Author: Andy Slavin

Good Morning All,
I hope you enjoyed the long weekend! I am not at school today, but I am with you in spirit. A joke to get you started: Parallel lines have so much in common. It’s a shame they’ll never meet.

A few notes to get us going:
1) The Auction is this Saturday night, Feb 23! Please be sure to include a reminder in your weekly note. 5:30-9:00pm

2) EBISS on Wednesday:
9:15-9:45—Grade 5
9:45-10:15— Grade 4
10:45-11:15—Grade 2
11:15-11:45—Grade 1
12:45-1:15–Grade 3 (Brad can cover)
*Kinder–we’ll schedule time next week

3) Grade 4 hosts Environmental Night on Thursday, 6:00-7:30pm. This has been a great event the past few years–please drop by to support the effort and enjoy the fun if you can.

4) Grade 1 hosts Cafe Amity this week

5) SIW this week–Lottery Info Sessions, 2:30pm and 5:30pm. I’ll send the outline Tuesday evening.

6) We continue with Variety Show practice! Here’s a rundown:
*Practices M/T/Th/F for the next 2 weeks.
*Final rehearsals on March 4 & 5
*Dress rehearsal on March 6
*Show time on March 7
*Wheel of Talent on March 8

7) I am away from school today and again on Thursday. Scott will be available to support when issues arise–either he will handle the situation or he can cover for you while you deal with whatever is going on.

Upcoming:
Feb 20: EBISS
Feb 20: Lottery Info sessions, 2:30 and 5:30pm
Feb 21: Environmental Night, 6-7:30pm
Feb 23: Auction at Boys and Girls Club, 5:30-9:00pm
Feb 26 and March 1: Lottery Tours, 8:30am
Feb 28: Listening Sessions–8am, 9:15am, 5:30pm (see recent email)
March 7: Variety Show!

Here’s to a great week, see you on Wednesday!
Andy

Good Morning All,
Last week was a bit disjointed with several of you away from school for a couple of days–I look forward to having everyone back and healthy this week!

A joke to start us off: What do you call an imaginary color? A pigment of your imagination.

Lost to share this week as we get going…
1) Math Screeners this week. Tonya will be here all week covering your classes:
Mon-Grade 3
Tues-Grade 1
Wed-Grade 5
Thurs-Grade 4
Fri-Grade 2

2) Hallway stewardship has been a bit lax in the last few weeks. Please take a little extra time this week getting your kiddos on board with helping to keep the hallway clean, especially at the end of the day. Thanks!

3) MAC Survey is on Tuesday. You should be getting an email about this.

4) SIW this week is off site. Hoping you’re all signed up for a workshop.

5) Grade 2 hosts Cafe Amity this week

6) I’d like to have a quick staff meeting Thursday at 8:15am to discuss next week’s lottery information meetings. As I will be away on Friday and next Tuesday (and Monday is a holiday) this is really the only time to meet prior to the meetings. Matt’s room.

7) The Auction is coming soon–next Saturday night, Feb 23! Please be sure to include a reminder in your weekly note. 5:30-9:00pm

8) Beth has opened up a few bulletin boards for your use. It would be great to have some student work up on the boards prior to the lottery info meeting and upcoming tours. Thanks!

9) It’s Variety Show season! Here’s a rundown:
*Practices M/T/Th/F for the next 3 weeks (except next Mon). Please note we are adding Thursdays until the show.
*Final rehearsals on March 4 & 5
*Dress rehearsal on March 6
*Show time on March 7
*Wheel of Talent on March 8

10) I will away from school this Friday and next Tuesday. Scott will be available to support when issues arise–either he will handle the situation or he can cover for you while you deal with whatever is going on.

