DOUGLAS DRAGONEER

Upcoming Events

April 30 Tea Party in the Media Center

May 2 Teacher workday – NO SCHOOL

May 5-9 Teacher Appreciation Week

May 20-22 EOG testing

May 29 Ice Cream Celebration

Proctors Needed!!

We are in need of parents to proctor for our end of grade tests. May 20th, 21st and 22nd will be the main dates that we'll need parent proctors. Parents will need to be at school no later than 9:15 on those mornings and should be done between 11:30 and noon each day. No experience is needed; we will provide training for our proctors.

If you can commit to helping on one or more of the test days, please contact Michelle Burrows, Douglas's Magnet Coordinator at mburrows2@wcpss.net or leave a message at 881-1425.

Celebrate Your Pursuit of Happiness with Us!

Join us in the Media Center on Wednesday, April 30 at 4:15pm to celebrate the grant we won from the National Endowment for the Humanities' “We The People: The Pursuit of Happiness.” We will celebrate for an hour, with a tea party and story time. Students, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmas and grandpas are welcome!

Questions? See Mrs. Bussell in the Media Center

Coming Soon from the After School Program

Books Come Alive ll. This production will be done by two of Sanderson High School’s graduating Seniors. The projected date is May 23rd at 5:30 p.m. Save the date!

National Teacher Appreciation Week

May 5 - 9, 2008

Parents, we will be honoring our teachers and staff members during the week of May 5th – 9th. Please take some time next week to thank your teachers and staff members who work daily to take care of and teach our children.

Schedule of Events for Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week:

Monday, May 5th: Appetizers for Staff members at the Fox & Hound, courtesy of Fox & Hound Restaurant at North Hills – 5pm

Wednesday, May 7th: Breakfast Cart

Friday, May 9th: All Staff “Picnic” Lunch, 11am – 2pm (help needed with food, set-up, serving and clean-up!)

Daily: Staff Member Raffle (small donations of prizes or gift cards welcome and may be taken to front office!)

If you are able to contribute to these appreciation efforts, please contact Laura Oliver, PTA Teacher Appreciation Coordinator, 696-5718 or 779-9655 olive017@mc.duke.edu, or Alice Spickard,

PTA President, 877-0490. Many thanks!

BOOK SWAP OPEN!

The Book Swap is now open for students.

The swap is part of the Positive Behavior Support initiative. In order for students to "shop" at the Book Swap, they must earn a Book Buck from their teacher. Once they earn a Book Buck, they can redeem it at the Book Swap for a book. Once a student is finished reading the book they can either keep it or swap it for another book. The kids seem to really enjoy the Book Swap and we hope it continues to encourage good behavior.

The books are going fast! We could use some help in replenishing our chapter books. If you are doing some spring cleaning and would like to donate books, please drop them off in the front office.

Understanding Standards Based Grading: The Fundamentals of 1, 2, 3, 4

Volume 1.2 - This is the second in a series of articles regarding standards based grading

In our last article we discussed the foundations for Standards Based Grading (SBG). Now that you understand the foundations, let’s discuss how teachers pull their information together for assigning grades.

What information do teachers use to determine grades?-

In reading, writing, and math teachers use a profile card with the list of predetermined objectives for each quarter. This profile card is a guide for instruction. Ideally a teacher wants to see a student show the ability to independently demonstrate knowledge of a skill three times. This can be done as a paper/pencil task, a project, quarterly assessment, verbal explanations, teacher observation, etc. The student should be able to display this knowledge in a variety of ways. Some of the common assessments used are running records for reading, 3-5 literacy assessments, Blue Diamond assessments (3-5) in reading and math, quarterly math assessments (K-2), WCPSS writing rubrics to score unassisted writing samples and teacher made assessments. Social studies is often graded through the use of projects and teacher made tests based on curriculum objectives. Science is a combination of teacher observation in science classes, teacher made assessments, and/or quarterly science assessments from WCPSS (grades 3-5). Classroom teachers and Ms. Derthick (Science Specialist) often partner the science skills to be taught and then collaborate on science grades. Teachers also collaborate at grade level to determine standards they will use for grading and to share student work to ensure all are scoring consistently. When in doubt, teachers are encouraged to work with the Instructional Resource Teacher (IRT) or an administrator to answer questions they may have in determining a grade. Parents are encouraged to request the teacher share profile cards, work samples, and other assessment materials during conferences. Teachers should have them readily available.

Why isn’t homework graded?

Homework is given for practice of a skill just taught or for added practice when a student may not understand a concept. Teachers may use a ü, ü+, ü-, J, L, stickers, «, 7/10, etc. to indicate the work was checked. In the upper grades, students often check their homework with their teachers so questions can immediately be answered and the teacher can instruct the lesson to correct any misconceptions or understandings. Students often receive assistance at home with their work. This is a great opportunity for parents to participate in their child’s learning and this collaboration is encouraged. As a result of the help, the work may not represent the student’s independent ability. Infrequently teachers may assign homework for grading. Students should be informed at the time of the assignment the work will be graded. Even though homework is not graded, the lack of completed assignments will be reflected in a student’s work habits grade. Homework is considered essential and students are expected to complete it.

2008-2009 PTA Leaders

Congratulations to next year’s PTA Executive Committee members who were approved by vote at the April 24^th PTA meeting. Please welcome:

President: Trish Stutts

President-Elect: Susan Steltenpohl

Secretary: Sarah Winstead

Treasurer: Shannon Langdon

VP Fundraising: Jennifer Andrews

VP Membership: Shanon Baggett

VP Programs: Yvette DeSilva

Week of April 28 – May 2