Monday Memo
Week of January 6th, 2020
In case you missed it.....
Final Festive Friday
Caught you doing something great!
Winter art
Important Dates
Monday, January 6th - Day 2
- Welcome Back!!!
- 2pm - Jenn and Kelly meeting with our new CYW Placement student - Madison Saurer
Tuesday, January 7th - Day 3
- 8:15am - Hansen team meeting for FH
Wednesday, January 8th - Day 4
- 11am - Jenn meeting with students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 interested in the Recess Guardians Leadership Opportunity (see below)
Thursday, January 9th - Day 5
- 3:30pm - Parent meeting for Jeff with Jenn
Friday, January 10th - Day 1
- 9am - Jenn in a parent meeting with Joe Hadzi
Some important information for this week....
Support Staff Schedule Tweaks
As many of you are aware, we are looking at making some changes to support staff schedules for a variety of reasons. Several times a year, we are encouraged by the Special Education Department to review our data and examine how we are supporting students. Four months into the school year we have some students who have made great gains, others who have emerging needs, programs we need to look at implementing at the whole class or school level and refreshing how we support those students with on-going needs. I had the chance to meet with each of our support staff before the holidays to review successes and on-going challenges, which has greatly helped inform next steps. No changes will happen in this first week back to school, as returning to schedules will be hard enough for many of us! Over the course of the week, I'll be chatting with everyone individually about the changes to come, and in some cases will also contact some parents. Please don't worry! I recognize that change can be challenging for adults as well as children, but we are a solid team, working together to meet the needs of our students. A few changes to schedules and routines won't change anything - we've got this!
OSRs and Class Overview Sheets
Heather and I have finally completed a review of every OSR for every child at KH. This included purging, reorganizing and documenting everything you might find in an OSR. We now have a point of reference for moving forward. This week, I'll be placing an overview sheet for your class in your mailbox. This overview will indicate all supports and services possible. If green is indicated in any box, this child is currently receiving services. If you see yellow, it means things are in the works. Red means we haven't yet started, but know we need to get moving. If you notice any issues or changes or anything we've missed, please let us know. We'll be updating these forms regularly to ensure we are on top of any support any child requires.
OSR Cabinet
Now that the OSR's have been completely updated and purged, the drawers have also been rearranged. You will now find your OSR's in the following locations:
OSR Cabinet top drawer: Hansen, Rutherford, Beaton and 1/2 of Maxwell
OSR Cabinet drawer 2: 1/2 of Maxwell, Rees and 1/2 of Howson
OSR Cabinet drawer 3: 1/2 of Howson, Guerin, 1/2 of Oddie
OSR Cabinet bottom drawer: 1/2 of Oddie, Baker
File drawer under the PA system: Bartlett/Jones, Ross/Charmley
Reviewing our Cougar ROAR
As we head into the new year, it's a good time to review our Cougar ROAR. We know that after awhile, rules can become stale. It's time to refocus and change things up!
Over the next month or so, I would like to ask that each class select one area of Cougar ROAR that is the most challenging for your students. This might be nutrition break, walking in the halls, etc. It doesn't matter if you're a homeroom teacher or subject teacher - this works for all! I'll be placing a piece of chart paper by your classroom door. Each day, your class has the chance to earn up to 10 points for reaching their goal for the day. As a class, I ask that you self-assess daily to determine how well you did (perhaps something to building into your end of day routine for 1 - 2 minutes). If everyone gets a perfect score every day, we would score over 500 points a week as a whole school (I don't expect this will be the case though :)) Our school goal will be to accumulate 2500 points by the end of January/early February....and when we do, our celebration will include adopting a cougar from the World Wildlife Fund. I will also promote this on the announcements, as well as give weekly updates on our points total. If you'd like to review the celebration goal with your students, here is a link to the information: https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/species-adoptions/cougar.aspx
Working towards a new year's goal + increasing our global awareness and citizenship = a fantastic KH opportunity! If you have any other ideas to enhance this project, please let me know.
Portable Study Carrels
During the month of December, a few of us had conversations about using a portable study carrel to support some of our students who need some quiet or privacy when working. These carrels are a heavy cardboard that can easily be put on and taken off a desk in seconds. I've ordered a few sets for the resource room. If you'd like to trial one with a student, please just see Heather.
