My gamecock friends will have to forgive me for the picture above, but it fits nicely with the theme of our blog this week: Champions. No, this this is not a blog about college football, but so many parallels exist between sports and the real world. Champions are persons who have defeated all opponents in a game or competition. However, champions are also persons who fight for and defend other people and causes. We as educators must be champions. We must aspire to be, as the quote above suggests, overachievers in every sense of the word. Just like a football game, we battle for four quarters to be the best. We take great pride in this school, in part, due to our many successes of the past. Even deeper still, we should strive to be champions for our students. They are the reason we do what we do. We take them all on this 180 day journey. We do not leave any behind. We champion their cause as our own. In the hustle and bustle of this busy time of year, let us please never forget this. Many of you recall "your word" that we asked you to think of and focus on this school year. A word that defines you and a word that helps to lead and guide you along the way. This idea is taken from Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus. Interestingly enough, Dabo Swinney has worked with Jon Gordon to create a more positive environment at Clemson. When being interviewed after the national championship game, Dabo had some interesting remarks about "his word" for the season. I think we could adopt his word as our own. Love. Isn't that what we are all about? Love for one another, our school, our students.
"I told them that the difference in the game was going to be love. It’s been my word. My word all year’s been love. And I said, ‘Tonight we’re going to win it because we love each other." ~ Coach Dabo Swinney
Thanks to those who attended our spirit night at Chic-Fil-A on Tuesday evening. I appreciate the support our teachers give our students are our school!
This is a great idea from Mrs. White/Mrs. Kallin's class. Kudos to those students for reflecting on their independent reading and creating new reading goals for the new year.
The I in PRIDE stands for INNOVATIVE. Compliments of Mrs. Horn and Ms. Lockaby, here are some innovative practices. Students used their iPads to record conversations with their peers as they practiced writing dialogue. Also, students worked on finding factors and multiples and identifying prime and composite numbers using the Venn Diagram app.
PVES Art students participated in the 2017 Anti-Litter Calendar Contest, sponsored by Keep Anderson County Beautiful (a Keep America Beautiful affiliate). Students created artwork that reflected the theme of "Love Where you Live," by promoting community pride, recycling, and anti-litter efforts. Twelve entries were submitted from our school, and over three hundred entries were submitted county-wide. Of those, three Powdersville Elementary students were chosen to have their artwork included in the calendar: Alissa Searcy (3rd grade), London Faust (4th), and Kyleigh Johnson (5th). Thousands of the calendars will be distributed to businesses, schools, and organizations across Anderson County. We are very proud of these students!
I just had to share this picture I took earlier this week from morning car duty. In my opinion, scenes like this are evidence of a greater Champion who has entrusted us with the huge responsibility of educating our students!
Math Professional Development:
Math teachers please do not forget your next professional development session with Mrs. Preisig scheduled for Thursday, November 11th during your planning. It has been incredible to watch guided math take shape in our math classrooms and there is not doubt we have benefited from these sessions.
Time Away from School:
Don't forget that Monday, January 16th is MLK Day and there is no school. Tuesday, January 17th is a teacher work day. As you probably know, if you attended both days of summer academy, you earned two comp days to be used on the two teacher work days listed above. If you attended only one of the two summer academy days, you have the option to take your comp day on either 1/17 or 2/20.
For those of you who did not attend either of the summer academy days or only one of the summer academy days, you have two options:
1.) Email Mr. Moore and Mrs. Tollison and request to take a personal day(s). You will then need to place this absence(s) in absence manager ASAP.
2.) Attend the scheduled district staff development on the teacher work days. The January 17th staff development is scheduled for room 410 at Powdersville High School from 8:30-3:30. The title of the session is A Flurry of Technology. A separate session will be scheduled for February 20th staff development.
Mrs. Tollison and I do have a document listing who received credit for summer academy if you need assistance. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have specific questions.
Vertical Teaming:
We are excited about our ELA Vertical Teaming session scheduled for Wednesday, January 18th at 3:10 in the PD Room. We asked those teachers who attended TDA training to meet with their grade level teams to disseminate this information. Our goal in the vertical team session is to go farther with this information and discuss how individual grade levels are approaching the difficult task of preparing our students for SC-READY. We hope, in turn, that we will be able to share ideas and create a smooth transition of ideas and methods being implemented from grade-to-grade.
End of 9 Weeks Reminder:
Please again be reminded that the end of the 2nd 9 weeks is Friday. Make sure grades are in the grade book and accurate. Refer to the reminders below:
- Grades due before you leave on 1/18
- Verifications printed and place in teacher boxes on 1/19. Please check these carefully, sign, and give back to Patty.
- Report cards printed 1/23
- Report cards go home to parents on 1/25
- Friday, January 13th is a blue jean day.
Moore's Musings:
We have reached that very crucial time of year; after Christmas Break and before Spring Break. There are few breaks, but this affords us some consistent opportunities with our students. Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Tollison and I have been working on a testing calendar for SC-READY and SC-PASS. All grades will take SC-READY (ELA Day 1 and 2 and Math). 4th and 5th grades will take SC-PASS (Science and Social Studies). Everyone will take these assessments online. This presents a difficult challenge and we will discuss the schedule in more detail in future meetings. Testing begins on April 24th and runs through the end of May. We need to keep the May calendar as "uneventful" as possible so please remember that when scheduling events.
Mark Your Calendar (MYCs):
- Thursday, January 12th - Math PD w/Preisig
- Friday, January 13th - End of 2nd 9 Weeks and F&P Levels Due (mid-year)
- Monday, January 16th - MLK Day - No School
- Tuesday, January 17th - Staff Development Day/Comp Day
- Wednesday, January 18th at 3:10 - ELA Vertical Team Session
- Monday, January 23rd - Good News Club Begins Again
- Wednesday, January 25th - Fire Drill
- Wednesday, January 25th - Report Cards Go Home
Video of the Week:
No comments:
Post a Comment