Getting to know you:
CELEBRATIONS!
- The WCPSS Photographer came to Underwood this week to take pictures that showcase our incredible school! These pictures will be used on the website, updating marketing materials, etc.
- All Kindergarten classes completed a class meeting and created visual rules and routine books to help emphasize expectations through the lens of CD. Visual are a powerful tool to utilize in the classroom…. If you are interested in this support, see Ashley.
- 4th grade students participated in WCPSS’ Performance Task!
- PTA stipends ($125 a semester), here is the link if you don’t know if you have spent it this year - Staff - Stipend
- A beautiful weekend!!!
- Ashley’s brother
- Rachel Frasier
- Allisa and family
- Lauren and family
- Sherry and family
Student Assignment for 2019-20
From student Assignment Office: As we begin to hear appeals for the Board, please remind your staff that they should not write letters of support for a family to transfer to a school. The Office of Student Assignment will reach out to schools for additional information, if necessary, in order to get additional facts regarding a transfer request.
Makerspace:
The Makerspace and it's materials are being used on a daily basis by different classes and electives - so awesome! New items - including craft materials and electronics (circuits, simple machines, etc.) - are being added over the next couple weeks. In order to keep the space and materials manageable, help is needed. If you use, have used, or plan to use (or are thinking about using) the Makerspace, please sign up to manage it for a week. What does managing the Makerspace entail? Simply stopping by for 5 minutes 3 - 4 times during the week to tidy, restock, etc. Please sign up at the Makerspace entrance. Also, please consider including the following info in your weekly communications with families:
The Makerspace has had a lot of use lately! We are in need of the following items:
tape, tape, and tape (any type)
small animal and people figurines; small cars
toilet paper/paper
towel rolls
fabric and wallpaper scraps, especially with interesting textures
bottle caps
stickers
other cool items that could be used in projects (such as small sea shells, wine corks, etc.)
North Carolina State Senior Leadership Project (our student teachers)
The student teachers will be providing us information based on feedback we had during our SIP Meeting (based on behavior data). Each week will they provide information! This is a great launch to our next steps in addressing our instruction when teaching boys. The first one has been provided by Jenni Davis (Ceil O’Loughlin’s student teacher.
Bridging the Gap Between the Genders - NC State Student Teachers
There have been varying statistics on how boys are performing academically based on local, state, and national data. Since 1971, according to The National Assessment of Educational Progress, boys at ages 9, 13, and 17 years old have been trailing behind girls in regards to overall academics. In the article, “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens report that boys account for 70 percent of the D’s and F’s in schools. Boys also account for two-thirds of disability diagnoses and represent 90 percent of discipline referrals (Mulvey, 2010). These statistics are bewildering. The statistics on males’ success in the classroom continues to decline. The question is what do we do? How can teachers reach boys and keep them on the “right” academic and behavioral path in life? In these blog posts, we will provide strategies and resources to help find the solution.
One way to better understand how to reach our students is to look at the development of the male and female brains. The male brain typically develops differently, and for many boys it just isn’t developmentally appropriate to require such high standards for both sexes at the same ages. Leonard Sax explains that a distinguished team of 15 neuroscientists based primarily at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, published an interesting account of the development of the human brain. The most striking finding in this publication was that the researchers found that the various regions of a child’s brain develop in a different sequence and tempo in girls compared to boys. Sax compared teaching many 5 year old boys to read as similar to teaching 3 year old girls (Sax, 2007). More gender research regarding differences in the brain shows that male brains produce less serotonin than female brains, contributing to boys’ increased need to move impulsively. Males seem to typically have high metabolisms and overall energy levels, which makes movement a necessity. This movement stimulates boys’ brains and helps to better manage their innate impulsivity. If boys are given more opportunities for movement, this can increase on the brain level the communication of the right
and left hemispheres. This all can result in boys’ abilities to focus and learn. (Senn, 2012).
With this being said, one strategy that teachers can use with males in their classroom is offering choice. Offering choice in movement, books, topics for writing, and format of a project are all ways that can improve the motivation of students in the classroom.
