Teaching Learning Caring

1-2-1 Mentoring Group Kicks Off!
Volunteers from local faith-based groups
begin male mentoring program.
8/30/2013

Must watch video... How one experience can make a difference in the life of a middle school student?  click link below...

Discovery Center Partnership with Chick-fil-A and Junior Achievement


Apologue continued....Our students have just completed day 17 out of 177 days. Time flies when you are having fun. Well our flight crew has completed the safety demonstration, all safety belts were fastened, electronic devices were turned-off,  and flight 4345  has successfully passed the above clouds (aka turbulence).  Our plane has hit the optimal cruising altitude of 20,000 feet.  The basic idea behind flight is the "higher the better".  As altitude increases, the air becomes thinner and offers less resistance, allowing the aircraft to fly faster while consuming less fuel. Our school year is very much like a long-haul intercontinental flight.  Similar to a flight crew, we have prepared our students for emergency situations by conducting training exercises and ensuring that our students are "flight ready" through administering diagnostic assessments and using data to inform instruction. One of the top priorities of any flight crew is to reach the  "optimum altitude" as soon as possible.  Like a flight, the higher that we take our students in their learning the better their "flight" will be.  Once a plane reaches cruising altitude the Captain typically announces that all passengers can remove seat belts and enjoy the flight.  This year let's continue to reflect on this idea that rigorous and deep learning, learning at the "optimum altitude", should also prompt our students to take off their seat belts, engage in their learning, and enjoy the flight as much as possible. 


Mrs. Crowley has turned off Fasten seat belt sign
by removing teacher desk and requiring students
to lead the class! High Engagement (9.4.13)

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned off the Fasten Seat Belt sign, and you may now move around the cabin. However we always recommend to keep your seat belt fastened while you’re seated. You may now turn on your electronic devices such as calculators, CD players and laptop computers."   



 Remember this blog is a replacement of my weekly memo.  The blog has three basic sections:  TLC, CIA, and Organizational Update... please review each section for updates to stay connected.

Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment (C.I.A) 

click the link below: 

Review our school-wide Balanced Assessment Plan!    

Assessments "for" and "of" learning....

CCMS Strategic Plan Overview

 Highlights!

Kudos to McCoy & Strauts for turning up the
H.E.A.T

1)  EATS: Remember that EATS is our instructional framework and should be clearly posted in your classroom and aligned to standards/objectives:  Essential Question , Activating Strategy, Teaching Strategy, Summarizing Activity... As a general rule of thumb you should revisit your learning objective (essential question) a minimum of three times a period.   Kudos: Mrs. Crowley has her students introduce EATS. 

2) Text Books:  C.J/ Saffold are our new text book coordinators.  The team is in the process of reviewing our inventory. We have a variety of resources in our text book room that we would like to begin archiving in our classrooms.  It is best practices to keep the resources as close as possible to the end user!  Supplemental and consumable  materials will now be stored in teachers classrooms for quick access.  Classroom novel sets will be archived and stored in the Media Center. 

3)  RTI:  "Universal Screener" - STAR Reading and Math will be administered on a Computer Adaptive Test  beginning this month.  Assessments will  be administered by all Math and ELA teachers and will likely take one period to complete.  Computer Labs will be reserved for assessment practice. Training and the logistics will shared during Grade Level PLC. 

4) Assessments:  Remember that Georgia has officially withdrawn from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers Consortium (PARCC).   Click Here for details! 

Excellent Teaching! Student Centered Learning
at its best.. Students learned math concepts "fractions"
by completing station activities. 

 Organizational Update 

1) Safety Review:  We will continue to be vigilant about our safety checks.  We recently modified our intruder alert drill and shared the update with all staff; details will be shared  in the next faculty meeting.

 *   All exterior doors are locked at 8:45; do not prop doors for any reason. 

* Be reminded that we will have two unannounced intruder alert drills soon. This simulation will help with our emergency readiness. 

* FCBOE  is quickly moving forward with plans to install Video Intercom system for all schools; we anticipate the work being completed before the next school year. 

2) Intramural Schedule (click here);  Currently looking for sponsors for Chess Club and 6th Intramural Program.

CCMS New Shirts on sale! Coach style.
See Mrs. Dennis to order.
White and Black

3)  Please see page 27 -29 for a overview of all meetings.  You can anticipate meeting with your grade level team every Monday as called by the grade level chair (page 27), Thursdays are reserved for RTI and Data review meetings.

4) Time:  We are still working to have Digital Clocks installed in main hallways... our focus continue to be on maximizing instructional time.

5) Splost IV Renovations:  We will have various contractors in/out of the building during the next few weeks. We are scheduled to have our roof, HVAC, and parking lot replaced in the next year.