Friday Focus - December 16, 2016

Thank you to everyone for trying to keep things as normal as possible (I know that's a challenge) while we count down the days to Christmas. The more we stray from the routine, the more our students get off track. This is also the time of year to keep in mind parent perceptions...if students come home saying all they did was watch movies, do crafts and have parties then parents will be more likely to take students out of school on these days in the future. We can still learn a lot while tying in the theme of the year.

Events Next Week:
Monday - Football Attire
 -Support staff meeting 3:10 in Room 120

Tuesday - K/2/4th grade music concert 6:30pm
Wednesday - Polar Pajama Day
Thursday -Ugly Sweater/Holiday Festive wear

The Weekend Warrior Post

The week is over...what?! Yes, that means I missed getting my Friday Focus post out, my apologies! I know you worked super hard this week, especially Friday so I'll keep this as short as I can!


Upcoming Events:
Monday - Mid Quarter!! Send progress reports home this week

 - I will be at CESA 6 (with Mrs. Huelsman and Mrs. Madsen) for training on going schoolwide Title 1

Nuts & Bolts Notes:

• 3-5th grade teachers: Here is the video I mentioned that you can show your students about growth mindset in math: Four Boosting Math Messages
• I'm sure you've already noticed a change...we're at the time of year where students start behaving differently. Some of our students are super excited for the countdown to Christmas, they get to enjoy holiday shopping or special time of making Christmas cookies and ornaments, they're getting excited about going on a special trip or seeing extended families, etc.  For some of our families, this is not a holly, jolly time of year.  Some of our students are feeling the adult stress of everything that has to get done before Christmas, they might be hearing threats that "Santa won't be coming," or they could be hearing adult arguments/discussions about financial stresses at this time of year. For students in these situations, we are likely seeing the affects of this on them manifest in their behaviors/emotions.  We can't control what's happening in any of our students' lives, but we can control our classrooms to still be consistently structured (to not add more chaos to their days) and show them the caring relationships that they may not be getting at home right now. 
  

Friday Focus - December 2, 2016

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Kindergarteners working on their addition equations and reading them as math sentences.
*First graders deciding on the math strategy that works best for them individually to subtract.
*A lesson in which the teacher referred to the objective on the board a few times throughout the class period and at the end, asked students to self-reflect on how they met the objective (that goes right with standard 4, having students self assess!)
*Several classes working on ways to be bucket fillers and spread kindness throughout their classroom and the school. Wouldn't our world be such a better place if all people focused on the positives and spreading kindness?
*Beautiful ornaments made to decorate 2 trees on display at the Juneau Public Library. Thank you again to Mrs. Haan for organizing this and decorating our trees. I can't wait to see them on display this Sunday when we will also have band students providing the musical entertainment!

Events Next Week:
Sunday - Parade of Trees at the Juneau Public Library 1:00-3:00
Monday - EP training at 3:15 (Optional...an email will be going out to all staff regarding this)
Wednesday - "Giving tree" gift donations due to Marie (unwrapped with the paper ornament)
Friday - Staff Professional Development Day
Monday, December 12th is already MID QUARTER!! Yes, it's almost time to send home mid-quarter progress reports to keep parents updated on academic progress.

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*The Friday PD day agenda will be coming soon. It will be including time for writing/grade level work, some math PD, time for math WIN and some fun!!!
*2-5th grade teachers, please have your students complete the AIMSWeb progress monitoring by Thursday and let Jenny or I know if you need any help. Seriously...don't be afraid to ask. One person already did and the problem was I printed the wrong tickets!
*I am still seeking any interested teachers to join the Title 1 School Wide Planning committee. Please let me know if you're interested or if you have any parent recommendations.
*Monday starts the 12 Days before Christmas break. You know I don't like countdowns, but I love using these days to give you something fun or yummy each day. My ope is that this will help you feel like you're not just surviving these days before winter break, but to keep you thriving! I won't tell you all the days, but you've likely already seen the parent newsletter calendar that gave away the special dress days:

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!!
*How are you doing with your mini-lessons in writing? How about for reading?  Here's a great blog post to help keep your mini-lessons "mini" so that students can get to writing and reading: A Short Sweet Minilesson Forumula