Six of us just returned from an amazing experience at a Solution Tree PLC conference. We received a ton of great information and had some great conversations on where we are at in the PLC process and where we want to be. It was refreshing to hear from one of the main Solution Tree presenters, Mike Mattos, that some great things are happening as far as PLCs in our neck of the woods. He said that when people ask where good PLCs are happening, he answers, "Central Utah." We are doing some great things, but we want to be better. After all, it is about the kids. Here is a great clip from Rebecca DuFour about 3 big ideas of a PLC.
Another thing I am wondering is how many are doing the Reflective Teacher 30 day Challenge? If you are doing it, what day are you on? I know I am moving pretty slow, but I am willing to share via my personal blog. I will try to keep up with it. If you are willing to share some of your reflections, I would like to read them. Comment below with your reflections/links to your reflections. We really want to learn from each other and we can do that by sharing.
To Be Aware of
Emma will be teaching about what to do when coming across bad material during a web search this week.
If you haven't signed up for @remind, please sign up for both your grade level and faculty. If you have misplaced the instruction sheets, let me know. Here is the phone number and code for the faculty reminder:
Enter this number
With this message
Tuesdays are my #NoOfficeDays. I will make every effort to stay out of my office so I can spend some good time out in your classrooms and with the kids.
In order to do our own fundraiser, we needed to switch the cookie dough fundraiser to this fall. The kickoff assembly will be Wednesday the 1st at 9:30 and 10:00. We will try to make the Monday assembly part of that, but it may not work out the way we want it to. So we may have two assemblies next week. Sorry about the inconvenience.
I will be gone Thursday and part of Friday to an Associates meeting with Lana and Angie.
*Look at the Faculty Calendar on Google for other events.
Happy Birthday
10/5 - John Stuart
Celebrations
Thank you for holding down the fort while the 6 of us were gone. We especially need to thank Sheila and Michelle. They do amazing things making sure the office functions at such a high level.
Congratulations to all the kids for creating BoB teams and names last week. It is so fun to see the kids so excited about reading. Thanks to Cheryl and the reading committee for setting up the reading incentive for this year. Other media specialists are hearing what we are doing and want to do it. Cheryl and the reading committee came up with it first. Yay!!
Great Video for the Week
This is a Ted Talk about what the key to success is.
Great Read of the Week
The read for the week accompanies the video clip. Tell me via email or comment how it turns out for you. Here is the link. Have a Great Week
Thank you so much for the birthday wishes last week. I was getting "Happy Birthday" comments going into Friday. You are all wonderful people to work with. Thanks for making coming to work every day so enjoyable.
To Be Aware of
Emma will be teaching about cyber bullying this week.
6 of us will be out of town from Wednesday on this week. Please be willing to step in to help subs when needed. If you need anything, you can text or email me.
If you haven't signed up for @remind, please sign up for both your grade level and faculty. If you have misplaced the instruction sheets, let me know.
Tuesdays are my #NoOfficeDays. I will make every effort to stay out of my office so I can spend some good time out in your classrooms and with the kids.
Consider some of the following fixes with our emergency drills from last week: 1. Even though your window is covered during a lockdown, everyone still needs to get into a corner away from the door and window when possible. 2. When you say all are accounted for, that does not include students you know that are outside the class to resource and the like. All accounted for means you have everyone in your class according to your morning attendance and if you are missing students due to resource, you say they are missing.
In order to do our own fundraiser, we needed to switch the cookie dough fundraiser to this fall. The kickoff assembly will be next Tuesday the 1st at 9:30 and 10:00. We will try to make the Monday assembly part of that, but it may not work out the way we want it to. So we may have two assemblies next week. Sorry about the inconvenience.
*Look at the Faculty Calendar on Google for other events.
Happy Birthday
9/27 - Julie Cook 9/27 - Teresa Menlove
Celebrations
Great job everyone with the emergency drills last week. We did a great job. A few items to consider as mentioned above.
Thanks to the Tech team for a successful first Fiber Optic Friday. Those who attended learned some valuable information about backing up their computers to Dropbox.
Great Video for the Week
This was shown in Library this week to your students. Cheryl agreed to share with us. Great story! Check it out.
I'm wondering how people have been doing with the 30 teacher reflection challenge. I've done the first two, but I plan on continuing. Mine will probably be a 60-90 day challenge because I've been skipping days. It is still a good idea to reflect.
The State through a Stem Action Grant will be purchasing a PD platform for all of us that is pretty amazing. Here is a short video that describes the program four-minute video on Edivation. This video is really only a snippet, If you want more information about Edivation, talk to either Jared, Rashel, or me. We already have licenses to the program.
To Be Aware of
It is time to contribute $25 to the Sunshine (faculty and staff) fund. Just give your check or cash to Sheila, ASAP.
Just a heads up...each Monday during the assembly, we will have a "Teacher of the Week" in addition to Students of the Week. :) After they call up the teacher, you will be asked three questions:
Safety Week is this week. Here are the events scheduled for each day: Monday September 15:
Safety in the Streets Teachers will review crosswalk safety
Tuesday September 16 Fire Drill - 10:30
Wednesday September 17 Safe and Sound Teachers will practice what to do when students have to stay at the school because it's too dangerous to go home (blizzard etc.)
