K8 Memo

 Mary Walker Promise

"We, as a community, will develop confident, 

well-rounded, and sought-after graduates who 

are prepared for the future"

Points of Interest

Parent Teacher Conferences

Please ensure all of your student's families are scheduled for conferences and have received their letters. If needed, please make calls home. During parent-teacher conferences, please discuss the positives and areas of growth for your students, address changes and/or concerns, review attendance, and allow parents to ask questions and give feedback. Additionally, please highlight that State testing starts the second week in May and review the earned ABC field trip.  

Finally, connect with me if there are any parent-teacher conferences that you would like me to sit in on. 

Spring Break

I am not sure I need to include this in my memo, but next week we do not have school. Please have all food items and trash out of your room on Thursday at the end of the day. I hope everyone is making time to relax and rest over spring break.

3rd Quarter Grades

The third quarter ends on April 10th.  Please keep your grade books current to efficiently post your grades when we return from spring break.

Silverwood’s Read 2 Ride

Please remind your students that the deadline for the Read 2 Ride program is March 31.  

End-of-Day Release

Elementary Teachers, please be sure to walk your class to the bus every day.  This extra supervision helps improve safety for all students.

State Testing

I am not sure that the old adage that ‘practice makes perfect’ is true with state testing. However, I firmly believe that when students complete the practice and training tests, they perform better on the SBAC! Please review the practice and training tests and schedule some time into your teaching to help focus and prepare our students for the SBAC. 

• Proctor Training April 21

• ELA Testing Week, May 8-11

• Math Testing Week, May 15-18

• WCAS Testing (5th & 8th), May 23

Links:

Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal

• https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/ 

Blueprint 

• Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint

• ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint

SmarterBalance Release Item

• https://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/BrowseItems

Student Expectations

Thank you for the help with hallway access and phone use. Please continue to monitor our hallways and help our students to be safe, respectful, and responsible. Also, please use the hall pass when students are out of your classroom. The semester is a perfect time to review our PBIS rules and expectation posters.    

MTSS Update

MTSS Roundtable Process

If I work with your students, I’ll be happy to participate in conferences if that will be helpful to you. If you need help with FastBridge reports, I can help with that as well.

On Thursday, March 30 I will be working with our MTSS coach from noon until the end of the day.  (I am anticipating a lot of absences that day but will get in touch with regarding rescheduling kids when possible.) Also, please let me know if you are planning a special activity that day that impacts our groups. Thank you for your understanding!

Calendar

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 3.27 

SST 9:00 AM

Tuesday - 3.28

MTSS Roundtable 7:30 AM

MTSS Meeting 10:00 AM

Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:30-7:30 PM

Coach Debbie Here

Wednesday - 3.29

Admin Meeting 9:00 AM

Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:30-7:30 PM

MS Assembly, 6th Period @ 1:45 PM

Thursday - 3.30

Teen Challenge PNW (Missoula Women's Campus) assemblies to Secondary students. 

Friday - 3.24

Student Access Day

UP and Coming Events:

April 3-7: Spring Break 

April 10: End of Third Quarter

April 13: Charger of the Month Assemblies

K8 Memo

I am currently reading the book 'Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results' by James Clear. Clear shares the idea that good habits, break bad ones. He challenges his readers to get one percent better every day. Clear's concept is practical to nearly every aspect of my life: marriage, parenting, physical health, spiritual walk, work, etc. I think about our kids at school; can we make adjustments to improve their daily learning by one percent? Yes, we can and we are! Think about all the excellent work we are doing to make one percent increases:

• Character Strong/Purposeful People

• Morning Meetings

• Mini Lessons/Workshop Model

• Small Group/Tier Two Instruction

• PLC at Work

• MTSS…etc.

These are progressive steps forward that move us towards better teaching and learning. Each is a thread in the tapestry of our Mary Walker Promise! 

"We, as a community, will develop confident, 

well-rounded, and sought-after graduates who 

are prepared for the future"

I appreciate all of your dedication and commitment. I encourage you to move forward with being 1 percent better! 

Points of Interest

 

Silverwood's Read 2 Ride

Please remind your students that the deadline for the Read 2 Ride program is March 31.  

LID's 15-Day Challenge

Thank you for your focus and dedication at last week's Learning Improvement Day.  It was wonderful to see the various 15-Day Challenge poster.  Please work to complete your posters.  Here are some supportive links:

• Presentation Documentation 

• 7 Steps w/Photos Form

• Video: https://vimeo.com/805704493   - Password: Maria33

State Testing

I am not sure that the old adage that 'practice makes perfect' is true with state testing. However, I firmly believe that when students complete the practice and training tests, they perform better on the SBAC! Please review the practice and training tests and schedule some time into your teaching to help focus and prepare our students for the SBAC. 

