Week 19 - December 19th is National Re-Gifting Day

Great Things We Noticed:

• Our 2nd and 5th Grade High Impact Teams!  
• Kindness Week
• We made it through Holiday Shop!
• 6th Grade selling Candy Grams!
• Personalized Learning Training on Blended Learning and Choice Boards!
• Several of our Students participating in the Luncheon at Dutton Cadillac!

Nuts and Bolts: 

• Student Behavior - Take some time today to review behavior expectations with your students (Safe, Respectful and Responsible) - Please be present as much as possible to monitor 
• Lorenzo will be here on 12/26, 12/27 and 1/2 and 1/3 - 6:00am to 2:30 - Text him if you will be coming in on those days. 
• STAFF MEETING on the 19th will have fun and FOOD! Longi and I are feeding you lunch on Wednesday (Happy Holidays!)... Team leaders please be prepared to speak about your progress toward your 1 YEAR team goal.   
• Don't forget to encourage your students to bring in CANS for our canned food drive!
• PLEASE let the office know where you are when you are out of the classroom - or take your radios!  It is uncomfortable for our office staff to call and call and not be able to find you when a parent is waiting.... Take a moment and call or take your radio. 
• If you are interested in having a student teacher for next year please let me know ASAP 

• We are beginning to plan our Family Math Night for January or Febuary - if you are interested in joining and helping, reach out to Longi.
• If you are 55 or over and have been with the district for more than 5 years, make sure you attend one of the SERP meetings and learn more about the retirement incentive.  Find the presentation from the board meeting here.
• Pick up your students in a timely manner after recess and lunch - we are finding this unsupervised time is when most of our behavior is taking place.
• Thank you to all of you releasing your students on time at the end of the day.  When you release your students late, the traffic does not move and causes other issues. 
• 2019 Water is Life Art Contest 
• Celebrate water education in the classroom with Western Municipal Water District’s “Water is Life” art contest. 
• Winners will be selected from the following grade categories:
• Grade Categories: 4-6, 7-8th and 9-12th 
• First place, $100 Barnes & Noble gift card
• Second place, $75 Barnes & Noble gift card
• Third place, $50 Barnes & Noble gift card

• Water is Life art contest gives students the opportunity to share a visual message about water. The Deadline is March 15, 2019. The flyer is available on the Principal Resource page in PowerSchool Learning or by clicking on the following link. Water is Life
• Odyssey of Mind
• Are you interested in meeting STEAM, NGSS, and California Content Standards in a fun, creative, and inexpensive way for your students? Then look no further than Odyssey of the Mind, the original creativity competition in the 40th year! Through the writing of original scripts, the creation of costumes, props, scenery, and technical elements, teams of students work together to produce incredible solutions to creative problems while thinking “Beyond the Box!” Students with talents in many areas find a unique opportunity to showcase their gifts in script writing, costume creation, music, dance, visual arts, props and scenery construction, engineering, problem solving, leadership, critical thinking, and more! Here is a link to Odyssey Of Mind 2015 Video
• For more information, contact STEM Coordinator, Deepika Srivastava dsrivastava@rusd.k12.ca.us
• December Paydays - Payroll Department, Jill Collier

•  Classified monthly employee payday is Thursday, December 27th. If you have direct deposit it should post December 27th. Checks and check stubs will be placed in the mail to your address on file during Winter Break by Payroll Staff.
• Certificated monthly employee payday is Wednesday, Jan 2nd. If you have direct deposit it should post January 2nd. Checks and check stubs will be placed in the mail to your address on file during Winter Break by Payroll Staff.
•  Additional Opportunities for BCLAD Grant Participation!

Update on the progress of our District BCLAD Grant! All teachers currently enrolled in the program have now completed at least one class that moves them even closer to receiving their BCLAD. And luckily, because of very slight attrition, we are now able to open this opportunity up to even more teachers. So, if you have anyone at your site who is already bilingual or is at an intermediate Spanish level and might be interested in getting their BCLAD AT NO COST - ALL FREE, please forward this flyer to them and encourage them to contact Michelle Mitchell directly before December 21, 2018. Bilingual and intermediate Spanish classes begin in January, so we have a small window for additional enrollment. BCLAD Program Flyer

• Who Takes DIBELS? Reminder

• All Kindergarten-6th grade students take BOY DIBELS
• All Kindergarten-3rd grade students take MOY and EOY DIBELS
• 4th-6th grade students who did NOT score BOY Above Benchmark (blue) take MOY and EOY DIBELS
• 4th-6th grade students who scored Above Benchmark (blue) on BOY DIBELS do NOT need to take MOY or EOY DIBELS. However, if teachers would like to assess them they may. It is the teacher’s discretion for these students.

