Week 23

 

Hey Team!

Welcome to a new week! I hope you had a great weekend. The blog is going to be fairly short, so any important updates will come in an email this week, so keep an eye out. 

03's and GLT's

I am planning on conducting 03's and GLT's this week.  Monday might be iffy as we have Admin meetings throughout the day.  If you have a Monday 03, I will try to catch up with you throughout the week.

Full Lesson Observations

Full lesson Observations are starting this week. I will be conducting observations from February 23 -March 12th. This FLO is unannounced so I am going to ask that you make sure I have your weekly lesson plans for this week and next week, as this is a part of the observation.

Return to In Person Learning

So, the Board decided to push back our return to In Person learning until later in March.  As such, you are not required to come into the building this week.  I am sure that more information will be sent out regarding reporting to the building, later this week.

Upcoming Events

3/12  Early Release Day for students; 1:30 pm; Grade Book Closes

3/19  End of Trimester 2 Report Cards and Sped Progress Reports sent home

3/22-26  Parent Teacher Conference Week

3/29  Spring Break Week

 

Hey Team! I hope you all enjoyed your winter break and our major snow storm!  I don't know about you, but for me, it was nice to be home and not have to drive in all of the snow

Board Meeting Update

You've probably heard that the board meeting did not go as expected. Basically, the board did not feel comfortable making a decision at that time. They still have questions. So another meeting will be scheduled after they get their questions answered. So at this time our March 1st opening date is not happening. Things may be pushed back a bit. It's up in the air if we will open. Stay tuned, the saga continues.

Special Education RR - Instructional Plan for Priority Standards

Each of the Grade Level Deans are working with their teams to prioritize student learning for the remainder of the school year.  This is looking different at each Wing Level.  I am urging you to meet with your grade levels so that you can be included in their plan for instruction. I know that most of you attend your grade level team meetings on a weekly basis.  This hasn't been mandated in the past, but going forward, it is going to be an expectation, so that we can remain in the loop in how we support our students instruction and how that aligns to what is occurring at the specific grade levels.  This will also be a part of your weekly 03 report out.

Full Lesson Observations

I can't even believe I'm saying this, but it's that time again. Full lesson observations will take place during the window of February 22nd- March 5th. This observation is unannounced this time. So I will pop into your Google classrooms. If I observed you ELA last time, you can expect me to observe math this time, and vise versa. My primary focus is ELA and Math. I am doing observations a bit earlier because I do not want it to overlap with transitioning back into the building for in person learning. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

News to Know 

2/22-3/5: Full Lesson Observations

Week 21

 

Good Morning Team!  Happy Monday!  How many of you had a "Super Bowl Weekend"?  I watched the game...was rooting for the Chiefs...and The Weekend.  My team lost...but I did enjoy the Poetry, the Music and most of the commercials.   Now...it's on to Valentine's Day.  Since all of you are my Valentines, I though I'd get mine in early. So, Happy Valentines Day! 

It's hard to believe, but two weeks from today we are back in the building. I want to urge you to start thinking about what your management and your instruction is going to look like as you transition to serving both in person and virtual students simultaneously.  This is going to be a paradigm shift for all of us and we need to start making preparation now, thinking about your expectations for behavior, rules and routines, and lesson planning. I plan to talk with you about this during our team meetings this week.

Here are the updates for the week. 

Special Education and Intervention:

M-Step Preparation Starts Now

Now is the time to intentionally incorporate practice M-Step items into your lesson plans. Your students need to be exposed to the type of questioning that they are likely to encounter. Utilize ALL of the resources available. You must also be very intentional in teaching test taking strategies. For example...

1. Highlight/ Underline the title.
2. Read the question carefully, then read it again.
3. How many answers did they ask for?
4. Use POE (Process of elimination) Eliminate the bad answers.
5. Examine every answer choice before choosing an answer.
6. PROVE IT in the story. (Find the textual evidence)
7. Work backwards (read the questions first before reading, if possible)
8. MOTIVATE, MOTIVATE, MOTIVATE

Below you will find a variety of resources that you can print to help your students prepare. 

• Sample Paper/Pencil Tests for all subjects: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-22709_70117-350086--,00.html
• Sample writing prompts for test questions. https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-22709_70117-455340--,00.html
• Sample writing prompts and essay scores: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-22709_70117-456071--,00.html
• Another practice test for 5th grade science:  https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/2018_M-STEP_Annotated_Sample_Items_test_614886_7.pdf
• Your students should be familiar with this vocabulary to help prepare for the test. https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/M-STEP_ELA-Construct-Relevant-Vocabulary_526868_7.pdf
• Here is the link to help your students become familiar with the online tools for M-Step. https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi
• Our students struggle with editing and revising. Please use the following resource to build their skills. Incorporate one a day. Start with the beginning, then move on to intermediate, and even advanced for our older students. https://englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Paragraph-Correction.html

If you need additional test preparation resources, please let me know. 

News to Know

2/9      Tues:  Specials Team Meeting @ 8:00 am

2/10     Wed: Count Day, Sped Team Meeting @ 8:35 & Staff Meeting

2/11      Thur: Board Meeting at 6:00pm

2/12     Fri: 1/2 Day, Progress reports and NWEA Parent Letters (these are only from                  Homeroom teachers) go home, Red vs. Pink Day

2/15     Mon: NO SCHOOL

2/16     Tues: NO SCHOOL

Week 20

 

Good Morning Team and Happy February!!! This has become one of my favorite months as it is a time to learn more about and celebrate Black History!  The underlying themes of Black History Month are "Honor"..."Remember"...and "Inspire", and I hope this month provides time and opportunity for each of us to do those things and pass it on to others. 😊  As always Laurus will celebrate Black History Month, but it will look a lot different this year. Expect an upcoming email about how we will celebrate Black History Month as a school. 

Moral Focus: Courage

Parent Survey

The Parent Survey regarding returning to in person learning went out Friday. Classroom teachers sent it out to all of their parents. All responses are due to the grade level Deans by noon on Friday. As you work with students, please give reminders throughout the week for students to help parents remember to complete the survey. 

Sped Teachers....if there are students that really need to be back in the building, please give me their names so that I can reach out to those parents to encourage them to choose in-person instruction for those students.  Please get this list to me by Tuesday morning, 2-2-21...no later than 9:00 am.  

Ms. Hayes- Leave

Today is the first day of Ms. Hayes Maternity Leave.  She will be on leave until April 26th. We will miss you Sabrina and will be praying for you and baby Elijah.  Take Care...we love you!

Ms. Johnson has graciously offered to provide all Social Work services during this time.    If you have any SW needs, please reach out to J'lynn.  Thank you so much J'lynn!!!! 

National Wear Red Day 2021

On Friday, Feb. 5th, please encourage all of your students to wear red for National Wear Red Day. Let them know that Laurus Academy supports the fight against woman's heart disease. It was the leading cause of death up until Covid 19 plagued the country. 

News to Know

2/1 - K-2 Numeracy Assessment Week

2/5 - National Wear Red Day

2/5 - Parent Surveys due

2/8 - 3-8 ELA Interim 2 Week

2/10 - Count Day and Student Attendance Raffle

2/11 - Donut Delivery to Raffle Winners

2/12 - Half Day; Progress Reports and NWEA Parent Letters sent out

2/15-16 - Mid-Winter Break

2/17 - Special Pops Wing Meeting  7:45 am

2/22 - Staff Due Back in the Building