Check out the info concerning demonstration classrooms. If you're interested, contact Tim or Missy.
Budget news
Purchase cut off Feb. 1
In order to better project this year's fund balance and our needs going forward, we will need to cut off purchasing. Effective 2/1/2018, all unplanned, unnecessary purchasing will be cut off and accounts will be frozen for 2017-18. In the future, the cutoff will be January 1st. The idea is that we will have made or encumbered all the planned purchases in the first 4 months of the school year.
We realize that some activities such as testing and graduation will still need funding, so we will plan for such expenses. Some codes will not be frozen (instrument repairs, etc.). Athletics will continue for the expected costs, but no new purchases after February 1.
Be assured that any emergencies after 2/1/2018 will be supported. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Requisitions for 18-19
Here is the plan for requisitions:
- All requisitions are due on January 22.
- For any expenses where you're not sure of the amount, make a reasonable estimate.
- For any conferences that you'd like to attend, calculate an estimate and submit a requisition even if you're not sure of the exact total.
- I will put some extra money into conferences for those events that become available (ex: upcoming NYSCATE conference that I shared). Get yours in if you have an idea. There will be no guarantees if you don't submit a requisition.
- Once all requisitions are tallied, I will meet with each teacher. We will sign a form stating that we've discussed and agreed upon all expenditures and totals. You will receive a copy.
PD schedule for Wednesday
We have some meetings scheduled for Wednesday's early release day. Check them out in the link. If you have any questions, please contact me or Missy.
Testing week
The schedule is finished (click here). There are still some special ed placements to finish, and Nina is graciously helping me with that (thanks Nina). The special locations files are linked from the proctor sheet. Each monitor will get a print out of their pertinent sheets. We'll have those locations done in a few days. Students and parents will be notified of the schedule this week.
Interested in our Building Level Emergency
Response Team (BLERT)?
If you would like to join this group, we are meeting this coming Wednesday the 10th at 1:00. We'll meet in the palatial confines of the guidance conference room. Thanks.
Good news on writing sample submissions
Below is a report from John Robertson. John has been requiring his sixth grade students to submit regular writing samples, and he's happy with the outcome so far. I'll do my best to make the process work more efficiently. The end result can be to get all of our students to write more frequently. Thanks John!
January 4, 2018
At the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year I was instructed to have students in my English classes complete weekly writing samples with the idea that these samples would be shared with administrators as a way to monitor student progress in the area of writing. This has required a bit of personal flexibility and shuffling of my typical scope and sequence, but already as we near the midpoint of the school year I am seeing positive results. My 6th grade students are writing nearly twice as much as they did last year. While some of the writing is loosely structured, the basic act of writing is helping these students improve. These students are more comfortable writing, less resistant to written tasks, better at revising and editing their work than past 6th graders I have had, and overall I am seeing better fluency and expression in student writing. Students have also been compiling these writing samples in their own digital folders using Google Drive. This is helpful as it allows students to easily archive their work and reference it later on in order to reflect, make changes and improvements.
Writing is a skill that requires practice. While the pace of progress may vary from student to student, presenting students with more opportunities to practice writing will certainly lead to progress. I feel pretty strongly that the developing writers in my 6th grade English Language Arts classes have benefited from completing weekly writing samples.
-John Robertson
Karen Sanchez shared the article linked above. Thanks Karen.
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