Shout out to the numerous teachers and instructional coaches who provided professional development on the August 5th System-wide in-service. Many thanks to teachers for time spent learning and planning in collaborative teams. Special thanks to kindergarten teacher leaders who led the planning sessions for kinder teachers during the afternoon.

Voyager Passport Training- August 19th from 3:30 - 4:30 at the Reading Center (Please register on RANDA)

Sound Sensible Training - August 20th from 3:30 -4:30 at the Reading Center (Please register on RANDA)

S.P.I.R.E. Training - August 25th from 3:30 - 4:30 at the Reading Center (Please register on RANDA)

C.A.R.E. Training for newly hired teachers in grades K-2 OR teachers new to grades K-2                                                                                      

Second Grade - October 1st at the Reading Center from 3:30 - 5:00 (Please register on RANDA)                                                                       

First Grade - Select ONE of the following: October 8th OR October 15th at the Reading Center from 3:30 - 5:00 (Please register on RANDA)

Individual Parent-Teacher Contact Hours Form:

The Individual Parent-Teacher Contact Form is now active in the RANDA PD Management System. The form is located on the LearningPlan page under Fill-In Forms (left hand side).

Once the teacher creates the log for the first time, he or she can add to the log through out the school year. The log will be visible on the LearningPlan page under My Log Entries.

Principals will need to establish a due date for submitting the log for approval. All logs will need to be approved by April 30th.

Examples of how the log may be used:

* Parent conferences including face to face meetings, email, written and phone correspondence

* Home visits

* Off-Campus scheduled parent conferences

* Individual parent conferences

If you have any questions regarding the Individual Parent-Teacher Contact Form, email Kelly Beckett @ kelly.beckett@knoxschools.org.

Thank you!

The Social Studies Department extends a sincere THANK YOU to the following teacher leaders who presented and/or facilitated at the August 5 system-wide in-service at Karns High School. We also wish to thank Mrs. Kim Towe, Charlie Sheets, and Karns High School staff for opening your beautiful campus to the secondary social studies teachers! Your hospitality was greatly appreciated!

Recognizing our August 5 Teacher leaders:

Julie Killian, Karah Loveland, Heather Auxier, Peggy Keck, Mindy Barrett, Lori Cox, Kelly Shanton, Dean Burress, Julie Humphress, Donna Jett, Melissa Thomasson, Seth Rayman, Laura Webb, Jill Harry, Tara LaRoy, Paula Franklin, Paegan Turner, Rebecca Furman, Andrea Guy, Gloria McElroy, Chelsea Osborne, Phillip Beeler, Lou Gallo, Ron Martinez, Elizabeth Blankenship, Angela Breeding, Shasta Todd, Amanda Sharp, Karen Stanish, Rebecca Roberts, Alex Oldham, Tammy McKibben, Matt McWhirter, Mitch Mitchell, Denise Watts, Katherine Petko, Kristi Radocesky, Mary Roberts, Gordon Sisk, Laura St.Clair, Kathy Stover, Chad Turner

The following schools were represented by the above teacher leaders:

High Schools:

Austin East, Bearden, Career Magnet Academy, Carter, Central, Farragut, Halls, Hardin Valley Academy, Karns, L & N STEM Academy, Powell, West

Middle Schools:

Gresham, Halls, Karns, Powell, South Doyle, West Valley

By all accounts, August 5th was a great day of professional learning!

Calling all PreK-12 Social Studies Teacher Leaders! If you are willing to lead a session at our next system-wide in-service on September 28, please email Judy at judy.newgent@knoxschools.org. THANK YOU for considering this request. Secondary Department Chairs will be working with their respective teams to recommend teacher leaders from each school. All teachers are invited to lead.

