The Middle Update 12/18/15

Band Concert a Hit!
Thanks to Mr. Hazard and Mrs. Graeve for all the work that lead to such an outstanding concert.  The gym was packed and performances were quite impressive.  Thanks also to all of the staff members that came to support the kids and helped out with the final product.  It was a great community event!

Class Periods till Break
As we near Winter Break, it is really important to continue our routine and structure, using every minute of class time right up until 2:40 on Tuesday afternoon.

Those relationships...
A short article about those all important teacher/student relationships - HERE

New Student of the Month Breakfast Dates
I shuffled the remaining breakfast dates around a bit.  The new dates are reflected on the MS Calendar of Events, and are:
1/28/16
2/25/16
3/24/16
4/28/16

Appreciation
I would like to show my appreciation for all of you that make our middle school great by offering some refreshments after school on Tuesday.  I'll plan to have a spread set up in Room 3 at 3:00 on Tuesday afternoon.  I hope you'll join us.

Twitter Find of the Week

Todd ‏@ToddWhitaker  1h1 hour ago

The 6 Characteristics of Effective Praise http://www.middleweb.com/26483/the-6-characteristics-of-effective-praise/ …

Duty Next Week
Morning - Greer
Bus - O'Connor

Data
Tardy Data
This Week - 24 (after 1st Block), 30 (1st Block)
Last Week - 35 (after 1st Block), 24 (1st Block)
1st Week of Dec. - 41 (after 1st Block), 23 (1st Block)

The Middle Update 12/11/15

Mid-Quarter Grades
This is a reminder that mid-quarter grades should be posted in Infinite Campus by the end of business today.  As the quarter continues, the posted grades should be updated to reflect the student's current level of performance in each standard.  I will be sending a note out to parents at the end of the day today letting them know to check Campus for mid-quarter grades, along with some other updates.

Staff Meeting Next Week Wednesday 12/16/15
We will have a staff meeting on Wednesday, 12/16 at 2:50 in Room #3.  We will review school data, learn more Google tools, check in on the PLP process, and continue our targeted assessment work.

Student of the Month Breakfast
We will be hosting our December Student of the Month Breakfast next Thursday morning in the IMC.  Thank you to our presenters, Ms. Deans, Mr. Hazard, Mrs. Hendrickson, and Mr. Kallungi.

Community Voice
Poynette Middle School will be featured in one of the upcoming Community Voice columns in the Poynette Press.  Click HERE for a sneak preview of the article.

New Co-Curricular Offerings at PMS
Our new Archery Club and Science Olympiad clubs are getting underway.  These are more opportunities for our Middle School students to be engaged and connected while growing their skills.  Mr. Hazard and Ms. Vian will advise the Archery Club, and Ms. Schoen will be advising the Science Olympiad.

Twitter Find of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  13h13 hours ago

7 strategies of highly skilled readers: http://edut.io/qYGFaL .

130 retweets133 likes

 

 

 

Duty Next Week
Morning - Frehner
Bus - Rogness

Data
Attendance Rate -
Through Last Week - 95.9%
Through Today - 95.92%

Behavior Referrals - Through December 11
15-16 - 86 Events, 44 Students
14-15 - 153 Events, 54 Students
13-14 - 123 Events, 78 Students

The Middle Update 12/4/15

Targeted Assessments
If your students have taken the assessment that you targeted for them on Monday, go ahead and make a copy of the Analysis Form, and complete it with the results and analysis from the assessment.  When you have the analysis document finished, please share it with me.  Once you share it with me, I will meet with you to review the results.  At the next staff meeting, we will review this process with some specific teacher examples.  No worries if you plan to give your assessment after the next staff meeting.

Mid-Term Grades
Mid-Term grades will be due by the end of the day on Friday, 12/11.  I plan to send a Campus Messenger blast alerting parents that grades are posted right away on Monday.  Like we discussed at an earlier staff meeting, from the time they are posted, the grades should be updated to reflect current student progress.

