K-2 Team Newsletter
February 10, 2020
Principal's Message
I hope you all enjoyed your much deserved snowy day off (finally)!! I had a chance to not only reflect on getting better due to injury but also on the fact that Valentine’s Day is coming up. I began thinking about all the many forms of love and how much I truly LOVE my team. This type of love is called “phillia” and it’s how you show love to people you truly consider friends and hold in high regard. I also thought about how much you all show love to our scholars. This type of love is called “storge” which mimics the love a parent shows towards their child. Our scholars are with us for such an extended period of time so they are like our children and we fiercely protect them and I appreciate that! You go to bat for them and push them towards meeting high expectations that truly prepares them for the real-world and beyond. My hope is that from staff (peer to peer) we continue to work on our “pragma” love which is how you show love through compromise and honesty. This type of love is hard and requires work, dedication, and sacrifice from all parties. I know we can continue to work on this because the work we do is not easy and we cannot do it alone! As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, let's reflect on the sacrifices made by those who came before us as well as how we show love to one another, to our scholars, and to the community in which we serve.
School Wide Focus
Priority #2: No Opt Out Academics
Habits of Discussion - this week we are continuing our focus on HOD and pushing scholars to carry the cognitive lift through TPS (think-pair-share). Scholars should defend their answers and provide evidence.
Below is a math snippet from MTSU - you will see Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Whipkey circulating during their TPS (think-pair-share) to listen in on scholars' answers. Then you will see Mrs. Johnson utilizing strategic cold calls to call on particular scholars to answer questions that guide the class towards the correct answer. You will also see lots of positive reinforcement to encourage scholar participation in a safe space as well as high levels of engagement as scholars are also asked to count, show love, and restate key points. At the end of the video you will see her lead into the final TPS in which scholars are asked to determine what they noticed about this problem type vs the teachers just telling the class. See what you can pull out from this video and add to your teaching practice this week...enjoy!
Deans of Academics
Dean of Culture
This week’s WIG WINNER IS…
Attendance
Dean of SEL
This week, we will continue to read about relational bullying in first and second grade. Kindergarten will be building on the knowledge of big and small problems. Please send a reminder to families about the parent mental health night this Thursday, February 13 at 4:30 pm. Some teachers have offered free homework passes for families and scholars who attend. I would love to see many families in attendance, learning about safety and modern technology/social media.
Habit of the Week: Think Win-Win or No Deal
Think win- win means to come to a solution that everyone can be happy with. This means that we have to communicate in a respectful way with our peers in order to make a change. We must ask for what we want, and listen to what others want as well. No deal means that an agreement cannot be made, but we agree to walk away from each other in a respectful manner. This habit will be highlighted when we use the Peace Path.
Operations
A few ops updates for your radar:
1. You should have received your electronic copy of your W-2 yesterday from epdds. To access it, your password is the last 6 digits of your SSN.
2. To be reimbursed for classroom funds, the receipt must be within the last 45 days. If it is beyond 45 days, Martha O'Bryan will no longer process the request. This is a change that will be enforced so please be mindful of this timeline and submit accordingly.
3. A reminder that your Intent-to-Return forms were due to Rhodes by Friday, Feb. 7th since we had a much deserved snow day please turn them in Monday, Feb. 10th!!
4. Hiring season is upon us and we want to ensure our scholars have the best teachers in all of Nashville. If you know of someone who would be a great fit to join the EEP Family, please send a connecting email to Rhodes.
Upcoming Events
Feb. 12th
Stephanie’s Birthday
Feb. 13th
Family Mental Health Night
Feb. 14th
Valentine’s Day
**Paycheck Cart
Feb. 17th
PD Day
Feb. 18th
STEP Wave Opens
Feb. 20th
Ayana’s Birthday
Feb. 21st
Anya’s Birthday
Feb. 23rd
Corrine (Mary’s) Birthday
Feb. 25th
Stacey’s Birthday
Feb. 27th
Progress Reports
Feb. 28th
NO PD - Mental Health Day
**Paycheck Cart
PD Calendar - Feb 14th
Feb. 17th - Tentative PD Schedule
Shout Outs
Congrats to our G.R.E.A.T. Winners of the Week and check out the Class Photo of the Week!
Teacher of the Week
Photo of the Week
Scholar of the Week
WIG Scholar Winner with the most glows in LiveSchool last week!
Staff Absences
Reminders
Do Not Prop Open doors or have scholars let adults in the building
All scholars should have a hall passes and/or office note for any front office needs
Save RTI academic work samples (refer to email)
All elements of AgMo should be in place (pathways, laps, codes, data trackers, and a response to the data)
All boards should be updated with the current date, objective (SWBAT..), and the common core standard codes
Principal and GLLs should be notified of late arrivals (after 7:28 am) or "early outs" (before 3:45 pm). Please see K-5 Playbook for details