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Book Fair Schedule
Preview Mode December 11-12, please checkout this schedule to learn when your class should come. Students will leave with a wish list and a flier about book fair. Only adults (teachers, parents, etc.) will be invited to purchase books on these days. Shopping Mode December 13-15, please send students with money (if you have a chance to check please make sure students have AT LEAST $1 before coming down). Students may come individually or in small groups, but please try to spread student visits out during the day. I know many students will want to come FIRST thing in the morning, but this leads to chaos when we get too many. This year when it gets to crazy we will send students back with a "please return later" message if it gets too crazy. Student Book Checkout: Students will be allowed to checkout books during this time as long as we have the manpower to monitor this. If Book Fair gets overwhelming I hope you understand if we send students back with a "please return another time" message. Teacher Shopping PLEASE support our book fair! Money from the book fair goes to support Malvern's Learning Commons, and the library collection. If you are shopping for books this holiday season, please make this your first stop. Teachers are offered a buy 3, get 1 free promotion! I also encourage teachers to visit the book fair and fill your book box a wish list (with volunteers and parents coming in, you never know who might buy you a book!) and a book tag noting books you recommend to students. This is a change from years past and the PTA encourages each teacher to complete a Wish List, you never know what someone might buy for you! Teacher Book Boxes: Please take a minute to add a book or two to your book box. This is YOUR box of books you WISH to have for your classroom library. We hope that parents might take advantage of our free gift wrap with purchase offer and gift these to you. There is also an opportunity to win some (or ALL) of the books in your box for those teachers who have completed the Makerspace Tic-Tac-Toe with 100% of their class. Winter Extravaganza Thursday December 14, 6-8pm is Malvern's Winter Extravaganza. Please encourage families and students to attend! This evening family event features our choral concert, cookies/cocoa, the book fair and opportunities for photos with Santa and Mrs. Clause. Mrs. Gaston has volunteered to be our photographer for the night and we look forward to seeing many of you and your students there. PLEASE communicate with families about this event over the next week. We will copy and distribute this flier out to you ASAP. Photos with Santa WILL be posted to Facebook for easy access. If you are sending information home to parents, please add this sentence. Book Bucks PLEASE encourage your kids to READ! Of course this is something we want to see ALL of the time, but for the next week make sure you are recognizing reading with those Book Bucks! If you need more for your class, please let me know. These are different than PRIDE Tickets. PRIDE tickets recognize good behavior, while Book Bucks recognize good reading. There WILL be many books available for students to buy at the Book Fair with their Book Bucks. These will be in a separate area from the rest of the fair books and may ONLY be paid for with Book Bucks. Read Across America Day
+ Can my whole class come? YES! Tech TastingsDon't forget EVERY Tuesday until the end of the year will be 15 minutes, quick USEFUL Tech Tips and Tricks to make your life easier. No need to sign up, just show up and learn! Learn more..... YearbookThe yearbook is coming along. If you or any of your students did not take pictures here at Malvern in the fall, please make sure to take part in the Spring Picture re-takes. A few important notes:
Cardboard Challenge, Arcade and Spring Extravaganza!It's coming! The week of April 22 will be our LAUNCH. I will send information out at this point including an announcement to share with students, I would also LOVE to talk to classes/grade levels about this challenge. If you are not sure what this is, learn more here (beware the page needs to be updated). I will have plenty of cardboard in the Learning Commons if students need it, hope to have tape and markers on hand as well this year. Please plan to attend our Spring Extravaganza on May 17th 5-7pm. Not only will we have the bookfair open that night, we will have the Cardboard Arcade in the gym, the In-N-Out AND the Perot Trucks out front! A great night of fun, but we will need LOTS of volunteers. Students who submit games will be required to attend and winners will be announced at 7pm. Spring Book Fair: The Spring Book Fair is May 15-19. We will have two days of preview and shopping beginning on Wednesday the 17th. It will also be open during the Spring Extravaganza. This is a great time for kids to buy some books to read over summer break! Please encourage students and families to participate and encourage summer reading overall. Supporting your T-Tess GoalsIs technology part of your T-Tess goals? Please let me know what I can do to support YOU and your goals. I am happy to offer 1-on-1 help, to