Principal's Corner - #3
August 27, 2018
Professional Learning Community
RECESS
Please make sure that when you drop your class off for recess you see a para-educator present on the playground. If there is not a para-educator please stay with your class until one arrives. Students must be supervised at ALL times.
LUNCH
We will no longer be asking our para-educators to deliver grade levels back to the classrooms. This present a safety concern for our students and makes it difficult for us to prepare the cafeteria for the next grade level.
Moving forward, please plan to arrive in the cafeteria 5 minutes prior to the end of your classes lunch period. During this time, please help your students wrap up eating their lunches, clean up their personal area, and line up. This will give our para-educators the opportunity to clean the tables appropriately and sweep the floors prior to the next class coming into the cafeteria. This will also make sure our classes are supervised as they return to class.
I have really enjoyed reading all of our parent/community newsletters. Thank you for taking the time to keep our families informed.
A Few Reminders from Ashley Gray
- Please send me a team picture, or bring your team to me and I will take a picture for you. We need a picture of ALL teams this week so we can start spotlighting our amazing staff!
- iReady testing is up and running for ALL grade levels! Please keep in mind the beginning of the year window is open for 1st-5th until Sept. 12. Kindergarten has until Oct. 12.
- If you need more of our new cougar paws to recognize other classrooms, they will be in an envelope on the white board in the lounge. We have ordered new stickers and will let you know when these arrive. Please remember to continue recognizing your students and turn in their ROAR tickets so we can draw names.
- Walkie Talkies: If you have a walkie talkie, please let me know. If you take your students outside please make sure you take one with you. This is for safety reasons and in case we need to find you or your class.
- For all teachers that have duty during the week, please make sure you take a walkie talkie outside with you. Katie and I will usually have one for the car loop, but please make sure you have one if you are doing bus duty or any other duty outside.
- We will be calling names of students during announcements for the winners of the PTO FundRun prizes.
Food for Thought
Yes, It Is That Important
Although we can build positive relationships throughout the school year, the first weeks are crucial. They set the tone and conditions for the year ahead, creating a more effective teaching and learning enterprise for everyone. James Comer, professor of child psychiatry at Yale University, often declares, "No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship." This connection is especially powerful for students who struggle. As Rabbi Harold Kushner said in an interview with Educational Leadership,
Often I will read about someone from the most unpromising circumstances—inner-city ghetto, drug family, single-parent home, abandoned by father, abandoned by both parents sometimes—and the child will have grown up to be a star athlete, a successful politician, or a doctor. The reporter will ask, "How did you get to be who you are?" And the answer will always begin with the same four words: "There was this teacher." (Scherer, 1998, p. 22)
For all humans—and especially teens and young teens—whatever enters our brains as we learn activates emotional responses, even before we process it cognitively. Even if teachers deliver curriculum content with an inert, unemotional lens, our students' internal monologue takes it to an emotional level—"This is so tight/wrong/bad/cool/radical/wild/dope/stupid/GOAT (Greatest of All Time)!"
Research by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang demonstrates that students need to feel a meaningful emotional connection to the material to learn. In an interview, she asserted, people think of emotion as getting in the way of cognition, but it doesn't. Emotion steers our thinking; it's the rudder that directs our mind and organizes what we need to do. (Sparks, 2016)
Positive teacher-student relationships build on this connection to promote learning. An extensive research base shows that improving students' relationships with teachers has important, positive and long-lasting implications for both students' academic and social development. (Rimm-Kaufman & Sandilos, 2016)
In sum, students' learning is markedly influenced by their connectedness with the adults in charge, classmates, and the larger community. How can we take advantage of this dynamic to support learning, especially in the first weeks of school?
What to Do in Week One? by Rick Wormeli
A Message from our Caring Cougars Committee
We are going to have our first debriefing meeting on August 30th at 3:45 pm! For those that are new to COT our debriefing meetings are an opportunity for you to gather with your colleagues to "debrief" about your day.
Please join us at:
2 Penguins Tap and Grill
13065 East Briarwood Ave
Centennial, CO 80112
We look forward to seeing you there!
Caring Cougars Committee
A Message from our PTO Co-Presidents
Hello Cottonwood Staff,
The school is in need of a Destination Imagination (DI) Coordinator. This is different from DI Team Managers. At Cottonwood, parent volunteers are the team managers. They are responsible for forming teams, assisting teams with their plans, and guidance with showcasing. The coordinator role consists of disseminating information to the parent volunteer team managers. The coordinator provides an informational night, answers any questions about the program and logistics, and forwards emails with important information and deadlines. This is a low time commitment position.
Amy Stein and Lindsey Talaga are two team managers, who are happy to assist the coordinator with the transition. They are available for questions and concerns so please reach out to them. They have also offered to attend the initial meeting to field any parent perspective questions.
Cottonwood produces strong teams, who consistently qualify for DI Global Finals. We hope you will consider joining this great group of innovators!
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Paula Hruska and Jenn Bub
PTO co-Presidents
Important Dates
- Wednesday, August 29: Staff Meeting 3:00, Innovation/Media Space
- Friday, August 31: School Spirit Day - Wear your green and blue
- Monday, September 3: No School, Labor Day
- Tuesday, September 4: Professional Learning Teams begin to meet as scheduled
- Wednesday, September 5: Picture Day
- Friday, September 7: Run4Fund$ Run
- Tuesday, September 11: School Board Meeting, 7:00 Institute of Science and Technology
- Wednesday, September 12: Staff Meeting
- Friday, September 14: School Spirit Day - Wear your green and blue
- Tuesday, September 18: Katie and Ashley out all day, ADCO
- Friday, September 21: School Spirit Day - Wear your green and blue
- Friday, September 21: Katie and Ashley out all day, EPC
- Wednesday, September 26: Staff Meeting
- Friday, September 28: School Spirit Day - Wear your green and blue