself

Implementation Checks Week 2

Team,

Thank you for taking time to check your classroom systems last week.  This week, I ask you to check the level of implementation with the following; please understand these are layers and checking our systems bit by bit allow us to pull all the pieces together aligning our mission and vision to the desk of our students.

Teaching and Learning - Pushing all students to proficiency so they believe in their own power to achieve success.

Guided Reading Groups

• Every class, every grade level must implement differentiated guided reading groups for reading instruction to support student growth.   The purpose of guided reading is to move students up reading levels; students who are below grade level should have a guided reading group everyday, in addition to their interventions (the link for guided reading is on the right side of the blog).  

• 
  All of the lesson plan forms for guided reading are in this folder. Teachers, use the templates to plan each of your guided reading groups. The lesson cards that came with the Literacy Footprints book sets are just a resource/guide. Teachers should plan the lessons to meet the needs of your students -- running records, dictated sentences, and the sight words assessments from Jan Richardson's Next Steps Forward in Guided Reading should be used as tools to guide instruction.
• 
  If you have questions or issues with implementation, please see Ms. Buckley or Ms. Camp immediately.

• Math

• Current focus on measurement and geometry for the next two weeks as we prepare for MAP testing.  The goal is an increase of 15% in math performance.

PBIS - The foundation for continually improving our school-wide learning environment

• Review classroom expectations, rewards (what they get or get to do when they follow the expectations and excel) and consequences (what happens when they don't follow the expectation):  These should be posted so they can be viewed by students and referred to by you when redirecting students or providing reminders.

• Feedback-- in the event you have to write a referral, be sure to check the interventions you put into place and parents should receive a phone call -- the first call they get concerning the behavior should not come from administration.  

Progress Monitoring- Tracking and monitoring student progress towards proficient and distinguished performance

• Daily formative assessment aligned to learning target for each lesson

• Track each student's progress towards mastering the learning target

Announcements

• MTSS progress monitoring sheets were due to Camp Friday, please give math to her  and reading to Buckley by noon tomorrow.

• Marsha Ross joins us this week as our new behavior coach, she starts Monday

• Olexus Porter is now a full time employee at King as a Permanent Auxiliary Teacher

• Job postings are up to replace April Johnson and Georgana Windley (resigned their positions).  If you know anyone who may be interested, please encourage them to apply, the posting closes March 20, 2020.

• Faculty Meeting will discuss grading procedures and the upcoming MAP assessment

• ILT meeting (team leaders) will be Wednesday, March 11th.  All teams will report out on the number of students scoring proficient on the last round of learning checks _- please be prepared to discuss how you all have adjusted instructional strategies based on learning results.

• Be sure to check your professional development hours, March 27th is a flexible PD day

Implementation Check

Team,

I hope everyone had a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine yesterday, being in the sun is always a plus for me and this time of year, we are in the long stretch to Spring Break.  That being said, please remember staff members who are present each day from now until the end of the year get $100 added to your 2020-21 supply budget.

Implementation Checks

This week, take a few moments each day to check the level of implementation of the following three areas:

• Teaching and Learning --  Pushing all students to proficiency so they believe in their own power to achieve success
• Daily use of the classroom instructional framework for teaching, learning targets are posted, stated, and referred to throughout the lesson. 
• Use Journeys for reading and Envision for math instruction
• Students engage in rigorous work products -- what are they expected to do each day?
• There is daily formative assessment (exit slips) so that teachers can make instructional decisions for the next lesson.  
• Students receive timely feedback on how to improve their work.
• Current focus on measurement and geometry for the next three weeks.

• PBIS -- The foundation for continually improving our school-wide learning environment 
• Expectations for learning and behavior are set and reinforced with students daily -- you know it's in place when students are able to self-monitor and participate in a respectful environment, focused on learning goals and outcomes. 
• Daily use of Class Dojo -- school wide agreement
• You are able to maximize instructional time due to efficient transitions.
• Students know how to use the cool down area.

• Progress Monitoring -- Tracking and monitoring student progress towards proficient and distinguished performance
• Daily formative assessment aligned to learning target for each lesson
• Check assessments, provide feedback to tell students how to improve, make instructional adjustments to increase student learning
• Track each student's progress towards mastering the learning target
• Current focus on measurement and geometry for the next three weeks.

Announcements

• We hired a new behavior coach -- Marsha Ross will begin next at King next Monday 3/9.
• KPREP field tests continue this week for students with accommodations and those needing make up tests.
• No Faculty Meeting this week, please come to Literacy Night -- Tuesday, March 3rd, 5:00 - 6:30 PM
• Bookfair is open through the end of the week
• ILT meeting is next Wednesday, 3/11

Just Do Your Job

Good morning Team,

We have a new baby to celebrate in our King Family -- Nora Kelly Lamb was born last Thursday!

