Spartan PRIDE
Supporting our school community core values.
Winter has arrived early! I thought I had left he cold temperatures when I left southern Minnesota. I hope you are finding ways to stay warm. The next two weeks before the big Christmas and New Years break will go quickly. Be sure to check out the choir concert on Monday, December 9th in the HS Auditorium. December is community serve month for our START Time groups. There are many excellent activities our students have chosen to participate in over the next couple of weeks. Students are donating clothing and food, participating in community clean up, Angel Tree and many other projects. Be sure to ask your child about their project.
LOST & FOUND CLOTHING!!!
We have a large amount of clothing, school supplies, gloves, etc... on the Lost and Found table located in the commons. Please stop by to claim the items prior to December 20th. At that time, all clothing items will be donated.
Common Core Update:
Shifting to new math standards
South Dakota’s new math standards center around six shifts (Focus, Coherence, Fluency, Deep Under-
standing, Application, Dual Intensity) and promote something called “cognitively guided
instruction,” or CGI. CGI is a specific approach to teaching mathematics. With this approach, the
main focus of a problem will not necessarily be the answer, but rather, the thinking, proof and
reasoning employed to arrive at a correct answer.
While teachers will still offer formulas and procedures, students will be encouraged to use
multiple strate- gies to solve problems, thereby unlocking a deeper command of math concepts.
Students also will be asked to apply their knowledge to real-world situations. And, finally,
students will need to be able to ex- plain their strategies and problem solving techniques.
This type of approach is one that occurs every day in workplace settings across the country. Time
and again, we hear employers say they want people who can demonstrate higher-order skills such as
critical thinking, problem solving and communication. The new math standards have that end in mind:
Students who are fully prepared for college and careers in today’s economy.
This shift in focus does not mean that students won’t need to know their basic math facts. On the
contrary, students will still be required to have a solid grasp of basic concepts such as
multiplication tables.
If you are interested in learning more about the six shifts in math, I would encourage you to visit
com- moncore.sd.gov. The Hunt Institute’s YouTube channel also features a number of Common Core videos that you may find helpful.
More information located at: http://www.commoncore.sd.gov/
Spearfish
Middle School
Weekly
Faculty Bulletin
December
9-13, 2013
“Empowering
all students to succeed in a changing world.”
•
Preparedness • Respect • Integrity • Determination • Excellence
1) 7th & 8th Grade Choir
Concert, Monday,
December 9th, 7-8:30 p.m. in the HS
Auditorium
2) SMS Board Report, Monday, December 9th, 5:30 p.m. at the
District Office.
Topic: Update on SMS START Time and FLEX
Time.
3) Office Remodel Project
Continues: Flooring and cabinet installation are in
progress. All visitors will need to
continue to enter through the north commons doors.
4) District AdvancED Committee Meeting,
Thursday, December
12th, 3:45 p.m. at the DO.
5) Bus Supervision Duty: Holben, Huxtable, Jeffery, Capp,
Wangeman
6) Lounge Duty:
Aberle, Woodard, Lamb, Opbroek
7) Reminder to consider
application for a Spearfish Foundation Grant.
Go to: http://www.spearfishschools.org/
for more
details.
8) 7th Grade Dance, Friday, December 13th,
4:30-6:30 p.m. in the SMS commons
9) Spartan Learning Lab Saturday School,
Saturday, December
13th, 8-noon (if necessary)
Get potential Saturday School student names to Ms. O’Dea by the end of
the day Wednesday.
10) Smarter
Balanced (Teacher) Practice
Test: Please click on the green ball icon titled: “SBAC SecureBrowser”6.0”
on your desktop and follow the
instructions to take the practice test.
Please complete the teacher practice test (ELA or Math) by January
20th.
You must close all other programs on your
computer before you open the icon. Plan for 30-45 minutes for this
activity. We will discuss our findings
at the Jan. 20 PD day. This would be a
good activity for your students as well to get them familiar with the testing
format.
The icon you’ll find on your desktop is also found the all lab computers
in our school.
11) Web
pages: Please take the time to update your webpages
with current information.
Upcoming
Activities
December 16
7th & 8th Grade Band Concert, 7:30-9:00 p.m. in
the HS Auditorium
December 19 Winter Activities Meeting, 6pm –
7pm in SMS Gym (Boys Basketball, Drama, Dance)
December 23-Jan. 3 No School, Holiday
Break
January 6 School
resumes
January 6 Boy’s Basketball and Drama
begin
January 7 Team Leader Meeting, 7:30
a.m. in the library computer lab
January 9 Staff Meeting, 7:30 a.m. in
the SMS Library
January 11 Saturday Spartan Learning
Lab, 8-noon
January 14 Technology Committee Meeting,
7:30-8:00 a.m.
January 1-15 STAR Testing Winter
Window
January 15 Parent/Teacher Conferences
for Middle School, 3:45pm – 7:00pm
January 20 Parents as Partners,
5:30-6:30 p.m. in the SMS Library
January 20 Martin Luther King Day - No
School - Teacher In-Service
January 23 6 Band/Choir Concert,
7:00-8:30 p.m. in the HS Auditorium
January 24 All School Winter Dance, 7-9
p.m.
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The greatest question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure. - William Shakespeare
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