Month: January 2023

Sokolowski Weekly Updates (for 1/30/23)

Nate Meyers Uncategorized

Black History Month Colors: Learn Their Meaning - Parade: Entertainment, Recipes, Health, Life, Holidays

Here are some announcements to help you start your week.

PLTs

This week’s PLTs will be self-facilitated, focusing on Black History Month. Rolling agendas have been updated with notes and slides. We recommend that each team nominate a facilitator and timekeeper to ensure the meeting runs smoothly and quickly. 

Coverage

Monday- Teaching and Learning PLT

Tuesday- 1st Grade

Wednesday- 2nd Grade

Thursday- 3rd Grade

Friday- 4th Grade

PLT Reminders

Please arrive at PLTs ready to start at 8:25. It is ok to have your students line up outside your door until coverage arrives, so you can be on time.

Assigned coverage should arrive at 8:20 unless you are doing paid morning duty. In that case, please be there by 8:25.

Instructional Rounds

  • A team of CPS coordinators, administrators, and central office staff will visit the Sokolowski School on Thursday, February 2, to participate in Instructional Rounds. These Instructional Rounds are designed to help leadership teams at each CPS school look closely at what is happening in classrooms in a systematic, purposeful, and focused way.  
  • Any classroom could receive a 15-minute visit from a group of 3-4 CPS colleagues between 9:00-10:00. They will be looking for evidence of: a) objectives posted and communicated to kids, b) higher-order thinking, and c) how we’re utilizing all the adults in the room.
  • If you have any questions, please reach out to Nate or Cam.

iReady

Midyear Assessment 

The iReady midyear assessment window opens on Monday, 1/30. Please follow the schedule you signed up for. Please see a Sokolowski coach if you need to modify the schedule or have questions about the assessment.

Panorama Winter Equity and Inclusion Survey – by Fri 2/10

  • Students in Grades 3-12: Students will use their Student IDs as access codes at surveys.panoramaed.com/chelseama/  
  • If a student has trouble accessing their survey, please contact the Support team with the name of the student, their school, their grade level and their ID number at support+chelseama@panoramaed.com. 
  • Third and fourth-grade teachers, please complete at a time that works best for you and the students before 2/10. 
    • The goal is for all students to complete the survey. 

Positivity Posters

Looking for some Positive Self-talk charts for your classroom? Check out these awesome posters from iReady: 

https://readyclassroomcentral.com/download/?res=53318&view_pdf=1

Important Email/Blog Reminders

Digital Safety blog post-Safer Internet Day (February 7) 

American Heart Month!: Emails from KStew 1/23 & 1/28

Red Triangles– By the end of today. The letters are in your mailbox.

Literacy blog post -World Read Aloud Day!- February 1.

Fly Eagles Fly Podcast (@FlyEaglesFlyPod) / Twitter

Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety

deleidim Uncategorized

February is a busy month! February 7th is Safer Internet Day! The DLVT (Digital Learning Vertical Team) would like to focus on Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety during the month of  February. At the complex, we would like to have teachers and classes participate by completing a variety of activities and lessons during the month of February from Common Sense Media. These lessons (15-30 minutes) focus on  Digital Citizenship and on the social and emotional wellbeing of your students! Each day emphasizes one of the five CASEL competencies for social and emotional learning and its connection to digital life.  This will be a school wide/district initiative on the importance of digital citizenship and safety of our students.

Digital Citizenship themes from CommonSense Media:

-Self Awareness: How do I feel when using technology?
-Self Management: How can I balance my time with and without technology?
-Responsible Decision Making: How can I make responsible decisions online?
-Relationship Skills: How can I be kind online?
-Social Awareness: How do I respond to online meanness?

By teaching students the various aspects of digital media literacy from an early age, educators will start students on the road to active and responsible digital citizenship. As digital citizens, students should have the ability to access, use, understand and engage with media (including online communities); apply critical thinking to all the media they use and consume; and know how to all these things ethically and effectively. (Media Smarts)

Please click on this link for lessons, teacher resources and other additional activities for students.
Please reach out to Mercy for classroom support, teacher support or for any questions! 

