The Mustang Minute!
The Mustang Minute!
PRINCIPAL'S WEEKLY UPDATE 03/11/2023
PRINCIPAL'S WEEKLY UPDATE 03/11/2023
Embedded Files
Dr. Irish's Message for the Week
Quality Plus Instructional Strategies
To Do's
Important Dates
OUR VISION
OUR VISION
Lilburn Middle School will become a Professional Learning Community committed to working collaboratively to engage students in learning in order to actualize student potential.
OUR MISSION
OUR MISSION
Lilburn Middle School is committed to engaging all students in learning the Academic Knowledge and Skills through research-based best practices with mastery being measured by local, state, national, and world-class standards and re-teaching/reassessing students as needed to actualize their potential.
OUR VALUES
OUR VALUES
We use research-based best practices to engage students in learning.
We build healthy relationships with our students, parents, and community members.
We provide appropriate interventions to support students in actualizing their potential.
We collaborate with our colleagues toward building a Professional Learning Community.
Collective Efficacy Statement- The Key to the Power of One
Collective Efficacy Statement- The Key to the Power of One
At Lilburn Middle School, we put students first in all that we do. We ensure that we are developing the whole child by incorporating SEL, developing appropriately aligned and engaging lessons, and embracing collaborative planning. At LMS, all adults speak positively of our school, our students, our community, and our colleagues. We practice a growth mindset. We leverage high expectations, high-quality lessons, and belonging to support the success of each and every child.
We know that the greatest enemy of greatness is variance. We will be consistent in our implementation of effective instruction, assessment, and response to student learning. This consistency will be driven by a careful understanding of the curriculum (AKS). We will ensure that the LMS instructional framework is upheld. We come together as a team to engage in professional learning in order to continually develop our practice.
Weekly Message
Weekly Message
“Darkness can not drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Greetings, Mustangs!
Let's get ready for another awesome week. Thank you for all that you do!
Your Proud Principal,
Dr. Irish
Bite Size PD:
Bite Size PD:
For teachers, by teachers
Each week, we will feature an instructional practice/strategy/tool that our very own LMS teachers are using.
During a recent visit to Mrs. Thomas's Physical Science class (8th grade), high levels of engagement and effective delivery of instructional strategies were in action. To help students understand the principles of the Conservation of Mass, Mrs. Thomas utilized the practice of incorporating visual aids into her instruction. Students were able to use cards to manipulate the problem presented in order to solidify their thinking. Visual aids help to bring the learning to life so that students can have a tangible way of understanding difficult and abstract concepts. It helps the teacher to explain the material through another medium and allows students to "play around" with different outcomes as they work to understand the material better. Please read the article related to visual aids and see how you can incorporate these tools into your instruction. Mrs. Thomas, thank you for sharing this practice with us!
Blueprint for the Future
Blueprint for the Future
The Blueprint is designed to ensure our Portrait of a Graduate becomes a reality. The Blueprint will also drive the intentional culture shifts that reflect the guiding vision of the Learning 2025 community of practice. Our Blueprint for the Future defines our strategic priorities in four areas: empathy, equity, effectiveness, and excellence.
Blueprint Focus for the Week: EXCELLENCE
Blueprint Focus for the Week: EXCELLENCE
Thank you for the discussion around Collective Efficacy (CE) last Friday. Our shared thinking is evident in many aspects of our school life and we are making great strides in bringing some specific areas into alignment within our building. Next week, we will display our thinking using a visual representation of our individual commitments to the CE statement.
Collective Efficacy Statement- The Key to the Power of One
Collective Efficacy Statement- The Key to the Power of One
At Lilburn Middle School, we put students first in all that we do. We ensure that we are developing the whole child by incorporating SEL, developing appropriately aligned and engaging lessons, and embracing collaborative planning. At LMS, all adults speak positively of our school, our students, our community, and our colleagues. We practice a growth mindset. We leverage high expectations, high-quality lessons, and belonging to support the success of each and every child.
We know that the greatest enemy of greatness is variance. We will be consistent in our implementation of effective instruction, assessment, and response to student learning. This consistency will be driven by a careful understanding of the curriculum (AKS). We will ensure that the LMS instructional framework is upheld. We come together as a team to engage in professional learning in order to continually develop our practice.
Focus Question: How are we honoring our commitment to collective efficacy? What does that look like in our daily work? Could an outside person tell that we are committed to aligning our instructional and student management practices? Do your practices embody the expectations of LMS staff? What is the Lilburn way?
LMS Spotlighted Champions
LMS Spotlighted Champions
- Let's shine the spotlight on those champions who go above and beyond the call of duty!
Congratulations to the Mustang Chamber Orchestra for receiving an Excellent rating at their Large Group Performance Evaluation this past weekend.
Thank you to everyone for your support of the Cafe Con La Familia event!
Congratulations to Mrs. Markitan and our custodial team for a job well done on their inspection. The LMS Custodial Team earned a score of 99.75%!
