| | | | | | | | | Departments | Announcements | Submitted by
Heather Casteel
Art Specialist | Congratulations to:
- Anna Boyd (Bearden High) who won Best of Show at our annual art educator art show, Art Source 2013. This show will be on display through May 18 at the UT Downtown Gallery. 50 art educators participated this year!
- Bearden Middle School choral, instrumental, and visual arts teachers whose Night of the Arts was featured in the Bearden shopper.
- Jackie Wright (Carter Elem) whose student was featured on WVLT.
- Jeanne Hardin (Cedar Bluff Elem) whose student won the Aviation contest and whose student was the Grand Prize winner in the Ijams Nature Art Contest. (She had two other students place.)
- Christy Davis (Farragut Intermediate) who was featured in the Farragut Shopper. She has replaced the chairs in her classroom with stability balls!
- Shari Moon (Farragut Intermediate) who's artwork has been used for several episodes of "Nashville." Her work will show up in the scenes starting on April 17th!
Special thanks to JoAnn Gusta (Green Magnet Elem) and Caitlin Seidler (Sarah Moore Greene Elem) who will be teaching visual arts at the Fine Arts Summer Camp for KCS in June!
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Submitted by
Daphne Odom
Avid Supervisor | Congratulations!
Congratulations to our first cohort of AVID seniors! They will graduate this month. We wish you much success in your future endeavors! Our Summer Institute meeting will be Thursday, May 23rd, 4:00 p.m. at Bearden Middle School. All those attending Summer Institute must attend this meeting. Congratulations to South Doyle Middle for their fund raising efforts to support Muscular Dystrophy! |
Submitted by
Richard Mitchell
Choral Music Specialist | Congratulations! "Sing"cerely best wishes to our retirees: Ellen Banks (S.M.Greene Elementary), Gwen Bridge, (Cedar Bluff Middle), Jane Dill (Cedar Bluff Elementary), Faye King (Ball Camp Elementary) and Kathy Lester (Bonny Kate Elementary).
National Recognition and huge congratulations to Sequoyah Elementary Chorus and director, Doris Moreland!!! Doris' choir performance was selected as one of the nationally featured choirs for the 2012 Music In Our Schools Month campaign "The Concert" which is sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME).
Still teaching this summer! Amy Churchwell (Adrian Burnett Elementary) and Lee Ann Parker (Bearden Elementary) will be teaching music at the K.C.S. Elementary Fine Arts Summer Camp in June.
Congratulations to: - Several of our High and Middle School Choral departments for their recent participation in the East Tennessee Regional Choral Festivals. Several high school choirs' high scores allowed them to move on to the Tennessee State Choral Festival.
- KCS was well represented by several high, middle and elementary students who were selected by audition and participated in one of the TMEA State Choirs this past April in Chattanooga.
Congratulations to our 12 K.C.S. Music Teachers for being selected into the 2013 Tennessee Arts Academy class taking place in Nashville at Belmont University, July 14-19, 2013. The ETGMEA Summer Music Workshop will be Thursday, July 25, 2013 at Farragut Intermediate School, 8:30 - 3:30 p.m. Our very honored guest presenter is Anne Fennell. Anne is a national presenter and is currently a High School Music Educator at Mission Vista High School, Oceanside, CA. Check out these Choral Music performances on KCStv! The recent Elementary Honors Choir Concert along with the Middle School Honors Choir Concert and the 2013 High School Choral Showcase are up and running for you to view at your earliest convenience on either the KCS or Music webpages. You may also catch these performances on "the loop", Comcast Channel 10/KCStv. | Common-Core Transition News
Submitted by
Theresa Nixon and
Millicent Smith
Common Core Leadership Council | Common Core Training Coming!
Get geared up for the TDOE Summer Common Core Training! This summer over 27,000 PK-12 educators across the state will be participating in ELA/Literacy & Math training over the months of June and July. Teams will receive a wealth of information during this training and are expected to bring that information back to share with the school community. This is a very exciting summer as we begin “Priming for PARCC” during 2013-2014.