Social Studies 2015-2016 Operational Assessments for Grades 3-8 and 11:

For the latest information, including Blueprint updates, please visit http://www.tn.gov/education/topic/social-studies-assessment

The new assessments in social studies and U.S. History will begin this school year. For detailed information about their design and administration, please read the 2015-2016 Social Studies design memo, which is available on the above link/website. The comprehensive blueprints are available and include detailed information about the standards that will be assessed on Part I and Part II of each grade level and subject, as well as item counts by reporting category. These blueprints replace the extended response standards and field test frameworks that were posted prior to the 2015 field tests and are available as a resource to support teachers and districts in their planning. The supporting documents, including Blueprints, Scoring Rubrics, Performance Level Descriptors, updated student Practice Resources (which will soon be available on the MICA platform), and more, are available to help teachers in their planning and understanding of the new assessments. The new practice materials will illustrate the various types of items used to evaluate a student's mastery of the new social studies/US History standards.

Check out the Social Studies Teacher Resources, including Curriculum Frameworks, on Schoolwires!

Please log in to Schoolwires to the Social Studies Department page to view all curricula and accompanying resources. All resources are standards-aligned, including the newly written OPTIONAL module assessments for grades 3-8 and 11; these new teacher-created, optional common assessments will be posted two-weeks in advance of the projected conclusion of each module. All teachers are invited and encouraged to submit resources for posting to the social studies website. Please send electronic copies of instructional resources to either Judy at judy.newgent@knoxschools.org or to Katherine at katherine.petko@knoxschools.org.

Attention MS Social Studies Honors Teachers: You're invited to participate in writing the middle school Honors midterms.

All middle school social studies Honors teachers are invited to participate in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Honors midterm assessment writing. We will meet from 4:15-6:15 on September 10, September 16, and September 24 from 4:15-6:15. The September 24 meeting will be at SSPDTC in room 214; the meeting locations for September 10 and 16 will be determined. Registration will open in Randa PD on August 26.

Social Studies Department Chair Meeting:

All Secondary Social Studies Department Chairs should plan to attend the Department Chair meeting from 4:15-6:00 on October 22, 2015 at SSPDTC in Room 205.

Friendly Reminder to Secondary Social Studies Department Chairs:

All department documents, including Department Schedules, Teacher Information Forms, Intern Lists, Syllabus Verification Forms, and PLC Schedules are due to Judy's office (email to the attention of Vickie Beckers) by August 28, 2015. 

3rd and 4th Grade Studies Weekly:

The 3rd and 4th grade Studies Weekly resources should be arriving at your school any day! Please be watching for these consumables. The year-long subscription will be delivered in bulk, as opposed to last year's quarterly deliveries. Each school's order was based on student enrollment, as of July, 2015. 

3rd Grade TN History for Kids Booklets:

Elementary instructional coaches and/or 3rd grade lead teachers, be watching for this resource! Booklets will be school-mailed no later than Monday, August 17.

To all elementary, middle, and high school social studies teams, contact Judy and/or Katherine to schedule an after-school professional learning! We'll come to you!

Judy- judy.newgent@knoxschools.org

Katherine- katherine.petko@knoxschools.org

Vickie- vickie.beckers@knoxschools.org

865.594.1730 (Office)

Welcome back to another creative school year!

4th Tuesday Professional Learning Session

Tuesday, Aug. 25 from 4:30-6:30

At the Simpson Center, great room

World Language C&I Update #15

The World Language Program is expanding into more middle schools for the SY 2015-16.  The following middle schools are now offering Spanish: Bearden, Farragut, South Doyle, West Valley and Vine Middle.  In addition to Spanish, Bearden Middle is also offering French and adding German this year.

We are glad to welcome the following teachers to the World Language Department.

1.     Megan Haniford – Bearden Middle School – French

2.     Kelly Loveday – Farragut High School – French

3.     Hailey Murdock – Career Magnet Academy – Spanish

4.     Nitza Ramos – Bearden Middle School – Spanish

5.     Amy Sheridan – West High School – Spanish

6.     Felicia Southerland – Powell High School – French

7.     Kaitlyn Wimer – Carter High School – French

8.     Dr. Janelle Coleman – West High School –Spanish

9.     Kathleen McNamara- South Doyle High School – Spanish

10. Lydia Lammons – Bearden Middle School – Spanish

11. Jose Carlos Lopez – Hardin Valley Academy – Spanish

12. Mario Viera-Rodriguez – Bearden High School – Spanish

13. Jaclyn Friend – Halls High School – Latin

14. Amanda Dascomb – Hardin Valley Academy – French

15. Sabine Nebenfuehr- Hardin Valley Academy – German

16. Lori Sumter – West High School - Spanish

We are honored to have four Distinguished Professors this year.

