Week of March 13th - March 16th

I know, that you know, that I have a weird sense of humor.  But, this principal cracks me up!  And I'm certain that we all could use a little more "whimsy" in our days.  Please watch and enjoy a little giggle just to break up your day.  Remember, only 5 more 'work' wake ups until Spring Break, which has an extra day this year!

Here are a few details for the week(s) ahead!

Conferences
Anne has some popular dinner choices set up for everyone on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Make sure that your schedule has a break built in so you can get something to eat.  Tuesday is Wild Rice Soup and Wednesday is Scarrow's Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  If you are in need of something slightly different to fill you up for the conference evening, please let me know ASAP.

Contract hours for all certified staff are 4:00-8:00PM on Tuesday and Wednesday.  This is a swap of time for having Friday off.

As part of your evaluation, parent survey data needs to be included.  We will have flyers for you to give families at the time of your conference, and we will have the computer lab open for families to use.  It is important to have as many parents as you can take this for you.  This year's data will be included in your evaluation file. This is slightly different from past years where the data needed to be considered.

Please also do your best to get updated phone numbers from families without this eating up too much conference time.

Lastly, don't forget to have the Summer School forms ready.  I can't overemphasize how important it is to keep those forms here at school.


GT Testing
Miriam will be testing all third graders next week in the lab.  They will be using the lab all day on Tuesday, March 14th.  We planned this with the team, but I apologize to all of you who have computers on Tuesdays.  I forgot to get it on the Jefferson Elementary Events Calendar.

Technology Idea
Have you seen Flippity ? I will need to take a little more time exploring this app, but Janet recently used it in a staff meeting and it was a lot of fun!  You might check it out if you are looking for a new way to engage your kids in content.

Carnival Thank You!
You guys rock!  So does our PTO.  We are blessed!  We thought last year was a good year, but we earned nearly the same this year.  We are well on our way to getting document cameras for classrooms.  We are waiting on a Northwest Farm Credit Matching Grant to see where we are in the budget, but we will begin looking at unit prices and specs.  Thanks for all you contributed to make this happen!

Lucy Calkin's Writing Units and Els
I thought this was a quick and thoughtful blog post about using the units with ELs.  There is also a nice reference PDF.  I hope it might spark some connections for you.

ISAT Testing
A reminder that ISAT Testing will begin on April 3rd.  We are going to aim for 3 weeks of testing, but plan for 4.  There will be no computer specials during this time.

Dual Immersion Update
We will have applications ready for families at Parent Teacher Conferences if families ask.  Here are a few details;

• All new kindergarten applications will be on a lottery basis with preference given to families with siblings already in the program and teachers.  Like last year, we will be filling 50% from English speaking families and 50% from Spanish speaking families.
• We will also accept applications for 1st grade, but we only have about 12 spot available.
• We will also accept applications for 2nd grade, but there likely will be very few spots available and students will need to have quite a bit of Spanish.
• All applications will be due on Friday, May 5th by the end of the day.  We will do the lottery and notify families by the following week.

Please direct any other questions families may have to the office.  Thanks!

Parking Concerns
There have been a few recent concerns about parking.  Here are a few things we will be addressing after visiting in BLT.

• Part of the concern may be signage.  We are working to identify lots, especially in the South Parking Lot by Kindergarten, as 'staff only'.
• We will be reminding subs that they need to be parking in the front and checking in at the front doors.  The only exception might be Karen Ritchy, who is practically on the staff.  :)  We'll do this gently, because we still want them to feel welcome in our building.
• General rule of thumb, please park in a lot closest to your hallway.

Cool Math Games
Here's a heads up.  Cool Math Games is not an approved district site.  In fact, there may be some questionable material on this site, including games where fighting is part of the 'fun.'  A couple of teachers had noticed some aggression from students who were choosing this site.  At this time, I would recommend that we use other resources when it comes to choice time.  Please let me know if you have concerns that are pro Cool Math Games.  I am open to this discussion.

7 Habits Family Training
This is mostly for information, but we will be hosting families for a 7 Habits Family Training on April 11th, 18th, and May 2nd from 5:30-7:00.  This will be on a first sign up basis for 50 families.  They will be given the workbook (Thank you United Way for the grant!) and a copy of the 7 Habits of Happy Kids picture book.  We think this will be a good first step in helping families understand the language of the habits.


Data Teams Wednesday, March 29th
We will use the school-wide data you are collecting this week to discuss how kids are progressing on the 29th.  This is a heads up for planning, since this is the Wednesday that we return from break.

Family STEAM Night
We are excited to host this evening of fun with science, technology, engineering, arts and math on Thursday, April 13th.  If you are one of the teachers from your grade level hosting, please watch for an email from Liz and Nicole as they help us organize and plan.  It will be coming up quickly as we return from break.  A little good news:  We got a $1000 grant to be able to send families home with books and projects! I'm very excited about this!

Some Great Math Sites

Pattern Block Designs?  Here you go!

Virtual Manipulatives for every age?  Got them right here.

Greg Tang's books are great, but check out these games!

Interesting New Method
Janet learned of this new method for delivering information to students.  I am very curious about it myself and will be doing some more reading.  Check out this video if you are curious.

Phonemic Awareness Ideas
Liz, Nicole, BLT and I have been talking a lot about the phonemic awareness gap we are seeing in our K-1 students.  Some new research is indicating the impacts of this on students of poverty.  As I look into this, I was reminded of these engaging activities from Reading Rockets.  Thought they might be helpful for interventions.

I may be missing a few pieces, but I'll send those out through email as needed.  Happy almost Spring Break!

Angie