The world of education is overwhelmed with jargon such as "vision" and "mission". Indeed, it is important to embrace our vision for the future and live our mission daily, but those words can become less impactful if we fail to embrace the moment and trust the process. Two years ago, I challenged our faculty and staff with a comment made by someone at our district office. The comment implied that while we were a great school, we were "just 50th" in the state. Our goal is to improve on that ranking and be the best we can be. In order to make this happen, we have to be willing to adapt. We have to push ourselves to do "one more thing" when we are already burdened by workload. Our students deserve it. We deserve it. How do we get there? Trust the process. According to dictionary.com, a process is described as a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner. There is no doubt that we are headed in a positive direction. Our focus on continuous improvement and the many changes taking place naturally push us onward. My challenge today for you all is simple, take it day-by-day. Pour your heart and soul into your students daily. Trust the process.
Vertical Team Meeting on Thursday:
ELA Teachers are reminded of our vertical team meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd at 3:10 P.M. in the PD Room. We plan to tackle TDA again, but also discuss some expectations school-wide for writing. Please plan to attend and also share. These opportunities are made much more productive when our teachers share their expertise and collaborate.
Early Act First Knight (EAFK) Ceremonies:
EAFK Ceremonies will be held on Friday, March 3rd in the afternoon. 3rd grade - 12:05, 4th grade - 12:55, 5th grade 1:45. We will call each grade level to the MP Room when we are ready. Please keep your paragraphs for each child (that you will read aloud) to a reasonable length. Additionally, please discuss with your class the importance of entering and leaving the MP Room quietly as well as showing respect during the ceremony.
MAP Testing:
The MAP testing window officially opened on Wednesday this week. Please make sure you have signed your class up for sessions via the hardcopy calendars located outside each lab. Testing needs to be completed before Spring Break. As we discussed in our last meeting, please make sure you have engaged your class in goal setting, using the form created by Mrs. Preisig, before your class MAP tests.
Tornado Drill:
We will participate in the state-wide tornado drill on the 8th at 9:00 A.M. We will make an announcement at that time to prepare everyone for the drill. We will ring the bell to signal the beginning of our drill. You will head to a protected hallway at that time. We will then ring another bell to signal the end of the drill. Please refer to the link below to assist you in preparing your class for the drill.
Running Club:
Running club starts back on Thursday, March 9th. We are asking that ALL Running Club participants report to the multi-purpose room with car riders until teachers come to get them at 2:45 P.M. Please make note of this change in procedure. A calendar for running club was shared with everyone as well.
Literacy Night was a huge success. We had over 260 people attend. Thanks to Mrs. Martin for her leadership and making this event run smoothly. Thanks to all of our faculty and staff who attended and served in a variety of ways. This Tiger was very appreciative our our Gamecock friends who did a wonderful job engaging our students. What a fun night!
The Greenville Drive Reading All Stars Program ends on March 17th. We are inching closer to our goal of 300 students. Thanks to our teachers who have embraced this challenge and encouraged their students to read and participate.
Speaking of literacy, thanks to Mrs. Martin for reading aloud to MANY of our classes during World Wide Read Aloud Day. By the way, I am always impressed when I walk by rooms and hear our teachers reading aloud to students.
Some members of our leadership team visited Monarch Elementary School in Greenville County to learn about their implementation of PBL. It was great to get outside the walls of our building and connect with other educators. I am hopeful we can soon share what we observed. No matter what we observed, each time I leave our building, I am always reminded of how blessed we are to work at PVES.
I would like to officially welcome Mrs. Ashley Williams to our 4th grade team for the 17-18 school year. Mrs. Williams will be transferring to us from Palmetto Middle School. She has taught 6th grade math there for 13 years but is excited about come to PVES and a new challenge! She has elementary certification and looks forward to meeting her new teammates soon.
Moore's Musings:
As we discussed in our last faculty meeting, we are in the "prime time" in terms of preparing our students for testing. Make every minute count. However, promote a positive and encouraging message to our students. If you don't stress, they won't stress. We are in this together and we will succeed. Keep trusting the process.
Mark Your Calendar (MYC):
As always, please constantly refer to our shared calendar. This is your responsibility. Let us know if we need to add any dates.
Video of the Week:
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