Student Work Display

Teachers,

Mrs. Lewis and I saw some productive learning experiences in several classrooms this week. As a friendly reminder, please make sure that student work for November is clearly displayed within a designated area of the classroom. If you more clarity is needed, please contact one of our CSS members.

Thank you.

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Florida starts virtual school mandate

Source: Miami Herald (Miami, FL.)

Starting next school year, the first generation of Florida students can earn a diploma from their public schools entirely online, without ever setting foot in a classroom from kindergarten through 12th grade.


For more information, please click on the link below.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/education/story/707329.html


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Tutoring Update

We are currently servicing 30 grade 4 and 5 students twice a week through our internal tutoring program.

Beginning October 2, approximately 250 of our students will receive the after school tutoring benefit through Supplemental Educational Services (SES) at our site.

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Haitian ELL students

At our request and in order to assist our Haitian ELL students, Mr. Jacques Eddy Fils-Aime will be coming to Parkway Elementary once a week in the capacity of a CCHL Tutor.

Details To Come.

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After - School Tutoring

After-school tutoring begins today and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for selected grade 4 and 5 students. This program will last until September 25, as the SES Tutoring services for all other students will begin on October 2.

Successmaker Program

In terms of computer assisted instruction, we will use Successmaker as the primary program for reading and mathematics. We will not use Reading Plus. It is my understanding that the students can utilize this literacy-based program for a minimum of 15 minutes in a given session. Details To Come.

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Master Schedule Update

We have had no changes since the last update. Our documentation was submitted to the region and made available to school operations.

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A Great Model for Differentiation

The Teacher.Net Gazette provided an interesting, easy-to-read article on differentiated instruction. Click here to access this article and please feel free to send any links that you feel may be worthwhile on this topic.

Master Schedule

While I know some grade levels have seen drafts of their tentative schedules for the 08-09 school year, note that we have since learned that there will be changes in our allocations for certain types of teachers. This will significantly impact some of the services we wanted to provide next year. Details to Come.

Free Tutoring Program

Registration for Miami-Dade Public Library System SMART (Science Math and Reading Tutoring) program is taking place at all branches through July 7. The program will begin Oct. 4 and end on May 16, 2009.
See Full Article:

http://www.miamiherald.com/494/story/573604.html

Crist may expand Florida's online education

Thousands of public-school children across the state may soon be able to go to class without leaving their homes under a far-reaching measure that is now sitting on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist.

See Full Article:

http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/558694.html

Third Grade FCAT Scores

Florida third graders are about to find out how they did on the FCATs. The Florida Department of Education will release the reading and math scores for 3rd grade on Wednesday, May 21st.

http://cbs4.com/local/fcat.florida.comprehensive.2.728308.html

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Alternative Assessment (AAGTP)

As we wait to learn our grade 3 FCAT results, the testing window for the Alternative Assessment for Grade 3 Promotion (AAGTP) will not take place in the fall. Instead, the test is scheduled for the last week of summer school on July 28 and 29, 2008.

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FCAT Writing+ 2009

As per the Florida Commissioner of Education's presentation this morning, the graduation requirement regarding the FCAT Writing+ assessment has been delayed. Current Grade 10 students will not need to pass the Writing+ assessment to receive a standard diploma. Also, the multiple choice portion of Writing+ is being discontinued.

Teachers use comics to captivate reluctant readers

Not long ago, about the only way a kid could get away with reading a comic book in school was to hide it inside the covers of a textbook. Now Roberta Kaiser, the media specialist at Nautilus Middle School on Miami Beach, not only stocks her shelves with them, but demand outstrips supply by a wide margin.

http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/464872.html

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173 area pre-K programs show poor scores

Source: Miami Herald

The state rated 173 Broward and Miami-Dade County preschools that offer free prekindergarten with scores lower than last year's passing score, the state Department of Education said Monday.

Last year's passing score was 201 on a scale of 0 to 300. The numbers are based on how well students who attended pre-K last year performed on tests when they started kindergarten last fall.

Please click the title bar above to access any VPK Provider in the state.

Grade 3 FCAT Challenge

The Grade 3 FCAT Challenge will take place on Tuesday, February 5 at 1:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. The passage that we will use is "Slip, Slop, Slap." This should be done as a "cold read" and the students should answer all eight questions.

Since there are so many quotations in this passage, we would like the students to number all 18 paragraphs.

If you have any questions, please feel free to see Ms. Fogelson or Ms. Ford-White.





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PMP Updates

Teachers,

Please submit updated copies of your PMPs with documentation of parental communication to Ms. Johnson no later than Friday, January 25. In addition, please initiate any PMPs for applicable students who were not part of the original monitoring process.

Please see Dr. K if you have any questions.

Thank you.

After - School Tutoring

Teachers,
Please see Dr. K if you are interested in assisting with our after-school tutoring program. The sessions begin on January 28.

Voyager Schedule

Please click the title bar above to access your listed Voyager Schedule.