Thanks,
Matt Messina
Mercy Deleidi

 

SEL [Pacing Update]

Camilo Machado Uncategorized

The next couple of weeks are busy yet exciting weeks in terms of SEL!
We have some great Trails lessons to teach, as well as Black History Month (February), Kindness Week, and Women’s History Month (March) coming up.
Looking ahead at the lessons, I wanted to suggest a tiny tweak in the YLP. Lesson 12 is being taught this week but Lesson 13 isn’t scheduled to be taught until the week of 3/6. Lesson 13 focuses on Diversity and it would be a great lesson to teach before or during our work with Black History Month.
  • Week of 1/23: Trails to Wellness Lesson 12: Empathy
  • Week of 1/30: Trails to Wellness Lesson 13: Diversity & Black History Month Work
  • Week of 2/6: Black History Month
  • Week of 2/13: Kindness Week
  • Week of 2/27: Women’s History Month

Feel free to reach out with any questions, concerns, or celebrations in terms of SEL in your classroom!

Mary – SEL Lead

📕Literacy Look Ahead (1/26/23)📕

katiebordelon Uncategorized

 

Next Wednesday, February 1st, is World Read Aloud Day! You can find great resources to celebrate on LitWorld. On Wednesday, each classroom will also be getting a copy of the book What The Road Said. The goal is to have all classrooms read this book in some way during the month of February. I will be sending out slides with some potential activities around this read aloud next week.

 

 

DIBELS

There are about two weeks left in the DIBELS testing window. If you would like any help with administration or scoring, please reach out as soon as possible to make sure we can have all data in by 2/10. We will be having DIBELS data meetings in PLT the week of 2/13.

 

PICTURES, PLEASE!

It can be very helpful to see how classrooms set up instruction. If you have pictures of something that is working well for you in Fishtank, I would love to share them in the blog posts. How do you display your vocabulary? How do you give students access to the independent reading texts?  What cool anchor charts have you made? Send it all my way!

Sokolowski Weekly Updates (for 1/23/23)

Nate Meyers iReady ,

Sean Junkins on Twitter: "Lessons from Ted Lasso. https://t.co/ppvdiWIbej" / Twitter

Here are some announcements to help you start your week.

Dialogic Reasoning PD

This week’s faculty meeting will focus on CPS instructional focus, “dialogic reasoning.” We will have our initial training in the Sokolowski cafeteria along with the Berkowitz School. Matt Messina, Alma Pezo, and Robin Miller will lead the session. See the link to the resources below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1sx_FXjXv2rvA1_5QRP8HVa3XrqTMqm0P

iReady Assessment

We know January brings many assessments. We also know that managing and planning time to prioritize these assessments can be demanding. Therefore, we will try a more flexible iReady testing schedule this time around. Hopefully, this will give you the flexibility to schedule the iReady assessments at a time that works best for you and your class based on DIBELS, ACCESS, and your daily instruction. Please see the guidelines below:

  • iReady Assessment Scheduling Guidelines
    • Use corresponding content area blocks on two consecutive days (ELA- use Read Together, Math- use math block).
    • Testing window opens 1/30
    • All whole group testing should be done by 2/10
      • We suggest picking one week for ELA and the other week for math. You should not administer both tests in a given day. 
      • Before selecting your testing days, please coordinate with MLE teachers so we can plan supports and possible adjustments to the ACCESS schedule. 
      • Action Required: Once you determine your dates, please complete this GOOGLE FORM to document testing days and times.
        • Please complete by 1/27
    • Allyson will check in with teachers with multiple students needing accommodations to align test dates.
    • Makes up and extra time (by 2/17):
      • Students requiring more time should use flex blocks.
      • Make up should be facilitated in class and can be done during a content block and/or flex blocks.
      • Or at a preferred time that will minimize disruption to learning.

Reminder: Once a test is open, students will need to finish that test before being able to go back on My Path. Please plan your use of My Path accordingly. 

 These are just guidelines, and we understand each classroom has its own needs and context. We trust you to be autonomous and work within the guidelines. However, if you have questions or need support making a plan, please reach out to anyone on the ILT. We are happy to help!

Principal Intern

We will have a principal intern beginning with us this week. He will be in two to three times weekly. His name is Eric Washington, and he is completing his internship as part of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Leadership Program. He is originally from the Maryland area and has taught in Madison, WI and Washington, DC, before his internship. Thanks for welcoming him to our team of Sharks!

2023 MCAS Dates

  • ELA Dates:
    • 3rd- 4/5 and 4/6
    • 4th- 4/11 and 4/12
  • Math Dates:
    • 3rd- 5/16 and 5/17
    • 4th- 5/18 and 5/19

PLT Schedule

This week PLT will continue our work with Fishtank.

Coverage

Monday- HOMie Ambassadors

Tuesday- 1st Grade

Wednesday- 2nd Grade

Thursday- 3rd Grade

Friday- 4th Grade

Waving Flag Philadelphia Eagles Professional Team Stock Footage Video (100% Royalty-free) 28304554 | Shutterstock

🚀 TAKEOUT FRIDAY🧑🏼‍🚀

Camilo Machado Uncategorized

It’s TAKEOUT FRIDAY!!!

Q: What is money called in space? 🔭

A: Star-Bucks ⭐️

Today’s Takeout Friday has nothing to do with lattes but rather an out-of-this-world exhibition. Space Adventure, the country’s largest traveling space exhibit, blasted off its U.S. tour with a Chelsea debut this past Wednesday. Located just a few blocks from us at the Home Depot plaza, this immersive exhibit celebrates man’s arrival on the moon, with more than 300 original NASA items, a 5D Cinema, virtual reality elements, films documenting the different lunar missions, and immersive rooms that include never-before-seen original artifacts.

Click HERE for pricing and tickets. This is a family-friendly exhibit so feel free to share it with students and families as well.

Pro tip: They are in the same plaza as Michael G’s, featured last week. 😉

📕Literacy Look Ahead (1/19/23)📕

katiebordelon Uncategorized

Tonight is Family Literacy Night! Please remind your students. If you would still like to volunteer, please let Alexa or I know.

DIBELS testing continues for the next 3 weeks with a hard deadline to have data in by 2/10. Please refer to the administration slides for details, and let me know what questions you have!

Next week’s PLTs will be a continuation of the Fishtank work begun this week.

Mary, Elizabeth, and Alex, our fabulous BU grad students, will be returning for a second semester next week. Look for them around the school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and some Thursdays.

With Mr. Haukoos taking over leadership in 221, I am now (almost) back to a regular coaching schedule. I am looking forward to being back in classrooms and more available for meetings and check ins. Please let me know if there is a specific way I can support.

Sokolowski Weekly Updates (for 1/17/23)

Nate Meyers Uncategorized

12 Best Martin Luther King Jr. Movies and Documentaries 2023

I hope you enjoyed your long weekend.

Here are some announcements to help you start your week.

Welcome to the Team

I want to welcome John Haukoos! John will be filling in as the long-term sub for room 221. He is coming to us from the world of theatre and performing arts. He also has been teaching piano and singing during that time. He is excited to start on Tuesday, 1/17. Thank you for making him feel part of the team!

I also want to shout out to everyone that supported and made sure the students in 221 got the learning they deserved. Especially the second-grade team, Katie B. and JZ!

PLT Schedule

This week PLT will focus on planning and engaging with the Fishtank curriculum. 

Coverage

1/17- 1st Grade

1/18- 2nd Grade

1/19- 3rd Grade

1/20- 4th Grade

Snack (FFVP)

This week, snack will be served Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Budget Survey

If you have not had a chance and would like to provide feedback on next year’s budget process, please complete the (voluntary) form- HERE.

Family Literacy Night

We will be hosting our January family night with a literacy theme. We hope you can join us on Thursday, 1/19, from 5:00-6:30. If you plan to attend, please let Alexa know.

iReady Challenge Reminder

We are trying to pass 100 lessons in each subject. 

Please brainstorm with your class on some things they would like to earn as a school and submit ideas on this google form.

Mask-Optional Environment

We have shifted back to “masks optional”. Our schools continue to be a mask friendly environment. Students, teachers, and school personnel have the choice to wear masks or not. We will continue to monitor the CDC Covid-19 Community Level, and inform our community of any change to the risk level in Suffolk County.

 

😋 TAKEOUT FRIDAY🍝

Camilo Machado Uncategorized

It’s TAKEOUT FRIDAY!!!

For the first Takeout Friday of 2023, we are highlighting a staple in Chelsea – Michael G’s Restaurant. Located just a few blocks from us at the Home Depot plaza, Michael G’s has everything you crave in a cozy rainy day at an affordable price. From pizza, steak tips, chicken parm, and fresh-filled cannoli, Michael G’s is the place to go for homemade pasta and good Italian bread.

Check out their menu HERE and enjoy 5% off when you place your order ahead.

Pro tip: If you are a seafood lover, don’t miss the Shrimp Scampi Pizza.