December 2, 2011

Email at 4:31 pm

1. Weekly PLC Meetings - Starting this coming week, we are going to have K, 2 & 4 PLC teams meet on Tuesdays and 1, 3 & 5 meet on Wednesdays. This will allow for some additional co-teaching planning time each week and we appreciate everyone being flexible in making some changes that may ripple from moving those two teams. This change stemmed from a lot of discussion after our team of teachers spent the day observing and discussing co-teaching. Questions - let me know.

2. Bus Procedures - Starting MONDAY, 5th grade will keep the bus students in their own pod after school and dismiss students from there. Students will walk by the 2nd grade classrooms and out the 1st grade pod doors to go to the buses after their bus is called. 5th grade teachers will prep students Monday and stress the role modeling they can do as they pass by the younger students each day! They can also more easily watch the students walk down the hallway to exit. We feel this will ease the numbers and the noise in the 3rd grade pod.  

Another great week at MGE!! Last night, the parents at our district SIAC meeting told Kelly White and I how much they appreciate what each and everyone one of you do each day to ensure you know their child as a learner! They know you work hard to keep the focus on our students and their learning and growth. I continue to be very proud to call myself your colleague and look forward to a successful and joyous December!

Early Out Schedule today due to PBIS Assemblies this afternoon!

Turn in your November "At-Bat" score cards today!! 

I only have 3 in my box.

BoxTop Contest begins on Monday, December 5th! Remind your students today to bring in their Boxtops next week. Our PTO will announce a winner the following week. PTO is also sponsoring our Panera Night next Tuesday, December 6th. There are still spots available to sign up!

Winter MAP will start next week. This year, our 3rd grade is the only grade involved in mid-year MAP assessment. Benchmarking and DIBELS begins the following week (12/12). Please make sure you and your team have recorded the data on our Google.doc's (i.e. "Class of 2021") as your team should be using these data spreadsheets to analyze current grade level data in early January.


Reminder - The WDSM Fire Department will be out again unannounced to conduct an inspection. Please ensure the 18 inch clearance between the ceiling and any object/box continues to be followed.

iPad Info - A few updates for you! (1) Carrie and I will be ordering additonal iPads in the very near future. Before they arrive, we will roll out our immediate and intermediate plans for the iPads in hand so stay tuned. (2) The AEA will be offering an iPad training and we hope to get more details about the training soon. It would be great to have 1-2 staff members attend. (3) A site I found yesterday via Twitter is Mom's with Apps. It looks like a great source for educational apps (could easily be called Parent's with Apps or Teacher's with Apps) so check it out. There is also an app you can download for free called: Mom's with Apps. :-)

Our Building Leadership Team is meeting next Friday morning (12/9) at 8:00 am. They have been asked to get any building wide "Nuts-and-Bolts" items to me prior to then so please share any you have with your BLT member.

Thank you for the many birthday well wishes via email, notes and words on Tuesday. I don't get any younger age wise, but you, the students and parents keep me young at heart and mind. ;-)





At-Bat Song Contest - Group D (December)!Another month begins! This month brings quite a diversity of music so enjoy!

Born to Fly - Sara Evans	Run the World - Beyonce
Ready Yourselves - Casting Crowns	Dynamite - Taio Cruz

December's Group Includes:Sarah Allison, Nancy AndersonNicole Baugh, Patrick GarlandMelissa Grimm, Alice HahnKris Hoeppner, Kjersten KoenigsRaeAnn Strack, Kelly White

November 22, 2011 Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 30 PD plans were emailed out this week. Grade level and related art teams will be together across the district. Please refer to the schedule. December 14 PD will be a building PD and is being developed. It will include share out information from October Instructional Rounds.

Winter Assessment - Lyndsay emailed out the changes in Winter Assessment schedule to BLT on Thursday. The benchmarking and DIBELS assessments will take place between December 12 and 19. Third grade students will be involved in winter MAP assessment and Carrie will be getting a schedule out to K-3 as it will affect lab use during one week in December.