 Mrs. Lamb and the baby are doing well.


This week, I am keeping it short, we all know what we need to do.  If everyone does their job, we will have a productive week.

Field Tests - We will begin KPREP field tests for grades 3-5 on Tuesday and will test throughout the week.  Mrs. Mozier has sent/is sending information and updates.


Staff Meeting:  Bring a copy of your MAP class breakdown report by GOAL, laptops, and Envision Volume 1 -- we will discuss covered math standards thus far and preparing for the end of the year and KPREP testing.

Staff Incentive:  All staff who are present each school day from March 2nd - May 28th, will have $100 added to your supply money for next school year!

Feedback and Parent Communication

Team,

Thank you for attending Gold Day and participating with our activities.  So far, 17 staff members have completed the feedback survey.  Please click on this link and complete it if you have not already done so. This information is crucial to support our efforts moving forward.

Monday is Parent-Teacher Conference Day, please ensure the following:

• Provide the front office with a copy of your schedule
• Be sure to call all parents that you do not meet with in person
• Complete the form documenting how many conferences you had (will be available in the office)
• Input the number of conferences in Infinite Campus under the "Parent-Teacher Conference" tab
• Turn in the form to the office before you leave for the day

Professional Learning Communities -- be sure to create and stick to your agenda

Faculty Meeting

• K-2 -- please bring a copy of your "Section Summary" from the last grading cycle printed from Infinite Campus for content grades (if you are not sure what this is, bring your laptop). We will discuss grading and report card grades
• 3rd - 5th -- You will meet with Mrs. Mozier to discuss the KPREP field tests

We have an Alternate Leadership Team meeting Feb. 20th at 4:15 PM in the conference room to discuss budget.  Please feel free to stop by my office Monday, 2/17, if you have budget input, questions, concerns, or feedback.

Have a productive week!

Individual Education Plans and Accommodations

Team,

In our work to support all students, we must be aware of a student's Individual Education Plan and follow the guidance of these documents to promote student success and follow federal law.  Currently, we have approximately 60 students who receive services as part of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  These students have identified disabilities that qualify them for additional services to support their success in school.

We MUST read, understand, and follow a student's IEP completely.  This means, we have to...

• Read it and understand it's contents
• Collect data to support student goals with fidelity
• Implement accommodations and special designed instruction with fidelity and provide evidence of this implementation
• Adhere to minutes of instruction for special classes and mainstream classes

Last week, Mrs. Gutterman sent a sheet to all homeroom teachers to ensure that all are aware of IEP contents and mandates.  It is the expectation that all staff who work with students with IEPs have knowledge of plans and follow the plans explicitly.

Our staff must collaborate to be certain we understand these expectations and know how to implement actions with purpose and fidelity.  If you have questions or concerns please consult the ECE teacher with which you share students and/or Mrs. Gutterman.  Please check your classroom systems to ensure you are up to date with student IEPs and how you accommodate students to meet their learning goals and needs -- what evidence do you have to support implementation within your instruction -- 

Please welcome Susan Vialpando, who begins today as our new Reading Recovery Teacher

We currently have the following positions posted on the JCPS Website -- Resource Teacher (behavior coach), 2 Instructional Assistant Positions, Permanent Auxiliary Teacher

Faculty Meeting Agenda

* PBIS Reboot

Team Leader Meeting

* Transforming to the Instructional Leadership Team

Gold Day Agenda

* PBIS rollout based on PBIS team work and feedback

* Turnaround Plan for King Elementary -- our new School Improvement Plan - draft and feedback

* Team collaboration time

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

Team,

Last week all teams had extended planning time to work on upcoming units for instruction.  This is the important work for System One of our Six Systems for a Strong Learning Climate which is to ensure we provide instruction based on  Kentucky Academic Standards.

This week, we will have meetings to review the progress of students previously identified for academic or behavior Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).  This work supports System Five which is to provide academic and behavioral supports for students, including acceleration and System Four -- progress monitoring and analysis of student work.  Please refer to the schedule Ms. Camp linked to The Living Calendar.  

It is imperative that you bring progress monitoring data and student work samples to support progress made by the student since the last meeting.  The purpose of these meetings is to ...

• Identify students who are in need of additional support/you have concerns about their progress or growth (This was done previously this year unless you are identifying a new student)

• Bring collected data and work samples for identified students to the meeting to discuss progress and next steps with a team. (If you do not have this information -- there is no point coming to the MTSS meeting -- let me know if this is your situation ahead of time) 
• 
  
• For academic students -- this would be progress monitoring data based on interventions such as running records, lessons provided for remediation, skill building results from Study Island, iRead, or other technology programs, etc.
• 
  
• For behavior students -- this would be frequency data, point sheets, evidence of interventions provided and results.

