Intstructional Data Team MidYear Review

As stated in the Teacher Evaluation document, the Peer Feedback component of each teacher’s evaluation is based on the work on the Instructional Data Teams.  Teachers will evaluate their team’s functioning using the IDT rubric in the domains of Membership, Data Analysis, SLO SMART Goals, and Process.  At the end of the year, domain scores will be averaged to create a summative score that is 10% of the summative evaluation.

During the August 2015 Professional Development Day presentation on the Revised Bristol Teacher Evaluation Plan, teams were directed to (1) review the IDT rubric in the fall, at the mid-year, and at the end-of year and (2) collect evidence of IDT work throughout the year.

The mid-year review by each Instructional Data Team will occur on Wednesday, December 17 during your regularly scheduled IDT meeting.  (Snow dates are:  January 14 for Prek-5, K-8 and 6-8 IDTs; January 7 for 9-12 IDTs.)

During this IDT meeting, the IDT will:

1.       Review the IDT rubric. It is also copied here.

a.       The IDT rubric is found on the Intranet site – Forms Central – Teacher Evaluation. The document is titled: Mid-Year Review IDT Rubric

2.       Discuss your progress on the rubric.

3.       Write in evidence for each item on the IDT rubric. (Please review your meeting notes for this evidence.)

4.       Write in a rating for each item on the IDT rubric.

5.       At the end of the rubric, state the team’s plan for improvement of the collaborative process for your instructional data team.

6.       Each member of the team is given a copy of the completed rubric.  The rubric can be completed in a Word document. 

For the Mid-Year Check-In Conference:

1.       Each IDT member will upload the completed IDT rubric into the Supporting Documents tool in Bloomboard.  You cannot do this until your observer has scheduled the Mid-Year Check-In Conference.

2.       At the conference, plan to review the team’s ratings and plan for improvement.

a.       Note: observers may choose to have this discussion with the IDT rather than during the Mid-Year Check-In Conference.  Team members will still upload the completed IDT rubric into the Supporting Documents tool in Bloomboard.

Staff Bulletin for the Week of December 15th

This Wednesday we will have Advisory.  Please remind those students with late arrival that we will have advisory this week and that the schedule is adjusted.  Mr. Higgins will be sending out reminders about the advisory plans.

This Wednesday we will be meeting in instructional data teams for the purposes of completing the IDT rubric.  Teams completed hard copies of these rubrics at the beginning of the year.  I'm happy to share the ones I received so that you can review your progress.  For this Wednesday, please follow the directions in the post entitled, IDT midyear review.

You will have advisory planning time from 2:55-3:25pm on Wednesday.

BE Events to Support Our Students

*** Tuesday's girls' basketball game will be filmed for TV.  Please put on your Blue and Grey and come to cheer on our team!

 

 Days of Kindness

Monday-Let someone go ahead of you in line in the cafeteria
Tuesday-Say something nice about someone to a friend
Wednesday-Write a thinking of you card to a recovering soldier
Thursday-Invite someone to sit with you at lunch.

 

 Reminders and Due Dates

Guest speaker:  Please consider bringing your class to the auditorium from 8:00-9:00am on Thursday.  The CEO from CT Children's Medical Center will be here to thank our students and faculty for the donations of toys they made and will speak about the work of the medical center.  This is a great opportunity for students.

Ugly Sweater/Cookie contest:  On Friday, don't forget to wear your ugly sweater!  Have you seen the picture of the sweater that turns from an ugly sweater into an Christmas tree????  We're also having a cookie contest.  Please bring your cookies to the library before school.  We'll have them available for eating (I mean, judging) there and in our office throughout the day.  Please come by--ugly sweater not required!

Dine and Discuss:  Our Faculty Dine and Discuss will begin on Monday from 2:30-4:30pm in the library.  I do have two extra books if you're thinking you'd like to join.  We're reading The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching and for Monday, we're discussing the section titled, "Be Demanding".  Teachers are paid for their participation and we plan to have some delicious food as well!

Tutoring Center/Academic Support; Ms. Tager, Mrs. Gammons, Dr. Bittel and NHS students have been working hard to revitalize the NHS tutoring center and procedures.  Students can now access this academic support in the library.  Ms. Tager will be sending out the details this week.

Common Assessments:  The Office of Teaching and Learning plans on distributing final copies of the common assessments to teachers this Wednesday. Please keep us informed if you do not receive your assessment.

