SLED Day #8 - March 19, 2020

If this doesn't sum up my feelings right now, nothing does.  I am trying to grit my teeth and keep a smile on my face but this adjusting to our new normal for a while is hard!

I made three videos to post to this blog instead of typing - they wouldn't load.  So now I am just typing it all out - like I should have done in the first place!  Just joking...  

Just like you, I feel like I am being pushed to do things that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable to me.  And I don't like it...but I know it is part of it. 

I am listening to my kids argue in my office and think how can I do this for ____ more weeks!

But as all these thoughts go through my mind - I know that I am still stuck in my selfish ways.  It is so natural for me to not be grateful for what I have right now.  Of course, it is easy to look back to two weeks ago and think about how grateful I should have been then.  But what about now?  Shouldn't I be thankful for all that I have now?  I feel like I have  lot of lessons to learn in this new season.

Here is the update for today:

-No results yet.  We are really hoping for tomorrow morning.

-Thanks for all the videos.  They are WONDERFUL!  Keep them coming. 

-First grade is sending cards to all their students.  That is a great idea for any one else who wants to do that.  Sonya has stamps here you can use.

-I am going to share Karen's system of keeping up with SLED work for this extended time period. Share what you are doing too!  We just don't want to get behind,

-As soon as we get the all clear, I will send a doc out asking for volunteers for next week with food distribution.

Have a good evening with your families!

COVID-19 Update - March 17, 2020

Hello CCES Staff!

I just wanted to check in with you this evening.  First off, we still do not have any information about the tested individual that I emailed you about last night.  As soon as I get that information from health officials - I will pass that on to you.  Here is some information I feel like you should know:

• We are at a very low risk from our exposure even if that test comes back positive.  CCES staff did not have any contact with the tested individual to our knowledge - excluding one person.  That one person is our secondary link who we were only with for a short amount of time.  Our decision to ask CCES staff to stay home was overly cautious.
• If the test comes back with a negative result, we will still ask you to mainly work remotely at home - as Dr. B's email stated today.  However, if some of you want to help with the food deliveries next week, that would be great.  Toward the end of the week, I will check back with you on that.
• If the test comes back with a positive result, we will continue to proceed with caution. That would mean that we would ask CCES staff to not return to work for another week or so - even to help with food deliveries.  

I say all of this to keep you informed and keep you from worrying.  We are going to get through this!

Secondly, thank you all for your work so far.  You all are doing a great job of communicating with your families each day.  Keep doing that!

I would like to encourage you to post videos for your students to see on Facebook.  It can be just a few minutes of you getting on there to say hi or discuss something on the choiceboard for the day.  Due to everything being cancelled and students spending so much time at home - they really are missing school.  I think it would make them feel a lot better to see your face.  I plan on looking half way presentable tomorrow and posting something too!  I know that makes a lot of us uncomfortable (I hate pictures and videos of myself).  However, it is a great chance for us to try something new and be of benefit to our students.  

I loved the pic that I shared at the top.  All of this is definitely a CHANGE, but it gives us the CHANCE to reach out in new ways to our students and families!

I love you guys and can't wait til we are back to normal.  Through this all, I have learned that we take way too much for granted!  

Sunday Night Shout Out - March 15, 2020

What a different Sunday night Shout Out this will be.  Who would have ever dreamed even this time last week that we would be facing what we are facing tonight.  However, we will do what needs to be done and pray for the absolute best to become of this. 

****First of all, if you do not feel comfortable coming in to work at anytime, because of sickness or pre-existing conditions, you do not have to do so.  Coming in to work is not mandatory.

With that being said, we do need people that feel comfortable doing so, to come in this week.  We have some initial work that needs to be done.  As time goes on, we will adjust the schedule as we need to.  We will not ask people to come in if there is not work to be done.

Monday, March 16th

Please sign in with this Google Form. 

When you come to work tomorrow, go straight to your classroom or assigned work area.  We strongly recommend that people do not congregate together in a location.  I understand that grade level teachers may need to get together to work on your Sled choiceboards.  If you do, please keep your distance from one another.  If you bring your children, they need to stay in your classroom.

We know that most of you will probably not want to go out and eat lunch.  You can bring your lunch with you and when we are finished - you can go home for the day.  