Thank you for your diligence with supporting students.  Please be sure your lesson plans are out on your desk/table and that you are using a daily exit slip that aligns to your learning target for each lesson.

Have a great week, if all certified and classified staff have completed Comprehensive School Surveys and Impact Surveys (certified only) we will NOT have faculty meeting this week.  We will check results Tuesday morning.

Feedback Was Lacking

Team,

I hope all enjoyed the weekend and are preparing for this week of learning.  I gave out copies of the Diagnostic Review results last week (additional copies available in the office) and I trust that you reviewed the document to examine the three improvement priorities and documented evidential observations we received to serve as high leverage objectives to accelerate our growth as a school.  Summarizing the findings, our priorities include (paraphrased):

• Improved two-way communication with all stakeholders to support academic and behavioral success for students
• Improved systemic clarity for delivery of core instruction based on Kentucky Academic Standards, bell-to-bell instruction, clear systems for analysis of student work and assessment data, and systemic next steps all to include high yield strategies for instruction and next steps for intervention
• Improved systems for school-wide behavior to minimize disruptions to the learning environment to maximize time for differentiated instruction to support student achievement

These improvement priorities impact the work of each staff member in our school, each student in our school, each family that our school partners with and supports and our community who supports us and we give back to.  These are contractual obligations that we accepted when we signed our employment contracts.

From a leadership standpoint, a blaring shortcoming was the implementation of consistent feedback and use of walkthrough and evaluation data trends to support staff improvement needs and professional development.  While I thought this was moving in the correct direction, I accept that this has to be an area of more intense focus.  This is being corrected immediately.  I want to apologize to those who have not received the attention to instructional and behavioral growth needed to maximize instructional time and increase student proficiency.  In the day-to-day details of managing the building, I have neglected to consistently follow up and ensure that everyone is getting the individualized feedback to succeed and the model to give this same attention to students.

I'm owning it and moving forward with great purpose in this work.  I expect us all to approach this with the same growth mindset and provide feedback to all stakeholders as well as support our two-way communication.

This week we have extended plan times for collaborative teams and I am committed to providing this time at least each six weeks.  I recognize this is a step and I hope we find ways to make more time available for this important work.  If you have ideas to implement this even more frequently than the six week interval, I am open to suggestions (but do be mindful of the barrier with sub coverage).

Faculty meeting is for committee work this week.  

Be purposeful and collaborative,

Dr. White

Progress Monitoring and Next Steps

Team,

Thank you all for your work with summative assessments last week.  When you meet as a PLC this week, you will discuss the progress your students have made and plans for next steps.  Attached to the email with this blog update is the Lesson Analysis Form that is used to analyze summative assessments.  You should have one sheet completed for reading and one completed for math.  This helps to analyze student work and make plans for next steps in instruction.

In team leader meeting, we discussed how we respond when students have not learned the information. The following were the notes we discussed in our deep dive into PLC question #3:

Question #3: How do we respond when they haven't learned it?

• Identify the two most common misconceptions in each class and across the grade level. Students must show their work at all times.
• What mistakes are students making -- is it understanding, process, calculation, text evidence...?
• What feedback do students need to understand their misconception?
• What learning has to take place (what do they need to know) for students to successfully answer questions on the re-test?
• When will the re-teach and practice happen? Can the practice be differentiated homework?
• What strategies will you use to re-teach differently?
• Plan the day for the re-test
• Review results and repeat this process

One of our biggest conundrums is often based around moving on when we don't have everyone at the same achievement level.  Please understand that some students will move forward and some will have to be re-taught and re-assessed until they have understanding.  This dilemma is exactly why the Learning Continuum will support our work along with Tiered Response Lessons. 

• The Learning Continuum tells us where our students are "ready to learn" according to specific standards.  You have set this lesson plan up to support three groups of students.  As students gain proficiency, the only planning that you are switching is your high group.  
• Your lowest group progresses to the mid-level group and your mid-level group progresses to the activities for the high group.
• Providing students feedback will tell them exactly where they are and what they need to move forward
• Goal setting is crucial -- share the goal and have them participate in this process -- this could also be homework to have parents assist with the learning goal.
• Have students track their progress -- why do you have to do all the work -- this also provides ownership (part of our ROARS expectations)
• Remember, the learning continuum supports gap closure -- so please USE IT!

Our goal as a school for the Winter MAP Assessment was to increase the number of students meeting the grade level benchmark by 10%, moving from 24% in reading and math to 34%.  We did not meet our goal.  We actually decreased by 6% in reading and 4% in math.  

