June 25-29th

July Workdays

July 2:  (8:00 - 4:00) Mandatory Workday:  Welcome to 2012-13 school year.  We will meet as a staff in the Media Center.  Agenda will be sent the last week of June.

July 3-  Workday:  No scheduled meetings at the school level--
Academics (Previously Curriculum and Instruction) is offereing Common Core Professional Development at McKimmon Center on July 3.  The overview is in 2 hour blocks.  It is recommended each grade level send 2 representatives to each area training. 


July 4:  Work on Relaxation---HAPPY JULY 4th!  Celebrate our Independence

July 5:  Required Workday-Central Services- Race to the Top Professional Development-More details to come.

Meet the Teacher 5:00-6:00 Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Based on the staff survey results.

July 6:   Workday:  No scheduled meetings at the school level--

Keep in your Thoughts

Lori Young notified us Sunday that her father, who lives in Texas, had had a heart attack.  She is on her way there now to be with him and to provide support during this fragile time.  Please keep Lori and her family in your thoughts during this very difficult time in her life.

End of the year information

Please make certain you are completing your end of year list and getting everything completed on the due date.  It is important for each of us to do our part so the next person can complete their task.  If you have questions, please see Nanette or Travis.

PLT Notes - https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B672VEz0g1mtSFJkNk1PNnB1VUk (still working on the format for these notes via Google doc)

Teacher Resources 

Misconceptions with the Common Core Vocabulary http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/jun12/vol69/num09/Vocabulary@-Five-Common-Misconceptions.aspx

Myths in education based learning styles: http://theeconomyofmeaning.com/2012/05/21/sometimes-i-just-want-to-start-throwing-things-myths-in-education/

Teacher Links 

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/bloggingprimer/  Blogging 101 (what is blogging, how to start, how to use with students, etc)

Smart Board training, webinar for Edmodo, etc - http://www.teq.com/pd

June 18th - June 22nd

CELEBRATION

Travis and Courtney are having a.....GIRL!!!!!!!!!

EOGs

Just want to say to everyone...I'm so proud of you!  FANTASTIC JOB!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!  SUPER!!!

Why am I cheering so loudly?  Two reasons:
1.  John can tell you, I talk his ear off the entire time we are in the car, analyze the scores. Get excited over the students we have talked about who have struggled this year and  made a 3 or 4.  Then when I get our composite scores, I get excited again when I see how we have contined to increase proficiency.  We have done a super job here, and I think individually the 3-5 teachers have heard the cheers.  K-2, you might have heard and wondered about the cheering!
2.  I was at a function last week when Mr. Tata congratulated me on my school scores.  He said he had checked my scores to see how I did and was very please with my school and that we had gone up from last year!  I said "Thank you, but it was my teachers and that each of them had set high expectations for themselves and their students and had done a fantastic job!"  I also shared that I had heard so many of you talking about growth with your students.  Another smile from our Superintendent!  Great job staff!!!

Class lists

Many parents are sending their request for specific teachers for next year.  My response to the parents "Thank you" then a statement of teachers know the students in the class and will creating the classes for next year.  Teachers will not know the final decision for teacher selection.  I know you know this, but make certain parents can't misinterpret a statement from you to say "Well.. TEACHER, said that Ms./Mr. is the best teacher for (insert child's name) for next year.  We all know they want what is best for their child, but we know what is best in terms of class make up.  All of you put a lot of thought and time into making balanced classes,  making a switch of one or two students can change the dynamics of the class.
Class list will be due by Friday June 22nd, so we can get everything ready for next school year. Pleaes e-mail the list to Travis.

Staff

Over the next few weeks and into next year, I will be mentoring aspiring administrators.  This week,  Eric Chaplin, and Wesley Barnes will be joining us.  Mr. Chaplin will be with us from June 18-Aug. 3. He is currently at Forestville ES teaching kindergarten. He has also been a PBIS coach for WCPSS.  Mr. Barnes will join us on June 19 and will be at OCE periodically throughout the summer and school year.  He comes to us from Davis Drive MS and has expertise in technology.  I know you will give each of them a warm welcome as they continue their professional development.