Winter DIBELS Protocol - a reminder for primary staff...

K: All students - First Sound Fluency, Letter Naming Fluency,  Phoneme Segmentation, Nonsense Word Fluency.

1: Administering only the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) to students reading E or below.

2: Administering only the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) to students reading I or below.

Holiday Reminder - Personal orders need to be shipped to your home address and not the school address or central receiving.  Also note you should not be making personal orders through the Maple Grove Elementary or Waukee "name" even if you are paying for it yourself.  

The 2011 Home-Stretch - It is hard to believe we are entering December next week!  As we approach the last few weeks of school prior to winter break, please take time to review progress your team has made toward team SMART goals and celebrate!  Continue consistency by holding students accountable (behaviors and academics) and support your team as much as possible.  Personally, we know the holiday season can be stressful so we also need to understand that many of our students are involved in similar stressors too. This year, we have seen a large increase in the number of students who may not have the same joyous experiences with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays as we did growing up and do now. Be cognizant of that fact and also let Nicole, Shanlyn, Lyndsay or I know if we can be supportive to students, families and staff members if needed.

From The Diversity Leadership Team - Dear Waukee Teachers, Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the Diversity Survey. Your input is invaluable! If you have not had an opportunity to complete, the survey you still have time! Please take a few minutes to fill out the Diversity Survey:

https://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22DRJ45ZFN4

This survey is open until 10:00 PM on Tuesday, November 22. Your responses will remain anonymous, and individual responses will not be singled out.  Thank you for your participation! 

At-Bat Song Contest - Group C (November)!November 11th's Eye of the Tiger actually is the At-Bat song for two ofthis month's staff members! I didn't notice that until this week. :-) Below arethe next five songs so teams can turn their November cards in by December 1st!

Live Like You Were Dying - Tim McGraw	Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
Corn Fed - Shannon Brown	Tubthumping - Chumbawanba

You Can't Stop the Beat - Cast of Hairspray

November's Group Includes...Adamson, De MouthFoster, LatchamMeyer, NortonPerrigo, RicherSchoene, Umphress

November 18, 2011

Before the 2010-11 school year, I made the comparison of what we are expected to do in education to building a plane in midair.  We are not able to build the perfect airplane and then load it up with passengers. We don't have the luxury of landing and unloading our passengers to undergo a complete overhaul or tweak a few mechanical malfunctions. We even have to refuel and reload in mid-flight! 

Each of you constantly work with kids, plan with colleagues, investigate and research new learning, implement and then assess...and then do it all over again without touching the ground. This week, you were able to celebrate students' progress as we continue to move through the friendly skies toward increased student learning and achievement. We may not be able to land the plane, but we have arranged for a couple flight attendants to offer some in-flight snacks and refreshments to our crew on Friday! Friday, be on the look-out for some appreciative flight attendants who represent all the people on the ground (parents) who have passengers in your seats (students). They (and I) appreciate all you do.

Conferences - If you do not get 100% attendance at your conferences prior to Thanksgiving break and are having a hard time rescheduling a parent-conference, please check in with Lyndsay or I to help problem solve. Our expectations of parents is that every student is able to have a fall and spring conference one-way-or-another.


Next week - Lyndsay will be here on Monday instead of Tuesday. Shanlyn will not be here either day but will be "on call" Tuesday. Please contact Nicole or I if she is needed. 


Fundraiser Nights - Please talk as a team about volunteering a night for the restaurant fundraisers PTO has set up for us. The money earned from those nights will go directly toward an iPad for your classroom/grade level! Our current plan is to have an iPad available for every classroom and be able to pull those iPads together for a classroom set if needed. We believe that if all teachers have the option of incorporating them into their classroom instruction/routines, then (1) more ideas will be generated as to how to effectively use iPads; and, (2) comfort level of for every teacher will increase!  The first fundraiser night is sneaking up on us...December 6th at Panera! Sign up soon by clicking here!!!


iPad Website - Beau Barrett at Eason has created a great site for iPad users. Check it out!


Input Needed - If you have not done so already, all certified staff should take time to complete the district wide survey from our Diversity Leadership Team. Thank you!


Walk Throughs - FYI for certified staff - If I do a walk through in your classroom, I am emailing the form directly from the e-Walk website.  If you do not receive that form via e-mail immediately, it is likely stuck in cyber-space so just let me know and I will get you an e-copy.

NEXT WEEK

Monday - Associate interviews (Barry & Marron)

Monday - 3rd Gr PLC (AM), 5th Gr PLC (PM)

Tuesday - Five At-Bat Songs will be on the blog!

Wednesday - Happy Thanksgiving Break!

Nov 29 - 3rd Grade Music Program

November 11, 2011 or 11/11/11

Welcome to 11/11/11

A somewhat interesting MSNBC article about the human tendency to find meaning or patterns

in randomly occurring data. If you read it on Friday at 11:11, I'm sure it would be even more inspiring.

Please Welcome Nichole Foxhoven to Maple Grove and our preschool room! Nichole started on Monday so take time this week or next to wander down to introduce yourself.  Also, please welcome back Lyndsay next week!!! We (most importantly, me) are very happy to have her back with us, starting on Tuesday!


Conferences - If you have a conference you wish for me to attend, please talk to me this week so I can get it on my calendar. Conference snacks/drinks will be available Wednesday afternoon and the meals will be coming by 3pm on Thursday. If you have booked yourself straight through on Thursday, please select a time (<-click here) that you could come down to eat prior to 4pm. I will try to find coverage.


Artifact Collection and Conferences Follow-Up: Conferences are approaching and we understand the stress level is at it's highest point. We hope the email sent out this week eases some anxiety. Please continue to send any questions or stop in to visit. Reviewing the presentations on our Wiki may be helpful too.

Book Fair Open House is Friday morning. Please stop in and enjoy some treats and take a look around!

Student Absences - If you don't see Paula's name in an email from parents about an upcoming absence, please let her know ASAP. This would include phone calls too. Please do not assume the office was notified.

Fundraising Opportunities - PTO has set up several restaurant fundraising opportunities for our staff to get involved with this year. The money raised from these events will go directly toward additional iPads for the classroom.  As an individual or team (great team bonding!), sign up on the Google.doc sheet I've created. Reminders will be sent out to teachers from PTO or myself.  If your team signs up and you'd like to extend your evening to enjoy some additional 'bonding time' together, let me know and I'll get those "excuses" sent to your spouse/significant other. :-) Sorry - I don't babysit though.

Contest Winners!  Our "First Snow" winner is Melissa Grimm as she picked the correct day! Prize to come. Our October At-Bat winning team is the 2nd grade team (won the tie breaker with RA)! Related arts still has a commanding lead, but several teams are within striking distance. Our 3rd grade team should begin warming up their voices... :-)

Final Thoughts for the Week

Where I keep typing/talking and you

don't necessarily have to keep reading/listening.

In an article from the Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa Director of Education, Jason Glass, references Iowa's desire to be a world class educational system. As I've told parents, teachers and anyone else who will listen, Waukee/MGE has many of the pieces outlined in the proposed blueprint already in place. That doesn't mean we can be satisfied and wait for others to "catch up" nor be happy with being ahead of the game in Iowa. I truly believe all of you constantly and consistently look for ways to improve and push yourself and your colleagues! Jason Glass states this about high-performing organizations: 

"They don't stand still," he said. "All high-performing organizations

are constantly trying to improve and adapt."