Special Schedule:  Next Tuesday, we will be following a special schedule to allow for our students to enjoy the talents of their peers in a holiday concert.

ISS:  If you are not receiving notices prior to students being in ISS, please let me know.

Midyear Conferences:  We will be scheduling our midyear conferences between January 8-23.

Sunshine Fund for Students: As I hear about students who are encountering some very significant losses in their lives or are dealing with extended illnesses, I was wondering if faculty would like to contribute to a sunshine fund for them much like the one we have for each other.  That way, we can consistently express our thoughts as a school and each student would have similar recognition.  If you are interested, please consider contributing $5.

Holiday Cards:   We'd love to see all of the little ones.  If you have an extra holiday card that features your loved ones, please leave one in our office and we'll create a display for everyone.

Newsletter:  We're not having a monthly newsletter this year, but rather a seasonal one.  If you have an item for the winter (Nov-February) newsletter, please email me by January 15.

Student of the Month:    Do not miss this opportunity to recognize those students who have demonstrated our core expectations around responsibility and respect.  Please be sure to enter your nominations here for student of the month:  https://docs.google.com/a/bristolk12.org/forms/d/1-i7HpozrADx3bkvDKSwqJFWqgK3IbpFKIxU7sxcYM_0/viewform

Meetings for Teachers

Teachers:  Please review your student lists and current grades and notify our counselors of any concerns with 504 students prior to Wednesday.

Meetings for Parents

Tuesday, 12/16:  Project Graduation Planning Meeting 6:30-7:30pm

Charitable Opportunities this December

Please support our students' efforts to support those in need by contributing to one or more of the following drives:

Winter Wear Drive:  Coats, hats, gloves, or mittens can be dropped off to Rooms 239, 125, 141, 206, 219 or 210.

Toy Drive for CCMC:  Dropboxes located around the building, including the cafeteria and Room 127.

Pet Supply Drive:  Pet food, collars and leashes, toys can be brought to the the box in the front office and room 128.

Remember the other ways to "BE Kind" this holiday season:
December 8:  Bring in an item of clothing for the BE closet
December 9:  Tell someone that their beautiful/awesome!
December 10:  Leave a nice note on your desk for the next class throughout the day
December 11:  Encourage someone to try something new
December 12:  School-wide moment of silence, wear green and white.

Send a soldier your thoughts of gratitude and remembrance this holiday season.  Mrs. Beland will be sending those on Wednesday.

Staff Bulletin for the Week of December 8

Wednesday Meeting

This Wednesday we will have our staff chat from 1:40-2:00pm.  This month's snacks will be provided by the CATE department and the library media center.  We will also be honoring two of our staff members.  Following the staff chat, we'll meet in the cafeteria at 2:00pm for a guest speaker from the American Diabetes Association who will be providing us some education about diabetes in teens.  Please be prompt for this presentation.

BE Events:  Support Our Students

 

 Reminders and Due Dates

The focus of our Admin/Guidance meeting  is attendance.  If you have attendance concerns regarding any of your students, please email their counselor prior to Wednesday.

The progress period will end on December 8th.  All grades must be up to date and complete by December 11th.  Progress reports will be printed on that date.  Please remember that eligibility for ALL after school extracurricular activities is impacted by progress and end of term grades, so please be sure that what you have entered is accurate.

If you would like to have any articles in the winter newsletter, please be sure to email your submissions by December 19th.

Since weather can be unpredictable, it would be wise to have a few copies of the delayed opening and early dismissal schedules handy.  Here is the link:  http://www.bristol.k12.ct.us/uploaded/Bristol_eastern/Student_Handbook.pdf  Schedules begin on page 14.

Student of the month nominations are due on December 19th.  Please go here to enter your submission. 

Our midyear conferences are going to begin after December 17th.  To be prepared for your midyear conference, you'll want to review your SLO, PPO, and gather and organize data that you have that indicates your progress toward achieving both of those objectives.  Teachers in cycle 2 and 3 will not have an SLO.  This month there will be some work to do related to the goals within Bloomboard as well as a midyear review of instructional data teams that the district has decided must occur on December 17.

The Office of Teaching and Learning has committed to making common assessments available for teachers to review and copy by December 17th. 