support your team with their specific needs and also encourage you to take part in all of the opportunities for tech PD you can including Tech Tastings, reading the Toilet Paper Tech and TRYING new things, I am about to send out a 17 Things to try in 17 I encourage you to TRY as many as you can, and this summer we will have another Badge competition! Explorer Stations and Language LabExplorer Stations are our version of Maker Space, and it is an ACTIVE part of our Learning Commons. Thank you to all of the teachers who send students each day and each week! If this is not a part of your routine, please consider adding it: here is the pass! Each week (or two) I post new challenges, but I am always open and looking for new ideas. If you would like to integrate the Explorer Challenge with upcoming curriculum or events, please let me know. Based on teacher feedback we will expand our Maker-Space to include more "Playker-Space", Tinkering, and STEM materials that students could use instead of working on the current challenge. Look for a new pass and new materials to be added over the summer. If you have any suggestions for materials, please let me know ASAP. It is my hope that these materials would ALSO be used by teachers in a separate language lab or even your classroom! NEW: Padcasters! Thanks to my MEF grant we have two amazing iPad, camera and microphone combination tools to help us make some REALLY cool videos (ones you can see and HEAR!). If you have any students or projects that might want to use these I would be happy to work with them. Maker FaireThe last week of school May 30 - June 1 will again want to take advantage of this time for our Maker Faire! I want to present teachers with two options: 1. Maker Faire in the Learning Commons (like last year) we will supply and set up various stations for students to complete and teachers can sign up for a 1-hour window during those three days. 2. Each TEACHER creates ONE station (STEM/Maker theme) for their room and all students travel as a group to each room. This could be 1-2 DAYS of stations, depending on how we decide to structure it. VOTE HERE! Book BucksMarch will begin a NEW PUSH for more Book Bucks. ALL teachers are encouraged to CATCH KIDS READING! The Explorer Challenge for the beginning of April is to SYNERGIZE as a class to submit the best "Caught Reading" commercial (a PSA for Reading), so I encourage you to start collecting images of your students "Caught Reading" OR make this a class job or effort and pair it with Book Bucks. Think outside of the box too and look for these kids during ANY downtime: bus duty, car duty, after testing, when in line, etc.
End of Year Book and Technology CollectionMay 12th will be the last day for book checkout and we will begin sending you and your students' notices for overdue/missing books after Book Fair. Students are responsible for paying for lost books. They may use cash, checks, Book Bucks, or work off time during recess. Please help all students find their books, clear their records and keep our collection complete. All Teacher iPads must be ERASED, RESET and checked in with the MRS by May 25th. Teachers who plan to return to an MISD school may keep their laptop over the summer, and teachers who plan to return to MALVERN may keep a Master iPad over the summer as well. Textbook InventoryMay 16th, 3:30 will be Inventory TRAINING. Each team should plan to send at least one member to this training. If no one can make it, or you would like to be trained sooner, please speak with the MRS. Each team is responsible for the electronic inventorying of THEIR textbooks and textbook closet by May 25th. How you complete this is up to your team. After you complete your inventory each team will be provided with a list of (hopefully zero) missing items that they need to track down before June 1. MISD charges Malvern for missing items, and this cost may be passed along to grade levels. SummerSummer? Yes, we are thinking about summer already! This is a great time to Sharpen Your Saw. I hope to offer a Book study, badges and mini-badges, and encourage you to take advantage of trainings and conferences and informal PD. Converge is a GREAT McKinney ISD conference where you can meet other local teachers and learn SO much. ISTE is coming to San Antonio and if you have even a day to visit it is well worthwhile (I will be there, let me know if you come!). If you can find any EdCamps, they are WELL worth the time! If your team would like to take advantage of their time off to schedule a half or full day informal PD customized to your needs I would love to invite you to meet at Malvern (everyone needs to bring some food and make it a fun, relaxing day).  Schedule for MAP testing
