Week 3

Great Things I Noticed:

• Judid Esquivel organizing and starting The 100 Mile Club!  She has worked hard to make the process easier for all of you!  
• Students engaged in our discipline classroom conversations!  Thank you for all of your front loading during the first few weeks of school, it has been a pleasure to be in your classroom! 
• Danielle organizing our Read 180 and reading intervention and getting those up and running for our students! 
• Team leaders coming together and inspiring me with their collaboration and great ideas!  
• Clarissa organizing the Character Counts curriculum and with Lorenzo's help hanging the new banners! 
• Kindergartner's in Mrs. Little's class working with pattern blocks and academic language (asking for more "trapazoids")!
• Mrs. Lasak's Kinders going on a music parade after reading about Jazz music!  

Nuts and Bolts:

• The Leadership Team along with Clarissa and myself will be attending the Excellence Through Equity Conference on 9/21 and 9/22.  You can find out more about the conference at: http://www.rcoe.us/leadership-institute/excellence-through-equity-conference-2017/ .  It is my hope that we walk away from the conference with a renewed sense of purpose and a starting point for our discussion about equity and access for all of our students.

• Mr. Hara will be Admin Designee while we are away.  Please handle any non emergency issues for those two days.  Clarissa and I will be available through email and phone, and will follow up on any discipline Monday. 

• Please calendar the Team Meeting on September 27th  - we will have Janet Sewell (K-2) and Andy Stekevich (3-6) presenting "We've Dieble'd, now what?" to primary and upper grade levels.  

• International Day of Peace will be celebrated at Hawthorne on Monday, 9/25.  Watch for an email with more details next week.  Here is the link for the pinwheels: http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/pinwheelsforpeace/home.html

• REEF Grants are due October 9th - Here is the link: http://www.reef4rusd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/REEF-2017-Teaching-grant-application-1.pdf

• K-6 ELA/ELD Writing Assessments The Writing Assessment sequence for 2017-2018 is:
• 1st Trimester: Informative/Explanatory
• 2nd Trimester: Opinion/Argument
• 3rd Trimester: Narrative
• It is recommended that results of each trimester writing assessment follow Cycle of Inquiry to analyze results to plan meaningful instructional responses. Access K-6 2017-2018 ELA Assessment Table here. Contact Marie Coover if you have any questions.

• Dibels scanning deadline is 9/29

• Kellie Nunez will be joining our school as a student teacher in Marian Lasak's class - she starts on Monday!  

• Please let me know if you are interested in using (or have used) Discovery Education Streaming in your classrooms.  

• Continue to collect Packet and Miles of Smiles information (Miles of Smiles can be turned in daily) from your students.   

• Please review recess duty schedule - it has been revised and please ensure you are on time to your duty.  

• Shared Leadership Team's first meeting will be 9/29 - watch for an email next week with more details

It is crucial that our students attending Read 180, System 44 or Band are arriving on time.  Please do everything possible to ensure the students are prepared and leaving your class early, so they can arrive on time.  Thank you. 

Friday Focus

     It was such a pleasure to walk the classrooms with Lynn Carmen Day today.  Everyone was so gracious and present, even though we were about two hours later than expected.  Thank you.  as I was walking I was reminded of the power of student collaboration and voice.  The video above is an excellent example of a school intentionally teaching oracy (the ability to express oneself with fluency) to their students.  This school is in London, and most of the students are second language learners.
     I was also reminded of the 10-2-2 strategy today.  This format advocates that the teacher speak for no more than 10 minutes, then provide 2 minutes of group processing time and 2 minutes of individual processing time.  This strategy has been shown to increase student engagement and in turn student outcomes and achievement.  It also provides equity in the classroom by providing all students opportunities to express themselves and use their voice.  Try the 10-2-2 strategy this week and let me know how it goes, or better yet, invite us to come and watch!

Upcoming Events:

9/18 - Constitution Day

9/18 - Family Literacy (9:00-10:30)

9/18 - School Board Meeting (6:30)

9/19 - Discipline Training Class (Carrie and Clarissa) (12:30-3:30)

9/20 - PTA Breakfast (Carrie)

9/20 - Staff Meeting (2:55)

9/21 - Equity Conference (Leadership, Carrie and Clarissa)

9/22 - Equity Conference (Leadership, Carrie and Clarissa)

9/25-9/29 - BOOK FAIR MPR

9/25 and 9/27 - Carrie at Pro-Act Training

9/28 - All Day Principals Meeting (Carrie)

9/28 - Student of the Month (MOVED TO THURSDAY)

9/29 - Shared Leadership Team Meeting (All Day)

Week 2 - Woo Hoo!

Great Things I Noticed

• Math Talks in 5th grade!  Rigor, deep thinking and students becoming mathematicians!
• "What it looks like, and What it sounds like" with Character Counts and our 4 school rules - I have seen this in SEVERAL classrooms and appreciate the intentional teaching of behavior expectations.
• Mrs. Rubens student's building houses that the "Big Bad Wolf" can't blow down with spaghetti and marshmallows - Rigorous thinking, collaborative conversations, growth mindset and FUN! 
• A reset station in Mrs. Seaton's classroom using character counts  
• AVID one pagers in Mr. Wible's class
• Tawney sharing interesting articles to continue our growth as a staff!  Read them here:  https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-myths-that-persist-about-how-we-learn/  and here: https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/reading-writing-rithmetic-and-respect/
• "Figure Me Out"  for parents on Back to School Night
• RED DAY in Kindergarten!  
• Cindy keeping your Principal sane and on task... she is the best! 

 

NUTS and BOLTS

• Clarissa and I will be visiting classrooms this week to talk about discipline procedures and expectations.  We will be visiting 4-6 on Wednesday between 8:30-10:30, 1-3 on Thursday between 10:30-11:30 and any remaining rooms (Kinder, etc.) on Friday between 1:00-2:30.
• Constitution Day is 9/18 - ensure you plan a lesson regarding the Constitution 
• Thank you notes to Best, Best and Krieger were due last WEDNESDAY to Mrs. Simmons.  Please ensure you have completed these with your students and turned them in.  
• SAVE THE DATE:  Saturday, November 4th is the 7th annual Parent Summit at North High School.  This is a great event for staff and parents!
• Family Literacy classes start Monday in our Library
• Please return Walkie Talkie's to their appropriate location after use - they need to remain charged and easy for Yard Supervision to find.
• If you are interested in being our teacher PTA representative, please come see me
• PE minutes are due MONDAY, 9/11 to Debbie Soto
• Students can eat snacks on the bench during morning recess.  They must be seated and they must pick up their trash.
• Please dismiss your classes on time and walk them to their respective gates.  For the older students, you do not have to wait with them. It is my expectation that you walk your students to the gate area, this will help cut down on some behaviors we are already seeing as students leave for the day.
• Lynn Carmen Day, Chief Academic Officer will be visiting on Friday 9/15 - We will be visiting classrooms between 9:30-12:00

Friday Focus:

Character day is September 13 - check this website out for some good ideas! http://character.org/ 

This video was so interesting to me.... Getting students reading and INTERESTED in reading is at the core of what we do.  This elementary school provides incentives for students as they read and complete series of stories.  They do use AR, but I think this could be done without AR.  They key is access to books and complete series of books available to our students.  What do you think?  

Rigor:  What is it? 

This is a great (short) article from Edutopia on the definition of Rigor.  My favorite quote from the article: "Rigor is the result of work that challenges students' thinking in new and interesting ways. It occurs when they are encouraged toward a sophisticated understanding of fundamental ideas and are driven by curiosity to discover what they don't know."   

