Month: October 2022

Hello All!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend! It’s been a busy first 36 days of school (yes, only 36!), and we have lots more fun coming in November, starting this week! I know it can be hard sometimes to appreciate the fruits of our labor in the moment, but know that all the extra efforts you put in make a big difference–we are helping to raise really good humans, and nothing could be more important!

Grade 4 went on a field trip to the landfill last week, and Angela Spaid (Benji and Finn’s mom) captured this on the bus:

A few notes to get you going on this Fall Monday:
1) November is now officially Kindness Month. Please be sure you read the email I sent last week.

2) Tomorrow is the Jammie Jam! As a reminder K-2 will be on the course from 10 to 10:30, 3-5 from 10:30-11. Volunteers have it organized and ready, we just need you out there cheering the kids on! We will need to do Choice Time from 9-9:20 on Tuesday in order to give volunteers time to get the course set up.

Plan B due to weather will be to set up a course in the gym and hallway. Should be fun…

3) Tomorrow is also PJ and movie day. I am hoping you are all set with plans for the day. Please let me know what movies will be watched. Thanks!

4) Please, please make sure kiddos have everything they need for lunch recess when they leave for lunch (jackets, hats, gloves, stuffies, etc). We have lots of kiddos asking to be let into their classrooms to get jackets and we’d prefer to avoid this (it’s a pain!). Thanks!

5) We’ve had a Staff Meeting on the books for Tuesday but I’d like to give that time for people to finish prep for the Student Success Meetings.

6) SIW this week is teacher directed.

7) Student Success Meetings on Thursday–please take time to prep early this week: Student Success Prep

Schedule:
8:30-9:00am: Lauren
9:00-9:30am: Frans
10:00-10:30am: Amanda
10:30-11:00am: Brian
12:00-12:30pm: Lindsey
12:30-1:00pm: Ray

8) I’ll be out all day on Wednesday at an admin PD in La Pine. Call or text if you need anything!

9) As decided at SIW last week we will continue with current Buddies and will plan to switch it up in January.

The following was posted in the latest TLC update and I thought it might be useful for you in understanding the difference between Lexia and Reading Playground. I think it’s important that we consider how each of these can be used to support individual needs.

Lexia vs Reading Playgrounds – who wins? Both…they serve different purposes!
Lexia provides differentiated guided practice and feedback in both word recognition and language comprehension, which helps move learning forward.  Lexia is more comprehensive than Reading Playgrounds.  Lexia is meant to work on all reading and language standards, not just the word recognition subset.  

To increase students’ growth toward grade level standards, it is important for students to meet units gained. This is most important for students who are currently below grade level.  When thinking about the use of time, the best instruction for a student is when they are in a small group receiving direct, explicit instruction. The next best instructional method is to be working in a program like Lexia that provides guided practice feedback that moves learning forward.  Lexia should take priority over other independent tasks. 

Reading Playgrounds is a formative assessment that provides the teacher feedback on whether students learned what was taught that week in core instruction.  It is meant to be used to practice the current skills students are working on and also to assess mastery of skills.  The first three games assess content taught so far and the rest of the games are just practice.  Consider what is most important with the time you have. 

Upcoming
November 1: Jammie Jam! Also PJ and Movie day!
November 1: Staff Meeting, CANCELLED
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 8: Skip (my boss) will be visiting classroom
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to an amazing week ahead!
Andy

Hey Team!
I hope that Conversations went really well and that you had a fantastic, well deserved and frosty 3 day weekend. As you know, my plans got derailed by a sick kiddo at home so I got to spend some quality time here in town getting some projects done.

Quick note: I will be leaving school at 12:45pm today and will be gone for the rest of the day. I’ll be unreachable from 1:30 until 3pm, but available before and after that period of time.

A few notes for the week:
1) Jammie Jam sponsor sheets are due this Friday. Please encourage your students to get sponsors and be sure to include a reminder in any parent communications this week. We really need your support to make this successful. Thanks! More details of the event coming soon.

2) Conversations follow ups. As a reminder we agreed to send follow up emails to selected families to be sure that delicate (tricky, difficult) information shared was received. This provides written follow up and gives us assurance that the message has been received.

Also, please remember to reach out to families who missed their scheduled time or who have yet to reach out to make a time to meet.

3) For SIW this week we will have a look at a draft of Problem Solving wheel that’s been created and get some feedback from the whole group. Look for an email with more information. We’ll also talk about themes for the next few months–please come with ideas! Lastly, I’d like to have a few minutes to chat about number sense and how we can include more activities in our daily routine that could support development of stronger number sense. Bring your ideas!