MAP Login During this time the computer lab will NOT operate on its normal schedule. The computer lab will be closed and only open to those teachers scheduled for Map Testing. The normal schedule will resume in October. The library will NOT have testing taking place during this time period and will continue to be open! MAP Deadlines Before first MAP test: Login to your account, and assign your students Reading, Math and Science (Gr 2-5) Tests. 1-2 Days Before the first MAP test: Prepare students to take the test. Consider showing the Test Warm-Up available on the Map Website. Also consider making it FUN! Test out Kahoot to model and practice having to enter a name and pin and then answer questions. On test day: Come in prepared to do your best. Please do your best to be prompt. I will make every attempt to have computers running and fully functional. Students will need to open the MAP Program, while you use your laptop to login to the administration site and launch the test. PLEASE ENSURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT TEST. You will need to find your Saved Test Sessions and press Test Now. Make the session name and password visible to students. Please erase board when you leave! They will then select their name and test, and confirm. You will need to confirm students as they login on the administration site. After the test: Make sure you checkout the Map Reports, Class Reports and the Learning Continuum. New teachers should discuss and explore these reports with their mentor and teams are encouraged to explore and discuss best practices. Don't remember your password? Go to https://mckinneyisd-admin.mapnwea.org Log in with your current MISD e-mail Click on "forgot password" A temporary password will be e-mailed to you. Need Help? Login to the MAP system using the link above and click on HELP. Map Resources
Understanding and Using the Reports 4th and 5th Grade Clubs continue meeting in January (on the 5th and 19th) but in February we will start with a NEW Club session. Before we get there we need both student and staff input into clubs.
First (due by January 6): Students need to complete this BRIEF survey to give input about which clubs THEY would like to see offered. Encourage students to be honest but realistic. Second (due by January 13): Teachers need to complete this brief survey to tell us about which club they would like to lead in the second session. --Will Student Feedback about which clubs they want be shared? Yes. ASAP. -- Can I lead the same club? Yes, but please let us know if you need the same EXACT students to remain in your club or if you need NEW students only. -- Do I HAVE to lead the same club? NO! You are welcome to offer something new and different to students. Not sure what to offer? Look at student suggestions! Third (due by January 20): Students need to complete this survey to pick a NEW club (also on the Malvern LC homepage)! We attempt to give as many students as possible their first choice of club and then move on to their second or third choice, so they want to take this seriously. 4th and 5th grade teachers: What do you think of a short cafeteria assembly on January 20th where each club leader briefly explains and champions their club? Book Fair Schedule
Preview Mode December 5-6, please checkout this schedule to learn when your class should come. Students will leave with a wish list and a flier about book fair. Only adults (teachers, parents, etc.) will be invited to purchase books on these days. Shopping Mode December 7-9, please send students with money (if you have a chance to check please make sure students have AT LEAST $1 before coming down). Students may come individually or in small groups, but please try to spread student visits out during the day. I know many students will want to come FIRST thing in the morning, but this leads to chaos when we get too many. This year when it gets to crazy we will send students back with a "please return later" message if it gets too crazy. Student Book Checkout: Students will be aloud to checkout books during this time as long as we have the manpower to monitor this. If Book Fair gets overwhelming I hope you understand if we send students back with a "please return another time" message. Teacher Shopping PLEASE support our book fair! Money from the book fair goes to support Malvern's Learning Commons, and the library collection. If you are shopping for books this holiday season, please make this your first stop. Teachers are offered a buy 3, get 1 free promotion! I also encourage teachers to visit the book fair and complete a wish list (with volunteers and parents coming in, you never know who might buy you a book!) and a book tag noting books you recommend to students. This is a change from years past and the PTA encourages each teacher to complete a Wish List, you never know what someone might buy for you! Winter Extravaganza Thursday December 8, 6-8pm is Malvern's Winter Extravaganza. Please encourage families and students to attend! This evening family event features our choral concert, cookies/cocoa, the book fair and opportunities for photos with Santa and Mrs. Clause. Mrs. Schultz has volunteered to be our photographer for the night and we look forward to seeing many of you and your students there. PLEASE communicate with families about this event over the next week. We will copy and distribute this flier out to you ASAP. Photos with Santa WILL be posted to Facebook for easy access. If you are sending information home to parents, please add this sentence. Book Bucks PLEASE encourage your kids to READ! Of course this is something we want to see ALL of the time, but for the next week make sure you are recognizing reading with those Book Bucks! If you need more for your class, please let me know. These are different than PRIDE Tickets. PRIDE tickets recognize good behavior, while Book Bucks recognize good reading. There WILL be many books available for students to buy at the Book Fair with their Book Bucks. These will be in a separate area from the rest of the fair books and may ONLY be paid for with Book Bucks. A few notes about the upcoming election process at Malvern:
