** ALSO AVAILABLE ON INFINITE CAMPUS **

STAFF NEWS AND NOTES

NUTS & BOLTS

24 EDITION 24, ISSUE 21 Groundhogs Day Edition May 14 18 May 21 25 English Social Studies

February 03, 2012 03,

KUDOS - To Deb Keough, District Music Supervisor, and our Junior High music teachers for bringing the New York Voices to our school yesterday morning. If you had the time available and stopped in to listen to them you would agree that we heard an excellent performance! Being able to host such a well known musical performing group is certainly a feather in our cap and it provided a great opportunity for all of the students and adults who were able to listen as well as to the adults who attended. Great job Deb, Mr. V., Erin, Desiree, Omar and Dan for your support of this excellent opportunity for our school! - To our colleagues who attended last evenings PTA/PAC meeting. As always, showing our appreciation for our PTAs efforts on our schools and students behalf by attending a meeting is very much appreciated by the PTA and by the rest of us who depend upon their support. Our thanks for attending last nights meeting go to Mary Kay Lowe and Kathy Roberts. - To Angela Shortle and Erin Kaplan for this evenings talent show The Show. As always, this is yet another great opportunity provided for our students who have often quite well hidden talents and the lineup of performances scheduled for tonight is indeed impressive! Thanks, Erin and Angela, for your interest and efforts in maintaining this opportunity that brings out the hidden assets in many of our students! - Thanks to everyone who participated in todays Sports Jersey Fundraiser. Participants paid $3 to wear a sports jersey today. The money will help defray the cost of the end of year Faculty Luncheon. A total of $96 was raised. Thanks to everyone for your willingness to help defray the costs of a couple school expenses. Thanks to Mr. V. for the idea and thanks to Tracy Maynard for making it happen!

Fair Cooperative

ATTENDANCE INFORMATION While Sue is out Janet Grant will be filling in for her Monday Thursday each week and will NOT have access to email...so if you dont mind contacting the attendance office via phone/voice mail or even notes in Sues mailbox it would be greatly appreciated!! QUIZ BOWL: MODERATORS SET Our annual, Quiz Bowl has been set for Friday, February 17. Moderators are needed. If you would be interested in serving as a moderator, please let R. Moore know. A proposed schedule is: Per. 1 Calhoun 7 vs. Clay 7 Per. 2 Houston 7 vs. Norris 7 Per. 3 Houston 8 vs. Calhoun 8 Per. 4 Grade 7 consolation Per. 5 ------------Per. 6 Clay 8 vs. Norris 8 Per. 7 Grade 8 consolation Per. 8 Grade 7 Championship Per. 9 Grade 8 Championship Moderator Tim Galvin__________ Lisa Coluccio________ Phil Coughlin________ Steve Brown_________ Ken Rizzo___________ R. Moore____________ Omar Williams_______ Omar Williams_______

New questions are always helpful! If you have any, please write them clearly on a 3 x 5 card, question on one side, and answer on the other side. Label questions as to grade 7 or grade 8. Questions requiring only short, single responses are best! FACULTY MEETING REMINDER Our next faculty meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 6. We will meet in the Assembly Room at 2:30 pm. Agenda items include: 1. New After School Program 2. New Year/2nd Qtr Grading Issues 3. Literacy Faculty Meetings: March 19 4. NWEA Round 2 Testing Reminder 5. Gift Giving 6. Other MARCH WORKSHOP DAY SCHEDULE Our schedule for the March 23 workshop day is as follows: All staff reports to SHS auditorium 8:00-8:15 Mr. Corr 8:15-8:45 Mary Ratzer; Inquiry in the Common Core 8:45-9:00 Ms. Skeals 9:00-9:15 Break The following schedule is for non-math and non-ELA teachers. 9:15-10:15 Session 1 Common Core 101 HS Auditorium 10:30-11:30 Session 2 Discipline Specific Common Core Video; Discipline Specific Content Area Reading Strategies 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Work on One Grade Level Lesson Exemplar to Infuse Content Area Literacy Shift of the Common Core Share Out: Cross Grade Level Lessons as time permits For math and ELA teachers. 9:15-11:30 Session 1 By grade level work with a single strand to translate standards. 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Share Out: Cross Grade Level Progression 6-8 and 9-12 Work on One Grade Level Lesson Exemplar to Infuse the Instructional Shifts of the Common Core Learning Standards. Librarians and 1 or 2 Selected Teaching Partners 9:15-11:30 Inquiry Based Research: Collaborative Team Planning with Mary Ratzer. 11:30-12:45 Lunch 12:45-3:15 Continued Inquiry Based Research Planning STUDENT TEST RESPONSE Thanks to Liz Carroll for sharing the following actual student response to a homework item. On the lines below describe a situation that describes the graph. This graph shows the amount of stress teachers gain while grading report cards. (Line should be steeper.) On the lines below, explain the reason the graph does not pass through the origin in the situation you described. The level of stress was already greater than 0 even before report card season started. (This was due to the midterm-grading!) Isnt it the truth!! NWEA ROUND TWO As publicized previously, we will be administering the NWEA tests in ELA and math to sub-groups of our population two times during the course of the year. The first administration was in late November early December, the second administration is scheduled as follows:

