Greenfield News
What's happening......
Classroom Placement
Classroom placement meetings are coming up for grades K-4. We have traditionally used white cards to help organize the process. Dorothy Nolan teachers shared a placement form they are using. Some Greenfield teachers have expressed interest in using it. I will put it in classroom teacher mailboxes. If you would like to try it out as a grade level, feel free. We can assess how it works for us.
Placement meetings- 1st steps:
1. We first organize boys and girls.
2. We establish one classroom as an inclusion classroom.
3. We then balance classes with academic and social/emotional needs.
These are just the first steps. We don't need teacher names attached. Our goal at the initial meeting is to balance the classes. After each class is balanced we then look for other incidentals that may influence the class arrangement. This is a PROCESS. Your help in organizing the classes is instrumental to the process. Once the first draft of lists is made I will send out copies for you to review.
This process leads me to ask for grade level teachers who would like to be the teacher of the inclusion classroom in the grade level. Please let me know your thoughts.
Playground Mulching
We are trying to establish the date for the mulch to be delivered. It is a job that will require volunteers. Some people have asked how they can help with the playground. Spreading mulch is a big job that could use many hands (and rakes!). I'll keep you posted on the delivery date. Right now the mulch delivery is slated for the middle of next week (5/13/15).
Looking for some playground safety info- the Greenfield Site (link below) has the playground safety workbooks. The playground pictures are old, but most of the rules still apply.
End of Year clean up
I often have people asking me about what they can do with materials that are not being used any longer. It's a good question. Sometimes it's a hard question to answer because we have accumulated so much stuff we don't always know what to do with it. De-cluttering is a good thing. Here are some guidelines:
1. If you have hard cover textbooks or packaged programs (i.e.; Fundations) that we no longer use, they can be moved for you. However old textbooks need to have BOE approval before they are disposed of. If it is prior to the end of the year, place a note on them saying "Grade ____: For Disposal please move to RM 101". If it is a packaged program that we are no longer using (Fundations), put a note on it saying "Grade _____: please move to RM 101". If it is at the end of the year (students are gone) there will be tables in your hallway for you to place them on. Jane and I will distinguish between disposal and storage.
2. If it is just a classroom material you no longer want, but it is not a textbook, you need to either a.) find someone who wants it, or b.) throw it away. Please DO NOT set up a "free to the best home" table in the hallway or the faculty lounge. I understand that it is hard to throw things away, but this becomes a mess to clean up after everyone is gone. If it is left in the hallway, it will be thrown away.
3. As you are preparing your rooms for the summer clean up, please consider disposing of things that you do not need as we head toward June. Getting rid of things bit by bit makes the the job easier for you and the custodians. The link below is one I found on Pinterest. There are some good ideas!
Substitutes
There have been some questions about substitute start time for half day absences.
A half day for a substitute technically begins at 12:25. Substitutes should arrive 10-15 minutes prior to working with students (hence the assumed 12:15 time). If you are leaving in the afternoon, you can plan on leaving by 12:25. If you are out in the morning, you should be 'teaching' by 12:25. The allowed transition time with students is what has caused some confusion over the years. I hope this clears up the confusion......."clear as mud" right?