Estabrook Buzz
November 12, 2018
Coming This Week
- Safe Routes to School Day (see below)
- 6:00 pm First Grade Parent Seminar
Thursday, November 15
- METCO Family Friends Day
- 6:30 Principal's Evening Coffee: Promoting Social Emotional Learning and Positive Behavior
Lost & Found Items To Be Donated November 15
Calendar Notes
Thursday, November 22 & Friday, November 23 - Thanksgiving Holiday
No Estabrook Buzz Next Week. Next edition -November 26
Principal's Corner: Educators Learning Together
In a recent conversation, a parent was understandably bemoaning the choppy November school calendar – with a professional day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. We certainly recognize how challenging it can be for parents to deal with no school days. That said, I can’t emphasize enough the value of providing time for teachers to learn together. And last week’s professional day, dubbed “Lexington Learns Together” certainly exemplified this.
The entire Lexington Public Schools faculty gathered at Lexington High School for the day. Following an uplifting musical send-off led by the LLT Singers (including Estabrook’s own Christina Gavin, Becky Linton, Kris Matthews, and Matthew Willis), teachers participated in 3 sessions of their choice, selecting from among a rich array of 132 offerings led by 220 LPS facilitators, supplemented by a few outside presenters.
To provide you with one person’s example, I attended three sessions that were worthwhile and will have immediate impact on my daily practice. The first session was Walking in the Footsteps of Asian Students and their Families led by Hastings ELL teacher Yuiko Shimazu and Estabrook’s Math Specialist Nithya Subramanian. The session provided insight into differences among the countries and cultures that we in the US often group together as “Asian,” focusing on China, India, Korea and Japan. I also learned more about school environments and how expectations are different in these countries and may affect how students and their families perceive American schools.
My second session, led by an EDCO consultant, was called That Awkward Moment: Identifying and Addressing Bias-Based Student Comments in a School Setting and looked at the role implicit bias and “micro-aggressions” can play in daily life. Coming from a positon of white privilege, recognizing micro-aggressions can be an important first step. However, naming and responding to implicit bias is where the real day-to-day work occurs.
Finally, I closed out the day with Promoting a Positive School Culture through Student-Created Videos led by Director of Digital Learning Jennifer Judkins and Estabrook Technology Specialist Traci Jansen. Here we were introduced to an easy-to-use tool for making videos, as well as examples of how student-made videos were used to support a positive culture. Christina Gavin and I left the session brimming with ideas for bringing this back to Estabrook. Stay tuned!
In addition to the staff listed above, Estabrook teachers were well represented among the facilitators:
- Christina Gavin (and her Assistant Principal colleagues): Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain
- Jen Kuhn (and two librarian colleagues): Pebble Go, World Book, and More…K-5 Student Databases for You and Your Students
- Jennifer Pierrelouis and Matthew Willis: Stop the Squabbling: Helping PK-5 Students Navigate Social Conflicts
- Julie Spang: Beautifying Your Google Drive
- Lori Alberts, Katie O’Hare Gibson, Tom Grasso, Heather Kramer, and Jen Kuhn: Are There –isms in Our Children’s Books?
- Jackie Carlozzi Deconstructing the Classroom Library
- Annie Roche and Monica Tsubaki (and several ELL colleagues): Building Cultural Competence Through Our Community Organizations
Parker Palmer, author of the book “The Courage to Teach” (recently released in a 20th anniversary edition) notes: “Every profession that attracts people for ‘reasons of the heart’ is a profession in which people and the work they do suffer from losing heart.” Lexington Learns Together provided a welcome recharge – for both the head and heart.
Rick Rogers
Safe Routes to School November Healthy Habit: Try a New Health Food: SQUASH
During Safe Routes to School on Wednesday November 14th, arriving students will have a chance to see examples of winter squash varieties and even bring home a recipe to try.
Fall is the perfect time of year to try squash! Squash comes in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes and can be prepared in many delicious ways. Winter squash are some of the most delicious and versatile ingredients of the season. Unlike summer squash, winter squash are harvested in autumn when they are hard and ripe, and most varieties can be stored and enjoyed for use through the winter.
There are many varieties of winter squash, including: buttercup, hubbard, butternut, delicata, banana, kabocha, acorn, pumpkin, spaghetti, and turban.
Health Benefits of squash:
- High in vitamins: A, B6, and C
- Squash has minerals too, including: magnesium, manganese, potassium, copper, phosphorus, calcium, and iron
- Squash is a good source antioxidants
- Squash is high in fiber and contain Omega-3
Check out these websites for tips on identifying squash and some yummy recipes:
Help us stock the Estabrook Mobile Maker Space!
Below is a partial list of donated items we could use:
Please note: All materials should be clean and dry. Please do not send in glitter, glass, or liquids. If you have questions about the appropriateness of a donation,
please email Mark Taggart at mtaggart@lexingtonma.org prior to sending them in. Simply drop them off at the office and we’ll make sure they get sorted onto the carts.
Safety goggles/glasses and alcohol wipes for cleaning, large plastic storage bins with lids, batteries (all sizes - do not need to be new, but need to work), buttons, spools of thread, flower pots, cardboard tubes, clay/Play-doh, aluminum foil, craft sticks, gears, googly eyes, hand tools (hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, sandpaper), K’nex, Legos, Magnatiles, magnets, marbles, ping-pong balls, golf balls, pulleys, pvc pipes, rubber bands, glue (all kinds), string, rope, yarn, masking tape, duct tape, wheels, glue guns, glue gun sticks, boxes (no larger than 1.5 feet in any dimension), building blocks, bubble wrap, CDs, foam trays, plastic bottle caps, rubber bands, springs, gears, drinking straws, board game pieces.
Our Maker Space will also include a Demolition Zone where children can deconstruct old electronics and mechanical devices and salvage the pieces for new functions. The following electronics are fine:
Air pumps, Flashlights, Non-molded plastic toys with parts • Plastic fans, Remote controls, CB radios,Food processors (without blades), Remote control cars, planes, drones, etc., CD players, Clocks (no glass), Ice cream makers, Stereos and radios, Tape decks or recorders, Computer keyboards, Ice cream scoops with moving parts, Toys with gear boxes, Typewriters, Cordless phones, VCRs, Pushbutton or rotary phone, Answering machines, DVD players, Lamp stands, Mechanical eggbeaters, Mixers, Motorized cars and trucks.
The following electronics are NOT ACCEPTABLE and should NOT be brought in:
Blow dryers, Cameras, Cell phones, Coffee machines, irons, Laptop computers, microwaves, monitors, printers, televisions, toasters, vacuums, video game consoles