PM BUS SUPERVISION ZONE #1 ZONE #2 ZONE #3 ZONE #4 CAF A. Haacker M.K. Englat S. Harris T. Henry D. Hobden People are reminded to be on duty on a daily basis to make sure that supervision is provided.
ALL STAFF MEMBERS ARE REMINDED THAT THE BUS SUPERVISION IS AN ASSIGNED DUTY AND IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR ALL STAFF MEMBERS TO BE WHERE ASSIGNED DUTY; IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ARRANGE FOR REPLACEMENT PERHAPS BY SWAPPING WITH A COLLEAGUE.

LONG-TERM CALENDAR OF EVENTS Fri. Feb. 3 7:30 am Coffee with the Principal 7:00 pm The Show Wed. Feb. 8 Ski Club Week #6 Thurs. Feb. 9 7:00 pm Personal Technology Awareness Night Fri. Feb. 10 Newsletter Posted Fri. Feb. 17 Quiz Bowl Feb. 18 - 19 Set Building Weekend Feb. 20 24 No School Fri. Mar. 2 7:00 pm Annual Faculty Basketball Game vs. Lisha Kill Middle School Thurs. Mar. 22 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Fri. Mar. 23 Teacher Workshop Day 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Sat. Mar. 24 7:30 pm Beauty and the Beast Sun. Mar. 25 2:00 pm Beauty and the Beast Fri. Apr. 6 Good Friday No School Mon. Apr. 9 Spring Vacation Fri. Apr. 13 Apr. 17, 18, 19 ELA 7/8 Assessments Apr. 23, 24, 25 Math 7/8 Assessments Fri. Apr. 27 French Field Trip to Clark Art Institute CALENDAR OF EVENTS Mon. Feb. 6 2:30 pm Faculty Meeting Tues. Feb. 7 3:15 pm Social Studies Steering Committee Meeting Wed. Feb. 8 2:30 pm Stand Up Committee Ski Club Week #6 Thurs. Feb. 9 7:45 am Students of the Month 1st Semester Program 1:30 pm Administrative Counsel 7:00 pm Parent Technology Information Night Fri. Feb. 10 Newsletter Posted CHARACTER TRAIT ASSIGNMENT Feb. 6 10 Science Feb. 13 17 Math Feb. 27 Mar. 2 Art/Tech/H&C Mar. 5 9 Foreign Language Mar. 12 16 PE/Health/Music Mar. 19 23 English Mar. 26 30 Social Studies Apr. 2 5 Science Apr. 16 20 Math Apr. 23 27 Art/Tech/H&C Apr. 30 May 4 Foreign Language May 7 11 PE/Health/Music Patient Tolerant Honest Thankful Polite Considerate Generous Cheerful Loyal Sympathetic Patriotic Trustworthy