Thursday September 18 Lockdown Drill with the Police Department - 1:30
Friday September 19 Walk to School Day Earthquake Drill - 10:30 Teachers will practice what to do incase of an earthquake
This week in computers, Emma will be going over privacy and protecting personal information on the internet with all of the grades.
Cleaning Schedule
Sept. Office
Oct. 6th Grade
Nov. 5th Grade
Dec. 3rd Grade
Jan. 2nd Grade
Feb. 1st Grade
Mar. 4th Grade
Apr. SPED and Computer Specialist
May Kinder, Life Skills, & P.E. Specialist
Lunch Schedule
1st
11:31 Sharma
11:32 Hull
11:33 Mac
11:34 McKell
2nd
11:25 Connell
11:26 Herman
11:27 Higgins
11:28 West
3rd
11:56 Schafer
11:58 Wilson
12:00 Whipple
12:02 Nichols
12:03 Wright
4th
11:55 Austin
11:57 Fiorucci
11:59 Crossley
12:01 CJohnson
5th
12:20 Green
12:22 MJohnson
12:24 Oswald
12:26 Day
6th
12:21 Paravato
12:23 Allen
12:25 Krall
12:27 Rooke
Save the Date
9/15-25 Walk More in Four Continued
9/15-19 Safety Week
9/17 - Room Mom's Tea in Cafeteria 3:45
9/18 K-12 Leadership Seminar - Kyle 8-12:30
9/19 - Fiber Optic Friday 8:15 in the computer lab - Topics: Dropbox and Backing up computer to external hard drive
9/19 Fall DRA Testing Window Closes (Entry into Skyward doesn't close until the following Friday.)
9/23 - Rob Smith Visit from 10-11.
9/24 - Vision Screening
9/24 - PTA Mtg noon
9/24-26 - PLC Team to Conference
9/26 - Class Partner Breakfast 8:00
*Look at the Faculty Calendar on Google for other events.
Happy Birthday
9/11 Steve Clark (His was last week and I just caught it. He is our Ballroom Level 2 Teacher)
9/17 Kyle Hoopes
Celebrations
I was so impressed with what many of you did to recognize 9/11. I talked to a few of you. If you want to know what I learned, talk to 5th and 6th grade. I know many of you did other things. I think it would be a great idea to share via comments at the bottom of this post. I've asked Sarah to do a write up for the All About Alpine newsletter. Thanks Sarah.
Great job Amanda for doing a STEM experiment Friday. Talk to her about what she did.
Thanks for all of your attendance at Faculty meeting. I know a few of you couldn't be there because of sickness and family situations. Thanks for talking to me about those issues and making up what we discussed. You are all truly amazing!!
I would like to hear from you stuff that is going on so we can all celebrate with you. Please share. The excitement is infectious in a good way.
Good Read for the Week
Great blog post from a friend of mine. Tell me what you think.
I noticed that many of you took a peek at the last blog. Thank you for doing that. This is a lot easier to create especially since I can access it from any device.
Wasn't it great to have a three day weekend. I hope you all made the most of it. I spend most the time working around the I'm excited about this blog because there are a few things I want to discuss with you via the blog.
1. I have heard some very positive things from many of you about the Grovecrest Amazing Race. It was so fun watching you come in and receiving all the bust-a-move videos and photos coming in. Zack created a movie of it all and here it is:
Will you please take the time to comment at the bottom of this post what you took away from this activity. Was it just fun? Did it energize you? Did you learn something from it? These are things I would like to know so Zack and I can plan our next team building activity to be as or more effective.
2. As many of you know, I stay up late at night and work until I nod off. This past week, I came across something that perked my interest. It is called Reflective Teaching: A 30 Day Blogging Challenge for TeachersWhat I like about this challenge is that although it does encourage blogging among educators, what it REALLY encourages isreflective teaching. I know for me personally, I can get caught up in the quick pace of school life so easily that I don't take the time to be as reflective as I should. I've been told by one expert to spend at least a half hour every week reflecting. I'm not so good at that so I'm going to try the challenge and I would LOVE to have you join me. Here's how it works, it doesn't matter if you have a blog or not, or if you want to make it public or keep it private. You can choose to write on Facebook, a Word Doc, a Google Doc, or a journal - the important thing here is being reflective. Hopefully, by the end of the 30 days, we are all in the habit of being reflective. Here are a few samples of the reflective questions for the month:
Day 4 Respond: What do you love the most about teaching?Day 5 Post a picture of your classroom, and describe what you see–and what you don’t see that you’d like to.Day 6 Explain: What does a good mentor “do”?
Now if you want to get crazy and start a blog, I can have you up and running in 5 - 7 minutes EASY. I guarantee you'll enjoy the format and I'm willing to help each of you individually if that's how you want to reflect. Sometimes it is scary to reflect for the public to see, but we lead by example right? What would happen if we all held each other accountable and supported one another in our work on a deeper level? Yesterday, I wrote about my goal for the year. I want to be held accountable and that is why I've made it public. To Be Aware of
Zack and I will be starting Oliver Button next week. Make sure to sign up for a time with the schedule Zack shared with all of you.
