Monday December 2nd, 2013

Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Standley
                  Goodwin
                  Kenyon
     PM Bus:  Moore
                  Coleman
                  Fullmer
     Lounge: Kolsen

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   December 2nd, Monday- RTI

   December 2nd, Monday, Christmas program at Canyon Ridge, 6:30-8:00

   December 4th, Wednesday- Eval Team

   December 6th, Friday, Staff Christmas Party 6:30-8:30 pm- Everybody is invited!

Here is a great article on student success in an unlikely place:

At Risk Students

One item that is on the WISE tool for our indicators this year is pre and post assessments. Pre-assessments lead to mastery! Look for articles in your mailbox this week that address this item. We are all working on improving our star rating. 

Here are pictures from Kambra and Lark, from Thanksgiving week:

We are on to December! There are just three weeks, but a significant amount of instruction can be taught during those three weeks.

                                 

Wednesday November 27th, 2013

Please remember to turn in time cards by 9am.

We are going to start having three fifth grade students lead the Pledge of Allegiance on the intercom every morning, starting on Monday. Lesa made a schedule and I added it under schedules for easy reference. This is another great leadership opportunity for students.

Noni's class at the preschool had their Thanksgiving feast on Tuesday. There was a great turn out by families. Chili, cornbread, pie, muffins, and other yummy foods. Here is a picture collage:

Have a great Thanksgiving with your friends and family!
                                  

Tuesday November 26th, 2013

The choir students in grades third-fifth sang at the Festival of Giving on Monday. They did a fantastic job! Here are three short video clips and three pictures. They are also on the school website so you can share with students and their families:

Choir Video One

Choir Video Two

Choir Video Three

Please remind students about the fundraiser for the patrols on Wednesday. They can wear pajamas for one dollar. They must have real shoes, not slippers. That is a safety issue. The pajamas need to also follow the regular dress code. It's not everyday that students have the opportunity to wear pajamas to school, so it should be a fun fundraiser.

                                     

Monday November 25th, 2013

Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Pauley
                  Warner
                  Garcia
     PM Bus:  Triner
                  Moulson
                  Lent
     Lounge: Ardito

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   November 25th, 2013- Monday- RTI

   November 26th, 2013- Tuesday- Yes for Tutoring Afterschool  

   November 26th, 2013- Tuesday- Optional meeting with Noni, Insurance Rep Update

   November 27th, 2013- Wednesday- Eval Team

   November 27th, 2013- Wednesday- Time Cards due by 9 am.

   November 27th, 2013- Wednesday- Early Dismissal at 1:30 and No Kinders

   November 28th-29th, 2013- Thursday and Friday- Thanksgiving Break
 

Boise State has webinars available that address connections between the MTI training you have taken, common core math standards, and the new smarter balanced assessment:

BSU Math Webinars

When it comes to Fall student conferences, teachers are always persistent! Several were still completing conferences this last week. Final conference parent involvement number is 98%!

From MaryAnn: I would like to mention to teachers that when students take an AR test, there is often a vocabulary review (test) to go with it.  It would be beneficial for our students to take the vocabulary review.  Most of our students fit into the lower economic range, so they do not have enough vocabulary development and exposure. Here is a handout with more information:

Vocabulary Review with AR 

Thank you to those that emailed what you were thankful for. You will laugh, you may shed a few tears, and hopefully you will notice many items that we can be thankful for this holiday season. The next few months are often hard for students and families: holidays, family situations, finances, and sometimes even the weather. These videos are great to remember the reason for the season. Part 1 has most, and part 2 is short. I wanted to make sure all the comments were included:

Thanksgiving Thankful Video Part 1

Thanksgiving Thankful Video Part 2

Here are three pictures Anne took from the Thanksgiving lunch on Friday:

Friday November 22nd, 2013

The block schedules for the third and fourth quarters have been added to the schedules tab. Thank you to Lesa for updating those!

Here is the Thanksgiving break reminder post on the school website. Feel free to copy and paste in your newsletters, blogs, and emails to families so they are aware.

