Title I Newsletter

APRIL 17 (Riverside Elementary-3:45-4:45:Level II Clear Touch Training )

APRIL 19 (Elliott Point Elementary-4:00-5:00: Level II Clear Touch Training)

* Participants will only need to attend ONE session. The training is open to teachers in ALL

Title I schools.

May 1-12th- PM3 Administration Window

May 11th- End of Year Title I Meeting- Dining Room

Rather than give students answers, it is important to provide meaningful opportunties to expand thinking and analyzing skills. Using "What Do You Notice?" posters is one way to make learning fun while accomplishing this goal! Students of all ages and abilities can notice something math related. They write down their noticings on Post-It notes to display their thinking. They can also compare their thinking to others as a means of validation or learning new information.

The link below provides a range of posters to embed mathematical skills with parent and family engagement nights.

https://familymathnight.com/resources/familymathnight-notice.php

On Thursday, February 3, 2023, Bruner Middle School hosted a night of outreach for our ELL families. The students and their families- as well as our volunteers- enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner catered by Knife’s Edge Catering. The event offered an opportunity for the whole family to engage with their child-this included fellowship, an information session to clarify their student’s school-life, free books for families to take home which aimed to promote English reading and retention. In addition to these available resources, applications for free/reduced lunch, a curriculum overview for new students and families, and a tutorial for parents on how to check their student’s grades on Focus were offered.

ELL Night was made possible by our teachers and sponsors including David Triana of United4ACause, Ana Maria of S.W.A.T. (Students Who are Against Tobacco), the Hope Medical Center, PAEC, WIC, and numerous translators. This event was inclusive to all and Bruner Middle School prides itself on events like this ELL night, which aims to bring the community closer and promote diversity and inclusivity. Our teachers and staff are dedicated to these students and their success to the highest degree. We are Better Together!

Lewis Falcon 5th grade teachers and middle school teachers welcomed 44 students and their families to the SOARing into Sixth grade event held in February! Students and families navigated throughout the school and gymnasium to learn about a wide representation of topics including what to expect during middle school transition, registration, core curriculum and electives, extracurricular activities, athletics, and support services with the Military Life Counselor.

Mr. Scott Nuss shared, "Elliott Point is using our school for a canvas of visible learning."

Students from Choctaw High School and Fort Walton Beach High School helped make learning come to life. Math is visible across the campus from hallway walls to walkways at the Pavilion. Equivalent fractions, a life-size multiplication table, and skip counting with hopscotch are just the beginning of Elliott Point's activities to engage learning. Mr. Nuss shared that he has "lots of other ideas coming to a wall or floor at Elliott Point soon."

Mrs. Hayden, Bob Sikes' Principal and former mathematics teacher, participated in March Math Madness Week along with math coach Tiffany Plunkett, staff and students. On "Think Math Day" and Pi Day, the staff were treated to delicious pies. Students were shown “Which One Does Not Belong?” shapes which opened up great math discourse. Not be be left out, Mrs. Hayden, joined staff and students in wearing mismatched socks and shoes as well as shirts on backwards! Fun days of math learning occurred throughout the week!

Over 50 participants attended one of two Level I Clear Touch trainings facilitated by OCSD teachers, Ashley Alayon, Angelica Espeseth, and Meredith Ness. At each session, facilitators shared information from setting up the technology to using various features for instruction. Afterwards, participants explored using Clear Touch tools for writing and creating math shapes. Participants left with a baseline understanding of their next steps for implementation in their own classrooms. A follow-up training will be offered in April to extend technology integration for instruction.

The window for the FAST Progress Monitoring (PM) 3 is May 1-12. Families can view information before and after the assessment through the FAST portal using the following links:

https://flfast.org/fast.html

https://flfast.org/families.html

Before: Sample test materials (STMs) are aligned to the B.E.S.T. Standards and allow teachers, parents/guardians, and students to become familiar with the various item types that will be encountered on the assessments.

After: Families can access assessment results through the FAST Portal using a 6-character code. If you do not have access to the portal, request the code from your student’s teacher. There are also reports available to support the STAR Early Literacy, Reading, and Mathematics assessments for Grades K-2.

While not all students will take the D3 assessments, it is important to ensure students put forth their best efforts. Review the i-Ready tips with students in the attachment below to promote optimal results. You can also provide encouragement cards which are available through i-Ready. As students are taking their assessment, give them a card as motivation.

Read Chapter 8: How to Automate Engagement

This chapter demonstrates how educators can incorporate the following five actions to automate engagement as part of daily routines.

1. Establish rituals

2. Foster leadership and teamwork

3. Captivate with curriculum

4. Integrate technology

5. Cultivate schoolwide social support

Remember to start small and build toward these actions to capitalize on their fullest potential.

Evaluating Parental and Family Engagement

As schools complete the Parent Family Engagement activities included in individual school Parent family Engagement Plans (PFEP), it is time to start evaluating the PFEP activities provided to families.

Dr. Cheryl Sattler, author of Engaging Parents and Families in Title I, shares most districts and schools rely on surveys to collect this information; in particular, while it's easy to count the number of parents who show up to school events, it's very difficult to gauge the number of parents who are encouraging their students to complete homework. Ongoing conversations with parents are helpful in interpreting the evaluation data collected .

Monitoring Tip: When the school writes the next PFEP, include a quick paragraph at the beginning of the document summarizing the evaluation results. That way, you've shown that you're revising based on the data. Include a date on the plan so families know when it was updated and list the people who worked on the revision so it's clear there were parents, family members, community members, teacher, and admin participating in the process (Sattler, Cheryl 2020 Engaging Parents and Families in Title I).