Monday, September 23, 2019

Happy First Day of Fall!

      The cooler mornings are welcomed!  I love the crisp air as I take my morning walks.  Pumpkin and be found everywhere and in almost everything.  This time of year when our Stars have gotten comfortable and some behaviors may come to the surface as individuals or as groups.  

The playgrounds as a whole are becoming a concern with more games of chase and more physical games where students are pushing.  It is important to remember that there are no games of chase unless in the designated areas (Freeze Tag in the circle on the primary playground).  Games such as "Infection" are leading to large groups of students running around the playground and interrupting other games.  

I am aware that we need to create more structured games and this is a Tier One issue and we will be discussing it at the PBIS meeting this week and at our next staff meeting.

Thank you for messaging this to your students and we will have new games to teach your students shortly.

-Kirsten

Board Member and Superintendent Visit

Derk and some of our Board Members will be on campus tomorrow, Tuesday, September 24, 2019.   They will be meeting with me at 9:00 am and we will be walking classrooms after.  Thank you for all that you do and it is a pleasure to be able to walk the campus with pride knowing I work with all of you.

RTI/Data Team Summary

Thank you so much for your time and attention to your students through the data-driven conversations.  I appreciate your attention to detail and growth mindsets.  After meeting with both teams I had several take-aways; here are the two that rose to the top.

How are we monitoring FIRST instruction?  What are we using to progress monitor our instruction of the Essential Standard that is being taught?  What are our courses of action if we do not have 80% mastery?

How are we charting progress? If students are not at grade-level?  How are you monitoring their progress to see if the interventions are working?

AFG - Note from Brandon Blom

Good morning Thomas Jefferson teachers,

I wanted to send one last email to see if anyone from your school site was interested in joining the Elementary Assessment, Feedback, and Grading (AFG) Committee.  Unfortunately, Thomas Jefferson is one of only 2 sites without a rep. We would love for every site to have the opportunity to have a voice in this process, give feedback to the committee, and have a teacher from your site inform staff along the way as the committee makes recommendations to align policies and practices moving forward.

This will be a two-year journey.  Some of the topics we will be coming to common agreements around include but are not limited to the following:

• The Academic Behavior & College Readiness Skills reported on the report card
• The language of T, B, and L and if that should change
• The definitions of the learning levels (currently T, B, L)
• Science and history grades on the report card
• PowerSchool Setup

Here is a document with more details about the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the AFG Committee.   

If you have any questions about the Committee or are interested in joining, please let me know.  - Brandon

Progress Report Reminder

A reminder that the Progress Report date is 9/27.  You can find all dates relating to progress reports and report cards using the tab at the top of this blog.  Brandon Blom will be emailing out more detailed information early next week.
How to Print Elementary Progress Report

October 31st PD Presenter Application

We are in the process of planning for our Professional Development Day on October 31, 2019.  Our goal for the day is to support our professionals as we gain strategies and knowledge around supporting all of our students, by name, face, and story!  As we build out the day we are looking for presenters who can share their knowledge and talents with all of us.  

If you are interested in presenting, please complete the form below.  The form will be open from September 3-26.  Our team will be looking through the topics and will contact you by September 27 to let you know if your application to present has been accepted.

Details:  Applicants would present 1-2 sessions, each being 1 hour and 15 minutes in length.  Presenters will be paid an hourly rate for 2 hours prep. per session presenting. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Presenter Application: October 31, 2019