Week of May 1 - May 5

This coming week is Teacher Appreciation Week at Jefferson.  I want to take just a minute to tell you thank you for all you to for our kids.  You do not hear it nearly enough, but you truly are the difference makers for 620 students.  They need you.  They will remember you.  They will remember the way that you looked at them with hope and possibility.  Thank you for all you do for our little ones and our school!

Here's the schedule of fun events this coming week to celebrate you!

• Monday:  Please find a box of candy and your lunch ticket for Tuesday in the lounge.
• Tuesday:  Lunch provided in the Staff Lounge.
• Wednesday:  Breakfast provided in the Staff Lounge.
• Thursday:  Concession Stand in the Staff Lounge.
• Friday:  Oscar Awards - Please pick up your award in the Staff Lounge.

New Babies are the Best!

For those of you who worked with David Palmer, he and his wife have been blessed with a sweet little one!

Jocelyn Palmer

Born 3/21

8 lbs, 19.5 inches

Everyone is happy and healthy.




New Bridges Math Materials
Your new materials will be delivered very soon.  Please open the boxes ONLY after reading the Quick Start Guide.  I will provide you with a copy.  It will make these SO much easier.  Trust me.  This is KEY.


Bus Bells
Please help us make sure that your students are released at the right bells.  We would like to ensure that teachers are walking out to the bus with their teachers at the bell.  We have had a few buses held up for students running late. Thanks for helping with this issue.

Bus Evacuation Practice
Don't forget to include the bus evacuation practice in your lesson plans next week.

Final Progress Monitors
Your final progress monitors and IRI are happening in the next couple of weeks.  Elara will help with Star Testing.  Please ensure you have each student take the MCOMP and have that recorded by the 12th.

Have a great weekend!

Week of April 24th - April 28th

Thought you might find this amusing!  A few details A ton of details  for the upcoming weeks. If you decide to play Gerry Brook's game, could you leave me in a dark room with a blanket and pillow please.  :D  Just saying!  Have a great weekend!  Angie

Secretaries Breakfast

The District will be honoring secretaries with a special breakfast on Wednesday at 9AM.  Maria and Maria will be helping us cover the office.  Please be aware of this so we can go easy on them during first recess.  

We are SO grateful for Anne and Emily and all that they do for us!

Last Jefferson Gives Day - Dress Up Like Your Favorite Character

Friday the 28th is our last Jefferson Gives Day.  Plan your costume know.  We'll have more details on the announcements on Monday.

Computers May Behave in Strange New Ways!

Info from Dale:

We are working with Idaho Power on an Energy Efficiency Program.  The program is designed to provide financial incentives as well as reduce power consumption also saving the district money, which can be used for other things.

We have a list of items we will be working on the next several months.  One of these matters has been implemented.  I don’t think it will have a negative impact, but you may see a change.  Chris applied power policies to staff and student computers referenced the other day in our energy meeting.  Staff computers will “sleep” after an hour and require password unlock.  They will completely shut down at 11:00PM.  Student computers will “sleep” after 15 minutes of non-use, require no password unlock and will completely shut down at 5:00PM.

The password unlock was applied on teacher computers, because we found teachers leaving programs open while not attending their computer.  For example, grade books have been left running, making it accessible to students.  This will help provide greater network security as well as saving energy.

To take a student computer out of “sleep” mode all they need to do is move the mouse or press the space bar.

Evaluations
Toni and I will be finishing the Charlotte Danielson portion of everyone's evaluations by the middle of next week and setting up appointments.  Please make sure to accept the appointments so we know you'll be able to make the time.

BoxTop Information for the End of the Year
Prizes for current classes needing them April 27 @10.

Last collection date May 19

Last day to award prizes May 22nd.

Liz's Big Take-Aways from the Federal Programs Conference

1.  There is a huge word deficit between children living in poverty and those who are not living in poverty.  It's  a 30-40 million word deficit.

2.  We attended an intervention session that gave us a flow chart for interventions and programs to use.  It was nice to see that what we are doing is very similar to what they were doing.  I think it would be helpful for us to create a similar flow sheet and use it to help in data team meetings.