1. If you have not taken the time to watch Kid President’s newest videos …..you just have to…..https://youtu.be/ghk-nDJB3Tk 2. Please start talking as a team and as a class about what traits are of a good leader and who you think should be nominated for our Malvern Presidential Race! Any FICTIONAL character may be nominated (of course I prefer literary characters but I am not going to limit to that). We are lifting the age restriction but do ask that your nominee be American (sorry Harry Potter). Each class will be asked to complete a nominee page by Oct 28. 3. I encourage older students to take part in Nickelodeon’s Kids Pick the President: http://www.kidspickthepresident.com/ and explore the resources offered there……(but maybe watch the Kid President video about learning to disagree first). 4. Research, campaigning and the Primary election will take place the first week of November narrowing the field down to 2 candidates. Explorer Station challenges will be to make posters and commercials for your preferred nominee. Voting will take place on Thursday November 3. All students may vote in the Learning Commons. We will have plenty of iPads and computers for our electronic voting. 5. Research, campaigning and the final election for #IfICouldPickthePresident will be the second week of November. Explorer Station challenges will be to make posters and commercials for your preferred nominee. Voting will take place on Thursday November 10th. Please hold an election in your class, only teachers (electors) may vote in the Learning Commons. Schedule for MAP testing
MAP Login During this time the computer lab will NOT operate on its normal schedule. The computer lab will be closed and only open to those teachers scheduled for Map Testing. The normal schedule will resume in October. The library will NOT have testing taking place during this time period and will continue to be open! MAP Deadlines Before first MAP test: Login to your account, and assign your students Reading, Math and Science (Gr 2-5) Tests. 1-2 Days Before the first MAP test: Prepare students to take the test. Consider showing the Test Warm-Up available on the Map Website. Also consider making it FUN! Test out Kahoot to model and practice having to enter a name and pin and then answer questions. On test day: Come in prepared to do your best. Please do your best to be prompt. I will make every attempt to have computers running and fully functional. Students will need to open the MAP Program, while you use your laptop to login to the administration site and launch the test. PLEASE ENSURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT TEST. You will need to find your Saved Test Sessions and press Test Now. Make the session name and password visible to students. Please erase board when you leave! They will then select their name and test, and confirm. You will need to confirm students as they login on the administration site. After the test: Make sure you checkout the Map Reports, Class Reports and the Learning Continuum. New teachers should discuss and explore these reports with their mentor and teams are encouraged to explore and discuss best practices. Don't remember your password? Go to https://mckinneyisd-admin.mapnwea.org Log in with your current MISD e-mail Click on "forgot password" A temporary password will be e-mailed to you. Need Help? Login to the MAP system using the link above and click on HELP. Map Resources
Understanding and Using the Reports  This summer, embrace Malvern’s first time offering TLC.
http://malvernlc.wix.com/malverntlc Challenges to help you and your studentsSelf paced & as competitive as you like. TLC: Technology Learning Challenges are designed to help teachers learn about the technology they need and want to know about in a fun self paced learning environment. Compete against yourself or others but most of all learn! Feel free to show off the badges you earn in your own way. When? TLC is designed to be completely self paced and all materials and directions can be found on the website above. Go as fast or as slow as you would like. Start as soon as you can and finish each challenge in a timely manner to make the most of your learning. Come back and continue to earn as many badges as you can. Need a little more incentive? For each badge you earn you will also earn a JEANS PASS. Free Book Fair Book* for all Tech Leader Badge holders. Free Book Fair Book* for anyone with Google Certification Top 5 Leaders will get certificates redeemable for recess AND lunch coverage. |
Susan HefleyLibrarian or Media Resource Specialist at Malvern Elementary School, McKinney, TX Archives
August 2018
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