Great Expectations

Expectation. As educators, we know the word well. Our community has very high expectations for our school. We have even higher expectations for ourselves. And for our students, well, how much they can succeed is often determined by the level of expectation we set in our classrooms. Expectations can be defined as the act or state of looking forward to or anticipating. In other words, there is a futuristic meaning behind the word. Our expectations are for something yet to occur. However, what we do in the present often determines what will truly take place in the future. I like another definition for the word that I came across: the degree of probability that something will occur. To put it in educational terms, the degree to which our students will succeed based on our plan, our influence, and our positive interactions. Do your students know what you expect from them in all areas of the school? The hallways, the cafeteria, and/or the restrooms? If not there, how about in the classrooms? Do they know you expect them to be focused and engaged? Is there any doubt as to whether or not they are going to learn the material or that you are going to let them fail? We must set the bar high for our students and then pave the way for them to reach our very high expectations. This should be done by being specific in what you expect and offering a clear path to reach those goals. No excuses. Our students will rise to the level of expectation set by the teacher. You are the single greatest influence in the classroom.

Mrs. Young Announces Retirement

Mrs. Young has officially announced that she will retire at the end of this school year. She told me not to post her picture, but I had I just had to do so. Sorry, Mrs. Young. Mrs. Young has faithfully served our school as computer lab manager and as our school technologist. I have grown to respect Mrs. Young's "get it done" attitude. Whenever there was a situation with technology that needed to be handled or fixed, she would work diligently to find the answer. Even this year, she has worked incredibly hard to get three computer labs up and running for testing. She has headed up our recycling program for many years and filled in whenever needed in a variety of ways. Mrs. Young, we will miss you but please know we are very happy for you.

Student Profile Cards:
On Monday, student profile cards (yellow cards) will be placed in 3rd and 4th grade teacher boxes. 3rd and 4th grade members of our leadership team (Payne, Woody, Moore, Barnhill) will discuss thoughts and expectations with their grade level teams prior to grade levels beginning the process of completing yellow cards and building classes for next year. This is to ensure consistency throughout the process. Yellow cards and completed class rosters are due by Friday, March 24th at 4:30 P.M. That gives everyone two solid weeks to complete the task; collaborating to build the best classes possible. It also means this is taken care of before testing!

Picture Days:
Spring pictures days are coming up next week. On Tuesday, March 14th 4th and 5th grade students will have pictures made. The following day on Wednesday, March 15th 3rd grade students and Ms. Marino's students will have pictures made. We will call students by home room. Please line them up tallest to shortest and be prompt. We will name a location soon. Thank you for your flexibility on these days!

Faculty Meeting:
Our next faculty meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 14th in the PD Room. Mrs. Martin will lead us in Read 2 Succeed professional development at 2:45 P.M. We will then meet as a faculty at 3:10 P.M. This structure worked well last time so we will stick with it.

Sandra Goff:
We are excited to have Sandra Goff work with our math teachers on Thursday, March 16th. Mrs. Tollison has found subs for all math teachers for the full day. We will focus on fractions from a vertical planning perspective. Teachers, you will need to bring fraction tiles or strips and your SC standards. Let's make the most of this opportunity!

Reading All Stars:
We certainly have a large number of reading all stars in our building. Don't forget to encourage your students to read 5 books and turn in their completed reading log to the library in order to increase our participation in the Greenville Drive Reading All Stars program. We want as many students to participate as possible. DOn't stop now! We will make an official announcement on the ROAR Report on Monday, March 20th as to whether or not we reached our school goal. The program ends on March 17th.

Let's take a look around our school the past week or so...

Mrs. Tollison and I had the opportunity to attend a job fair at North Greenville University and speak to perspective teachers. We were proud to represent ASD1. We want you to know how many candidates speak highly of our district and that is due, in large part, to our wonderful teachers in ASD1 who have created a culture of excellence through high expectations.

Our EAFK ceremonies went very smoothly. Thanks to our teachers for their very sweet remarks about our special students. I am proud of our students for their great behavior during these events. There is no doubt that taking the time to speak to your classes about your expectations for behavior made quite a difference.