Want to share good news or thank someone at our upcoming faculty meeting? Use the link to submit your message LINK HERE
LMS's Peaks and Valleys
LMS's Peaks and Valleys
Peak:
We have had several visitors come through our building and comment on the positive behaviors of our students. This is the product of all of your hard work. Last week, we began our series called the Lilburn Way to promote the expectations that we have for students when they are in the hallway. I noticed that many classes were able to demonstrate mastery of all four expectations:
The Lilburn Way of transitioning our class is in a single file line, silently, on the right-hand side of the hall. Further, students should remain in the line of sight of the teacher.
Valley:
Part of demonstrating collective efficacy is to align our most important practices. We need to align our practices to ensure that students have a consistent experience. Our "big rocks" should be evident in all aspects of our building. For the next 28 school days, we will all commit to demonstrating the shared practices that are most important to our work. This effort of streamlining our "big rocks" will continued to be referred to as the Lilburn Way.
This week, we will again focus on our HALLWAY TRANSITIONS. See above for the details of this expectation.
Congratulations to Mr. Totchum's class for winning our first drawing. Each class that is "caught" modeling the focused behavior for the Lilburn Way for the week will be entered into a drawing.
I can't wait to celebrate the consistent demonstration of the Lilburn Way of transitioning in the hallways.
Important Updates:
Important Updates:
NEW:
DLD #4-
Please see the DLD schedule at the link and make a note of the meetings that pertain to you.
Progress Reports
Progress reports must be published on Thursday. Make sure that grades are updated and alert your students' parents that it is on the way.
Employee Wellness Survey-
Please complete this very brief survey for Coach Crawford. https://forms.gle/kgixwaWtDzTvmzJN6
GTES Evaluations
Formative 2 Evaluation Window Open - Please be prepared for evaluators to come in for 30 minute observations. These visits are unannounced
READ ACROSS AMERICA
If you have 100% of students who has met their reading goal of 210 minutes for last week (as recorded on their reading log) please enter your class's name at the link.
Please feel free to continue to use the log to encourage your students to read througout the remainder of the school year.
Daylight Savings-
Don't forget to spring forward for Daylight Savings this Sunday (see above).
Grade Conversion Timelines
• Grade conversion charts for the GCPS Milestones Benchmarks will be posted in the TAARC by Monday, April 10th.
o Teachers should use the Standards Mastery Report immediately following the administration to determine which standards might need to be supported prior to Milestones testing, which begins on Monday, April 24th.
• End of Year Assessment Grade Conversion Charts will be generated in advance of the assessment window closing and posted in the TAARC by May 12th.
Summer Professional Learning
Please see the link for the GCPS Summer Professional Learning.
Student Intervention
AAP is underway. Students are continuing to attend their assigned AAP class during their connections block. We need all teachers to make sure that AAP students report to their AAP location during connections. They must attend each session to acquire the needed seat hours to recover their semester 1 grade. MA and ELA are closing out and we just started the Science class last Thursday.
Tier III ELT support for semester 2 began on Monday 2/13 for students identified as Tier III Reading and MA. A master list of students was sent out Friday 2/10 by Ms. Hall. Please refer to her email and remind all students who are on the list to attend.
Please ensure that online intervention platforms for ELA (Amplify/Achieve 3000/Imagine Learning) and MA (iReady) are being used during ELT for Tier II students.
District Support
LMS was selected for in-person district coaching support for ELA and MA content teams (Heather- MA and Brooke- EL). The reports from our coaches is great and they are impressed with the level of work taking place in our content teams. Thank you to all of our teachers for working to establish great practices in our CLTs- -it is evident by those who are supporting our work.
MA, ELA, SC and SS CLT leaders will participate in virtual coaching via bite-size PD sessions each Monday morning at 8:30 AM-8:50 AM via Zoom
ELA Content Leads will use this link
MA Content Leads will use this link
Social Studies Content Leads will use this link
Science Content Leads- the link is forthcoming
All LMS new teachers will engage in Bite-Sized PD virtually on Mondays 8:30 AM-8:50 AM via Zoom
Each group should have received communication directly from the district with the supporting tools/resources/information.
The targeted groups of teachers should make plans to attend their respective PD.
Make sure to follow up with anyone who reaches out to you and keep your content AP in the loop so that she/he may support you in your work.
Literacy Block and Advisement Reminder
As a reminder, we are engaged in Literacy Block each month on the 2nd and 3rd Fridays. Advisement is scheduled for 1st and 4th Fridays. This is school-wide and should be taking place in all classrooms during ELT on Fridays.
Champion Circles are still expected the 1st 10 minutes of ELT each day.
See Black History Month Activities
Summer Learning
Summer School is set for June 12 – June 30, 2023. More information to come later in the semester.
Remind Sign Up (we still need a few staff members to sign up. Please take care of it this week.):
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for Remind. This will serve as our emergency phone tree (along with Messenger) in the event of an emergency.
Communication is a priority for our school team. Remind is a major part of our emergency communication strategy. Please go ahead and sign up to receive our school's Remind messages.
