The Middle Update 3/22/19

I hope everyone has a nice, relaxing, enjoyable spring break.  When we come back on April 1st, we'll only have 10 weeks left to leave a lasting impression on our kids.  We'll be moving fast and furious when we get back, as there is 1 week left in the 3rd quarter, Forward Testing on the horizon, and working feverishly to not let the days missed due to weather have an impact on the learning of our kids!

Math Dominance Continues
This week our 7th/8th Grade Math teams participated in their Regional Competition.  Like we are growing accustomed to as of late, they took home 1st Place!  They have earned the rite to participate in the State Mega Math Meet in May!  Please congratulate them when you see them.


Staff Meeting Recap
At our MS Staff Meeting this past Wednesday, we were able to hear about Educational Equity from our teachers participating in the Equity Book Study, and we were able to analyze a snapshot of our student performance data.  I believe the conversations were great, and the baseline knowledge of areas we are doing well in, and areas we need to grow upon, will serve us well in our future work, focusing on constantly trying to get better in all that we do.  Thank you for each of your contributions.

Forward Testing Training
We will be meeting on Wednesday (4/3) at 2:55 for our Forward Exam Training.  DPI has a more formal presentation for our training, so we'll all get to experience that together on Wednesday afternoon.  We will meet in Mrs. Rogness' classroom.

Budget Process
Thank you to all of you for getting your budget requests to me.  I'll be reviewing the requisitions over break, and following up after break if there are questions or things that needed to be adjusted.

Virtual Author Visit
Mr. Johnson's class got a special visit from one of the class' favorite authors, Bethany Wiggins.  She is the author of the noted Dystopian novels, "Stung" and "Cured".  The class was really excited to hear from her, and learn about some of the backstory to how she wrote the books most have already read.  She also shared about her journey to becoming an author.  It was an exciting learning experience!



Images from the Week

The Middle Update 3/15/19

Resource of the Week
Closing the achievement gap is a critical focus area for schools.  Our school is no different...on our last school report card, we scored our lowest score in recent years in the "Closing Gaps" category.  The Equity Book Study Group is learning more in depth about what equitable practices are and look like in schools.  This week's article shares more information about how we, and others, can do to continue to close this gap.  In our school, data points to lower performance among our students with low socioeconomic status, students with disabilities, and also gender (male) and their counterparts.  We will continue to work towards identifying the barriers that can cause these gaps and removing them.  Check out this week's article to learn more!

"Closing the Achievement Gap - All Students Can Learn" - Larry Leverett

""All children can learn." We also know that certain things must be in place for this to happen, including, but not limited to, varying instructional approaches to match the learning styles of students, differentiating instruction, providing access to high-quality preschool programs, consistently exposing students to high-quality instruction, generating support from families and communities, and consistently scaling up implementation of best-practice instructional strategies and approaches in all classrooms and in all content areas."

Equity Book Study Update
We have over 20 teachers in our district participating in a book study about the book, "Building Equity".  We met on Tuesday evening for our first in-person session.  Good discussion was had, and we'll have an update from our work at Wednesday's Staff Meeting.

Staff Meeting Next Week
We will meet as a Middle School Staff this coming Wednesday (3/20).  We'll get started at 2:55 in Mrs. Rogness' room.

Couple of Achievements to Brag About
5th/6th Grade Math Teams - 1st and 3rd Place at this week's meet

Leadership Group Students Working to Set Up a Senior Citizen Party at Pioneer Place

Hoops 4 Heart Tuesday Night
Our annual battle on the hardwood will take place on Tuesday night.  Tip-off is set for 5:00pm.  I'm sure another epic battle that students will talk about for a long time is certain to take place.  Thanks to all that have agreed to participate and will attend.

Pictures for Yearbook
If you have some pictures that you have taken, please share them to the MS Pictures Folder.  Our Parent's Club is working on organizing another great yearbook, and the more pictures they have to use, the better the yearbook will be.  Thanks in advance for your contributions.

Budget Reminder
This is a reminder to please have department budget requests to me by next Friday.  I will be reviewing over Spring Break and following up afterwards with teachers if necessary.

Safety Drill Next Week
We will be conducting a Safety Drill this coming week.  More details to follow.

