October 26, 2012

I had a conversation with a teacher last week and appreciated her honest comment when she said, "I read the FWR when I have time but sometimes I don't get to it." :-) So here is my adjustment. I will try to sort my FWR in to terms we use often in Waukee..."Tight" and "Loose." The "Tight" items would be pieces of the FWR I'd expect all staff to read every week. I'll try to put the "all staff" items at top and must-read teacher items in this area. The "Loose" items would be good-to-know-but-not-vital-to-daily-survival items that you can read or come back to reference. Hope that helps.

<<< TIGHT >>>

Wormeli Feedback - If you have not done so already, please complete the feedback survey today (click here). Those who are taking our PD for Drake credit should also email me a one page summary (you should have received the details of the summary from me last week).

Next Step for PD - Teachers received an email-memo last week regarding your next steps following our Oct 10th PD. About 1/3 have completed the "inter-rater reliability" process using the Learning Target rubric. The memo and LT rubric can be found online. Please complete by November 5th.

Diann will be changing her schedule staring next week. She will be at Maple Grove on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and every other Friday.

Lunch/Recess - Staff involved with lunch and recess duty will be meeting next Wednesday after school to discuss lunch and recess duties, procedures and rules. We hope to come out of the meeting with some "tight" and "loose" rules/procedures we will share with all staff at some point soon. Your BLT member received information from me recently about the meeting so if you have questions, please talk to your rep. 

Upcoming dates to note:

• Today: Harvest Parties! (2:30-3:15p) EARLY OUT SCHEDULE
• Today: District Related Arts PLC+ (2-4p)
• Tonight: BINGO for Books (6:30-8:00p @ MGE Gym)
• Oct 30: PBIS/PS Core teams meet separately (8:00-8:35am)
• Oct 31: PD will be focused on using iPads in the classroom. Bring your iPad
• Nov 2: Online Conference link closes (begin calling parents to set up conferences not scheduled)
• Nov 5: Related Arts staff must have progress reports completed

<<< LOOSE >>>

The Scholastic Book Fair Teacher Preview scheduled for all teachers on Friday, November 9 from 7:45 am to 8:30 am in the Media Center. The PTO will be asking teachers to complete their wish list slips and one ‘Teacher Recommends’ slip.  A light breakfast will be served. 

*REPEAT* Our First Snow Contest will happen again this winter. Farmer's Almanac has it happening sooner-than-later so place your guess here by November 2nd. I'm guessing 2014. ;-) If my memory serves me right, Melissa Grimm won last year!

“My chief want in life is for someone who shall make me do what I can.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

October 19, 2012

Upcoming dates to note:

• TODAY: Staff celebration in the library at 8:00am
• TODAY: PBIS Assembly (3-5 @ 2:10p; K-2 @ 2:50p) EARLY OUT SCHEDULE
• Fri: Rick Wormeli workshops and teacher workday
• Oct 22: PT Schedule opens online (through Nov 2)
• Oct 22-25: Reading week (see Pam's email)
• Oct 25: K/1st PLC+
• Oct 26: Harvest Parties! (2:30-3:15p) EARLY OUT SCHEDULE
• Oct 26: Related Arts PLC+
• Oct 31: PD will be focused on using iPads in the classroom

Friday - No kids on Friday (did you know that?) as many of you are engaged in the Rick Wormeli workshop(s) and/or working in your classrooms. If attending the Wormeli workshop, sign-in's will be at the location. I will not be in the district all day but Diann is available at x6658. Also on Friday, Berg Audio will be in the building to complete annual maintenance on the projectors. It shouldn't take very long in each room but just wanted to give you a heads-up.

Progress Reports in PowerTeacher may begin to be entered this coming Friday during the teacher workday. The timeline for progress reports is below. Reminder: if you have parents who do not have access to the internet, you must print off their child's progress report statement and send home with the student on Friday, November 9th.

• PS closed to parents: Oct 18
• Related arts teachers enter information by Nov 5
• PS opens to parents: 4pm on Nov 9

Bench Press Board - As students change benchmark levels in your classroom, please update the "Bench Press" board by moving the sticky note. You would also do the same when you have new students move in to the building or leave the building. It will be fun to watch the board change through out the year.

The Parent Portal for Online Conferences will open this coming Monday. An email will be sent out to parents via the list serve and with a link to the directions and portal. If you have questions that cannot be answered, be sure to send them to Paula or I.

