Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Two Week Blog-February 27-March 7th

Let's Celebrate..........You all are Incredible...

DIGGS-LATHAM ELEMENTARY EARNS "WHOLE SCHOOL GROWTH" STATUS!



As I told you all yesterday, I am proud of all of you for earning $500 incentive bonuses for those who worked full time. Of course, if you worked half time or less, your bonus will be pro-rated. This bonus is earned for teachers and staff who worked last year.  All employees who are here now are working toward earning bonuses for next year which is the last year Star 3 will be in operation. I am sure we are even better than last year so let's keep trying and I know we will make it again!   I put an information sheet in your boxes and you can also go to the Star 3 website under Departments to get more information about the framework of Star 3.  Individual bonuses and grade level bonuses are also a possibility for teachers who have shown student growth.   I would expect those letters to be delivered to me in the next week. If you are fortunate enough to earn Individual bonus, grade level bonus and whole school bonus, you could possibly earn $5000+.  I am so excited for you. My husband asked me last night why I was smiling so much and I told him because I am blessed to have the most hard working, happy, dedicated and devoted to students, teachers in the whole county and we have fun!  We take care of each other and cheer each other on. We have coaches and district personnel who support us and bend over backwards to give us resources we need. I thank you for the shared vision and for not giving up when times get tough.  There is very little whining or gossiping and that shows true professionalism!!!!!!  I feel that we are a "Family" and I hope you feel that way too.  Remember, Dr. Frazier and I are always here if you need us:)


Diggs-Latham Art Displayed at Hanes Mall!!!

We were asked by the American Heart Association to put together an Art Display for a store window (upstairs by the carousel) in Hanes Mall. Mrs. Gordon and her students worked their magic and here is the result.  I am not the best photographer so please excuse the glare.  It is a beautiful display!


Retention Letters: I am forwarding you a great article I read on retention. I will forward it to you with Retention Information.  Now is the time to make initial contact with any parents of children you are considering retention for.  Remember you should have parents sign off that you talked to them about the POSSIBILITY of retention.  You also need to be able to show that you put interventions in place to target the high needs areas.  Keep work samples so that when it is time to make that difficult decision, we will have lots of evidence.  Thank you:)


Promise Awards

It is that time of year where we choose a first year teacher who shows "promise".  I think all of our first year teachers show promise.  They are all outstanding teachers.  This is a difficult task and that is why I would like you to help me with it. We can only choose one to send on to the district level to be recognized as our school representative at the Spring STAY Banquet.  Whomever we choose will have to answer some essay questions and I will as well.  The STAY Banquet is usually in April.  Our first year candidates eligible for a Promise Award are:  Cymbre White, Caroline Bostian, Lisette Prato, Hafida Boutkhili, Megan Shoaf, Zenyth Thomas and Taylor Mathis. I think I remembered everyone.  All will be recognized for completing the STAY program.  I am proud of them all.  I am going to put a ballot on Survey monkey and will send the link to you through email.  As you reflect on what you know about these candidates, choose a candidate that has promise in the areas of student achievement, teacher leadership, motivation, great attitude, building relationships with students and families as well as the community.  I realize this is difficult as you may not know all the candidates, but do your best. Talk with them if you wish:) to give you an idea of what they are all about.  If you could complete this by MONDAY at 3:30, I would appreciate it.  It should just take you a couple of minutes.  The candidate with the most votes will be our representative. Only vote once please.  The candidates can vote.



 Family Affairs:

  • Please keep Mr. Schorer in your prayers today as he is having a knee replacement.  If you wanted to send a card, let us know and we will get the address for you. 
  • Please keep Miss Greenlee's family in your prayers as her dad lost his brother unexpectedly yesterday. Safe travels to her parents who went out of state to be with the family.
  • Continue to keep Mrs. Gilliam in your prayers as she continues to recover.
  • Please keep Mrs. Asbury's granddaughter in your prayers as she too continues to recover.  This is the strongest little girl I know. She has truly been through a lot.
  • Nurse Hall's son has been a little under the weather so keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
  • Flynn, Mrs. Wolfe's grandson is doing well:)  He is a cutie!!!!
  • My happy, energetic, curious, sometimes naughty, puppy, Molly is keeping me busy!!!!
And she looks so innocent!  Don't let that cute face fool you, she has the puppy "crazies" every night around 6:30.  But, I sure do love her!


 Mark your Calendars:

  • Our SIT meeting for today will have to be rescheduled.
  • 2/27-Black History Celebration/District Committee her to review our SIP/ACCESS team here as well/CC meeting off campus
  • 3/3 Cannon to UNC Chapel Hill to present to MSA students on Community Engagement and Teacher Leadership
  • 3/3 Tornado drill this week. Practice with your students please:)
  • 3/7 Cannon to present with Principal Trish Gainey to the Explorers Program. Topic: Maintaining Strong Community Relationships
  • 3/10 Faculty Meeting
  • 3/11 Early Release Day
  • 312-3/13 Conference on Teaching and Learning (Cannon and Teachers)
  • 3/13 Newsletters due
  • 3/19 Spring LEP Parent Night
  • 3/19 Sarah Huddleston will be using Room 200 on the 19 and 20th 7-3:30
  • 3/19 as of now 3rd grade EOQ rdg.
  • 3/20 as of now 3rd grade EOQ math
  • 3/23 Grade 4-5 Reading EOQ
  • 3/24 Grade 4-5 Math EOQ
  • 3/25 Science EOQ
  • Science Program Manager Benika will use the Media Center for Training after school at 4:00
  • 3/26 Spring Production 1:00 dress rehearsal/6:30 Parent Performance
  • 3/27 End of 3rd quarter
STAY TUNED..........

Sunday, February 15, 2015

I AM SO HAPPY TO BE BACK!! I have missed you all!!




February 9th-13th, 2015

I am so happy to be back.  I truly appreciated the flowers and cards galore.  You really cheered me up and helped me to recover. Thank you all for doing your part to help. A very special Thank you to Dr. Frazier, Gloria, Katie, Connie, Sarah, Alisha, Barbie, Jennifer, Gwen, Krystal, and Ana  for making my absence go so smooth.  Thank you to all of our coaches as well. We are a TEAM.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe on the birth of their new Grandson, Flynn. He is just beautiful!!!!! Flynn arrived on February 4th at 11:45 am weighing 9 lbs. 2 ounces. WOW!!! What a Blessing:)


Speaking of BABIES, We have a new puppy....Meet "Molly"

We Re-Homed her from a family that has four kids under the age of five.  Need I say more? Anyway, she has found a great home with us and she will receive endless love!


Arts Council Fundraiser

Amanda Gordon is doing a wonderful job as our Arts Council Representative for the 2015 Campaign.  She needs all of our support to make it a success.  The campaign will run through the first week of March so please do your part to help the Arts Council.  There are lots of prizes! Every little bit helps:)


WEAR ORANGE ON FRIDAY!

Retention Information-It is that Time to be thinking about possible retentions. Look for an email from me with clarifications and sample letters. Please make sure you read the email as even if you do not foresee any retentions there is a form you will need to turn in to me.  You need to conference with parents and have them sign off on possibility sheet.







Sunday, February 1, 2015

February Will Be Filled With Collaboration, the Building of Relationships, Utilizing Data and Celebrations Including Black History Month 2/2-2/6


February 2nd to February 6th, 2015

As usual, this will be a very busy week. We begin Monday with 3rd graders testing. Vision Screening is on Tuesday as are our Instructional Walks which will begin at 1:00 sharp.  You will be notified below if a team will be observing you.  There may be additional classes added but this is where we are as of now. We had to be very creative in scheduling as we wanted to have as many grade levels/programs, etc... visited as was possible. You all are awesome. We would have liked the teams to see you all but they are only here for one hour and the observations last 10 minutes. There are classes in specials, recess, etc...1:00 is definitely a challenge but I know that we will be able to shine. There will be five teams who will visit three classrooms each. The visits will last 10 minutes and the team will meet to debrief and then go on to the next observation.   The teams are made up of Assistant Superintendents, Content Coaches, Star 3, ELA,Title I, Our Curriculum Coordinators and Administrators/Teacher Guide from our School and other district personnel. As I mentioned in the blog last week.  Please make sure all Bulletin Boards inside and outside of your rooms are complete, relevant and up to date. Have your current student work posted as well as your "I Can" and "EQ" statements. Each Grade Chair, specialist chair, etc... do a quick hallway check to make sure everything is up to date and there are no empty boards. If relevant, standards should be on board.  Thank you:)  If you are on the Observation list, pop in to see me tomorrow so I can give you additional information.

Learning Walk Teams: 


Team 1-Bullin/L. Wright/Sapp -   (Cannon, V. Simington, Hartman,Squire)

Team 2-White/Rice/Bersch-   (McGregor, S. Studies coach, Costello, Hoskins, Leslie Baldwin)

Team 3-C. Bostian/Stevenson/Friel-(Frazier, Amy Nail, Benika Thompson, PLT Coach, ELA Coach

Team 4-A. Wright/G. Jones/L. Greenlee-Gloria,Kenneth Simington, Andy Kraft, Shawn

Team 5-Faqih/Snider/Ochoa-Amanda G, Steve Oates, David Sisk, ESL, Connie or Wayne Foster, Science Coach




HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARILYN GILLIAM, AMANDA STEVENSON and JACKIE PULLEN

Family Affairs- I am scheduled for my surgery on Wednesday Morning. I will be out of commission for about a week, hopefully less. Dr. Frazier can reach me and you can email me or text if you have a problem. I will start reading emails as soon as I am up to it. I will listen to the doctor's orders and do my best to heal after the surgery.  I have all observations finished but two and will finish those on Monday., so most of you should have or will have your post observation. Please be sure that you have signed off on your post conference once completed:)  All peers have been given rights to enter peer evaluations. They should all be done by  Wednesday at the latest.


CONGRATULATIONS to another GRANT AWARD WINNER!!!!!  Julie Magness wrote and secured a Math Fluency Grant to obtain software that will help students learn their Math Facts!  Way to go Julie!  


LAST WEEK's and emails from me were chocked full of important dates and upcoming events. Please make sure you reread them, check your calendars so that you are up to spped on all that is happening.  Also, please respond, only needs to be a sentence or two to my post at the end of this blog. Thank you!