Coming soon to Arno…
Jan 23
Board Recognition Month at the Board Meeting 7:00
Jan 24
2nd Grade DRA day
Steve @ RESA 7:30
Jan 25
Schoolwide Title 1 meeting
SIP meeting 3:45
Jan 26
3rd grade DRA day
Steve NCI training a.m.
Arno Olympics 5:30
Jan 27
End of 1st Semester
From the PTA
Just a reminder, there is a PTA meeting coming up on Feb. 2 at 6:30, as always there is childcare available. Hope to see you there to be a part of helping Arno be a great school!
Arno Olympics
BMX Anti-bullying Assembly Feb 6 Grades 3-5
We are excited to bring in Matt Wilhelm into our district as he will be doing shows for Arno, Lindemann and APMS. Here at Arno, we will start our assembly for grades 3-5 at 1:15, lasting around 45 minutes. More info about this below:
More Than Just an Anti-Bullying Program
Matt Wilhelm’s elementary school assembly program is one of the most popular school assemblies in the country. He speaks and performs at over 300 different schools PER YEAR. His program is perfectly aligned with PBIS, Social-Emotional Learning, Olweus, and Second Step programs.
Matt’s elementary school program covers ALL THREE of the following topics:
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Never Give Up / Growth Mindset
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Bullying Prevention / Bystander Intervention
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Resilience
NWEA Testing Window
The window is running from Jan 16-Feb 10. Grades 2-5, please use your grade level carts to complete testing during that window, please the computer lab schedule for any changes due to K-1 testing. I will send out a table where you can indicate test completion for your room. The next NWEA window runs March 4-June 2 and I will coordinate that with MSTEP
Please fill in the shared doc indicating your completion of the testing.
DRA Dates
Please have ALL DRA data entered by Feb. 10
Please arrange for your own sub in AESOP under In District School Business and put DRA in the Notes. Because subs are always at a premium, please plan to enter your sub in AESOP as soon as possible. Unfortunately, waiting until the last minute may result in a sub not being available.
Tuesday 1/24 — 2nd Arno
Thursday 1/26 — 3rd Arno
Report Cards/Conferences
Sarah has once again graciously volunteered to set up your sign up accounts for conferences. I am going to set up a shared doc that you can insert your link that will then be shared in the blog for parent sign up. Stay Tuned. Also, Report cards will be going home on Feb. 3.
Time line:
Report Cards go home Feb 3
Inform parents of the need for a conference by Feb 3
Blog links for conf sign up go live Feb 3
Annual Surveys
It’s that time of year again- surveying all stakeholders to help guide our direction in the SIP. Surveys for this year:
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Parent link will be active on Jan 27- Feb 10
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Student survey will be available for grades 3-5 and take place during your tech special time with Carrie (Jan 27- Feb 10)
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Staff Link will be active Jan 27- Feb 10
Survey results will be shared once they are analyzed by our SIP team
Other Happenings…
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Sarah is currently working on Spirit week and the Pie Assembly. She is also looking for assistance on those and would like further along a new Chair for next year. Please see Sarah for more info
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March is Reading Month- Lisa is starting to get together a group that can help bring this to life this year. Please see Lisa if you are interested in joining the team to help coordinate all of the fun activities
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For the end of the year Eval- Be sure that I get a signed copy of your 30 hours of PD from MOECS for your certification. Only use the RESA form if MOECS does not apply to you
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WIDA testing window for ELs is Feb 6-March 24. During that window, you may have your EL students pulled for some time to test them on the state’s WIDA assessment.
MSTEP Item Samples for Practice
Practice: https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi/
Arno Fun FairPlease consider donating your time for our Fair this year… Click the link if you can assist
Literacy Program opportunity for students
Dear Elementary Teachers,
We are delighted to share information that Kelly Klug, APHS Drama Club Director, has been awarded a grant for a unique program to promote literacy and build connections in the community between the students of APHS Drama Club and elementary school students in the surrounding communities.
APHS Drama Club will be performing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in March 2017. One of the most beloved parts of Belle’s story is that she sees the possibility of books as a means to travel to places unknown. Local elementary school students will be invited to participate in “Books with Belle” program that includes one hour read-a-thon sessions in February and March which begin with Belle reading a book to them and ends with them receiving a free book to take home each time they attend a session.
Below/attached is information for elementary teachers in the event they wish to participate in this innovative program, which involves recording a beginning reading level, distributing a reading log, and recording an end of program reading level for all students who participate. If you wish to participate, please email Kelly Klug at klug@appublicschools.com for more information!
Note from Kelly Klug:
You are cordially invited to participate in a unique program that will pair books, one of our favorite Disney Princesses and an opportunity to create a deeper love for reading in elementary aged students.
The program:
Teacher Requirements: If you choose to participate, you will be asked to record a beginning reading level on your students and distribute a Books with Belle reading log to them. We would also like you to encourage your students to attend Storytime Saturdays where Belle will read them a story and allow them to choose a book at their individual reading levels to take home with them. (They will attend four sessions: February 4th and 18th as well as March 4th and 18th). You will be asked to record an end of program reading level for all students who participated. Reading growth data will be collected at the end of the program. You will receive a stipend in the form of a gift card for your participation.
Student Requirements: Students will keep a reading log showing at least 20 minutes of reading every night beginning February 4th. For four Saturdays, we will have a Storytime Saturday and students will be invited to attend and sit with Belle as she reads them a story. After Storytime, they will get their logs stamped and be invited to choose a book to take home, free of charge (total of four free books per participating child). Students who complete the program will be given a free ticket to our stage production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on their choice of performance dates: March 24, 25 or 26.