Many thanks to Central High School, Hardin Valley Academy, West High School, and Holston Middle School for hosting TNCORE training this summer!
|
Submitted by
Rocky Riley and
Chris Tucker
CTE Supervisors | | | | | | | Knox County Schools Adopt Pearson, Reading Street
The elementary reading adoption committee voted to adopt Pearson, Reading Street as the basal program for grades K-5. Committee members represented practitioners from grades K-5, instructional coaches and consultants from various departments. The committee worked diligently during the year long process. Please join me in thanking our colleagues for investing many hours of time and for accepting this challenge.
- Kindergarten - Julie Schaefer (Cedar Bluff) and Nikki Sheirling (Carter)
- First Grade - Donna Arnold (A. L. Lotts) and Will Smith (Inskip)
- Second Grade - Courtney Bartlett (Sunnyview Primary) and Tori Sensing (Fountain City)
- Third Grade - Maranda Goddard (Bonny Kate) and Melanie Ownby (Shannondale)
- Fourth Grade - Lauri Shonk (New Hopewell) and Molly Smelser (Christenberry)
- Fifth Grade - Marla Crossley (Dogwood) and Michele Genova (Karns)
- Instructional Coach - Donna Grove (Norwood)
- Instructional Coach - Katie Wheeler (Farragut Primary)
- Instructional Coach - Brandi Anderson (Adrian Burnett)
- Instructional Coach - Michelle Wolfenbarger (Ritta)
- Special Education - Michelle Flynn Consultants:
- Elementary Supervisor - Susan Turner
- Early Literacy- Beverly Hutchinson
- Early Literacy - Theresa Wishart
- ESL - Katherine Sakovich, Krista Cardenas, Selena Morrow Lawrence
- GT Coach - Tracy Marsh
- Social Studies - Katherine Petko
- Science - Andrea Allen
- Technology - Micki Daniel
SAVE THE DATE! Instructional coaches will be providing an overview of Pearson, Reading Street for teachers at school sites on May 23, 2013. Teachers will receive the following:
- Itemized list of resources (grade level specific)
- Online access for Reading Street
- Common Core 101 (Resource provided by Pearson for each teacher)
Character Counts for Life Essay Contest Thanks to teachers and to students for supporting the annual Character Counts for Life Essay Contest. Twenty-five elementary schools will be represented Tuesday, May 7 at the celebration dinner. Students in grades 3-5 entered 234 essays discussing the importance of character. | | | | Submitted by
Shannon Jackson
6-12 ELA/Reading Supervisor
| Thank You!
Thank you to all of the teachers who have been scoring essays this year. The last session is on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11. We hope to have the essays and the data returned to each school during the week of May 13.
Three resources will drive our work during the next PD cycle. Each school should have copies of Matt Copeland's Socratic Circles: Fostering Critical and Creative Thinking in Middle and High School. If you cannot locate your copy, please let me know. I plan to order more in July.
Fisher and Frey's Better Learning through Structured Teaching is another excellent resource for studying productive group work and formative assessment in all classrooms; however, it is particularly relevant for the middle and high school classrooms. I will purchase these in July.
Finally, a copy of They Say, I Say: Academic Moves in Persuasive Writing is all about writing with frames. I have copies on order. This book is about modeling the important moves in writing and providing frames as a scaffolding technique that can be faded when no longer necessary. | | | | Submitted by
Donna Stapleton
ELL Specialist | Kindergarten Testing
TELPA testing for incoming Kindergarteners during May 6th-13th Please review the procedures for claiming students as it applies to ELL Teachers. I will forward that to you again, under a separate email so that you have it readily available. On behalf of all the English Learners in our district, thank you for a great school year. | | | | Submitted by
Julie Thompson, Susan Turner, & Donna Howard
Elementary Supervisors
| Elementary News
NEW TEACHER ACADEMY DATES: We are excited to share that the dates for the New Teacher Academy have been scheduled for Thursday, July 25 and Friday, July 26, 2013 from 8:00 - 3:00. New Elementary teachers will be at Dogwood Elementary all day on Thursday, and will spend Friday at Dogwood and at SSPDC in the Technology department. It will be important for principals to make sure that all newly hired teachers are aware of this academy.
