GRE Staff Newsletter
For the Week of December 31, 2018
Dear Team,
I hope this newsletter finds you relaxing and enjoying every second of our Winter Break. I had an amazing time with my family and am thankful for the gift of extra time with them. I've included a couple pictures below and I'd love to see some of your favorite moments of Winter Break as well. If you're up for it, please text or email me a few of your favorite photos from Winter Break.
I'm really looking forward to welcoming you back on Wednesday for #newyearnewlearning. It will be a BLAST! You'll find some surprises waiting for you and a video to welcome students back. I hope you'll join in the fun by stopping by the teacher's lounge for breakfast snacks and hitting up our photo booth by the staff lounge. I've packed this newsletter with ideas for #newyearnewlearning in your classroom. I think this time of year is a great opportunity for reflection and goal setting and no student is too young (or adult too old) to take the opportunity to refocus! Please take time to read through the goodies below and let me know if you'd like me to come in this week to help re-teach and model classroom and school wide behavior expectations.
I can't wait to see you Wednesday! Have a safe and fun-filled New Year's Eve and Day!
Kate
Staff Holiday Party!
#newyearnewlearning Ideas to Share
1. Ginna and I stumbled across the same pin, both eagerly excited to share it with each other. Check out:
"WHAT'S YOUR WORD?" STUDENT WORD GOALS: NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS 2019
This is very close to how we started our year together identifying our own one word to guide our work with students this year. If you are interested in doing this with your class let me know! And since we're talking about One Word...take time to revisit your word and think about how it will impact your work as we look forward to 2019!
2. Have the week planned already? Try making a Wishing Wall with post it notes. Students write down their wish for 2019 and you can share a few each day (see picture below).
3. Have younger students? What about this? Fewer questions, same concept with room to draw a picture instead of write words.
4. I'm curating some other ideas and adding them to my Pinterest Board here.
5. Just as important as reflection and goal setting is the need to revisit Classroom Expectations. I found this article helpful on Responsive Classroom's website. Now is the best time to practice Interactive Modeling with your students. We must not assume they will come back remembering our expectations perfectly-they are children, it not developmentally appropriate for us to expect this so let's take the time to revisit our school rules and practice throughout the building. For more info on Interactive Modeling, click here.
Week at a Glance
Monday, Dec. 31- No School
Tuesday, Jan. 1- No School
Wednesday, Jan. 2- A Day; New Year Party!!!; Bowling Team Draft
Thursday, Jan. 3- B Day;
Friday, Jan. 4- C Day;
Upcoming Important Dates:
January 10 PTO Meeting 6:30 pm
January 11 The GREatest Staff Party at Star Lanes 4:30
January 17 STEM Night 6:00-7:00pm
Jan. 18-Feb. 1 Yearbook Sale
January 21 NO SCHOOL: MLK Day