Friday, October 27, 2017

Weekly Communication from Central Office - 10/27

Wink’s Weekly Words

What if the student isn’t learning the standard?  
Last week, I introduced this graphic below to show how the most effective teachers respond when students are learning or are failing to learn the standard. This week I want you to think about how you enrich students if they are learning.  When it comes to enrichment, there are a few choices you have to guide students to even higher levels of success.


  1. You can give them more of the same work to build automaticity with the content.
  2. You can add more complexity through questions and prompts to extend the student in unpredictable situations.
  3. You can give the student choices of different products he could create to show mastery of his learning. (PBL)
  4. You can assign the student to lead a small group of students or individual students to help them teach the standard to their peers.


Here’s the thing about differentiation.  There is no correct answer, only a best match with each student.  This week, I invite you to share your differentiation strategies with all of us.


PRIZE PATROL


BLUE RIDGE FALL FESTIVAL - SHOUTOUT

There are so many people I would like to thank for making the Blue Ridge Fall Festival a huge success.  First, I would like to thank Shawn Harris for being the point person for everyone.  She is outstanding and committed to making Blue Ridge a better place everyday.  
Special thanks go to Terra Mathers and Stacey Raymer for organizing the Zombie Run.  It was so much fun.
Thank you to Carolyn Wink and Denise Avery for being our community contacts to get so many community members involved.
Thank you to the following staff members who either organized the kids to be involved or worked with us on Saturday.

  • Phillip Lentz, Matthew Todd, Dena Hamilton, Jennifer Stroup, Courtney Christenson, Roma Morgan,Angie Lillard, Tiffani Johnson, Katie Pelzel, Kevin Wiggins, Missy Douglas, Leslie Packard, Roma Morgan, Theresa Wade, Michael Gelvin, Casey Moore, Sherry Lord, Kim Mounger, Terri Rodriquez.
  • If I forgot your name, I apologize.  Please let me know.

Amy’s Announcements



The beginning of the year MAP window has officially CLOSED! Whew!
Thanks for your patience as we worked through this assessment for the very first time. We believe that, over time, the data can be used to give us valuable information about student growth. 

Just a little info about MAP:
MAP uses anonymous assessment data from over 10.2 million students to create national norms, placing our students within a representative national sample. By drawing from an incredibly wide pool of anonymized test records (pulled from more than six million test events, 23,000 schools, and 49 states), MAP is able to accurately represent the US school-age population.

REMEMBER...MAP scores students by RIT score. 
MAP® Growth™ measures student performance with RIT scale. Like centimeters on a ruler, it measures in equal intervals, regardless of a student’s grade or performance—and it remains stable over time. This gives you an accurate measure of student performance, regardless of whether they’re performing on, above, or below grade level.
The video below gives more information on RIT scores (it's written for parents).




When looking at your students RIT score, compare their scores to this MAP NORMS CHART, to see the median RIT for your grade/test. This will help you determine if your student is above or below the average. Keep in mind that there's a standard deviation for each grade/test, meaning the average could be a certain number of points above the RIT or below the RIT. The standard deviation gives you an AVERAGE RANGE, instead of just one specific number.

Here's the chart of NORMS to compare your RIT score to - https://goo.gl/SYLYqq




I know many of you have already printed reports and are starting to look at student data. 
If you haven't looked at data yet, here's a starting point:

1. Look at the CLASS REPORT  - this report shows class performance for a term, including norms status rankings, so you can analyze student needs.


2. A second good report to view is the STUDENT PROFILE REPORT. This report brings together the data you need to advise each student and support his or her growth, including learning paths and growth goals.




Need or want help with interpreting MAP Reports?

  • Your principal can help!
  • See your MAP Coordinator - Elder, Townsend, Raymer (SHOUT OUT to these ladies for all the work they've done with MAP.
  • Come to a MAP Q & A training session...these will be scheduled in November...be watching!



Professional Learning


  • October classes are listed in Eduphoria and HERE  - https://goo.gl/9YfN8r
    • Make sure you sign up and complete the survey to receive credit.

  • A few November classes are already listed on the iMPACT Training calendar - https://goo.gl/9YfN8r if you want a preview. Want to suggest a class or TEACH a class? See your iMPACT Team Lead - Stiney, McPherson, Brummett, or Pelzel.

  • This past Monday was our 2nd Twitter Chat of the school year, which focused on DOK Questions and Exit Tickets. THANKS Katie Pelzel, for moderating the chat. If you missed it, here's the Storify of the tweets - https://goo.gl/v8kSVy




Special Programs Announcements



Miscellaneous Announcements


  • If you need to send an email to all staff members at Central Office with news/announcements, you can send to centraloffice@brisd.net and all CO staff will receive it.
  • Counselor’s Corner - https://goo.gl/4jCkhf