Speaking of special students, Codie was not able to receive his recognition due to be absent on Friday. However, Ms. Marino made sure he was not forgotten. Her expectation is that her students will always be included. We had a great time awarding Codie's medal to him in the classroom this week.

We had the largest crowd ever for our PTSO Father-Daughter Dance on Friday night. Over 360 people attended. Mrs. Schumpert and Mrs. Cree work so hard in leading our PTSO. They have high expectations in terms of supporting our school and our teachers. Make sure you thank them!

Thanks to our ELA teachers who worked hard during our second vertical teaming session. We spent time outlining our expectations for writing block. It appears as though all grade levels employ a writing workshop/guided writing approach. It looks like we still have some room to improve, in terms of consistency, in how we approach grammar/spelling.

Thanks for reading the blog. You can wear blue jeans on Friday!

Moore's Musings:

MAP testing is now underway. Please make sure you have signed your class up for several sessions to ensure that testing is completed prior to Spring Break. Additionally, all labs should have openings if you want to get your students in there to get them used to the SC-READY tools and allow them to "practice" so they are used to the labs they will be testing in. Remember, our focus should be high expectations for our students in terms of doing our very best to prepare for testing. 

Mark Your Calendar:

Please refer to our shared calendar to stay up-to-date. We have a busy calendar the next few months. 

Video of the Week:

Trust The Process

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.

http://www.weather.gov/media/dtx/prepare/School_Tor_Brochure.pdf

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:

Educating the Whole Child

Each week Mr. Moore and I look around Powdersville Elementary to get the "theme" for the week's blog. This week it was evident that we needed to focus on the wonderful things happening as we educate the whole child. I am a firm believer that a picture is worth a thousand words. This week I will let the photos speak for themselves as we take a look into the amazing week we've experience at PVES. Take pride in being a part of a staff that looks beyond just standards and content but into the hearts of our students.

Fourth Grade LAUNCH students completed their Zoo projects and presented to parents and some other special guests from Ms. Marino's class. It is amazing watching the joy and connection between these students. Samantha (pictured below in the precious Hello Kitty shirt) taught some of the LAUNCH students signs for various animal names. 

Our garden area continues to develop. Wednesday afternoon some wonderful folks learned more about our gardens by planting some models and preparing for our students. I couldn't help but think about the excitement and anticipation our students will experience while taking ownership of the class garden. 

We continue as a school to be blessed by mentors who pour into our students. Below is a mentor (Mr. Mackey) who took the time to hang around and just chat with his mentee after the Boys of Virtue luncheon. Mr. Mackey has also taken the time to support this student when he was recognized at one of our EAFK ceremonies. Teachers and staff members can also mentor students. See Tammy Lee if you want more information of how you can get started! 

You may have noticed some nicely dressed young men in our building on Tuesday. Our Boys of Virtue program wrapped up with a lunch celebration on Tuesday. The boys were treated to a delicious lunch. They reviewed the virtues discussed throughout the program. The event concluded with several boys taking home door prizes such as Walmart gift cards, footballs, and one student won a bike! Thank you teachers for supporting this program and our students. 

Ms. Marino's class went around passing out valentines to some very special people on Tuesday. I know it can be a challenge for Ms. Marino and friends to go around and visit, but it was greatly appreciated! 

Our ESL students began their ACCESS testing this week. Thank you to all the teachers and staff members who took the time to write notes of encouragement for our friends. It was so awesome to watch their faces light up as they took the time to carefully read each note and comment. It is about the whole child!  

Thank you to our Principal who takes the time to model this well by...

 Giving a pep talk and high fives to our ESL students before their testing begins. 

 Shaking hands, greeting, and speaking with each of our Boys of Virtue...

 Investing in students through building relationships and listening. 

Another person who knows all about investing and educating the whole child is Ms. Tammy Lee. We were able to express our thanks to her for impacting student lives last week during National School Counselor Week. Thank you to all who shared in this! 