Our First Snow Contest will happen again this winter. Farmer's Almanac has it happening sooner-than-later so place your guess here by November 2nd. I'm guessing 2014. ;-) If my memory serves me right, Melissa Grimm won last year!

Boss's Day Thank You

Having survived my 3rd Boss's Day with the staff at Maple Grove, I am grateful for the daily blessings, celebrations and chuckles you all provide me. I truly feel my job is to get the right people on the bus and help everyone find the right seat (...and yes, some of you sometimes have to have the assigned seat right behind me :-). And then, I drive. It is not me being cliche when I tell you, parents and the community that we have assembled the best staff possible for our students at MGE. You make good decisions. You put in the time and hard work. Your teams make great data-driven decisions. You provide that individualized feeling and sense of belonging to each child and parent. You do all of it each and every day...and I check my rear-view mirror, attempt to provide the correct stops (resources, time, support)  and smile. 

Finally...I ran across a blog article by Scott Williams that made me think of each of you. My additional thoughts are in italics.

If you want to be Surrounded By The Best, you must embrace these three things:

• 1. It’s your responsibility to develop your team and give them opportunities to be the best. The best leaders maximize the potential of those they lead…  they put their people in the best position to win.) I smile when I look at the team we have assembled over the last two+ years. 
• 2. You have to give those that are “The Best” room to fly, dream big and try new things. Learn from Google [as they] allow employees to spend twenty percent of their time to work on their own project, independent of their workgroup. Google believes that no one should leave in order to pursue their personal passions. Letting employees do this results in over twenty percent of Google’s new product launches has stemmed from these personal projects. I look at what you've independently done with Skype in the Classroom, Project Based Learning, Cooperative Teaching, iPads, Flipped Math classroom, etc., and then how you share the successes and watch it grow naturally.
• 3. You must openly embrace that best will not only be sought after, but sometimes the best will leave and take those best practices other places. This one is tougher. With boundary changes being approved at the next Board meeting, I know that team members (teachers & associates) will be leaving us to join other building(s). It comforts me to know we are spreading our knowledge, our experiences, our leadership to other buildings, staffs and ultimately, affecting more kids in a positive way. 

Not related to any of the above, but it wouldn't be "Boss's Day," without a Michael Scott reference...

MGE Changes - Update for 10/15/12

If you haven't read the LAST WEEK's weekly blog memo (10/12/12), 

please continue reading below this post too!

An email went out last week about upcoming changes. We've had some additional once since then. Those changes are highlighted in red below. One of the first things I heard on the job two years ago, was:  The only thing that stays the same in Waukee is change. :-)

In an attempt to keep everyone on the same page, I wanted to make you aware of several staffing changes that are taking place:

• Mrs. Harvey's long term sub - Amy Pohlson took a dean of students position in Des Moines Public so Theresa Warming will be moving out of her current associate roll (with Millsap/Richer) and taking over the long term subbing position until Sara returns on December 6. We are excited to welcome back Jessica Shwery as Theresa's long term sub for the associate position.
• Kindergarten Associates - After tonight's [10/8/12] board meeting, we are excited to announce the approval of two kindergarten associates for the remainder of the year.  Beginning Tuesday, our very own, Morgan Phillips will be filling one of these positions. The other position will be filled by our very own, Kelly Coffman. Both will begin on Monday.
• Associates - Due to Morgan's and Kelly's move from SPED associates to the above positions, Michelle Smith and Joni Gaughan will be moving from Lisa Lentell and Koenig's room to Jen Latcham's room . Last week, Joni Gaughan transferred from Walnut Hills. Please welcome Joni! Trina Rudicil (lunch/recess) will be extending her day by working in Mrs. Lentell's room from 8:45-10:15a.
• Recess/Lunch Associate - Nikki Girard started a full-time associate position at Walnut Hills last week. Jennifer White has been hired and will begin working as our early morning (10:45a-1:15p) lunch and recess associate. Please be sure to introduce yourself to her next week.

Finally, I sent our human resource and business office the following YouTube clip which has summed up my attempt to keep track of the changes here at MGE this fall. It is one of my favorite shows from my childhood (many of you probably don't even know who Abbott and Costello are so enjoy this classic).

Abbott and Costello perform the classic "Who's on first?" baseball sketch in their 

1945 film "The Naughty Nineties" first performed as part of their stage act.

October 12, 2012

We are out of penguins. :-( We will let you know when they arrive. Steve

had a family emergency so we are being patient.