REMIND:
Sign up to receive messages through Remind. This will be used in case of emergency, or if there is a need for urgent/time-sensitive communication. Text @f637g3 to 81010 Wanted:
Please complete this brief survey to let me know how the year is going. Thank you to all of those who have already provided feedback.
Ongoing Reminders
Ongoing Reminders
Congrats, Positive Thoughts, Condolences, and Well-Wishes:
You can submit your sunshine entry on the LMS Training page.
LMS WELLNESS CENTER
LMS WELLNESS CENTER
Please reference these SEL courses:
Certified Staff
Intro to SEL / Course # - 29095 / Course open until May, 2023 / Self-Paced
Classified Staff
Intro to SEL / Course # - 30137 / Course open until May, 2023 / Self-Paced
How is everyone doing with their steps? I am getting about 10, 000 per day, but I have REALLY focus on it.
Let's use the Get Fit Channel Teams chat to talk about it.
How can we help to support students when they need to repair relationships amongst their peers? The following are some questions that you may use to facilitate restorative practices with your students:
What did you think when you realized what happened?
What impact has this incident had on you and others?
What has been the hardest thing for you?
What do think you need to make things right?
STUDENT/STAFF SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY:
How are our Champion Circles going? If a visitor walked into your room during the first 10 minutes of ELT, what would they see? Would students be experiencing a check-in? Would your students be able to say that you established this structure as a part of your classroom procedures?
This is an LMS expectation, so if you're still working to get this going (or keep it going) reach out and I can connect you to one of our Champion Circle champions for ideas/tips.
COVID Safety Protocols
Complete a health assessment before leaving home. If you are not feeling well contact your grade level AP as soon as possible (Special Education Teachers contact Ms. St. James). If necessary, follow the absence/sub protocol immediately. Then email the HRT team at 626 HRT Lilburn LMS.
Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer throughout the day.
Staff Development & Required Courses:
Staff Development & Required Courses:
The LMS Faculty Handbook is located here: LMS Training Page
GCPS Personnel Handbook is Located Here: GCP Personnel Handbook
New Course: Introduction to Social Emotional Learning (Certified Staff)
This self-paced course was designed specifically for classified staff and will equip participants with the strategies and tools needed to strengthen adult Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and wellness. Upon completion of the course, participants will understand different approaches to adult SEL as well as how to interact with other adults and students. This course includes 5 modules to build each SEL Competency: Module 1: Self-Awareness, Module 2: Self-Management, Module 3: Relationship Skills, Module 4: Social Awareness, and Module 5: Responsible Decision-Making. In addition, the course will help staff improve their own ability to cope with the stressors and challenges at work and in life.
Sign up on PD&E (Course#: 30137)
Who: K-12 Classified Staff
What: SEL 101: Workplace Wellness for Classified Staff (2022-2023)
When: January 2023-June 2023
Where: PD&E Self-Paced Learning
SEL 101: Introduction to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for Certified Staff
This self-paced course was designed specifically for certified staff and will equip participants with the strategies and tools needed to strengthen adult Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and promote student SEL. This course explores the CASEL SEL Model and reviews the importance of social emotional learning (SEL) for students and the impact it has on student success. Participants will learn the five social emotional competencies defined by the model and be able to cultivate student behaviors and teacher actions that promote social emotional learning.
Sign up on PD&E (Course#: 29095)
Who: K-12 Certified Staff
What: SEL 101: Introduction to SEL for Certified Staff (2022-2023)
When: January 2023-June 2023
Where: PD&E Self-Paced Learning
Remember to continuously work towards your 20 hours of PD- Don't wait until May ;-)
Important Dates to Remember:
Important Dates to Remember:
1) Monday, March 13
ELT (1st Period)
Strengthening Families
Bite-Size PD- 8:30 AM
2) Tuesday, March 14
ELT (2nd Period)
Connections Tutoring
Milestones Benchmark Predictors (MA/SS)
Collaborative Planning
Corebridge Financial GCPS Retirement (conference rm. 2) For LMS Staff.
3) Wednesday, March 15
ELT (3rd Period)
Math and Social Studies Tutoring
Band LGPE, 6 PM Paul Duke STEM High School
Milestones Benchmark Predictor (ELA/SC)
Staff Volleyball at Partee ES
LMS SWAT Team Meeting- 4:45PM
4) Thursday, March 16
ELT (4th Period)
Language Arts and Science Tutoring
LMS Progress Report #7
PTSA International Night
5) Friday, March 17
Digital Learning Day (Schedule is listed above)
6) Saturday, March 18
Rest and Relax
Mustang Mastery Intervention Program
Soccer vs. Berkmar MS at LMS
7) Sunday, March 19
Rest and Relax
Coming up next week:
Biz Town Field Trips, Local School Council Meeting
Have a Supercharged and Laser-Focused Week!
Have a Supercharged and Laser-Focused Week!
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Additional School-Wide Newsletters:
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