Monday January 4th, 2016

Duties for the week: 
     
     AM Bus: Fullmer
                  Moulson
                  Goodwin
     PM Bus: Tahiri
                  Standley
                  Simson
     Lounge: Bradley
 
 
  Meetings/Reminders for the week: 
 
   January 5th, 2016- Tuesday- Intervention Meeting
  
   January 6th, 2016- Wednesday- Eval Team 

   January 6th, 2016- Wednesday- Rocket Math Assembly 3:00

   January 8th, 2016- Friday- Dress like a favorite character from a book, Friday Fun 

   January 8th, 2016- Friday- Student Leaders selling items during recesses

 
Habit of the week/Classroom leading morning announcements:

    Goodwin- Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind


Please remember to print the 3rd Quarter Block Schedule:

3rd Quarter Block

We ended December by recognizing staff members, and it's a great list:

December Staff Oscars List

We ended December by also recognizing the student leaders for the month. Here are pictures of the leaders, Christmas festivities, and other fun activities with learning mixed in:

Pictures This Week

We have our annual staff Hot Cocoa Bar during morning recess on Monday when we start back. Feel free to bring any treats that you may wish to clear out of your house from the holidays. The office will provide the cocoa.

Student leaders will be selling items during recesses on Friday. We are Winter cleaning. There are a few items such as pencils, caramel apple suckers, and candy canes. Pencils are one quarter and the others are fifty cents each.

We ended December with a negative note. Our absences were really high for the month. Please start the new quarter by reviewing school WIG's, classroom attendance goals, and individual goals in student leadership notebooks.

Here are a few articles that are great inspiration, with positive thoughts to reflect upon, as we start a new third quarter:

Be Happy

10 Things Every Educator Should Say

Friday December 18th, 2015

A big thank you to everybody who helped with all of the different activities on Thursday. It was a busy, but fun day. Thank you to the fun committee for organizing and leading the 12 days of Christmas fun.

Have a great Christmas break with your friends and family!

                  

Thursday December 17th, 2015

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

everybody was sharpening the paw,

and wearing their favorite Christmas socks.

This wasn't a flaw,

we have waited a whole quarter!

Christmas fun today is to wear Christmas socks, and tomorrow will be to wear a Christmas hat. 

We have had two great staff meetings this month for certified staff to share and learn from their colleagues. We also have had certified staff completing one peer observation every quarter. We've had support staff and classified staff giving of themselves daily, and helping students and wherever they saw a need. Students have persevered with the goals in their leadership notebooks, intervention groups, tutoring groups, and other intensive projects and assignments. Half way through the school year and the innovation, collaboration, and reflection is impressive! It's time to sharpen the saw, but for huskies, we Sharpen the Paw!

The big activity today is Sharpen the Paw, starting at 9:15. This seventh habit, sharpening the saw, is important. Students and staff work so hard and give so much of themselves. This is a great opportunity to learn, be engaged with activities that students might not otherwise get to do, and to have fun. Our kids need fun activities, to laugh, and to have fun with their friends. That's educating the whole child. This is especially important as we get ready for two weeks off of school, and school is often a safe place for our kids. 

We talk frequently with students about graduating from high school and going on to college. Just imagine starting your first year as a third grade teacher and also finishing your last semester of college. A big congratulations to Mrs. Tahiri for graduating! That's a great example for students. 

We had Christmas parties for Kindergarten on Wednesday. Santa also visited preschool and Kindergarten classrooms. This afternoon we will have Christmas parties for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Santa will be visiting all 1st-5th grade classrooms as well in the afternoon. 

Today is the last day of the food drive collection, and the Principal's lunch with December student leaders is today. 

Please remind students and families that we will be dismissing Friday at 1:10. 

Cue the Christmas music for Thursday morning! Here is a Christmas reminder as we enjoy all of the fun learning activities today. The children are wiggly and excited. Might as well just join in and just start singing:

Wednesday December 16th, 2015

On the tenth day of Christmas,

The elves were dancing and singing at school,

as people were dressed with red and green

Christmas attire that was cool!

The Christmas fun for today is to dress like an elf. The fun for tomorrow is to wear Christmas socks.

Today is Christmas lunch.