• Free Books for Read Across America 

The Literacy Empowerment Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, invites your school or other literacy project to apply for FREE books for Read Across America Day. During the past year, LEF has distributed over 3,000,000 books to schools all across the country for Read Across America Day and other literacy projects.
Resources are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders must be received by February 11th, 2019.
Please share this information with your fellow educators!
Free Books for Read Across America Day: Order Form at https://www.lefbooks.org

Focus: 

This is the time of year for SELF CARE!  Here is a great (and easy to read) article with 12 ideas for teacher self care during December... I challenge you to do them ALL this week! 

https://www.weareteachers.com/teacher-self-care-ideas-december/ 

Upcoming Events 

12/17 - Cindy, Longi and Carrie off campus from 10:00-11:30 for District Meeting

12/18 - Cookie Exchange in Library 8:00am

12/18 - Bike Delivery with Longi

12/19 - Special Ed Winter Performance - 9:00-10:00 MPR

12/19 - Holiday Lunch for staff 

12/19 - Staff Meeting at 2:55 

12/20 - First Grade Winter Performance 10:30-11:30 MPR

12/21 - Kindergarten Winter Performance 9:00-10:00 MPR

12/24 - 1/7 - Winter Break 

Birthdays

12/20 - Carrie Brown - Principal

1/8 - Amanda Mofsie - K M/M SDC 

Have a Safe and Restful Winter Break! 

Week 18 - Hanakkah December 2-10

Great Things We Noticed:

• Saturday School!  We had 52 students participate in our first Saturday School - and they had a great time!
• Dimissal on a Rainy Day! Thank you so much for your help! 
• The Kindness Calendar - When you see kids participating, give them a shout out! 
• Hour of Code! 

Nuts and Bolts: 

• STAFF MEETING on the 12th rescheduled for the 19th!  
• We are beginning to plan our Family Math Night for January or Febuary - if you are interested in joining and helping, reach out to Longi.
• If you are 55 or over and have been with the district for more than 5 years, make sure you attend one of the SERP meetings and learn more about the retirement incentive.  Find the presentation from the board meeting here.
• PTA Holiday Shop is this week!  No access during recess or lunch for students - they are going with classes only.   
• Pick up your students in a timely manner after recess and lunch - we are finding this unsupervised time is when most of our behavior is taking place.
• Thank you to all of you releasing your students on time at the end of the day.  When you release your students late, the traffic does not move and causes other issues. 
• 2019 Water is Life Art Contest 
• Celebrate water education in the classroom with Western Municipal Water District’s “Water is Life” art contest. 
• Winners will be selected from the following grade categories:
• Grade Categories: 4-6, 7-8th and 9-12th 
• First place, $100 Barnes & Noble gift card
• Second place, $75 Barnes & Noble gift card
• Third place, $50 Barnes & Noble gift card

• Water is Life art contest gives students the opportunity to share a visual message about water. The Deadline is March 15, 2019. The flyer is available on the Principal Resource page in PowerSchool Learning or by clicking on the following link. Water is Life
• Odyssey of Mind
• Are you interested in meeting STEAM, NGSS, and California Content Standards in a fun, creative, and inexpensive way for your students? Then look no further than Odyssey of the Mind, the original creativity competition in the 40th year! Through the writing of original scripts, the creation of costumes, props, scenery, and technical elements, teams of students work together to produce incredible solutions to creative problems while thinking “Beyond the Box!” Students with talents in many areas find a unique opportunity to showcase their gifts in script writing, costume creation, music, dance, visual arts, props and scenery construction, engineering, problem solving, leadership, critical thinking, and more! Here is a link to Odyssey Of Mind 2015 Video
• For more information, contact STEM Coordinator, Deepika Srivastava dsrivastava@rusd.k12.ca.us
• December Paydays - Payroll Department, Jill Collier

•  Classified monthly employee payday is Thursday, December 27th. If you have direct deposit it should post December 27th. Checks and check stubs will be placed in the mail to your address on file during Winter Break by Payroll Staff.
• Certificated monthly employee payday is Wednesday, Jan 2nd. If you have direct deposit it should post January 2nd. Checks and check stubs will be placed in the mail to your address on file during Winter Break by Payroll Staff.