Faculty Meeting:

Our next faculty meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21st. Please make plans to attend. We will follow the schedule below:

2:45 P.M. - All teachers currently taking the R2S class with Kelle Martin will meet for 15-20 minutes to further your coursework. 

3:10 P.M. - All faculty and staff report for our meeting. We will discuss several topics including our finalized testing schedule. 

3:45 P.M. - The Leadership Team and Literacy Team will stay after the meeting to discuss the Read 2 Succeed Reflection Tool

Greenville Drive Reading All Stars Program:

Please make sure you continue to encourage students to participate. Students basically must read 5 books in 4 weeks beginning on Monday. They can get their log signed by a parent (or you can sign them as well). Participating students will receive a free ticket voucher for a Drive game, a free t-shirt and a free book. Our school goal is 300 participating students. If we reach the school goal, Mr. Moore, Mrs. Tollison and Ms. Fowler will be spending the day on the roof dressed as the Three Little Pigs. Classes from each grade level who earn the highest percentage of participation will be rewarded with a pizza party. Make sure to get your students excited about the program! Please turn in all completed forms to Ms. Fowler as soon as you receive them. 

Literacy Night is Coming!

Our school wide Literacy Night will take place on Tuesday, February 28th from 6:00-7:30 p.m. Please make sure to communicate this with students and families. We would love to have a great turn out for this event. Look for more details to come in our next blog and on next week's Roar Report. Thank you to Mandi Moore for donating some of her PTSO money to the literacy committee. We were able to buy these books to give to students on literacy night. 

Tollison's Tidings

• Mrs. Turner sent out an email about meeting with students who are planning to audition for the Aladdin KIDS Musical. A list was attached to this email for each grade level of students who signed up to audition for Aladdin KIDS. She will meet with them at 10:30 am on Friday to give them important audition information. Please send them to the music room at 10:30 am. She will send them back asap.
• Monday, February 20th is our other comp day for summer staff development. Please make sure you have made plans to either attend a session or take a personal day if you did not earn the day in the summer. Contact Mr. Moore or Mrs. Tollison with questions. 
• Our testing schedule was revised and we will discuss this in detail at our next faculty meeting. Thank you in advance for your flexibility as we make this work for our students! Please pay special attention to the faculty meeting schedule for Tuesday. 

Mark Your Calendars (MYC):

• Garden Committee Meeting 2/16 at 3:10
• Fire Drill 2/17
• Hat Day $1 (Raising money for Aquarium)
• No students- Comp Day 2/20
• NAEP Testing for 4th Grade 2/21
• Faculty Meeting 2/21 at 3:10 (see schedule above) 
• Fourth Grade Field Trip Meeting 2/23 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

Video of the Week

Grit

Grit is defined as a firmness of character; indomitable spirit. We talk about grit when we speak about our students. Rightfully so, in my opinion. Our students often need help discovering the grit they possess deep inside their being. As educators, we have to teach grit. We have to coax it out of our students little by little. More importantly, we must model grit. We must live it in our professional lives so that our students have a firsthand perspective of what it means to positively persevere under all sorts of circumstances and while facing a myriad of challenges. As I have mentioned many times, we have reached that point in the school year in which everything gets magnified. The "nitty gritty" of the year where we start to steer our laser-like focus on preparing students to perform at their best for testing. It's stressful. It can wear on even the strongest of teachers. And this is where grit comes into play. I challenge you to grit it out. Anyone can be negative. Anyone can make excuses. PVES is successful because our teachers have, shall I say it, PRIDE in what they do and what they still want to accomplish. Join me in gritting it out for the benefit of our students. Indeed the grit we model for our students this year will leave a lasting mark on our school and students. 

Let's take a look around PVES and see the wonderful things taking place...

Faced with the huge task of revamping our library with funds from the penny sales tax, Mrs. Fowler showed grit in getting the job done. Not only did she get the job done, but she has equipped the media center with more reading material, creative seating opportunities for students, and improved technology. It would have been easy to simply copy another school's plan to modernize the media center, but now we have a place uniquely crafted to suit our students. 

