September 3-6
BRMES Staff ~ Weekly Garden Talk Update
{Week #2}
MONDAY, September 2: Happy Birthday Sara Wolf (Sept. 2)
- NO SCHOOL ~Happy Labor Day!
- iStation Makeups ~ Check in with Michelle/Jamie if you know you have some left to do
- Kinder & NEW students: Hearing and Speech Screenings by Mrs. Drabek
- 2:15-2:45: 4th Grade Team Meeting in Room 297
WEDNESDAY, September 4: B Day: Lunch ~ Mandarin Chicken
- Kinder & NEW students: Hearing and Speech Screenings by Mrs. Drabek
- 8:20: with an annoucement we will be practicing a 'soft Lockdown' which means everyout stays out of hallways. We will walk you through it.
- MAP Testing: 3rd AM / 4th PM
- 12:40-1:05: 1st Grade Team Meeting in Room 297
- 1:10-1:35: Kinder Team Meeting in Room 297
- 2:15-2:45: 2nd Grade Team Meeting in Room 297
- 3:15: PD Impact Team Mtg in Conference Room
THURSDAY, September 5: A Day: Lunch ~ Macaroni & Cheese
Val Out / Mr. Hellhake from MDHS will be 'sub Principal' today as he's working on his Admin. Masters...please welcome him and utilize him for whatever curve balls you wanna throw at him. :)
MAP Testing: AM 3rd Grade Makeups / PM: 4th Grade Makeups / PM: 5th Grade
2:15-2:45: 3rd Grade Team Meeting in Room 297
FRIDAY, September 6: B Day: Lunch ~ Breadstix and Meat Sauce
- Val Out & Donna Out
- 8:45-9:15: 5th Grade Team Meeting in Room 297
- MAP Testing: 5th Grade Makeup
Look at our BLOOMERS!
- There are little slips ready to go (finally)! When a staff member does something great; take a minute a jot them a note. Put them in the 'office' mailbox. I will type them here weekly and then give them to the recepient.
Team Meeting Topics:
Sept. 3-6: Reading Group Focus Meetings in Room 297
Sept. 9-12: Math Group Focus - Start Sept. 23rd?
Sept. 16-19: Behavior
Sept. 23-26: Principal's Agenda
To Do List:
- Into Reading "Texas" manuals: Bring all of these to Jamie's Intervention Room (room 297)
- Pink/Blue Slips: RETURN them to the office by Friday so you don't accidentally toss them or misplace them. You will see them again at the end of the year.
- Internet Agreements: 4th Grade Only (5th grade new students)
- Going Home Information: Be sure to turn those into the office ASAP to input into Powerschool. Keep track in your classroom daily as well.
- Demographics Updates: Turn these in as you get them back from students. We are working to get them all updated in Powerschool.
- Committee Sign Up: LAST CHANCE! Many of you have not yet checked this list. Either add your name or check it. BOLD your name to indicate you are good if you were to continue on that team or ADD and BOLD your name if you'd be interested on that team. Next week; I will clean it up and pick/choose committee members.
- Safe Schools Trainings ONLINE: Are you finished? Email Ginger Hughes if you need help.
- Bitmoji: If you don't have your Bitmoji on the office desk downstairs and you'd like it; ask Jodi how to do it and send her your Bitmoji!
- Webpage/Schoology: Is your webpage updated?
- First Aid Needs/Bandaids: If you are out of bandaids in your emergency/recess bags, stop by the nurse's office and leave a note or stock it.
- OPTIONAL: Sign Up for Health Preventive Screening for September 26th. We will have a few roving subs to help cover classes if they are needed.
- OPTIONAL: Interested in reading a book from home (or wherever) on a specific date from our PTA Facebook page? Sign here here if so.
Staff Notes (send me things you need clarified):
- Benchmarking/Screening Update: Please note the changes in the above schedule per day based on the new laptop carts. Also, the intervention team may be pulling additional students one at a time from classrooms based on benchmarking results for additional screening. It will likely occur during your 'regular' scheduled intervention time. Thank you for your flexibility.
- 2 NEW laptop carts are here and ready to use! They will be housed in the 'east' computer lab for check out. You may reserve a cart OR you may reserve the lab with one cart of laptops. Always make sure you are teaching kids to plug them into carts and keep them charged EVERY time they use them.
