PTA General Body Meeting Minutes Wednesday, November 16, 2016 1 PTA President, Debra Olson, called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. on November 16 th , 2016. President’s Update: Debra Olson • Fall Membership Drive o President Olson and Secretary Gardner provided an update on the Fall Membership Drive: 60%of families have joined to date, with the PK4, PK3, and the K/1 “Disco Dolphins” classes in the lead for 100% participation. An announcement will be made when the first class wins an extra recess or free dress day. Principal Searl and President Olson discussed what the PTA funds are used for, below, and encouraged anyone with questions to get in touch. • Budget Information o President Olson explained that the Ross PTA raises funds for two purposes: (1) to support Principal Searl and the Ross teachers and staff in providing a top-quality education to our students and (2) planning community building events for Ross students and their families. For example, President Olson continued, the PTA buys all school supplies so that Principal Searl can maximize the DCPS budget on salaries for the excellent Ross teachers and staff, which includes educational aides in Kindergarten, 1 st ,2 nd , and 3 rd grades, positions not funded by DCPS. The PTA’s fundraising through the Fall Membership Drive, Tree Sale, Mother’s & Father’s Day Book Drive, & Annual Auction also supports technology for the classrooms, wonderful enrichments and partnerships, PTA expenses, field trips, building maintenance, & staff development. o Treasurer Green shared that we have $60K in the bank that will get us through to the Spring and that there will be a State of the Budget presentation in January. o President Olson also shared that the Mother’s & Father’s Day Book Drive allowed us to add nearly 500 new books for our library. • Fillmore Update o President Olson assured parents that Ross will have an arts program after this year and shared information from a meeting held with Chief of Teaching and Learning for DCPS, Brian Pick, who agreed with our assessment that there is not enough space at Ross for a diverse arts program and will let us know the solution by December 1 st . • Tree Sale – Co-Chairs John Spears, Andy Lee, Dominic Sale o Tree Sale Co-Chairs shared that roughly $10K was raised last year from our high-quality Frasier fir trees and they are looking for families to help make this another successful fundraiser for the PTA. They asked that we 1). purchase a tree (or donate a tree to a family in need); 2). volunteer for one or more spots to sell or deliver trees; & 3). help market our event and spread the word to your networks. o It was noted that “Super Saturday”, Saturday, December 3 rd , will be a fun day at Ross with the Gingerbread House Workshop, Bake Sale, and card making for veterans at the DC Soldiers Home to accompany the tree sale.
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
PTAGeneralBodyMeetingMinutesWednesday,November16,2016
1
PTAPresident,DebraOlson,calledthemeetingtoorderat6:00p.m.onNovember16th,2016.
President’sUpdate:DebraOlson• FallMembershipDrive
o PresidentOlsonandSecretaryGardnerprovidedanupdateontheFallMembershipDrive:60%offamilieshavejoinedtodate,withthePK4,PK3,andtheK/1“DiscoDolphins”classesinthe leadfor100%participation.Anannouncementwillbemadewhenthefirstclasswinsanextra recessorfreedressday.PrincipalSearlandPresidentOlsondiscussedwhatthePTAfundsare usedfor,below,andencouragedanyonewithquestionstogetintouch.
• BudgetInformationo PresidentOlsonexplainedthattheRossPTAraisesfundsfortwopurposes:(1)tosupport
PrincipalSearlandtheRossteachersandstaffinprovidingatop-qualityeducationtoour studentsand(2)planningcommunitybuildingeventsforRossstudentsandtheirfamilies.For example,PresidentOlsoncontinued,thePTAbuysallschoolsuppliessothatPrincipalSearlcan maximizetheDCPSbudgetonsalariesfortheexcellentRossteachersandstaff,whichincludes educationalaidesinKindergarten,1st,2nd,and3rdgrades,positionsnotfundedbyDCPS.The PTA’sfundraisingthroughtheFallMembershipDrive,TreeSale,Mother’s&Father’sDayBook Drive,&AnnualAuctionalsosupportstechnologyfortheclassrooms,wonderfulenrichments andpartnerships,PTAexpenses,fieldtrips,buildingmaintenance,& staffdevelopment.
o TreasurerGreensharedthatwehave$60KinthebankthatwillgetusthroughtotheSpring and thattherewillbeaStateoftheBudgetpresentationinJanuary.
o PresidentOlsonalsosharedthattheMother’s&Father’sDayBookDriveallowedustoadd nearly500newbooksforourlibrary.
• FillmoreUpdateo PresidentOlsonassuredparentsthatRosswillhaveanartsprogramafterthisyearandshared
informationfromameetingheldwithChiefofTeachingandLearningforDCPS,BrianPick,who agreedwithourassessmentthatthereis notenoughspaceatRossforadiverseartsprogram and willletusknowthesolutionbyDecember1st.