New teachers who attend the NTA will receive their first day of TEAM training, have an opportunity to meet with a grade-level mentor and visit a model classroom at their grade-level. They will also spend a half day at the Technology Center learning to use e-mail, the Intranet, their school website, and much more. This is an important event that will insure that new teachers get off to the best start for the year. More information to come...
NEW TEACHER FORUM MONTHLY MEETINGS:
In an effort to provide high quality support for new teachers throughout the year, there will be a monthly New Teacher Forum that will meet on the second Thursday of each month from 4:00 - 5:30 with the site to be determined. There will be topics of interest to new teachers discussed each month that will be sure to support and encourage new teachers in their important work of educating our children. We hope principals will encourage new teachers to participate in this important support program that is open to all new teachers throughout the year. More information to come...
Teachers who attend either the New Teachers Academy or the New Teacher Forum will receive in-service credit for their time.
ELEMENTARY LEARNING ACADEMY:
The Elementary Learning Academy is almost ready to begin! The dates will be from Monday, June 3rd through Friday, June 28th. We have very few slots for students left at our nine school sites. Remember to check the intranet for the latest available slots for each grade level still left at each site. We appreciate the help of teachers, coaches and administrators in helping select students who could benefit from this additional summer support. We have been working on a curriculum that will help students work on skills they need help with and preparing them for the beginning of next school year. They will be engaged in small reading and math groups as well as educational centers to help motivate these students and increase their learning. | | | | Submitted by
Daphne Odom
Gifted Supervisor
| MS Honors Book Camp
The Middle School Honors Boot Camp will take place on Friday, June 7 from 8:30-1 at Vine Middle School. We have exciting sessions to choose from ranging in topics from creative and critical thinking to text features! Additional dates to choose from are Saturday, September 14 or Saturday, October 26. All middle school honors teachers are required to choose one of these dates. Contact your GT coach if you would like to have a model lesson on creative and critical thinking in your classroom! We would love to work with you.
Thank you for a productive year of co-teaching, modeling, and for attending our workshops. We can't wait to share with you our newest resources and presentations next year! | | |
| | Humanities
Submitted by
Jean Heise
Humanities Supervisor
| Fine Arts Summer Camp
There will be a Fine Arts Summer Camp at Sarah Moore Greene and Green Magnet Elementary Schools from June 3-28. Rising 1st-5th grade students will attend Art, Music, PE and Dance sessions each afternoon, with a common cultural theme each week. The Fine Arts Camp, including lunch is free for all registered students. | | | | Submitted by
Walter Mincer
Insrumental Music Specialist | 2012 State Concert Band and Orchestra Festival
Congratulations To: All Instrumental music groups that participated in the 2013 State Concert Band and Orchestra Festival. All instrumental, Choral and Elementary Music teachers that have been selected to participate in the 2013 Tennessee Art's Academy this summer at Belmont University in Nashville. Best Wishes to all Instrumental Music groups for a great end of the year concert. | | | | | Submitted by
Micki Daniel
Technology Trainer
@KCSeLearning
| eLearning News
SkyDrive users can relax. All your files and folders are still there! Use the link found under Online Services>Personal Skydrive. The SkyDrive is no longer attached to your email account. You will not have access to the Global Address Book in SkyDrive but you can still share and store your files there as you did before. If you change your Active Directory/Email password it will not change your SkyDrive password. New SkyDrive services will be available soon that will attach to your email account. Using Lync with Office365 Lync provides instant messaging, voice, video and a great meeting experience. Lync enables instant messaging (IM) and voice calling in a user-friendy interface. Mac users can use the Self Service icon found in their dock to install Lync. Click on the Self Service icon for information on how to use the Self Service to do updates and install software. For now, Windows users will need to create a schooldude ticket to install Lync. Visit http://lync.elearning.knoxschools.org for more information.