1.     Christina Adams – Farragut High – Spanish

2.     Cassandra Prysork – Vine Middle – Spanish

3.     Katherine Tillson – Bearden Middle – German

4.     Silva David – West High School – French

5.     Cara Lorenzo – Gibbs High School - Spanish

The following are interns with KCS for this school year.

1.     Samantha Jones – Gibbs High Schools – Spanish

2.     Sara Cooper

Thank you to the Spanish students at Hardin Valley Academy who will be volunteering as greeters and translators for open house at West Hills Elementary.

We are proud to announce that Korey Wheatley has been chosen to be a presenter at the National ACTFL Convention, November 20-22, in San Diego, California.  We are proud of Korey for representing our WL Department on such a large stage.

A big thank you goes to all the WL teachers for bringing your ideas and sharing your best teaching practices at our August In-service.  We especially appreciate Veronica Calderon-Speed for facilitating a session on using technology to increase oral proficiency in world language students.

Welcome new PE, Health and Wellness Teachers!!

Tyler Roach, New Hopewell

Amanda Foster, Carter Middle

Chad Davis, Cedar Bluff Middle

Brittany Dunsmore, Halls Middle

Rachel Pivonka, West Valley Middle

Blair Brabson, Central High

Andy Hill, Carter High

Andre Caballero, Hardin Valley Academy

Mark Patterson, Hardin Valley Academy

Tim Parker, L&N STEM Academy

Jesse Booher, Richard Yokley

Rodney Ellison, Powell High

The system-wide in-service on August 5 was a big success.  Wellness and Health teachers heard a great presentation on Healthy Relationships from one of our approved guest speakers, Amy Rowling from the Health Department.  Judy Roitman from the Health Department also shared resources and lesson plans with Wellness teachers on HIV/STI/HPV.   

The elementary PE teachers participated in the PE Portfolio "roll out".  Teachers met with their PE Portfolio mentor at different elementary schools.  Thank you to Kara Monk, Josh Van Pelt, Renee Graham and Elizabeth Stone for serving as great Portfolio Mentors.    

Welcome Back.  I hope that everyone had a very restful and productive summer break.   I know you have come back excited about the new school year and new students.  I hope that every high school marching band had a very successful Band Camp and that you are ready for the first football game of the year.

We have several new instrumental music teachers with us this year:

Blake Garcia, head director at West High

Mark Bowling director at Karns Middle

Tyler Dieterich, assistant director at Powell High

Donald Miller, assistant director at Fulton High

Chase Ramsey, assistant director at Central High

Justin Miller, director at Carter Middle

Erin Bray, substitute director for Valerie Sanders at West Valley Middle

Preston Davis, orchestra director at Karns Middle and High.  

I want to welcome all of you to the KCS music department and to Knox County Schools.  We are very excited about working with all of you throughout the school year.

We have several All County and ETSBOA events coming up very quickly:

• PD Session: "Why MCA's?" A Survey of Model Cornerstone Assessments from NAfME on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 from 4-6pm at SSPDTC (will post in Randa soon)
• All County Orchestra Clinic, TBA
• All County Marching Band Exhibition, October 20, 2015, at Halls High School
• All County High School Honor Band Clinic, November 16-17, 2015 at Central High School
• ETSBOA Jr. Orchestra Clinic auditions, Nov. 7, 2015 at Robertsville Middle School
• ETSBOA All East Jazz Band Clinic auditions, Nov. 14, 2015 at Fulton High School
• ETSBOA Jr. Orchestra Clinic, Nov. 20-21, 2015, TBA
• ETSBOA Jr. Band Clinic auditions, Nov. 21, 2015 at Maryville Jr. High School
• ETSBOA Jr. Band Clinic, December 4-5, 2015 at Oak Ridge High School 

Again, welcome back and lets have a great year.

We Appreciate You! 

The Science Department extends a big thank you to all that participated in the August 5 inservice. A BIG thank you to teacher leaders and Central High for hosting. This day was so successful because of you. The teacher leaders on this day: 

Kristy Roop, Amy Lyttle, Trudy Rogers, John Alexander, Matt Bergstresser, Glenn Arnold, Tami Russell, Michael hartman, Holly Kelly, Karen Lynn, Kathleen Miller, Sara Fox, Kristy Hutson, Kim Spooner, Don Madgett, Michael Hartman, August Askins, Joe Foy, Bob Savery, Tonya Henke, Spencer Long, Melissa Mink, Beth Moody, Lindsay Bell, JT Hicks, Natalie Sisk, Christine Price, Christy Lewis, Laura Crowly, Ashley Whitmire, Melissa Wells, Sherry Fischbach, Jamie Stapleton

Calling all Science Teacher Leaders

If you are willing to lead a session at our next system-wide in-service on September 28th , please email Andrea Allen at andrea.allen@knoxschools.org. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to showcasing an exemplary inservice with our exemplary teachers. 

Curriculum Module Updates

Modules have been revised and updated in all grades but in grades 6-12 modules will include ACT standards and examples of ways to make a connection to the curriculum. Elementary, Middle and High all can access teacher created materials on CANVAS courses and school wires. Please email tami.russell@knoxschools.org if you are not able to access the science course on canvas for your grade band. Teacher leaders helped revise these modules this summer. 

Science Standards in Elementary PD 

A year long course on standards and the assessment boundaries and activities for standards will be offered. Be on the lookout for information coming soon through your elementary principal. 

Secondary Biology Cohort Group

A Biology and Honors Biology cohort group will meet reguarly thoughout the year as well be looking for PD opportunities virtual and in person coming your way soon. 

Thank you!

The Mathematics Department extends a sincere THANK YOU to all the Pre K – 12 math teacher leaders who presented and/or facilitated at the August 5th system-wide in-service. We also wish to thank Mrs. Sonya Winstead and the Bearden Middle School staff for opening your beautiful campus to the secondary math teachers! Your hospitality was greatly appreciated!

Calling all PreK-12 Math Teacher Leaders! If you are willing to lead a session at our next system-wide in-service on September 28th, please email Gary or Anne at gary.petko@knoxschools.org or anne.stinnett@knoxschools.org. THANK YOU for considering this request. Secondary Department Chairs will be working with their respective teams to recommend teacher leaders from each school. All teachers are invited to lead.

Opportunity for all Pre-12 math Teachers: If you would like to be on one of the Grade/Course Curriculum Committees or Grade/Course Assessment Committees, please contact Gary Petko or Anne Stinnett.

Check out the Mathematics Teacher Resources, including Curriculum Frameworks, on Schoolwires!

Please log in to Schoolwires to the Mathematics Department page to view all curricula and accompanying resources. All resources are standards-aligned, including any written OPTIONAL module assessments for grades PreK - 12; these coach/teacher-created, optional common assessments will be updated throughout  the school year as new ones are created and sent in. All teachers are invited and encouraged to submit resources for posting to the mathematics website. Please send electronic copies of instructional resources to either Gary at gary.petko@knoxschools.org or to Anne atAnne.stinnett@knoxschools.org.

Secondary Mathematics Department Chair Meeting:

All Secondary Mathematics Department Chairs should plan to attend the Department Chair meeting from 4:15-6:00 on August 25, 2015 at SSPDTC in Room 107.