One way to offer choice in terms of movement would be giving options between sitting, standing, or walking in place in the back of the room. A strategy for offering choice in writing would be to allow their students to draw more for brainstorming rather than writing. This is a powerful outlet for many children, especially boys. Finding the opportunity for students to brainstorm in this way may give them a chance to reach the creative and critical thinking parts of their brain. Next week’s blog post will talk more about the male brain and classroom strategies to help lead these students to success in both their academics and behavior.
Sources:
Mulvey, J. (2010). The Feminization of Schools. Education
Digest, 75(8), 35-38.
Sax, L. (2007). The war against boys. The
Atlantic, 1-15
Senn, N. (2012). Effective Approaches to Motivate and Engage Reluctant Boys
in Literacy.The
Reading Teacher, 66(3),
211-220.
Staff Development Opportunities-
Teacher Summer Writing Institute-Due to popular demand, the county is offering for the 3rd year in a row the Teacher Summer Writing Institute from June 17-21st at Carroll Middle School. Please review this flyer if you are interested! Teacher Summer Writing Institute flyer There are only 50 spots available.
A STEAM Virtual Professional Learning Series sponsored by PBS Education
Our world changes every day, and with that, our teaching practice does to: there is always more to learn as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) educator. In this three part series, we’ll look at ways to inspire our young scientists and make concepts such as data and computational thinking engaging! Register for the three part "Live Learning" experience: Inspiring Young Scientists Through STEAM Education.
NCCAT
NCCAT has released their summer programming- https://www.nccat.org/programs/calendar-seminars
ArtsPleasure- Years ago, staff ran ArtsPleasure! In an effort to give back to our generous families, we feel this is the year that we go back to the way things were. Our parents come to ArtsPleasure to celebrate the gifts and talents we nurture and help grow each day. If they are volunteering, it makes it very challenging to see/enjoy their child’s performance. We are hoping all staff will join together and cover at least 30 minutes on March 21st. Please review the link to see if and when you can help cover this special night! LINK
If you have a student performing and want to know so you can sign up- check the schedule here!
Miles for Wellness
Miles for Wellness will start back this Spring on March 25th for 8 weeks! Are you interested in working together as a team to track steps? Let Alexandria know if you are interested in joining the team and/or leading the team! We already have several members on our team- Heather Burton, Rachel Frasier, Heather Peaden, Mackenzie Weed!
If I have forgotten someone, please let me know!
Behavior Support Meeting: -Join us on Tuesday, March 19th at 8:00 AM for a behavior 911 session! We will provide an "ed-camp" style session to support your needs. Come learn more about using EASi and inputting incident reports, gather ideas for supporting fidgety students, or brainstorm ways to strengthen connections with your students. You're also welcome to come with other concerns to brainstorm solutions for tricky problems! Feel free to RSVP to Mary English or just show up! We hope you will join us! This is open to all staff!
PTA Stipends- If you have needs or requests, the PTA has asked that you spend the money prior to May 1st. Before submitting a request through our Instructional Needs Form, please spend this money first. Please let us know if you have any questions.
RTA Summer Camp - Our Summer Camp will be at Brentwood Road Elementary and we will be with Brentwood and Joyner. Summer Camp will run from July 15-30th for 12 student days. The teacher workdays are July 11, 12, and half-day on July 31. Staff interested in serving as the Lead Teacher will need to apply for the position in Applitrack. Each host site has a posting for the Lead Teacher position.
EOG dates 2019
Wednesday May 29th- 3rd and 4th Grade ELA
Thursday May 30th - 3rd and 4th Grade Math
Friday May 31st- 5th grade Science , 3rd and 4th grade make ups
Monday June 3rd- 5th grade ELA
Tuesday June 4th- 5th grade Math
Wednesday June 5th- 5th grade make ups
Check the Underwood Calendar often….
Check the shared Underwood google team drive, folder-Daily absences and info for the preferred sub list.
Together we are better! Feel free to share feedback/celebrations anytime here
Conscious Discipline Challenge of the week: When is the most chaotic time of your time? Write about the steps involved students need to do to be successful. Model each step with the class, take photographs and then review the visual expectations regularly.