Want to keep current? Click here to join TechLine, the distibution list for the Instructional Technology Department or follow us on Twitter @KCSeLearninig. Find eLearning for Teachers listed under Online Services on any Knox County School Website OR http://elearning.knoxschools.org. Contact the Instructional Technology department at eLearning@knoxschools.org.  Get the KCS eLeaning app by going to http://myapp.is/KCSeLearning on any mobile device.
Follow us on Twitter @KCSeLearning
#kcspln #kcsSchoolTechChallange
| | | | Submitted by
John Whalen
Library Media Director
and
Connie Booher
Library/Media Specialist
| Congratulations!
Congratulations to our retiring librarians - Cindy Arp – Halls High, Sherry Ball – Media Services, Sherry Gregg – Whittle Springs, Mary Hall – Halls High, Paula Hickey – Central High, Barbara James – Farragut High, and Stan Stooksbury – Copper Ridge Elementary. These individuals have worked in the library or education for a combined total of over 185 years.
You have left your indelible mark,
We will miss your professional expertise and your friendship
And wish you only success and happiness in your future endeavors
- may they be all that you hoped for!
This summer we are offering sessions on Gale In-context databases, Lexiles, Kids InfoBits, and Big Universe. Check the Program of Study or ERO for more information.
| | | | Submitted by
Daphne Odom
Magnet Supervisor
| Spectacular Show!
I want to commend Beaumont, Vine, and Austin East dance programs for a spectacular KCS Dance Showcase.
We had an exciting conversation with the School Board regarding our proposal with a new CTE magnet school located on the Strawberry Plains campus at Pellissippi State Community College campus. Our conversation continues in June. The STEAM Green showcase will take place on May 14 (Tuesday) from 5:00-7:00 pm. Come celebrate another semester of exciting STEAM integration. Sarah Moore Greene Magnet will have their technology and media showcase on Tuesday, May 14 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. We invite you to experience the media and technology integration from the semester! Beaumont Magnet School will have their 4th Exhibit Night on May 16 (Thursday) from 5:00-7:00 p.m. They will celebrate arts integration and museum partnerships. We would love to see you! | | | | Submitted by
Libby Burney
K-5 Math Specialist | Congratulations!
Congratulations to Vicki Wells as she retires from Knox County Schools. Vicki is currently serving as an Elementary Numeracy Coach at Belle Morris Elementary School. She has truly made an impact on the lives of students, teachers, and families in Knox County!
Curriculum Teams: Team of teachers will be chosen from grades PK-5 to review the curriculum and pacing guides and identify/write instructional tasks for each module. This is currently scheduled to take place May 28-May 30. If you are interested in participating, please contact Libby Burney at libby.burney@knoxschools.org | | | | Submitted by
Gary Petko
Math Superviosr
| Boot Camp/Block Party The Middle School Honors Boot Camp will take place on Friday, June 7 from 8:30-1 at Vine Middle School. Mathematics teachers will attend a session titled "Teaching Through the Task" which will provide strategies to implement instructional tasks in the math classroom.
Teams of math teachers will be chosen from grades 6th - 8th and Algebra I, Geometry, & Algebra II to write instructional tasks for each for each module in the newly aligned curriculum guides. This is currently scheduled to take place on May 28th & 29th.
Middle School Math Block Party will be Friday, May 31st. This one day professional development will provide middle school math teachers with strategies to use in 75 - 90 minute block of instructional time. | |
| Submitted by
Donna Stapleton
Title III Specialist | Progress Reports Due
End of year progress reports due for all Migrant students. Please watch your email for a notice that you have a migrant student enrolled at your school. Please review the procedures for claiming students as it applies to ELL Teachers. I will forward that to you again, under a separate email so that you have it readily available. On behalf of all the English Learners in our district, thank you for a great school year. | | | | Submitted by
Jean Heise
Humanities Supervisor
| Common Core Integration with PE/Health Mandy Irvin, Nathan Lynn and Dr. Jeff Knox attended the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) National Conference with Dr. Heise in April. Many ideas about Common Core integration and other PE, Health and Wellness topics will be shared with teachers in upcoming in-services and workshops.
