Bobcat Bulletin
Week of November 25 and December 2, 2019
This Week's Events
Monday 11/25
Tuesday 11/26
- Third Grade Robot Garage (MakerSpace)
Wednesday 11/27
- Half Day 12:15 Dismissal
Thursday 11/28
- Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday 11/29
- No School
Next Week's Events
Monday 12/2
- Devon at 1:15 Meeting
- Elementary Collegial Meeting - 4:15-5:30 (RW)
Tuesday 12/3
- MTSS - 10:00am
- Lighthouse - 3:50pm
Wednesday 12/4
- Collegial Chair Meeting - 8:00am
- TLIM Parent Night
Thursday 12/5
- Math Coach 3-5 ALPS (Bring Current Unit) - Schedule was emailed
- 12 Days Before Christmas Break Begins!
Friday 12/6
- Math Coach in-class support - Schedule was emailed to teacher impacted
- Staff Party at Deadwood - 4:00pm
Looking Ahead
December 6
- Staff Party at Deadwood - 4:00pm
December 9 & 10
- Devon at PD in Lansing (Last two!)
December 10
- KDG w/ Lit Coach 8:30 - 11:30
- 1st w/ Lit Coach 12:30-3:30
December 11
- French Voyageurs - 3rd Grade
- Extended Time
Rest, Relax, Rejuvenate!
As you are aware we have announced the idea of homework-free “Well-Being Breaks” for all of our major school holidays. We believe school breaks should be just that - a brief reprieve from school responsibilities like homework, special projects, planning, and grading. It is a time to reconnect with loved ones without the stress of school work creeping in. Therefore, all students AND staff will be free of academic-related work during the following dates:
- Thanksgiving Break (Wednesday, November 28 - Sunday, December 1)
- Winter Break (Saturday, December 21 - Sunday, January 5)
- Mid-Winter Break (Saturday, February 15 - Tuesday, February 18)
- Spring Break (Saturday, April 4 - Sunday, April 12)
Making sure that our students, staff, and families have the opportunity to completely detach themselves from school—physically and mentally—on the days they’re off is an important part of our commitment to honoring the whole person. We want to make sure you take time to sharpen your saw! In other words, we know you have lives outside of school, and guess what? We want you to enjoy those healthy, balanced lives!
I hope each and everyone of you take time to relax, sleep in and take some much needed “me” time over this break. I know the holidays get busy with family, but please don’t forget about yourself. Education is a 24/7 job and the demands go far beyond the work day. Please take time only you.
Please note, I am planning on following this same advice, as a result, there will be no Bobcat Bulletin next week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Please look for a new Bulletin on Friday, December 6. I hope each of you have a relaxing break full of family, fun and togetherness.
A Few Reminders
- Please make sure you fill out the Conferences 2019 Reporting Form. As a reminder it is due, Tuesday, November 26.
- If a parent sends a note or email about attending an afterschool activity (i.e. art club) please make sure you send it to the office so we have a copy.
- Please remind your students they are to finish their lunch before leaving the cafeteria. We are doing our best to stop students but a reminder from the teacher would be helpful as well.
- Don't forget to add your students to TLIM ROAD Award Trackers each month.
Twelve Days Until Christmas Break
We all know the last couple weeks are hard for the students (and you) to maintan due to the excitement of the holiday season. To bring some holiday cheer and to provide you some fun in the weeks before break, we are going to engage in the the Twelve Days Before Break. Instead of me providing everyone with gift, my gift to the staff is twelve days of gifts and fun (well I think it’ll be fun).
Below you will find a calendar of all the special days. There are days to dress in festive wear, enjoy some food, or have a chance to win a prize. I hope all of you enjoy our Twelve Days Before Break!
MakerSpace
As you are aware, we are still waiting for the door for the MakerSpace to be installed. There have been a number of unforeseen setbacks, but I have been informed that it is ordered, so the wait should not be too much longer. In the meantime the space is usable. I got the okay for us to pull down the fire door in the meantime to separate it from the media center.
If you want to take your class to the MakerSpace, please "check it out" on the AE calendar. That way two classes don't plan on using it at the same time.
