The Middle Update 4/28/17

Puma Pride Committee Meeting
At our monthly meeting this past week, we discussed a couple of different topics:
-Assignment Notebooks
-Hall Pass Procedures
-Puma Pride Rubric Revisions

We discussed and planned for some potential adjustments to the way we do things in these areas.  The committee members should be seeking feedback from their respective departments.  Proposals will be shared at our staff meeting on 5/10/17.

Article of the Week
The article this week centers around practical habits to ensure rigor in the classroom.

22 Ways to Add Rigor to Your Classroom

4th Quarter Grades

As a reminder, student progress grades should be posted for 4th quarter.  We'll send a note on Monday to parents that mid-quarter grades can be viewed in Infinite Campus.

Student of the Month Breakfast

Our final recognition breakfast will be on Thursday, May 4th.  Congratulations to this month's recipients!

Deven Ripp - Ella Wentz - Dylan Elsing - Elexus LaRoche

Savannah Burgess - Ella Kellett - Adam Hehl -  Savannah Hubbard     

Carelli Cup Home Stretch

The final event schedule has been adjusted slightly. The last event will take place on Friday, 5/26, with students being released at 2:25 to the 1-8 Gym.  Mrs. Serstad is planning the event.  Feedback or suggestions to make our time together with the kids in the gym fun and memorable is always welcome.  We will present the Carelli Cup to the winning grade after the final event on 5/26.  The winning grade will also receive an ice cream party sponsored by the Parent's Club.

End of the School Year Preparation
The remaining weeks of school will seem to go very fast.  As we plan for the end of the school year, a reminder that our guiding principles (each minute of class time is crucial for guiding students forward) hold true right up until the last minute of class on the last day of school.  We treat the last day/week of school as if it was any other.  We will run this Early Release Schedule on the last day of school with normal classes taking place.

Forward Exam InformationWith only a couple of students that need to participate in make-up sessions, we are almost complete with our annual state testing requirement.  Thank you for your flexibility in helping to make the sessions as seamless as possible.

Upcoming Dates
May 3rd - Math Department Mtg. - 2:50 - Mrs. Hendrickson's Room

May 3rd - Social Studies Department Mtg. - 2:50 - Mr. Kallungi's Room
May 10th - PMS Staff Meeting - 2:50 - Mrs. Anderson's Room

May 16th - Home Track Meet
May 18th - MS Spring Concert - 7:00 - 1-8 Gym

May 19th - Color Run -sponsored by PAD Parent Club

May 24th - Middle School Play Performance - 1:55 pm - 1-8 Gym

May 25th - Middle School Play Performance for the Public - 6:00 pm - 1-8 Gym
May 26th - Final Carelli Cup Event/Trophy Presentation - 2:25 pm

June 6th - 8th Graders Last Day/Field Trip/Dance

June 7th - Last Day - Early Release for all students at 12:30

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Filerman

The Middle Update 4/22/17

I hope everyone gets the chance to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend.  Weeks are flying by, and our focus remains the same...using each and every minute of class time to maximize the achievement of each of our students.

Article of the Week
An article highlighting the rationale and practical execution strategies for one of our guiding principles: schools should make every effort to convey the message that class time is sacred time...and being efficient and effective will accelerate our student's achievement.

Time-On-Task

4th Quarter Grades

We are already three weeks into the 4th quarter, which means it's almost time to post current achievment grades for the standards in your class.  Grades should be posted no later than the end of next week (4/28).  We'll send the "grades posted" notice to parents next Friday.  Please be proactive in communicating with parents of students who may not be performing up to their potential, with plans in place to hold the kids accountable.

Student of the Month Breakfast

Our final recognition breakfast will be on Thursday, May 4th.  Congratulations to this month's recipients!

