Monday Memo
Week of November 11th, 2019
In case you missed it.....
Number sense
Math buddies
Remembrance Day
Important Dates
Monday, November 11th - Day 3
- 8:15am - Support Staff Team Meeting
- 8:30am - Parent meeting for Jenn S and Joe Hadzi
Remembrance Day
Kindergarten - Grade 3/4 Assembly at 9:45am (2 minutes silence in class at 11am - see below)
Tuesday, November 12th - Day 4
- 8:15am - meeting with Katie and Jenn
- 4pm - parent meeting with Cory, Heather R and Jenn
Wednesday, November 13th - Day 5
- 12:10pm - Peer awareness presentation in Mrs. Rees' class
- 3:20pm - Parent Case Conference for Yvonne, Kelly H, Heather V, Heather R and Jenn
Thursday, November 14th - Day 1
- am - Jenn in Kirby at a Superintendency meeting
- 1pm - Pedal for Hope Pizza/Caesar salad lunch
Friday, November 15th - Day 2
- 8am - student meeting with Erin Hentig for Sally, Jen B, Heather and Jenn S
- All day - Math PLC's (100 minutes for each educator responsible for teaching math)
- 10:30am - Time in My Shoes planning meeting for Kelly H
Some important information for this week....
Remembrance Day
Please see the note in our Edsby staff room if you haven't already regarding the 2 minutes of silence for those in the school on Monday. I'm going to ask that we come down to the assembly at 9:45am, as we now have 3 classes presenting, plus a story. Please remind your students ahead of time that this is a quiet and respectful assembly. Here is a tentative order of assembly:
1. Kelly/Jeanna's Class - song
2. A Bear in War - read aloud with Jenn
3. Sally's Class - song
4. Yvonne's Class - 2 songs (the second song is Where Have All the Flowers Gone? which we'll all sing together (words on the screen))
School Morale
Thank you to everyone who has signed up for our Pizza and Caesar Salad Pedal for Hope fundraising lunch on November 14th. If you haven't had a chance to sign up, please do so before 9am on Monday morning. And if you haven't had a chance to put $10 in the envelope on Jenn's door (between the 2 offices) - please do so by the lunch (or I know where to find you!)
A reminder to let Heather know if you're interested in the Sign Making Workshop that is scheduled for November 25th after school.
And one more poll to come your way....Do you love to bake? Do you love to eat cookies? How about getting in on the first annual Kawartha Heights Cookie Swap!! For those interested, please respond to the poll that you'd like to participate by Friday, November 22nd. I will confirm with those participating the number of people involved by November 24th. Please bake 1 dozen cookies of your choice for each person participating, plus 1 dozen to share at a tasting after school on Tuesday, December 10th. For example, if 8 people participate, then bring 9 dozen cookies. I will provide hot chocolate for our "tasting party", in addition to prizes that we'll vote on (e.g., most beautiful cookie, best packaging, tastiest cookie, best overall cookie). I look forward to getting in on some great baking :) (and I promise I'll make my own, NOT have my mother-in-law do it for me!).
Can you help ME with MY professional learning?
Thank you to the few of you who have responded to the survey I posted to help me with my professional learning (so far 4 people have responded). I will soon be asked to summarize the data so that I know where my next steps in professional learning need to be. The more responses, the better my learning will be! If you haven't yet had a chance, please consider taking a few minutes to respond. The link to the survey is: https://forms.gle/QnGKTs21ebSdPaYZ9. Thanks for helping me to grow :)
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Thanks to everyone for working on getting your interview schedules up and running. Please hand in a copy of your interview schedule as soon as you have it complete, so that we know which teachers are interviewing on a daily basis. A reminder that I will be staying until 9pm on November 18th in the office for those who wish to interview late (and dinner will be brought in from 5pm on). I will also be in the office until 6:30pm on November 20th, until the School Council Meeting begins. Most other days I'm at school until 5pm. Please also remember to file your Progress Reports in OSR's as soon as you can. Merci!
Absence times
Teaching staff - when entering a half day absence, please stick to the following times: 9am - 12:10pm or 12:10pm to 3:20pm. If you put in extra time (even 5 minutes) we are required to pay the extra costs. I try to check as often as I can, but your support would be greatly appreciated. CUPE staff - each of you is a little different. Please ensure that when you enter a half day, 50% shows up in the time you are away. If it says 47.5% or 52.5%, then you need to adjust the times. Please let me know if you have any questions. Please note - don't worry about emailing me or texting me if you're away.... I'll see your absence when you enter it in ATE.
Committee Work
As mentioned briefly on Edsby after the staff meeting, I recognize that there is some work we can do to support Learning Skills and Character Education, as well as the Code of Conduct/Bully Prevention and Intervention Plan. Thanks to Jess and Yvonne who have offered to support some work with Learning Skills. Thank you to Kelly H and Heather V who have shown interest in working through the Code of Conduct. If anyone else is interested in either of these committees, please let me know!