Who’d like to do the warm up for the meeting? Let me know!

4) Earthquake/Fire drill on Wednesday at 10:45am. Duck and cover, wait for the fire alarm, and then head outside. Don’t forget your red/green folder and class list.

5) PJ and movie day will be next Tuesday, November 1. Please begin conversations about what movies you’d like to show. The last few times we did this prior to the pandemic, we split into 2 or 3 smaller groups in order to choose movies that were age appropriate–I think this is a good idea going forward, too. K/1, 2/3, 4/5. It’s a really good idea to use Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org) when selecting movies as they identify potential issues with movies (and it’d be great to avoid parental issues if we can!). Please let me know once you’ve settled on a movie. (Special note for Brian and Ray: You may show a PG movie but we need permission from parents, so if you plan to do this we need to get permission slips out quickly. Let me know if you want to do this).

6) Student Success Meetings (formally known as EBISS) will be next week, November 3. I’ll send out a schedule for that day soon, but in the meantime please do a little prep work here: SSM Prep. There is a folder for each class.

7) Field trips and activities this week: Grade 2 goes to Fall River (Thurs), Grade 4 to Knott Landfill (Thurs), and Grade 5 is gathering at the Hopservatory on Tuesday night.

8) Please get me your Opt-in email lists. I’ll pass them along to Class Leads to finish up. Thanks!

9) Happy Hour this Friday! I hope everyone can make it–3:30pm. Location TBD.

10) I have an admin meeting on Tuesday so I’ll be leaving right after school.

Upcoming
October 26: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 26: SIW, 1:30pm
October 28: Happy Hour, 3:30pm–location TBD
November 1: Jammie Jam, details coming soon. Also PJ and Movie day!
November 1: Staff Meeting, 245-3:30
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to an amazing week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning All!
What a glorious weekend it was–I hope you had a great one! A big thanks to all of you who were able to make it to Harvest Festival, it was an amazing event and kiddos and parents alike had a blast! I wasn’t sure Harvest Festival would make it back, but it’s definitely back and here to stay. A VERY special thanks to Gina who, along with Cari St Aubin (Grade 1 Owen’s mom), stepped up to make Harvest Festival happen and gave countless hours of her time. Thank you Gina! And, believe it or not, the kids earned enough coins to have pajama and movie day the day after Halloween–who would have guessed?! I’ll announce it to the kids at lunch.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Conversations on Wednesday and Thursday! Please take a moment to reach out to any family that has yet to sign up and see if you can get them on the schedule.

During Conversations please have your “Opt-in” email list (from Back to School night) handy so parents who have yet to sign up can be included. Next week I’ll collect all the lists and give them to class leads who can get them organized to share with your class.

2) Jammie Jam will be November 1st! I think Lindsey shared the basics with you recently-this is going to be a fundraising fun run that will consist of an obstacle running course on the playground. Parents will be organizing and monitoring the course, all we need to do is encourage the kids to get sponsors and get them pumped up for the event. We’ll solidify the timing for that day soon, but in the meantime please be sure to get the sponsor sheets and envelopes out to your students today–they will be delivered to you before the end of the day. This is a new fundraiser for us but one I think will be really fun. I will be communicating the details with parents before the end of the day and they will be expecting the sponsors forms.

3) Reminder, and for those of you that are new, students at Amity do not dress up on Halloween. I’ll communicate this to parents but it would be good for you to do the same just to be sure.

4) I will be out of town on Wednesday and Thursday but will be available if you need me–don’t hesitate to text or call.

5) Save the date–let’s grab Happy Hour on Friday, October 28 after school. It’s time to gather!

Upcoming
October 19/20: Conversations, No School
October 26: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
October 28: Happy Hours, 3:30pm
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

A Hearty Happy Monday To You All!
I hope you had a great weekend and are really enjoying this amazing Fall weather! A huge thanks to all of you for making the Pancake Breakfast such a great success last Friday–we had lots of very happy parents and kiddos! It was a great connecting time for all involved!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Harvest Festival is this Saturday, October 15 from 4-7pm. While you are not required to be there, it’s always awesome to have teachers here. If you want to be here but don’t want to just hang out, there are plenty of volunteer opportunities–click here: Harvest Fest Volunteering. Costumes encouraged!

2) Picture Day is Tuesday! Remind families to get their order forms in.

3) Bus evacuation drill on Thursday at 9:45am. We need to be at the admin building ready to load the busses at 9:45 so please leave plenty early. We will have to move Choice Time to 9:10 to 9:30 in order to accommodate this.

