Weekly Update 10/18/12

SOUTHEAST MIDDLE SCHOOL
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18

1. We will have an EVAAS meeting on Monday, Oct. 22.  Dr. Marty Ward from WSFCS Accountability and Research will be here to discuss EVAAS and how it can be helpful for teachers.  Only certified teachers are required to attend this meeting.  The meeting will take place in the Media Center.

2. The Kernersville Chamber of Commerce will be here next week to award our grant winners.  We have two winners on campus!  The winners will be revealed when they arrive. 

3. Please pay your Hospitality/Social Committee dues if you have not done so already. The committee has some fun activities planned for the year. Don't forget to wear pink on Friday!

4. The PTSA Fundraiser kicked off last week.  Please encourage all students to participate in this fundraiser.  As of Wednesday, we have already sold 300 cards! Our goal is to sell at least 2,000 cards. Be sure to take advantage of the fundraiser - Jaguar cards are only $10 and are valid for one year.  Get great discounts at some area restaurants and businesses!

5. At the October 29 staff meeting, teachers will be introduced to an online engagement survey. This is part of a contract with WSFCS in all middle schools for this school year. Teachers will give students a 10-15 question online survey periodically throughout the year regarding their engagement level in your class. It can be given after a particular lesson or unit. The purpose is for the teacher to gain extremely valuable information about how students learn, what they enjoyed, and their level of engagement. Teachers can use this information to adjust their instruction. We will provide teachers with instructions on how to log in, how to administer the survey, and how to analyze the results. The school system will select 60% of the teaching staff to participate, but others are welcome to participate as well.  I have not yet received our list of teachers.  But all will receive instructions in order to access. 

6. Halloween falls on a regular school day in October. Please remind your students that this is a normal school day and all students must follow the dress code regulations. There are no costumes nor dressing up allowed. Students who violate the code or wear something disruptive to the learning environment should still be addressed as normal. The Dress Code Check will still be available at 7:35 in room #712.

7. The SIOP online moodle is available for all staff to complete the Strategies section.  Staff members should complete this moodle section by November 1.  If you were absent on the day of the face-to-face training, we will schedule you for a make-up session with Amanda Cannon.

8. November 2 will be the end of the first quarter.  Monday, November 5, is a Reserved-School day for teachers, which means that staff can take an annual day if they wish.  Tuesday, November 6, is a Reserved-Central Office day, which means that staff may not take an annual day.  There are central office workshops and meetings taking place that day.  We will post a staff sheet in the teacher workroom sometime next week so that you may indicate your plans for November 5.  Teachers may take this day IF their grades are completed and verified with Sandy Derrah (see next item).  On November 6, you must attend any Central Office workshop that you are assigned to.  If you do not have a workshop scheduled OR if you only have a half day workshop, then you are expected to be at SEMS for the remainder of that day.

9. Teachers: We are in the process of determining when first quarter grades are due.  We have not received confirmation yet.  John Downs and I will be emailing some helpful information for all teachers with full sets of instructions on how to complete your grades and turn in verification forms to Sandy in the Guidance Office.  Stay tuned for more details.....

10. The United Way campaign is underway. We encourage all staff to participate. The United Way does some great things for our community. Our school goal for this year is $5,363. Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Jones have sent out information soon regarding how to donate. The deadline for donating is October 31.

11. The Student Council Blow Pop sale will take place on Friday, October 19, during 6th period.  They will visit all hallways during that period.  All proceeds will be donated to United Way.

12. During the first week of November, the WSFCS Technology Department will be shutting down the "guest" wireless servers in all schools.  This will affect you and your students.  If you have a non-school device (i.e. Smartphone, iPad, Macbook, etc), then you will not have access to the wireless server in our building. 

13. We now have an AED CPR unit on campus.  It is housed in the main office right outside Susie's door.  This unit is used in cases of cardiac arrest emergencies.