Testing Dates

• Proctor Training April 21

• ELA Testing Week, May 8-11

• Math Testing Week, May 15-18

• WCAS Testing (5th & 8th), May 23

Links:

Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal

• https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/ 

Blueprint 

• Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint

• ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint

SmarterBalance Release Item

• https://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/BrowseItems

Formal Observation

Please be watching your email for formal observation invites.  I will be sending out emails asking for a specific time for a formal observation.  These observations need a pre- and post-conference.  I will be scheduling these either at 7:45, during your prep or after school. 

Student Expectations

Thank you for the help with hallway access and phone use. Please continue to monitor our hallways and help our students to be safe, respectful, and responsible. Also, please use the hall pass when students are out of your classroom. The semester is a perfect time to review our PBIS rules and expectation posters.    

Parent Teacher Conferences

Please contact families to confirm conference dates! 

MTSS Update

MTSS Roundtable Process

If I work with your students, I'll be happy to participate in conferences if that will be helpful to you. If you need help with FastBridge reports, I can help with that as well.

Calendar

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 3.20 

SST 9:00 AM

Tuesday - 3.21

MTSS Roundtable 7:30 AM

MTSS Meeting 10:00 AM

WSU 7th Grade field trip - Cancelled 

Wednesday - 3.22

Admin Meeting 9:00 AM

Thursday - 3.23

Friday - 3.24

Student Access Day

UP and Coming Events:

March 28: Coach Debbie here

March 28 & 29: Parent Teacher Conferences

April 10: end of third quarter

April 13: Charger of the Month assemblies

K8 Memo

Points of Interest

 

Silverwood's Read 2 Ride

Please remind your students that the deadline for the Read 2 Ride program is March 31.  

Formal Observation

Please be watching your email for formal observation invites.  I will be sending out emails asking for a specific time for a formal observation.  These observations need a pre- and post-conference.  I will be scheduling these either at 7:45, during your prep, or after school. 

Family Night Out: Pi Night

Our next family night takes place on March 14th. With a theme of Pi, math game stations are welcomed!  Please let me know if you are interested in helping.  Looking for assistance with setup, games, and just connecting with families! I'll a more specific email will follow with more details!  

Student Expectations

Thank you for the help with hallway access and phone use. Please continue to monitor our hallways and help our students to be safe, respectful, and responsible. Also, please use the hall pass when students are out of your classroom. The semester is a perfect time to review our PBIS rules and expectation posters.    

MTSS Update

MTSS Roundtable Process

Please be sure to check progress monitoring data periodically. (You can access that on FastBridge on your home screen.) Clicking on the progress monitoring tab allows you to see who is being monitored, what tool is being used, and scores/trends. This helps gauge the effectiveness of our instruction. In some cases, formative classroom data conflicts. This is also important to know. In some cases, we may not be using the most effective tool for monitoring growth.  We are also using this data at our MTSS roundtable discussions.

SBAC Resources

State testing is just around the corner. I will be sharing out our testing calendar and protector training day next week.   Remember, 5th and 8th grades are required to take the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS), and students in grades 3-8 will take the Smarter Balanced ELA and math assessments.  

Please review your grade and subject blueprint to familiarize yourself with the priority and supporting clusters.

Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal

• https://wa.portal.cambiumast.com/ 

Blueprint 

• Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint

• ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint

SmarterBalance Release Item

• https://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/BrowseItems

Positive Self Talk

Weave It into Your Routine 

Make positive self talk part of your everyday routine. 

For instance: 

• Listen to an uplifting podcast when you're in the car or when you're doing routine tasks like washing dishes. 

• When you're at work, remind yourself that you're doing a great job. 

• You can also write down an uplifting quote on a post-it note and stick it on your laptop for inspiration. 

• When you're grabbing a coffee, practice your affirmations. 

• Read an inspirational book on your lunch break. In the evenings, write down three things you love about yourself in your journal. 

Whether you're at work, in the car, or at home, make sure to regulate your thoughts throughout your day.

Reference: https://www.betterup.com/blog/self-talk 

The Charger Promise

"We, as a community, will develop confident, well-rounded, and sought-after graduates who are prepared for the future"

Calendar

K-8 Calendar

 

Monday, 3.13 

SST 9:00 AM

Tuesday - 3.14

MTSS Meeting 10:00 AM

Pi Night 5-7:00

Wednesday - 3.15

Freshly Made French Toast Breakfast, 8 AM

Board Meeting, 6:00 PM

Thursday - 3.16

Friday - 3.17

LID Day, Agenda to come.

UP and Coming Events:

March 24, Next Student Access Date

March 28: Coach Debbie here