Additionally, we are still in the process of working out what we need to stock the space with so it is used to its fullest potential. If you have any ideas please feel free to email me :)
Fruit and Veggie Bar
Starting Monday, December 2, 2019 students will have have a variety of fruits and veggies to choose from. There are able to choose as much or as little as they want. This is a great way to promote healthy eating. The fruit and veggie bar is possible due to a grant we were awarded. We are the last elementary school in the district to have this new option put into the cafeteria. I am very excited to see this healthy option in use!
Bridges Parent Letter
LC Corner - Curriculum, Literacy & Learning...oh my!
Food for Thought
As we get ready for our Thanksgiving break, regroup from our week of conferences, and maybe start to think about Holiday shopping, it seems like a good time to share some books that might help to feed our teacher brains. (It’s ok to think of yourself too. Each title is linked to the Amazon page for the book, if you want to get a headstart on your gift or wish list.)
by Connie Hamilton
Those of us in Galileo this year had the opportunity to spend the day with the author of this book. If you are looking for “hacks” aka strategies to get your students to do more of the talking and get deeper conversations going, this book might be just what you’re looking for. It is part of the Hacking Series and is structured for an easy, manageable read and practical for referencing back to. Full of ideas you could use tomorrow.
The Freedom Writers Diary (20th Anniversary Edition)
by The Freedom Writers, including Erin Gruwell
Looking for some inspiration? Want to read about the power of writing? Need ideas for how to be the change in the world around you? How about the impact teachers have on the future? Erin Gruwell recently spoke at the Blue Ribbon Ceremony and Devon, Christine, and Marco all reported back that her talk was one of the most inspirational parts of the whole experience. In the 20th Anniversary Edition, you get a chance to read the classic story of the students and the teacher who inspired them and also hear how the students are doing 20 years on.
Building Bigger Ideas: A Process for Teaching Purposeful Talk
by Maria Nichols
This book comes as a recommendation from Learning Consultants in two different buildings in the district. It is all about the importance of purposeful talk and a process for teaching it in a time when we are competing with ‘screens’ and cyber-lingo. Like Hacking Questions it will most likely affirm strategies you are already using and give you new ways to think about how to engage your students in meaningful face-to-face conversations.
By Jan Burkins and Kim Yarvis
It is easy to get bogged down with all the pieces of the two new curricula we are getting to know this year. And we can find ourselves lost in a sea of ‘what’. In thinking about all the little elements of each program and trying to fit them all in, we might lose sight of the ‘how’. What are those best practices of empowering our students to take ownership of their learning? How do we hold them accountable for that learning? In reading this book, I had quite a few a-ha moments in terms of what I thought was productive feedback or a positive scaffolding technique was actually enabling my students not empowering them. While the subtitle of the book is How To Say Less So Readers Can Do More, there are suggestions and small adjustments given that would impact any small group instruction and positively impact any learner.
365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Precepts
By R.J. Palacio
How about a little inspiration for everyday of the year? Even if you are not familiar with the book or the movie, Wonder, any reader will find food for thought and food for the soul in the pages of this book. There is a quote for each day of the year about courage or love, friendship or kindness. And who couldn’t use a little more of that each day?
HAPPY READING!!!
Now that I've been observed...how do I upload and label evidence into pivot again?
1. Upload, name, and code evidence to a specific indicator.
2. To check where you have evidence by indicator.
Dismissal Duty
Week of 11/25
- Bus - Beson
- Loop - Henderson, McMaster, K., McMaster T., Pavlich
Week of 12/2
- Bus - Wells
- Loop - Warum, LaManna, Wilson, Charboneau
Random Useless Facts
You have to count all the way to one thousand before the letter “a” is used in spelling a number.
- Fireflies light up as a means of sexual attraction.
- An ant’s sense of smell is comparable to a dog’s.
- William Shakespeare has no living descendants.
- One of the primary reasons the Mayflower pilgrims ended their voyage at Plymouth Rock was pretty much the same reason people today suspend their journeys: they ran out of beer.
- The minimum wage was established in the USA in 1938 – all 25 cents per hour.
- Honeybees and turtles are deaf.
- Alaska doesn’t have any counties. Technically, neither does Louisiana.
Happy Birthday!!
November 20 - Leann Wells
December 1 - Shannan Hawes
December 2 - Lauren Borchard