This and That:
10/9 SIW: Our SIW this week will be to use “thin slicing” on our students’ writing to learn more about them as writers and to adjust instruction as a result.
Sibling Conference Scheduling: We will schedule sibling conferences on Monday, October 7th in the media center at 2:45. Please come to this meeting with an empty schedule (besides your conferences that require translators). I will share out a sibling roster first thing on Monday morning (I forgot to bring it home with me or I would have a link for you right now). I also have 10 minute schedules printed and will put them in your box on Monday morning.
Cleaning Days: Some staff asked if I could include which side of the building is getting cleaned each night in the newsletter. I will start doing this in the “reminders for this week” section. (Red= A/B/SPED) (Yellow=C/D/Library)
Student Survey: Here are some of the ideas from the student survey this week. The question: What can I do at Elk Meadow to make it an even better school?:
- Do a lot more art (Gr. 1)
- Make sure kids play with others (Gr. 1)
- Have an extra five minutes of recess (Gr. 2)
- Teachers should tell the students to be kind and tell the kids to pass it on. (Gr. 3)
- More assemblies (Gr. 3)
- More PE days (Gr. 3)
- Keep playing music at lunch on Fridays (Gr. 4)
- It’s perfect the way it is. (Gr. 4)
- More time in PE. I really like the games we play in PE like Extinction Tag (Gr. 4)
- More math and reading time. I like doing multiplication and division. (Gr. 4)
- Go back to our old start time, but add more time to the end of the day. Also, you should build dorms. (Gr. 5) – a new duty opportunity!!! Ha!
- Bigger juice boxes (Gr. 5)
- Have flexible seating at lunch (Gr. 5)
- Everything seems fine. It’s a pretty fun school. I don’t have any ideas for more improvements for the school. (Gr. 5)
To Do:
Monday Announcements: Please use the link at the top of the Eagle Essentials webpage to access the Monday announcements. This is the last week I will have this item in the weekly newsletter, but please continue to share the Monday Announcements with your students each week.
August/ September Checklist: Just a reminder to ensure that all of the items on the August/ September Checklist have been completed. (You do not need to turn anything in to me).
Halloween: As we have done the past couple of years, we will be allowing all students to wear their costume to school if they choose (as opposed to changing into it at lunch time). Of course, costumes should NOT include masks, weapons (even pretend weapons), excessive make-up, blood, gore, or anything of a scary nature. I will communicate this to parents this week.
Safety Reminders: With the start of a new school calendar year comes an opportunity to refresh our knowledge of safety resources and protocols. I will add a few new items each week for a few weeks. Please take a moment to:
- Locate the bleeding cessation kits in our school (with the AED)
- Look for any blocked or impaired fire and life safety devices in your classroom or workspace (As a reminder, it is a violation of law to alter, remove, or tamper with any fire safety components. For example, do not block exit doors)
- Review your emergency response protocols (LockDOWN, LockOUT, evacuation, etc.)
- Be vigilant in respect to emergency evacuation drills. Please take all drills seriously and ensure that you are aware of protocols and standards.
Food for Thought: Here is an interesting article about grading students on individual reading standards. “Studies have repeatedly shown that standardized reading comprehension tests measure a single factor—not a list of skills represented by the various types of question asked…. it’s the passages and text levels that should be your focus, not the question types or individual standards.”
Reminders For This Week:
- Monday: Red, Sibling conference scheduling,
- Tuesday: Yellow, Advisory Team Meeting, Fire Drill, Running Club
- Wednesday: Red, ICCL meeting
- Thursday: Yellow, EBISS Gr. K-2, Grade level team meetings
- Friday: Red, Fitness Fashion Friday
SIW Schedule:
- 10/9 Writing – thin slicing for assessment