4) DIBELS make up on Monday afternoon between 12:30 and 1:50. This is tentative but likely.

5) Reminder to keep your doors locked even when they are open.

6) Invitations sign up change. Lindsey has agreed to bring her computer to lunch on Mondays and Thursdays to help facilitate a more organized and timely sign up process. Thank you Lindsey!

7) SIW this week is teacher directed. I want to remind you that “teacher directed” can certainly mean prep time, but it can mean many other things as well such as team meetings, meetings to move forward on particular action items, professional development, and more. It is simply a time directed by all of you to work on the things you feel are important. While I fully acknowledge that prep time is at a premium, I just also wanted to remind you that the time can be used for a multitude of endeavors.

8) Conversations next week on Wednesday and Thursday. Be sure to get a sign up form out to parents Monday or Tuesday at the latest-I believe most of you are using Google docs. And please remember to make sure you are offering some evening times for parents who cannot make it until after work. I will be delivering a class set of Conversations Prep note forms to you on Monday so you can begin prepping for next week!

Upcoming
October 11: Picture Day
October 12: Vision Screening (Lion’s Club)
October 13: Bus evacuation Drill, 9:45am–all school at Admin Building (10 minutes)
October 15: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 19/20: Conversations, No School
October 26: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Greetings All,
Believe it or not it’s already October! I hope you had a fantastic weekend and that you’re ready for another fun-filled week.

I want to start this week’s note with a HUGE thank you to all of you for stepping up in my (and Patti’s) absence last week. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the way in which you all did what had to be done! Both Skip and Tammy told me independently that when they die they hope they get reincarnated as a teacher at Amity–a tribute to all of you and the amazing people you are and the extraordinary program we run! Cheers to that!

A big thanks to all of you who offered ideas for October’s theme. After some significant thought I have decided that I’d like to double back on our efforts with Taking Care of Yourself, Taking Care of Each other, and Taking Care of this Place. I’ll talk a little more about this at our SIW this week.

A few notes to get you going:
1) Pancake Breakfast this Friday starting at 7am–this is always a fun way to start the day! All you have to do is show up and flip the flapjacks! (Since we’re doing pancakes fro breakfast there will be no Bread and Jam on Friday).

2) SIW this week: We’ll take time to discuss kiddos in need of extra TLC and support for the first part of the meeting (finally!), and then we’ll break up into two work groups to continue conversations about reporting at Conversations and working towards common language/approach to problem solving with students. I feel strongly that both of these endeavors are well worth our time and I look forward to making progress on both. I’d still like to meet with a small group on Thursday after school to help fine tune the work of the problem solving group so we can make even further progress.

3) I know it was a crazy week last week, but just circling back to see if you were able to fit in the Bias Incident lesson and how it went. If time eluded you last week please be sure to get the lesson done early this week. I’ll be checking in with each of you to see how it went.

4) I am working with two parents to re-launch Harvest Festival. With me being out last week it definitely put a crimp in the plan but I am committed to doing all I can to pull it off with the help of these and many other parents. They’ll be a big push starting this week to get volunteers on board (many have already signed up) and I’ll reach out to your new class leads (names coming to you soon) to help with the effort. The plan is to hold the event on Saturday, October 15 from 4-7pm. While you are not required to be there, your presence is warmly welcomed, and volunteering to help is always greatly appreciated.

5) Please note the addition of a Bus Evacuation drill on October 13. This is district mandated. It will take 20-30 minutes.

6) Out first Student Success Meetings will be on Thursday, November 3. Originally this was planned for October 27 but Grade 2 is going to Fall River! This does not mean we cannot be setting up supports for students now (which I know many are already doing with Sara and Brad), it will just be our first formal meeting.

7) Grade 3 is headed to the Metolius this Friday for their first outdoor ed trip of the year!

8) Our October Earthquake/Fire Drill has been moved to October 26 at 10:45am. The Fire Marshal is requiring us to mix up days and times for our drills so they are not always at the same time.

Upcoming
October 3/4: Dental Screenings
October 6: Problem Solving group, 2:45pm
October 7: Pancake Breakfast, 7-8am
October 11: Picture Day
October 12: Vision Screening (Lion’s Club)
October 13: Bus evacuation Drill, 10am–all school
October 15: Harvest Festival, 4-7pm
October 19/20: Conversations, No School
October 26: Earthquake/Fire Drill, 10:45am
November 3: Student Success meetings
November 10: Secure Drill, 9:20am
November 11: Veteran’s Day, No School
November 21-25: Thanksgiving Break, No School
November 29: Fire Drill, 9:20am
November 30: Picture retakes

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy