Hawk Talk
Oh, The Places You'll Go!
The holiday season is fast approaching...with it comes time to reflect and appreciate family. I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for all the time and care you give to our family here at HPE. It is truly a wonderful thing to work with a team who cares for one another and trusts one another. Thank you for all you do to make our students, families, staff, and this community know that you truly care about each of them! Education can sometimes be a thankless job...but I know that our families and students appreciate all you do for our students. I appreciate all you do for our students and our team and take every chance I get to brag about you to our families and community. I have heard from several parents in the past two weeks that they are appreciative for the care and dedication that our staff have and they can rest easy during the day because they trust that our teachers and staff will take care of our students. So...while you may not hear this daily --- please know that your work does not go unnoticed! As a team, let's continue that focus on student learning through this week and the beginning of next ---- leading us to shift our focus to our own families at home on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Remember that the end of the progress period for second quarter is this Wednesday, November 18. Parents will receive an email with their child's progress report on Tuesday, November 24 prior to the holiday break. Grades are due to the office on Friday, November 20 so that we can ensure our gradebooks and SIS are functioning properly prior to sending out progress reports.
*Reminders for this week and next:
-Grades 2-5 should complete Math Evaluate testing this week.
-Our 4th grade class will be having their Spelling Bee in the gym on Tuesday morning at 9 am. Feel free to come watch if you would like!
-It is Frienship/No Bully week. Mrs. Gifford and I thought it may be nice if we could allow students to choose their seats in the cafeteria on Wednesday, promoting sharing time with friends and being respectful. Mrs. Gifford and I will be available to offer additional help in the cafeteria to catch our students showing respect and kindness to their friends!
-Our early release focus this Wednesday will be on a refresher training with Stacy Wegrzyn for universal precautions. Prior to this training, can you please check to see if you have gloves in your classroom with your crisis kit?
-On Wednesday, I would like to share an update with everyone from the digital conversion meeting I attended regarding potential plans for student devices and rollout. I would also like to provide you with your Writing Workshop Audit feedback! As soon as Stacy is finished with her presentation, we will cover these two topics. I may need to keep you until 4:15 or so to get that accomplished...thank you in advance
Writing Workshop
This week we will discuss writing workshop audits following our safety presentation during early release. Please be thinking of topics you may want to ask questions about, discuss, or reflect on with the group. In December, we will be sending two teachers (Guyer and File) to Lucy Calkins workshops --- one is a K-2 focus, the other is a 3-5 focus. Let's put our heads together as a team and provide our teachers with questions to ask/ponder as they attend this PD event!
Looking ahead...remember that we will be scheduling model classroom observations within our building and at other buildings. What an amazing opportunity to learn from our peers!
Proud to Be Hawks
Thank you to everyone for attending the Education Foundation Grant Workshop! I have heard some of you kick around some ideas already....remember the applications are due the first week of February. Speaking of grants....did you know that Sue Wood wrote a TAG grant for our building with a request for Storia? She did...and she received the grant! Take some time to tell her CONGRATS and ask her about how you can use Storia to offer additional reading resources through technology! Way to go Sue!
Does that start the process of brainstorming for an Ed. Foundation grant? Remember...we are requesting leveled classroom library sets from PTO with the Spaghetti Dinner proceeds --- so that allows you to shift your focus elsewhere for your Ed Foundation grant. Anyone thinking about tech resources that may be helpful? Food for thought....
Important Dates
11/17/2015 4th Grade Spelling Bee 9 am
11/17/2015 monthly BOE meeting 6 pm
11/18/2015 - EARLY RELEASE --- stay at HPE -- Stacy Wegrzyn will visit for training refresher on Universal Precautions, following the meeting an update on digital conversion and writing workshop audits
11/18/2015 End of Progress Period for Second Quarter
11/24/2105 - Second Quarter Progress Report emailed to parents
11/25-11-27 NO SCHOOL
12/3/2015 - Leadership Troy will visit/tour HPE
12/10/2015 - Winter Concert for grades 3-5 at 6:30 pm
12/17/2015 - Winter Concert for grades K-2 at 6:30 pm
12/22/2015 End of Second Quarter/First Semester
1/6/2015 - Second Quarter Report Card Emailed home to parents
Team Reminders
This is a new section I am adding to Hawk Talk to give us a space for reminders on various items. This week there are two: computer lab use and sharing media/movies in the classroom.
Regarding computer lab use:
Please help us to take care of our computers in the lab by ensuring that food and drink are not present in the computer lab. We have found some food items, crumbs, sticky stuff in the lab and want to make sure that we are keeping our equipment clean and safe so that it functions properly. Also, please help to remind students that they clean hands prior to using laptops, ipads, keyboards. This will also help us to keep our equipment in good shape. Thank you for your help!
Regarding sharing media/videos in the classroom:
As you plan your instruction for the classroom, please keep a clear focus on your instructional targets and curriculum. At times, finding a media clip or short video may be appropriate. If you are considering using a media clip or video clip, please keep in the mind the following:
- What is your purpose for showing this media/video clip? How does that link to accomplishing the learning target? Our instructional time is extremely valuable and we owe it to our students to use our time efficiently and effectively. I have had individuals ask before if they can show an entire movie ----- this is not a definite yes/no answer. The answer to this question varies on a case by case basis. However, I do request that you ask permission prior to showing a movie. As you make this request, I will be asking that you share your purpose and how it links to curriculum/learning targets. For short clips you may find on Discovery Education...YouTube Education...etc. --- you do not need to request permission.
-Have you viewed the entire clip? This is imperative. You should never show a media/video clip to your class that you have not seen. It is an expectation that you have watched the entire media/video clip prior to sharing it with your class.
-Is the video clip appropriate for school? If you are looking for a video clip from a website, you will not see a rating (like you might for a movie clip). In that case, exercise professional judgment. You are the expert in the room and should be assessing whether or not the video clip enhances instruction and meets the curricular/learning target, and you will judge if it is appropriate for school because you should have watched the entire clip. If you are showing a movie clip, it should be from a move that is rated G. If you are requesting to show a clip from a movie that is not rated G, you must request permission to do so.
-Exercise professional judgment.
Canvas
Now that you have had a chance to log in to Canvas, see what it looks like, and read comments from your peers....has it sparked any ideas for use in the classroom? I have heard some of you share ideas for ways you could use it with math....reading....spelling. What are you interested in learning about Canvas? Are you hearing from any colleagues who are already trying this with students? What would you like to try with students? Don't be afraid to jump in and try something new!