Calendar/Important Links:
From student Assignment Office: As we begin to hear appeals for the Board, please remind your staff that they should not write letters of support for a family to transfer to a school. The Office of Student Assignment will reach out to schools for additional information, if necessary, in order to get additional facts regarding a transfer request.
Makerspace:
The Makerspace and it's materials are being used on a daily basis by different classes and electives - so awesome! New items - including craft materials and electronics (circuits, simple machines, etc.) - are being added over the next couple weeks. In order to keep the space and materials manageable, help is needed. If you use, have used, or plan to use (or are thinking about using) the Makerspace, please sign up to manage it for a week. What does managing the Makerspace entail? Simply stopping by for 5 minutes 3 - 4 times during the week to tidy, restock, etc. Please sign up at the Makerspace entrance. Also, please consider including the following info in your weekly communications with families:
The Makerspace has had a lot of use lately! We are in need of the following items:
tape, tape, and tape (any type)
small animal and people figurines; small cars
toilet paper/paper
towel rolls
fabric and wallpaper scraps, especially with interesting textures
bottle caps
stickers
other cool items that could be used in projects (such as small sea shells, wine corks, etc.)
North Carolina State Senior Leadership Project (our student teachers)
The student teachers will be providing us information based on feedback we had during our SIP Meeting (based on behavior data). Each week will they provide information! This is a great launch to our next steps in addressing our instruction when teaching boys. The first one has been provided by Jenni Davis (Ceil O’Loughlin’s student teacher.
Bridging the Gap Between the Genders - NC State Student Teachers
There have been varying statistics on how boys are performing academically based on local, state, and national data. Since 1971, according to The National Assessment of Educational Progress, boys at ages 9, 13, and 17 years old have been trailing behind girls in regards to overall academics. In the article, “With Boys and Girls in Mind,” Michael Gurian and Kathy Stevens report that boys account for 70 percent of the D’s and F’s in schools. Boys also account for two-thirds of disability diagnoses and represent 90 percent of discipline referrals (Mulvey, 2010). These statistics are bewildering. The statistics on males’ success in the classroom continues to decline. The question is what do we do? How can teachers reach boys and keep them on the “right” academic and behavioral path in life? In these blog posts, we will provide strategies and resources to help find the solution.
One way to better understand how to reach our students is to look at the development of the male and female brains. The male brain typically develops differently, and for many boys it just isn’t developmentally appropriate to require such high standards for both sexes at the same ages. Leonard Sax explains that a distinguished team of 15 neuroscientists based primarily at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, published an interesting account of the development of the human brain. The most striking finding in this publication was that the researchers found that the various regions of a child’s brain develop in a different sequence and tempo in girls compared to boys. Sax compared teaching many 5 year old boys to read as similar to teaching 3 year old girls (Sax, 2007). More gender research regarding differences in the brain shows that male brains produce less serotonin than female brains, contributing to boys’ increased need to move impulsively. Males seem to typically have high metabolisms and overall energy levels, which makes movement a necessity. This movement stimulates boys’ brains and helps to better manage their innate impulsivity. If boys are given more opportunities for movement, this can increase on the brain level the communication of the right
and left hemispheres. This all can result in boys’ abilities to focus and learn. (Senn, 2012).
With this being said, one strategy that teachers can use with males in their classroom is offering choice. Offering choice in movement, books, topics for writing, and format of a project are all ways that can improve the motivation of students in the classroom.
One way to offer choice in terms of movement would be giving options between sitting, standing, or walking in place in the back of the room. A strategy for offering choice in writing would be to allow their students to draw more for brainstorming rather than writing. This is a powerful outlet for many children, especially boys. Finding the opportunity for students to brainstorm in this way may give them a chance to reach the creative and critical thinking parts of their brain. Next week’s blog post will talk more about the male brain and classroom strategies to help lead these students to success in both their academics and behavior.
Sources:
Mulvey, J. (2010). The Feminization of Schools. Education
Digest, 75(8), 35-38.