- Team Meetings: See another section of the newsletter for the agendas each week. These meetings should happen with your team every week via the agenda. If the agenda is simply 'on your own' that should grant you time to meet as a team on whatever topics are needed (you just won't have a facilitator). Bottom line, it is not figured into your 'prep' time minutes; but designed to give you weekly 'team time'.
- Dismissal Tips/Edits: Bikers/Walkers/Busers...there will be a 'supervisor' at the end of the buses and one towards the front. Students heading towards PLMS should just go straight out bus doors to walk or bus. They can start walking as soon as buses are not moving. Bikers may get their bikes and then begin biking towards PLMS the same way walkers did. Our goal is that buses arrive at PLMS at 3:05. Ideally, we'd love them to be loaded and moving by 3:04. Out front...parent and car pick up...direct ALL students to the big grass area by the Kindergarten Playground! Everyone is being asked to wait in the grass. Cars are loaded when they are passed the crosswalks. Kindergarten teachers/staff are doing a great job escorting our smallest learners to their destination a few minutes before 3:00.
- Outside Recess Times: I'm holding a tight rope on trying to re-teach everyone to ONLY go to the playground when it is your grade levels assigned time outside. If you want to do outdoor learning, exploring, walking, reward recesses; please try to think of another area you could take your class to protect the playground area for the grade level scheduled. Nobody should be outside after 2:50. All dismissal needs to occer from the classroom. I am asking everyone to be a little flexible as we get through fall benchmarking.
- Art Desk: Please do not pile up 'free stuff' or other treasures in Ms. Amy's art desk area of the workroom.
- Fine Arts Rotation Folks: Please offer to stay and help with some management of these classes until these folks are comfortable and feel supported by you.
- PBIS: Eagle Eyes & Expectations: Daily goal is to recognize 5 students with an Eagle Eye. All staff are encouraged to do this. Thank you for teaching those hallway, cafe, playground and classroom expectations! We are taking on specific playground expectatioins/recess rodeo this week for grades K-2. I am waiting till we finish MAP testing to schedule grades 3-5.
- Attendance & Lunch Count: Classroom Teachers: Take an AM and a PM attendance promptly, daily.
- Preferred Sub List: Be sure to set up your AESOP with a few preferred subs if you want the system to call specific people first. The sub pool is slim right now so the sooner you enter a vacancy, the better chances a sub can be found.
- Welcome to Diane & Randy: We have a new medically fragile student in Mrs. Standar/Mrs. Stone's classroom who we very likely may be calling 911 on frequently. If you see medical personnel in a hallway; please be calm and teach your students to re-route. If we call a 'soft lock down' it simply means keep all students out of the hallways for the time being. His parents, Diane & Randy (one of them) will be present in the building as we develop routine with their son. Please welcome them as they just 'hang out' in our building, often in the lounge.
- Update from Jason in Facilities: All heat in the building is OFF. We encourage you to open windows to your room at night. Then in the morning close blinds and windows as soon as you can to prevent the heat from coming in and turn on a fan if you have one. Your classroom vents are set up to circulate the air in your room. We have no AC. They can see the temperatures in your rooms as well.
- Sarah Warner's Meal Train if you're interested in helping her out while she is not feeling well. Meal Train and other help for Sarah W.
PTA NOTES:
- Box Tops: PTA is working to push out notification that all box tops will be electronic and scanned in by receipt this year. If you see receipts coming in from students (or the old box tops); turn them into the PTA mailbox as you get them as they have to upload them with a few weeks. We won't be counting them by classroom anymore. Bottom line - just stick receipts or box tops into PTA box ASAP.
- PTA Student Tshirt Contest will be rolling out the form soon. They will be due back by Oct. 18th. Theme is: Gardening
- PTA Teacher Grants: If there is something you are wanting for your classroom; please consider filling out a PTA form for a grant. They have budgeted a lot of money to hand out; but need applications.
- PTA Facebook Live Readings: I did another 'story book' reading the night before the first day of school. It is easy to do! I'd love to find a staff member per month to do a reading from your home. Sign up here for a Sunday night if you are interested/able/willing. You must have Facebook and will need to get connected as 'admin' to the PTA page to access it from their page.
- PTA Membership: Consider joining the PTA to help show support for the work they do. You are the 'T' in the PTA. Their deadline for membership is November 1st. There are foms on their website or in our office. It is $15. to join for a year.