Control

Control. As teachers, we seek control on a daily basis. We want to control our classrooms so that students are on task and learning. We want to have control of content so we know what to teach. We desire to control "best practices" so we can reach our students. We spend countless hours grading papers, posting in SeeSaw, creating newsletters and more. Why? So we can control the message that is communicated to our students and parents. Control is a big deal to us. And what makes this pursuit difficult is the fact that we deal with so many unknowns. Children are all different. Work is demanding. Our own expectations and goals are ambitious. Typically, the result of seeking too much control is stress. Stress, that ultimately, can make our job much more challenging. Control is defined as exercising control or restrain over; to dominate; to command. I have used the graphic above before, but it is too good not to share again. This week, you are asked to focus on what you can control and worry less about those things outside of your control. Our faculty and staff is the best. However, part of being the best is a tremendous pressure to keep getting better. Let's enjoy our students and the precious time we have with them to help them learn. Let's build relationships with our students and one another. Focus on the positive. Control the input. 

Let's take a look around PVES ...

 

Some students visited the media center to learn about note taking while others participated in a "book tasting" with Mrs. Fowler. Mrs Fowler looks forward to planning more opportunities to team teach with other teachers and invite students into the media center to learn. Teachers, don't forget to include Mrs. Fowler when you plan each week. 

Reflex Math is up and running. We want our students to be motivated and in control of their learning. Reflex Math is a fun way for students to learn their math facts. 4th grade already has a class competition underway! We will be pulling students for PRIDE Time this week to also work in this program. Please send feedback to Mrs. Tollison and me as you use the program. 

Mrs. Tollison and I are working to get Chrome Book carts ready for teachers and students to use. Training for this, provided by the district, will take place this week during Live PD. We want to create a positive environment for our students to learn (and to test). 

Mr. Miller, president of the Anderson County Bee Keeper's Association, stopped by to help kick off our 3rd grade PBL unit. Students were challenged think about how they can protect honey bees. PBL takes some work and causes us to hand over some of the control of learning to the students, but the results are sure to come. 

Mrs. Fowler, Ms. Lee, Mrs. Redmon, and Mrs. Martin presented our second installment of OLWEUS training in the media center. Thanks! We continue to work on our time line for rolling out this program, and I appreciate everyone participating and learning how they can help us implement OLWEUS with success. 

Mrs. Jamie stopped by to dance with Ms. Marino's class one day last week. I thought this was a great reminder to stay focused on what you can control. For Jamie, she could focus on the countless children who visit her office (some sick, some not) or simply focus on an opportunity to enjoy our students. 

Teacher Data Meetings:

You can now sign up for an opportunity to share the data you have collected and analyzed pertaining to the students you serve this year. Simply look for a slot that works for you on our shared calendar and sign up for a "Book Me" time. We want to take a few minutes to discuss with you the make-up of your class. Your strengths; your challenges. What are your ideas to help students improve and what are you doing to ensure their success? What can we do to offer support? We look forward to meeting with you. There are a few slots available for this week and a bunch available the week of  10/30-11/3. Check out the available slots here.

ALiCE Drill:

Our ALiCE Drill will take place on Wednesday, October 18th. We will perform the drill at some point after lunch. Obviously, we have informed parents of this drill via a letter sent in progress report folders last week. You will want to make sure you have discussed the drill with your students prior to Wednesday. We will get on the "all call" and let everyone know that the drill is beginning and is "just a drill."  We will then disseminate information, as much as possible, for the next few minutes and allow you to respond as you see necessary. We will have an individual acting as our intruder. His job is not to scare our students, but simply to check doors and give us feedback on what he/she sees while walking around the building. It is also good practice for the office as we use the safe room. After the event, please take a few moments to discuss the drill with your students and praise the positive things that occurred during the drill. 

Q: Do we evacuate? 

A: If you feel evacuating the building gives your class the best opportunity to be safe, yes. 

