Thursday January 2nd, 2014

Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Enders/Standley
                  Coleman
                  Warner
     PM Bus:  Enders
                  Garcia
                  Nail
     Lounge: Moore

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   Nothing! Only two days this week, but perfect for reminders. Two days is perfect for reviewing classroom rules, 7 habits of Leader in Me, and important routines and procedures. Every day is an opportunity to start new, and Thursday provides that. Here is a great video and article that goes along with the thought of starting new:

New

Here is an article about a inspiring student:

Inspiration From A Child

Here is the December 2013 Student Newsletter. Thanks Anne for assisting!

December Newsletter

Here is the latest post on the school website. Feel free to share the picture collages with students:

School Website Post

Please turn in time cards to Linda, including tutoring time cards. 

Thank you to everybody for the great food drive success: 1,285 food items! 
                             

Friday December 20th, 2013

I love this article. Having a positive attitude is important:

How We Respond is Our Choice

Here is an article on remembering to have our classrooms inviting to all students. It talks about boys, but could definitely apply to girls. We have some girls who want absolutely nothing to do with the color pink:

Classrooms

Have a great Christmas vacation with your friends and family!

                                

Thursday December 19th, 2013

There might be one item on this list that grabs your interest:

Web Tools For Teachers

Christmas time can be hard for some kids. Before students leave for Christmas break, try to mention to each in your class that you care about them and will miss them. Every kid at Harrison has a lot of adults that care about them, and they need to know that. Here is an article that goes perfectly with that thought:

3,000 Chances 

We have been very blessed at Harrison the last few weeks. People have donated brand new winter boots, tennis shoes, coats, and other winter items. If you have a student who could use assistance with shoes, please let the office know.

Wednesday December 18th, 2013

Please remind students about behavior expectations. I know you are using The Leader In Me lessons, as I hear it in the language of students when I talk with them. We have three days left this week, and I know we can make it.

I added all the grade level teaming minutes under documents, and here is the website Tyler shared with kindergarten during their grade level teaming meeting:

Power My Learning

The schoolnet demo site Tyler shared might not be working if you use www. Try http or https instead and it should work fine. It is in the grade level meeting minutes, and you can click right on that link to take you to the website.

Tuesday December 17th, 2013

Grade level team meetings with Tyler.

Please note that PTA will be having a hat fundraiser on Friday. Students in grades 1st-5th can wear a hat for one dollar. That should be fun, and help with attendance on that day. We do have a Santa for that day as well. Thank you Mrs. Moore for helping find one!

Talent show try-outs will be January 7th, 8th, and 9th. A phone call out will remind students and their families.

Thank you for filling out the technology survey. Between the student, staff, and parent survey- we were the first elementary school to meet the minimum responses suggested. Great job! That will help with decision making. Using a variety of communication tools helped to get a great turn out. Here is a note from Tyler:

Congratulations and thank you for fulfilling all the requirements for the BrightBytes/Clarity Survey!  Your schools have met the minimum number of responses.  More people can participate still but you have met the minimum number of responses needed in order to get a good picture of things at your school! 

Here are pictures from Mrs. Pauley's and Mrs. Simson's second grade classrooms. We want students to love math and know that math can be fun, and that is what I shared with them. You couldn't miss the excitement in the air when you walked into the classroom. Almost 50 second graders practicing money skills, engaging in discussions with a peer, and teaching each other. One side of the desk had a student who had been taught the lesson, and they were teaching their partner. Money is a big piece of common core math standards for second graders:

Monday December 16th, 2013

 Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Triner
                  Lent
                  Lancaster
     PM Bus:  Pauley
                  Moulson
                  Garcia
     Lounge: Fullmer

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   December 16th, 2013- Monday- RTI

   December 17th, 2013- Tuesday- Team Meetings

   December 18th, 2013- Wednesday- Eval Team

During team meetings on Tuesday, Tyler will be attending. He will be showing you assessment information in schoolnet, and also how to have your students log on to schoolnet and take an assessment. 

Please remind students and families that Friday the 20th is a full day of school.

Here is a blog post of math game websites. Some you may be familiar with, but maybe some are new.

Math Games

This is a great video of a kindergarten student that surprised her two deaf parents by signing the Christmas songs:

Video

Here are two pictures from Mrs. Goodwin's kindergarten classroom that go right along with the last staff meeting. One picture has students using the iPad for a listening activity, and the second one shows a collaborative small group activity using the iPad.

Friday December 13th, 2013

PTA meeting today, and Kiwi Loco for one dollar each.

Here is a great website from the training I attended on Thursday. We are starting with standards when planning, and then assessments. Pre and post assessments are not always multiple choice items. Here are rubrics and assessments you might choose to try in your classroom, and several are great for digital assignments. This goes right along with our WISE tool school improvement plan:

Assessments and Rubrics