HOMEROOM AND SPECIAL ED/SPEECH TEACHERS:

You will be working on your Sled Choiceboards. Our game plan has changed since Thursday afternoon.  We are not doing two different plans like we talked about.  We are doing one choiceboard for each day (11-20) just like we have the other days.  There will not be additional sheets added to the packet.  That means that each activity needs to fit into the box.  Students will still choose three activities to do each day.  At least three of those activities need to be paper and pencil activities.  Here is the link to the template for teachers to work on these. 

1.  Open the link above.
2.  Make a copy of the doc and save it as ____ Grade SLED Choiceboard Day 11. Don't make changes to my template. Make a separate doc for each day. Each grade level should have 10 separate docs - one for each day.  Share that with all your team members, special ed collaborating teacher, Valerie, Andrea, Whitney, Sonya, Michelle Cash and myself. 

I would also suggest that each grade level add other activities that are optional for parents to do with their students.  These may include links to resources, reading together, math facts, etc.   

Our goal is that these choiceboards are done by the end of the day.  

*If you were to finish early, you can always begin cleaning on your rooms.  

SPECIAL CLASS TEACHERS, GRANT/RTI TEACHERS AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANTS

Your assignment for the day is to call and make contact with families who have not signed up for meals.  We will meet in the library at 8:30 to divide up the names and numbers.  Please spread out in the library and do not sit together.  This is the easiest and fastest way to get the information to you. Before 8:30 - please be cleaning your work area.  

Here are some links and information you will need to make the calls.  But I will explain all of this tomorrow.

Parent Questions Extended Sled

Working Household Sheet

Household Info

*Our goal is to get this completely finished and make contact with all families before we leave tomorrow.


MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE REST OF THE WEEK WILL BE GIVEN OUT TOMORROW.  

Sunday Night Shout Out - March 8, 2020

To say that we never know what we are going to deal with next at school is an understatement.  The news of coronovirus-19 hitting Kentucky over the weekend will be on the minds of parents as they send their children to school this week.  Here are some things we should be doing for extra precaution:

-Handwashing - this is an absolute must.  Please ensure that students are washing their hands multiple times during the day - especially before eating and after bathroom breaks.  Talk to your students about this importance of good handwashing and the correct procedure.  You may also want to double check to make sure they are doing it.
-Discuss with students about the importance of covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
-Disinfect daily your desks, door knobs, computers and i-pads, and any other areas that are touched frequently.  

All of these things are good practice all the time!

We will be having a special guest come speak with us on March 16th from 3:15 until 4:45 about how to help our students who have been subjected to trauma.  This is not a mandatory meeting but for anyone who wants to come. This will also be our last PD opportunity of the year if you need hours.  

FOUR MORE WEEKS 

UNTIL SPRING BREAK!

This Week at a Glance...

Monday	-3rd grade ELA Live Scoring -Meatball Lunch Fundraiser for Matthew Spears -SBDM meeting at 4 pm -Open Library afterschool
Tuesday	Report Cards go home
Wednesday	Live Scoring 4th and 5th grade Math
Thursday	No 21st Century
Friday	No School  😀

Sunday Night Shout Out - March 1, 2020

Congrats to our CCES Academic Team for their performance at Regional Governor's Cup this week. What a great year it has been for them!  Make sure you congratulate these students this week.  We will be recognizing them later in the week at morning assembly.

Here are the STAR scores for our fourth round of testing.  We have hovered around the 75% mark all year and that is great.  Let's encourage students to work hard and set big goals for themselves this last few weeks.  It's a great time of year to remind them why we do what we do and how Lexia, Reading Plus, Study Island, reading AR books, studying vocabulary, and what they are doing in class - all helps them to grow as a reader.  Students think we have them doing all these things just for the heck of it.  Make those connections about how all these things can help them to grow!  

Please add your leader of the month for February to this slide.  We will recognize them on Wednesday morning at assembly.  

Also - some of our January Kona Ice winners didn't get their free cup.   If you have any of these students - please get their cup from my office.  They will need it on Tuesday to get their free Kona Ice.  The January Kona winners were:  Leigh Ann Bow, Jaxson Scott (1st grade), Evan Cash, Nicholas Anderson, Kynslee Perdue, Lilianna Hagan.  

Don't forget to stop by my office on Monday and get ring pops for those students who met their STAR goal!