Plans of Care Update
Just before the holidays, we had one new student, Theo in Kelly and Jeanna's class, added to our Plans of Care. Theo has asthma and brings puffers in his school bag. I'll be printing a new Plans of Care Overview for everyone's reference. Sherry and I will also be printing new class lists and Plans of Care to update your Emergency Response Bags and Occasional Staff Binders.
Duty coverage
A few reminders as we refresh into the new year....Please ensure that you arrive on time for your full duty - inside or out. Outside it's critical that you have a walkie talkie, a vest and that you walk your whole duty area. It's up to each of us to reinforce the rules and routines - if any of us let things go, students will know and it will make it very challenging for the rest of us. When the bell goes outside, staff should not leave the yard until you know all students are safely inside. Although I do my best to be outside at all times, I am not on the duty schedule and sometimes other obligations take precedence. It is critical that junior students are signaled to enter right at the bell. Before the break we had a few incidents of fights breaking out as students were left lined up for too long. I will do my best to let you know if I'm not out - another reason to ensure that you have a walkie. Thank you for all you do to ensure that we have safe routines and procedures during unstructured times of the day.
Late Slips
Another little January reminder! Inside the hours of 9:05am and 3:20pm, please do not let a child enter your classroom without a late slip! Some parents have gotten into the habit of entering the school and sending their child to class, without checking in at the office. Students MUST have a slip in hand - it's their ticket in the door. No slip - please send them to the office immediately.
Recess Guardians
On January 17th, the gym will be unavailable in the morning as we welcome the team from Recess Guardians to our school. I will be working with Grade 4, 5 and 6 leaders who have been chosen through a selection process. Recess Guardians provides schools, teachers and most importantly students, with easy to use tools that encourage all students to participate and be “Guardians of Play” by demonstrating daily leadership to other students during non-classroom time. Selected Junior students will be provided with leadership training and tools to successfully lead students in games, collaborative activities that engage all students, while promoting physical activity, fun and a positive school community. This program is highly regarded and has had great success in many KPR schools. I look forward to working with our student leaders as they learn more about how to support their peers in positive recess interactions on both the main and Kindergarten yards.
January 2020 Staff Challenge
The month of January can often been grey and cold ...... and it's time to think about a little fun to keep us going! Below, please see the first annual January 2020 Kawartha Heights Staff Challenge. I'll place one calendar in each of your mailboxes.... The idea is that you cross off any day that you are able to meet the challenge. At the end of the month, hand in your calendar to Jenn (with your name on it please!). Prizes will be awarded ..... so consider participating. For those of you that are extra competitive (and I know you're out there), why not challenge a colleague to see who can get more squares?! Bring on 2020!
Math School Improvement Plan
A reminder of the relational rods as a tool that will greatly enhance both the Data Management and Number Sense units. Please also remember that our SIP focus is on low floor/high ceiling tasks. Our group folder for sharing tasks can be found at: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1xZH7xQirAfcfL6dgaCJDEdk2uTgnOuMC The link can also be found under "pinned items" in our Edsby Staff Room (top left corner of the webpage). The more we share, the less work for all! Please consider posting 2 - 3 tasks. If we all share a few, our bank will be rich and easy to access.
Given the short turn around for the Data Management unit, I will post another Math Challenge in a week or so for the Number Sense Unit.
Which One Doesn't Belong? is a great way to embed number sense in all areas of your math program....and they are great minds on tasks and often have more than one answer (great for reasoning and communication skills!). Have you checked them out yet? You can search by grade level and by strand. You can find this great resource at: https://wodb.ca/ If you're on Twitter, you can search "wodb" and you'll continually have new ideas to try! Check out one example (an easy primary one) below.
And last but not least - keep your eyes open for a new kind of math challenge, coming to the front trophy case area in the near future!
Just one more thing.....
Jennifer Sampson
Email: jennifer_sampson@kprdsb.ca
Website: https://kawarthaheights.kprdsb.ca/
Location: 11 Kawartha Heights Boulevard, Peterborough, ON, Canada
Phone: 705-742-7521
Twitter: @KawarthaHPS