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New Copy Machine
We've received a new copy machine to replace our one Sharp that had over 800,000 clicks on it. The new one is more streamlined but still very similar to the old one. The touchscreen tilts to eliminate glare, there is still a pullout keyboard, the bottom tray holds many reams of paper. If you have questions about how to do something, there is onscreen help. If you get stuck, the office staff is glad to try and help you figure it out. (3/25)
March Time Sheets
Please turn in all March time sheets by Thursday, 3/26. (3/24)
Teacher Assignments for 2015-16
Based on staffing allocations for the coming year and your feedback, the following assignments have been determined. Room changes are also included only if a new room has been assigned. Specialist, LAP and SpEd staff allocations have not been shared with me yet but we will likely have at least the positions that we currently have.
We've received a new copy machine to replace our one Sharp that had over 800,000 clicks on it. The new one is more streamlined but still very similar to the old one. The touchscreen tilts to eliminate glare, there is still a pullout keyboard, the bottom tray holds many reams of paper. If you have questions about how to do something, there is onscreen help. If you get stuck, the office staff is glad to try and help you figure it out. (3/25)
March Time Sheets
Please turn in all March time sheets by Thursday, 3/26. (3/24)
Teacher Assignments for 2015-16
Based on staffing allocations for the coming year and your feedback, the following assignments have been determined. Room changes are also included only if a new room has been assigned. Specialist, LAP and SpEd staff allocations have not been shared with me yet but we will likely have at least the positions that we currently have.
Kindergarten
Espiritu, Lengele, Rowan, Spencer
1st Grade
Johnson, Lemon, Mulcrone, New Teacher (Room 9)
2nd Grade
Attaway, Drorbaugh, Krueger
3rd Grade
Eagle, Horton, Udstuen
4th Grade
Bosworth, Herman (Room 16), Homestead, Kahn
5th Grade
Hamblin, Kolowinski, New Teacher (Room 19)
CONFERENCE WEEK TREATS
PTA will be providing snacks for us this week. There will not be a Tuesday dinner provided as in some past years. Enjoy the treats! (3/23)
GRADING PERIOD
The grading window for winter quarter will close on March 29. (3/18)
RETENTION TIMELINE
Now: Identify possible retentions by completing the Light's Retention Scale
Conference week: Discuss with parents. Fill out Consideration for Retention form
April 30: Complete all Consideration for Retention forms
May 30: All Retention paperwork due to principal
May 30: Final decision on retentions
June 30: List of retentions to district office
(3/17)
FOSS KIT PICKUP
Pickup for 4th grade FOSS kits will be on March 19. Please bring your kits to the office the day before. (3/13)
CONFERENCE SCHEDULES
Teachers: please send a copy of your conference schedule to the office. We get many calls from parents who forget times/days. Thank you. (3/13)
SAFETY COMMITTEE
The committee met on 3/12. Minutes are posted under the Safety tab to the left. (3/13)
NOTE TO SMART BOARD USERS
The free trial of Gynzy has been extended to May 27. Hopefully you've had a chance to try it out. (3/13)
Learning Intentions - Next Step
At Waiver Day I shared the first part of a four part model related to Assessment Capable Learners. The complete model consists of the following parts:
1.) Learning Intentions (What will I learn?) ---->
2.) Criteria for Success (How will I know I have learned it?) ---->
3.) Effective Feedback (Teacher/Student & Student/Student) ---->
4.) Student Self-Assessment & Goal Setting (Leading my own learning)
I asked staff to practice with writing Learning Intention 2.0 targets. The goal was for you to process how to move sharing learning intentions with students from 1.0 targets (simply putting I Can statements in front of technical CCSS language and focusing on "doing" words) to 2.0 targets (restating CCSS language to focus on the "understanding" rather than the "doing".... the main point, gist, big picture of the standard in every day language.)*
* To make it quicker to refer to, I will label learning intentions as LI 1 and LI 2
We are going to move this to the next step. Beginning Monday, April 13, I would like every teacher to send me their daily learning intentions for MATH for two full weeks. That means April 13 - 24 (10 days of LIs). I will share a document with you that lays out how I would like you to communicate your learning intentions. I will state here that I want to see your original target language (ones you created and have been using in the past, the language as it is shown in the curriculum or the language as it appears in the CCSS documents. and then the revised LI 2 language. You will include "Today I learned....." in your LI 2 statements.