Our BLT spent time reviewing data, feedback and information from our October Instructional Rounds. Most of the information shared, highlights the wonderful things that are going on at MGE. There was a lot of great things going on at MGE we were able to share with the district team and they noted many of these through their observations and data collection. The feedback also indicates areas of growth and possible next steps. When given this type of feedback, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable but I was recently reminded by a colleague that sometimes in order to grow we need to feel a bit uncomfortable. AFTER CONFERENCES, we will begin to look at feedback from rounds and discuss where BLT sees us now and where they identified we need to go. Until then, I'll leave you with Colleen Canney's great analogy I found this morning:

If you feel too comfortable in life it probably means you are not growing as an individual. By nature growth is uncomfortable. As a child I experienced Charley Horses, otherwise known as growing pains, in my legs. I would wake-up in the middle night because I was uncomfortable. This is part of growing. Whether it is physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental growth, if you want to evolve and develop as an individual, be prepared to experience a certain level of discomfort.

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At-Bat Song Contest - Group C (November)!Two months down and November kicks off with a couple "old school" hitsand some more modern picks. This months separates the contenders from the pretenders!Good luck!  Third grade, you can phone a friend this month.

Hold Me - Jamie Grace	It It's Love - Train
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor	Manic Monday - Bangles

November's Group Includes...Adamson, De MouthFoster, LatchamMeyer, NortonPerrigo, RicherSchoene, Umphress

November 4, 2011

Friday - I am out of the district on Friday so please contact Paula or Shanyln if you need assistance. Thank you! I'm missing two "At-Bat" team forms so please turn those in so I can declare a September winner! The November songs will begin next week.

Conference Reminders and the Conference Brochures should be sent home with students on Friday. There was an email sent with the same information for you to forward to parents. Please take the time to read The Branch too - especially the information regarding conferences.  As mentioned, teams/classroom teachers need to communicate with parents as to how you want parents and students to engage in the student-led portion of the conference that takes place outside your room.

Progress Reports - Related arts will have progress reports completed by Thursday morning and I will have classroom teachers print completed progress reports on Friday, November 11, for parents who do not have internet or have requested hard copies of information. There will be an email sent to parents next Friday after school that the PS Portal has been reopened and steps for them to access their child's progress reports prior to conferences.  Questions - run those through BLT members and then to me if needed.

BLT went through some post-Instructional Rounds learning and sharing this morning. We hope to have some information to you soon as there are great celebrations to share and a solid foundation to build upon and continue our work toward moving from good to great! Thank you for their time this morning and leadership in this process.


Emergency Reference Guide - If you do not have a red ER Guide, notify me ASAP so we can get you one.

Internet Connection - An IT request was completed to hopefully address the internet connection issues many of you are having in the building. Thank you for being patient and continuing to turn on and off your airport several times a day. :-)

Robotics Club begins next week and will take place the first Tuesday and Thursday of the month. It will be held in the library and computer lab from 3:50 to 5:00 pm. There will be parent and 4-H volunteers leading these clubs and we have nearly 40 third-fifth graders signed up to participate! Should be a lot of fun to watch so stop in anytime!

Thank you to the third grade team for bringing in our special visitor today! I heard the students had great questions for our governor and represented Waukee and Maple Grove very well. Fun stuff! Thank you also to Natalie Shay for filling in for Kristin during her maternity leave. We are excited to have Kristin back but truly appreciate Natalie's job she did over the past 7 weeks!!

Items from District Admin Meeting - There were items to note from our Thursday admin meeting to share. If you have questions, let me know.

• Certified enrollment will show Waukee at 7,112 students. This is an increase of 431 students and is the largest growth in the state of Iowa this year.
• If you are purchasing items from a store and hope to be reimbursed, please find out if the store takes purchase orders first. If so - go that route! 
• Technology purchases/requests/inquiries should go through me until Carrie returns. After she returns, requisitions go through Carrie first and then me. 
• If you have an idea for a Community Education course you'd like to teach, Jeff Longman is collecting ideas for winter and spring course. Please contact him.
• Blogs - Please review your blog to ensure the required items are included. Just looking through them this week, there are several incomplete blogs sites. If you need support, let me know. Also, please review and/or have others edit your posts on a regular basis. The editing would apply to your newsletters too. Both are public forms of communication that represent us as a building and district!

No snow was spotted this week so the contest continues.  I'll post the guesses soon. :-)