We are saying good-by to wonderful staff  members who have chosen to leave us to go to a traditional calendar, or to a school which can provide the months of employment for their passion.  Each will be missed and will always be welcome back to OCE. 

Good-bye... :(
Liz Miller--Traditional
Lee DeAlberdi--Traditional and AG/Intervention
John Laing--ESL (full time)
Chrissy Lantry--out of the world of education :(
Lynn Semyck - Traditional - AU2
Kimi Spach - staying at home

Hello... :)
Carolin Roberts...PE
Faye Scott...CCR  TA

Heads up for 2012-13 Open Houses

We continue to work closely with our PTA in making our school the best place to be.  This year our Open Houses will be:

Tracks 1-3-- July 25

Tracks 2-4--August 15

We will be in session two and half weeks when we have our Open Houses this year.

PLT Notes for the week

http://blackboard.wcpss.net/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_4003_1

Teacher Resources

A guide to Project Based Learning (some great handouts, explanations, etc http://www.innovationunit.org/sites/default/files/Teacher%27s%20Guide%20to%20Project-based%20Learning.pdf (this will be added to the "new" Wiki Space).

How to Teacher Tube (YouTube for Teachers)

Teacher Links

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/ - Common Core Resources
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/free-apps-to-create-digital-portfolios.html - Digital Portfolio (the App team will be determining Apps that go on the iPads...)

June 11-18th

July Workdays

July 2:  Mandatory Workday:  Welcome to 2012-13 school year.  We will meet as a staff in the Media Center.  Agenda will be sent the last week of June.

July 3-  Workday:  No scheduled meetings at the school level--

July 4:  Work on Relaxation---HAPPY JULY 4th!  Celebrate our Independence

July 5:  Required Workday-Central Services- Race to the Top Professional Development-More details to come. 

July 6:  Workday

Promotion and Intervention / PEPs / SST 

Promotion and intervention team meetings on June 27th and 28th.  See Alice's email on May 17th and June 8th for details.

EOG Testing

Congratulations to our Track 3 and 4 students and teachers!  WOO HOO!!!!  We have a few students who will need to take the retest, but overall they followed Track 1 and 2 in producing great results!

Getting Ready for Formative Assessment Common Core Standards: Webinar Round-Up - 

I know several grade levels have been meeting and discussing Common Core and getting ready for next year.  I'm not certain if any of you have had the time to take advantage of the webinars on NC FALCON, which were available to us over the past three months. The webinars were presented by teachers and other educators with information about implementing various formative assessment principles as outlined in NC FALCON.

Webinar No. 1: Implementing Formative Assessment; 
Webinar No. 2: Collecting Evidence of Student Learning;
Webinar No. 3: Learning Targets for Common Core Standards.

A recording of each webinar is available in NC FALCON (http://center.ncsu.edu/nc) in the additional resources section and the documents and resources presented during each webinar are available in the Falcon Forum in a thread (named by the webinar number).

As an NC educator we do have access to NC FALCON.  If you not created your login, go to http://center.ncsu.edu/nc click on login in the upper right hand corner. On the login page you will be prompted to enter your login, find an existing account (if you have forgotten your login), or create a new account. When you click on “create new account” you will be prompted to enter information to set up a login. If you have trouble with the login, contact the help desk at ncdesk@ncsu.edu or 919/515-1320. For more information on the formative assessment webinars, please contact Carmella Fair at Carmella.Fair@dpi.nc.gov.

This is one more resource for us as we begin "diving" into Common Core.  Not only does this help with classroom instruction, team time, and PLT conversations, it is a great opportunity for personal professional development.

Staff Changes

Welcome Back Allison Kaiser.  Allison has returned as the Intervention Teacher for the remainder of the school year. 

We wish Chrissy Lantry well as she begins her new job in the "outside" world. 

Wikispace

Have you noticed the calendar in the hallway by the mailroom?  Looks empty!  It will have a new purpose for the 2012-13 school year.  So, where will the request go for your classroom activities?  We will be using an online calendar for keeping up with all the events at OCE.  It will be a fantastic way to check on what's happening while you are tracked out, or schedule your events.  No more handing in the papers!  More to come on this great way of organizing our school!