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 3/8/19

Resource of the Week
We have a high number of our staff members engaged in our "Educational Equity" book study.  As the book study group learns more in depth about what educational equity looks like in schools, and reflects on our practices along the way, I thought I'd share a brief article about highlighting what equity in schools is all about.

"What Equity Really Means in Schools" by Jennifer Gunn

Forward Exam on the Horizon
We are a little more than a month away from the annual Forward Exam.  We will be doing some test prep in an upcoming Homeroom and built in to some classes.  Our testing format will be different this year than last year.  All students will be testing at the same time, and we'll utilize all of our teachers as proctors to ensure small, focused, testing groups.  You can see a draft of our Testing Schedule HERE.  Testing groups will be based off of Homeroom groups, but will be modified slightly to accommodate the need for some small testing groups.  Please note our Proctor Training date of Wednesday, April 3rd.

Budget Process
Budget packets and information was shared earlier this week.  Please have your requisitions and summary sheets submitted to me by March 20th.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the budget process.

Some Staffing News
As we prepare for next year, there are a couple of staff shifts to announce.  Starting next year, Mrs. Weckerly will be taking over the 6th/8th Grade Math position currently taught by Mrs. Andringa.  Mrs. Andringa will slide back into her Special Education teaching role, and we will be welcoming Mrs. Rebecca Smith to our Middle School team in Mrs. Weckerly's current 6th Science/7th Math position.  Mrs. Smith currently teaches 5th graders and is excited about the opportunity to focus on teaching Math and Science.  If you see Mrs. Smith, welcome her to our team!

Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences Wrap-Up
Thank you for your efforts on our Spring Parent-Teacher Conference Night.  It seemed like a busy night, with many focused conferences aimed at working with parents to help guide their child to more success.  I hosted a couple of sessions focused on helping parents understand how to fully track their child's progress in school.  I was also able to share assessments with them so they can better interpret their child's performance in each class.  While we only had 3 students represented, I felt it was a great place to build future communications like that in the future.  Also, special thanks to Mr. Hazard and Mrs. Graeve for their work in setting up some student performances in the cafeteria.  The performances brought in more people into our building and highlighted our students in a positive way!

Ms. Pittner Sharing her Work with Other Educators
Maria Pittner presented at the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers State Conference this past Thursday.  She presented on the use of phenomenon-based instruction in the Science classroom.  She represented herself and our school tremendously.  Great job Maria!

 

Upcoming MS Staff Meeting
Please mark your calendars for our next Staff Meeting, which will be on Wednesday, March 20th at 2:55 in Mrs. Rogness' Classroom.

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 3/3/19

A great week lies ahead!  How many students can you make a big, positive difference for this week?

Resource of the Week

A quick video that gives a neat strategy for students to give that all-important peer feedback to each other.

Parent-Teacher Conferences
Spring PT Conferences are approaching rapidly.  This spring will be different than in the past because instead of two nights of conferences, we'll have only one.  Please look ahead and reach out to parents with an invitation to participate in a conference for any student that is in need (NE's or BE's or for any other student that you may have some concerns that you want to connect with parents).  Also for this night, we are inviting all parents in to either check in with teachers or hear a presentation from me about how to really understand student progress at PMS.

Also, we'd like to start a student talent tradition for Spring Conferences.  Please be thinking about ways to display student talent on this night.  If we could have students come in, present or display projects, or show parents cool things they have created or written, that would be a start.  We'll continue to discuss ways in which we can make the most of this evening.

Our Own Staff as Resources- How Cool

Thank you to those of you who have been willing to be recorded this year.  Our own videos are great resources for all of us as we work to refine our teaching practices.  Katie and Anna are starting to add to our collection of staff instructional videos on our district YouTube Channel.  Let them know if you have something you would like recorded or to share.

Middle School Staff Members Needed...
This Spring we will be hosting two middle school track meets.  I'm not sure of the dates yet as of this writing, but will be sharing soon.  Last year, we had a great turnout of our staff to support our students and connect with some of our parents.

Upcoming Calendar Items
-PMS Staff Meeting - 2:55 pm on Wednesday (3/20)
-Next Student of the Month Breakfast will be on Thursday (3/21)
-April 3rd - 2:50 pm - Forward Exam Teacher Prep Training - location (Mrs. Rogness' Room)
-Forward Testing will begin Week of April 15th - All Teachers with a Homeroom will proctor

Images from the Week