• TreeSale–Co-ChairsJohnSpears,AndyLee,DominicSaleo TreeSaleCo-Chairssharedthatroughly$10Kwasraisedlastyearfromourhigh-qualityFrasier fir
treesandtheyarelookingforfamiliestohelpmakethisanothersuccessfulfundraiserfor the PTA.Theyaskedthatwe1).purchaseatree(ordonateatreetoafamilyinneed);2). volunteer foroneormorespotstosellordelivertrees;&3).helpmarketoureventandspread theword toyournetworks.
o Itwasnotedthat“SuperSaturday”,Saturday,December3rd,willbeafundayatRosswiththe GingerbreadHouseWorkshop,BakeSale,andcardmakingforveteransattheDCSoldiers Home toaccompanythetreesale.
PTAGeneralBodyMeetingMinutesWednesday,November16,2016
2
EurekaMathInformationSessionRecap:• MathCoach,MeghanPazmino,3rdGradeTeacher,JillianAtlas,andKellyGruse,2ndGradeTeacher
presentedontheNationalCouncilofTeachersofMathematicsconferencetheyattendedinPhiladelphia.Pleaseseeattachedslides.
SocialJusticeCommitteeUpdate:MiwaKamras• Lower-SchoolRep.MiwaKamras,sharedinformationabouttheSocialJustice/CommunityService
Committee’sNovembermeetingandhowtheschool’ssocialjustice-focusedcurriculumcloselymirrorsthecommittee’sprioritiestoprovidemeaningfulopportunitiesforRossstudentsandfamiliestoengageinsocialjusticeandcommunityserviceworkthatenablesstudentstounderstandinequityandtheroletheycanplayinaddressingit.
UpcomingEvents
o Thursday,November17,2016at8:15am:ParentCoffeewithSWW@FS’PrincipalTrogischo Tuesday,November22at8:15a.m.:ParentCoffee:Mindfulness,Part2o Thursday,November24,2016-Friday,November25,2016:ThanksgivingHolidayo Friday,December2,Saturday,December3,Sunday,December4,&Saturday,December10,
2016:AnnualRossHolidayTreeSaleo December5th,2016:SocialJustice/CommunityServiceMeetingat8:45a.m.o December10,2016:EdFESTatD.C.Armory(2001EastCapitolStSE)o December12,2016:MySchoolDCLotteryOpenso December22,2016–January2,2017:WinterBreak
Meetingadjournedat7:00p.m. ThenextPTAGeneralBodyMeetingisscheduledforWednesday,January18th,2017
MEETINGMINUTESRESPECTFULLYSUBMITTEDBYKATEGARDNER,SECRETARY
NCTM Conference 2016
Attendees: Meghan Pazmino (Math Coach), Kelly Gruse(2nd Grade), Jillian Atlas (3rd Grade)
First we’d like to thank you...for “empowering us to be even more!”
- Supporting staff growth- Treating us as professionals - Giving us the very best
professional development so that we can deliver the best instruction to your children!
Why Common Core?
65 & 2029Why are these numbers important to our nation?
2029 Kindergarten Graduates
In the year 2029, our current kindergarteners will graduate from high school
65% In the year 2029, 65% of the jobs that our children will be applying for do not exist today.
Raise your hand if in elementary school wrote as your hope and dream, “When I grow up, I want to be a mobile app designer.”
We are preparing our students for jobs and careers that do not exist...yet.
There are 125 sheep and 5 dogs in a flock.
How old is the shepherd?
Don’t worry, this isn’t a “common core” question. :)
A researcher in 1986 found that 3 out of 4 students will give a numerical answer to this question.
Solve:
12
14
x =
Now write a story using these numbers:
12
14
x =
How can we prepare our children for the unknown? By teaching them life skills that apply to today and to tomorrow- Adaptive reasoning- Strategic Competence- Conceptual understanding- Procedural Fluency- Productive disposition- Critical thinking
The (SMP’s) Standards For Mathematical Practice (there are 8 of them)
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
3. Construct Viable Arguments and Critique the REasoning of others
4. Model with Mathematics
5. Use appropriate tools strategically6. Attend to precision 7. Look for and make use of structure8. Look for patterns (repeated reasoning)
What did Mrs. Atlas get out of two days in Philly surrounded by our nation’s mathematical intellectuals?
1. Why we teach mathematics in the way we teach it2. How to empower our students to become more
independent3. The importance of relational thinking - connecting
mathematics to any and all parts of life
The (SMP’s) Standards For Mathematical Practice (there are 8 of them)
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
7. Look for and make use of structure
SMP #1: Make sense of problems
and Persevere in solving them
Presenter: David Ginsburg
Empower students to understand the
scenario
Empower Students to Make sense of the
problemHow?
In class: Application Problem
At home: Last problem on the Homework (usually the trickiest word problem)
Making sense of the problem: Get rid of the numbers!
What teachers do
● Provide meaningful, well developed application problem
● Take out the numbers of the problem
● Take away the question of the problem to simply provide the scenario and take the focus off of problem solving
What parents can do
Ask students to “make a movie in their mind” of what the scenario is describing (using reading skills)
- Visualized the problem- Drawn it out- Listed what they know
What students gain/learn: Making sense of the problem will help them understand the relationship between the numbers and the scenario (no more number grabbing)
SMP #1: Make sense of problems
and Persevere in solving them
Presenter: David Ginsburg
Empower students to find their own
point of entry
The Productive Struggle - Doing more by doing lessWhat teachers do
● Provide meaningful, well developed application problem, allow students to dig in and find a point of entry
● Allow other students to ask questions to help get students on track
● Find out the misconception and start asking questions prior to that step
What parents can do
Help students find a point of entry only after they’ve done the following:
- Visualized the problem- Drawn it out- Listed what they know- Identified the unknown (what
they’re solving for).