Thanksgiving Break Reminder

Here are pictures from Mrs. Standley's classroom that have students learning multiplication, and exercise with technology:

Thursday November 21st, 2013

Grit, tenacity, and perseverance are important 21st century skills. They are often mentioned in discussions about common core. The goals are high, there are challenges to persevere through, and cognitive skills are only one aspect. Students are expected to persevere through difficult situations both at school and in real life outside of school. We need students to know that it is ok to have failures along the way, but to keep going! Failure is a learning opportunity. We often talk about achievement, gaps, and test scores. Grit, tenacity, and perseverance are also essential skills that students need to possess.

Here is a TED talk about grit, and an article from ASCD. TED talks are supposed to get people thinking and talking, and this one does that:

Grit TED Talk

Grit ASCD Article

This handout is very long, but the first few pages would be very informative for you to read:

U.S. Department of Education

Wednesday November 20th, 2013

Here are three links with non-fiction resources, a big shift with common core standards. Third grade mentioned this request in their teaming notes. Please let us know if you have found other resources that would be helpful with close reading and non-fiction texts.



              Non-Fiction Texts
               scroll down and click on your grade level 

          Non-Fiction Inferring Resources

          Non-Fiction Resources 

             

Tuesday November 19th, 2013

Here is a post I added to the school website about the Chobani food drive. Thank you to everybody that helped contribute a food item. Synergy at its finest!

Chobani Food Drive

Here is a fun you tube video to watch that illustrates the changes in technology over the years. Hard to imagine not having computers and all the additional pieces that we use to enhance and extend learning in the classroom.

Change

Monday November 18th, 2013

Duties for the week:

     AM Bus: Simson
                  Lancaster
                  Anderson
     PM Bus:  Coleman
                  Enders
                  Taylor
     Lounge: Boxham

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   November 18th, 2013- Monday- RTI

   November 20th, 2013- Wednesday- Eval Team

We will have our secretary back on Monday. A big thank you to Julie and Lesa for helping in the office the last few weeks, and also those that jumped in and helped when they saw a need.

We are sending home notes to update email addresses. When you get forms returned, please put them in my box or on my desk. I'll then update in Powerschool.

If you have students, or your classroom, that could use school supply replenishing let me know. There are dry erase markers and glue sticks in my office that need to be used, and there are other items available as well.

We not only have an awesome custodian, but he has offered his home for the staff Christmas party. Thank you Terry! Please put December 6th, at 6:30, on your calendar. We have a large staff at Harrison, and we would love to have everybody attend.

Here is a great article about a coach. What we say to students can make an impact. You might need a tissue:

Letters

Friday November 15th, 2013

Please let me know if you received any updates about media releases during conferences, and then I can give an updated list to the block teachers.

Please talk with students about our new benches. They look really nice and Lowe's worked really hard on them. For safety, students should be sitting on them instead of standing on them. Similar to not standing on lunchroom seats or other chairs in the building.

Enjoy the nice Fall Friday!

                                          

Thursday November 14th, 2013

Please help remind students about the PTA cotton candy sale on Friday, just .50¢ per bag. Friday is also the monthly PTA meeting and we would love to have new families attend, so please encourage the meeting. We provide school lunch to the parents who attend, and the menu says chili and yummy cinnamon rolls.

Here is a neat list of 10 technology ideas to use in the classroom. There might be one that looks interesting to try:

10 Technology Items for the Classroom

NCTM, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, has updated their Illuminations website. There are lesson ideas, brain teasers, math games, and other resources. On the right side of the home page you can find lesson ideas. You can click on common core standards, and then grade level. Kindergarten has ideas that could be used with pre/k students. There are also more free apps listed.

NCTM Illuminations Website

Free Math Apps

Wednesday November 13th, 2013

Please remember the staff meeting after school. Bring your iPads. Khrista will be sharing some items that you may want to look up online.

Thank you to the first grade levels that sent their team meeting notes: 1st, 2nd, and 5th grade! They are under documents so everybody is up to date.

Hard to believe it is already time for the Macy's letters to Santa:

Believe Letters

                                          

Tuesday November 12th, 2013

Please remember grade level teaming meetings.

