Yes folks. It is the Monday AFTERNOON Memo. I had so much fun during my break that I didn't even bother to create this. I wanted to make the most of my break. I did come into work on the 30th to interview for a new head sweeper. Yes, we are losing Cody. He will be working at Winco. So, if you do any late night shopping at Winco, he is there during the graveyard shift. Our new head sweeper is Jake Harper. He will be shadowing Cody tomorrow, so many of you will be able to meet him. Both Steve and I were very impressed with him and he should be able to take off where Cody left off.
I know I may be beating a dead horse, but I read another article on homework over the break. It really makes me wonder about the relevance of homework. I still ask the question, "what about the future?" Yes, it may not be the best for elementary kids, but what about when the kids get out of elementary? Will they be prepared for secondary ed and higher ed where homework is a pretty big deal? I'm still doing some reading on it. I would like some more feedback if you so feel inclined.
Thank you for using our new hashtag. I've wanted the community to be more involved in helping to tell the Grovecrest story, but I have yet to see much there other than when Belle Cahoon did the food drive. Her mom posted on our Facebook page. If you don't know, the hashtag is #WeRGrizzlies. Continue to use #PawPower and #teamkid whenever you can, but make sure from now on, you use #WeRGrizzlies.
Question of the Week
It is the new year and I as I toured the lower grades earlier this afternoon, I notice some of you talking with your students about New Year's goals and resolutions. Thinking about this and including thoughts shared with me through my own PLN, I've thought a lot about the idea of #OneWord that would epitomize what we would like to do to make 2016 amazing. I'm sure many if not all of you have resolutions or goals you would like to work on. Could you condense it all to one word? What one word would describe what you would like to do to make the rest of this year awesome? Please comment with your word and why in the comments section. Remember to check back and comment on each other's comments. Discussion is always good as we have learned during our PLC time and it doesn't always have to happen face to face. I've been toying with a few words for my #OneWord for 2016 and I've come to "Experience". I will explain in a personal blog I will share with you all.
Please pay attention to the To Be Aware Ofs. There is some important information there.
Save The Date
To Be Aware Of
- There is a question of the week above. Please respond. We want to use it as a conversation piece. Please take part.
- REMINDER: Don't ever leave a student unattended with a device or in the computer lab. There was an incident at another school here in PG where the teacher left some students unattended and they accessed some inappropriate material. This goes for use of chromebooks. Make sure your instruction takes place behind the students so you can see the screen. If there is a need to move to the front of the room, think of what you could do so you are always aware of where your students are (maybe send a student up to write on the board). I just don't want anyone to get in trouble.
- How is Edivate going for all of you? I'm wondering if it is beneficial to you. Are you just using video PD, creating video to collaborate about, taking courses, what? Please let me know.
- Keep track of what duty you have each week. There have been a few times where there hasn't been someone out on duty. We need to make sure the kids are safe. Here is a link to the duty list for quick reference
- Make sure to complete your self evaluation on Observertab if you haven't already. This is REQUIRED and shouldn't take you too long.
- Please look at the calendar for openings for the 2nd round of evaluations. I'll be focusing on standards 5 and 6. Schedule "B" people, you need to schedule times as well and let me know what indicators you want me to observe you on.
- Grovecrest now has a Facebook Page. www.facebook.com/grovecgrizzlies. Please like and post whenever you can. We want our community to take part in it as well. I hope they will post using our new hashtag #WeRGrizzlies. When talking to parents, encourage them to take part.
- I've mentioned the idea of a parent training night on January 14th, sorta like an edcamp for parents. The biggest concern for parents is helping their kids with math and helping with our efforts to teach kids digital citizenship. Some have asked about compensation for time if you were to participate. I'm not sure if we can compensate you financially, but I may be able to let you go early (with the kids) for a week and/or cover you class a few times so you can get other things done. Please let me know if you would be willing to help with this parent night. I hope it will be well attended.
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
Refer to the schedule. Here is a link.
Save The Date
1/5 Reflections awards night @ Oak Canyon Jr. 7:00 pm.
1/6 CTL Mtg 8:15 with BYU
1/7 Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year Banquet for Wendi and Kyle 11:45-1:15.
1/8 Principal mtg for Kyle 1:00 pm.
1/11 Alio/Skyward training for Sheila 1:00 pm.
1/13 Faculty Mtg 8:15
1/13 SCC Mtg 1:30-2:30 in Faculty room
1/14 Divisional Principal's mtg for Kyle 2:00 pm.
1/6 CTL Mtg 8:15 with BYU
1/7 Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year Banquet for Wendi and Kyle 11:45-1:15.
1/8 Principal mtg for Kyle 1:00 pm.
1/11 Alio/Skyward training for Sheila 1:00 pm.
1/13 Faculty Mtg 8:15
1/13 SCC Mtg 1:30-2:30 in Faculty room
1/14 Divisional Principal's mtg for Kyle 2:00 pm.
*Look at the Faculty Calendar on Google for other events.
Happy Birthday
No birthdays this week unless John Stuart's was on the 1st instead of in October. I have conflicting information.
Celebrations
I gotta go with what I saw today as I toured lower grade.
All this is on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Really awesome things going on the first day back from break. Fantastic job everyone!!
- Heather was going over goals with her class. Each one of her tables had created table goals for the rest of the year. Go check them out.
- Alysha did read aloud differently in her class today. Instead of doing it herself, one of her students shared a favorite book as a read aloud! What a "novel" idea.
- Carolyn dumped all her connect cubes on the floor and told her kids to start counting. The kids were able to figure out that counting by tens was a lot easier than counting by ones. Great math activity!
- Wendi is a finalist for the Chamber of Commerce Educator of the Year this year. Congrats Wendi!
All this is on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Really awesome things going on the first day back from break. Fantastic job everyone!!
Great Video of the Week
No video of the week this week.
Quote for the Week
Quote for the Week
Have an Amazing week!
If I didn't think I'd get complaints, the only homework I'd send would be home reading.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Casey. I had complaints at the first of the year from one parent, feeling like I was giving too much homework. So I modified what I counted toward a grade. I then had some parents complain that I wasn't giving enough. It is difficult. I remember seeing a KSL news report talking about homework. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=33456072 Here is the link. It recommends 10 minutes times the grade. 1st= 10 Minutes, 12th= 120 minutes. Something to think about.
DeleteMy one word: Smile! With all the challenges in life, being able to smile and find the good in everything is important to overall happiness and mental well-being. Also depending on how you smile... it keeps people guessing. :)
ReplyDeleteAbout the Parent night. Please, I beg of you, down on my knees begging. DO NOT compensate us with leaving early for a week. It just takes away from our prep time and we really just end up making up that time regardless. That's a useless compensation. AND......you can't even get out of the parking lot at 3:30, so we'd have to leave at 3:40, so it's pointless anyway you look at it.
ReplyDeleteMy one word: LOVE. For me it's all about the love I have for the class, students and love of learning. Among all of the stress(which could be somebody else's word), frustration, and exhaustion, there's something magical (maybe that should have been my word) about what goes on during a day in the classroom. There's so many negatives I could talk about with my job, but in the end... I LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteMy one word: INTENT. In 2016 I’d like to teach and live with more intent and purpose.
ReplyDeleteAs far as homework goes, I don’t think it’s the best for helping students master content, but I think it’s useful in helping them learn responsibility and accountability.
Finally… I’m a little apprehensive about this Parent Night idea. Would we/could we survey parents beforehand to find out whether or not they’re interested in attending and what topics they’d most like to hear about? If we did something like that, and I knew parents were interested, I’d feel a bit more enthusiastic about it all.
My one word: CONNECTIONS. Connections between people and concepts we're teaching create meaningful and fun learning experiences. In 2016 I want to help my students make more meaningful connections.
ReplyDeleteAs for Homework, it is important. Anything you want to be good at in life needs practice. Same with academics. Students should have choices that are worthwhile for homework.
A parent night would definitely depend on parent and teacher interest and should be voluntary for all involved.
My one word is EMPOWER. I want to empower my students by helping them see what they CAN do, so they will WANT to do it! I want to empower the parents to encourage and mentor their students by communicating their child's successes and struggles. I want to empower my student teacher to love this profession and those that she will serve by helping her have a successful and fulfilling experience. I want to empower myself to be better at my job by trying new things.
ReplyDelete