Friday Focus - April 27th

If you feel anything like I do, this picture describes it perfectly.  This time of year it feels like the wheels are moving faster than we can possibly go.  Our calendar is full and we only have a few more days to get it all done.  But - there is one thing I know - we will get it all accomplished.  Hang in there!

Use these last few days to dig in and cover the last bits of content that need to be covered.  Review material that you know students need to hit again.  And above all else - continue to give our students the love and encouragement that they need everyday.  

Several bus drivers have reported that students are bringing candy on the bus and making a mess with it.  I don't have any idea where they would be getting all the Mike and Ike's from - 😉.  It is probably a good idea to only give them candy that they can eat there in class or at snack and have them dispose of it before they leave of an afternoon.  I know firsthand the mess that those little candies can have in a vehicle - I sucked about 50 up in the vacuum the other night down at the car wash. 

Gretchen Bryant will be bring Pearl to CCES on Tuesday.  She will be parked at back all day and will be giving a discount to our staff.  Go out and shop on your planning!

Congrats to our teacher SBDM members for the 2018-19 school year - Andrea Parson, Candi Graves, Erika Murphy and Kara Wilbert.  Candi Graves will be serving as the minority representative.  

Look at the Living Calendar daily - lots of activities going on. Also - add info for your grade level.

No Panther Time for the rest of the year!

Be collecting old people outfits and things - we will explain more later.  It will be for our KPREP Kickoff on Friday afternoon.  We need ALL STAFF to participate!

WEAR HOUSE SHIRTS ON MONDAY - REMIND ALL PARENTS AND STUDENTS ON FRIDAY AND OVER THE WEEKEND!

Next Week at a Glance...
Monday - Sack lunches in homerooms at 11.  
Watching Wonder in Houses and discussing in pods. All info for this House meeting can be found here.  
Tuesday - Panther Lab trip
KPREP Kickoff Performance practice - 3 pm in gym
Wednesday - KPREP Kickoff Performance practice - 3 pm in gym
Thursday - 1:00 200 Vocab Word Party
Friday - No Special Class today - AMAZING RACE FOR 3RD - 5TH GRADE
2:00 KPREP Kickoff in the gym for all grade levels - more details to follow soon

Let's finish strong!!!!!!!

Friday Focus - April 20th

Eighteen days - EIGHTEEN DAYS!  That doesn't seem possible.  The next three and a half weeks are filled with lots of activity so keep checking the Living Calendar - it is filling up every day.

Come check out the Staff Bingo game in my office today!  Game begins today - the sooner you start the sooner you will get a prize.

Next Week at a Glance...

Monday - Classified Staff evaluations - please stop by my office sometime to go over your evaluation

Mid-term reports go home

Bluegrass Trip for 3rd thru 5th graders

Tuesday - 5th grade Social Studies PAS test

2nd grade Lexia Bash

Wednesday - 3pm  Staff meeting for all staff who will be helping with testing 

Kindergarten Field Trip

Thursday - 4th grade Field Trip

2nd grade Math Whizz Bash

***Reminder - no email beginning Thursday afternoon thru Friday

Friday Focus - April 13th

Culture is Key!

I saw a quote on Facebook yesterday something along the lines of "Don't worry about academics, instruction, assessments, etc. if your culture isn't what it should be!"  I am sure I didn't get that exactly right but that was the gist of it.  And the more I think about it - I agree.  Don't get me wrong - school can't be nor should it be all play and not work.  There has to be a balance.  But I do believe that students will only give us their best when this is a place they feel loved and accepted and that they enjoy being.  That does't mean they have to love every second of what we do here but they have to look forward to coming.  School has to be a good place for them and that's what I want every day.  Thank you for all you do to make CCES that place for our students!

We had a house meeting yesterday and I am linking the notes from that meeting here so you can see what we planned.  

Also here is the link to the Action Team notes from Wednesday. 

Next Week at a Glance...

CPA testing next week!

Monday - LOM breakfast and recognition

5th grade Visits CCMS from 1-2

****KDE Olweus Site visit - click for link to schedule***

Tuesday

Wednesday - 1st grade Field Trip to Dinosaur World

4th and 5th grade GT in cafeteria at 1:30

3:00 House Meeting

Thursday - 2nd grade Field Trip to Mammoth Cave

Annie Ruby's Day  *** Mid-term Ends

Friday - Grades need to be posted by the end of the day

4th grade ELA Live Scoring

Spring MAP Scores

I have spent quite a bit of time looking over the last round of MAP scores and are anxious to share them with you all.  We will dive into them more deeply this week at PLC's but here is some quick glances.

MATH

 READING

As you can see, the scores are really all over the place.  Our goal is to have above the 60% mark on proficient and distinguished and to have as few novice as possible.

This shows the increase or decrease compared to winter and this data is interesting.  The trend is that the lower grades did better now than compared to winter and vice versa for the upper grades.  They seemed to do better in the winter and have declined at least some now.  I am sure there are several factors that could have contributed to this.  Again...we will discuss at PLC's this week.

This last picture shows the difference between the number of proficient and distinguished this year compared to last.  Our number of reading have increased pretty dramatically will the number of math have decreased.  Again...what is the cause?

What does this data mean to us and what should it mean for the next few weeks?  I know that testing time and the end of the year is approaching.  Remember - STUDENT LEARNING IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE FOCUS.  The KPREP (or any other test) is just an assessment of what they know.  We don't ever work for the KPREP - that is not our motivation.  But it is nice for it to show what our hard work is doing!

Spend the next few weeks making the most of your time.  We only have 27 days to make an impact on these kids this year.  Don't waste a second of it!