Upcoming:
Feb 18: No School!
Feb 20: EBISS
Feb 20: Lottery Info sessions, 2:30 and 5:30pm
Feb 23: Auction at Boys and Girls Club, 5:30-9:00pm
Feb 26 and March 1: Lottery Tours, 8:30am

That’s it for now–three day weekend coming soon! Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning All,
This week I’d like to launch an addition to celebrations, announcements, and message of the day at Community Time–Gratitude and Appreciation! I read a story to Kinder and Grade 1 recently that got me thinking about how important it is to provide our kiddos (and ourselves) the opportunity to express gratitude and appreciation and I’d like to give it a go with your support. I’d like to start at CT today, so if you hear me ask if there is anyone else that would like to express gratitude/appreciation it would be great if a few of you took the opportunity to share. I think it would be great if we did this once each week. Expressing and acknowledging gratitude have been shown to have incredible health and happiness benefits–I wholeheartedly believe this! An article to consider:
hhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201504/7-scientifically-proven-benefits-gratitude

A few notes to get us going on this wonderful, snowy Monday morning:
1) Just a reminder that the art schedule for this week has changed–thanks again for your flexibility:
Monday
9:15-10:15 Kinder
10:40-11:40 Grade 4
12:35-1:30 Grade 5 (in classroom)

Tuesday
9:15-10:15 Grade 3
10:40-11:40 Grade 1
12:35-1:30 Grade 2 (in classroom)

2) DIBELS Wednesday morning. Scott will coordinate.

3) Family Game Night Wednesday 5-7pm. Pizza is being sold but you have to order ahead of time (24 hours before)–it will waiting for you at Game Night: https://www.friendsofamitycreek.com/product/game-night-pizza/

4) Monthly Fire Drill on Friday at 11:30am

5) Grade 3 hosts cafe Amity this week

6) Grade 5 heads to Bend Science Station on Tuesday and Thursday this week from 9-11am.

7) SIW this week–Chapter 8 Mathematical Mindsets. Please come prepared to share thoughts and ideas.

8) SIW on February 13 is coordinated by the district–have you signed up yet?

9) I have an admin meeting today and will leave around 3pm.

10) I’ll be leaving around 2:15 on Friday to participate in an admin panel at the OSU teaching program

11) Variety/Talent Show–we are planning to show some video of past shows today at CT. Tomorrow Invitations will be school wide to get kids signed up for things they think they want to do for the show. Friday Invitation will be for script writing.

Lastly, I want to express deep gratitude and appreciation for the meeting on Friday–great discourse, sharing of ideas, and consensus on assessment.  In addition we’re beginning to include a few other strategies in reading/writing and we are committing to figuring out how to support students who are struggling in math. I wanted to recap and give an update of our meeting to be sure I captured everything. Please let me know if something is missing!
*Fontas and Pinnel 3x yearly for K-2, looking in to IRI for 3-5 (I downloaded one possible IRI over the weekend)
*Math Screener 3x yearly, starting with Midyear screener for this year. Hiring a sub to come the week of Feb 11-15. Please let me know 2 days that would work good for you and I’ll do my best to schedule one of the two days. For Kinder we will work with Scott to cover the class for the day.
Other:
*K-2 will begin to include Units of Study for Phonics. K & 1 sets have been ordered, Grade 2 is being released this summer.
*We will use Calkins high frequency/snap/love/sight words. I’m working with Amanda to get this together.
*We will look to switch up some of Brad’s time to offer better math intervention (likely Bridges materials).
*We will continue to explore how we can track progress in essential skills in math, no agreement yet as to how that will look but I think it’s important to go along side whatever approach we follow in terms of math instruction.

Happy Monday All,
It’s the last week of “Juneuary” and it’s another 4 day week! I couldn’t resist this joke: The past, present and future walk into a bar. It was tense.

A few notes to get us going…
1) Grade 4 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

2) Bend Food Project will be picking up all the food we have collected on Thursday this week. Please encourage your kiddos and their families to donate! I’m sending out a note today to remind the community.

3) SIW this week–we’ll discuss Chapter 7 in Mathematical Mindsets. Please come prepared to share your thoughts. We’ll do Chapter 8 next week.

4) This Friday is a work day. As I mentioned last week I’d like to spend some time in the AM looking at the various assessments you use, specifically in reading, writing, and math. Please bring materials with you to our meeting so that you can share with the staff. My goal is to see how we can find some commonality in the tools we use to assess. I’m still planning to bring bagels. Let’s gather at 8:30am in Heidi’s room. And, how about Happy Hour after work?