Our math teachers in all grade levels have certainly shown grit this year. Faced with a decision to improve instruction and offer more differentiated opportunities for students, math teachers worked hard to better their craft and move toward a guided math model. Thanks to leadership from Mrs. Tollison and Mrs. Preisig, our guided math meetings have paved the way to some incredible things taking place in our classrooms. Check out Mr. White with a guided math group and some 4th grade students presenting their fractions pizza. 

PBL anyone? 4th grade students (pictured above) are working on their sea turtles PBL. They are researching and completing various checkpoints along the way. Ms. Wilcox has worked with teachers on the garden PBL. We hope to have a repaired green house, a brand new tool shed in place, and vegetables ready for planting by next week! Our goal was for each grade level to plan and implement a PBL unit of study this year!

And to thank everyone for their grit and hard work, teachers were treated to a quiet(er) lunch with soup and salad on Wednesday. A huge thanks to the office ladies for making this happen. Thanks to Mrs. Fowler and Tammy Lee for covering the cafeteria. I can assure you that took some grit. We hope you enjoyed your lunch! 

National School Counseling Week:

Let's take a moment to thank Tammy Lee for the hard work she does each and everyday for our teachers and students. Her work has transformed our school in a positive way. I am grateful for her determination and leadership. I cannot think of one task I have given to her that she has not been faithful in executing it to the best of her ability. She epitomizes true grit and we are better off as a school because of her. Take the time to stop by and thank her this week as we celebrate National School Counseling Week. We appreciate you, TL!

Math P.D.:

Math teachers are reminded of math PD with Mrs. Preisig and Mrs. Tollison tomorrow (2/9/17) in the PD Room. Please be on time and make sure to bring your laptop. You will be able to learn about our newly-acquired Triumph Learning resources that Mrs. Tollison emailed you about earlier. 4th and 5th grade reading teachers, Mrs. Tollison will meet with you on Wednesday, February 15th at 3:15 P.M. in the PD Room to share with you the ELA side of Triumph Learning. Bring your laptop. 

Greenville Drive Reading All Stars Program:

On Thursday, you will pass out information to go home pertaining to the Greenville Drive Reading All Stars Program. Please make sure you encourage students to participate. Students basically must read 5 books in 4 weeks beginning on Monday. They can get their log signed by a parent (or you can sign them as well). Participating students will receive a free ticket voucher for a Drive game, a free t-shirt and a free book. Our school goal is 300 participating students. On Monday next week, please make sure you show the ROAR Report (as always) as Mrs. Tollison and Mr. Moore will have an exciting announcement about our goal for the program. Additionally, we will announce what will happen if we reach our goal and what classes can earn who have the highest percentage of participation. Make sure to tune in and get your students excited about the program! 

Valentine's Day:

Tuesday, February 14th is obviously Valentine's Day. Please remember that we do not host class parties on this day. Room mothers should bring treat bags to your room. You then will pass them out to students at the very end of the day as students leave. Please let me know if you need any clarification with this process. 

Mark Your Calendar (MYC):

• Math P.D. in PD Room - 2/9
• District Jet Toy Car Competition (Go 5th Grade!) - 2/10
• 4th Grade Launch Zoo Presentations - 2/13 at 8:20 A.M.
• PVES Leadership Team Meeting in PD Room - 2/13 at 3:10 P.M.
• Valentine's Treat Bags Go Home End of Day - 2/14
• Boys of Virtue Luncheon in PD Room - 2/14 at 11:30 P.M.
• 4th Grade Launch Zoo Presentations - 2/15 at 8:20 A.M. 
• Middle School Band Performs for 5th Grade During Planning in MP Room - 2/15
• 4th and 5th ELA Meeting Triumph Learning in PD Room - 3:15 P.M. 
• Garden Committee Meeting - 2/16 at 3:15 P.M.
• Fire Drill - 2/17
• Hat Day - Bring $1.00 to support Charleston Aquarium - 2/17 

Video of the Week: