SIW this week
Thank you to everyone for your participation in the SIW with Kendra this week (and thank you to Lorin and the Thriving Citizen Team for setting it up). I hope this marks a positive start on a journey we can all enjoy. I thought about sharing my letter to my fixed mindset with you…but I am still drafting and editing it because it needs to be perfect (please laugh). All kidding aside, this is really important work and I am incredibly proud to work alongside each of you. If you find yourself questioning what to say or how to say things with the kids, then you are not alone in that discomfort. The fact that you are giving your messages this deep thought about how they are going to impact your students is important enough. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake and more importantly don’t be afraid to let others make their mistakes.
Placement 2018-2019
- Green & Yellow Cards available now – you can reuse the one from last year with updates or you can make new ones. These are in my office on the counter.
- Green & Yellow Cards due back to me by May 4
- Team Placements SIW on May 23
- Follow up time for placement SIW on June 6
Earthquake Drill Feedback
From what I was able to gather, this was a successful drill in just about every area of the school inside and outside. The main problem or area in need of improvement was the PA system, which was directly related to the existing volume level in the room. If the room was already quiet then the announcement sounded fine, however if the noise level was high then it was not possible to hear the message very easily. The good news is that if the Earth decides to give us a quake, it’s not really going to use the PA system so I don’t think that will impact our ability to respond. If you are curious about how to respond while outside, just use your whistle and hand motions to bring students to an open area (field or blacktop).
As for what to do about the PA system…I’m not sure what the right answer is. Do we increase the volume to be heard over a loud classroom and risk blasting out the quieter classrooms or do we leave it as is and train ourselves to be more attentive to the bell indicating an announcement is about to happen? We need to think about this one.
IPAD Roll IN
It’s time to think about getting ready to roll in the student iPads. We have roll in scheduled for June 12th which is also field day but we should be able to coordinate roll in times around field day times. We will start at 9:00 and schedule one class every 45 minutes, we will be working on the exact schedule in the next few weeks. We will have district staff plus EA’s that are freed up due to field day to help out.
Here are some things you will need to do in the classroom before you bring your class in for check in.
- Request Students do Backups (ideally teachers will provide a little class time in order to communicate to students how important this is. Here is the link to Student Backup Resources:http://bit.ly/BLSbackup. This will show up on student iPads on 5/23
- Show Roll-in Video (video will show up on Student iPads on 5/31. Teachers should give students time to watch it on their device or show it in class)
- We have a cleaning kit that will be available before your check in time. Each student is responsible for the cleaning of their own iPad.
Remind Students the day before Roll-in to:
- Charge their iPads fully (if you can’t turn it on, we can’t inspect it)
- Complete their backups (if they don’t do this, they may lose their work. No guarantees)
- Update to latest iOS
- Do Not Remove covers, they will be removed by adults only. We will store the iPads with their covers with the exception of 5th graders who will take their covers home.
The district suggests that you have your students leave their iPads at school with bricks and cords leading up to roll in. This way we will have them all.
Calendar
Please take a moment to glance at the calendar so you are informed of our upcoming meetings. – Calendar Link
Isn’t it funny how kids just seem to know what you need in some moments? Chloe in 1st grade decided I need this picture this week and I am extremely grateful for her encouragement.