Depending on the number of classrooms participating, I would like to bring Belle to your class to kick off the project. There is a possibility that Channel 4 news will accompany us to at least one classroom!
If you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible. I’m excited about this opportunity for all of us…such a great community builder!
thank you,
Kelly Klug
21st Century Learning
How to Build Your PLN on Twitter
Looking to create or expand an online personal learning network? This illustrated guide can help.
By Denver Fowler, John Riley
09/11/15
Today, more and more school leaders and educators are creating Twitter accounts in order to access the overwhelming amount of free professional development that Twitter has to offer. For this article, we are going to focus on using Twitter chats to interact with your professional learning network (PLN) and to take advantage of all that free PD.
According to teacher and blogger Kathleen Morris, Twitter is an excellent way to access thousands of individuals “around the world with rich backgrounds and experiences that can contribute to your professional growth.” A PLN on Twitter is made up of the individuals that you choose to follow and the individuals who choose to follow you on. In the simplest terms, this is your PLN.
After signing up for a free account on Twitter, the first thing you want to do is build your PLN. There are two basic principles when building your PLN:
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If you only follow 10 individuals on Twitter, you will only see the tweets of those 10 individuals.
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If only 10 individuals follow you on Twitter, only these 10 individuals will see your tweets.
Please note: You must have at least 10 followers on Twitter before you can take part in Twitter chats. This is a way that Twitter protects against spam.
A great way to start building your PLN is to search for hashtags of Twitter chats that might be of interest to you. You can do this by searching in the Twitter search box. An example search for an assistant principal might be #apchat (an assistant principals’ chat), whereas an example search for an educator might be #edchat (a chat on all education subjects). Other examples of searches could include #scichat (a science teachers’ chat) and #artsed (an art teachers’ chat). Searching for these hashtags and others allows you to find individuals on Twitter who are interested in the Twitter chats that you are interested in. You can find a detailed list of Twitter chat hashtags listed by time zone and day of the week here.
Twitter Chats
Once you build your PLN, you can start participating in professional development via Twitter chats. Most times, a Twitter chat consists of one moderator (generally an expert in the field) asking questions while participants answer the questions and also communicate with others involved in the chat. Other times, a group debate may take place in which everyone may share their opinion regarding the particular topic. In both cases, you are interacting with your PLN.
An important component of participating in Twitter chats is knowing when they are regularly held. You will want to note the scheduled days and times of chats you are interested in. (You can refer to the link provided earlier in the article to get you started).
There are many benefits to participating in Twitter chats. Stephanie Leishman, a social media strategist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, lists the four benefits of joining a Twitter chat as “Learning, Networking, Visibility, and Reputation.” We would argue that learning and networking are the two largest benefits.
Examples of Twitter Chats
So, you’re new to this educational Twitter world and don’t know where to start or how to participate in a Twitter Chat. No problem! Take a moment to check out the screenshots below from #HCSDchat, a chat focused on homework. You’ll notice that the moderator and participants in the chat are using the Q1:A1 format, where Q1 is question 1 and A1 is answer 1 to question 1, and so forth. Most Twitter chats follow this general format.
The screenshot below shows an introductory tweet by a moderator. These introductory tweets usually include pertinent information regarding the upcoming chat including the topic and the question/answer format.
In the next screenshot, the moderator is interacting with a student audience. (Note that Ss = students and Ts = teachers). All tweets will use the #hcsdchat at the end. This will ensure that your tweet shows up in the chat feed on Twitter throughout the conversation.
The next screenshot shows an initial question posted by a moderator. Notice that Q1 stands for Question 1, and again, the hashtag #hcsdchat keeps all the tweets connected throughout the chat on Twitter.
Below is a sample response to a moderator’s question using the Q1:A1 format. The “1” beside the star means that someone in the chat “favorited” this response.
Most chats will end with the moderator bringing the chat full circle with some sort of a closure to the chat. In the example below, the moderator includes a Pledge to make change and implement what you have learned during this particular chat.
During a chat, it can be hard to keep up with the conversation. With so many people responding to the moderator it is easy to get lost. Don’t worry. The more you chat, the better you will become at keeping up with all of the responses. That being said, this is where a Storify of the chat comes in handy. Typically, the moderator will curate a summary of the chat using Storify, which, according to Liz Dexter, “is a social media tool that lets you create stories or timelines from a variety of social media resources like Facebook and Twitter, as well as other web resources. You can use it to pull together information on whatever you want, and can customize it how you want, then share your story on the site with your friends on those social media sites.” Here’s an example of a Storify from the homework chat sampled previously in this article.
Who Should You Follow?
When it comes to professional development, it’s important to follow individuals who share innovative ideas about education and who are passionate about what you are passionate about. For example, you might follow Jon Gordon, Author of The Carpenter, because he shares a great positive outlook on life and love for servant leadership. You could take what he posts and put it to practice in your professional life.
Twitter chats are a vital part of professional growth. This is where personalizing professional development through social media comes into focus. Here, individuals can share ideas, links to resources or inspirational quotes. Chats can also be the starting point for collaboration sessions with other educators. The opportunities to connect and learn from other educators around the globe become endless. When all else fails and you’re not sure what you’re doing, watch this YouTube clip for some Twitter etiquette and a good laugh.
About the Authors
Denver J. Fowler is an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Mississippi School of Education. He has more than a decade of experience in pre-K–12 education as a teacher, coach, mentor, professional development facilitator, technology coordinator, athletic director and school administrator.
John Riley is an introduction to education instructor at the Mcvey Innovative Learning Center in Hilliard, Ohio. He also serves as an adjunct education professor at Columbus State Community College.