14. The school system is in the process of determining what our testing schedule will be at the end of this school year.  We do know that we will still have our regular EOG's (Reading, Math, 8th Science), EOC's (advanced 8th grade Math), and now Common Exams (CE's) in Social Studies 6-8 and Science 6 & 7.  Questions that still need to be answered are:  What are the testing windows? What order will we go in? Will all listed tests be included in the student's grades? Who will score the constructed responses on some of the tests?  We will continue to keep you up to date in this discussion.

15. Sometime this month, all teachers will receive information about how to access your individual teacher EVAAS reports. We will make sure that you know how to access these. In the past, I have given them to you from Central Office. In addition, you will have and EVAAS growth number posted in Standard 6 of last year's summary rating form in McRel. This is the "practice" year, where the numbers get entered and a standard rating is assigned, but there is no official status for each teacher (meaning that you are not truly subjected to the EVAAS number yet). As a reminder, if you have three years of EVAAS data, then your number will be a combination of your growth number and the school number. Everyone else will be assigned the school growth number. It is also important to note that the EVAAS color scheme has changed - it used to be green, yellow, and red. The new colors are blue (exceeded growth), green (met growth), and red (did not meet growth). If you are new to the school system, please be assured that we will help you to understand what EVAAS is and how it can be used. Dr. Marty Ward from WSFCS will be with us on October 22 to discuss EVAAS and show staff how to access helpful reports for you to use.

16. Thanks to Mr. Downs, we now have an SEMS Student Activities blog, which includes all afterschool activity schedules.  If you sponsor any afterschool activity, please email John any and all meeting and event dates.  Some of you have already sent him your dates for the year.  If you change a date or event, please forward that to him as well.  The blog will be updated every two weeks.  Parents and students can visit the blog at any time by clicking on the Student Activities blog on the SEMS website.

17. SIOP Snapshot:  Scaffolding:  Do you use scaffolding in your classroom? Chances are good that you practice this skill without even knowing it.  Remember that scaffolding can be as simple as restating a student's answer, using "think-alouds," or collaborative group work.  We all know that our students, regardless of their background or "label," all come to us with varying skill and ability levels.  So one of our toughest jobs is to ensure that all of them get to that same goal or objective, and it's usually never at the same rate.  So by scaffolding, all of our students can experience success......even with our smallest efforts.  


Please be sure to check the online calendar regularly (accessed through your email system) for events and meetings. It is updated weekly and sometimes daily.

UPCOMING DATES
Oct. 18 - 8th grade EXPLORE test (Altered school schedule)
Oct. 18 - Raven Knob Field Trip - 7th grade Outbacks
Oct. 19 - Fundraiser Turn-In Day
Oct. 19 - Town Hall Field Trip - 6th grade Apollos
Oct. 19 - FCCLA Field Trip - FACS teachers + several students
Oct. 19 - Student Council Blow Pop Sale (1-2pm)
Oct. 22 - EVAAS Workshop (2:15pm) - for all certified staff in the MP room
Oct. 23 - Fundraiser Turn-In Day
Oct. 23 - Raven Knob Field Trip - 7th grade Tsunamis
Oct. 23 - Flexible Benefits appointments available from 7am - 12:00
Oct. 24 - 6th Grade Social (2-4pm)
Oct. 24 - Music Dept. fundraiser pick-up (2-6pm)
Oct. 24 - Raven Knob Field Trip - 7th grade Dragons
Oct. 25 - Raven Knob Field Trip - 7th grade Pharoahs
Oct. 26 - Fundraiser Turn-In Day
Oct. 26 - 8th grade level meeting (7:45am)
Oct. 29 - Heritage Theater Field Trip - 6th grade Team Discovery
Oct. 29 - Staff Meeting (2:15pm)
Oct. 31 - Heritage Theater Field Trip - 6th grade Super Novas
Oct. 31 - Kernersville Chamber of Commerce Grant celebration
Nov. 1 - SIOP Online Moodle - Strategies section completed
Nov. 2 - Heritage Theater Field Trip - 6th grade All-Stars
Nov. 2 - End of First Quarter
Nov. 3 - Robot Run Invitational @ Forsyth Tech West Campus