5) I’ll be off campus today from 11:45 until 1:30pm–call or text if you need me.

Upcoming:
*February 1: Work day, no students
*February 6: Family Night, 5-7pm
*February 6: DIBELS

Here’s to a great week ahead with a great group of people!
Andy

Happy Tuesday everyone,
I hope you fully enjoyed the long weekend. As we had the extra day to honor MLK I thought I’d share some footage of him cracking a little joke on the Tonight Show in 1968:

A few notes to get us going…
1) Camp Amity this Friday! Please remind parents in your class–Patti sent a note last week but another reminder, especially for Winter camp, is very helpful!

2) SIW this week–Chapter 6 in Mathematical Mindsets. 2:30pm in Heidi’s room.

3) Fire Drill this Wednesday at 12:45pm

4) Grade 5 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

5) Super cool opportunity to bring some wildlife into the classroom–have a look and let me know if you’d be interested:
https://jenkinsrobinc.wixsite.com/nature/educational-programs

6) Next Friday (Feb 1) is a work day, no students. I’d like to spend a little time in the morning looking at the various assessments that we use here at Amity. The idea would be to bring the assessment tools you use and share with the group, with the idea being that we start to hone in on some common assessments which will allow us to have some common language around needed support, etc. Please be prepared to share what you use. I’ll bring fresh bagels and fixings.

7) I’ll be away from school all day Thursday at a workshop. I can be reached by phone if needed.

8) I’ll be leaving school today at 2:30pm to attend to a personal matter. Call or text if you need me.

Upcoming:
Jan 25: Camp Amity
Feb 1: Teacher work day, no students
Feb 6: DIBELS in AM
Feb 6: Family Night–Game Swap/Game Night
Feb 20: EBISS

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Monday Morning,
I hope the weekend was good to you. My daughter Kaila has been hounding me for weeks to help her repaint her room, and I finally gave in this weekend. I got a kick out of the paint colors–some of my favorites that we encountered: nacho cheese, mown grass, dead salmon (really), anonymous, Grandma’s sweater, and divine pleasure. Kaila settled tropicana cabana, though I was hoping for dead salmon…

A few notes to get us going:

1) SIW this week: We’ll discuss Chapter 5 of Mathematical Mindsets so please have it read and be ready to share thoughts/ideas/reflections. Also, we’ll chat about a few other pertinent things as well–I’ll send y’all an agenda.

2) EasyCBM schedule for this week, Jan 15-17 (Tue-Thur):
Kinder: Wednesday 10:40-11:40 (studio)
Grade 1: Wednesday 9:15-10:15 (studio)
Grade 2: Tuesday 9:15-10:15 (studio)
Grade 3: Thursday 9:15-10:15
Grade 4: Wednesday 9:15-10:15
Grade 5: Wednesday 10:40-11:40

3) Small correction to something I wrote in an email to you last week regarding future SIW dates. The February 13 SIW is not for Science, but rather the beginning of the district series (Feb 13, March 13, April 17)– I forgot they were starting this up again. You’ll be getting a note from the district some time in the near future about signing up for a series you are interested in.

4) Dale is still out on residency and Deb continues in his absence.

5) Earthquake drill on Tuesday at 11:30. Duck and cover. We’ll make an announcement followed up by an in-person visit to see if you heard it. The drill will only last a few short minutes.

6) Kinders host Cafe Amity this week.

7) Grade 4 is headed to Elk Meadow on Thursday morning.

8) I was asked this question a few times last week: What time does lunch start? Lunch begins at 11:45, with Kinders coming a few minutes early. The schedule is set up so that you have homeroom time from 10:40-11:40, leaving you time to clean up and get the room in order before sending the kids to the cafeteria at 11:45. Please do not send your classes at 11:40 (except Kinder) as Wendy has mentioned she’s not always ready. Thanks!

