Colt Round Up
March 31, 2019
"When I was about ten years old, I gave my teacher an April Fool's sandwich, which had a dead goldfish in it." ~ Alan Alda
Prank's on them??? Here are some fun (mostly age appropriate) pranks for Monday! I take no responsibility for sharing these with you! :)
With Appreciation:
- Rob, Rob, he's our man! He replaced gobs of light bulbs in the MPR this week, rescued dozens of hula hoops from the shade cover, and scrubbed the MPR floor so well on Friday that it shined (until lunch on Monday, at least!)
- Kudos to Michelle for her support with managing Peter Pan, Jr. ticket sales.
- Shelly and Darren are crazy awesome for their work with the Musical Theater production...and kudos to Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Jenkins (Lyla's grandmother) for their incredible set and costume work!
- Ceci and Annie - thank you for your leadership with the upcoming CAST and SBAC testing!!!
Wellness Dress Up Days
Fire Marshal is coming - week of Spring Break
Quick Reminders
- Lori Fury will be back on campus on 4/2 to do math talk demos/models in classrooms. Click here to sign up for a date/time.
- Our routing is complete at LCES. The District Assignment Fair for Certificated Staff will be held on Tuesday, 4/9 starting at 3:15 pm in the TBMS Multipurpose Room.
- The last day to submit PO requests is Fri., 4/5 - see Pam if you have any questions!
- In the past, we've hosted an after school "volunteer appreciation event." This year, our goal is to host it before school as a breakfast - stay tuned!
PBIS Update
New ticket pads are in! Here's a list of what we are focusing on for the rest of the school year. Here is a summary for you:
April 1-26: Be a Problem Solver
April 29-May 10: Be Responsible
May 13-June 7: Be Safe
I've gotten 3 cardboard backings back so far...I have two more special thank you gifts for those who give away all their tickets!
Now that Tri 2 is done, Kristen and I are ready to support teams honoring students with 0 referrals. At our PBIS meeting last week, we came up with some clever ways our younger students can get recognition a little faster - check in with Kristy for some of the ideas!
Mental Health - the need is high!
This year, my eyes have been opened to the mental health needs of our students, families and staff team. As a reminder, the district offers a free Employee Assistance Program that can offer support to all staff. Click here for the flier; it's always available in our Staff Portal Filing Cabinet. Those of you who have had students referred to Mrs. Butler with the Wellness Together will agree that her services have been wonderful. Desi continues to carve out time to provide proactive support for mental health and work with families during SSTs/IEPs. We have some big plans brewing for next year, too!
I came across this post on social media this week, and I wanted to share it with you - might be something to consider doing in some way in your classroom.
TED Talks to inspire conversation in classroom
Growth Mindset, AVID, and Character Development Corner
Read Across America NPR Article Follow Up
I heard from a few folks about the article re. Dr. Seuss - thanks to all those who shared their perspective or talked with a colleague to explore your own thinking about it. One of our collective commitments as a team is to "recognize and celebrate the cultural diversity of our student body and community."
If you felt like the article was compelling, check out these links (thanks, Aly!) with some creative ideas about celebrating reading and diversity in our classroom. This links to a collection of children's books. This link offers options for reading for different purposes each day of the week and offers suggestions for books.
LCES Library of Class Readalouds in the staff room
- we'll be building up bookshelf that you can borrow from - we'll add another book each week or so
- check out this spreadsheet - let's keep it up to date with the library options and resources you can access that support the readaloud/book use in class.
- you are encouraged to borrow books to share with your class. Feel free to add your own books and resources too! Be sure to return items promptly so others can use them.
- Someone left this book in my box recently - thank you! This week, we feature:
iReady data Checkin
Some celebrations as we look at our diagnostic 3 summary data:
- in reading, our site has met 140% of our school wide "typical growth" goal!
- in reading, our site has moved from 10%>4% in the red; 70%>54% in the yellow and 20%>42% in the GREEN!
- in math, our site has met 78% of our school wide "typical growth" goal!
- in math, our site has moved from 11%>1% in the red (what!!!); 80%>58% in the yellow and 9%>40% in the GREEN!
YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN! BRAVO!
In your box, there is a printout of growth in reading & math. The top part is grade level data; below that, there is a section with your name on the left and horizontal bar graphs - that data is specifically yours. You can dig into the data more online; ask your PLC, Jen or Kristen know if you need any help - we can look at it more closely at a PLC or 1:1.
Take a look at it, share it with your kids, and think if you find that your students class progress matches up to this assessment.
Gate Duty
Thanks to everyone who has been able to help out with this volunteer duty - it's much appreciated. Some of you cannot help out due to other responsibilities - and that's okay too!
I think that anyone who does this duty will tell you it's a great way to start your day! Big thanks to the staff who have helped out to make this happen!
Upcoming Meetings/Activities
Where is Jen This Week?
April 1-5
- on campus all week; it's a BUSY week
- Friday we have transition IEPs all day, so I'll only be available in an emergency
Where is Kristen This Week?
M - F: Ed Tech Duties until 10:30am each day then LCES the rest of the day.
It's a Great Day to be a Colt!
The mission of the Lincoln Crossing Elementary School team is to prepare our students with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to become lifelong learners and responsible, contributing members of society.