Monday February 3rd, 2014

Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Hammond
                  Simson
                  Nail
     PM Bus:  Osborn
                  Miller
                  Kenyon
     Lounge: Jensen/Ardito

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   February 3rd, 2014- Monday- RTI

   February 4th, 2014- Tuesday- Grade Level Teaming with ESL, Special Ed, and Title 1.

   February 5th, 2014- Wednesday- Digital Learning Day

   February 5th, 2014- Wednesday- Eval Team 

It looks like a great week with very few meetings! 

Thank you for your patience as we transition to the new wireless. The other wireless was good, but this one should be much better. 

If anybody is interested in having a master gardener work with your students please let me know. One of our school board members, Mr. Jansen, is involved with the master gardener program. He spoke highly of the program. There are volunteers that could come help with gardening activities. 

Here is a great article that Anne shared:

Teachers

Here are some pictures from Chelcy's kindergarten classes. They are showing who they want for the super bowl.

 

Friday January 31st, 2014

Please help remind students about the CSI game on Saturday. I have a phone call out set for Friday evening.

Hard to believe, but we are on to February.

                                   

Thursday January 30th, 2014

Here is the latest video clip from Kid President. All of our students need to know that they are awesome.

Kid President

Wednesday January 29th, 2014

Next week on February 5th, it is Digital Learning Day. Let me know if you plan something special for the day. Here are some resources.

Official Website

YouTube

Perrine First Grade Blog Technology Idea


I read this blog post about close reading, and it appeared at first glace to be targeted towards older students. However, the five strategies listed would be helpful with even our youngest students. The numbering of paragraphs stood out, as I sometimes see students wondering where in the text their friend is referring to. Even if students aren't able to write in a book, referring to the paragraph or sentence number is a helpful strategy.

5 Close Reading Strategies

Tuesday January 28th, 2014

We are into the second session of tutoring. If you have students that have attended tutoring, please make sure that intervention is documented in milepost. 

Here is an inspiring video clip about a boy playing an instrument, despite having no arms. We have students who are in a similar situation at our school, so this might be a video you could share with your class.

Trumpet Player

Here are two links with close reading posters. Close reading is an important piece of common core standards. The questions on the posters are helpful to include with instruction in your classroom.

Close Reading #1

Close Reading #2

We are always looking at different devices for the classrooms. However, it is what we do with the devices that is more important than which device it actually is. There are two good images in the following article that have comments to reflect upon. Technology is a tool to support learning.

Devices to Support Learning

Monday January 27th, 2014

Duties for the week:
     AM Bus: Goodwin
                  Moore
                  Lent
     PM Bus:  Standley
                  Enders
                  Webb
     Lounge: Pauley

Meetings/Reminders for the week:

   January 27th, 2014-Monday- RTI

   January 27th, 2014- Monday- WISE team

   January 29th, 2014-Wednesday- Eval Team

   January 29th, 2014- Wednesday- 2nd Grade Herrett Center 9:15-11:15

   January 29th, 2014- Wednesday- Rocket Math Awards at 3pm.

   February 1st, 2014- Saturday- Read Like an Eagle at CSI: Women's game begins at 3:00 and Men's game is at 5:00. Students on court floor just before the Mens' game.  

The big item this week is reminding students about the CSI Saturday event. If they could be there by 4:15-4:30, they should be fine for making the center court piece. We will also do a phone call out as it gets closer.

The Bookmobile is still continuing their Thursday visits. They park in front of the school, across the street at the church. They will also have books for the Battle of the Books. The hours are 3:15-4:15. Please remind students about the great opportunity, as not every school gets to have the Bookmobile come right to their school. 

Please do not put yearbook money in the staff mailboxes. We want that brought to the office. Lesa and Linda document dates, names, and time to avoid any discrepancies when the yearbooks arrive.  

Friday January 24th, 2014

On our school website, there is a link on the right side for the district policy manual under links. It does get updated and reviewed throughout the year, so it is there when ever you want to refresh your understanding of policies.

The Code of Ethics for teachers may not have been something you have reviewed recently. Feel free to come see Chris or me if you have any questions. I added the document on the right side of our school website under links, and here is a direct link for viewing:

Idaho Code of Ethics

The new Spring test in Idaho will be the SBAC. Some states are using PARCC. They just released some sample questions. It may be a different consortium, but it will give you more sample ideas of what the test questions could look like:

Sample Questions for Common Core

Have a great Friday!