September 10, 2010

  Go  Panthers & Warriors!!!!  

  Go  Cyclones!!! 

 and to be fair...Go Hawkeyes!...after this week. 

(-:  Tailgate potluck!!  :-)

Data Folders - Teachers, please do the two items below to help Paula and I out in the office.  As a district elementary principal team, we will try to track down folders that may be floating out in the district.  

1. Check your data folders to see if you have extra student folders in your possession. Return extra data folders to the office.
2. If you're missing data folders of students who were in the district last year, please compile that list as a grade level and email to Paula & I by next Friday (9/17).

Evaluation Process - Did you realize the formal and walk-through observation season is upon us already?  Not quite the excitement and intensity of the college football season, but equally important!  Don't quite understand the evaluation process? Lyndsay and Doug will meet with teachers after school (starting at 4pm) this coming Monday in the library to cover the basics of what to expect this year! You will receive a packet of useful information and the Danielson book, Enhancing Professional Practice - A Framework for Teaching. New teachers to Waukee who cannot attend are strongly encouraged to find time to meet with Lyndsay or Doug before your formal observation week! Returning staff members are welcome to join us Monday too! 

Promote Maple Grove - One great way to engage our parents and community members to be partners in a meaningful way (from Waukee's Theory of Action) is to have information posted in our newsletter and local newspaper(s).  If you have an upcoming event you'd like to highlight or want to share a neat learning activity your students have been involved in, please get those articles (with pictures if possible) to Paula.  We will include the information in our building newsletter and/or submit it for the "Every School - Every Thursday" article on the Des Moines Register.  If you're posted that type of information on your blog and would like to push it out to more people, just copy and paste the link/information in an email to Paula!!  

DIBELS & Benchmarking - is in full swing next week!  FIRST - look for the email I forwarded regarding passwords.  Secondly, Lyndsay emailed a schedule to all BLT members earlier this week.  To help with communication, please keep everyone informed if you move testing locations.  As I know it right now....K-2 teachers will be testing outside their rooms (2nd grade may be in the storage closet across from Adamson) while the intermediate testing locations are as follows:  3rd - conference room across from 408; 4th - rm 408; 5th - rm 406.  Also, please help our many substitutes next week by...

- making them feel welcome in the hallways and office!

- having comprehensive & detailed lesson plans ready to go!

- prepping your students if needed!!

Speaking of benchmarking, we ordered three additional benchmarking kits for Maple Grove.   Two K-2 kits and one 3-8 kit will be here for our next go around in the winter!  This fall, thank you in advance for making adjustments, communicating and doing exactly what we ask of our kindergarten students...share nicely.  

As a reminder...

Students should be returning the inclement weather transportation form and the field trip permission form. Both of these forms stay in your classroom, and it is your responsibility to track who has/has not returned them.  If you need additional copies, let Paula know.

Please include the curriculum night schedule in your email home to parents this week!  We will have it in the ESET edition next week, but a reminder on Friday would be very helpful!

Theory of Action Focus

We engage in job-embedded, collaborative, and results-focused professional development. 

Thank you for your full attention and hard work last Wednesday during PD and on Tuesday during Data Day.  I appreciate the conversation and focus you all had as a whole group and the work many of you did within the teams.  It is a great start and I know your PLC teams will continue to learn, grow, adjust, share and celebrate as the year progresses.  Sharon Ingebrand summed up your hard work in an email she sent to district principals yesterday:  

"The professional development, teacher conversations, analysis of data, 

new learning about differentiation & benchmarking, etc. that I 

observed as I roved the district this past week was just plain phenomenal!!!"  

That is what makes Waukee THE place to learn and grow.  Thank you & enjoy your weekend.

Kudos - Received one "kudos-email" to pass along this week. Thanks! Please send "kudos" to me throughout the week so I can share!!  Kudos to the 4th grade team for coming in "all-new" to Maple Grove 4th grade and making your wing a great place for kids to be this fall!  The activities going on are awesome!  ...but with this picture...I may beg to differ.  :)

Dates to Note (Always look at the calendar below for the full weekly/monthly schedule)
Saturday

- Iowa State beats Iowa 34-27

Monday
- Emergency Response Team meet with Kara (8am in Office Conference Rm)

- Evaluation Q & A with Lyndsay & Doug (4pm in library)

- DIBELS Begins!

- Mrs. Topp's Curriculum Night (6pm)

Tuesday
- K-2 PLC (8am)
Wednesday
- 3-5 PLC (8am)

- Barry @ Mandt Training (Lyndsay here)
Thursday

- Barry @ Mandt Training (Nicole go to person)

- Curriculum Night (6-8pm)

Friday

- Rdg Incentive Team Mtg (8am)