Monday Memo - Week of October 10th

Here are some great things I noticed last week:
**Mrs. Prinsen blends into classes during Daily 5/Cafe time so well...she is still meeting her student's IEP needs while conferring with them on their reading and writing!
**Mrs. Zastrow changed how students are using the planner. It is no longer used just to communicate homework, but a tool for students to reflect on the lesson objective in each subject and write what they learned.  What a great way to give parents information about what their children are learning each day!
**Mrs. Peterson had her class reviewing science terms in a fun game that not only had the class in teams, but with each student's turn to answer, they also got to shoot a basket in the classroom.  What a great way to incorporate students' interest and physical activity!
**Mrs. Abegglen found a creative way to draw students' attention to new books added to the classroom library (even I had to go and see what was NEW!)

*Just a few weeks ago I began using a google form to track data when I'm in classrooms.  One of the pieces of information I've been tracking is the level of student engagement that I observe in the classroom.  When I pull up the summary of my walkthoughs, look at the results for student engagement when I've been in classrooms:
That is AWESOME!!! I really wish I would have data from previous years on student engagement, because I truly believe from my observations over the years that students are more interested and engaged with the Daily 5 framework for reading/writing. They have a sense of urgency and know what they need to do to become great readers and writers. Most importantly, students have choice in what they are reading/writing and they love it...even our most reluctant/struggling readers/writers!  (By the way, if you'd like to know more about what I track in my classroom walkthroughs, you can read about it on my profession blog. I've maintained this blog for a few years now and kind of kept a secret, but since I want to model reflection for you all, I'm going to "put myself out there" and share it with you.  It has been a great way for me to get feedback from other educators/administrators.  You don't have to read it, but if you're interested, go to http://principalj.blogspot.com/ )

Events this Week:
Monday: Data Day 8:00-11:30 for 2nd grade (includes Mrs. Madsen, Mrs. Bartlett, Mr. Reinke, Mrs. Patey and Mrs. Cleary)  12:00-3:30 for 5K (includes Mrs. Madsen, Mr. Reinke, Mrs. Patey and Mrs. Cleary)
Tuesday: Data Day 8:00-11:30 for 1st grade (includes Mrs. Bartlett, Mrs. Madsen, Mr. Reinke, Mrs. Patey) 12:00-3:30 3rd Grade (includes Mrs. Bartlett, Mrs. Madsen, Mr. Reinke, Mrs. Patey, Mrs. Cleary)
Wednesday: Data Day 8:00-11:30 for 4th Grade (includes Mr. Lange, Mrs. Huelsman, Mrs. Cleary) 12:00-3:30 5th Grade (includes Mr. Lange, Mrs. Huelsman, Mrs. Cleary)
Thursday: Fire Safety for 5K/5th Grades (the fire trucks will be out by the playground and the 5K wing)
Parent/Teacher Conferences and the Book Fair 4:00-7:30 PM 
Friday: Child Development Screening Day all day (you may see new families with little ones walking to Mrs. McLeod's room)
Leadership Team meeting at 12:00 in the D.O. Conference Room

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes
**Please let me know if you are using Reading A-Z, because the subscription will be expiring soon.
**Just a reminder to send home positive postcards home when you have the chance.  These can be put in the box in the District Office to be mailed home. I haven't communicated with teachers for the ones I've sent, but think I probably should so you know if I send home for your students--when I do, I will jut put a copy of it in your mailbox so you know. 
**The calendar originally had our Dodgeland Pride Assemblies scheduled for 8:05 AM (because last year there was no special at this time). This isn't the case anymore and it interrupts several literacy blocks so the assemblies will be scheduled for 2:00.  It's a ways off, but I just wanted to give you advance notice.