Q: Do we have students jump out through windows in our classroom?

A: No. You can certainly discuss with students that this is an option during the "real thing" but we will not use windows as an escape option during the drill.

Q: If we evacuate, do we go all the way to the reunification point? 

A: No. You will simply leave the building and stand outside until an all clear is given (similar to fire drill). Don't forget your walkie, class list, etc if you do evacuate. 

Live PD:

Our next Live PD event is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18th. Nicole Alford will be training us on using Chrome Books. Pay close attention to our Live PD agenda and let us know if you have any questions. 

Earthquake and Fire Drills:

We will certainly be glad to have drills behind us this week. On Thursday, October 19th we will have participate in the Great ShakeOut with millions of others across the country. This is an earthquake drill. You can remind your class how to quickly respond in the event of an earthquake using this link. The drill will begin at 10:19 A.M. when Mrs. Tollison makes an announcement. The drill will last one minute and Mrs. Tollison will then announce the conclusion of the drill. Immediately afterward, please expect a fire drill and respond as necessary. Thanks for taking these drills seriously as it should be second nature in terms of our reaction if and when an emergency occurs. 

High School Parade:

Powdersville High School has again invited the feeder schools to a homecoming parade. This is a huge community event. This year's parade is scheduled for Friday, October 20th at 1:30 P.M. Mrs. Tollison will announce for grade levels to line up and leave the school building and head to the bus access road behind our property (next to the football stadium). We will line the sidewalk area on our side of the property and watch the parade from there. After the parade, you are dismissed back to your classrooms for the remainder of the day. We will need "all hands on deck" at the parade site in order to provide for the safety and security of our students. 

Moore's Musings:

Mrs. Tollison, Mrs. Lee, and Mr. Moore have been working on a few ideas to provide a few "stress free" time periods for our teachers. From chill pills to "cover my recess" passes and duty free lunch, we are committed to supporting you! More to come soon, but we want to control what we can control and part of that means loving on you. Let's start with this. Thursday and Friday are blue jean days. Please wear your PVES school shirt on Friday! 

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

• PVES "New Best" Meeting on 10/17 at 2:40 P.M.
• 4th Grade Launch Field Trip on 10/17
• 3rd Grade to Vulcan on 10/17
• 3rd Grade to Vulcan on 10/18
• AliCE Drill on 10/18
• Live PD on 10/18
• Earthquake and Fire Drills on 10/19
• Homecoming Parade on 10/20 

Goals

Successful people have a variety of traits and practices that they share in common. Setting goals is one such practice. Goals are defined as the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. Notice there are two parts to this definition. The end result, the goal itself, is one part. The effort to achieve the end result being the other. As educators, we are tasked with goal setting on a daily basis. From MAP /SC-READY scores, to GBEs and from SLOs to IEPs, we are held accountable by results. Right or wrong, we are entrusted with responsibility of creating a classroom environment in which students can learn and experience success. When we meet our goals that means our students are achieving at high levels.  Furthermore, we must teach our students to set goals. We need to give them the tools and knowledge they need to assist them in reaching those goals. We need to cheer them on and offer support as they learn how to provide the effort necessary to achieve the end result. Our school will be better and experience more successes when we work as a team to accomplish tasks that lead to our goals being achieved. Here are some goals our school is intentional about achieving: 

• Creating a positive classroom and school culture designed around positive relationships, support and teamwork.
• Using differentiated learning opportunities to reach all learners. 
• Providing support, both academic and non-academic, to strategically equip our students to be successful.  

Let's check out some of the action  from this past week at PVES...

Ella Grace Payne was born on the evening of October 2nd. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and 21 inches long. Mom and baby are doing well. We are thrilled for Blake and Sarah. The first goal after a baby is born is to safely get home and begin a new life together. I am happy to report their first goal has been achieved! 

