O R E G O N
OREGON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Citizenship, Attitude, Responsibility, Excellence
The mission of Oregon Middle School is to develop conscientious citizens, foster positive
attitudes, respect and appreciate individuals, and achieve academic excellence.
OMS 2009-2010 Goals (4Cs)
COMMUNITY
Increase parent feeling of
involvement through the
continued development of the
5-to-8 Group. Maintain or
improve communication with
parents and community
members
Panther “props” to:
Bus and Lunch Duty Staff
Thank you
Jason Symes
Student Projects with PBWorks
Not Props but important
Links BOE Info and feedback
http://
continuouslearners.wikispaces.com/
http://continuouslearners.ning.com
IN THIS ISSUE
Goals Vision Mission p.1 & 2
“Sharpening your Skill Saw”
Panther “props” p.1
Upcoming Events p.2
Reminders p.2
Did You Know? p.2
Resource Links p.2
PBIS Data p.3
Art, like morality, consists of
drawing the line somewhere.
G. K. Chesterton
OMS Weekly Staff E-Newsletter 2010_03_08
M I D D L E S C H O O L
CULTURE CHARACTER COMPETENCY
Maintain or increase student, Maintain or increase student, By the end of the 2009-2010
staff, and parent ratings in staff, and parent ratings in school year, 100% of our
student safety, meeting academic students, staff and parents students will read at grade level
needs, and student achievement reporting a respectful school and or make at least one year’s
through relationships between environment growth and /or meet their
students and teachers. individual learning plan (IEP,
504, etc.) goals.
“Sharpening Your Skill Saw”
Meeting Students Where They
Are: Preparing Them for
What's Next
When imagining the kind of adult
we'd like to see each child grow
into, most of us probably come up
with a similar list of qualities: kind,
caring, disciplined, confident, self-
directed, and so forth. Most of us,
admittedly, would prefer if all
children possessed those qualities
right now. Logically, we may
understand that it's a process to OMS Students with Mr. Sproule at RCI
develop a child into this kind of person,
but are we prepared to meet students
where they are emotionally, socially, and interests, needs, strengths, and
physically and help them navigate this circumstances and the content they are
process? learning in the classroom.
Students come to school with emotional,
social, and physical circumstances that Getting Away from Traditional
affect their behavior, academic Grading in a Kentucky Middle
performance, and relationships with peers School
and educators. Some students' In this Middle Ground article,
circumstances will be assets to their school Kentucky middle-school English teacher
experience while others will prove to be Paul Barnwell says that he is spending less
liabilities. The challenge and opportunity of and less time “toiling away with traditional
this truth is that we have the ability to grading” and keeps his classes highly
integrate and develop all realms of engaged and motivated – in a state he calls
students' being through their learning and “relaxed alertness” – with a number of
prepare them for the future. We can do this other assessment practices:
by building trusting relationships with and • Big-picture results focus –
among students and helping students learn Students have a detailed outline of
to make connections between their upcoming teaching units and summative
 O R E G O N M I D D L E S C H O O L

Upcoming Events
February 2010
CARE Review Cafeteria and
Hallway (be sure not to read as list of
rules - get them to think about what
CARE looks like in these situations)
8 Orange Day - HB Reading Day
BUS- Kami, Bruce*, Mary Ann
9 Black Day -
BUS- Kami, Bruce*, Mary Ann
10 Orange Day
EXTENDED HOMEBASE
INTERVENTION DAY
8th Grade in Gym for Assembly
BET 3:20 Library
BUS- Kami, Bruce, Larien*
11 Black Day -
NVCI Hold Review for Trained
Staff
BUS-Kami, Bruce, Larien*
12 Orange Day
BUS -Kami, Bruce, Larien*
OMS Weekly Update (Bus Duty,
Co-Curricular) - Lynda G
BUS Map For OMS
Reminders
• Wednesday 8th Grade Homebases
Meet in Gym for Commitment to
Graduate Assembly
• Newsletter Articles due from Teams
3/26/2010
• Staff Meeting 3/17? Stay Tuned
OMS Belief Statements
OREGON MIDDLE SCHOOL get up and find someone wearing a similar
BELIEF STATEMENTS
We believe students will develop respect season.
for their community, environment, and
themselves.
We believe all staff, students, and
community will foster a positive attitude whiteboards while they work, get checked,
and outlook.
We believe all staff, students and
community will be respectful and
responsible.
We believe all staff will model life-long their desk,” he says.
learning and engage students in high
levels of academic excellence.
assessments like tests, essays, or multimedia
projects.
• Constant questioning – Barnwell
keeps packs of 3x5 index cards with the
names of each class’s students and pulls out
cards at random to decide which student will
answer the next question. “I’m not trying to
stump students, but rather trigger
participation and keep them focused,” he
says.
• Classwide success – When he gives
self-graded grammar or individual
Brainpop.com quizzes, Barnwell will
sometimes say, “Alright guys, let’s check
ourselves this time, but it will be
unacceptable for anyone to get less than
80%.” The peer pressure has a positive effect
on engagement and effort, he says.
• Green dot/red dot – If Barnwell
says that a worksheet or another assignment
is a “green-dot task,” students know that
he’ll be doing a spot-check for
understanding. Students raise their hands
when they’re finished and when he checks Ground, February 2010 (Vol. 13, #3, p.
their work, he puts a green dot if it’s 24-25), no e-link available; the author can
proficient and a red dot if they need to keep be reached at psbarnwell@gmail.com.
working on it. “As I zoom around the room,
I get a great snapshot of whether a class
comprehends a given topic or activity,” he
says. “This activity fosters a sense – and Did you Know?
expectation – of student success.”
• Partner work/interaction – Barnwell You can review the OMS Goal Report with all
has found that most students can’t sit still for types of data for your enjoyment? Go to the
OMS Moodle Site to view them
90 minutes, so when it’s time to share
answers or work with a partner, he has them OMS 0910 Committee Membership***
OMS Vision
shirt color or who shares their favorite
OREGON MIDDLE
• Mini whiteboards – Barnwell SCHOOL VISION
frequently designs activities in which Individualizing learning for parents, students
students can show their understanding on the and staff
Navigating toward excellence
erase it, and move on to the next problem. Sharing responsibility for success of all
• Laptops – “It never ceases to amaze students
me that, regardless of the academic task, Producing positive, collaborative energy
students participate when a laptop sits on Including ALL
Reflecting and collaborating for continuous
improvement
“Get Away from Grading and Get Students Engaging students in rigorous learning
Learning” by Paul Barnwell in Middle

Resource Links for OMS Staff

RESOURCE LINKS
OMS Staff Only Page
OMS Staff Collaboration Site
OMS online DB (Refocus, etc)
OMS PBIS Site
OMS Literacy Site
OMS PLC Site
2!
GOOGLE CALENDARS Sub Evaluation Form OMS Protocol Documentation form
OMS Orange Black and Other Calendar OMS Field Trip Request Form (Word format)
OMS Field Trip Calendar Guest Speaker Request Form OMS Team Minutes Interactive
FORMS Team Meeting form (Google Doc) Form - fill in fields and click submit on
NEWOnline Behavior Intervention Video Use Permission Form bottom of Staff Page
Form OMS Committee Meeting Template SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES
NEW ONLINE CADs OMS Protocol Documentation Form to OregonMidSchool Twitter
Facilitate positive dialog (PDF) OMS E-Newsletter
OMS Weekly Staff E-Newsletter 2010_03_08