Week of January 8th

Happy New Year Teachers,

Thank you for a great return to work. I did not send a message last week since we met upon our return to school. Before we begin our weekend,  I want to be sure to highlight some of the things that we spoke about Tuesday.

Tech Initiative- We unanimously decided to deliver instruction using digital technology in a different way for the remainder of the school year. As a result, students will no longer be allowed to take their personal learning devices home. This will call for you to make some adjustments to your instructional delivery. Devices are still available for students through the presence of a computer cart stored in your classroom.  Mr. Forker designed an inventory sheet to help assist you with ensuring devices are accounted for and safe. Please remember to keep your cart or classroom locked at all times. 

Instruction should be designed to engage students from bell to bell. A variety of instructional strategies should be used to help meet the needs of all of your students. As always, students should be actively involved in their learning. Please encourage them to have meaningful conversations with each other to enhance their ability to verbally communicate. It is my belief that by limiting the distractions caused by technology and encouraging face to face communication, students will prevail academically.

It has been clearly communicated and recognized that you will need additional supplies and time as we transition to a more blended model of teaching. I have committed to doing the following:

• Increasing copies from 500 to 1000 a month
• Providing every teacher with a box of paper
• Providing contents with time to macro-plan
• Ordering basic school supplies based on the list provided by Mr. Forker for student 
• Offering supplemental material to help support struggling learners
• Increase teacher feedback in a timely manner

ELT

Each grade level will redesign ELT based on the 4 content areas in an effort to prepare all of our students for the Milestones. As a grade level, you have been given the charge of using the most recent data (RI, MI, CFA, grades) to place your students in the most appropriate ELT. Every student will receive enrichment/remediation in every content area by alternating ELTs every 4 weeks for the remainder of the year. Students that are in a direct or intervention setting will remain in that ELT with no change.

Evaluations

Please ensure that you are consistently delivering high quality instruction to our students. Mr. Forker and I will continue to conduct evaluations for the next several weeks. Remember that if you do not agree with a rating that you can add comments and evidence in the platform. If you have any questions or concerns, please see one of the administrators. 

Professionalism

This is a reminder that YOU are the MOST important factor in your students' education. I want to stress the importance of you being at work. When you miss school, our students miss out! We need you to be present every day in order to make a difference in the lives of our students. If you must be absent, please use AESOP to report your absence. Please refrain from reporting absences late in the morning as it is extremely difficult to find a substitute at the last minute. If you are going to be out for an extended period of time, please take a moment to speak with Ms. Tolbert as well as secure a substitute.  I also request that you review the handbook and the information provided by our HR Department regarding attendance.  With this being said, consider your attendance on Monday and Tuesday! Gooooo Dawgs! 

Utevia

From Ms. Hughes: 

Family Science Night

Thursday, Jan. 18

5-7 pm

​ Family Science Night Invitation Slide 2018

From Skinner: 

The Panther Prowl 5K is almost here!! We are still looking for sponsors and runners. If you would like to become a corporate sponsor, let Meganne Skinner, or Christina Fassbender know at skinnerme@clarke.k12.ga.us and we will get you the paperwork! Thank you to all those who have already signed up to race with us! Runners, you can sign up at active.com 

You can still sign up at the discounted price until January 26th! 

From Maxey:
IB for 2018: Please preview the following presentation. We will go over this during a WOW session within the next few weeks.

IB WOW PRESENTATION

The Gifted Eligibility Committee Meeting will take place after school Thursday, January 11th in the PL room.  Any gifted certified personnel are welcome to attend.

All Social Studies teachers, please read the email Mr. Hussain sent out concerning the Geography Bee on January 25th.

Language Arts teachers, we will be sending out spelling bee lists soon.  The school bee is set for January 17th. Please make sure Mrs. Giannasi has the classroom winners' names by the 15th.

The school's social studies fair will take place January 10th in the library. 

From Hussain: 
Mr. Hussain will be buying pizza for everyone who plans after school on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month. He will be available to co-plan during this time (and can co-teach during a class if you're interested). Stop by his classroom (room 205) after school to check it out next Tuesday!

From Hogan and Maxey:
The week of January 15th we will dedicate time during collaborative planning to analyzing student work. Please think about this in your planning for the coming weeks.  

ALSO, Ms. Maxey has done AMAZING work reorganizing the storage space behind Hogan's office.  There are items up for grabs in that space. Peruse and let us know if you're interested in any of the items before we kick them to the curb. 

Monday: 
4pm SILT
8pm National Championship (ESPN) - Dawgs vs Bama -- GOOOOO DAWGS! SIC 'EM!

Tuesday:
RTI

Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KASEY BRINKLEY! 
*Social Studies Fair in the HMS Media Center - limit traffic, please! 
Collab planning
4pm Vertical Planning

Thursday: 
Collab planning
4pm Monthly EXC Meeting

Friday: 
8:30am Principal's Coffee
*Hogan out AM for Secondary IC Meeting

SUNDAY, January 14th -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOROTHY JONES!

MONDAY, January 15th -- MLK HOLIDAY