We have a staff meeting after school in the library.

Some Christmas thoughts:

Tuesday December 15th, 2015

On the ninth day of Christmas,
cheeks were rosy and red.
Everyone was dressed in red from their head
to their feet as they tread!

Today's Christmas fun is to wear red and show support for troops who are serving during Christmas. Tomorrow's Christmas fun is to dress like an elf!

Please remind families about Christmas Lunch on Wednesday. That's a great opportunity for families to be involved at school.

Today is grade level teaming.

We had students compete in a Robotics tournament on Saturday. Here are a few pictures, and so proud of them:

Robotics

The last day for the food collection is Thursday. All items will be delivered that day. It should be an easy delivery, as students have been packing items into boxes every time they see items under the Christmas tree. We have kids that are proactive and love to jump in and help wherever they see a need.

If you aren't familiar with Macy's Make-A-Wish program, this is a fun writing project that is also a service opportunity that gives back to others. Several classrooms have participated in the past. Students can write a letter to Santa online:

Make-A-Wish

Great thought that can change the entire direction of your day. It's much more fun to describe and share an adventure:

Monday December 14th, 2015

On the eighth day of Christmas,

we had the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who.

They were red and green, but not blue!

Christmas was coming!

Duties for the week: 
     
     AM Bus: Osborn
                  Terrell
                  Goodwin
     PM Bus: Kenyon
                  Moore
                  Hammond
     Lounge: Simson
 
 
  Meetings/Reminders for the week: 
  
   December 14th, 2015- Monday- Getting Ready for Kindergarten Night with United Way 6:00
 
   December 15th, 2015- Tuesday- Intervention Meeting
   
   December 15th, 2015- Tuesday- Grade Level Teaming
  
   December 16th, 2015- Wednesday- Eval Team 

   December 16th, 2015- Wednesday- Kindergarten Christmas Parties  
   
   December 16th, 2015- Wednesday- Christmas Lunch

   December 16th, 2015- Wednesday- Staff Meeting

   December 17th, 2015- Thursday- Sharpen the Paw 9:15-11:15

   December 17th, 2015- Thursday- Principal's Lunch with December Student Leaders

   December 17th, 2015- Thursday- 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Christmas Parties 2:30

   December 18th, 2015- Friday- 4th Christmas Party 10:45

   December 18th, 2015- Friday- 5th Christmas Party 12:20

   December 18th, 2015- Friday- No Kindergarten, end of 2nd quarter, and Early Release 1:10

 
Habit of the week/Classroom leading morning announcements:

    Moulson- Habit 1: Be Proactive

Please welcome Mrs. Kohler this week. She will be the long term guest teacher for Mrs. Coleman, through almost the end part of January. We are really appreciative of her giving of her time to assist.

Monday's Christmas fun is to dress like a character from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Tuesday's Christmas fun is to wear red and show support for troops serving during Christmas.

These are great pictures. We had hour of code, classroom buddies teaching reading lessons, learning, leadership, and fun. This post would be great to share and discuss with students:

Pictures This Week

The staff meeting on Wednesday will have teachers sharing something from Domain 1 or 4, from the teacher evaluation form. These are the staff members sharing:

   1st, 3rd, 5th, Preschool, PE, Title 1, and Instructional Coach

What an awesome line up for our Second Quarter Sharpen the Paw day on Thursday! Here is the list:

Sharpen the Paw 2nd Quarter

Friday December 11th, 2015

On the seventh day of Christmas,

people were dressed in white,

black buttons, and a top hat.

It was quite the sight

to see snowmen at school like that!

Christmas fun today is to dress like a snowman. Monday's fun is to dress like a character from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. That has a lot of options.

As we get ready for the weekend, let's ponder about the restrooms. This is not normally a topic discussed, except if you work in a school. Bathrooms are the one rare place in a school where supervision is hard. All day long, we deal with bathrooms. From cleaning, quieting, checking on situations, and even trying to make them feel more like home. We've made great improvements, and are always coming back to the table with more ideas for the restrooms. We have a competition right now with ladies versus gentlemen, for which restrooms can be the cleanest.  This is a good discussion to have with students. This is an article that relates:

School Bathrooms

Have a great Friday!