UTE GOAL: Top 15% of Elementary Schools in Kentucky in Reading and Math!!!
Education News, Tigers on a Roll, Recommended Instructional Strategies, UTE Calendar, and Worthwhile Websites.
As you know, I feel that it is very important to keep up to date on current issues and research in education. I realize after my 17 years in the classroom that there are not enough hours in the day for you to do this on your own. So, I will share with you each week items of interest and importance from the field of education. I do encourage you to share things with your colleagues as well, when you come across something notable.Education News
Friday all state administrators recieved an email from Dr. Holiday about the anticipated drop in proficiency rates when KPREP scores are reported in October. I have included the link below to this information. Please look it over, it is very important that we all understand the impact the new standards as well as the 21st Century Learner assessment structure will have on our students and school. In a nutshell, elementary proficiency rates are predicted to have the largest drop of almost 40 points when scores are reported.Changes In Proficiency
Tigers on a Roll
Mrs. Flannery and Napier had a very professional looking brochure printed and sent to all their students. They had a lot of positive comments and feedback from parents and students! Way to get excitement generated about the new school year!Mrs. Brown, Patton, Tomolonis, and Tackett all went out of their way to create their back to school themes to match our Champion/Olympics schoolwide theme! I appreciate your efforts!
Mrs. Young, Zeigler, Varney, Hargett, Napier, and Flannery have spent a lot of time, money, and effort on making sure they are ready this year to cover their grade level standards. Check out some things they have purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers!
Mrs. Patton has spent much of her time this summer studying how to implement writers' notebooks and writing workshop.
Mrs. Underwood, Young, Varney, Williams, Jackson, Napier, Scott, Tomolonis, English, Kimbler, Hargett, Zeigler, and Carper have all given up some of their free time this summer to be on committees or attend extra PD sessions for the benefit of our students and school!
If I left anyone out, please bring it to my attention! I want to be sure to celebrate ALL of your accomplishments and efforts at making us the best!
Recommended Instructional Strategies
I decided to include the remainder of the information from my sessions at the Differentiated Instruction Conference."Ben Franklin aptly wrote, 'Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages; so ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on'. (Poor Richard's Almanac 1750) Mastery is more than knowing information, it can even go beyond manipulating and applying that information." ~Rick Wormelli, Fair Isn't Always EqualHow do we at UTE define mastery? Was Tim a master at languages, horses, or cows? What is our common understanding of mastery? We will spend much time this year on this topic. It goes hand in hand with our newly designed progress reports and learning targets.
Mr. Wormelli begs the question, "What do we do when our students don't get it?" Who's fault is it - mine? your's? the parents? the students? the central office? facebook? The truth is if our students aren't learning then the fault lies with us as a school. We must differentiate so that students are learning the content based on their needs. It is our job as professionals to give them multiple opportunities, exposures, and ways of learning and then demonstrating it. The following are some very puzzling "truths" Rick Wormelli challenges we have had in the past in education.
"What were we thinking?
Everyone in the same subject in this grade level is on the same page on the same day of the week!
Plan accordingly because the paper runs out in January!
The master schedule cannot be changed to accommodate a compelling guest speaker!
Students cannot redo exams!
I'm sure you can think of a few of these ridiculous "truths" that have been voiced over the years. We need to challenge these and rise above the negative thinking surrounding those kinds of attitudes. It is a breath of fresh air to work at UTE with professionals who know better and are actively working to make student lives better. I applaud your forward thinking and positive attitudes.Our new students are three grade levels below grade level proficiencies, so they aren't going to do well on the state assessment anyway!"
UTE Calendar
August6th - 2nd-5th grade teachers @ WCMS for planning day. 8:00 - 3:30
7th - Opening Day @ UTE 8:00 - 3:30 for those who did not attend our staff retreat, 12:00 - 3:30 for those who did.
7th - Picnic on the Playground 4:30 - 6:30
8th - All teachers @ PES for PD 8:00 - 3:30; All Aides who did not attend Dr Jean @ ECMS 8:00 - 3:30
9th - First Day for Students - All teachers on duty at 7:20 a.m.
Worthwhile Websites - Differentiation
Layered CurriculumWrapping It All Up
I hope you have gotten some encouragement for this week's blog. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions you can share with your fellow UTE faculty. Have a great first week of school!
Our Mission: To assist each student to reach a progressively higher level of academic achievement and social and emotional development through the cooperative endeavors of responsible students, caring parents, dedicated educational staff, and an involved community.
looks good.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mrs. Justice for the “shout outs” . No matter our age, or how long we have taught, it is good to be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that Mr. Holliday has made an early start to inform all stakeholders about the change in scores and why they look like they do. It is important that parents, students and community members realize that we cannot compare these scores to previous scores since we are assessing students on a different type of standards. I believe that with the type of testing we are doing we will be getting truer results as to what our children can do and need to do to compete in our job markets when they are finished with their education. Even though we teach the “little folk”, we need to do everything we can to keep all students on track. It doesn’t take long for the children to fill like no matter what they do, they can never catch up. I truly believe that we are definitely on the right track here at Upper Tygart!
I am concerned about the test score results. It will be very important that EVERYONE know that changes have been made and previous scores can't be compared to the current results. We have been a school of success and need to continue this.
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