Monday Memo
Week of April 8 & 15
Jill - Gone week of April 8
What's going on over the next TWO weeks?
Monday, April 8
8:10 Morning Meeting
Tuesday, April 9
Wednesday, April 10
7:15 PLCs - Large group meet in Spanish Room
Spring Picture Day
Thursday, April 11
Friday, April 12
2:15 Funfest
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Monday, April 15
8:10 Morning Meeting
Tuesday, April 16
8:20 K character
Wednesday, April 17
7:15 PLCs - Large group meet in Spanish Room
7:15 Sped Meeting
8:20 1 character
8:30 2 character
Thursday, April 18
7:20 Leadership
8:05 4 character
8:15 5 character
8:25 3 character
2:15 BINGO
Friday, April 19
No School - Spring Break
Disney Spring Break Staff Dress Up Week
Monday - Mickey Monday - Wear a Mickey t-shirt or Mickey colors (black, yellow, red, and white)
Tuesday - Monsters University - Wear a college shirt/sweatshirt
Wednesday - Sleeping Beauty - Wear comfy clothes
Thursday - Toy Story - Find a friend and dress alike!
Recess Duty
April 8
Denise - Kelvin (K-2)
Chris - Jennifer (3-6)
April 15
Ashlee - Karen (K-2)
Toni - Nadine/Gretchen (3-6)
April 22
Sheryl - Robin (K-2)
Jenni - Jenna (3-6)
Let's Read TEAM Academy!
Let's read a book as a school. Feel free to join us! If you have suggestions for other books to read next month let me know!
April book = The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
April Reminders
Requesting time off during MCA testing - As stated in our handbook, we don't want anyone requesting time off during MCA testing. We moved it back a week so we won't start until April 23 and hope to finish by May 3. We want the students to have as normal of a schedule as we can and having all staff here helps a lot! We know things come up, but if you have to leave, try to schedule appointments towards the end of the day.
Student computer use during MCA testing - All student computers will be off limits during MCA testing starting April 17. They will be available again on Tuesday, May 7. They can still be used during the after school and extended day programs. During testing, students will need to be in their classrooms so they do not disturb students. We will be using the K-1 computers for small groups to test and the media center.
Morning Meeting time switch during MCAs - We did this last year and it worked out really well. So our students can prepare for testing and be ready to start at 8:30 we will move All School Morning Meeting to 2:15 on the following dates: April 23, April 29, and May 6. We can move Kindergarten SMART to mornings on those days so they don't miss out.
Student Lunch Bags - Student lunch bags must be kept in their lockers until lunch. We cannot have them contaminating the milk cooler or kitchen coolers. If it needs to be cold, they will need to bring an ice pack. I included this on my weekly call to parents this week and next week.
Next School Year - Our school board will vote on employee agreements at the May 1 meeting. If you know you will not be returning, please let Missy or myself know. Otherwise we will see everyone back in the fall :)
Summer School - Dates are July 9-August 9 - Monday -Thursday each week - 8-11 AM. I'll share the Google form the first week of April if you want to sign up to help plan or work at summer school. I'll set a few dates to get together and brainstorm ideas and get those out to everyone soon!
4-6 Wolf Paw Store - Please date Wolf Paws given to 4-6 graders. They can save them from April 1 - end of year to use at the Wolf Paw Store (open Tuesday mornings in May).
Spring Open House (conferences)
Thursday, May 9, 2019, 03:00 PM
220 17th Avenue Northeast, Waseca, MN, USA
MCA Testing Reminders for grades 3-6
Trainings to complete:
Teachers - Watch 3 Test Monitor Trainings https://mn.tms.pearson.com/
Test Security Training 4:36
Active Monitoring for Statewide Tests 4:13
Preparing for Online Testing 10:11
Once you complete the trainings Missy and I can see that when we log in.
Students - Have your students watch the Student Tutorial http://minnesota.pearsonaccessnext.com/tutorial/
Things to think about before testing
Where will your students test - media center - Kelvin? - Jennifer?
Will you have a seating chart for the media center computers?
If yes - turn into Missy a week before testing
What will kids do when they finish testing?
Will you have breaks during testing?
What will kids do if they need to use the restroom?
Show 5-6 students the formula sheets ahead of time.
Day of testing
Have students at computers when your testing time starts
Missy will place the login tickets on the student computers where they will sit (remember to give her a seating chart if you want them to sit in a specific place). Students will enter their login information
Dairy Queen Night
Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 05:00 PM
Dairy Queen Grill & Chill, North State Street, Waseca, MN, USA
Talent Show!
Good Reads
Daily Five Tip of the Week
Lori Sabo
Issue #560My heartbeat quickened when I saw the 70 percent off advertisement, because I have had my eye on an enameled cast iron pan for quite a while. After going right to the website, I was disappointed to find that the item I have been wanting was not discounted enough for me to afford it. Confused, I looked back at the ad. That is when I saw it . . . the words Up to . . . Ugh! When I initially read it, all that registered in my brain was 70 percent off.
Many of you are shaking your heads, thinking it was obvious from the beginning. And some of you would have internalized the words the same way I did.
The same thing happens in our schools. It is why we are so careful when choosing our words with students. Although 98 percent of our students will hear the whole directive when we say, “Please don’t run in the halls,” 2 percent will hear “run in the halls” and think it is a great idea because they’ll get where they are going much faster.
If we want everyone to hear the message clearly and correctly, we will phrase things in such a way that if they attend only to the end, they will still be successful.
- Not - Don’t sit by your friends. Say - Find a successful spot.
- Not - Don’t walk around. Say - Stay in one place.
- Not - Get started without wasting time. Say - Get started right away.
- Not - Don’t talk to your friends. Say - Read quietly the whole time.
- Not - Don’t quit. Say - Build stamina.
- Not - Don’t pay attention to distractions. Say - Ignore distractions.
Tune in to your written and verbal language this week. See if there are phrases you can tweak so that students, no matter how they hear you, will understand and perform the expectation with accuracy and independence.