There have been questions about accommodations for the new Smarter Balanced assessment. This is the document from their website. It addresses students who have limited English, students with an IEP, and students who have a 504. The document also lists supports that will be available to all students. Starting on page 9 are examples of embedded designated supports, and then non-embedded designated supports start on page 11.

Smarter Balanced Assessment Accommodations

If you have questions about an accommodation for a special education student, talking to their case manager is a good first step. Check in with me if it is a 504 student. We want students who qualify for accommodations to have them, so they can be successful on the assessments.

Monday November 11th, 2013

Duties for the week:

     AM Bus: Moore
                  Garcia
                  Jacobson
     PM Bus:  Lent
                  Kolsen
                  Pauley
     Lounge: Sweet

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   November 11th, 2013- Monday, No School- CCSS Training

   November 12th, 2013- Tuesday- Team Meetings with ESL/Title 1/Resource

   November 13th, 2013- Wednesday- Eval Team

   November 13th, 2013- Wednesday- Staff Meeting

   November 15th, 2013- Friday PTA cotton candy sale- .50 ¢ each

   November 15th, 2013- Friday- PTA Meeting

   November 15th, 2013- Friday- 5th Grade Hop-to-It, 11:45-2:45


Here is a picture from a fractions lesson, using Legos:

Fifth grade students in Julie's room have been learning about the 6th Leader in Me habit: Synergize. Here is a post from the school website with pictures:

Synergize in Fifth Grade

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

                                           

Friday November 5th, 2013

Here is a collage of pictures from the last couple of weeks. From the Halloween parade, music classes, a service dog visiting, and an author visiting. We have great enrichment opportunities mixed in with academics. You can click on the picture to make it larger. Enjoy!

Thursday November 7th, 2013

It has been a long week, and Thursday will be one more late night. Then you have Friday off!

Please remember to email your final conference attendance numbers. Please also let me know if you have new updated contact information so we can put that in Powerschool.


                            

Wednesday November 6th, 2013

We are striving to keep the school google calendar, school website, and school app up to date. You can check to see if your upcoming field trips are listed. If they are not, please email so they can be added. This is very helpful for families, the kitchen, and staff members.

Please talk with students about bending silverware during lunch. 

Everybody should have received an email about the the common core training on Monday the 11th. If you are still wondering where to go come see us. The Boise Writing Project will be presenting. Here are the places to go:

K, 1, 2- Sawtooth

3, 4, 5- Oregon Trail

  

Here is a slideshare with ideas for when you only have one or two iPads in the classroom. You can make it full screen by clicking on the bottom right corner. Of all the ideas presented, maybe one will catch your eye to try in your own classroom:

iPad Slideshare of Ideas

Tuesday November 5th, 2013

Thank you for being welcoming and positive as we enrolled several new students on Monday.

MaryAnn and Nicole will have the teacher survey on the computers in their rooms/library. Parents can go to those spots if it is easier than in your room.

Here is a new article from Marzano that gives ideas for helping students understand the learning targets, the objectves:

Marzano November Article

We have talked about close readings, informational text, and collaborative discussions. Here is a new article that addresses this, and there is a great video from a fourth grade classroom at the bottom of the article that illustrates all of those items:

Points of Entry for Informational Text

Monday November 4th, 2013

Duties for the week:

     AM Bus: Buschhorn
                  Webb
                  Jensen
     PM Bus:  Goodwin
                  Sweet
                  Bloxham/Dickinson
     Lounge: Moulson

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   November 4th, 2013- Monday- RTI

   November 4th-8th, 2013- Conferences All Week

   November 6th, 2013- Wednesday- Eval Team

   November 6th, 2013- Wednesday- PTA Dinner

   November 7th, 2013- Thursday- No Kindergarten

   November 8th, 2013-  Friday- No School All Grades

   November 11th, 2013- Next Week on Monday- No School-  CCSS Training

We don't have school on Veteran's Day. Try to include something this week or next Tuesday. We are all very grateful for what they have done.

Conference week is always a busy week. Let us know in the office if you need anything, or if you need one of us at a conference.