Committees

Our School Improvement Plan will be our guide for the 2012-13 school year.  Our committees will be created from our Comprehensive Needs Assessment which provides the data summary for our SIP.  All committees will meet on Friday's for the 2012-13 school year.  Dates will be determined by the individual committees. More details to come at a later time from Heather and Rachael.

Teacher links 

http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/kindergarten?xg_source=msg_mes_network - fun blog (this is entry discussing "Everything I need to learn, I learned in kindergarten"

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1gflnxzTc77HP1XNcF0J8-tRFo3uzKdfd5Zth5GI4yqE - Should you use a blog, wiki, or doc (great chart that gives details about which is appropriate @rmbyrne.

Teacher resources 

Blog on Voice thread (great tool for verbally communication 

http://blog.web20classroom.org/2012/05/soyou-wanna-use-voicethread.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BloggingAboutTheWeb20ConnectedClassroom+%28Blogging+About+The+Web+2.0+Connected+Classroom%29

Teachers' D5 Share and Swap Stop http://www.sanjuan.edu/webpages/gguthrie/balanced_literacy.cfm?subpage=127464

June 4 - June 8

Captain's Log

EOGs

This week Tracks 3 & 4 will take their EOGs.  (See John's e-mail about proctors and specific schedules.)

• Tuesday, June 5--Reading
• Wednesday, June 5--Math
• Thursday, June 6--Math

Special thank you to everyone who sees and follows the instructions on the red stop signs.  The other day, we had adults (teachers and parents) walking down the hall having a nice conversation in an "outside" voice.  Remember..we are the example for the students.  I know it is hard to keep everyone quiet this time of year, but we owe it to students and ourselves for all the hard work we have done all year.  We know how much the students have learned and how much we have taught..but the paper only prints the scores on the EOGs.  Thanks in advance for holding everyone accountable...me included.

Leadership Team Retreat

Monday, June 4  Nanette and Travis will be off campus with the Leadership Team.  Not that we think anything will happen while we are gone, BUT...it the absence of a plan....

Please make certain you are supervising all students closely.  We have lots of substitutes on campus and while they might be familiar with our students, you know them best.  Make certain you are more visible than normal to all the students on your grade level.  SHOULD anything serious happen...Contact Alice and Audrey.  They know next steps.  I will be checking in throughout the day.  If you need to text me use 919-622-5103.

Track 1 Staff

Great job!  I enjoyed the many Author's Tea and End of Year events this past week.  Some I made the practice and others the actual performance. I wish I could have made all of them.  Each of you did a fantastic job having your students demonstrate how much they learned this year. The time each of YOU took making Memory Books, (in CD and paper form) was over and beyond. Fifth Grade teachers and all involved in the 5th grade Celebration...It was a very touching a memorable day for every student, parent, grandparent and friend. OCE sent our Track 1 5th graders off in style!  Congratulation to ALL teachers at OCE who helped making the day possible. To all Track 1 staff....Standing ovation for each of you as you begin your break between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

Welcome Back Track 2

Track 2 comes back today.  Welcome back to school.  It's good to see all of you again, as we begin the count down to the end of the year. 

 

End of Year

Remember to follow the end of year checklist prior to leaving for track out. (for some this is 3 weeks others..1 day.)  We are trying to make this transition as easy as possible as we move into the 2012-13 school year. 

Thank you to the  TAs who are working very hard to complete the cumulative folder reviews.  Teachers...it's up to us to make certain we have everything in the file, e.g., profile cards, report cards, etc.  We are missing a few items and I remember those same items being a problem at the beginning of the year.  It is important to the receiving teacher to have everything..otherwise..we are causing more work on a colleague. 

Kindergarten Orientation

Wednesday, June 6 from 6-7 our kindergarten team will host a kindergarten orientation.  This is an exciting time for our first time parents, as well as returning parents.  If you would like to stop by and see what happens that night, you are more than welcome to attend.  Not mandatory, but we don't want to leave you out.

Teacher Resources:

http://www.threering.com/  Three Ring | An App for Teachers to Create Educational Portfolios of Student Work with an iPhone, iPad, or Android Smartphone