Instructional Rounds
I appreciate our teachers for taking the time to get into another classroom this week.  I have heard some positive comments from teachers about things they have seen in the classroom.  This is an opportunity to open the doors to good, solid conversations about teaching practices, and to get a feel for the instruction that is happening in our building.

Next Staff Meeting
Please mark your calendars for the next Staff Meeting.  It will be on Wednesday, 12/16 at 2:50 in Room 3.

Students of the Month
Our next Student of the Month Breakfast will be on Thursday, 12/17 at 7:00am.  Thanks to Ms. Deans, Mr. Hazard, Mrs. Hendrickson, and Mr. Kallungi for representing the teachers.  Also, if you see the following students, please congratulate them:

Claire Pederson
Kirstin Doherty
Brock Chadwick
Whisper Erickson
Tyler Reible
Leah Riddle
Aiden Rolling
Nina Weichmann.

Twitter Find of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  20h20 hours ago

37 ways to help kids learn to love #reading: http://edut.io/PMxHfl .

155 retweets129 likes

Duty Next Week
Morning - Deans
Bus - Schoen

Data
Attendance Rates (through 12/4)
15-16 - 95.9%
14-15 - 95.27%
13-14 - 95.79%

The Middle Update 11/19/15

Communication of Student Concerns
In our Puma Pride Committee Meeting, we talked further about communication among staff members about student concerns.  A core team member will be sharing the meeting notes after each meeting on Thursday.  If you are having student concerns, check the document, and communicate the specific concerns with Mrs. Morrissey, Ms. Hellmich, Mrs. Morton, or myself.  From there, we can meet to work on a plan for that student to be successful.

Professional Rounds Day
Our next Instructional Rounds Day will be on Thursday, 12/3.

Professional Development Day 11/30/15
On Monday, 11/30, we'll have another professional development day.  A more detailed schedule is on the way, however, we will start the day meeting as a Middle School team, we'll meet again prior to lunch to recap our work in large group.  In the afternoon, our Rapid Response Team will be finishing their training.  The official schedule will be available early next week.

Early Release next Wednesday
Students will be released at 12:40 next Wednesday.  In the original schedule I sent out, I had dismissal time of 12:30.  My apologies...check out the adjusted early release schedule...I apologize for the confusion.  Again, please let me know if there is a conflict.  Also, on Wednesday, the staff is free to leave after all students are gone for the day.

Twitter Find of the Week
timely article...

EdWeek Teacher ‏@EdWeekTeacher  7m7 minutes ago

Why you shouldn't thank a parent for coming to parent-teacher conferences: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/prove-it-math-and-education-policy/2015/11/3-phrases-i-wont-be-saying-during-conferences.html?cmp=soc-edit-tw-tm …

Duty Next Week
Morning - Williams
Bus - Lendobeja

Data
Behavior Referrals through today.
15-16 - 68 Events 41 Students
14-15 - 136 Events 48 Students
13-14 - 93 Events 62 Students

The Middle Update 11/13/15

SLO/PPG's

We are getting very close to having everyone's SLO and PPG approved and ready to go.  I have been reviewing the documents electronically and submitting feedback via comments on individual documents.  My plan is to have feedback to everyone by the end of next week and have the process complete by Thanksgiving Break.  If you have any questions, please let me know, but I will send an email once I have reviewed your document.

Staff Share

It was great to have our English Department report out that they had achieved a "cake moment" for 1st quarter by having little to no missing work at the end of the quarter.  If you have had a similar experience, please let me know.  We have so much knowledge and experience among our staff, that we need to be spreading the wealth often.

Staff Meeting Next Week

This is a reminder that we have a staff meeting on Wednesday, 11/18 at 2:50 in Room 3.  We will be looking closely at the use of targeted assessments in our classrooms.

Puma Pride Committee Meeting on Monday

The Puma Pride Committee's next meeting will be on Monday at 2:50 in Room 3.  We will review the Grade Level communication plan that we put in place for the Middle School, and also look to refine our parent-teacher conference structure.  We'll also continue our school culture discussion.  As always, anyone that has interest is welcome to join.

