A great Friday!

It was a really great Friday. All students have now taken the Math and Reading Classworks FIND test. That was a big accomplishment especially for our Kindergarten students who are just now learning to use the computer and read! Way to Go Dragons!!!
We had our first assembly of the year. All 688 students were treated to the NED Show. This is a character education program that uses YO-YO's to teach student to Never give up, Encourage other, Do your best! Our students did a great job of showing that they were Ready, Respectful, and Responsible as they watched, laughed, and cheered along! The yo-yo's will still be on sale ALL next week before school starts.
Kolado, our reader dog, made her second trip to the school and 10 students were able to read to her.
We finished off the week with over 300 people attending our Pre-K and Kindergarten Family Night. It was a lot of fun, and I really appreciate all the parents who brought their children out. I also want to thank the Apalachee High School cheerleaders who came and cheered and painted faces. I especially want to thank the teachers and instructional assistants who gave up the start of their Friday night to spend with the students and their families. It was a lot of fun!
I can't wait until next week!!!!

"The Light Just Went ON"

The reasons why most teachers get into education is because they: 1) love kids, 2) feel they are called to do it, 3) want to make a difference in the world , or 4) truly are passionate about learning! One or more of those reasons are why they get into it, but what is it that makes it worth it when they are getting furloughed days, supply money cut, class sizes increased, and more pressure to pass the CRCT?

Ask any teacher and they will say it is the "LIGHT JUST WENT ON" or "IT JUST CLICKED" moment. Like me playing golf, I can have a round of double or triple-bogey golf going and just one great shot makes it worth it. That is how it is with teaching. You may be struggling to get all 28 of your students to do something then 1 (that's right 1) just "GETS IT" and it is all worth it.

We had a bunch of those this week at KES. There was the kindergarten student named Michael who picked up the litter in the bathroom because that is "Not Respectful or Responsible" (his words not mine!). There was the 2nd grader named Laura that was able to show more than one way to make 35! We had the 5th graders who were able to truly explain the difference between prime and composite numbers. The greatest "The light just went on" moment was when we had one of our special friends who had not communicated since she has been at Kennedy learned to use an assistive technology piece to tell us that she wants to eat! She also learned to use a switch to turn on and off bells and a fan! It was one of the greatest moments at KES! Way to go Ms. Dollar, Ms. Chambers, and Ms. Rice!

I look forward to sharing many more of those moments with you this year!

100th Post

It is very hard to believe that this is my 100th post since I started this blog last year. Just like the school years, it has flown by quickly.

I guess with this post I should fill you in on some things that we are doing at KES this year that are new!

1) We have started a new program called Positive Behavior Intervention & Support (PBIS). This program teaches students how to be Ready, Respectful, and Responsible in every aspect of school. The teachers are teaching the expectations in the classroom as well as reinforcing the expectations of the cafeteria, playground, restroom, and hallway that Ms. Bachman, Dr. Jordan and myself are teaching through morning announcements and classroom visits. In October, the students will be able to earn Dragon Dollars for exhibiting these Ready, Respectful, and Responsible behaviors. Every teacher will be giving dollars to students; those dollars can be used to purchase items in the store.

2) We have also started to work on creating a NEW Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). On Friday we had a core group of parents that came in to discuss how they could create an organization that will support the mission of Kennedy Elementary School and promote volunteering opportunities and fundraising options. Everything that this organization will do will directly support the mission of Kennedy that is to build Ready, Respectful and Responsible students that will be able to leave Barrow County Schools with the ability to go to college. Please be on the lookout for future meetings to create this impactful organization.

3) We will also start on Monday, August 19th using our Classworks lab to do some benchmark assessments for Reading and Math. These assessments will be taken on the computer and will give our teachers some vital diagnostic data that will help us to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in our students. The teachers and administration will analyze this data on a regular schedule to adjust our instruction to meet the needs of their students. These assessments are called Classworks FIND assessments and will be given 3 times a year (August, January, and May). We will also other assessments throughout the year.

Well there are 3 news things that we are doing this year. To celebrate my 100th blog post, I made sure that all of them were exactly 100 words. I knew my 14 followers would enjoy the counts. Everyone have a great week!!!

Curriculum Night and PTO

Tomorrow night, Thursday, August 12th at 6:00pm we will be having our curriculum night and TITLE I informational meeting. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to hear exactly what your child will be learning and how they will be assessed. This is also an wonderful opportunity to meet your teacher if you have not already. If you are a parent of more than one child, we do have it set up so you can hear from 2 different grade levels. I really encourage you to make every effort to come out.

On Friday morning, we are having a group of parents interested in starting a PTO at Kennedy who will be meeting to discuss how to get it going. If you are interested please come to the media center at 8:00am.

Week 1 Highlights!

So many amazing things happened this week at KES that it is hard to pick a favorite so here are some of the highlights;
1) Having 100 more students than last year!
2) Having 2 classes of Pre-K!
3) Seeing our 5th graders helping pre-K with the fire drill!
4) Over 140 parents at the parent meetings!
5) 1st graders writing about themselves.
6) Kindergarten students doing circle maps of their colors!
7) 2nd graders attempting to sign the Pledge of Allegiance!
8) 3rd grade teachers using their Promethean boards to teach!
9).4th graders drawing pictures of students being Ready, Respectful, and Responsible in the cafeteria!
10). 5th graders setting the examples for all the other students at KES!

Those are just a few of the highlights for the week!
Congratulations to Ms. Burns and Ms. Watrous's class for having the highest participation at Sonic Night!
I look forward to next week. See you at curriculum night on Thursday @ 6:00pm!

Welcome Back to Kennedy Parent Meetings

What an amazing turnout for our 4 Welcome Back to Kennedy Parent Meetings. We had over 140 parents come to learn about the goals and expectations of the students, teachers, and administrators at KES. I want to thank all the parents who came out to learn more about the school and how they can get connected. I also want to thank Scott King who came out and translated for me from English to Spanish. It was an amazing set of meetings. The biggest impact on a child's achievement in school is how involved their parents and guardians are in their education. These past few days showed just how successful our Kennedy Students will be.

The Night Before DAY 1

It is almost 6:00 the night before the first day of the 2010-2011 school year, and I am putting the final touches on the first day morning announcements and notes to the teachers. I am really excited about the new year. It promises to be a fantastic year. The school is the biggest it has been since I came 3 years ago. We have a new behavior expectation/incentive program. We even have a new grade level as the Pre-Kindergarten program has come back!! It is going to be a great, great year!

Parents, I welcome you out to one of our 4 Welcome Back to Kennedy Parent meetings. We will have them on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00am and 6:00pm. We will do the ones on Wednesday in Spanish as well. This is a great opportunity to learn about the school, our expectations, and programs as well as how you can get connected if you would like to volunteer!

I have included a video that I showed to the teachers to really show WHO we are about and WHY we should be teaching!