What students gain/learn: Perseverance, struggle is OK, focus on a point of entry
Empower Students to Persevere
How?
In class: Application Problem
At home: Last problem on the homework
SMP #7: Look for and make use
of structurePresenter: The John Oliver
of Mathematics...
The Pain & Relief
of Mathematics
If we never felt the pain of a headache, would we ever take the aspirin? ● Engineers and high school
students were asked, “What would life be like without algorithms?”
● The answers for the engineers were along the lines of, “Catastrophic! A headache, at best!”
● High schoolers replied along the lines of, “Life would be so much easier/sweet relief!”
● Algorithms serve a purpose - to make life easier for us humans on a day to day basis!
How much money is in this jar?
How much money Is it?
How much money Is it?
How much money Is it?
Structure = A Mathematician’s
Best FriendPractical use of structure
in mathematics
The Beauty of Mathematics
Presenter: Monica Neagoy
Learn about our world with a sense of wonder, look for structures that are beautiful in the world
around us.
SMP #7: Look for and make use of structure
How do we incorporate the beauty and wonder of mathematics into our instruction?
What teachers do
● Provide engaging STEM projects throughout the year where students see the power of mathematics (Chevron Grant)
● Invite students to share about how math touches their lives (Responsive Classroom)
● Field trips of art, music, culture (Kennedy Center, Fillmore, after school activities)
What parents can do
● Take students into nature, let them experience art, music, culture
● Invite students to notice mathematics in everyday life that may seem more extraordinary
What students gain/learn:
● Students build relational thinking which is proven to deepen conceptual understanding
From tesselations in the tiles of morocco & M.C. Escher
To the beauty of fractions in the music we enjoy
What did Ms. Gruse get out of two days in Philly surrounded by our nation’s mathematical intellectuals?
1. Why we teach mathematics in the way we teach it2. How to empower our students to become more
independent3. The importance of relational thinking - connecting
mathematics to any and all parts of life
The Effective Use of Manipulatives in
Mathematics
Concrete-Representational- Abstract (CRA)Instructional
Approach
CRA is an instructional approach for mathematics that research suggests can enhance the performance of students. It is a three-part instructional strategy, with each part building on the previous instruction to promote student learning and retention and to address conceptual knowledge.
concrete, representation, and abstract:Let’s Try to solve 115 + 36 using the three stages
Concrete - The teacher begins instruction by modeling each mathematical concept with concrete materials (e.g., red and yellow chips, cubes, base-ten blocks, pattern blocks, fraction bars, and geometric figures). The students then use the same materials to solve problems
concrete, representation, and abstract:Representational - In this stage, the teacher transforms the concrete model into a representational (semiconcrete) level, which may involve drawing pictures; using circles, dots, and tallies; or using stamps to imprint pictures for counting.
concrete, representation, and abstract:Abstract - At this stage, the teacher models the mathematics concept at a symbolic level, using only numbers, notation, and mathematical symbols to represent the number of circles or groups of circles. The teacher uses operation symbols (+, –, ) to indicate addition, multiplication, or division.
Why is this the Best Approach?Research-based studies show that students who begin with concrete materials:
● develop more precise and more comprehensive mental representations
● often show more motivation and on-task behavior● understand mathematical ideas● better apply these ideas to life situations
What can You Do At Home?
1. Encourage your child to use the concrete and/or representational models until they have a deep understanding of the mathematical concept
2. If you notice them making mistakes while doing the abstract model, encourage them to draw a representation. This often forces them to identify their mistake.
What did Ms. Pazmino get out of two days in Philly surrounded by our nation’s mathematical intellectuals?
1. Purposeful design of adult professional learning.2. Studying and reflecting on our teaching to improve
student learning.3. Practical ways to make math come alive for
students.
Purposeful Adult Professional
Learning
It takes 30-100 hours of sustained professional
learning over 6-12 months to see meaningful change.
● Feed the hungry, not the full.
● If you can anticipate a problem, you should have a plan to solve it.
● Navigate relationships!● Use our strengths to
leverage our challenges
Studying and reflecting on our
practice
Everyone improves when teachers observe other
teachers in action and can debrief about the lesson.
● Not asking anyone to be perfect, just to get better.
● Treat teachers like professionals
● The words we choose--about students and adults--are important
Practical ways to make math come
alive for students
Math is all around us. Part of our job as adults is to help students discover the beauty of math in our lives.
● Literature connections● The power of games to
reach all students● Low floor, high ceiling
problems●
What can you expect next?
I am always available to talk about math!
● Our 2nd Annual Math Night is already on the calendar!
● Math Coffees for each grade level at the start of each advisory.
● A math/tech newsletter--coming soon!
● Crazy 8s Math Club winter enrichment program (grades 3-5)
Related Documents
