PST Schedule - November 30th

November 27

Merry Christmas !?  Let's try to get the building transitioned from turkeys and pumpkins to elves and snowmen this week.  

Thursday is PST day!  Please make sure you have current (within the last 10 days) STAR or EL scores for ALL (this includes students being monitored) students that will be discussed at PST.  Also, update CampFire.

Our first session of our PALS Academy (Parents Actively Learning with Students) will be this Thursday evening, November 30th.  The focus is Math!  Please, please encourage your students to bring their parents to this great event.  

We'll start at 6:00 pm.

I'm excited about the next month or so as we'll be checking our growth through STAR, EL and Performance assessments.  The first round will be Math Performance Assessments for everyone K-5, December 4-12.  STAR, EL and Reading performance will be January 3- 12.

During our Staff Meeting tomorrow we'll be electing members for our budget committee.

You'll have time during Tuesday collaboration to plan for the next several BUSY weeks.  I'd encourage you all to take a look at the CES Calendar!

Our First Graders will serve as Pledge Helpers this week.  Please let me know who will be coming!

Duty

AM

Front Porch: Pennington

Car Line: Fortenberry

Breakfast: Scott

Kindergarten: Segers

First Grade: Ellison

Back Hall: Wilkerson, F. Smith, Rish

PM

Car Line: Gudgen, Giangrosso, Young

Buses: Marshall

Top of Ramp: Odom

Intersection on the Front Hall: Rish

It's time to nominate for our November Team Member of the Month!  This month's nominations should come from grades K - 2.  Don't forget to give me your reason for the nomination when you email them in!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." - William Arthur Ward

November 19

Things to remember about Learning Targets

- Learning targets are short term goals or statements.

- Learning Targets guide instruction and learning for a single classroom lesson.

- Learning Targets are focused on learning, not on doing.

- Learning Targets should be referred to during the lesson by the teacher and the students.

"Students who can identify what they are learning significantly outscore those who cannot."  -Robert J Marzano

Are your assessments rigorous enough?

Criteria for a Meaningful Classroom Assessment ( from Edutopia 7/12)

1. Does the assessment involve project-based learning?
2. Does it allow for student choice of topics?
3. Is it inquiry based?
4. Does it ask that students use some level of internet literacy to find their answers?
5. Does it involve independent problem solving?
6. Does it incorporate the 4Cs? ( Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication)
7. Do the students need to communicate their knowledge via writing in some way?
8. Does the final draft or project require multiple modalities (visual, oral, data, etc.) in its presentation? 

"Clearly not all assessments achieve every single characteristic listed above. But in our attempt to address some of these elements, we will have made our classroom assessments so much more meaningful. It is vital that students connect with the value of their assessments. After all, if a student trusts that the assessment is meaningful and will help them later on, it helps with both their achievement and with your own classroom management."

Tuesday is the last day to bring in canned goods! 

At the end of the school year, we will honor students in fourth and fifth grade based on their YEARLY AVERAGE.  iNOW does not calculate this average.  Fourth and Fifth grade teachers, please make sure you are keeping a written copy of student averages for each subject.

Family News ~

Sherry's Mom underwent surgery over the weekend and the doctors are extremely optomistic that she will have a good recovery.  Please continue to keep Sherry and her family in your prayers.

Staff Meeting Monday

~Celebrate November Birthdays, Our 2017 Teacher of the Year, Discuss Walk Throughs and Formal Evaluations

We do not have any specific plans for collaboration Tuesday, however the collab room is always open to you!

DUTY this week

AM

Front Porch: Almon

Car Line: Pennington

Breakfast: Young

Kindergarten: Shannon

First Grade: Grogan

Back Hall: Wright, Aldrich, Johnson

PM

Car Line: Gudgen, Osburn, Meredith

Buses: Williams

Top of the Ramp:  Bamberg

Intersection on the front hall: 

Johnson

Tuesday is Goodie Table Day!   We'll set up everything in the Teacher workroom beside the cafeteria.

Our TAC Committee will meet Monday.  If you have questions, please send them to the committee.

K - Segers

1 - Ellison

2 - Rish

3 - Dickerson

4 - Wessel

5 - Wright

Support Staff: Gudgen and Shepherd

Specialist: Fortenberry and Giangrosso

New Staff!

We are so excited to introduce you to our new staff members in the cafeteria at Cahaba Elementary!!!!!

Vickie Glenn

Vickie has been subbing with our Child Nutrition Program this school year.  She is a resident of Argo and is married, Ricky (yes they are Ricky and Vickie!) and has 5 children (3 biological and 2 step).  She also is the proud grandmother of 10 with 1 on the way.  She loves spending time with her grandchildren as well as working with children.  An interesting fact about Mrs. Vickie is that she loves the mountains. 

Candice Tillman

Candice is a resident of Center Point where she lives with her husband, Scott.  They have 5 children and 3 precious grandchildren.  She is a member of Gateway Family Church in Trussville and she is a graduate of Hewitt Trussville High School.  A fun fact about Candice is that she owns a hot dog cart and enjoys taking it to local events (maybe we can talk her into bringing it to Cahaba one day!!!). 

Guest Speaker Form (Revised November 2017)

Our guest speaker form has been revised!  Please start using this new form and throw out the old.

Thank you for your diligence in following this important policy.  The link to this form is listed below:

Guest Speaker Form

Growth Mindset Professional Development on November 6, 2017

We learned about the difference between a fixed mindset and growth mindset...and had so much fun in the process!  

  

  

 

The seven recommendations to develop a teacher growth mindset are listed below.

1. Less of, "I'm just not good at technology.”

-More of this, "I know that technology is always updating, and I'm choosing to do the same thing."

-More of this, "I teach my students to learn important skills that help their learning, even if these skills are difficult and take time.  I need to do the same when learning new technology.“

 2.  Less of,  "That student is just lazy.”

-More of this, "I believe that all children can be motivated, and it's my profession to discover how."

-More of this, "I'm dedicated to trying new ways each day to motivate my students, even the most challenging.“

 3.  Less of this, "That family just doesn't care.“

-More of this, "I know that this family may face realities that I'm unaware of, and I'm working hard to learn more about them."

-More of this, "I'm trying creative ways to connect with this family, as I know how important teacher-family collaboration is for a child's academic and social growth.“

 4.  Less of this, "I just figured this out, and now we're changing it?”

-More of this, "I know that change is inevitable, and it's essential that I'm a flexible professional.”

-More of this, "I'm teaching my students to be flexible lifelong learners, and I need to model this when school changes occur."

  

5.  Less of this, "If that student wastes my time, I'll just waste theirs.“

-More of this, "Taking away recess does not address nor teach solutions to a student's time-management issues. It's my job to teach specific strategies to support this learning.”

-More of this, "This child struggles with self-management skills.  It's my job to teach specific strategies to support this learning.”

6.  Less of this, "The media is always bashing our profession, there's nothing I can do.“

-More of this, "How can I use social media to share the positive stories occurring daily in my school?“

  

7.   Less of this, "But this has always just worked fine for me.“

-More of this, "I'm continually learning new ways to do what's best for my students, not what's best or easiest for me."