We will be discussing Rigor at our staff meeting on the 20th - read the rest of the article here:  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/a-new-definition-of-rigor-brian-sztabnik

Upcoming Events:

9/11  Family Literacy classes begins

9/11  100 Mile Club begins

9/11  PTA Fall Fundraiser begins

9/12  Restorative Practice Training (Clarissa Out)

9/13  Discipline Class Meetings 4-6

9/13  Hawthorne Leadership Team Meeting

9/14  Discipline Class Meetings 1-3

9/14  District Leadership Meeting 3:30 (Carrie and Clarissa)

9/15  Lynn Carmen Day Visit 9:30-12:00

9/15  Hawk Shop Open

9/15 Orange Day in Kinder

9/18 Constitution Day

9/19 District Discipline Training (Clarissa and Carrie)

9/20 PTA Breakfast (Carrie out morning)

9/20 Staff Meeting

9/21-9/22  Equity Conference (Leadership Team w/Carrie and Clarissa)

Have a Great Week! 

Week 1 is done!

Great Things I Noticed:

• Students in Ms. Harris's class talking about the definition of collaboration (sharing ideas) and participating in collaborative conversations.
• Students in Ms. Schnakenberg's class learning about "realistic and unrealistic goals".
• Kindergartners in Ms. Haas's class being introduced to the ten frame and working towards becoming mathematicians.
• Fruit trains in Mrs. Lantz's class
• A "Successful Teacher" in Ms. Montgomery's class
• An entire staff that made Back to School Night a wonderful, welcoming and engaging evening for our families - Thank you!

Nuts and Bolts:

• Please make sure you have hung your Fire Drill, Williams Act, Sexual Harassment Policy, Uniform Complaint Procedures and School Rules in you classroom and workroom by the door 
• 5th grade has extra microscopes, check with Patrick Wible if your team in interested
• Foss kits will be organized and ready to go out next week - Can't wait to see these in use by our students! 
• 5th grade Explorer Band begins this week (9/7) - Please review email sent out by Mr. Collins
• If  you are in need of a Google password reset please contact Kristi Forsythe with the following information:
• Student's full name
• Password they want
• Student's email address
• Training Opportunity:  PL Online Learner Profile Training 9/7 or 9/11 at 12:00-3:00 (Subs Provided) or 9/13 3:00-5:00 (Time Card) - Please see Kristi Forsythe or myself for more information
• Please make sure you are reporting your PE minutes to Debbie in a timely manner.  I know we have had to be creative this week with PE  - I appreciate your patience and flexibility with the weather! 

It is my expectation that you are checking your boxes as least twice a day - once in the morning and once at lunch time.  As you know, our office staff works hard to communicate messages and information out to you and our students.  We need your continued help and support in this process - Thank you! 

Friday Focus:

I have a strong belief in the power of our collective energy.  When focused together on a single goal, we can do great things.  I would love it if we could focus our energy on our colleagues that are struggling with family health crisis.   Whether it is through prayer, meditation, or simply asking the universe to surround our colleagues with strong, loving energy.  Let's keep our work friends in our thoughts over the coming weeks.  

I also believe in gratitude, and expressing my gratitude to those around me... I am grateful to you and your positive, welcoming energy.  I apologize if I butchered your name last night, I will do better. Thank you for your patience as I learn the new system, get to know the new staff, families and students and get my feet under me!  

At our upcoming staff meeting we will be discussing ELD  - I found this video on collaborative conversations by Doug Fisher to get you thinking of what students need and how we can scaffold and support collaborative conversations at all grade levels.  It is my strong belief that we have to intentionally teach our students how to have structured, academic, collaborative conversations.  How do you address this in your class?  Are you preparing your students for deep thinking conversations with their classmates?  

Upcoming Events:

August 4th - NO SCHOOL

August 5th - Board Meeting 6:00pm

August 7th - Principals Meeting (Carrie out all day)

August 11th - Family Literacy Academy (Library 9:00am)

August 14th - District Leadership Meeting (C&C Principal Factory 3:00)

Have a safe, relaxing, wonderful weekend!