At this time, no other requirement is in place. You do not have to use them in class with students if you don't wish to. However, I would ask you to consider this because your feedback on how the final requirement will look will depend on your knowledge of how this process and product look and feel like in practice. Any questions...please be sure to check with me. (3/10)
HEAD BUMPS
I asked staff to practice with writing Learning Intention 2.0 targets. The goal was for you to process how to move sharing learning intentions with students from 1.0 targets (simply putting I Can statements in front of technical CCSS language and focusing on "doing" words) to 2.0 targets (restating CCSS language to focus on the "understanding" rather than the "doing".... the main point, gist, big picture of the standard in every day language.)*
* To make it quicker to refer to, I will label learning intentions as LI 1 and LI 2
We are going to move this to the next step. Beginning Monday, April 13, I would like every teacher to send me their daily learning intentions for MATH for two full weeks. That means April 13 - 24 (10 days of LIs). I will share a document with you that lays out how I would like you to communicate your learning intentions. I will state here that I want to see your original target language (ones you created and have been using in the past, the language as it is shown in the curriculum or the language as it appears in the CCSS documents. and then the revised LI 2 language. You will include "Today I learned....." in your LI 2 statements.
At this time, no other requirement is in place. You do not have to use them in class with students if you don't wish to. However, I would ask you to consider this because your feedback on how the final requirement will look will depend on your knowledge of how this process and product look and feel like in practice. Any questions...please be sure to check with me. (3/10)
HEAD BUMPS
We must see ALL kids with bumped heads, NO EXCEPTIONS! It is necessary to evaluate the student for concussion and give the parents a call if needed. Students who receive a head bump should be escorted to the office. Thank you. (3/4)
Please send yellow conference slips home on Friday, 3/13 (early release day). (3/4/15)
Assembly Reminder
Looking at the March calendar, I see that we have an evening Band/Orchestra Concert and a during the day musical coming up in the next two weeks. This is a reminder to those that were here for the last staff meeting, and a heads up for those that were not, that I want staff attending school assemblies to give their full attention to the performance and the performers. Please do not work on school-work or have conversations during that time out of respect for our performers and the adults that have worked hard to prepare for that event. Thanks for your attention to this. (3/3/15)
Safety First.....Right?
Using a step stool/ladder: This is a friendly reminder that all staff, volunteers and students are required to use a step stool or ladder when hanging items that require them. Standing on any furniture (chairs, desks, tables, etc.) is not safe and can lead to injuries. I've seen broken arms and bleeding heads that required 911 calls. This is not something to take lightly. I know it isn't convenient to have to request or get a ladder but please do. We don't want you or anyone else getting hurt. (Ladders have been purchased and are located behind the gray recycle containers by the library and Room 7.)
Student Supervision at all times: This is another friendly reminder about the importance of students being supervised. With exception of students walking to and from a location (Example: Going to the restroom, going to return a book to the library, visiting the office or healthroom), students are to be supervised directly by staff members. Students should NEVER be left in a classroom unattended or supervised by volunteers. Please do not operate from the perspective that just a few seconds or minutes is not going to make a difference. The truth is that anything serious that has ever happened only took a second to occur. Sure, perhaps there was some lead up to such situations for which you could have anticipated and stopped. While that is possible, it is just as possible and likely that you would have had no idea that students would have done something so inappropriate to lead to an injury. Otherwise, why else would you have left them alone? When it comes to supervision there is only one practice that is professionally acceptable and that is to be sure that a staff member is watching over students. (3/3/15)
