Monday Memo
December 9, 2019
Great Things!
The Art in the Office has been changed! Sarah J's class is full of artists! Swing by and check it out!
We hosted our first CD parent training this past week! We had 4 of the 7 parents that RSVP-d show up. They had wonderful conversations and great energy! It's going to be a fun 7 weeks!
Laura E.G. received word that the application for Toys for Tots she submitted was accepted and our families will be receiving Toys for Tots this year!! Woo Hoo! More details to come!
What a beautiful happy place in the front office to brighten your day or help brighten someone else's day! Thanks Social Committee!
Challenge: Connection
After returning from several days off of school last week, our students may need more opportunities for connection than usual. With that in mind, our Conscious Commitment for this week is: "I am willing to increase opportunities for connection this week by implementing two rituals in my classroom."
Are you willing?
See Commitment picture below....
Dates to remember:
December 10: Fire Drills (unannounced)
December 10: December Birthday pictures and cookies 10:15/1:30
December 17: WinterFest
December 20: PD (a.m. with Freda Markley, p.m. with Cari Ebert) more details to come.....
Nuts-n-Bolts:
*Announcements are uploaded and ready to go-Kristin's p.m. kids this week. (next week: Kim McNally's class)
*Please be mindful of your arrival times. Many of us are starting to arrive to work later than our contracted start time. If you are struggling to get here on time, set your alarm a few minutes earlier please. Of course- sometimes things come up that cannot be avoided; when that happens, please sign in on the clipboard in the front office when you arrive. Remember- your start time means in the building/classroom/your office- ready to get started on your day - not-pulling into the parking lot at your start time. Thank you for your attention to this.
*If you are willing, we are still in need of some volunteers to help with childcare on Wednesday from 2:00-3:00 over the next 6 weeks. The sign up sheet is on my window outside my office. We are looking for 2 each week to help with this.
*I will be sharing the "outside play" weather guidelines this week. Dr. King has created a guideline for when we go out (hot and cold) and this will be shared with families as well as put on the district website. We will be aligning with the national weather services recommendations. Stay tuned...
*Please check student backpacks for car rider/bus rider tags and be sure they are up to date.
Bus rider procedure review: Please check off/make a mark by each student (name to face) in the cafe-gym-a-torium, and then again as they board the bus. If you are the bus point person, remember to let the flag person know that your bus is clear once you have loaded your students.
Car rider procedure review: The car/parent must have the blue card in their window. If they do not- they need to pull around to the front parking lot and come in to sign their child out. If the parent has a card, but they are not on the car rider list, and you haven't received an email that they are to be added- they need to pull around and come in the office. (we have had parents use cards from last year or temporary cards from the beginning of the year)
These are all procedures to help us track where kids are at all times coming and going. Please follow the procedures consistently so that we can keep our students safe and accounted for.
*IMPORTANT-PLEASE READ: If a student is not in your class and you write them on the yellow attendance slip, and then they arrive due to a bus being late after you have put out your slip--if the slip is still on your door- please draw a line through his/her name and write "bus" out to the side. Thanks!
*Websites were due to be updated by end of the day Dec 6. If you have not done so- please email me by the end of the day Monday to let me know you have done this.
*December book shelving duty: Bonnie
Speech and Language Tip of the Week:
Try to be more mindful of listening to how kids are actually saying words. Listen to sound errors and model the corrected version. It can be helpful to point out the actual sound that you heard in error and even write down the word for kids to see that sounds are in words. You might say, “That word has an /s/ in it. Look, I say an /s/ like this. Can you say it like me? Let’s try that word again together. Let’s all say that word together as a class.” This practice helps to promote phonological awareness for all kids.
Fine Motor Tip of the Week:
Handwriting warm up
Prior to writing/coloring activities, have your students do a warm up activity. Try several repetitions of finger push-ups by spreading fingers out on table top then pressing fingers into table. Also, try several repetitions of hand squeezes by squeezing hands into a fist then spreading fingers and wrists out wide.