Hold Drill

Great job on the hold drill today.  This is a reminder that all classroom doors should always be locked.  The purpose for this is if there ever is a hold situation, the teacher simply needs to shut the door.  We will continue to practice our emergency situations throughout the year.

Twitter Find of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  Nov 4

4 key ingredients to motivate students: http://edut.io/iurS4z . #SEL #k12

Duty Next Week

Morning - Schoen

Bus - Kallungi

Data

Attendance Data

15-16 - 96.65%

14-15 - 95.7%

13-14 - 96.23%

The Middle Update 11/5/15

Wanted to send out an early blog because we'll be meeting as a group on Friday.  Some items may need a little explanation besides what is written.  We'll have time to expand upon points on Friday morning...if you have any questions, as always, send me a note.

Posting Grades for Quarter 1
We will extend the deadline for grade posting for the 1st quarter.  Grades will be due on Tuesday, 11/10/15 by the end of the day.  Please revisit Anna's email about posting grades...you should enter a Course Completion grade of 4 for all students that passed the course, and a 1 if they did not pass the course.  Comments should be posted within a standard also for them to show up on the report card.  If you would like to see how the report card looks after you have posted, let me know, I can show you anytime.  Please provide as much information as possible about the progress of each student.

Communication of Student Progress
I worked on compiling the feedback from the staff meeting last week, and I put together this document which provides guidelines for how we should utilize the grade posting in Infinite Campus.  Check it out.  We can discuss any questions or concerns when I see you, or Friday morning.

Lasting Connections
Check out this Article...again the power of connections for culture and achievement.

Veteran's Day Assembly
As per our Veteran's Day tradition, we will be going over to the HS for the Veteran's Day Assembly on Wednesday, 11/11/15 at 9:00 am in the Kerr Gym.  The ceremony typically takes around a half hour.

Field Trip Guidelines
If we have upcoming field trips...please review the guidelines below:
 
-Teachers fill out Field Trip Permission Form and submit to Principal
-Teachers should determine the number of chaperones needed
-Teachers put out a call for chaperones (if necessary), sharing information regarding requirement for completed background check
-Background check forms should be sent to the district office immediately upon receipt
- Two Weeks before the scheduled trip, chaperones are finalized.  That list is shared with principal/administrator
-Principal determines chaperone eligibility based on completed and 'passed' background check
-At that time, any pending background checks must be turned into district office
-Once a week the business office conducts background checks on any pending applications
-Teacher verifies with principal chaperone list one week before field trip

PLP Meetings
As a result of excellent collaboration from our Puma Pride sub-committee about working to improve the communication of student plans and progress, we have set up a system of meetings.  The meetings will be held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays generally.  Teams or teachers concerned about a student should work to fill out a PLP form, and submit it to Christy.  At each meeting, we will be reviewing the PLP forms for students of concerns and setting up our interventions and plans for data collection.  Anyone who works with a student on the agenda should attend.  Emails with details about the students of focus for the meeting will be sent in advance of the meeting.  Our first PLP meeting will be on Wednesday, 11/11/15 at 2:45.  See me with any questions.

Twitter Find of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  Oct 12

The science-backed benefits of #kindness: http://edut.to/1KUeXIV . #BullyFree

426 retweets321 likes

 

 

 

Duty Next Week
Morning - Rogness
Bus - Johnson

The Middle Update 10/30/15

Happy Halloween!  As we near the end of the 1st quarter, it is important to continually focus on the importance of our students feeling connected to school.  The best way to do this is getting to know what makes our kids tick...Your efforts aren't always rewarded at first, but they make a lasting impact in the life of a student.  Thank you for your efforts in this very important aspect of school life.  Check out below for some news and notes...

Student Progress Communication Update
Thanks to all for a solid collaborative meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  I'll be sharing the feedback and guidelines that we will use starting with the 2nd Quarter for updating Infinite Campus.  I will follow this up with a communication to parents and students early in the 2nd quarter.  Final 1st Quarter grades should be posted by end of the day on Monday, November 9th.

End of Quarter 1 is Thursday
With the end of the quarter coming, students that are in danger of not passing should be on our radar.  Students should know their status and we should be working to get these students in during lunch or after school to get the skills and knowledge necessary to demonstrate at the very least a passing level.  If you need help getting students during lunch, please contact me.

Assembly Thursday afternoon
We will be having an End of the 1st Quarter Celebration Assembly on Thursday afternoon.  Students should be dismissed to the gym at 2:05, and we'll get started at 2:10.  The MS Leadership Team will have a role in the assembly and another Carelli Cup event will take place.

Professional Rounds Reminder
A reminder for teachers to fill out the "Professional Rounds" form after you have gotten into another teacher's classroom for a short visit.  At the time of this writing, we had 10 entries...If you didn't get a chance on Thursday, pop in some time today.

Honor Roll??
Another piece that came out from the Puma Pride Committee this past June was establishing a recognition system for our students.  We will be experimenting with a system to recognize the high achievement of our students.  At this time, we will look at recognizing students that have a Proficient or above in each standard, along with scoring ME's in all 5 Puma Pride characteristics for recognition.  I am interested in a more unique title than "Honor Roll"...but I haven't thought of anything...if you have ideas, please let me know.  If this seems to be a solid system, we will communicate with students and parents about the official recognition starting with 2nd quarter grades.

Student of the Month Breakfast
The next Student of the Month Breakfast will be Thursday, November 19th.  Please get names to the office by middle of next week.  Thank you 7th grade team for submitting your honorees.

Twitter Find of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  1h1 hour ago

How to motivate even the most unmotivated students: http://edut.io/JfmzBR .

Duty for Next Week
Morning - O'Connor
Bus - Hendrickson

Data
Attendance % through Week 10
15-16 - 95.68%
14-15 - 95.94%
13-14 - 96.4%
12-13 - 96.9%

The Middle Update 10/23/15

The early morning sun rise was a sight to see this morning on the drive to school.  A good start to a great Friday.  Check out below for some Middle School News & Notes.

End of the Quarter
This is a reminder that the End of the 1st Quarter is Thursday, 11/5.  Please take a moment early next week to ensure that students know where they stand in relation to the report card scores they are on track to receive in each standard.  We need to make sure students know that an NE score is really bad.  Please also ensure that any student in danger of receiving an NE in any standard has had supports put in place to get the feedback and assistance to raise their achievement in that standard.  There should not be any surprises come report card time.  Grades should be posted by end of day Monday, 11/9, and will be printed Tuesday morning, and mailed home.

Learning Goals Posted
In going from classroom to classroom, learning goals are posted in each room daily.  This is great because it communicates what the goals of instruction are for the class period.  As you write your daily learning goals, try to put these in student friendly language, and from the student perspective.  Students should be able to reflect at the end of the hour about whether they met the goal for that day's activities.

Connections with Kids
Making meaningful connection with our students is so important for that child, and the culture of our school.  As we go through our daily routines, take a moment to look for students that may need a little extra attention or support.  It is proven time and again that connected kids do better in school, and outside of school.  Take a moment to strike up a conversation with a student about anything but school.

Parent-Teacher Conference Wrap-Up
I have received some feedback from both parents and teachers about out PT conference session.  The Puma Pride Committee will review the feedback, and begin to plan for the spring conference session.  We had a great turnout!

Parent Conversation Tips
This short ARTICLE provides some good strategies to keep in mind to ensure that every conversation with a parent is meaningful and productive.  It is worth a quick read.

Staff Meeting Next Week
Reminder that we will have a Middle School Staff Meeting next Wednesday at 2:50 in Room #3.  We will hear reports from the Puma Pride committee and continuing to refine our systems and practices.

Twitter Post of the Week

edutopia ‏@edutopia  21h21 hours ago

In their own words: http://edut.to/1W4ycVs . #EmotionRevolution

215 retweets147 favorites

edutopia ‏@edutopia  55m55 minutes ago

10 Things Every New Teacher Needs to Know: http://edut.to/1GiuplB . #ntchat

73 retweets78 favorites

Duty Next Week
Morning - Lendobeja
Bus - Harms

Data
Parent-Teacher Conference Attendance -
230/258 - 89.1%