Please turn in your SLED day paperwork for Day 4 this week.  This includes 3 student samples of strong student work per grade level.  



THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE...

Monday
Tuesday	Panther Store during special class  Kona Ice at regular time
Wednesday	9:07 am - Statewide Tornado Drill  Grade level PLC's 3rd Grade Hot Cocoa sale for 4th/5th
Thursday	3rd Grade Hot Cocoa sale for 2nd/3rd
Friday	3rd Grade Hot Cocoa sale for K/1st

Sunday Night Shout Out - February 23, 2020

As I said earlier in the week in the email, our fidelity monitoring visit went so well.  Here are some positive things that were noted during the visit:
1.  Expectations for student learning were high.
2.  In many classrooms, students were doing work above grade level - including reading above level text.
3.  There was no hand holding and students rose to the occasion.  It was said over and over again that teachers gave minimal instructions but students were able to quickly get to the task.  That is attributed to effective practice on classroom procedures.
4.  Student talk and student activity clearly outweighed teacher talk and teacher activity.

There were only a couple of areas in which we didn't score exemplary and we scored accomplished in those.  One area of growth that seemed to surface during the discussions was for differentiation and we knew that before the monitoring visit.  Differentiation is HARD.  Above is a list of ways that you can differentiate in the classroom.  

I challenge you to really work toward incorporating more of this in these last weeks of school.  As you are planning your lessons - think about how you can differentiate the content, text, or activity for the different level of learners in your class.  An important thing to remember is to not water the content down for your lowest level.  They should work at the level they need to be at.  However, how can you push every student to work at a higher level?  Step outside your comfort level and try something new.  I would love to hear your ideas about what you would like to try. 

This week we will be doing the state field testing. Andrea has sent out all the materials in the past couple of weeks.  Please be patient as we work out the kinks to this new system.  Please be observant as students are testing - this is a great indicator as to what they new testing will be like.

PANTHER STORE

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We will be having our Panther store for students to spend their February Panther Bucks on Tuesday, March 3rd.  Students will have had the opportunity to earn 16 Panther Bucks from their behavior calendars as well as any extra bucks they've earned.  I will send out an email later in the week with more info.  The store will basically work like it did last time.  We have some new inventory!  

Please select your Leader of the Month for February by Friday at add to the slide.  

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Good luck to our CCES Academic Team as they compete in Regional Governor's Cup on Monday and Saturday!  They are going to do great.

STAR Testing

STAR testing is also this week for the 4th time this year.  Motivate students to do their very best - we want to see the highest scores of the year.  We will be rewarding students who meet their goal with ring pops.  Those should be here by Tuesday or Wednesday.  I will send an email as soon as they arrive!

This Week at a Glance...

Monday - Live Scoring for 4th grade Science

            - Written Comp & FPS competing at Regional

               Governor's Cup

Tuesday - 3rd grade Field Testing Day

             - Grade Level PLC's

Wednesday - 4th grade Field Testing Day

                 - Action Team meeting at 3 pm

Thursday - 5th grade Field Testing Day

Friday - AR Goal ends

Have a great week!

Saturday Night Live - February 15, 2020

Congrats to our CCES Academic Team for their performance at District Governor's Cup.  Many individual and team awards as well as 1st place overall!  Now on to Regional's next week.  Also - a huge thank you to their coaches Mrs Henderson and Mrs Hannah for working with these students.  Also thank you to all those that helped up to host district competition.  It was a great day!

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Only 12 weeks of school left in this year - how crazy!  We discussed our plans for the rest of the year this week at PLC's.  Make every moment count as we embark on the last 1/3 of the school year!
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Tuesday we will be hosting the monthly Chamber of Commerce meeting in the library at noon.  We will have several visitors in the building - please remind students of this as they are in the hallways.  Our student lighthouse team will be helping to serve during this meeting so please excuse them from class.  

FIDELITY MONITORING VISIT

We will be having our Fidelity Monitoring Visit on Wednesday.  Michelle Bell has contacted those that will be observed.  

~~No PLC meetings this week.~~

This Week at a Glance....

Monday - No School

Tuesday - 12 pm Chamber of Commerce meeting

                  Library closed from 11 - 1:30

Wednesday - Fidelity Monitoring Visit

                       Leadership Team meeting at 3 pm

Thursday - Dipping Dots