JM Staff Bulletin
Week of March 21, 2016
4 MORE DAYS!
Dear Awesome Teachers and Staff,
I'd like to begin this week's message by saying THANK YOU to Ben and all of you who came out for STEAM Night! It was a tremendous success! Several parents came up to me to say how thrilled they are to be part of the Joaquin Miller community. :)
We have a new lunch time plan that I've included below. It would be super helpful if you could go over this new plan with your students on Monday. I will place a copy of the plan in your boxes.
I have started a Book List for teachers! Click on the link the see the title of books already on the list and add titles of books you would like me to purchase with TGDS funds.
innerExplorer Mindfulness Program
At my principal PD this past Thursday, we learned about a mindfulness program called innerExplorer. It is an easy to use online program for teaching mindfulness in the classroom. I signed us up for a FREE three year membership and entered information for each of your classrooms. The program is as simple as pressing play on their website for a 10 minute mindfulness lesson. There are 90 sessions in the program. Research shows that disciplinary issues decline and academic performance increases with use of this program. I figured since it's free we could give it a shot! I believe there is a brief online training for teachers. I will let you know when I learn more about this. You can check out the program by going to www.innerexplorer.org. You should also be receiving an email from innerExplorer.
Additional Lexia Licenses Needed
I just set up a GoFundMe page to to raise funds for 30 more Lexia licenses. The link is: https://www.gofundme.com/nctt7h7g
Please share this link with your students' families and on social media if you have not done so already. We have already raised enough for 12 additional licenses!
Now is the time to use Donors Choose!
Stephen Colbert has begun a campaign to engage celebrities to fulfill Donors Choose requests. See the video clip here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-colbert-best-school-day-donors-choose-funding-american-classrooms-in-need/
Parking Update
If you are unsure as to where your new parking spot is, please email Mr. McCord at benjamin.mccord@ousd.org.
PLC Extra Duty Hours
DON'T FORGET TO SIGN THE "PLC ONLY" TIMESHEET AND SITE TIME REPORT IN THE OFFICE FOR BOTH PLC HOURS FOR THIS MONTH!
Yard Duty!
Please remember to be outside for your scheduled yard duty times!! Set a reminder on your phone or computer if necessary. Thanks!
Attendance!
Overall we are doing much better with getting our attendance submitted on a daily basis. Keep up the good work!
Principal's 10K Book Reading Challenge!
The Challenge technically ends on the 23rd, our Reading Celebration Day, but we will continue to read if we haven't reached our goal. Please remind students to log what they read and turn in their sheets so we know where we stand in relation to our goal!
With appreciation,
Sara
This Week
Monday: SST (Oliver) at 8:00; Sara to visit classrooms between 9:00 and 10:00; IEP (Reid) at 10:30; ILT at 3:00, Personnel Committee meeting at 3:30
Tuesday: COST at 8:00; IEP (Wooliever) at 8:45; IEP (Williams) at 11:30; FC Meeting at 3:00; Mills Teacher Scholars event (Robinson and Porter) at 5:30
Wednesday: 2/3 assembly (8:50); K/1 assembly (9:30); 4/5 assembly (10:15); Grade level planning at 2:10; PLC at 3:10
Thursday: Sara off-site at Principal PD until 1:00; IEP (REID) AT 1:30
Friday: SPRING BREAK, BABY!
Weekly Deliverables (To-Dos)
- Finish your peer observations if you haven't done so already
- Send a message to your parents via Konstella or email about what's happening in your class! (Remember: the more they know, the less they make up.)
- Remind 3rd-5th graders to get on Learnstorm!
- Get kids on Lexia and try out Mathletics!
- Send parent letter home for students currently on Lexia. (See Helene for the letter.)
- Check Konstella and your OUSD email often.
- Submit COST referrals as needed.
- Pat yourself on the back for being amazing!
- Breathe.
Upcoming Dates- Not including this week
New Lunch Time Plan!
New Plan for the Lunch Period (DRAFT) – 3/21/16
K-2 TIMELINE
11:55: The kindergarteners, first-graders, and second graders go out to play on the big yard.
12:05: A whistle is blown ONCE to indicate it is time for the buyers to go to the cafeteria to buy/pick up their lunches.
12:08: A whistle is blown TWICE to indicate it is time for all students remaining on the yard to stop playing, put equipment away, get their lunches, and find a place to eat.
12:26: A whistle is blown ONCE to indicate is it time for students to clean up their areas, but remain seated. Noon supervisors, the principal, and adult volunteers will walk around to ensure all trash is being picked up.
12:27: A whistle is blown TWICE to indicate it is time for students to dispose of their trash in the proper receptacles and then go to their designated lines.
· Mrs. Glick's class will line up in front of her portable.
· Mrs. Oliver's class will line up in front of her portable.
· Remaining kindergartners, first-graders, and second graders will line up in three lines in front of portable 15. For now, we will mark the beginning of these lines with chalk.
12:30 A noon supervisor or adult volunteer will walk the students to the little yard where they will be picked up by their teachers.
3-5 TIMELINE
12:15: third, fourth, and fifth graders come out to play on the big yard on the far side of the yellow line. They may also use the play structure and the wall ball wall.
12:30: A whistle is blown ONCE to indicate that buyers may go to the cafeteria to get their lunches.
12:33: A whistle is blown TWICE to indicate it is time to stop playing, put equipment away, get their lunches, and find a place to eat.
12:45: A whistle is blown ONCE to indicate it is time for students to clean up their areas, but remain seated. Noon supervisors, the principal, and adult volunteers will walk around to ensure all trash is being picked up.
12:48: a whistle is blown TWICE to indicate it is time for students to dispose of their trash in the proper receptacles and then go to their designated lines.