October 15, 2010

Progress Report Clarification - There will have a short meeting on Monday, October 18 for any staff member involved in doing progress reports.  Please report to the library at 8:10 am.  There was also an email from Sharon Ingebrand regarding PowerTeacher Gradebook - please take the time to read it.


Additional Support Coming! - We are excited to share that we will be getting some support for our large kindergarten classrooms in the near future!  We have been given the approval of hiring four 3-hour associates to support the morning literacy block.  Currently we are in the midst of application review and interviews.  I hope to have two associates start the week of October 25th and the other two start sometime the during the following 1-2 weeks.   We were also given the go-ahead to increase Kristin and Julie's time working with kids by 1/8 each!  They will be using the time to extend their support to 2nd grade students.  I am thrilled and excited to see what the extra time and support will do for our students.


Office - Please give attention to Kara's email about not sending students to the nurse's office between 1:00-1:30 pm each day. We are asking that you use your best judgement and only send children that need immediate attention and we appreciate you using your best judgement.  With only 1 person at the front desk between 12:30-1:30 pm, it becomes challenging at times.

Printing - If you're nearing or reached your copy limit, just see me to discuss adding more copies.  The limit is not assigned as a "final decision" but more as a self-check system.  As mentioned in previous FWR, Paula and I will continue to speed up the PO process to allow us to use AEA printing more efficiently.

Local Grant - ABC5 has shared their annual $1000 grant opportunity for metro teachers.  I would love to see 1 or more teachers apply for the grant this year (if nothing else, try to go for  a projector in your classroom?)!  If you need assistance with the grant process, wording or correlation to your goals or the building goals, let me help!  More information can be found on the FWR blog and the application can be found on the ABC5 website.


Classroom Supplies - Feel like you've taken out a second mortgage to set up your classroom?  Remember each classroom has a small budget from our building budget to start.  If you've forgotten yours or would like an update on how much you have spent, see me.  There are programs out there such as Adopt-A-Classroom, Donors Choose, Classroom Wish List, and Iloveschools.com that allow potential donors to browse needed classroom items and fund teacher requests.  Teachers at my previous school brought in over $3000 worth of classroom materials through Donors Choose!  Sign up and try it out.  

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. For more information, please go to the Children & Families of Iowa Web site at http://www.cfiowa.org/ and click on“domestic violence services.” Their site provides information on domestic violence as well as phone numbers for the Iowa Domestic Violence Hotline and local crisis lines. Another great resource is the Domestic Violence Awareness Project at http://dvam.vawnet.org/.  Even more useful information can be found at a blog of the Carlisle MS counselor.  If the links within the site do not work at school, they can be accessed at home.  Please share with others if you feel necessary.


Spiders Revisited - Several rooms were sprayed on Thursday and our hope is that our (not so) little friends find warmth and food outside...if they survived the spray.  The gentleman who came in to do the work said the rooms near the doors will likely see return visitors so set up that spider terrarium and make it a science project!

Please welcome - Last week, I omitted welcoming another student teacher who will be starting next Monday in Mrs. Grimm's room.  Please make sure to welcome Lindsay Gardner to the MGE Family.  Clay Young as the new SMS Assistant Principal.  Clay taught MS in Waukee and will be assisting Michelle and the team at South with their mission this year.  Our 5th graders will get to know Mr. Young next year!  


BUSY WEEK NEXT WEEK!! - Please see the schedule below and always check the blog calendar for future dates.


Kudos go to...(Reading below, it sounds like Librarian week to me!  Keep the Kudos coming!)

• Pam Mefford, Meggan Bebout, and the Reading Incentive Team for all their hard work putting the guest readers and activities together for this week (received multiple times).
• THANK YOU Meggan Bebout and all the other related arts staff for providing extra help for our struggling friends!  What would we do without you???  
• Also...THANK YOU Pam Mefford for being so helpful with pulling different books to compliment what we are working on in the classrooms.  YOU are appreciated!
• Matt and Kacie for covering Kelly's class this week during interviews.

Monday
- SPED Mtg (8am)

- Progress Report Update (8:10 am)

- PTO Mtg (7pm in library)
Tuesday
- K-1 PLC (8am)

- PLC+ 2nd/5th
Wednesday
- 3-5 PLC (8am)

- Marron/Barry @ 504 Training (AM)

- Early Out

- PBIS PD @ 2:05 pm
Thursday
- Mrs. Harvey returns!

- PLC+ 4th/1st

- MGE's PEPPER POT-LUCK!!

- Character Council Mtg w/students (8am)
- Barry @ Instructional Rounds (BVE)

- Meteor Shower @ night :-)
Friday
- Staff Mtg (8am)

* 1st grade - team builder / 3rd grade - treats/breakfast

- Meteor Shower @ night :-)

Laugh everyday - its like inner jogging.

Michelle Winder