ELA Friday, Monday - February 10 & 13 Math Wednesday, Thursday February 15 &16 Students taking the ELA include special education students, remedial reading students and all students enrolled in the 7th and 8th grade G classes. Students completing the math NWEA include all students enrolled in 7th and 8th grade G level classes and special education students. Mark your calendars for round two of NWEA! PARENTING TECH SAVVY TEENS Parent Information Night Sponsored by the Pupil Services Department Adult ContentPlease No Students. Social Networkinglearning Facebook & more! Cyberbullyingwhen it crosses the line! Thursday, February 9th, 2012 7:00 PM Shaker Junior High School Auditorium Presentation by Stacey Angell, Jr. High Counselor Babysitting will be available. ADVISORY PROGRAM BREAK The Advisory Program will implement the annual mid-winter break. The advisory groups will not meet from Jan. 30th Feb 17th. All groups should resume their regular schedule (a minimum of two meetings a week) the week of Feb. 27th. Please inform your students of the break period and ask that they that be prepared to utilize their silent reading time on a regular basis during this time. The Advisory Program groups will be facilitated this year through Friday, May 25th, 2012. The Advisory Program has been operating since 1994 and we recognize the importance of making it a user friendly program for the teachers who volunteer their time to facilitate an advisory group in place of a contracted supervision. It is through your dedication and commitment that the Advisory Program is a successful experience for our students. If anyone has recommendations for this year or recommendations for next year, please stop by Margaret Demeters office or drop her a line. In addition, requests for supplies are helpful. She will set aside 5th, 6th and 7th periods on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012 for advisors to stop by her office to share any recommendations or requests with her. THINK SPRING! AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETYS DAFFODIL DAYS If you would like to order daffodils as a contribution to the American Cancer Society, please complete the order form by FEBRUARY 17, 2012. Place your payment by check and order form in an envelope with your name on it in Stephanie Majewskis mailbox. Order forms are available in the main office. Delivery of the flowers is expected to be around March 20, 2012. According to the American Cancer Societys website, donations for daffodils are 50% tax deductible. The items offered in exchange are: S A bunch of 10 fresh cut flowers (no vase) for $10 S Potted plants (potted bulbs w/ mini daffodil blooms) for $10 S THE GIFT OF HOPE (2 bunches of 10 flowers & a vase delivered anonymously to cancer patients in local hospitals) for $25. STAND UP COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - JANUARY 25TH * During this meeting, we began to identify smaller groups to accomplish separate tasks. The names of people who have volunteered or already been involved in some way are listed next to the group. More people can be added to the smaller groups! * Book Talk- Mike Donahue (Laura, Calyn, Tracy, Toni) This group will discuss how we are going to incorporate the book, Reinventing My Normal into the school. Concerns were raised from individuals who had already read the book about how this may bring up a lot of emotional issues for the students. Due to this fact, we are only going to use a portion of the book. If the section that is selected is small enough, we may have the students and staff read it during homeroom so everyone can be involved. The group will be meeting Wednesday February 1st to discuss. T-Shirts Days (Sarah, Tracey) Our next t-shirt day will be February 14th, where we will use the slogan: Stop in the Name of Love: Stand Up and Wear Red! (Thanks to Shelby for the idea!) Walk a Mile in Someones Shoes (Margaret, Tracy, Toni) We have directions and templates for this lesson ready to go. The plan is to have the 7th graders complete this activity in advisory while the 8th graders complete it in their special area classes (Home and Careers, Art, Tech). This activity will be held off until March, (due to the advisory break) and staff will be informed and prepared ahead of time. There will also be ample time given to get this done. (about 2 weeks) The Show: If You Only Knew Me (Stacey) There will be a small group working on how we are going to present an episode of this show to the school. If you are interested in seeing the episode, Stacey Angell can send out the link. Thanks to Toni Lyng for the idea! We will need a full 40 minute period to view the clip, and then another 40 minute period for follow-up. Mix It Up Day The idea to have Mix It Up day go along with the show If You Only Knew Me, was brought up at this meeting. Due to this fact, both of these activities will not occur until March or April. More details will be worked out at our next meeting. OUR NEXT MEETING WILL BE WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8TH We will meet in room A209. Any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to contact anyone on the committee! Thanks! -Tracy Henry

