Monday Morning Message
Week of March 11, 2019
Please Read This Section Carefully
We have busy few weeks leading up to spring break! Please read this section carefully and the subsequent sections below that relate to upcoming schedules and events. We have made some changes (Sorry Susan, I know you are going to have to White-Out your calendar again!!).
This newsletter contains the following:
- Thursday's PD (Lunch provided for everyone. Sandwiches, salad, chips, etc.)
- RtI check-ins and Student Body Viewing of the School Play
- Eagle Madness BB Tournament
- Teacher of the Year Nominations Due FRIDAY!!!
- Book Room Spring Cleaning
Thursday Professional Development with Dr. Stephanie Loane
The link here is the final draft of the moving pieces for the day, including some shifts for related arts team members. Take a close look and let me know if you have questions or see problems.
Interested in seeing what other grade levels have discussed or refreshing your memory from your own grade level's PLC? Check out this shared document that Beth and Molly put together to capture our conversations. The graphic above is the one that we have used over the past couple of weeks and serves as a nice personal and professional reminder for me.
Upcoming Dates
March 12 - LT Meeting at ESC 9:30-11:30 (Andrew); Staff Meeting @ 2:35 w/ Dr. Stephanie Loane (See info below)
March 14 - 4th Grade ZWest Transition day 9:30-11:00, 1/2 Day PD Sessions (See info below)
March 19 - IREAD-3 Parts I ⅈ Staff Share @2:45
March 20 - IREAD-3 Part III
March 22 - 4th Grade Dad's Club Breakfast @7:15; Eagle Play Dress Rehearsal for student body 9:15-10:15 (No Family Friday. 3rd grade RA time is 10:20-11:20); RtI Check-ins
March 26 - PTO @ 1:15
March 29-April 5 - Spring Break!
April 10 - Kindergarten Round-Up 12:00-6:30
April 15 - NWEA Window opens
April 22 - ILEARN Window opens
May 15 - STEM Night 6:00-7:30
Friday, March 22 RtI Check in
I had originally been advertising a Thursday – Friday related arts schedule switch for the 21st and 22nd. Scratch that! We will stick with our regular schedule for those days aside from the time changes noted below. We will not have Family Friday due to the school play.
8:10-9:10 4th grade Related Arts
*9:15-10:15 School Wide Play Performance/Dress Rehearsal
*10:20-11:20 3rd Grade Related Arts
11:50-12:50 1st Grade Related Arts
1:00-2:00 2nd Grade Related Arts
* indicates change
Eagle Madness Schedule - Week of March 25
Back by popular demand is our award winning March Madness style basketball tournament! Alyssa, Sean and Susan have been working on bringing students into the process this year! Who knows, we could have student referees, score keepers, and coaches. Be on the lookout for some past favorites like Mr. McKinley's 3-point shooting clinic or Miss Rowan breaking down the defense as she drives the lane.
1st Grade Games
Wright vs. Grathwohl - Monday @ 11:45-12:15
Marshall vs. Wright/Grathwohl winner – Tuesday @ 12:00-12:30
Final vs. 2nd grade winner – Thursday @ 8:10-8:40
2nd Grade Games
Schmidt vs. Spencer – Monday @12:15-12:45
Slack vs. Schmidt/Spencer winner - Tuesday @ 12:30-1:00
Final vs. 1st grade winner – Thursday @ 8:10
3rd Grade Games
Grant vs. Burke – Tuesday @1:00-1:30
Werner vs. Grant/Burke winner – Wednesday @ 9:15-9:45
Final vs. 4th grade winner – Thursday @ 10:30-11:00
4th Grade Games
Sinsko vs. Carroll – Monday @ 8:10-8:40
McKinley vs. Shubat – Monday @ 9:30-10:00
Sinsko/Carroll winner vs. McKinley/Shubat winner – Tuesday @11:00-11:30
Final vs. 3rd grade winner –Thursday @ 10:30-11:00
Staff Game – Thursday @1:45-2:15 (Students come down at 1:35. PreK-2 in bleachers, 3-4 sitting on floor around perimeter)
In order to accommodate our Eagle Madness Finals and staff game, we have some shifts to the related arts schedule for Thursday, March 28.
8:10-8:40 - 1st grade vs. 2nd grade Finals
8:40-9:20 - 4th grade related arts
9:20-10:00 - 1st grade related arts
10:00-10:25 - Kindergarten related arts (all kindy)
10:30-11:00 - 3rd grade vs. 4th grade Finals
11:05-11:45 - 3rd grade related arts
12:50-1:30 - 2nd grade related arts
1:45-2:15 - Staff BB Game
Teacher of the Year Nomination
Each spring, we pause to recognize those among us who represent the very best in our profession. Please take a few moments this week to honor a colleague (or more than one, if you so choose) who is worthy of being nominated as Eagle Elementary's Teacher of the Year. All nominations will be shared with staff next the week of March 18 for voting.
Click here to nominate a deserving colleague!
Book Room Spring Cleaning
It’s time to re-inventory the book sets we have in the “book rooms” around the building! Our teams are carefully thinking about which books will be the most engaging for book clubs and for libraries, which shows how much we value student voice and choice. With new grants being requested and funded, it will be important for us to critically take a look at the many book sets we currently have in the book room (library) and in the third and fourth grade storage area. We have closets, shelves, and baskets full of partial/full book sets in both areas that will support clubs for all grades. Some were purchased for particular classes, some were purchased by teachers no longer teaching at EE, some were purchased for the book room specifically, some were cleaned out of back room storage areas and relocated years ago, and some were purchased with our own personal dollars. Because storage is becoming tight, and it is important for us to be responsible stewards of our existing resources, we must work together to determine what we no longer are using and make some room the new resources we are finding to be more valuable.
Each team will be given a specific color of post it note (ex/ third grade = teal). Before spring break, we are asking that each team work together to really spend some time in the book room (library) and book storage (3/4 storage). If your team determines that a particular text set is one that you’ve used in the last year or two please write the title on the post it and mark it with a “+” indicating that it is one that is frequently used in our rotations. If you notice a book set your team has NEVER used please mark it with at “-“ indicating that it should be listed on our consideration for movement. **Nothing will be thrown away, distributed into classroom libraries, or given away at this time – this is just our first step into improving our resource spaces.**
Once we have the sticky notes completed I (Beth Brent) will take all the sticky notes and compile a list of book sets in three columns. One that lists books heavy in our rotation, books that are infrequently used (but used some), and books that don’t get used anymore. From there we will make plans as a team on what to do with the infrequent and unused books.
THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE SHORT GUIDED READING BOOKS IN THE ZIP LOCK BAGS in the library book room that are leveled by guided reading level and sorted by topic or level. We can tackle/rearrange those to fit needs at a later point in time if needed. Our focus now are the MANY book sets that are used for book clubs or small groups.
Beth Brent
PLC Corner
Forget everything I mentioned in previous newsletters about switching Thursday and Friday RA on 3/21 and 3/22. We will have normal Thursday schedule and normal Friday schedule with the exception of the 3rd grade time shifted to 10:20-11:20.
- 3/15 - No PLC (We will have just had our 1/2 day PD the day before)
- 3/22 - RtI/MTSS Check in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Kindy (Alternating Thursdays):
- 2/21 (7:50-8:45) - RtI/MTSS Check in
Future Think Tank Opportunities
- First, here is the link to the recorded Think Tank from before winter break. The sound is excellent!
- Talk with your team and sign up here!!!