Keep track of who you "owe" at this point.

Attendance has not been good and our subs are not reporting PM attendance either. PLEASE know how important it is to record accurate and timely attendance. When we move to automated attendance in the near future, the calls will be based on what is entered in the classroom and will reflect this. Thank you for giving this attention today and beyond.

Conferences - You do not need to turn schedules in to Paula. She has access to them online. If you have students who need added, any special educator teacher, Jen Kirby, Paula or I can add them. The parent window will open on October 22nd. The timeline and more information can be found by clicking the "P/T Online Scheduler" tab above. 

Professional Development - The conversations from Wednesday were great! The article we read is located online here. For those of you interested, the 11-12 BLT Action Planning sheet mentioned can be viewed here. As I get through and record your feedback (green sheets), I will get those back to you. BLT will spend time looking through the feedback and using it to decide next steps in PD.

Our first PBIS Assembly will be this coming Thursday, Oct 18th. We decided to split the assembly into two groups just based on shear numbers. The focus will be on "caring."

Upcoming PD will include Instructional Use of My iPad in the Classroom (10/31) and the first of three district wide PDs focused on math starting on 11/28 (see description here).

Dates/items to Note for Next Week and Beyond....

• There will be a fire drill next week...if all cooperates. :-)
• Mon: PTO Meeting @ 7pm
• Tues: Fundraising ends :-)
• Tues: 3rd/5th PLC+
• Wed: Last Boundary Committee meeting (6:30-8:00p)
• Thurs: Staff celebration in the library at 8:00am
• Thurs: PBIS Assembly (3-5 @ 2:10p; K-2 @ 2:50p) EARLY OUT SCHEDULE
• Fri: Rick Wormeli workshops and teacher workday
• Oct 22: PT Schedule opens online (through Nov 2)
• Oct 22-25: Reading week (see Pam's email)
• Oct 25: K/1st PLC+
• Oct 26: Harvest Parties! (2:30-3:15p) EARLY OUT SCHEDULE
• Oct 26: Related Arts PLC+
• Oct 31: PD will be focused on using iPads in the classroom

October 5, 2012

REMINDER - Picture retakes are this morning. Paula will make an announcement when they are ready for you to send students down. Our fundraiser kickoff is today at 3pm. We will call grades down beginning at 2:50pm and will last 15-20 minutes. If a Friday, all school assembly doesn't put you over the edge, come join the MGE crew for a social at El Rodeo. :-)  

Teacher meeting was moved to next Thursday. This will be the online conference scheduling meeting so please bring your computer and conference times. You should have already shared you conference times with the ESL/SPED teacher who works with you (if applicable). For more info, click here.

Parent University Night - Nicole, Shanlyn, Diann and I are in the beginning stages of planning a "Parent University" to be held at Maple Grove on Thursday, January 17th. We'd like to offer parent and student classes/workshops that evening and PTO will be sponsoring dinner. If you are interested in helping plan this event (it will take more than us), see Nicole or Shanlyn to sign up! If you have some ideas for classes you'd like to "teach" (educational, fun or informative), you can sign up online anytime!

Attendance - We will be moving to automated calling for NV (non verified) students later this month. It will become even more important to mark attendance by 9:15a and 1:15p so Mrs. Roboto does not make incorrect calls. :-) You will be getting more information about this and SchoolMessenger from Nicole Lawrence in the near future.

The Fridge - It scared me Thursday night. Not sure what it is, but it smells. Please mark anything you want to keep in the fridge over the weekend as I will empty it of its contents today after school.

Dates/items to Note for Next Week....

• There will be a fire drill next week.
• Thank you to Kassie Winter and Megan Kearney for spending the fall student teaching with us! Enjoy your last week with us and good luck to the both of you in your next placement!
• Monday - We have 12 Grandview students coming for the day. I'll let you know today if they are coming to your room! 
• Monday @ 7pm - PTO Meeting
• Friday PM - Barry at Elem Admin meeting; Diann @ MGE

Link of the Week: Calvin and Hobbes Search Engine

http://michaelyingling.com/random/calvin_and_hobbes/

No boy-tiger duo made me laugh and think more than Calvin and Hobbes

did as I grew up. From my early double digits until college, the duo was the

reason I read the paper each Sunday and maybe a little bit of the reason my

humor, today, is viewed from some people as "odd" or "confusing." I had

to share my Twitter-find, the search engine and the comic which sums up my:

"He who laughs, lasts" tagline...