Staff Bulletin for the Week of December 1

 The Bell Remains Here! 

`To celebrate, we will have our rally on Monday. Please follow the schedule listed here.




I will be making a Blackboard connect call on Sunday evening to let students know the schedule.  I appreciate everyone's cooperation in advance.  I know Mondays after a long weekend can be challenging enough without an altered schedule and a major rally, but we wanted to provide this opportunity for our students who have worked hard practicing and preparing for this event.

Please note that all of the previous reminders about pep rally still apply.  See previous post.

This Wednesday we will have advisory.  Please remind your students, especially those with late arrival, that we will have a revised schedule for Wednesday.

Wednesday meeting

This Wednesday is an Instructional Data Team meeting.  Most teams will be working on creating their units of instruction.  Thank you to everyone who has submitted their data.  Our School Leadership Team will be providing an update about how many units have been completed by department as well as individual feedback to data teams.

Guidance data teams will be working on planning their small groups and producing recruitment material.

Next Wednesday we are scheduled to have a faculty meeting.  I'm looking for a department who'd be willing to host the "staff chat" in the library.  Please let me know if your department is interested.  At 2:00pm, the American Diabetes Association will be educating our staff about the signs and symptoms of hypo and hypergylcemia so that we can better support our students with diabetes in our school.

 BE Events to Support Our Students/20 Days of Kindness

December 1st:  Give someone a compliment
December 2nd:  High Five Day
December 3rd:  Make snowflakes with messages of hope in advisory
December 4th:  Hug someone today
December 5th:  Make amends with someone

Reminders and Due Dates:

ASVAB Results:  Based on requests through Governance Council, students' results will be reviewed during last block on December 9th so they will not be missing the same class period as the period on which they took the test.  Mr. Hochman is going to be developing a survey to assess students' response to the test and the impact of the results on planning for their future.  It will be interesting to see!

Student of the Month:   Do not miss this opportunity to recognize those students who have demonstrated our core expectations around responsibility and respect.  Please be sure to enter your nominations here for student of the month:  https://docs.google.com/a/bristolk12.org/forms/d/1-i7HpozrADx3bkvDKSwqJFWqgK3IbpFKIxU7sxcYM_0/viewform

Staff Meetings

Staff Bulletin for the Week of November 24

There is no Wednesday meeting this week!  You can stop cheering now!

20 Days of Kindness

November 24th:  Staff gives their parking spots to students
November 25th:  Say hello to someone you don't know
November 26th:  Pick up a piece of litter

BE Events to Support our Students

• PEP RALLY
  
   Some reminders:
  
  • If students would like to stay for the pep rally but have early dismissal in their schedule, they will be assigned to attend a study hall or work room for the periods when they typically leave.  They should go to the administrative office at the start of the day to find out their assignment.  No students shall exit the building earlier in the day and return.
  • If students do not want to stay for the pep rally, they should be dismissed by their parents with a note in writing.  Notes must be received by Tuesday morning but can be brought in as soon as possible.
  • All students should go to their 7/8 class first before calling students down. 
  • Students should bring only their good cheer and school spirit with them into the gym. No backpacks will be allowed.  Backpacks, purses, etc. should be locked in their classrooms.
  • At the end of the pep rally, students are dismissed back to get their belongings.  Teachers should hold students until the end of the day.  If one teacher allows students to go, it undermines the cohesiveness of the entire building--please be sure to keep your students until the end of the day (12:06).
  • Teachers, please be extra vigilant leading up to the pep rally.  Be in the hallways and greeting students.  Notify our administrative team if you are concerned about any students.  At the end of every period, please do a quick sweep of your classrooms, checking desks, etc. to be sure everything is in order.
•   THANKSGIVING DAY GAME!

• Bristol Eastern vs. "The Other School" will begin at 10:30am, but there are a number of events that lead up to the game, including announcing some Bristol veterans, announcing the classes of BE and the other school for 1968, the announcement of our seniors and the football queen parade.  We hope to see you there!

Happy Thanksgiving!   

I'm still in shock that we're already celebrating Thanksgiving this week!  It is one of my favorite holidays--a chance to spend time with all of my family, recognizing the blessings I have in my life.  It is truly fitting that I spend a part of my day celebrating my Bristol Eastern family since I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a part of this community of faculty, staff, and students.  I hope you all enjoy the holiday.

Celebration of Family schedule