Reminders:

• Previously certified evaluators are able to re-certify through the portal at anytime.  This was open for the 15-16 SY starting August 1.
• Teacher observations should begin in line with the district communicated start date of September 3, 2015.  Please do not start formal teacher observations until that time.  Remember this year will be three observations per teacher, 2 unannounced and 1 announced.
• CODE may require some additional updates to your teacher and leadership team rosters.  Please make these corrections as soon as possible.  An email was sent on 8/11 about Rollover which outlines the adjustments that may be necessary.  Email Keith Wilson with additional questions.
• If you have new teachers who did not attend the KCS New Teacher Academy and need TAP Career Teacher Handbooks, please email a list of their names to Liz Norton and we will see that they receive a handbook.
• PLEASE send Leadership Team Rosters and Cluster and TLT schedules to Liz ASAP.  To correct email lists and establish a TLT observation schedule we must have this information.
• Announced TLT Meeting Observations will begin the week of September 21st.  Stay tuned for a schedule.

Upcoming Dates:

8/19:  Make-Up for Evaluation A: This is for anyone who missed the original date and has not been previously TAP or TEAM certified.  The make-up will be Wednesday, August 19th at SSPDTC in room 107 from 8:30-3:30.  We are anticipating participants from the following schools:  Springhill , Sarah Moore Green, South Doyle High School, and Vine 

8/20-21: Cluster and Leadership Training: This is for ALL new TAP leadership team members.  The training will be August 20 (Cluster) and August 21 (Leadership Team) in the Kelly Room at Lincoln Park Technology Trade Center. The training will be from 8:30-3:30 each day. 

8/24:  Administrator & Master (A&M) Meeting #1 will be on August 24th.  The first meeting of the year is going to be heavily focused on networking around some identified areas of need that schools have communicated through our beginning of the year visits as well as the feedback from the end of the year meeting last year.  Administrators are welcome to attend, but the focus will be more on the master teachers and their work during this meeting, with a goal of creating some natural collaboration between master teachers from schools that share common needs and goals. There will be an AM session (8:30 - 11:30) and PM session (12:30-3:30) for each of these meetings.

9/3-4: Core Evaluation B:  This is for ALL new TAP leadership team members.  The training will be September 3rd and 4th in the Kelly Room at Lincoln Park Technology Trade Center. The training will be from 8:30-3:30 each day. 

9/21:  A&M meeting #2 - Core Field Testing (Morning) and Advanced Field Testing (Afternoon): During the AM session we will offer a modified TAP Core Field Testing training for new TLT members which will complete their Core training for the year.  Anyone who wants to come is welcome, but the training will be introductory in nature.  In the afternoon, we will dive a little farther into the filed testing process and hopefully provide more experienced TLT members with a deeper understanding for not only conducting the process, but bringing it back to TLT and Cluster to support better practices at the school level.  This would be ideal for masters, mentors, administrators who are more familiar with the process and/or have been engaged in field testing in the past. The AM session will be 8:30-11:30, and the PM session will be 12:30-3:30. 

10/19:  A&M Meeting #3 TBD

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to Bearden Middle and Carter Middle who were selected as Digital Promise Verizon Innovative Learning Schools. We are excited for the faculty and students of this school and the opportunities this partnership will bring to Knox County Schools. You can read more: http://bit.ly/DPVILS

Learning Moment: TPaCK

Learn more about Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge from a team of our coaches- http://bit.ly/TPaCK. Thanks to Whitney Barnett, Cat Chait, Ryan Milani, and Stacey Murray for this informative video. 

Departmental Changes

Our department has been reorganized. Helen Agee, Micki Daniel, and Audrey Hurst are our Educational Technology liaisons, and they are working with specific assigned schools to provide support. Steve Reagan is our District Level Designer and will help to provide support with Central Office and district initiatives. Cheryl Sheridan is our QuEST (Quality Education for Students using Technology) Coordinator, and she will focus on our distance learning and online learning opportunities. Debbie Hilliard is our Story Teller to document and share all of the amazing ways that technology is impacting teaching and learning. Jill Lane is our Interaction Designer and her role is to help us continue to strive towards our district vision of Excellence for Every Child. And finally, we would like to welcome Whitney Barnett to the team as the PLE (Personalized Learning Environment) Facilitator. Her focus will be to work with our 1:1 schools and continue to think about personalized learning for Knox County Schools. We hope these changes will better serve to support you and your needs. 