Body Break Wall
You may have noticed that our Body Break Wall outside the office is almost complete! I was so excited to see that a few of Cheryl's hockey boys were already trying it out on Friday afternoon. Their comments, "This is awesome - some of these moves are like we do in hockey!" On Monday morning I will put a "Body Break Wall Pass" in each of your mailboxes. Please do not send students for walks unsupervised in the halls - you can now have them take a pass and come to the Body Break Wall (there is a much higher chance of supervision in front of the office). You'll see that the wall is broken up into three areas: move, mood, and recharge. Thanks to John, there will be a spinner installed on the wall early in the week. Each student when they come down, can spin 5 times or so - each time they spin they will be directed to a mood, move or recharge activity (there is also a free choice on the spinner). Five spins or so - and they are hopefully ready to return to class. Classes may choose to come down with you for some DPA as well.
In order to get this up and running I'd love to support. If you'd like to bring down your whole class at once, we can run through the routine and expectations together. I'd love to work it through with you, so that all students are very clear on expectations of using the wall. Please let me know if this interests you.
Peterborough Regional Science Fair
This year the Peterborough Regional Science Fair will be held at Trent University on April 8th, 2020. I understand that in past years this is something that Susan coordinated. Now that she has retired, is there anyone interested it taking this on? Just let me know if you’re interested.
Bully Prevention and Intervention Plan
The week of November 18th - 22nd is Bully Prevention and Intervention Week. Ms. D (our CYW placement student) and Kelly H are working on creating a few activities that we can support as a school. Stay tuned for more information!
Lost and Found
From the Board Office: Lost and found items are property of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board until such time that they are claimed by their owner, or; In the event that items remain unclaimed. It is encouraged that these items are either kept in the school for students to use as approved by the principal or that these items are donated to local organizations and determined by the principal.
KPR has taken the position, that the unauthorized removal of items from the lost and found bin by staff for personal use is not acceptable and tantamount to theft of Board property.
School Improvement Plan
There are 2 more weeks of Measurement before we look ahead to our first work officially with Number Sense. Hopefully you've had a chance to post and review frequently the measurement learning goal and success criteria with students. A reminder that I'm more than happy to come and be involved in the "Excellent Math Adventure" if you're trying it with your class - or to receive any responses (as a class or for individual students). I'll respond to anything passed along to me :)
Our First Math PLC
This Friday will be our first Math PLC. I'm looking forward to looking at student work with you and digging deeper into our own learning of what number relationships are really all about! Stay tuned for where we will meet.... A gentle reminder that you will need to bring your completed pre-assessment tasks with you (and that's it other than your wonderful brains!). Please be sure to arrive promptly at your scheduled time...we have LOTS to discuss together.
Turtle Math
Are you familiar with the Turtle Math Contest? This is run annually by Trent University for students in Grades 1 - 6. Please see the attached document for more information. All students who participate will receive recognition. The contest itself will take approximately 45 minutes for students to complete, during class time. Any accommodations normally provided in class based on IEP's (scribing, etc.) can be used for this contest as well. If you are interested in having your class participate, I will cover the costs (50 cents per child - very reasonable). If your class wishes to participate, please let me know by December 2nd so that I have time to submit names. NOTE: this is not a home contest - it is to be done by a full class, in class time.
Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind...
November 18th - 22nd - Bully Prevention and Intervention Week
November 20th - Grade 6 Kids Program with Constable McCurdy
November 20th - School Council Meeting with Supt. Mangold re: proposed Crestwood Intermediate (6:30pm in the library)
November 22nd - PA Day (morning Math, afternoon Equity and Diversity)
November 27th - Time in My Shoes Workshop for Grades 3/4 - 6
November 28th - Meeting at Crestwood SS at 6:30pm regarding the proposed Crestwood Intermediate School
November 29th - Junior Mixed Volleyball Tournament
December 2nd - Staff Meeting
December 4th Grade 6 Kids Program with Constable McCurdy
Just one more thing.....
Maybe because there were a few hard interactions with parents this week....but this spoke to me. I always try to consider that there might be a different perspective I need to think about when faced with challenging situations. Thought I would share this with you - as it might just speak to you too!
The man in the picture below doesn’t know that there is a snake underneath. The woman doesn’t know that there is a stone crushing the man. The woman thinks: “I am going to fall! And I can’t climb because the snake is going to bite me! Why can’t the man use a little more strength and pull me up!” The man thinks: “I am in so much pain! Yet I’m still pulling you as much as I can! Why don’t you try and climb a little harder!?”
The moral is— you can’t see the pressure the other person is under, and the other person can’t see the pain you’re in. This is life, whether it’s with work, family, feelings or friends, we should try to understand each other. Learn to think differently, perhaps more clearly and communicate better. A little thought and patience goes a long way.
Everyone we meet is fighting their own battle.
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