Elementary track meets are underway!! The North and East track meets were a huge success!! The South and West meets are May 9 and 10, respectively. Thanks to the Knoxville Youth Athletics for their continued support. Knox County Elementary School Elite Championships
May 16, 2013 5:45 P.M.
Hardin Valley Academy Track
| | | | Submitted by
Millicent Smith | PD Program of Study We are excited to announce the 2013-2014 Professional Development Program of Study and Calendar! Please find the attached documents outlining our professional development program for the coming year as well as the 2013-2014 Unscheduled In-Service Guidelines for all staff. All information is also available on the Professional Development website. HUGE thank you to supervisors, specialists and teachers for participating in the Middle School Honors/High School EOC assessment reviews. We had a total of 176 middle school teachers and 192 high school teachers attend the EOC review sessions. These review sessions were a cross-curricular initiative designed to provide opportunities to collaborate and gather feedback around our district-wide assessments. Get connected! Follow @KnoxCountyPD to get the most up-to-date information on professional development, curriculum, current trends, and research! Make @KnoxCountyPD part of your Personal Learning Network today! We want your feedback! If you have suggestions, questions, or concerns about professional learning in our district, email us at professional.development@knoxschools.org. Please contribute to the professional development planning in our district by submitting your feedback!
As National Teacher Appreciation Week draws to a close, please accept the C& I Department's sincere thanks for all the work you do and your commitment to the students in Knox County Schools. THANK YOU!! | | | | Submitted by
Theresa Nixon
Science Supervisor
@kcsscience | Congratuations
- Elizabeth MacTavish, 7th Grade Science teacher at Farragut Middle, has been awarded the Marian Oates Teacher Enrichment Award. She has the opportunity to complete research this summer with the University of Tennessee.
- Noelle Turner, Biology & Marine Ecology teacher at Bearden High, will be returning to the Nautilus Exploration Program again this summer. She will be conducting scientific research of the seafloor on board this ship. The program is sponsored by Ocean Exploration Trust.
- To the 2012-2013 cohort of students from the Pre-Collegiate Research Scholars. These students representing each high school have completed research during the school year at the University of Tennessee. They presented their final poster session at the Showcase prior to the May 1 board meeting. A great representation of scholarly work of our students!
- Mary Sue Pruitt, 6th Grade Science teacher at Farragut Middle, presented at the National Science Teacher Association conference in San Antonio, Texas. Thank you for representing Knox County Schools so well!
- Knox County Science Teachers have been recognized in a series of newly published books- Everyday Life Science Mysteries, Everyday Earth and Space Science Mysteries, and Everyday Physical Science Mysteries. They have recognized the innovation and creativity of our teachers in creating Reader's Theater scripts from the Everyday Science Mysteries stories.
Professional Development What is your BLOCK number? We are providing a work session and support in the process for middle school science teachers as the schools move to block scheduling. The workshop will be differentiated and adaptable based on the individual school schedules. Please join us on June 11 & 12. (SRN 2013510029) Science Curriculum Work Groups During this summer, we plan to review and enhance our science curriculum to include additional supports for the Common Core Literacy Standards. If you are interested in participating (options for hours or stipend), please complete the survey. We will be in touch as soon as details are finalized and teams are created. Elementary: June 12-14 & June 17-18 (5 days split over two weeks) Middle/High: June 17-21
Middle School Honors Boot Camp will take place on Friday, June 7 from 8:30-1 at Vine Middle School. We have exciting sessions to choose from ranging in topics from creative and critical thinking to text features! Additional dates to choose from are Saturday, September 14 or Saturday, October 26. All middle school honors teachers are required to choose one of these dates.
Additional Professional Development Opportunities can be found on the Science Intranet. | | | | KCS STEM
Submitted by
Becky Ashe
KCS STEM Coordinator
| STEM Opportunities
Congratulations to George Ashe and Debbie Sayers from HVA, and Frank Wood and Tim Childers from the L&N who were chosen to present at the NSTA National STEM Forum and Expo in St. Louis, MO, May 15 - 18. Also to Joe Foy (West High), Karen Cheng and Frank Wood (L&N) for being selected to UT's Dept of Computational Science's program CURENT for summer, 2013. These teachers will be working side by side with UT researchers to create new curriculum and courses for K-12 learners in themes around computational science.
