PLC Minutes from 9/30 meeting

Specialists are required to turn in lesson plans. They are due Mondays by 4:30 pm. They do not have to follow the template that we were given, but should include the elements of it.

Ms. Morning let us know that 4th graders need reinforcement in nutrition and 5th graders need reinforcement in ecosystems. Maree will post links to websites that include information on ecosystems and science education in general.

Collaboration with core teachers seems to be improving, but can still improve.

Ms. Eure is encouraged to collaborate with grade level teachers on report cards/grading based on the specific skills and activites that she is teaching.

The next SIT meeting is 10/13; the date was changed because the Title I team is coming on the regular SIT meeting date. SIT will be discussing plans for curriculum nights and specialists are encouraged to share ideas.

There will be a technology night on 11/5. Ms. Morning-Cain is going to be meeting with members of AKA at a nearby university to work out volunteers who might be able to teach some sessions on things like texting. She will meet with their graduate advisee on the evening of 10/1. We also want to have at least 1 Wii there and Ms. McKenzie will be contacting local video/game rental stores to see about renting. Ms. McKenzie also offered the use of her PS2 & DDR. Ms. Morning would also like to see something done with Tweeting. Suggestions were to have stations set up throughout the school and have parents/visitors rotate throughout.

Book fair week is Nov. 2 - 6 - Specialists should plan to help during their off time. Book fair night is 11/5 and volunteers are needed. PTA will provide some volunteers that night & throughout the week.

Behavior in specialists' classes is still mixed. We are meeting with individual teachers to discuss things like seating charts, and taking initiative to call parents when necessary.

Ms. Morning suggested specialists go around to classes in the morning and do random spot checks of percentage of homework completion; Classes with 100% homework completion can earn a paw. Kindergarten classes are still lower on paws than other classes.

We are moving to the PBS behavior model. There is a training 10/1 and 10/2; 1 rep from each team is going. Ms. Crim is going to represent specialists since the guidance counselor needed to go anyways and that would reduce the number of specialists out. Maree will find a link for PBS to put here soon.

Following up from last PLC meeting, the 5th grade poetry project did not work out due to a lack of time.

We are going to participate in a reading program in conjunction with WFU. Students can earn rewards involving attending a basketball game for free and/or getting to go down to the court for reading 15 or 20 books. Ms. Pate, can you comment with more info on this?

Wake Up the Library, a 5K run / 1 mi run/walk was discussed; staff are encouraged to register and participate.

Ms. Farthing inquired as to what support we can be giving core teachers at this time; no concrete suggestions were offered except to be emotionally supportive / allow teachers to bounce ideas off us, etc.

We need ideas for 2 curiculum nights coming up in the spring. Can we do a specialists night?

Ms. Jones emailed in saying that she enjoyed doing the Specialists Spotlight newsletter last year. The general consensus was that we would like to continue it this year; further discussion will be held at the next PLC meeting.

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Edited by Ms. McKenzie to add: Here are the science links from the 5th grade science content session held at the central office that Ms. Morning gave me. Most are good for teacher planning, but there are a couple that might be good for students to visit.

DPI K-5 Science units: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/science/units

Released Sample EOG Items: http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/accountability/testing/eog/science/

Comprehensive view of ecosystems: http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9j.html

Innovative resources across many areas including science: http://school.discovery.com/info/aboutus.html

Ecosystems and their interrelationships among various plants and animals: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/taiga/taiga.shtml

Information about ecosystems and other topics: http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/habitat/habitat.html

Supports NCSCOS in Science: http://www.nckidscience.com

Awareness of how animals and plants interact with their environment: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks ** This one seems to be a good one for students

Subjects & activities related to science & other curriculum areas: http://www.uncw.edu/smec/gk_fellows/lessonplans.html

Know more about a particular animal and its adaptive characteristics: http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals