Week 19

"We must remember that intelligence is not enough.  Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of education."  Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Great Things I Noticed:

• Returning from break ready to go!
• Trust, collaboration and common commitments at our Team Meeting - Common commitments that have lead to structured collaborative conversations in every classroom!
• Perfect attendance on Wednesday:  Nichols, Schnackenberg, Harris, Lantz, OK
• The fantastic science fair projects!
• Pizza with the Principals!

 

  

Nuts and Bolts:

• If you haven't already, please take some time to reteach and remind students of behavior expectations and classroom rules.
• Clarification:  Each letter in our "Hawthorne Elementary School" attendance contest represents one day of perfect attendance.  Do not post if you have not achieved perfect attendance.
• Thank you for those of you commiting to AVID Summer Institute - please understand it is difficult to get refunds for cancellations.  

• The Great Kindness Challenge (GKC) Week:
• January 22-26, 2018 
• The GKC is a national program that promotes kindness at our child care centers and schools from prekindergarten through twelfth grade. It is a positive and proactive anti-bullying initiative that educators can use to empower and encourage students to create a culture of kindness plus it’s free and easy to implement. This program is also aligned with the CDE’s efforts to meet the social and emotional needs of the whole child as well as ensure a safe haven for all of our students. 
• For more information, visit the GKC website at www.greatkindnesschallenge.org. 
• K-6 ELA/ELD Writing Assessments 
• The Writing Assessment sequence for 2017-2018 is: 
• 1st Trimester: Informative/Explanatory (completed) 
• 2nd Trimester: Opinion/Argument 
• 3rd Trimester: Narrative 
• It is recommended that results of each trimester writing assessment follow Cycle of Inquiry to analyze results and plan meaningful instructional responses.

Focus of the Week:

I recently read an article titled "5 Powerful Questions Teachers Can Ask Students".  These questions are simple, straightforward and thoughtful. When we provide our students the proper amount of think time, these questions can help students engage in deep rigourous thinking.

Consider including them in your lessons this week:
1.  What do you think?
2.  Why do you think that?
3.  How do you know this?
4.  Can you tell me more?
5.  What questions do you still have?

Remember to provide the think time appropriate for your grade level and content area.  These questions can be used as sentence frames and are easy enough for students to use in thier collaborative conversations.

Upcoming Events:

Remember, for the full calendar of events check the staff calendar on Outlook or the calendar on our website.  

• 1/16 - Discipline Assemblies
• 1-3 8:50
• 4-6 9:30
• TK/K 10:40
• 1/16 - Character Counts Meeting 3:00
• 1/17 - Staff Meeting - ELPAC
• 1/18 - Principals Meeting (Carrie out 8-1)
• 1/18 - District Leadership Meeting (Carrie and Clarissa out at 3:00)
• 1/19 - Arlington Cluster Meeting (Carrie out 7:30-9)
• 1/19 - 1/23 Foss Training