Sax, L. (2007). The war against boys. The
Atlantic, 1-15
Senn, N. (2012). Effective Approaches to Motivate and Engage Reluctant Boys
in Literacy.The
Reading Teacher, 66(3),
211-220.
Staff Development Opportunities-
Teacher Summer Writing Institute-Due to popular demand, the county is offering for the 3rd year in a row the Teacher Summer Writing Institute from June 17-21st at Carroll Middle School. Please review this flyer if you are interested! Teacher Summer Writing Institute flyer There are only 50 spots available.
A STEAM Virtual Professional Learning Series sponsored by PBS Education
Our world changes every day, and with that, our teaching practice does to: there is always more to learn as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) educator. In this three part series, we’ll look at ways to inspire our young scientists and make concepts such as data and computational thinking engaging! Register for the three part "Live Learning" experience: Inspiring Young Scientists Through STEAM Education.
NCCAT
NCCAT has released their summer programming- https://www.nccat.org/programs/calendar-seminars
ArtsPleasure- Years ago, staff ran ArtsPleasure! In an effort to give back to our generous families, we feel this is the year that we go back to the way things were. Our parents come to ArtsPleasure to celebrate the gifts and talents we nurture and help grow each day. If they are volunteering, it makes it very challenging to see/enjoy their child’s performance. We are hoping all staff will join together and cover at least 30 minutes on March 21st. Please review the link to see if and when you can help cover this special night! LINK
If you have a student performing and want to know so you can sign up- check the schedule here!
Miles for Wellness
Miles for Wellness will start back this Spring on March 25th for 8 weeks! Are you interested in working together as a team to track steps? Let Alexandria know if you are interested in joining the team and/or leading the team! We already have several members on our team- Heather Burton, Rachel Frasier, Heather Peaden, Mackenzie Weed!
If I have forgotten someone, please let me know!
Behavior Support Meeting: -Join us on Tuesday, March 19th at 8:00 AM for a behavior 911 session! We will provide an "ed-camp" style session to support your needs. Come learn more about using EASi and inputting incident reports, gather ideas for supporting fidgety students, or brainstorm ways to strengthen connections with your students. You're also welcome to come with other concerns to brainstorm solutions for tricky problems! Feel free to RSVP to Mary English or just show up! We hope you will join us! This is open to all staff!
PTA Stipends- If you have needs or requests, the PTA has asked that you spend the money prior to May 1st. Before submitting a request through our Instructional Needs Form, please spend this money first. Please let us know if you have any questions.
RTA Summer Camp - Our Summer Camp will be at Brentwood Road Elementary and we will be with Brentwood and Joyner. Summer Camp will run from July 15-30th for 12 student days. The teacher workdays are July 11, 12, and half-day on July 31. Staff interested in serving as the Lead Teacher will need to apply for the position in Applitrack. Each host site has a posting for the Lead Teacher position.
EOG dates 2019
Wednesday May 29th- 3rd and 4th Grade ELA
Thursday May 30th - 3rd and 4th Grade Math
Friday May 31st- 5th grade Science , 3rd and 4th grade make ups
Monday June 3rd- 5th grade ELA
Tuesday June 4th- 5th grade Math
Wednesday June 5th- 5th grade make ups
Check the Underwood Calendar often….
Check the shared Underwood google team drive, folder-Daily absences and info for the preferred sub list.
Together we are better! Feel free to share feedback/celebrations anytime here
Conscious Discipline Challenge of the week: When is the most chaotic time of your time? Write about the steps involved students need to do to be successful. Model each step with the class, take photographs and then review the visual expectations regularly. Calendar/Important Links:
March 18-22- 4th Grade Artist in Residence (Tony Peacock)
March 19th-CD “Ed Camp” Behavior Learning sessions (open to all staff), 8:00am in the Media Center
March 21-Q3 electives end
March 21-CDAT meeting at 7:45am
March 21-Artspleasure 5:00pm-8:00pm
March 25-Q4 electives start
March 26-Leadership Meeting at 7:45am
March 26th-Q3 ends
March 29-Workday (We will meet from 10:00-12:00 as a staff)
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