3.  There was a very powerful message with one of the speakers about being a beacon of hope for students.  One student credited a para for being the reason he graduated from high school instead of being in jail or dead.  I thought this was super powerful.  The para mostly fed the student and helped him with his homework.

Children's Choices Meeting
Dr. Stan Steiner, a Children's Literature Professor from BSU, and the reason I buy so many books, will be in the library on May 11th at 3:15 to tell us about the Children's Choice Book Award.  We are hoping to participate.  It will bring brand new just-published books to our kids next year and they get to decide which ones they like....and the books get to stay in your classrooms when it is all said and done!  If you have questions you can ask Shawn, Patti or Jody.

 22nd.

Week of April 17th - April 21st

Wishing you and your family a Happy Easter!

Coming up this week

• Monday - PTO Meeting After School
• Tuesday - Wednesday - Kindergarten Registration at the District Office Gym
• Wednesday - 1st Grade Field Trip
• Friday - 2nd Grade Field Trip
• Friday - Monthly Progress Monitors Due

End of the Year Details - In case you are planning

We got finally got word about how the snow days might affect our end of the year events and hours.  Kindergarten Graduation will remain on Tuesday, the 23rd.  The last day of school will be an early release like a Friday.  We will serve lunch.

How Does Idaho Measure Up in Supporting ELs
NPR has created a site called 5 Million Voices.  It has a variety of news and information on supporting EL students.  I thought this article with infographics comparing states was pretty interesting.

Short Clips about Growth Mindset
Thanks for sharing Ashlee!  This is a fun list of resources.
https://www.weareteachers.com/perfect-read-alouds-for-teaching-growth-mindset/

Would You Like to Use Book It! in Your Classrooms Next Year?
I can order this incentive for us as a school.  Please let your BLT member know if you are interested.


Lost and Hopefully Found
The lost and found is over flowing! Please take a few minutes to visit the lost and found with your kids after a recess.

Fresh Starts for Kids
There are plenty of kids who could use a fresh start from us each day. This article had some good points that had me reflecting. Maybe it'll fill your take for the end of the year.

Federal Programs Conference Thoughts and Ideas
I asked the folks who attended the Federal Programs Conference to share some of their insights, resources or questions to share with you.  Here are a few.  More to come next week.

Patti:
One good take away was to have a visual for the data team/intervention process.  We saw a flow chart that I thought was very useful especially at the beginning of the year.  It would help teams if this chart included lists of interventions that we have access to and showed which areas of deficit they targeted. It also might be helpful to have the flow chart tailored to each grade level. 

Another great take away is to give teachers a behavior plan form that they could complete for students that needed help above the regular classroom plan.  This standardization of using the same form for students would allow for better collaboration and discussion about a student's needs.  It would be completed by the classroom teacher and modified as needed to support the student. 

Last but not least, we should participate in Dr. Steiner's book reviews.

Lisa:
1.The Grump Meter:  I really like how this tool allows students to become aware of their feelings.  I plan to start using it next week.  It will not stop the behaviors at first but hopefully, as the student becomes aware of how he/she is feeling then this will lead to conversations on self-regulation and what are the triggers and how to calm down before the feeling escalates.

2. Dr. Luis Cruz: I liked how Dr. Cruz used his personal examples of how we as teachers can bring about positive change in our students' lives by coming together with a common goal (mission statement) and following through with productive PLCs.   I plan on creating my professional goal for next year around the work of Dufour and wonder if anyone else would like to join.

#3 Class of '27 Documentary

One statement from this video has circulated in my mind over and over.  The statement is:  We feed them on Monday so they can learn on Tuesday.  I feel that we have so many food insecure students that even though they come on Monday and can eat breakfast that it still isn't enough.  If they truly have not had much to eat for the last two days I can see that it would take a while for little tummies to feel full.  Liz, Nicole and I have thought about writing some grants to have a little food pantry where students can come anytime and have a snack.

Nicole:

- We have to be an advocate for all kids...ALL kids!

- There's actual places to check your intervention/curriculum with research-based reports!

- It was awesome to see Idaho Falls' RTi process, and realize how close ours is to it..we just need to map ours out more specifically!