Comet Express 9.12.11 Monday Morning Music from a Proud American

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fsu_y1cpt This is an awesome YouTube video. You may have to cut and paste the url to watch it. It's worth the time.

This Week... 9.12 Google Forms with Melanie 3:50-4:30 9.13 Teacher Leadership Academy Softball at Uwharrie 9.14 District Admin Meeting-CDC, ATF, JJR LT Meeting at 4:00 in the media center FB against NERMS (Home games played at SAMS.) 9.15 Progress Reports Go Home-Please provide Candace with a written list of students you will send a progress report to. Superintendent's Advisory Council Meeting BT-1 Meeting after school Media Center open until 4:30 9.16 Fundraiser Ends Dance Sponsored by 6th grade 6:30-8:30

Next Week... 9.19 Dr. Frost visit to review CIP with LT at 3:45 Melanie's Google Site Training will be moved to September 26th. Kerri's SS/ELA Vertical Meeting will be rescheduled. 9.20 Breakfast for the Staff in the Lounge Thank you for starting the year like champions! LT Meeting at 4:00 Softball at Home against SWRMS 9.21 Football at Home against RMS ATF-RtI Training at 3:00 at PDC 9.22 Superintendents' Advisory Council Meeting at 3:45 BT 1 Meeting Softball as SERMS 9.23 Teacher Self-Assessments should be completed and Professional Development Plans are due

Celebrations and Hot Tamales

*Thank you Julia for organizing and supervising a school wide recycling effort.* *Thank you to Brenda for walking the talk and eating lunch with a student who needed extra attention.*

*Dr. Frost called to thank the NAMS staff for being so caring to the Futch family.*

Keeping Us On The Same Page

-The following attachments have been added to the NAMS Google Site under Evaluation Instruments: 11-12 Administrative Professional Evaluation Assignments 8. 11-12 Professional Evaluation Calendar 9. 11-12 Coaching and Learning Walks Schedule for Administrators

-Scott does not have enough instruments for band students. Harold Blair is trying to find a grant to help with this problem. If you have or know anybody who has a band instrument that they could donate to the school, please let Scott know. We can give them a letter from the school for tax purposes.

Basic Best Practices that must be consistent for NAMS to be a great school.

Instruction Please review these basic best strategies that should be implemented consistently in all classes for all students. -Essential Questions and Language Objectives identified and consistently posted in the same location that is visible to all students -Consistent evidence of Common Planning and Common Assessments being utilized -Student Work Displayed-Especially examples of "Excellent" student work -Student discussions around content being learned Logistics and Professionalism -Staff members should be at school 15 minutes before their duty begins in order to be prepared for students. Staff members who don't have duty should be at school by 8:00. -If you are on duty and do not have enough help to provide adequate supervision, you should notify an administrator immediately. This is a safety issue. -Rebecca Brewer asked me to remind staff that bus drivers have to report any driver who passes a stopped school bus even if the bus is on school property. Please be careful not to do this. Also, she

Comet Express 9.12.11 Monday Morning Music from a Proud American

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fsu_y1cpt This is an awesome YouTube video. You may have to cut and paste the url to watch it. It's worth the time.

asked that we not park around the curb in the back. If you have questions about the bus or parking issue, please see April.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

http://tinyurl.com/3qn9lyo

Learning Links and Stuff to think about The importance of listening-A 21st century skill

http://tinyurl.com/3fzc8xr

Great link for curriculum sharing sites http://tinyurl.com/3h9u3e7

20 things teachers should do this year blog post

http://tinyurl.com/3b7bxpq

SAS Curriculum Pathways Great Teaching Resource - The most recent release of SAS Curriculum Pathways online education resource includes the most significant enhancements since its 1998 debut. The product now has middle-school resources and maps, English language arts and math resources to both state and national Common Core State Standards. Over 20,000 teachers in over 1,200 traditional schools and 40 charter schools are using SAS Curriculum Pathways all at no charge to schools. SAS Curriculum Pathways provides standards-based content for middle and high schools in core academic disciplines and more than 1,200 academic resources, including lessons, engaging activities and interactive teaching tools, plus links to more than 4,000 academically appropriate websites. Quality content engages students and can be adapted to meet varied needs. For more information, including how to take advantage of this resource, please visit www.sas.com/govedu/edu/curriculum/index.html .

Thinkfinity is Beneficial Resource for Teachers - Teachers are always on the lookout for new tools to enrich students’ classroom experience and improve learning. Particularly in these tough economic times it is important to have access to resources that are free and aligned with the state’s curriculum. Teachers are reminded of the partnership the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction formed last year with the Verizon Foundation to make available Verizon Thinkfinity (www.Thinkfinity.org) to educators statewide. This free online resource features thousands of K-12 lesson plans, in-class activities and videos that can be searched by grade level, keyword or subject. While resources on this website are already aligned to the Common Core standards in English/Language Arts and Mathematics, additional resources are being added that align with the Common Core and North Carolina's new Essential Standards in science, social studies and other subject areas, all of which will be implemented in 2012-13. This is a terrific resource for North Carolina public school teachers, and NCDPI staff members encourage educators to take advantage of all it has to offer.

Common Sense Corner-MEd of the Obvious

Do you ever feel like you are on information

overload? I know that I certainly do. We will be

talking about that in upcoming team meetings. I

believe it is important to have time to read for

the pure joy of reading and not even worry about

whether you are learning something new. I also

believe that is my professional responsibility to

intentionally read to learn. I would like for us to

develop practical ways to make this happen in

our NAMS Learning Community. We talk about

student gaps a lot in education. Sometimes we

can create a knowing and doing gap among

adults. So as we continue to build our Learning

Community, I challenge you to examine if there

are knowing/doing gaps that need to be closed.

You can know a lot and be a professor. To be a

great teacher, you have to use what you know to

do a lot.

Comet Express 9.12.11 Monday Morning Music from a Proud American

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fsu_y1cpt This is an awesome YouTube video. You may have to cut and paste the url to watch it. It's worth the time.