Sunday Shakedown
Weekly Memo for Washington Elementary
Principal Post
Thanks, celebration and appreciation:
- Thank you to Lisa Hazlett for assisting in the office this week
- Thanks to Pam Whitlock for a generous offer of testing prep help
- Thanks to all teachers and assistants for welcoming visitors this week for instructional rounds, it is a great way to host professional learning
- Thanks to all our resident teachers for flexibility while we were short staffed lately
- Thanks to Sue and Amy for working diligently to get our testing materials/schedules organized.
- Thanks for all who have helped call cars this week, it has been a couple weeks of hectic scheduling
- Thanks to Laura for her diligence in our tier two supports, the other schools were so intrigued by our progress
- Thanks to Renee Blevins for working so hard to call doctors on our behalf, the info is so helpful
- thanks to Dena and Sally for offering to help with the Patriot Promise celebration
- Prayers for Alicia H as she recovers from a head injury
- Thank you for recognizing each other. I have already seen our "Heart of a Patriot" necklace make it around to three staff members, please keep your eyes out to celebrate each other.
Week of April 17-21
Tuesday:
First day of testing
Wednesday:
Testing continued
Thursday:
PTA Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Testing continued
Progress reports go home
Friday:
Make up testing
Future dates to be aware of:
April 26 Birthdays with the Principals
April 27 RTI-Tentative-based on testing we will likely re-schedule
April 28 Club time
May 1: Assistant Luncheon 11-1
May 3-5 MTOS for fifth grade
May 10th Patriot Celebration
May 15 Promotion Practice 1:00; Faculty vs. Fifth grade kickball (let us know if you want to play, tshirt orders available-check email, and patriot pops for all audience members)
May 17 Promotion 1:00
May 18 Half day for students, last day of school 12:15
May 19 Adminstrative day for all employees
The "Heart" of a Patriot
Professional Musings
Recap
Many of you are already using Recap but some may not know about it. Recap is an online resource where students can record themselves answering a question, giving a summary, or explaining the steps in solving a problem. Students can record for up to two minutes. Setting up a class is very quick and easy. This would be a great resource for all grade levels. Not only does it give you an opportunity to watch your students share their thinking, it is a great tool to build oral language in the primary grades. For example, students could listen to a story or read a book. Afterwards they could go to Recap and record a quick summary or tell something about their favorite part. Many online resources are grade-band specific, but this is a resource that could easily be adapted to meet the needs of every grade level. Below is the link for you to explore. If you are interested in trying this with your class, please let me know. If you are interested in seeing this used in the classroom, I can help you schedule a time to go see Recap being used by students and teachers. See link below for more information.
Keep in mind anyone that is interested in using Canvas, we can add all resources to your Canvas Course for easy access.
Notions from our Nurse:
- Best practice in guidelines for clinic visits have 3 goals: to ensure students needing immediate medical attention can be seen in a timely manner, to ensure that the sutdent with chronic medical conditions have propt access to care, and to improve instructional time in the classroom thus improving academic performance.
- Please carry nurse referral forms with you outside. Write your own name as the person referring, even if you are a student teacher (i.e. Sarah H for C. Nidiffer), so I know who to contact
- Please remember that stomachaches are often not something we cannot treat. Usually, if there is no fever, the first step is to encourage a trip to the bathroom or a snack.
- Please send one student at a time unless it is an emergency
- Scrapes can be treated with bandaids in the classroom, unless it involves the head
- Warm weather: Encourage students to bring water bottles to school and drink plenty of fluids , this will cut down on a variety of minor/major illnesses. I tell kids to drink one whole normal sized bottle before lunch and one after.
- We do not dispense medicine at the end of the day because we do not want to send students home walking or on buses where their reaction to the medicine may not be witnessed
- Renee is suggesting that we limited clinic visits to emergencies after 2:30, so she can complete paperwork on the days' visitor without delay
For Your Information
The refrigerator, once again, has been turned “off” on the inside and everything in it had to be thrown away. If you could please remind the students that they are not allowed in the refrigerator and to ask an adult to get what they need out. There are two signs on it saying “No students allowed. Adults only.” This has become a problem with it being turned off and the items being thrown away.
We are still awaiting a visit from the fire marshal, please be prepared and check with Vicki if you are unsure about any materials in your learning center.
We have new basketball goals on the blacktop-with this addition, we will need to make sure that a zone is added to our supervision map. One adult must be by the bench between the blacktop and playground. Please take some time with your classes to discuss procedures. Remember, we do not have referees, high top tennis shoes, etc. so we cannot expect fair play of true games. These are for shooting, passing, and "horse" type games. When we make it a competitive game, due to the age of our children, they may not be able to monitor fouls, double dribbling, etc. with fairness. Please make sure they understand the distinction between competitive games and play.
Educator Liability Insurance Coverage Available
In 2015, the General Assembly adopted the Educator Protection Act, which created the Tennessee Educator Liability Fund (Public Chapter 493). The fund provides excess liability insurance coverage to all public school teachers and student teachers assigned to public schools and protects against damages or claims arising out of the performance of their work and within the scope of their employment or assignment. The coverage is automatically provided to teachers and student teachers at no cost. The fund is administered by the State Board of Claims, which is attached to the Tennessee Department of Treasury. Additional information, including a “Frequently Asked Questions” document, program guidelines, and a claim form, is available through the Treasury website (here). If questions, please contact Maryanne Durski or the Division of Risk Management and Claims Administration within the Treasury Department at (615) 741-2734.
Faculty vs. Fifth Grade Kickball
You can pay with cash or check! The envelope will be in the office with Amy.