Speaking of goals, we told everyone in our first Live PD session that we would install a Pineapple Chart in the main office across from the teacher boxes. I am pleased to report that the first part of our goal has been completed. Doesn't it look great?  The next steps are the most important, however. We need you, the teachers, to share the great things happening in your classrooms each week by filling out the pineapple chart. Write your name, content of the lesson, and time frame in the correct location on the chart. As you walk by, notice the great lessons being taught and make plans to visit and observe. There are no forms and no pressure. This is professional development in its purest form. Just show up and watch great teaching in action. 

Thanks to everyone for participating in our LivePD session on Wednesday. We kicked off our OLWEUS Bullying Prevention training with a Mexican theme. Thanks to Mrs. Tollison, Mrs. Golden, and Mrs. Heath for helping make this a huge success. We learned about what bullying is and what it is not. We know how important having a safe environment that is conducive to learning is to our students and their success. Our goal is to kick this program off in November and fully implement this year. 

This picture was taken during our Goals-Based Evaluation (GBE) training. We appreciate the lemon pie, Mrs. Fowler. Whether you are completing a GBE evaluation, SLO, SAFE-T...or any other acronym...you  know the importance if working hard to achieve your goals. The evaluation instruments we use do focus on student achievement and that is very much in line with our goals at PVES. 

5th grade students were challenged to think about how to reduce waste in our school during their PBL kick-off event on Friday. 5th grade teachers have worked, and planned, very hard to make this PBL a huge success. I cannot wait to see it in action! Don't forget a few huge components to a successful PBL:

• A kick-off event that grabs the attention of the students and motivates them to want to help solve a problem or develop a solution to some sort of question that is posed to them. 
• A focus on high-impact content that integrates "big" standards in such a way as to create meaningful experiences for students that target high impact takeaways. 
• An opportunity for students to share their findings in an authentic way with a real audience. 

Live PD:

Our next LivePD session is scheduled for Wednesday, October 11th at 3:15 in the media center. We will continue our training on the OLWEUS Bullying Prevention program. Check out our Live PD Session Description for more information! 

*As a side note, don't forget our quick meeting in the media center scheduled for Monday, October 9th involving iPads - scheduled by Mr. Havird. 

ROAR Committee:

Please don't forget to join the ROAR Committee (formally known as Hospitality). You can make a check payable to PVES for $35. Mrs. Kallin has worked diligently to set up guidelines for this committee. Please take time to read them. I think you will be excited to know that one of our goals is to have a Faculty/Staff event each nine week period designed to allow us to get to know one another and enjoy our PVES family! 

Progress Report Folders:

Progress report folders should be sent home with students on Wednesday, October 11th. Before Wednesday, you should receive two letters to place in folders for parents. One letter is about ALiCE and our upcoming drill scheduled for October 18th. The second is a letter about our School Improvement Council (SIC). 

Grade Level Meetings:

Thanks to all grade levels for your time and attention during our grade level meetings last week. We discussed some important information concerning PRIDE Time and upcoming Conference Day. Please review our agenda from the meeting and let us know if you have any questions. Third grade teachers, don't forget we are meeting with you for about 5-10 minutes during your planning in Monday to go over additional Read2Succeed information. 

Moore's Musings:

Don't forget to be working on your SLO for the 17-18 school year. Additionally, you are reminded to have your "homework" completed soon. Your goal should be to know your students better than ever and tie your knowledge of your students strengths and weaknesses into your evaluation. This means we are laser-like focused on individual student needs. Our instruction in the classroom, including PRIDE Time, should reflect the needs of our students. This is challenging, but also highly rewarding. I have the utmost faith in your PVES faculty and staff to work together as a team to reach our goals!

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

Make sure you are checking our shared calendar for updates.

• Make-up pictures in Strings Room - October 9th
• Faculty meeting in Media Center - October 9th 
• Papa Johns "Dollars for Dough" - October 10th and 11th 
• Progress Report Folders Go Home - October 11th
• Live PD - 3:15 PM on October 11th 
• Student Service Council - 2:45 P.M. on October 12th (Hughes's Room) 
• Blue Jean Day - October 13th (to combat Friday 13th evil forces). 

Videos of the Week: We Were Designed to Set Goals and Reach Them!

Whatever It Takes

The hallways, classrooms, and other areas around the building look and sound a little different this year at PVES. Classrooms are being transformed into "coffee shop" style learning environments, and a couple of classrooms even took on a submarine look. Teachers are meeting with small groups of learners all throughout the day during their reading and math lessons. In the cafeteria, some teachers cane be found eating with their students and getting to know them better. Our gardens boxes have produced sweet potatoes but even more impressive are the real world conversations and learning taking place between teachers and students outside their classrooms. Teachers continue to meet to plan some amazing out-of-the-box PBL units for our students. PRIDE time is in full gear and students are moving down the hall before 8:10 and being served during very intentional intervention. Teachers on morning duty are reading to students and some even studying for tests on the third grade hallways. The bottom line is we, as Team PVES, are adopting the mentality to do whatever it takes to reach our students. It is quite impressive to take a moment and reflect on it all. If you have have not done so I challenge you to stop and look around at all that is taking place in our building for our kids. As one teacher put it earlier last week, this is becoming the new norm. 

Here are some of the examples of the great things happening around PVES...

In art this week Mrs. Marino's class decorated pumpkins they picked on their field trip. They turned out so great! 

Fifth graders kicked off their Decimal Olympics this week with an opening ceremony led by their "coaches" on the blacktop. They have participated in various events to set the stage for their decimal unit. Thank you to all of these folks for working so hard to make learning fun and engaging! 

Teachers took the time to eat with their students and engage in some conversations. This is a great way to get connected and learn more about our students.

Another great way to connect and show our students we are invested in them is by supporting them outside of the classroom. Thank you to all these wonderful folks who took the time this week to go out and support our PLAY U10 football team. 

Our third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers had the opportunity to participate in planning for some Problem Based Learning units coming up this year. This was a refreshing time to see such wonderful educators collaborating and pushing the boundaries of traditional learning. Thank you to our teachers for coming in prepared and ready to work! You are an exceptional group, and I personally cannot wait to see these units in action. 

MAP Testing
We have received an extension for MAP testing to continue this week. A new calendar has been posted outside of both computer labs for folks to use this week to finish up. If you are a homeroom teacher and your class has completed MAP testing remember to start working on collecting this data in your homework sheets. Once these have been completed, please add them to this folder. We will start setting up data meetings for teachers soon. We want to use data to better know and serve our students.

Grade Level Meetings
Mr. Moore and Mrs. Tollison would like to meet with grade levels during your grade level meetings this week beginning at 3:30. We will have an agenda and some topics we want to make sure to discuss with grade levels. Thank you in advanced for your time and attention. 

Live PD
You do not want to miss this week's Live PD session as we work as an entire staff to learn about our new Anti-Bullying program called Olweus. We will have snacks and fun! Please be on time as we have much to accomplish. You do not need any materials for this meeting so just bring your energy and excitement. 

Tollison's Tidings:
We have gotten off to an excellent start with our school-wide expectations and behavior system. Thank you to all who have worked hard to make this happen. Please continue to look for classes showing their PVES Pride in the hallways, restrooms, and cafeteria and reward them with a lion head. If you need more lion heads, those can be found in the workroom by the Ellison machine. 

Please continue to use SeeSaw to share the wonderful things happening in your classrooms. If you need some help with this platform feel free to book an appointment with Nicole Alford. We also have several SeeSaw Ambassadors in our building who can help!

Mark Your Calendar
Tuesday, October 3rd- Last morning to visit the Bookfair
Friday, October 6th- Fountas and Pinnell Levels are due
Friday, October 6th- PTSO CFA Biscuit sales and spirit Friday

Video of the Week:

Please watch this month's "In the Know" to be aware of the things happening this month at PVES.