Focus: 

Hillery Rubens shared a great edutopia article with me and I wanted to pass it along to you!  Here are some highlights from the article: 

• Education research continues to remind us of the powerful impact teachers have on children. This impact is overwhelmingly positive—the studies we highlight here demonstrate specific ways in which teachers can or already do help students feel a sense of belonging in school and make gains in learning.
• To boost student learning, focusing on academics isn’t enough. We should also think about how well students—and teachers—are supported.
• Small changes in the classroom can yield surprising benefits. A study this year found that greeting students at the classroom door had both psychological and academic benefits: Engagement increased by 20 percentage points while disruptive behavior decreased by 9 percentage points—effectively adding an extra hour of learning to the school day.
• Brain networks connected with language, visual imagery, and learning were more engaged when adults read the children illustrated stories
• Trying to guess an answer—and getting feedback on how close the answer is—leads to higher recall rates than simply trying to memorize information, a new study found.
• Teachers who helped students improve their behavior (measured by things like attendance and suspensions) were 10 times as effective at improving their students’ graduation rates and grade point averages as teachers who focused on test scores.

Find the entire article at: https://www.edutopia.org/article/2018-education-research-highlights

Upcoming Events:

11/26-12/20 DIBELS

12/12 - Dutton Holiday Luncheon - 12:00-2:00

12/13 - Principals Meeting - Carrie out AM      

12/13 - Baby Shower for Morgan

12/13 - District Leadership - Longi and Carrie out at 2:30

12/17 - Cindy, Longi and Carrie at DO 10:00-12:00 (Projections)

12/18 - Cookie exchange - 8:00 - Library

12/19 - SPED Winter Performance - MPR 9:00

12/20 - 1st Grade Performance - MPR - 10:30

12/21 - Hawk Shop Open

12/21 - Kindergarten Winter Performance - MPR - 9:00

Birthdays: 

12/9 - Monica Esteva - IA in Lantz

12/11 - Michelle Simmons - Hearts Coordinator

12/14 - Paulina Tang - Attendance/AP Secretary

12/20 - Carrie Brown - Principal 

Week 17 - Computer Science Education Week

December 3-9

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. 

https://code.org/learn

I am working on getting stickers for student laptops for those that complete an hour of code.  

Great Things We Noticed:

• Shared Leadership Team looking at data and bringing back to staff.4
• Several students receiving Honor Roll.
• Sixth grade team going in depth with math and science planning.
• Students and Staff exiting quickly during the fire drill.
• First Saturday School was a success with 57 students attending.

Nuts and Bolts: 

DIBELS

• MOY DIBELS window 11/26 - 12/20
• All Kindergarten-3rd grade students take MOY and EOY DIBELS
• 4th - 6th grade students who did NOT score BOY Above Benchmark (blue) take MOY and EOY DIBELS
• 4th - 6th grade students who score Above Benchmark (blue) on BOY DIBELS do NOT need to take MOY or EOY DIBELS.  However, if teachers would like to assess them they may.  It is the teacher's discretion for these students.

Elementary Science

• We are very glad to continue to support our teachers experimenting with NGSS.
• Thursday, December 6 - Teachers who will be using FOSS module for the FIRST time.  3:30-5:30 at Earhart B4.
• Wednesday, December 5 - Teachers who are in their second year using a FOSS module. 3:30 - 5:30 at Earhart B4.
• Tuesday, December 4 - Science Renaissance Project teachers using a FOSS module this trimester.  3:30 - 5:30 at Earhart B4.

Upcoming Events:

• 12/3 - Second Grade Eureka Training
• 12/4 - Third Grade Eureka Training
•         -Co-Admin Meeting (Longi off campus until 12)
• 12/5 - Coffee with the Principals
•         -Leadership Team Meeting
• 12/6 - Longi off campus in the afternoon
•         -Winter Cluster Band Concert 6pm at Chemawa
• 12/7 - All in Attendance Day
•         -Fourth Grade Eureka Training

Birthdays:

• 12/3 - Monica Galvez (SAP Counselor)