Colt Round Up
March 3, 2019
With Appreciation:
- Michelle, Pam, and Tricia - thank you for your work with the StarStruck program! Michelle - you were invaluable!
- Teachers - I know we are glad last week has wrapped up - thank you for your efforts to make SS happen smoothly. The kids were awesome, their costumes were on point, and our families enjoyed the opportunity to watch their children shine!
- Gary and Arty put in extra effort to build up and tear down the MPR throughout the week to accommodate SS, lunch, STAR programs, and more. They are amazing - thank you!
- Rob, we are SOOO glad you are back!
Staff Rock Painting
Hello LCE Staff,
As you know we have painted rocks with 1st-5th grade. It was so much fun to see all of the kids excitement at the end of the day when they found their rock. We would love for you all to have a rock in the Kindness garden.
Dre and I will be setting up a table in the staff lounge for this week and hope you have the time to paint. The table will be set up with all of your rock painting essentials. I will have brushes, paints and paint pens so you can let your creativity flow. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Hope you have a rockin time! You guys rock! Thanks for rockin with us:)
Jaimie Barr
(805)390-8816
Dre Cannon
(916)300-4958)
Math Talk Demos
Lori Fury will be on campus on 3/7 and 4/2 to do math talk demos/models in classrooms. Click here to sign up for a date/time and to give her a sense of what topic would be best for your class!
Quick Reminders
- The trimester ended formally on Friday, 2/22, and report cards are to be sent home on Friday, 3/8 (not earlier, please!). Note there is a two week window between the end of the term and report card distribution. There is a calendar of 2018-19 reporting/grading dates in the staff portal - click here to view it.
- The Diagnostic #3 has been pushed out to all K-5 students for both Math and Reading, although I believe that teachers need to assign it to their students from the teacher's login. Details on how are in staff portal here. Jen hasn't ever done this before, so if I made an error, let me know!!! Our goal is to have the assessment done by Fr., 3/15, but if you take a day or two longer to catch up absent kids, that will be fine.
- Any StarStruck DVD order forms can be delivered to the office. They are due by 3/7 and DVDs will be delivered to the school on 3/14.
- 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!
Trimester 2 Awards
Kinder:
Monday, 3/18, 10:25-10:50 am
Grades 1-3:
Tuesday, 3/19,
1st gr: 8:20-9 (earlier if possible)
2nd gr: 9:10-9:45 (dismiss to recess)
3rd gr: 10-10:40 (in from recess)
Grades 4 & 5:
Wednesday, 3/20
4th gr: 8:20-9 (come in off blacktop)
4/5 combo & 5th gr: 9:30-10:05 (dismiss to recess)
PBIS Update
New ticket pads are in! Find one if your box on Monday, along with a list of what we are focusing on for the rest of the school year. Here is a summary for you:
March 4-15: Growth Mindset
March 18-29: Be Respectful
April 1-26: Be a Problem Solver
April 29-May 10: Be Responsible
May 13-June 7: Be Safe
Growth Mindset, AVID, and Character Development Corner
There is a debate in the educational world about the role of homework. How much is just right? What's the purpose - to teach responsibility, to ease the burden of too much to do, to pre-teach, to re-teach, to review, to get projects done? Should parents be expected to help? Should kids be able to do it 100% independently? Do you/how do you differentiate homework? Here are some thoughts from our teaching colleagues:
- What's the right amount of homework - from Edutopia
- NEA's research spotlight on homework - click
- link to the math night resources with ideas/support for math homework, including game based activities - click
- ideas on differentiating homework without making more work for the teacher - from Edutopia
- idea on how to build a child up from doing zero homework to some homework and then growing their capacity from there - from Responsive Classroom
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.
- This week's book:
iReady data Checkin
Our next diagnostic window here! I'm excited to see how our students do given the volume of intervention time we are seeing them engage in.
Please work with your colleagues to arrange for computer access for the assessment window. Remember that Annie has a cart, too, so consider reaching out to her to see if it's available to borrow in your classroom.
Below are the updated reports from last week's iR usage. The goal is to get all of our kids in the 'green zone!' Zoom in so they are more readable.
iReady Math - School Wide (week of 2/25-3/2)
iReady Reading - School Wide (week of 2/25-3/2)
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!
Empathy - from Love & Logic
Those familiar with Love and Logic know that empathy… sincere empathy… frames the approach. It’s the hub around which the entire approach revolves. When we precede consequences with a sincere dose of compassion and concern, we increase the odds that the child will view their poor decision as the “bad guy” while continuing to perceive us as the “good guy.”
Examples:
“I love you. This is so sad. When you guys argue and fight in the car it really drains my energy. One of the ways you can replace this energy is by working together to clean the bathrooms. Will you have that completed by bedtime or by noon tomorrow?”
“I know you love to play videos games. The sad thing is that I don’t feel like I can trust you with the computer right now. What do you think you can do to rebuild this trust?”
When we can provide sincere empathy first, is it far more likely they’ll learn responsibility rather than resentment? Does this also affect our stress level, by enabling us to avoid toxic anger, lectures, threats, frustration, and anger? Does it allow us to parent… or provide discipline in our classroom… without feeling guilty?
Sincere empathy opens the heart and mind to learning.
It enables us to lay our heads on our pillows each night
without harboring regret over how we treated others.
While empathy is powerful, many of us struggle with applying it in consistent ways. Because I can relate to this from a personal perspective, I’ve spent the last two decades grappling with deep questions over why this is the case. Might some of these challenges have to do with forgetting what empathy truly is and is not?
Empathyis about a sincere desire to understand another’s feelings. Empathy is an honest message of caring. Empathy is about maintaining emotional boundaries while showing concern. Empathy is about modeling confidence and strength. Empathy is about forgiving others… and ourselves.
It’s not a flippant, “I know how you feel” or “I’m so sorry.”
It’s not about manipulating or instilling guilt.
It’s not about making the other person’s problem our own.
It’s not about demonstrating weakness.
It’s not about trying to be perfect.
The first and primary rule of Love and Logic involves taking good care of ourselves so we can remain positive role models. As we pursue our desire to become ever more loving and effective parents or educators, does it make sense that doing so involves extending empathy to ourselves?
Upcoming Meetings/Activities
If you find that you can't access the Master Calendar, let Pam or Jen know. We are double checking that all staff has access, but unfortunately, it's a clunky part of Google, and access is a very manual process which means that Jen makes mistakes sometimes! Trying to fix it, though!
Where is Jen This Week?
March 4-8 - onsite with the following exceptions:
- Thurs - offsite in the morning at a SPED training; call the office with any concerns; Jackie C. is TIC and is in her classroom if needed
- Fri. - Jen is leaving at noon; Kristen will be on campus
Where is Kristen This Week?
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.