Friday Focus - March, 22

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• Everyone did a great job with the lockdown/evacuation drill yesterday. I must admit that I was nervous for you all, thinking about the extended period of time many of you were in lockdown mode, but you all did such a great job keeping your students quiet and calm. I was worried about students becoming unnecessarily scared, but saw very few tears thanks to all of your preparation and calming efforts.
• I heard many positive comments from parents at the Art Show. This was such a positive event to highlight our students' creativity and provide parents the chance to "capture" that in being able to order items with their artwork. Parents loved having choices of more than 1 picture this year...next year we're going to aim for 5 each! A HUGE thank you to the committee for helping get everything set up (Mr. Mane, Ms. B, and Mrs. Haan).
• I think I heard in at least 4 different classrooms, "I just learned___ and wanted to share it with you." These comments were all from teachers. I am always amazed by your ongoing professional learning and modeling for students that even adults continue to learn!

Upcoming Events: 
Please give student technology surveys by Friday, April 5 (see "Nuts & Bolts")
Friday - Special speaker for 4/5th grade classes at 2:10 in the MS gym.
Tuesday - Grade Level Meetings (please bring Common Core books and be ready to share what you've used so far)
Thursday - End of 3rd Quarter
Friday - NO School...relax and rejuvenate!!
Monday - NO School...relax, rejuvenate and hope for the snow to melt!!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

• Just a reminder: For upcoming end of quarter report cards: If you have a student missing science/social studies due to reading intervention you will need to do a grade override of P for passing. We can no longer leave this blank or with a *. Any questions, just ask Mr. Wallesverd.
• The District Tech Task Team (D3T) would like feedback from students on technology-what they like to use at school/home and if it's available at home. I will send you an email with the details and link to the online survey. Please complete this by Friday, April 5th. Let me know if you have any questions (or you could also ask Mrs. Petersen, Mrs. Huelsman or Ms. Abegglen).

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!
*Do you have a student that often looks to you to tell an unknown word or quick support when reading?  *Here's a great article from Choice Literacy: Putting the "Gradual" Back into Gradual Release of Responsbility

Go HERE and scroll down to find this interactive chart to help select iPad apps!

Find other Tech Anchor Charts HERE