KES 5TH GRADERS START 4 WONDERFUL WEEKS OF WRITING

On March 2nd, all 5th Grade students will take the Georgia Writing Assessment. This test is a 2 hour writing session. Students will be given a writing prompt that will either be a persuasive essay, narrative, or informational essay. Kennedy 5th Grade teacher have given students 2 mock writing tests (Narrative and Persuasive) already this year to prepare them for this type of writing assessment, and this week will start the Four Wonderful Weeks of Writing. Over the next 4 weeks, 5th Grade students complete 5 more writing samples (2 Narrative, 2 Persuasive, and 1 informational). As the weeks go along, the amount of time that they have to complete the writing sample will be shortened until the students are close to the 2 hour time limit they will have on the actually Georgia Writing Assessment. Each week the samples will be scored (by a variety of teachers and administrators at the school) on the same writing rubric that the state uses. Teachers will use these scores to conference with the students to better prepare them for what the state will be looking for on their assessment in March. Each week a winner from each class will be awarded a lunch with Dr. Jordan and myself. Last year this program really pushed our 5th Grade students to perform higher than any other Kennedy 5th Grade class. We feel this year we have a very good shot of improving on last year's score as well.

HAMMER Time

We have been working really hard all year to make sure that ALL students are given every opportunity to master their grade level Georgia Performance Standards while modeling the Ready, Respectful, and Responsible character traits. We believe that those traits along with the quality GPS instruction will give each child at KES the ability to be successful in life and have the ability to get into college when they graduate from high school. While that is our focus on a daily basis, we do not get judged through the media by that but rather on our scores on State mandated tests. I don't feel that those tests show a true picture of what we really do, but I do understand their purpose. That is why we have put in place things each day to prepare our students for these test, and as we get closer to these tests (28 Days until the 5th Grade Writing Test and 50 days until the CRCT for 3rd-5th) we will be starting a new program caller HAMMER (High Achievement Means More Enrichment and Remediation) Time. Each of our 3rd - 5th graders will spend 35 minutes each day working in small groups on the specific skills they need to either meet or exceed expectations on these tests. This time will allow our teachers to differentiate instruction for our students and pinpoint their specific strengths and weaknesses while also working on test-taking skills. We will also be having a parent informational dinner on February 3rd from 6:00-7:30 to discuss what we are doing as well as what parents can be doing to help prepare their students for the CRCT in April.

Make up dates

Last night the Barrow County Board of education approved the following make-up days for the days missed last week. They are as followed:

• Friday, February 18 (previously a furlough day) will NOW be a school day (ALL Students report)
• Monday, February 21 (previously vacation day) will NOW be a school day (All students report)
• Friday, March 11 (previously a teacher work day) will NOW be a school day (All students report)
• Saturday, March 12 will be a teacher work day.

This plan allows for 3 instructional days missed to be made up before the CRCT in April without having days taken away from Spring Break or added to the end of the school year. This will allow us to maximize instruction for all students and have them prepared for the CRCT.

Snow Week 2011

I have been in education in Georgia for 17 years, and I have never seen a storm that wipes out an entire week of instruction. While it was fun for a day or two to play in the snow and ice , it has really taken away some vital instruction. Before this week, we had 35 more days until our 5th Graders take the Georgia Writing Assessment and 57 more days until the 3rd -5th Graders take the CRCT. Those 5 days we missed have really hit hard as we work to prepare them for those assessments. While it has taken away those days from our teachers, it was good to see our teachers yesterday coming up with strategies to make sure these days don't hinder the amazing progress they have made this year. While we don't know when these days will be made up (My hope is before the CRCT), we do have plans in place to make sure ALL students are Ready to meet or exceed on those assessments and more importantly in life. We will need everyone (students, teachers, parents, and administration) working together to make sure it will happen, but that is what we have been doing all year. Now it is just time to "Rise Up" and really hit it hard!~!!!!!

2011 Here we Come!

Today was the start of the NEW CALENDAR year for KES. We have arrived at 2011, and we have lots of work to do! We have only 38 more days (March 2nd)until our 5th Grade takes the statewide Georgia Writing Assessment and 59 more days (April 4th -8th) until our 3rd-5th Grade takes the CRCT. I challenged my teachers today to give their best each day because our kids deserve that. Even though it may get difficult, we need to push through and give EACH kid the best educational opportunity each day. I challenged them to not only believe that our kids will be successful with a surface-level type of belief, but to have a deeper kind of belief. "A belief that gets inside you and actually changes you. The kind of belief that changes your behavior, your attitude, and your outlook on life, and the people around you can't help but notice." Drew Brees.
I challenged them like the Atlanta Falcons to "RISE UP"!

I want my teachers to Rise Up and give the kids that come to Kennedy everything they got because these kids deserve it. I will also ask the kids to Rise Up and give these teachers everything they got, because the teachers deserve it. I know that they will and we WILL be successful.

I have that belief that has gotten inside me and changed me. It has changed my behavior, my attitude, and outlook on life; and I hope that the teachers and students can't help but notice!