We did see our growth in both subjects grow with 49% of students showing growth in reading and 57% of students showing growth in math, increasing from 34% growth on the Fall assessment.

The more specific we get, the better our results.  Last, in team leader meeting we also discussed daily formative assessment and had a breakthrough -- there was a misconception with daily targets and daily formative assessment.  Think of the daily target as the success criteria for the standard -- which small part are you teaching today?

• Each day you have a learning target.  This target should be explicit for the DAY.  At the end of the lesson, what should students be able to do/understand and how will they demonstrate or prove it to you?
• For example:  Target - We are learning to add fractions with like denominators.  The lesson you teach is on adding fractions with like denominators.  
• At the end of the lesson, give students one problem where they have to add fractions with like denominators (collect the student responses).
• Did they work the problem and get the correct answer?  Remember they have to show their work so that you can understand why they got it correct or what their misconception is.
• Sort the responses -- who got it, who didn't, who is waaaaay off?  This will inform your instruction for the next day when you work on fractions.

Updates

• Mr. Oliver is no longer with the Simmons program so he has left King
• Natalie is official as our Academic Instructional Coach
• Report cards go home Tuesday
• We have a parent engagement event Thursday -- Zoo Night -- we will have chili for families (5PM-7PM)
• Faculty Meeting Tuesday is dedicated to providing time to upload backpack artifacts
• SBDM meeting Thursday @ 4:15PM

Report Cards and Using MAP Data to Guide Instruction

Team,

Thank you for inputting student grades in Infinite Campus for report cards.  I re-opened the window and it will close Monday morning at 8:00AM.  All grades were due Friday, so there should be no issue with having everything complete.  Please be sure you print out copies of report cards by Tuesday evening so that we are prepared and all have plenty of time to ready report cards and envelopes.  As always the expectation is that you have completed grades and provided comments to guide parents in supporting their students.

Please know our cycle 2 celebration for honor roll and perfect attendance will be February 4th in the evening.  Teachers will provide a list of students who have earned honor roll so that we know how many certificates we need.  Please submit your list to Mrs. Perkins by Friday, January 24th.

In faculty meeting Tuesday, it is a final opportunity to collaborate and get assistance with your Tiered Response Lessons.  Each teacher is responsible for completed a plan for one upcoming reading and math standard.  Ms. Allen put together resources to assist with creating plans -- this was shared via email and included on the email with this blog post.  At the end of faculty meeting, you will turn in your tiered response lessons as your exit slip.

Friday, we will participate with embedded PD with Athena Hill, our MAP consultant.  Our sessions will focus on growth and the use of the ASG Quadrant Report.  Please come prepared with your laptop.

I appreciate your focus on student learning and growth as we work to close gaps and push students to proficiency.  Our PBIS work for this week centers around gathering feedback on the behavior matrix and solidifying our literature and school-wide expectations.

FYI:  We currently have two positions posted on the JCPS Employment Page:  Resource Teacher (PBIS Coach) and Instructional Assistant.  If you know anyone that may be interested, please encourage them to apply.

Please remember to post learning targets - link daily formative assessment to learning targets -- have your lesson plans out on your desk for viewing during walkthroughs and observations.

Have a great week!

Happy New Year

Welcome back and for a our new people, welcome to King!  This week, I want to just thank everyone for your work and your continued commitment to our students and one another.  We have a few new people that will join us soon, please take time to introduce yourself and welcome them to our school.

• Tiffany Embry will begin in the K/1 split class (104), her first day is January 7th.
• Susan Vialpando will be our new Reading Recovery teacher and her start date has not been determined yet -- she has to be released from her current district.
• Sara McCutcheon is our Education Recovery Specialists from the Kentucky Department of Education.  She will be in our building daily to support our school turn around work.  Her first day was Dec. 20th.
• Deborah Mapp-Embry will work with us as coordinator for our Family Literacy Program funded through the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL).  Dr. Mapp has been in the building over the past weeks, but she will will become a more permanent presence.

Grades Are Due

Please remember that grades are due in Infinite Campus by Friday, January 10th @ 4PM.  I will run a report the next day for missing grades.  Please be sure you are diligent in checking the accuracy and inclusion of all grades for every student as this is part of your professional responsibilities in Domain 4 of the evaluation framework.  Please be sure to print your report cards by end of the day January 14th, they go home with students January 21st.

Professional Learning Communities

We do have PLC tomorrow, the focus is on results from learning checks the last week of break.  Be sure to complete all sections of the PLC protocol as appropriate.  Minutes are due to Lisa by 9AM Wednesday morning, complete with work samples (high, med, low).

We will not have faculty meeting January 7th, but team leaders do have a meeting after school January 8th.

Have a great week!  Please take time to intentionally RE-TEACH expectations for learning and behavior.