Friday, January 31, 2020
Enjoy
Enjoy the last day of January, and I hope the start to your February (this weekend) is a good one.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
This is a good one!!
We will be offering an
Assessment Capable Learner class, half of which will be in the summer, with an
additional three meetings in the fall/winter. This course aligns so well
with the QUEST philosophy, and we will be able to build upon our solid
foundation.
SAVE THE DATE: Aug
11th, 12:30-4:00. See description below
Too many students are dependent on adults
for their learning. Imagine K-12 students that can articulate their
learning in terms of these statements: "I know what I know, what I don't
know and where I am going. I have the tools I need for the journey and I
monitor my own progress."
In this course you will
- develop an understanding
of the characteristics of ACL students
- recognize how the culture and practices in your room align to
ACL culture and practices
- develop a repertoire of strategies to apply
In order to receive compensation/credit (1 inservice,
15 hours TTR)
- Complete
2.5 hours of assigned work PRIOR to the summer ½ day
- Attend the
½ day on August 11th
- Attend the
3 after school meetings scheduled for September-December
- Apply
learning and complete assignments between sessions
20-21...our work continues!
Check out the district focus and goals for 20-21. These were BOE approved and come right from the Strategic Plan.
Morning Meeting
Two things:
- Morning meeting behavior was solid today. I appreciated how quickly students quieted down when asked. Thank you for your efforts in helping our students to be a great audience.
- If you have a presentation or need audio during morning meeting, please submit those to Stephanie at least 24 hours before morning meeting. We've had intermittent issues with sound, so this will offer us ample time to make sure it is ready to go come morning meeting.
Friday, January 24, 2020
Reminders
- Many are administering assessments. As a reminder, assessments are due in E-doctrina in early February. Please make sure your assessments are in E-doctrina before February break.
- With illness in the air, you never know when a "bug" might strike! As a reminder, please be sure you have two days of emergency sub plans available at all times in the event of an unforeseen absence that would prevent you from being able to write sub plans.
- You can begin portfolio share on February 12th, and all should be complete by the end of March. If you have a parent that is a no show, or your need help in getting a parent here, please reach out and I am more than happy to assist you. No meeting weeks will be in March.
Thursday, January 23, 2020
CIA on 1/28/20
When
and What:
On 1/28/20, at 7:45, our SIT Team is hosting a
“Show-and-Tell, SEL.” What is that, you might be asking? Various members of our
staff are sharing out current SEL related best practices that they are using,
all of which are meant to address the 5 SEL Competencies. Put simply, great SEL
practices are already happening all around Quest, and we are going to highlight
a few of them through a science fair, show-and-tell format.
How:
At 7:45, or any time before, swing by the staff lounge to grab breakfast. There
will also be an overview page available. Your job is then to stop in to various
rooms and check out what is being shared out. The overview document is below.
In this document you will find the share outs, the room locations, and the
connection to SEL competencies.
Bonus:
Each room you go into you will get a raffle ticket. I will have a big
bucket that you will put half of your raffle ticket in. At the end of the
school day, I will draw numbers. Those that win, will be afforded the chance to
grab some prizes. Prizes include professional books (SEL Related) and
mindfulness related tools for your classroom/learning space. The more rooms you
go to, the more tickets you get…it is that simple!
Heads up: Dr. Kosiorek will be walking around to check things out, and we “might” have a couple others from central office swinging by as well to see the cool work people are doing. If you see anyone from central office, please encourage them to grab a donut. J In my eyes, our school completely gets teaching the whole child, so I’m excited for this learning to be visible.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Reminders and Need-To-Knows
- At this point in the year, we have gone through the same amount of laminate as the entire year last year. The office is buying one more order, and after that we will not be purchasing more for this year. Please be extra judicious when deciding what to send/not to send, and when possible, please use the district copy center.
Friday, January 17, 2020
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Black History Month
Black History month is in February, and Women's History month is in March. Please consider how you can infuse black history into the work you are already doing, and then please do the same for the month of March and women's history.
Perhaps it is a daily read aloud, a fact of the day, pushing students toward Genius Time projects related...you name it. Many of us already have approaches that we take, and in many cases we do a fabulous job at infusing culturally relevant learning into our work (kudos, and evidence of IB alive in our school); I would encourage you to share with your teammates how you approach it.
Below are some resources that were shared from Barb and some that were shared with me by Stephanie.
Resources from Barb:
Black History Month
Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources
Resources from our Librarian:
Click HERE
Perhaps it is a daily read aloud, a fact of the day, pushing students toward Genius Time projects related...you name it. Many of us already have approaches that we take, and in many cases we do a fabulous job at infusing culturally relevant learning into our work (kudos, and evidence of IB alive in our school); I would encourage you to share with your teammates how you approach it.
Below are some resources that were shared from Barb and some that were shared with me by Stephanie.
Resources from Barb:
20 pertinent classroom resources for Black
History Month
Black History Month
Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources
Click HERE
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Make an Assessment on Edoctrina?
Did you know that you can easily create a standard based assessment on Edoctrina? Check out the link for the screen-cast below.
World Read Aloud Day- Feb 5th
Wednesday, February 5th is
World Read Aloud Day. Kids are encouraged to dress up as their
favorite book character. Mr. Warren will read a book out loud at
morning meeting.
Monday, January 13, 2020
Friends of Education
Team,
Is there a parent or community member that goes above and
beyond for QUEST? Do you know of someone that does everything they can to help
make QUEST the great place that it is?
I am looking for nominations for QUEST’s Friend of Education for 19-20. Each year, our
school honors one person as a thank you for all they do. The recipient and
their family come to a BOE meeting, the reasons for their recognition is shared
with the board, and their name is engraved on a plaque.
If you have someone in mind, please share with me and
include:
·
Their name
·
Why you are nominating them (the more specific
the examples, the better)
·
Their history with the school
Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Derek
Friday, January 10, 2020
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Need-to-Know
- Tours are starting! Please join me in welcoming the influx of guests that are coming to determine if Quest is right for their child. The "warmth" is often cited as the feeling new parents get during tours. Thanks for creating this environment--it attracts people to our school. Dawn will be sharing out the tour schedule. You rock!
- Next week, our CIA meeting is a Choose Your Own Adventure CIA with a Spanish focus. Please find Derek's email and sign up for a session if you have not already done so. Report right to the classroom that you signed up for.
- MW is looking for "waiting list" chaperones for their DC trip. Right now they are at capacity with volunteers, however, people often back out. If you would like to be added to the waiting list to chaperone their trip, please reach out to me (Derek).
- Team, our staff lounge is meant to be a place for you to find some me-time. During the off-season, we have a couple staff members that work hard to make it a nice place for all of us. Please do your best to not leave things in there or to use as a dumping ground for unwanted items. You all deserve a nice place.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
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