Upcoming PD 

For Certified staff, please register on Randa. Classified staff, visit http://bit.ly/kcsclassified. 

Canvas 101: The Basics 

Canvas 102: Digging Deeper

Online Courses Offered

Welcome Back.  I trust that everyone had a restful and very productive summer Break.  I know that all of you are ready for and excited about this new school year and all of the new students that you will have.

We have several new teachers with us this year and I want to extend a hardy welcome to all of them.  You have accepted a teaching position in one of the best school systems in the state of Tennessee.  KCS is the third largest school system in Tennessee and we rank at the very top of all of the large systems in the state.  I hope that you are excited to be here because we are excited to have you here in Knox County Schools.

We have several very important events that are coming up very quickly:

PD Session: "Why MCA's?" A Survey of Model Cornerstone Assessments from NAfME on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 from 4- 6 pm at SSPDTC (will show up in Randa PD any day now....)

High school All East Choral auditions, TBA

2015 NAfME National In-service Conference, Oct. 25-28, 2015, Nashville

KSO young People's Concert, Oct. 28-29, 2015, Knoxville Civic Auditorium

All East Honor Choirs grades 9-12, Nov. 19-21, 2015, Maryville College

All East Honor Choirs grades, 7-12, Nov. 20-21, 2015, Maryville College

Again, welcome back and let's have a GREAT Year.

We had a fantastic opening meeting!  Thank you to the following librarians who served as presenters for the August 5, 2015 systemwide inservice day:

Amy Ballard, Bearden High

Steve Davis, Powell Elementary

Ronda Foust, Hardin Valley Elementary

Janet Getz, Cedar Bluff Middle

Viktoria Henderson, South Knox Elementary

Heather Palmer, Dogwood Elementary

Rachel Steiner, Halls High

Mary Ann Taylor, Brickey-McCloud Elementary

Brittany Witte, Farragut Middle

Our department is very excited to be rolling out several new online subscription services for our students, including Pebble Go, Image Quest, Noodle Tools, Science Flix, Freedom Flix, and ProQuest Research Companion.  Please ask your librarian about how to access these resources and integrate them into instruction, and know that our department staff are at your service for staff training or any other support your school may need.  Coming soon, we will also add Follett Shelf, our district's first true eBook circulation platform, to our lineup!

ELL C&I Update #15

This year at our August In-Service we introduced Lisa Rinehart as our new ELL Coach. She comes to us from Karns Elementary where she taught ELL for the past two years. During our in-service Lisa presented W-APT Testing Training to our staff and explained the ACCESS cut scores. Tabitha England, the ELL Administrative Assistant, reviewed protocols for managing green and purple folders and Sharon Cate addressed waivers and why we want to avoid them.

We are proud to introduce the following as new ELL teachers to our department. 

1.     Susan Weaver Jones – Cedar Bluff Elementary

2.     Rachel Hutson – West Hills Elementary

3.     Ellie Roop – Lonsdale Elementary

4.     Ann Kimble – Green Magnet Academy

5.     Hannah Hill – Karns Elementary

6.     Caitlin Lunsford – Amherst Elementary/Pond Gap

7.     Robin Schell – Vine Middle School

8.     James Freeman – Christenberry Elementary/ Spring Hill Elementary

9.     Annie Coxon – West Haven Elementary (LTS for Christin York)

10.  Cathy Finney – Whittle Springs Middle School

We also welcome the following interns who will be serving and learning in KCS this year. 

1.     Kayla Sanuita – Christenberry / Central High School

2.     Stephanie Anderson – Halls Middle / Gresham Middle / Belle Morris

3.     Lidy Mix – Spring Hill Elementary

4.     Caitlin Bratton – Christenberry / Bearden Middle

5.     Irwin Taylor – A.L. Lotts

6.     Jenda Clemmons – Cedar Bluff Elementary

As a department, it is with sadness and gratitude that we say goodbye and best wishes to Lori Sumter who leaves the ELL Department to return to the World Language Department.

We are proud to announce that the ELL PD Specialist for SY2015-2016 is Robin Nelson.