9) Just a friendly reminder as we have shifted to afternoon Choice Time coverage…
Mon: Amanda
Tues: Frans
Wednesday: Heidi (still AM Choice)
Thurs: Wendy
Fri: Matt

10) Just an FYI, Lottery info meeting will be Wednesday, February 20–one at 2:30pm, the other at 5:30pm. Lottery tours will be Feb 26 and March 1.

11) I have an admin meeting this afternoon so will be leaving around 3:30. Call or text if you need me.

Upcoming:
Jan 21: No school–MLK Day
Jan 25: Camp Amity!
Feb 1: Teacher work day, no students
Feb 6: DIBELS, 9:15-11:45

Here’s to a great week ahead (and the three day weekend that follows it)!
Andy

Good Morning and Happy New Year!
I hope your break was phenomenal and restful.  So much to look forward to in 2019 and I look forward to many, many amazing experiences with all of you.

A joke to get you going: What happened to the man who shoplifted a calendar on New Year’s Eve? He got 12 months!  So bad it’s good.

A few notes to stir the new year’s pot:

1) Here’s the new schedule starting today:
8:45-9:00–CT
9:15-10:15–Class Time
10:15-10:35–Choice Time
10:40-11:40–Class Time
11:45-12:05—Lunch
12:05-12:30–Lunch Recess
12:35-1:30–Class Time
1:30-2:00–Invitations
2:00-2:20—Choice time
2:25-3:20–Class Time
3:20-3:30—Stewardship

2) Dale is out this week and next.  Deb Mata is here to cover his classes.

3) We honor Martin Luther King, Jr on January 21 (his birthday is on Jan 15).  I am hoping once again this year that you will spend some time honoring MLK with your classes–I think it is really important to keep the memory of King alive and to share his message of love and courage each and every year.  If you are looking for ideas here are a few (of many!) links:
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/history/martin-luther-king-jr/

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/martin_luther_king_jr.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALQeX7IFBcg

https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/famoushistoricalfigures/martinlutherkingjr/

4) New partnerships begin this week–I’m excited to see where these new pairings lead us!  K/1, 2/3, 4/5.  Please continue to be intentional about these partnerships.

5) Grade 1 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

6) Grades 4 and 5 head to Wanaga on Thursday for Survival Structure building.  (Hmmm, thinking I might join them!)

7) EasyCBM schedule for next week, Jan 15-17 (Tue-Thur):
Kinder: Wednesday 10:40-11:40 (studio)
Grade 1: Wednesday 9:15-10:15 (studio)
Grade 2: Tuesday 9:15-10:15 (studio)
Grade 3: Thursday 9:15-10:15
Grade 4: Wednesday 9:15-10:15
Grade 5: Wednesday 10:40-11:40

8) Two emergency drills in January to get on your calendar:
Jan 15: Earth Quake drill @11:30am
Jan 23: Fire Drill @12:45

9) No SIW this week, please use the time to settle in after break.  We will continue our discussions about Math next week.  I’ll send a note later this week about what to read for our Jan 16 SIW.

10) I have an admin meeting across the street at 3:30pm so will be leaving a few minutes before the end of school.  Call or text if you need me!

Upcoming:
Jan 14-18: EasyCBM week
Jan 21: No school–MLK Day
Jan 25: Camp Amity!
Feb 6: DIBELS, 9:15-11:45

Here’s to a great week and a great 2019!
Andy

Good morning!
It’s the home stretch to 2 weeks of vacation…are you feeling it?!  This looks to be a great (and energy filled) week with lots of celebrations and other fun activities.  And, this will be our last week with our wonderful Tonya, so let’s make it count!

In anticipation of our upcoming  vacation, two jokes for you:
Where do math teachers go on vacation? To Times Square
Where do crayons go on vacation? Color-ado!

A few notes to get you going:
1) Celebrations this week (that I know of):
Wednesday: Grade 2 right after Community Time
Thursday: Grade 1 @ 2:30pm, Grade 4 in the studio (time?)
Friday: Grade 3 @9am in the gym

2) Shelter in Place drill Tuesday at 11:15am (followed by Fire Drill).  An actual Shelter in Place for us might be that a huge storm blows in causing damage to the school or stranding us for a period time.  We’ll practice for the potential damage part, in this case windows breaking.  The drill for this would look a lot like an Earthquake drill so let’s do the duck and cover under the desks and away from the windows if possible.  We’ll hold this for a few minutes and then pull the fire alarm.  We’ll initiate the duck and cover via intercom (and I’ll follow up in person).

3) SIW this week will be used to reflect on the first part of the year–celebrate accomplishments, discuss concerns, consider ideas, and get excited for the remainder of the year.  Reflection is an important part of the growth process and I am looking forward to some time with all of you considering how things are going here at school.

4) Proposed schedule for after break–we’ll have a few minutes to discuss this at SIW:
8:45-9:00–CT
9:15-10:15–Class time
10:15-10:35–Choice time
10:40-11:40–Class time
11:45-12:05–Lunch
12:05-12:30–Lunch recess
12:35-1:30–Class time
1:30-2:00–Invitations
2:00-2:20–Choice
2:25-3:20–Class time
3:20-3:30–Stewardship

5) Grade 2 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

6) I’ll be leaving school a little early on Tuesday, around 2:30.

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy

Good Morning!
I hope you had a fantastic weekend.  In honor of our music program and our planetarium this week, a little joke to start us off:
What kind of music do planets sing?  Neptunes!

A few notes to get us going:
1) Song and Sing-a-long is this Wednesday, 5:30-6:30pm.  Please remind families that seating is limited and that we will be sitting Community Time style (on the ground!).  Dale is working on the line up, and we’ll need your support in getting kiddos on and off stage during the evening.  We’ll chat a little more about the plan on Wednesday at SIW.

2) SIW this week is time to focus on Science.  We’ll have a short meeting and then the rest of the time is yours.  Let’s meet in Wendy’s room at 2:30pm.

3) The inflatable Planetarium will be here Thursday and Friday afternoons.  I’m still waiting to hear back from the organizers about scheduling–I’ll hopefully have a schedule to share by Wednesday.

4) Grade 3 hosts Cafe Amity this week.

5) Grade 4 heads to Bend Science Station on Thursday and Friday!

6) Please be sure to get the self portraits done before we head in to break.  Please give them to me when you are done.

7) EBISS on Wednesday, Veronica will be here to cover.
9:15-9:45: Grade 5
9:45-10:15: Grade 4
10:30-11:00: Grade 2
11:00-11:30: Grade 1
12:30-1:00: Grade 3

Here’s to a great week!
Andy

Good Morning Fine People,
I hope the weekend was good!  In honor of winter’s formal arrival, a winter joke: How does a snowman get around? He rides an icicle!

A few notes to get us going:
1) Remember that amazing song that Callie Thomas and Ian Rankin wrote and sang at graduation last year?  Well, they will be at Amity at 3pm this Thursday to teach the song to the entire school!  And, they plan to be at our December 12 Song and Sing-a-long to sing the song as well.  We’ll meet in the gym at 3pm.

2) Our Song and Sing-a-long is next Wednesday, December 12. I have sent a note to parents (and they’ll get another one today in the December newsletter) about the event.  One really important piece of information that I am reminding them about is the limited seating that will be available for the event.  If you include a reminder in your weekly note this week and next week about the limited seating it will be very helpful!  Also, remember we said we wanted to go for drinks after!

3) SIW this week–we will discuss Chapter 4 in Mathematical Mindsets.  Please come ready to share thoughts about  this chapter and what we have read so far.  2:30 in Heidi’s room.

4) Next Thursday and Friday (Dec 13/14) we will have the inflatable planetarium here in the afternoon.  I am still waiting to hear about scheduling classes, and as soon as I do I’ll let you know.

5) Grade 4 hosts Cafe Amity this week

6) Next Wednesday, December 12 is our next EBISS meeting

7) I’ll be leaving around 3pm today for an admin meeting.  Call or text if you need anything.

8) Matt is out today, Mackenzie is here.  Jim is also out today and Andrea will be covering for him.  Please make extra efforts to be good stewards today and help Andrea out by doing some extra cleaning with your kiddos.  Thanks!

Here’s to a fantastic week!
Andy