Deven Ripp - Ella Wentz - Dylan Elsing - Elexus LaRoche

Savannah Burgess - Ella Kellett - Adam Hehl -  Savannah Hubbard     

Carelli Cup Home Stretch

We are nearing the home stretch in the race for the Carelli Cup.  One of the last events will take place on Thursday, 5/18, with students being released at 2:25 to the 1-8 Gym.  Mrs. Serstad is planning the event.  Feedback or suggestions to make our time together with the kids in the gym fun and memorable is always welcome.  We will have a more formal Carelli Cup Trophy presentation near the end of the school year.

End of the School Year Preparation
The remaining weeks of school will seem to go very fast.  As we plan for the end of the school year, a reminder that our guiding principles (each minute of class time is crucial for guiding students forward) hold true right up until the last minute of class on the last day of school.  We treat the last day/week of school as if it was any other.  We will run this Early Release Schedule on the last day of school with normal classes taking place.

Forward Exam Information
The 7th and 8th graders have completed their Forward Exam testing sessions.  The 6th graders will begin testing on Tuesday, 4/25.  The state testing season is almost done!  Thank you for your flexibility and efficiency in ensuring a successful testing environment and experience for our kids.

Forward Exam Testing Schedule

Tornado Drill Wrap-Up
The tornado drill that was conducted this past week was the most tornado drill that I have witnessed in our school.  Thank you for sharing the expectations with your students proactively, and for your work in creating the culture where our students execute those expectations.  Very nice!

Upcoming Dates
April 25th - April 27th - 6th Grade Forward Exam

April 25th - Home Track Meet

April 26th - Puma Pride Committee Meeting - 2:50 - Mr. Odden's Room

May 3rd - Math Department Mtg. - 2:50 - Mrs. Hendrickson's Room

May 3rd - Social Studies Department Mtg. - 2:50 - Mr. Kallungi's RoomMay 10th - PMS Staff Meeting - 2:50 - Mrs. Anderson's Room

May 16th - Home Track Meet

May 19th - Color Run -sponsored by PAD Parent Club

May 24th - Middle School Play Performance - 1:55 pm - 1-8 Gym

May 25th - Middle School Play Performance for the Public - 6:00 pm - 1-8 Gym

June 6th - 8th Graders Last Day/Field Trip/Dance

June 7th - Last Day - Early Release for all students at 12:30

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Williams

The Middle Update - Spring Break Edition

I hope all of you are enjoying your Spring Break!  Please take time to charge your battery for a strong stretch run.  I am enjoying my break as well, but also looking forward to our time together next week!  Enjoy your break.

Article of the Week
An article by a middle school teacher for a middle school teacher with some solid insights into flexible seating.

Flexible Seating in Middle School

End of the School Year Preparation
When return from Spring Break, we will find ourselves already two weeks into the 4th quarter.  That means that remaining weeks of school will seem to go very fast.  As we plan for the end of the school year, a reminder that our guiding principles (each minute of class time is crucial for guiding students forward) hold true right up until the last minute of class on the last day of school.  We treat the last day/week of school as if it was any other.  We will run this Early Release Schedule on the last day of school with normal classes taking place.

Forward Exam Information
The 8th graders have completed their Forward Exam testing sessions.  The 7th graders will begin testing on Tuesday, 4/18.  For 7th Grade IE on Monday, students will be meeting in Homeroom groups.  6th graders will begin on 4/25, and running their Test Prep Homeroom on Friday (4/21).

Forward Exam Testing Schedule

Tornado Drill Next Week
We will have a tornado drill on Thursday, April 20th with the Tornado Watch starting at 1:00, and the Tornado Warning going into effect at 1:45.  It will correlate with the state's tornado drill.  Please review the tornado drill procedures, and note the locations below.

-6th graders report to the Elementary Music Room
-7th graders report to the Band Room
-8th graders report to the hallway between Mr. Lendobeja and Mr. Odden's room

A Request from the IMC
A reminder to our MS Staff:  If you're allowing MS students to have a candy treat, please ask them NOT to eat it in the IMC.  Our wonderful custodian, Kristin, has been scraping candy out of the IMC carpet and picking up more & more wrappers every day.  We sincerely appreciate your support!  We try to keep the IMC a great place to collaborate for our students & we expect them to take responsibility in order to keep the area clean for all.

Upcoming Dates
April 10th - April 14th - Spring Break
April 17th - Science Dept. Mtg - 2:50 - Ms. Schoen's Room
April 18th - ELA Dept. Mtg. - 2:50 - Mrs. Rogness' Room
April 18th - April 21st - 7th Grade Forward Exam
April 20th - StatewideTornado Drill - 1:00 pm
April 25th - April 27th - 6th Grade Forward Exam
May 10th - PMS Staff Meeting - 2:50 - Mrs. Anderson's Room

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Vian

The Middle Update 3/31/17

After a hard fought victory by the staff team over the students Thursday night, we turn our attention to finishing a strong week of teaching and learning right up until the final minute before Spring Break.  Our 8th graders had a successful start to the Forward Exam season, and our classroom practices continue to be strong, maximizing the instructional time with students.

Quarter 3 Grades
3rd Quarter grades will be due by next Monday (4/3) morning.  On Monday, we'll print report cards and get them ready to mail out.  As a reminder, please use the comments field to provide feedback about student performance.

Staff Meeting Wrap-Up
Thank you for a solid staff meeting this past Wednesday.  Hearing from each other about the innovative practices that are happening was energizing to me, and I hope to you as well.  As you plan, keep in mind the culture of innovation we are striving for, and the skills we need our students to practice, receive feedback from, and grow.

Also, I appreciated your feedback on a couple of key school culture issues.  Your input will guide the work we do to shore up some of the areas that are in need.

Article of the Week
The title of the article this week is about Cultural Awareness, but the 6 tips given also provide insight into how we can maintain safe place for students, not only with cultural differences, but also other differences like socioeconomic status.  A short, solid read.

ARTICLE

Chrome book Care
The number of chrome books from our carts that have been damaged by students has been increasing steadily.  We are mainly having issues with the keys being moved.  A check-in procedure is necessary to ensure that students are not damaging the chrome books.  We need all of us working together to help maintain these essential resources.

Forward Exam Information
The 8th graders kicked off our Forward Exam testing season this past Thursday!  So far, things are going smoothly.  As a reminder, in a homeroom before each grade begins testing, we will have a "Forward Exam" special lesson for Homeroom.  This will be a critical time period used to pump our kids up to do well on the test, as well as to review the interface used for the Forward Exam.  Students will also be practicing the online testing tools in their respective Math and ELA classes.

Forward Exam Testing Schedule

Tornado Drill Next Week
A tornado drill is coming...time and day details will be shared ahead of time.

-6th graders report to the Elementary Music Room
-7th graders report to the Band Room
-8th graders report to the hallway between Mr. Lendobeja and Mr. Odden's room

MS Track Meet workers are almost set...
This Spring we will be hosting two middle school track meets.  The meets are on Tuesday, April 25th and Tuesday, May 16th.  The slots are filling up, but it looks like we still need a couple of workers.  To sign-up, please review this SPREADSHEET, and fill in your name on a slot to work.  Training will be provided if needed.  I'm sure the weather will be outstanding on these two nights.  Thanks to all who have signed up so far.

Upcoming Dates
March 30th - April 6th - 8th Grade Forward Exam
April 4th - ELA Dept. Mtg. - 2:50 - Mrs. Rogness' Room
April 5th - Social Studies Dept. Mtg. - 2:50 - Mr. Kallungi's Room
April 5th - Math Dept. Mtg. - 2:50 - Mrs. Hendrickson's Room
April 10th - April 14th - Spring Break
April 17th - Science Dept. Mtg - 2:50 - Ms. Schoen's Room
April 18th - April 21st - 7th Grade Forward Exam
April 25th - April 27th - 6th Grade Forward Exam

Duty Next Week
Morning - Johnson
Bus - Schoen

Images from the Week