INTERESTING ARTICLE By David Reber, Topeka K-12 Examiner I'm going to step out of my usual third-person writing voice for a moment. As a parent I received a letter last week from the Kansas State Board of Education, informing me that my children's school district had been placed on "improvement" status for failing to meet "adequate yearly progress" under the No Child Left Behind law. I thought it ironic that our schools were judged inadequate by people who haven't set foot in them, so I wrote a letter to my local newspaper. Predictably, my letter elicited a deluge of comments in the paper's online forum. Many remarks came from armchair educators and anti-teacher, antipublic school evangelists quick to discredit anything I had to say under the rationale of "he's a teacher." What could a teacher possibly know about education? Countless arguments used to denigrate public school teachers begin with the phrase "in what other profession...." and conclude with practically anything the anti-teacher pundits find offensive about public education. Due process and collective bargaining are favorite targets, as are the erroneous but tightly held beliefs that teachers are under-worked, over-paid (earning million-dollar pensions), and not accountable for anything. In what other profession, indeed. In what other profession are the licensed professionals considered the LEAST knowledgeable about the job? You seldom if ever hear "that guy couldn't possibly know a thing about law enforcement - he's a police officer", or "she can't be trusted talking about fire safety - she's a firefighter." In what other profession is experience viewed as a liability rather than an asset? You won't find a contractor advertising "choose me - I've never done this before", and your doctor won't recommend a surgeon on the basis of her "having very little experience with the procedure". In what other profession is the desire for competitive salary viewed as proof of callous indifference towards the job? You won't hear many say "that lawyer charges a lot of money, she obviously doesn't care about her clients", or "that coach earns millions - clearly he doesn't care about the team." But look around. You'll find droves of armchair educators who summarily dismiss any statement about education when it comes from a teacher. Likewise, it's easy to find politicians, pundits, and profiteers who refer to our veteran teachers as ineffective, overpriced "dead wood". Only the rookies could possibly be any good, or worth the food-stamp-eligible starting salaries we pay them. And if teachers dare ask for a raise, this is taken by many as clear evidence that teachers don't give a porcupine's posterior about kids. In fact, some say if teachers really cared about their students they would insist on earning LESS money. If that entire attitude weren't bad enough, what other profession is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are doctors required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren't. For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there's a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education. If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don't blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn't graduate high school, it's clearly the teacher's fault. And if someone - anyone - tries to tell you otherwise; don't listen. He must be a teacher. David Reber teaches High School biology in Lawrence, Kansas. Articles by Mr. Reber can be found online at http://www.examiner.com/k12-intopeka/david-reber. OPPORTUNITY FOR 3 EDUCATORS TO TRAVEL TO TURKEY IN THE SUMMER OF 2012 Spotlight on Turkey The International Center of the Capital Region (ICCR) in collaboration with the Turkish Cultural Center Albany (TCCA) would like to cordially invite you and your teachers to attend an orientation and overview for a recently funded program entitled Spotlight on Turkey. The workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, February 28th from 6 to 8 pm at the Town of Colonie William K. Standford Library located at 629 Albany Shaker Road in Loudonville and will include an overview of the program and a presentation by local Turkish American community members from TCCA who will give a welcome, description of history and culture, and provide samplings of Turkish cuisine. The grant through the Turkish Cultural Foundation in Washington DC was awarded to ICCR to educate teachers and the general public about Turkey and promote interaction between the Turkish and American people. Additionally, of those who attend the workshop and subsequently fill out an application, three Capital Region educators will be chosen to have the opportunity to travel to Turkey for approximately two weeks during the summer of 2012. Please note: to be eligible to participate in the Teacher Study Tours to Turkey the applicant must attend the orientation and be currently teaching K through 12. From 2007 to 2011, the Turkish Cultural Foundation has organized 13 study tours to Turkey for 348 educators from across the United States. For additional information please call Diane Conroy-LaCivita at (518) 8605363.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind. Dale Carnegie