HAWK HAPPENINGS
The official newsletter of Hillcrest Elementary Staff
December 16 -- LOOKING AHEAD
MUST READ
Weekly Announcements
Teachers: when it is your class' turn, please send your 2-3 volunteers to the office right away so they can begin announcements at 8:30.
Hillcrest Holiday Gathering
MATH HAPPENINGS
Following up on the faculty meetings and Superintendents Conference Day trainings focusing on math, Dr. Ardito has been visiting classrooms to see our young mathematicians in action. He continues his visits this week on TUESDAY. Watch for a schedule from Crystal to be released on Monday. If you are scheduled for a visit this week, kindly email Gerald at gardito@pace.edu to let him know (1) what you will be doing and (2) how you would like him to be involved (as an observer, jumping in to co-teach, as a coach to kids, etc.)
Math Log to Appear on Reading Log in January
Beginning in January, our Reading Log will become known as Homework Log because it will not simply be Reading Log, written response, but will also include a place for students to records which math facts they are focusing on, how long they are practicing, and in what ways they are practicing. This can later be used by student and teacher to examine how students seem to learn best by comparing their log to their growing fact fluency: do they retain more when they use flash cards, a board game, an online game, or a combination of all of them? To see the revised Homework Log, click here.
Math Fact Fluency Homework UPDATE
A small subgroup of teachers will be piloting a system for:
- diagnosing students' current levels of fact fluency in order to place them within a phase of learning
- providing students with materials for ongoing practice
- monitoring and re-assessing student growth over time
Stay tuned for more information soon!
LITERACY HAPPENINGS
DDI Session 2 this week
Please see the calendar for your grade level team's assigned date this week for your Data Driven Instruction meeting. By now most of you have updated the new Student Reading Tracker, which will provide additional data over time to the WIN teacher of your students, as well as the After School teacher of your students. If you need to add any additional information, it can be found HERE. This week we will use DDI time to look to the future and plan WIN group revisions to start in January.
FINISH 2018 STRONG!
Squawk Challenge
NOT ALWAYS "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" FOR EVERYONE
I'm re-running this piece from a November Hawk Happenings, because it is worth repeating this week as students prepare to enter into a break from school structures, and holidays that may bring strong emotions and anxiety to the surface:
While we may be looking forward to the holidays, and all that may mean to us, it's important that we keep our excitement and enthusiasm in check. We may be looking forward to special meals (or FEASTS!) with family and friends, social events and parties, "Secret Santas" and gift-giving, re-living heart-warming memories of holidays past...but for many families in our community, it is not "the most wonderful time of the year." Each commercial on television, each time someone asks "what do you want for Christmas?", each decoration they pass in town, each carol played on the radio, reminds them of the struggles they face and the gap between the ideal holiday of their dreams and the reality of their current situation. Please be mindful of this as we enter into the holiday season. Remember, too, that this time of year can bring added stress to many families, which can impact us at school in many ways. Parents may not be as responsive, or as positive in their responses, as they would like to be. Children may feel the stress at home and come to school carrying additional "invisible" baggage.
Also, between November 1 and January 15, there are about 29 holidays celebrated by 7 of the world's major religions. While most of our families likely celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, we can't make the assumption that they do, or that they celebrate them in the same ways as me and you. Relationships are the most important part of our work with families, and it is very easy to have a negative impact on the relationship by making assumptions: that someone celebrates a certain holiday, doesn't celebrate a certain holiday, that someone will struggle during the holidays to make ends meet, that someone has enough resources to celebrate like you and me, etc.
Enjoy all that the holidays have to offer, but please be mindful that not everyone experiences the holidays in the same way.
NO NAME CALLING WEEK January 21-25
As a learning organization, we are compelled to become more aware and inclusive regarding gender roles and sexual orientation; it's a good time to reflect on your own language and classroom practices and consider how they might impact a student who identifies as gay, transgendered, etc. While we have 3rd to 5th graders and this may not be an important topic for all of our students, it can be a very important topic for a few, and the language we use and the examples we set in our behavior can make a world of difference to even one young life.
IMPROVING FAMILY COMMUNICATION
Classroom teachers: You can do this as a grade level group as part of a meeting, or you can divide it up between teachers on your grade level to do during technology time one morning.
Specials teachers: Please fill in the information for each table (each grade and each special class). Some of you will have similar information for each table because you are teaching similar units across grades/classes; kindly copy and paste and make any tweaks or adaptations as needed for each table.
You can access the document HERE.
After School Program -- Deadline for applications!!!
Guest Reader Week/Polar Express week
Wednesday and Thursday are Polar Express days! Watch for a schedule from the Reading Team!
FOOD PANTRY THIS WEEK
SHOULD READ
Including ALL
We all have seen examples of how students have been able to rally around peers who struggle in one way or another. This is a moving brief animated video about inclusion at recess; it's about 6-7 minutes (it looks longer because of the final credits -- but definitely worth a watch.)
Watch IAN.
Deadline looming: WANTS and NEEDS
Hillcrest WANTS and NEEDS Budget 2019-20
Be sure to access to the proper tab in the spreadsheet (WANT or NEED).