Terrific PD opportunities this summer - you can find out more on the system's PD calendar, or by visiting our regional Hub's webpage (www.stemspark.com) while our STEM Department page is being constructed this summer. All workshops listed will be held at the L&N. - June 10 - 14: K-8 teachers STEM Fellows workshop, 8:30 - 3:30 daily.
- July 17: Texas Instruments Technology and CCM Workshop, teachers grades 5 - 12. Presented by national TI trainers. 8:00 - 3:00
- July 18-19: teachers grades 4 - 9, Transportation as STEM: Problem-based scenarios workshop. Presented by UT Center for Transportation Research
- .July 23 - 26: teachers grades 9 - 12, Geospatial Technologies (GIS) Workshop. Presented by UTK Geographic Alliance and Vanderbilt University, 8:30 - 3:30 daily.
| | | | Submitted by
Judy Newgent
Social Studies Specialist | Spring EOCs
-
Spring EOC Study Guides for MS Honors and HS EOCs are on the Social Studies TEACHER Intranet! Thank you to those who submitted test items for the upcoming EOCs and to those who attended one of the MS or HS EOC Preview Sessions. -
The Social Studies MS Honors EOC is May 15th.
Professional Development
Building Content Knowledge in 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Social Studies, Summer Professional Development Opportunity! 3rd – 5th grade elementary Social Studies teachers are invited to attend a day-long PD at SSPDTC on June 10th- 3rd grade, June 11th- 4th grade, or June 12th- 5th grade. Details and registration may be found on ERO! Space is limited, so please register today! Using Primary Sources to Connect with Common Core/Teaching with Primary Sources, Summer Professional Development Opportunity! All 3rd – 12th grade teachers are invited to attend this two-day professional development on June 3rd and June 4th at SSPDTC. Space is limited, so please register today! East TN Historical Society is offering a Summer Teachers Institute. For information, please correspond directly to Lisa Oakley at Oakley@eastTNhistory.org The Middle School Honors Boot Camp will take place on Friday, June 7 from 8:30-1:00 at Vine Middle School. Multiple, exciting topics will be explored, including creative and critical thinking and using text features! All sessions are designed to enhance and support the Middle School Honors experience. Register early on ERO to secure the sessions of your choice! Make-up dates are Saturday, September 14 or Saturday, October 26. All middle school Honors teachers are required to choose one of these dates. - Social Studies Standards Revisions/Updates Please visit TNCore at http://tncore.org/ for the latest Common Core information and updates regarding Social Studies Standards Revisions.
- Congratulations to the following high schools for advancing to the national level for the National History Day competition in Maryland on June 9 -13th: Farragut High School, L & N STEM Academy, and West High School! We are proud of you!
- To keep abreast of the Social Studies Department's news, Summer 2013 Professional Development opportunities, additions/revisions to the online Tools and Resources folders, exciting educational links, and much more, visit the Social Studies TEACHER Intranet on a regular basis! If you are not a member, please join today!
| | | | | TAP
Submitted by
Keith Wilson
Specialist | Final Meetings
May 13: Final TAP A&M meeting and End-of-year luncheon * Great Room 11-3:30. * Register on ERO. * Focus on Common Core and guiding the TLT's summer work.
May 17: Deadline to submit Responsibility Survey scores into CODE July 8-10: TAP Summer Institute, Indianapolis, IN. | | | | Submitted by
Alyson Lerma
World Language Specialist | Congratulations!
Congratulations to Dr. Frank Chen, who was named Teacher of the Year at HVA!
Congratulations to WL students from West High School who attained national recognition for outstanding performance on the 2013 National Spanish Examinations. Students at WHS earned a total of: 10 gold, 25 silver, and 21 bronze medals, along with 57 honorable mentions. The National Spanish Exams are administered each year in grades 6 through 12, and are the largest of their kind in the U.S. with over 156,000 students participating this year. | | | | | | | | | | | |
