Hillcrest Staff ARTery
We are the heART of Hillcrest!
The week of December 14th - December 18th
Bus Duty:
AM - Ally, Amy & Trista
PM - Janet, Holly & Anne
Treats: Jane, Calvin & Susie
Word of the Week: Generosity
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Monday, DECEMBER 14th (DAY 2)Tuesday, December 15th (DAY 3)
- STAFF MEETING 8:20 - 9:00
- HOLIDAY LUNCH - 11:00 - 1:00 CONFERENCE ROOM - ENJOY!
- OGM - Honor Choir 12:15 - 1:10/Lunchroom
- 2nd Grade PD Day - all day
Wednesday, December 16th (DAY 1)
- 8:20 - 9:00 - SWIM team meeting/Caroline's room
- 1st Grade PD Day - all day
Thursday, December 17th (Day 2)
- 8:00 - 1:00 - Calvin @ principal's meeting
Friday, December 18th (Day 3)
- Holiday Staff Breakfast - 8:20 0 9:20/HUB
- ELA Holiday Party - 9:30 - 10:30
- Skating Party/Sing a long - all day
- Hillcrest Winter Get-Together - Kris Trenary's House 4 to ?
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON DECEMBER 24TH RUSS!!!
Upcoming Events
December 21st - January 1st - NO SCHOOL
January 4th - School Resumes
January 12th - PTSA Meeting
January 25th - PD and Grading Day
Staff Meeting Schedule (Topics)
12/15 - First semester Data Dive
1/5 - VTS revisited and Artful Learning
1/19 - Close Reading w/Rachel Gens (3 of 4)
2/2 - Achievement Gap at HC
Congratulations to 1st and 2nd grade teams for having wonderfully successful festivals!
Hillcrest third grade class to be published in COMPAS anthology
Lee's class, under the guidance of COMPAS’s Charlie Maguire, created an original song about the sun, moon and stars titled “Way Up In The Sky.” The exercise put to work lessons from the class’s “discovery” Artful Learning unit.
COMPAS artist residencies were funded through a Minnesota State Arts Board (MSAB) grant, which helped provide Artful Learning experiences at each grade level (K-5). Hillcrest is an MSAB grant recipient again this year.
Visit www.compas.org to learn more about the program.
Winter Skate Party Schedule
Here is the sing-a-long schedule:
9:45-10:35 Rachel L, Jody, Emily S., Beth
10:55-11:45 Amy G., Trista, Anna, Lee, Tracy
1:00-1:50 Amy W., Angie, Katie, ELA
2:10-3:00 Cici, Cory, Kari, Jenn, Amy B, Ally
Coaches Corner
This might be the most important Engagement Strategy of the Week email you receive all year!
Along with fostering h_____ and o________, (think last week’s strategies) building students’ self-efficacy includes developing thinking patterns associated with a growth mindset.
To encourage a growth mindset:
Teach children that learning from mistakes is critical
“Oh, you got it right the first time? Bummer! I need to make this harder for you!”
“That’s too bad! We didn’t match up the work with your level. Maybe next time we can get a better match so you can learn new things by making mistakes.”
“You worked hard and gave those problems a try. Now that we know what we don’t know, we can figure out what we need to learn!”
“What did you learn from correcting your mistakes?”
Acknowledge student’s effort, strategy or attitude rather than labeling kids as smart
“When you didn’t get the answer right the first time, you thought about what you did and tried a different strategy.”
“Even though reading that passage was difficult, you didn’t give up and you read it through to the end.”
“ When your group had a problem, you told them you could work together and figure it out. That’s an example of optimism!”
To begin your day, ask your student to answer the following questions
What are you grateful for? (hope)
What is newly learned from yesterday? (growth mindset)
What are you looking forward to? (optimism)
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman
What makes you come alive?
Tech Team Information
Information on the Tech Team. The tech team structure is a replacement for the former CT program, with the Media Director and a a teacher co-lead heading it up in every elementary school. (Lee Nelson is our HC NTL co-lead---shout out to him!) We meet on the first Tuesday of the month to discuss where we're at now as a building, and to make decisions about how things will look with more devices at Hillcrest. This is our year to get ready, and we'd like to do it well.
How it'll happen. By putting logistics into place that best suit how our school works, anything from deciding how we will organize and hand out Chromebooks to what we will teach our Hillcrest families about the devices. Our goal as a team is to think of it so you don't have to next fall.
I'll send out an information blurb every other Wednesday starting in December, in addition to Calvin's Artery newsletter updates. We have also assigned tech team members to groups of HC staff for questions and reporting. They are:
- Trista: K-1
- Cory: 2
- Lee: 3-4
- Jenn: 4-5
- Belle: HC_Staff, Specialists, Parents
- Calvin: Central Office & Support Staff, Peer Admin, Parents, Special Ed
- Allie: FAQ
Stay tuned for more sharing as the weeks pass!
Personal Leave Requests Now Approved by Principal
Building Winter and Break Reminders
Winter is here . . .
- Please make sure students take their coats and boots home regularly, so that the hall can be kept clean.
- All boots should be put up off the floor at the end of the day (on top of hooks or in lockers).
- Please make sure that students stomp and wipe their feet before entering the hallways.
For BREAK . . .
- Please make sure that student lockers are cleared off and all boots are up off the bottom
- Please make sure that chairs on the tile floor are up and off the floor
- Please make sure sinks and counters are clear
Our weekly staff newsletter!
Contact Us
Email: ckeasling@isd271.org
Website: hc.bloomington.k12.mn.us
Location: 9301 Thomas Road, Bloomington, MN, United States
Phone: (952) 681-5300