Jackie and Elly spend a lot of time setting up the year's schedule for DRA collaboration. Emails have been sent out by Jackie, Elly, and me about what needs to be done. If per chance, you didn't see the email or get the link to the schedule, here are instructions and the link:
Please sign up for a time no later than Tuesday September 9th. That's not a lot of time! We need to let Jill & Keralee know when they will be needed in order for them to plan other jobs.
For September, your grade level has received an extra half day for DRA. This is specific to Grovecrest & is coming from our Trustland Funds to ensure inter-rater reliability. Upper grades will use this time to grade assessments together and lower grades can finish assessing in Sept. Later in the year lower grades will be assessing together as well.
If you choose Jill or Karalee for a sub this month, please call them as soon as you sign up for a time! Their phone numbers and dates available are listed at the bottom of the calendar. If you can, please team up with another grade so that they will have a full day of work! If you schedule either Jill or Karalee, pleasedelete the date you have scheduled them from the note at the bottom. This way everyone can see what days are still available!
It's important that you sign up for September by Tuesday. We encourage you to sign up for the rest of the year of testing as well. Your team has received an extra half day in Jan. & April for inter-rater reliability also. As a grade level, please plan this day together with your CTL. Sign up for that extra 1/2 day on the calendar by writing your grade level. You'll need to find your own subs for the grade level days.
I will be gone Tuesday and Friday Morning for meetings. Zack will be gone Tuesday afternoon. I hate being away from school, but I also love learning from these meetings. I would like to be as available as possible so please email, text, etc. I will have my phone and ipad with me so I can be available even though I'm not at school. Just so you know, there will be other meetings where I will be gone more than I was last year. Please understand the things I am doing are to help me be a better principal and to help you. I promise, I will share the things I learn. I want to be accountable for this, so please ask and please be patient with me and the times I will be gone.
Committee Chairs, make sure you have scheduled meeting times each month
Our First Fiber Optic Friday (formally known as Wired Wednesday) is coming up soon. Look for announcements about that. Our first will be and outstanding need-to-know.
Cleaning Schedule
Sept. Office
Oct. 6th Grade
Nov. 5th Grade
Dec. 3rd Grade
Jan. 2nd Grade
Feb. 1st Grade
Mar. 4th Grade
Apr. SPED and Computer Specialist
May Kinder, Life Skills, & P.E. Specialist
Lunch Schedule
1st
11:31 Hull
11:32 Mac
11:33 McKell
11:34 Sharma
2nd
11:25 Herman
11:26 Higgins
11:27 West
11:28 Connell
3rd
11:56 Wilson
11:58 Whipple
12:00 Nichols
12:02 Wright
12:03 Schafer
4th
11:55 Fiorucci
11:57 Crossley
11:59 CJohnson
12:01 Austin
5th
12:20 MJohnson
12:22 Oswald
12:24 Day
12:26 Green
6th
12:21 Allen
12:23 Krall
12:25 Rooke
12:27 Paravato
Save the Date
9/8 Battle of the Books Kickoff
9/9 Interagency Mtg - Kyle 8-10
9/9 TSA BYU Mtg - Zack 12-2:30
9/9-10 Coach Folsom gone to Stars Training
9/10 Faculty Meeting 8:15
9/10 School Community Council 2-3
9/12 Divisional Principal's Mtg - Kyle 9-12
9/15-25 Walk More in Four Continued
9/15-19 Safety Week
9/18 K-12 Leadership Seminar - Kyle 8-12:30
9/19 Fall DRA Testing Window Closes (Entry into Skyward doesn't close until the following Friday.)
*Look at the Faculty Calendar on Google for other events.
Happy Birthday
No birthdays this week, but if I missed someone, let me know.
Celebrations
You will have to talk to Wendi about this, but she is celebrating about something. Huzzah for Wendi!!
We finally have Strawberry milk in the lunchroom once a month (I believe it is the last week of each month). That is way exciting...at least for me.
Zack put together our Amazing Race Video. It took him a long time, but he did it and it is wonderful. He deserves the Walk the Talk award for all he does.
Thanks to Jackie and Elly for putting together the DRA Calendar. You deserve a Walk the Talk award too.
Thanks to Heather for putting together the posters for our social skills. You deserve a Walk the Talk award too.
Thanks to Casey for putting together our Positive Paws. You deserve a Walk the Talk award too.
I believe you will all agree that Cheryl has outdone herself with the Reading Incentive program. Thanks to her and the Reading Committee for putting that all together. You are all amazing. I'm running out of the Walk the Talk awards, but you all deserve it.
Jared presented his documentary on Lloyd Alexander at Comic Con last week. Ask him about it.
I've given you the video of the week above with Zack's Amazing Race Compilation, but some may want another so here you go. The proper way to tell the story of The Three Little Pigs. Thanks to Sheri for sharing.
