Week of March 19th
Hi Staff,
Can you believe there are only 5 more days to Spring Break? I am so excited. We are almost there!
Schedule of Events for the Week –
March 18 (M)
PRIDE Focus:Integrity
OAKS Science Make Ups
7:45-8:10-Teacher Meeting Check in
Principal’s Meeting 2:30-5:00
March. 19 (T)
9:30-11:00- Joel to Bus Barn for PBIS Bus Training
3:00-4:00-TLT Meeting
March 13 (W)
8:00-4:00- District Math Diagnostic PD in Room 13 all day.
10:00-11:00- Parent Meeting in Joel’s Office
March 14 (H)
10:15-10:50- (Chinn) Joel Teaches Math to Kindergarten
2:50-3:50- Joel at IEP in Conference Room
March 15 (F)
9:00-9:45- Joel and Melinda Weekly Check In
10:00-11:00- Joel at Meeting at Madison about DYS and Transition Services with Zak Scotton
4:00- Spring Break begins!!!
Some items of note:
March Measurement Madness!
Read To Feed Update— We are doing great! Click here to read Melissa’s email on the Read to Feed Program. We continue to get more sponsors and have more than 1300 dollars in donations so far.
PRIDE Awards– Oh My!- Thank you so much for pumping up our students last week. The Pride Award Assembly was especially powerful in many ways. It made me feel very proud of our students and I will admit that I got a little teary eyed too.
Finances for the year- How are we doing? This year I have tried to be very conservative with supplies and focused on using back stock. I know that can be frustrating at times when you are working on important projects such as the Art Show, but it makes a difference. With less of a supply budget, we need to be more cautious on what to purchase and sometimes we need to be less customized in paper colors or other variations.
This year our printing budget is less and we are slightly over budget for this stage in the year. We are doing well in our savings otherwise but please be cautious about how much you are printing. If you are using technology more, then I encourage you to think about how to use less paper in your classroom. All of this effects our bottom line and means more money for technology and savings for field trip scholarships and more important things we value in our building.
Below is a report from Melinda about where we are at in key financial areas:
Supplies are: All size envelopes, cardboard, postage charge slips, print order forms, laminating film, 20# and 90# paper, railroad board, Delp awards, staff shirts and workroom supplies.
In 2010-11 our supply costs were: $24,834 (full year)
In 2011-12 our supply costs were: $19,728 (full year)
In 2012-13 we have spent to date: $9533 (Through March 15th)
If we keep up with the same spending, we are predicting a $5400 savings from last year supply costs.
Insta Print: All school print orders (classroom and office needs)
In 2010-11 our Insta Print costs were: $11, 010 (Full year)
In 2011-12 our Insta Print costs were: $8,964 (Full year)
In 2012-13 we have spent to date: $6,133 (Through March 15th)
If we keep up with the same spending, we are predicting going over by $235 ($9199) from last years costs.
Websites for students to share their reading lives – In this article from The Reading Teacher, the authors recommend websites that allow students to share and archive their reading lives, create online reading histories, and place books on digital bookshelves for future reading. I was personally familiar with Good Reads, but they all look like good programs. These could be a fun way to get kids excited about reading and writing about what they’re reading, perhaps in place of reading logs.
• Good Reads
• Shelfari
• Library Thing
• BiblioNasium
Restorative Justice Approach to Behavior – This document is pretty concise but is also quite helpful . Imagine you have a student who habitually tilts his chair back and drums annoyingly on his desk with a pencil. This morning, he was doing it – again – while you were trying to teach. What do you do? Read this short article on the punitive vs. responsive teacher reactions to this and similar situations. Teacher and principal behaviors have a huge impact on the trajectory some students of color and students in poverty face. This article has great tips on changing those trajectories.
A New Cultural Activity for Awbrey Park:
Last Wednesday, I attended an Asian Council Meeting and did a little outreach. I am considering adding an evening event that promotes parent involvement and literacy in May. There is a Chinese tradition in May called the Dragon Boat Festival which we may promote in our building. If you have interest in these programs, please let me know if you would like to get involved. We may even plan an event for Fall called the Harvest Moon Festival or other activities.
Taking It Up Meeting Postponed: I have reset the Taking it UP Meeting for 7:30 AM on April 2nd. I will provide breakfast. The focus of that meeting will be outreach to incoming families. I would like input on ways to encourage kinder registration and family outreach in the neighborhood community centers of Santa Clara. We will also discuss a parent survey(non-title 1) and how to reach ALL parents. Please come and share ideas. Our flowers should be up next week! They are pretty cute!
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
Joel