April 15, 2011

Teachers, Just a reminder that spelling challenge packets should go home today.  When communicating with parents how many words you will be testing them on from the list, please remind them that this is an optional fundraiser.  

Thanks so much for all your support.

Maple Grove PTO

ITPDPs are due today! The ones received so far look great and I've had a chance to do an initial review of portfolios - thank you for the putting in the hard work to get these completed on time! Additional data and reflections can be brought with you to your conference of emailed/dropped off later.

DIBELS/Benchmark assessments will begin on May 2nd and will be conducted like we did in the winter. A schedule will be developed and emailed out to BLT members in the near future.

Thank you to all the staff members who attended a Bang Bang fundraiser night over the past three weeks. Once I get the total amount raised, I will let you all know. If someone has them from last night, please return the receipts to the office.

Staffing Update - 4th/5th grade interviews are still in process. Kindergarten and special education screening and interviewing taking place within the next two weeks. We have tons of highly talented applicants!

ESL Summer Opportunity - FREE SUMMER WORKSHOP!!  There are $125 stipends (registration is only $100!) available from the Department of Education if you are interested in attending this summer's Our Kids Conference in Johnston. I have attended the conference a couple times and it is well worth the time as workshops and presenters talk about strategies that work well with ESL students and are good for all kids! We already have two administrators and six teachers in the district going so please join them! If interested, visit the registration page and put in the following number: ES006232311201  Please let me know if you are planning on attending.

Upcoming PD includes PBIS next Wednesday and technology integration on May 4th.

The 2011-12 Newly Approved Calendar can be found on our website now. Please review and let parents know through your newsletter.

PTO Update: The Spelling Challenge begins today with information going home with students. Please review the information with students prior to sending it home today. The Carnival was awesome! Thank you to everyone who helped during this event. I had numerous students and parents comment about how great it was to have a fun, free event and how nice it was to have staff members there. Next meeting is Monday, April 18 - Tara Broich will be getting parents involved in a WTW activity. Thanks Tara!

Bug Update - Several staff members have stated that the little black clover mites are starting to come in the rooms again. The inside was sprayed this week and he should be back next week to spray the outside. I have also talked to Bryce and turned in a request to have the windows sealed better which should help. Keep us posted.  As for the spiders...well, I'm sure they eat the mites. ;-)

Website of the Week

I would love to hear from a team that finds a way to use this site with how you approach formative assessments It has potential. Flubaroo is designed to automatically grade assignments that are administered via Google Forms. It also gives teachers some analytics, highlighting questions that 60% of the class failed to get right and creating histograms of grade distributions. Flubaroo will also email each student their grade, along with the answer key.