SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
1. Thanks again for coming together as a staff to make our first full week so smooth!
2. Core teachers, please remember to fill out the necessary forms in the guidance office should you need to move any students around within your team. Also, you must contact a parent if you are moving a student between a regular and advanced level class. The deadline is approaching - you only have the first ten days of school to make changes.
3. Please be sure to supervise your students at all times. You must never walk away and leave a class unattended. In addition, please be prompt for your supervision duties before, during, and after school. This is a safety and liability issue if we are not properly supervising students.
4. Please spend some time reading over the staff handbook. There are some procedural changes this year, especially related to field trips and money. All staff are responsible for the information in the handbook. I would hate for something to go wrong for you simply because procedures were not followed. That has already happened this school year.
5. As the school year progresses you are bound to have parents/guardians who have concerns about their child's academic, social or emotional progress. Please remember before you refer them to the SAT Team or recommend they complete a Parent Referral for EC Consideration, that both avenues require documentation of interventions and outcomes of interventions in the area(s) of concern. There have been improvements to both processes in the last 2 years that make them more effective and efficient, but there are still no "short cuts" to EC or any other classroom services. Not having the required, appropriate information in the beginning stages (regardless of which process has begun) can further delay the start of any services the child may truly need to be successful. Teachers or parents needing additional information or having additional concerns can contact either Dara Hedgecock (SAT Team Chair) or Debi Kopchik (EC/ Case Manager.)
6. The Pierce Group/Colonial representative has added an additional date. He will be here for part of the day on Sept. 15 as well. So if you still need to sign up for a time, please see Susie Hook.
7. The International Day of Peace is on Tuesday, September 21. All schools will observe a moment of silence at noon on this day. More details will follow. You are welcome to incorporate the meaning of this day into your lessons.
8. We would like to offer our students some opportunities to participate in intramurals this year (ideas include flag football, volleyball, etc.). Some money has been set aside to do this. If you are interested in doing intramurals, please see me or Nick Pizzino as soon as possible. The commitment for this would be approximately 8-12 sessions over about a month's time.
9. We are planning on showing the discipline video to all students on Friday. 6th and 7th grade teachers will watch the video at 7:35 and 8th grade teachers will show the video at 9:30. It will be broadcast on channel 19. The video will last approximately 15 minutes. Hope you are entertained!
10. If you plan on ordering any apparel for your club, organization, or team this school year, you must go through Susie Hook to purchase those items. Even if you have monies available, you must still follow proper procedures to ensure reimbursement or ordering will take place. We have one dedicated vendor this year for our school and will make all orders through that company.
11. I am finalizing club assignments this week. I will be sending confirmation emails out. For clubs, you will be asked to submit a plan for your meetings and your events. Once the plan is in action and events are taking place, your pay will be submitted. Please know that our budget is very tight and I was not able to accommodate all requests. Priority is being given to existing clubs and to those individuals who have led previous clubs successfully.
12. Please know that our car riders are arriving earlier than usual, so keep that in mind when getting to school in the mornings. If you arrive after 6:45am, the chances are much higher that you will get caught in the traffic, which will delay you by about 15-20 minutes.
13. There have been questions regarding field trips this year. There is no magic number for how many field trips groups are to take. But we encourage you to be creative and if you take more than one trip, at least one of those should be educational as opposed to incentive. Grade levels are encouraged to communicate about field trips - there shouldn't be one team taking 3 field trips and another taking none. We need to be fairly consistent throughout the year. There will be a short period prior to EOGs that will be blocked off for all field trips. I will get those dates to you.
14. Teacher sign-ups for the socials are posted in the workroom (certified staff only). There are still slots available if you want to work one of them. If you do not work the social, then you will need to sign up for one of the winter concerts in December. They will be posted at a later date.
15. If you are certified in CPR, please let me know so that we can update our first responders list.
Great Ideas!
* Mrs. Davis-King took her students out for the fire drill earlier this week. She put her name on the back of her safety clipboard and held that up so her students would know where to line up for the drill. Students were able to find her quite easily!
*If you're looking for an expert on the Airliner tablet, see Mrs. Worrell! She is phenomenal on this technology. And for those of you who have tried, the Airliner is not the easiest gadget to use.
A-Ha Moments...
How do students take notes in your class? Is there structure to your students' note-taking? Graphic organizers are a great way for your students to organize the information. Lots of you already use graphic organizers in your class and I'm sure can attest to the success with them. This is a great way for students to know the expectations, organize their thoughts, and be able to retrieve information easily. Be creative and see how your students respond!
Upcoming Events
Tues, 9/7 7:45 - 11:30am Gentry at Joint Principals Mtg.
Thurs, 9/9 Planning Grade Level Meetings - Set up your gradebooks - All teachers during your planning period in the Computer Lab
Fri, 9/10 2:15 - 4:00 8th Grade PTSA Social
Mon, 9/13 2:15pm Committee Meetings: SIT, Hospitality, Safety/Discipline Committee members, various locations
Tues, 9/14 7:45 - 12:30pm Gentry at MS Principals Mtg.
Wed, 9/15 Core Progress Reports go out
Fri, 9/17 2:15 - 4:00 7th Grade PTSA Social
Mon, 9/20 - EC and ESL Development Mtg @ 2:15pm
Tues, 9/21 - International Day of Peace (Moment of Silence @ 12:00)
Fri, 9/24 - 6th Grade Social
Happy Birthday!
Cathie Hayes - 9/7
Andrea Stewart - 9/17
Cynthia Griffin - 9/19
Laura Lyles - 9/19
Allison Barnes - 9/30
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Southeast Middle School Jaguars
