Monday February 13th, 2017

Duties for the week: 
     
     AM Bus: Thomason
                 Fullmer
                 Rodriguez
     PM Bus: Garcia
                 Terrell
                 Moore
     Staff Room: Vandenbosch
 
 
  Meetings/Reminders for the week:  
 
   February 13th, 2017- Monday- Eval Team

   February 14th, 2017- Tuesday- Intervention Meeting

   February 14th, 2017- Tuesday- Valentine's Day Parties in Afternoon

   February 15th, 2017- Wednesday- CSI and Harrison STEM K-1 check in- 7:40 am, room 17

   February 15th, 2017- Wednesday- Little Miss Dance in Gym- 6-7:30 pm

   February 16th, 2017- Thursday- New Teacher Check In- 7:00 am -IHOP

   February 16th, 2017- Thursday- 4th Grade Hygiene Visit with Nurse- 2:00 pm

   February 17th, 2017- Friday- Leader in Me Training in room 17

   February 17th, 2017- Friday- Box Tops due

   February 17th, 2017- Friday- CR Baseball visiting during morning recess- in lunchroom
                                       

Habit of the week/Classroom leading morning announcements:
 
  Porter- Habit 8: Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs


Please let us know in the office if any students need Valentine's Day cards.


Most of the pictures this week were from Leadership Day. We also have a young man that used a walker for walking, for the first time. These pictures would be great to share with students:

Pictures This Week and Leadership Day


Please share the weekly schedule with families:

Schedule This Week and Notes for Families


We had two training opportunities for staff this last week. One was a Leader in Me symposium in Las Vegas, and we already have great ideas being implemented in classrooms and around the school. We'll hear more at a March staff meeting. The second training was the Idaho Refugee conference in Boise, and the following videos are from that training. We will also have more information shared at a March staff meeting.

This video from the refugee conference is a great reminder that everybody has a story. Every US citizen, every immigrant, every refugee, every human being. It's important to seek first to understand:

Falafel Story


It's hard to imagine only having one language spoken, only one culture represented, only one interest among friends, or only one perspective at the table. I've been out of the country twice in the last six months. The real world is very diverse, and that is a good thing, a great learning opportunity. Our school and students are an example of that. This video from a session at the refugee conference about building bridges with Muslims, is a great reminder that we are all human beings. We have more in common than we realize, and it's ok to have differences. Differences should be thought of as exciting and a learning opportunity:

Meet a Muslim


This video from the refugee conference is longer, a Ted talk, but has an important message. There is no single story. Imagine people forming opinions about people or countries, from only one book or one media story:

The Danger of a Single Story


Imagine if we asked people what they had to contribute, how they could help solve a problem, or how they have helped others. We are all human beings:

Friday February 10th, 2017

We had an awesome Principal for the day on Thursday. She was the student who brought in the most money from the move-a-thon, and she was a big help in the office. The best has to be Ms. Cindy in Shea's classroom asking her for a day off from work.

A big thank you to everybody for helping students with our Leadership Day! That included assisting with the lake on the front lawn, giving kids pep talks when they were nervous, all the behind the scene preparation and practice, providing shirts and ties, and more. It was a great event, and students did an excellent job.

Our students are an impressive bunch, from where they start to where they end when they leave us. We are constantly dealing with high mobility, students moving in and out of our school, but the growth of students despite the odds stacked against them is impressive. Thought for today:

Thursday February 9th, 2017

Today is our annual Leadership Day!

Please help thank our custodians, especially our night custodians. I wish you could have seen them Wednesday night trying to drain Lake Harrison on our front lawn, in the pouring rain. Mrs. Sharp said it best. If we still have it Thursday afternoon, we can add it as a 'point of interest' on the tours. Now that is making lemonade out of lemons.

This is a great list to share with students, and the suggestions mentioned fit very well with our school goals and mission statement:

Wednesday February 8th, 2017

Please remember that we have a staff meeting after school in the library. We'll be starting at 3:25.

This is a great reminder of the importance for trauma informed schools. This topic also fits with the recent refugee conference, and is helpful for all students. The key pieces are listening and for children to feel safe, and every staff member gets to assist students with those pieces:

Trauma Informed Schools

This is a great kindness thought for the day:

Monday February 6th, 2017

Duties for the week: 
     
     AM Bus: Sharp
                 Warner
                 Nail
     PM Bus: Schroeder
                 Lindquist
                 Pauley
     Staff Room: Sorensen
 
 
  Meetings/Reminders for the week: 


   February 6th-10th, 2017- Monday-Friday- School Counselor Week

   February 6th-7th, 2017- Monday-Tuesday: Refugee Conference in Boise
 
   February 6th, 2017- Monday- Eval Team

   February 6th, 2017- Monday- We Are Monsters Spring Musical play practice starts after school

   February 7th-8th, 2017- Tuesday-Wednesday: Leader in Me Symposium in Las Vegas

   February 7th, 2017- Tuesday- Tie Tuesday

   February 7th, 2017- Tuesday- 1st Grade Art lunch in library

   February 8th, 2017- Wednesday- Staff Meeting

   February 9th, 2017- Thursday- 2nd Grade Wax Museum Practice in gym, 10:15-11:00

   February 9th, 2017- Thursday- Leadership Day, 1:00-3:00
                                       

Habit of the week/Classroom leading morning announcements:
 
  Sharp- Habit 7: Sharpen the saw


The first part of the week will have several guest teachers. Please help them feel welcomed.

Thank you to all the staff members that have spent time assisting students with their parts and task assignments for Leadership Day. The mentoring from staff, and the real life skill practice, are great opportunities for students.

The staff meeting this week will have Ms. Shea sharing what she learned from a recent Autism training.

The pictures this last week are great examples of leadership. We had students completing leadership roles, putting first things first with tutoring, cooking, preschool students singing, career exploration, our January family of the month, and more:

Pictures This Week


Here is the weekly post to share with families:

Weekly Schedule and Notes for Families


This thought is a great reminder that students need to be taught behavior expectations, and receive interventions, just like with ELA and Math. Just like reading growth can be at a slower pace, so can behavior improvements. Social and emotional learning is just as important as content areas, and patience is important:

Friday February 3rd, 2017

We have our family of the month assembly first thing this morning, after the bell rings, in the gym.

Next week is School Counselor week. Our students, staff, and families are very lucky. Thank you Mrs. Rice for joining us at Harrison this year!

Today is Friday fun, dressing with favorite sports team clothing, and a candy sale with student leaders.

This is a great reminder of the importance for restorative practices. The article is from a different country, but kids are the same everywhere. Students need opportunities to mediate, to talk through a situation, when there are conflicts, and the growth in students is impressive to watch. We've seen how restorative practices can completely change a school. Assisting students in the process of acknowledging, making a plan to fix and create change, mediation, and positive growth with behavior concerns:

Restorative Practices

This thought for today would also be great to share and discuss with students. We are all learners, and learning is exciting:

Thursday February 2nd, 2017

We start the day with Dr. Dobbs at 7:40 am in the library.

Please remember that we will be recognizing our February family of the month Friday morning, in the gym.

The student lighthouse team met Wednesday morning, and they are super excited about leading for Leadership Day. Thursday after school will have the staff lighthouse team meeting. Everybody is invited if you are interested. We will be checking in about Leadership Day, and making sure students are ready to lead next week.

On Wednesday we had our preschool students in the lunchroom practicing their song, students painting a mural, staff and students checking in with each other for the different task groups, students preparing what they would like to share with visitors, and more. Leadership Day is getting close!

It's important to persevere with the positives. We have so many positives to recognize: