K-5 Curriculum Maps and resources in Canvas!
Please check out this introductory PowerPoint about our K-5 Canvas ELA Blueprints
K-5 Curriculum Maps and resources in Canvas!
Please check out this introductory PowerPoint about our K-5 Canvas ELA Blueprints
As a result of several retirements, the Effective Instruction (EI) Committee anticipates several vacancies in the year ahead. Interested educators may express their interest by emailing the committee’s facilitator, Dr. Christine Ermold with a brief explanation of why they are interested and prepared to serve on the committee.
Following administration of the annual EI Process survey, the members reviewed the results and discussed their observations via email with one another. In summary, it was determined that changes to the EI Process are not warranted at this time, and that the focus in FY19 should remain on exploring how the district’s focus on personalized learning manifests in the evaluation tools in use.
Simply put, ‘coding’ is giving instructions to computers to do something. It is what makes it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites. Your internet browser, the apps on your phone, Facebook, and this website – they’re all made with code, by people who code.
Computer science informs almost every aspect of our lives, from communications to shopping to national security and government. Coding is the basic foundation of computer science, and an area that every public school can benefit from teaching. And the best thing is that ANYONE can learn to code.
Our goal is simple: Introduce more Alaskan students to coding! Check out the following links for fast and easy ways to get you or your students coding today:
Let us know on social media how your class, school, district is participating with the hashtags #AlaskaWeekOfCode and #aklearns.
2016 Common Quarterly Narrative Writing Prompts, Rubrics, and Directions have been updated.
Quarter 1 Narrative Common Assessments
Please check to be sure you have the most recent rubrics and prompts. Note: Some prompts have remained the same and others have changed. There are some grade levels that overlap – for example, Grade 6 teachers may choose the elementary prompt or the middle school prompt. Please choose the best prompt for your students and collaboration teams.
The Middle School ELA CQA Committee met, and since the AMP is no longer, the committee decided to reinstate the Narrative Writing Prompt for first Quarter! Please note this change. The grade 7 and 8 grade Narrative Rubric has been added to the Quarter 1.
The ELA Writing Committee encourages all teachers to use the standard-reference rubrics throughout the school year, not just for the common assessments.
Click here for Quarter 1 Scoring Guides
If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Linton at ext. 8861
Welcome to the 2016-2017 school year! After reviewing assessment calendars and requirements for students, the district instructional team decided that administering KPBSD Common Quarterly Math Assessments in grades K-8 were no longer a requirement. We encourage teachers to work at the school level to develop common assessments that meet the needs of your students and your PLC goals.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Melissa Linton at x8861.
Welcome to the 2016-17 school year! The following message was sent via district email to every employee on July 12, 2016. As issues arise and are addressed, any important updates will be added and communicated via this Instructional Blog.
Effective July 1st, 2016, Catalog/Canvas will be the mandatory training management system used by all KPBSD employees. Last Spring, all employees should have viewed the Catalog Training Video for KPBSD Employees or the Catalog Training Video for Certified Employees and worked through the practice activities. Both videos are accessible on the KPBSD Shared Drive < Districtwide Staff Shared < Catalog Training Videos.
At the start of your new work year, you’ll need to enroll in the applicable Mandatory Training Bundle and work through your trainings. Feel free to review either of the above videos as needed to help you through this process. Time will be provided at your site to work through these required trainings in time for completion by Sept. 1, just as the time has been provided for whole group training in the past. The attached PDF, Enrolling into a Mandatory Training Bundle provides the specific steps to get yourself enrolled.
The following training bundle options are available:
KPBSD Mandatory Training Bundles |
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Aide and Tutor | District Secretary | Pool Staff |
Certified Teacher (Kenai and Seward area schools including Moose Pass & Hope) | Finance Staff | Principal |
Certified Teacher (Soldotna/Nikiski area schools including Ninilchik, Tustumena & Cooper Landing) | Food Service | Pupil Transportation |
Certified Teacher (Homer area schools) | Guidance Counselor | Purchasing |
Certified Teacher (Vocational) | Homeless Liaison | School Psychologist |
Coordinators | Human Resources | School Secretary |
Custodian | Information Services | Superintendent |
Director (Instructional) | Nursing Staff | Theater Staff |
Director (Instructional Support) | Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapist | Warehouse Staff |
If you encounter issues that your principal or PD Site Facilitator are not able to help you with, please don’t hesitate to contact Michelle Thomason for assistance via email or at ext. 2366. While we anticipate a few bumps during this first year of implementation, we expect this process will become streamlined and easier with each successive year, saving the time administrators spent preparing each of these trainings, the time secretaries spent recording these trainings, and the time district office spent monitoring the completion of trainings for each group of employees. Thanks in advance for your patience and perseverance; we look forward to your feedback being provided through your administrator to help improve this system!
Christine Ermold, Ed.D., Director, Human Resources & Professional Development
The E.I. Committee met on 5/20/16. During the meeting, the committee:
A summary of the committee’s decisions and findings is as follows:
The Committee will meet again on September 27, 2016. Questions regarding the information above may be directed to any member of the E.I. Committee or to Christine Ermold, the facilitator of the committee.
The Effective Instruction (EI) Committee met on January 28, 2016 to review the progress of the SGM pilot and discuss the implications of possible regulatory changes related to the December 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Questions regarding the following information may be directed to the facilitator of the EI Committee, Dr. Christine Ermold, or any member of the committee. Principals have been asked to share the following information with their faculty and organize questions at their site into a single document to help direct the flow of communication through the site administrator.
The SRR Committee met on 1/14/16 and saw that while there is still a need to support the growth of our teachers in their ability to understand and use SRR to the fullest benefit of our students, overall, the results show dramatic changes in teacher knowledge and practices. As has been typical, approximately 33% of elementary teachers responded to the survey. Among other celebrations, committee members noted that for the first time in our district, almost 95% of responding teachers indicated they “know how to help students use standards-referenced rubrics and scores to advance their learning.” This reflects huge growth over the last three years, and the committee sincerely appreciates the time and effort everyone has dedicated to learning how to use this approach successfully. This information, along with a copy of each site’s survey results, were sent to principals in late January, 2016.
Additional important points the Committee wanted to convey to all teachers include:
The district is also currently developing summary statements of each elementary science unit that will be loaded into PowerTeacher as an option for teachers to use when adding comments on the report card. Also, as a result of requests from high school science teachers, the Next Generation Science Standards will also be loaded into PowerTeacher so teachers can link standards to assignments or record observations of the standards, if they wish. It is important that elementary teachers note that the NGSS standards will not show up on the report card, though. Questions regarding this information may be directed to a site principal, an Effective Instruction coach, or Christine Ermold, Ed.D., Director of Elementary Education and Professional Development.
Please click HERE to view the 2015 Common Quarterly Writing Assessment Prompts, Directions and K-6 Scoring Guides.
Our common writing assessments have changed to an on-demand performance task so that our students can have experiences similar to those they will encounter on the State AMP Assessment.
This information will also be posted to the KPBSD Common Assessment Webpage at: http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/departments.aspx?id=26368
Please email Melissa Linton if you have questions or need assistance.