Friday Focus
September 16, 2016
Thought of the Week. . .
Students who are loved at home come to school to learn, and students who aren't come to school to be loved.
--Nicholas A. Ferroni
This Week's Scoop
- Friday when the bell rings at either 7:50, 7:55, or 8:55, take a minute to check the time your watch or phone says. We will never get our clocks in sync because they are not centrally connected. However, we will run more smoothly if everyone is on the same time. The official time at MDE is marked by the bells that ring, so figure out how many minutes you need to add or subtract from your personal time device so that you can sync up with MDE time.
- Want to tweet from your classroom but feel nervous about putting student faces "out there"? You've probably noticed that some photos have smilies over the students' faces. It's easy to add these through the Twitter app. As long as you cover the faces, you're protecting all students. Ask me or your colleagues if you'd like to see how this works.
- I know I haven't been in classrooms much this week. I want you to know this is because I've been doing goals conferences, attending district meetings, and going to PTA coffees. I will get back to my visits next week, and I'm looking forward to it! Visiting your rooms is the best part of my job.
- Parents have started signing up to help monitor for lunch duty. Please give me honest feedback as to how it is going. Also, please email me guidelines you think we need to put into place to make it useful to you have them helping in the cafeteria.
- Thank you for your hard work on Back to School Night. I know it's tiring to stay into the evening and to do a presentation for parents. I heard lots of positive comments and statements of how much you are appreciated.
- If you haven't already done so, please take a few minutes to join the MDE PTA to show them how much we appreciate their support.
Our Four Be's
- Be Professional & Positive
- Be Flexible & Open to Ideas with Emphathy (without judgment or when people do not agree)
- Be Committed to Supporting Each Other & Building Camaraderie (through clear and frequent communication)
- Be Confidential and Trustworthy
See if you can quote the gist of each one from memory!
Some photo highlights tweeted this week. . . .
Storytelling in Hayley's class
MDE students being coached by MHS future coaches
Ana teaching a lesson in Anne's class
2nd graders setting up their writing journals
Callie's students building a 3D number line
Kim's students playing "I have who has:
Interesting reading. . .
Are you giving your students extra physical activity breaks throughout the day? There's good reason to believe it's going to pay off in their learning throughout the school year. Click here to see why I say this.
PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS. . . .
Remember--Every Thursday is a team lunch day!
September 17: Julie Borg's birthday
September 19-23: Book Fair Week
September 19: Culture and Climate Committee Meeting
September 19: Progress Report Grades due
September 21: Pinwheels for Peace
September 21: Google Apps for Education training
September 23: Progress reports go home
September 25: Talya Robertson's birthday
September 26-30: Go Gold Week
October 3: CIT Meeting
October 3: Ann Shepherd's birthday
October 10: Holiday
October 11-14: Success Week (AKA college and career week)
October 12: PK Mother Goose performance
October 12: PTA General Meeting
October 13: PTA teacher luncheon