Monday, December 17, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
December 14, 2012
Congratulations to Mr. Graziano and Mrs. Seeley for a putting on a wonderful student performance yesterday. The kids did a great job and it is always fun to get together as a family and share our talents!
Professional Development - We appreciate your conversation, sharing and feedback from our PD this week. Next steps will be planned using your exit slips. Several of you asked for the one of the other articles. They were emailed out on December 4th but I've also included links to them here:
Thank you to Morgan Singleton for being with us over the past few months as our art teacher. We appreciate the time and effort you put in at MGE and wish you the best of luck at WE after the break! Also, thank you to Abbey Doering for being a part of MGE the past eight weeks as Meggan Jone's student teacher. Good luck to you and congratulations on graduating!
Family University is set for Thursday, January 17. Registration for parents, students and community members will be going out next Thursday or Friday. We have posted the event on our website and Facebook. Please find ways to promote it among your students and families as the event nears.
ALL STAFF: AESOP - PLEASE, PLEASE check out your AESOP settings today or this weekend. Staff may mark their preferred subs accordingly but please do not exclude all but your preferred list. This makes it very hard (nearly impossible) to fill a job through the automated process. If you have or are going to exclude a sub, you need to let Diann and I know who it is and why so we have record of it. If a number of teachers have excluded a sub, we may need to make a decision at the building level.
CHANGE: Our all-staff holiday meal will be on Tuesday (not Friday) of next week. The Olive Garden will be served for lunch starting at 10:40am.
Professional Development - We appreciate your conversation, sharing and feedback from our PD this week. Next steps will be planned using your exit slips. Several of you asked for the one of the other articles. They were emailed out on December 4th but I've also included links to them here:
- Purposeful Classroom (Chpt 6 - Identifying Outcomes Related to Purpose)
- Seven Strategies (Chpt 3 - Effective Feedback)
- Advancing Formative Assessment (Chpt 3 - Feedback that Feeds Forward)
Thank you to Morgan Singleton for being with us over the past few months as our art teacher. We appreciate the time and effort you put in at MGE and wish you the best of luck at WE after the break! Also, thank you to Abbey Doering for being a part of MGE the past eight weeks as Meggan Jone's student teacher. Good luck to you and congratulations on graduating!
Family University is set for Thursday, January 17. Registration for parents, students and community members will be going out next Thursday or Friday. We have posted the event on our website and Facebook. Please find ways to promote it among your students and families as the event nears.
ALL STAFF: AESOP - PLEASE, PLEASE check out your AESOP settings today or this weekend. Staff may mark their preferred subs accordingly but please do not exclude all but your preferred list. This makes it very hard (nearly impossible) to fill a job through the automated process. If you have or are going to exclude a sub, you need to let Diann and I know who it is and why so we have record of it. If a number of teachers have excluded a sub, we may need to make a decision at the building level.
CHANGE: Our all-staff holiday meal will be on Tuesday (not Friday) of next week. The Olive Garden will be served for lunch starting at 10:40am.
Today - SPED PLC (7:45-8:30am in Library)
Tues - Staff Lunch; Code 411 Graduation @ 2:30pm
Wed - 5th Grade PLC @ 2:45p (CHANGE)
Fri - Winter Parties @ 2:30p (early out schedule)
Fri - Related Arts District PLCs (2-4p)
Students may need that extra smile next week. Bring it. Wear it. Use it.
Optional Assignment
Take time with your team and your students next week to reflect upon the 2012 year. We have seen many changes and much growth in ourselves, our building, district and world. The end of the calendar is a great time to reflect and set goals for next year. As the 1/2 way point of the school year nears, it would be a good time to do the same for the 2nd half of the year. There are a number of "year in review" websites and videos out there you may also be able to use in your classroom to help kids reflect upon the world outside of Waukee and that could be a great entry point for engaging reading, writing and social studies lessons this "crazy" last week before the Christmas break. Here is one my brother sent me this morning to get you started...
Friday, December 7, 2012
December 7, 2012
Professional Development is next Wednesday. Please read your article and complete the top portion of your graphic organizer before Wednesday. Thanks!
Please update The Bench Press throughout the next week or so to reflect current reality. If you have new students to put up on the board, the sticky notes are located in Leslie's window in the blue bucket. Please update/add your child before you leave for break. All data should be entered on the Google.doc by December 19th.
Please update The Bench Press throughout the next week or so to reflect current reality. If you have new students to put up on the board, the sticky notes are located in Leslie's window in the blue bucket. Please update/add your child before you leave for break. All data should be entered on the Google.doc by December 19th.
 |
| Fall 2012 Current Reality |
Busing Items to Note
Printing - A message from the office Grinch :-) We went through a lot of paper within the building the past two weeks and it would be a good time to bring back my yearly reminder of "thinking before we copy/print." Copies should be based on need and using reams of paper for student coloring is not a good use of paper/resources (scrap paper is aplenty around the building). Being conservative with our paper resources and copying allows us to spend money in other areas.
Dates to note
- Construction has been the cause of Bus #18's tardiness. I called yesterday and construction should be done over the weekend. This will help with on-time arrival. :-)
- A new bus will be added starting December 17. I will have a new line-up map out so all teachers can show the students prior to the 17th.
- Speaking of new line-up maps...we will continue to lineup outside even if snow (what's snow?) is on the ground. The map will indicate where students will line up on the sidewalk to avoid the snow. Please communicate issues that arise and as we approach the cold weather, I'm open to new ideas too.
Printing - A message from the office Grinch :-) We went through a lot of paper within the building the past two weeks and it would be a good time to bring back my yearly reminder of "thinking before we copy/print." Copies should be based on need and using reams of paper for student coloring is not a good use of paper/resources (scrap paper is aplenty around the building). Being conservative with our paper resources and copying allows us to spend money in other areas.
Dates to note
Tues - 5th Grade PLC @ 2:45p (CHANGE)
Tues - 1st Grade Music Program @ MGE (6p and 7p)
Wed - Hearing Screening starts
Wed - Building PD (early out / schedule)
Thurs - Instructional Rounds @ HS (Barry/Williamson)
Thurs - ALL SCHOOL assembly for Band/Chorus (2:50p - NO EARLY out schedule)
Fri - SPED PLC
Dec 18 - Code 411 Graduation @ 2:30pm
Dec 19 - 5th Grade PLC @ 2:45p (CHANGE)
Dec 21 - Winter Parties @ 2:30p (early out schedule)
Dec 21 - Related Arts District PLCs (2-4p)
The Holiday Season - Part II
I know I've already included my annual community-service-message (last FWR post) about being sensitive to students' needs around the holidays, but I wanted to plug it again after what has been an emotional week for a number of our students at MGE. Nicole and I were visiting yesterday after school about the noticeable up-tick in student emotional needs and I do believe there are multiple factors. I know in my own home, the stresses of the holidays can bring my patience with my boys to a bare-minimum at times...and we are doing okay (some could argue that, but relatively speaking). Throw on top of that, continued economic hardships, changing families and the recent news many of our students are just finding out...they will be going to a different school next year. Our kids have many different stories and many different home/community experiences. Over the next two weeks, please take time to give extra hugs/high fives, listen a bit more, make a few extra positive phone calls home and know that Shanlyn, Nicole, Diann and I will support you and your students anyway we can.
...and if you're looking to ease some stress yourself, nothing helps during the
holiday season like a little Clark Griswold.
If you don't have the movie at home, here is our families favorite scene.
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