https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=3071
Hi Everyone,
I hope you all were able to get outside this weekend to enjoy the sunny weather! It’s about time it spring weather got here!
Ten items of note this week:
• New School Design Updates – There wasn’t a Design Team meeting last week, but I do have three items. One, plans have changed regarding the stage and music room. Downtown rethought eliminating the stage in favor of reshaping it into more of a classroom-like shape (a square) and enlarging it to function more as a classroom. It was apparently in the Ed Specs to include a stage in all new schools built in 4J. Although the team originally prioritized the day-to-day use of a music room, I can live with the compromise of making the space more classroom-like to gain a stage for the occasions we could need it. The second item is regarding the attached plans for the new track, which is going to be installed this summer. I was told some of the elements on this map have changed, but for the most part this is the plan. The entire infield will have synthetic turf, which is different from other recently installed tracks. Other tracks have not extended the synthetic turf into the “D” portion of the oval, which is the way most new installations around the country are going. And lastly, attached is a zip file of the drawings from the last meeting, which I didn’t get from the architects in time to share in last week’s announcements. That’s the latest for now.
• Pride Awards, Thursday April 17th at Lunch – A quick reminder that I will be handing out PRIDE awards at lunch in the cafeteria on Thursday. Classroom teachers should pick 2-3 kids you think have been an excellent example of PRIDE. Blank certificates will be on the counter in the mailroom.
• PTO Meeting, Monday at 6:00 – This Monday at 6:00 PM is the April PTO meeting. This is a change from their usual Tuesday meeting date. Hope to see you there!
• OAKS Items – Four items. First, snacks for teachers doing testing will be on the round table in my office. Second, teachers testing, be sure to hang a sign on your door to let others know you are testing. Third, for staff who have not gone through the OAKS test security training and signed the assurance of test security, do not enter classrooms who are testing, as this constitutes a violation and needs to be reported to ODE. And lastly, Sam will be in the building in the mornings all week and will be on call throughout the day for any technical problems that may arise. If he happens to be over at Kelly when something happens, Lori has his cell number and we can give him a call. Happy testing!
• Howard T-Shirt School Orders and Color Vote Deadline – Classroom teachers, if you haven’t done so already, give Lori your Shirt Size Record Sheet. If students did not return their forms, please guesstimate those student’s shirt sizes. And all staff, give Lori your shirt size if you haven’t done so already so we can order you a shirt.
And regarding the color vote, it’s a neck and neck tie between Ultra Marine and Royal Blue for the shirt color among staff. Kids voted at breakfast last week and Ultra Marie won by about 25 votes. Weigh in by Tuesday if you have a preference!
• Earth Day, April 22nd – Not this week, but next week is Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22. Teach your students how to care about their world — and how they can make it better! — throughout the year with these resources and downloads from Scholastic, TeacherVision.com, ScienceLinks.com, EducationWorld.com and Edutopia.
• Mixed Bag Fundraiser – I was a bit skeptical of this fundraiser coming off, but the Mixed Bag orders have been placed and it was quite successful. The PTO had almost $4,000 in sales which means they had a profit of almost $2,000!
• 2014 Public Works Day, Thursday, May 15 – Online registration for teachers who want to take their classes to Public Works Day on Thursday, May 15th is now open. See their website for details on this fun field trip.
• TEDxSomerville – Dan Rothstein: Did Socrates Get it Wrong? – Where did you learn to ask questions? Did you know the skill of asking questions is not used, shared and definitely not taught very well? Even worse, educators are given little training and often indirectly discouraged from spending time on teaching the skill. There’s good news with a deceptively simple solution to the problem. Its called the Question Formulation Technique™ and you have a chance to learn and experience it! Related to this video is a free questioning resources site, RightQuestions.org and also a helpful two page guide of sample questions from RBTeach.com.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JdczdsYBNA[/youtube]
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for this week:
April 14 (M)
OAKS Round 1: Reading and Science (no K – 5 groups)
2:00-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)April 15 (T)
Carolyn Hopkin’s covering for Allan
OAKS Round 1: Reading and Science (no K – 5 groups)
11:30-12:30, Allan to KITS Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
2:30-3:30, Talent Show Practice (Cafeteria)April 16 (W)
Carolyn Hopkin’s covering for Allan
OAKS Round 1: Reading and Science (no K – 5 groups)2:30-3:00, Optional StaffApril 17 (H)
OAKS Round 1: Reading and Science (no K – 5 groups)1
11:00-12:30, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)
2:30-4:30, Design Team Meeting (Library)April 18 (F)
Regular Day (and it’s Friday!)
I’m starting to get used to five day weeks again, which I suppose is a good thing since we’ll be on a roll for the next five weeks. 45 kid days to go!
Allan