Labor Day…Take the Day off

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Labor Day…Take the Day off—

Our first 3 day weekend and finally a day to take a moment and relax. I hope you take these days and do just that. Even if it is for just a couple hours. Do something you enjoy. Read, watch a movie, ride a bike, go on a hike, play a board game, anything that will get you away from school for a couple hours. It will be here when you get back to thinking about it. The amazing thing about teachers is that we never stop thinking about what we can do for our class. When we shop we always think about how that game or activity would help your students learn a little better. There is nothing wrong with that. That shows love fro what you do. Sometimes you need to let yourself get away from school. 

Quote I’m pondering —

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes...Including you. -- Anne Lamott 

What’s Happening This Week —

Monday, Sept. 3 - Labor Day (No School)

Tuesday, Sept. 4 - OEK Starts/Preschool Starts

Tuesday, Sept. 4 - Team Leader Meeting at 2:30 in Science Lab

Wednesday, Sept. 5 - Dibels for grades 1-3 possibly Kinder

Friday, Sept. 7 - Bike Safety Assembly at 1:30pm

Friday, Sept. 7 - Bike Rodeo in back of school at 2:15pm

Friday, Sept. 7 - Utah Food Bank Truck from 2:15 - 3:00pm - Any help would be appreciated

Favorite Article This Week —

Arrows Across America

Last year I found this website about the Air Mail Routes that flew in the20’s and 30’s. They built large concrete arrows that airplanes could navigate by at night. How cool is that. The closet one to us is on the Bloomington Outlook. Take a hike. Actually it is a short, steep uphill walk. Pretty cool though.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Heather for all the beginning IEPs you set up to take care of our students that need extra. It is a tough time of year to get everything sorted out and put into a schedule as you work around everyone else schedule. You are a needed resource in our school. Thank you for taking care of the students. Thank you for getting everything ready for the teachers and parents. Thank you and your aides for all the work that is done. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful 3 day weekend.

Positive Parent Conferences

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Positive Parent Conferences—

What should a good parent conference look like at the beginning of the year? Just like the students, we need to build a relationship with the parents so if we call to get support from them they will be more apt to give it to us. Keep notes. Share an experience for the first week or two. Here are a few questions you might ask.

1. What do you see as your child's greatest strengths or skills? Tell me about a time when you saw your child demonstrating these skills.
2. What do you hope your child says about his/her experience in school this year?
3. What are your fears or concerns about your child in this year of school?
4. How and when would you like me to be in contact with you this year? What do you hope I'd communicate with you about?
5. Is there anything else you can tell me about your child that you think would help me support his/her learning?
6. Is there a question you hope I'll ask you about your child?

Let the parents know that you care and together you will both help their child succeed in school. Let the parents know you are a partner with them this year. If you want to talk with them about data, keep it to a minimum and have a plan of something they can help support at home what you are doing at school. Most parents know how their child is and if they need help. They are always comfortable enough to admit it or show it. Teachers are usually the bearer of bad news for parents. Keep this first conference positive. In fact, keep all your meetings with parents as positive as possible.

Quote I’m pondering —

You don't always need a plan.  Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens. -- Mandy Hale 

What’s Happening This Coming Week —

Monday, August 27 - ½ day for students. PLC Afternoon for Teachers. We will keep it short so you can work together with your teams on R4R and Math.

Wednesday, August 29 and Thursday, August 30 - SEP Conferences from 3:00 - 6:00.

Wednesday, August 29 - OEK Starts

Friday, August 31 - Assembly at 1:00 pm.  Reflections, Storytelling, and Bike Safety Month presentations.

Monday, Sept. 3 - Labor Day (No School)

Favorite Article This Week —

Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations.

This is an interesting idea. Give students a topic and have them talk about it. What a great way to get them talking about content in English and especially in Spanish where they need the practice talking with each other.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, teachers, for all your patience as we get 2nd and 3rd schedules taken care of. This has been a new idea for all of us and we appreciate everyone being flexible as we get the best possible plan for the students and teachers. We really appreciate all the hard work 2nd and 3rd grade teachers have put in to get this idea off the ground. They have each worked many hours getting this put together. The logistics of having the right students in the right places at the right times, as well as getting the teachers time to work together has been interesting. Thank you to the 2nd and 3rd grade teachers for all your hard work. Thank you to everyone else for being flexible. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Here We Go, Rock and Roll

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Here We Go, Rock and Roll—

Friday is here and we all made it. Congratulations. Now comes the part we got into this business for, teaching, learning, and growth. What a great first week with the students. The students are ready to go. I can see it in their eyes.  

We will be starting Specials next week. You will need to stay with your students until they are in class with the specialist. Review with them how to act in the halls. Kim and I will come in and talk to your team about how you are doing and discuss interventions, Dibels/IDEL, and Lexia/iReady. It has been a great week. Enjoy your weekend.

Here we go.

Quote I’m pondering —

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
— Henry David Thoreau

What’s Happening This Week —

Monday, Aug. 20 - Kindergarten School Starts 7:55am

Tuesday, August 21 - Specials Start. Review the schedule, please.

Wednesday, August 22 - Hearing Screenings

Monday, August 27 - First PLC Training day. Students out at 12:15.

Favorite Video This Week —

Forget the pecking order at work

Working together is an important thing. We all need to get better at this. Here are some great ideas.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you everyone for a great week. From the specialists that help in the morning outside to the teachers that have the students moving and grooving, to the office staff that keeps this school running. Thank you for all the work you put in. I know there have been many hours in and outside of the school that have been put in to ensure our students get the best. 

And a special thank you to Kirby for all the work he puts in the make sure we have the best looking school and for keeping our old school safe and in working order. I don’t think he gets enough credit for the way this building runs, but it can run smoothly because of his work here.  Thank you Kirby for all you do. Thank you everyone for your love of students. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

PBIS

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

PBIS—

We will be having our PBIS rotations on Tuesday morning. We will start with a short assembly at 8:40 welcoming everyone back and introducing PBIS to the students. Each rotation is 10 minutes with a 5 minute movement time in between. Two teachers per grade level will be teaching and the other(s) will be walking with your students. We will have Paras walk with some of the classes also. You should end up at the end with your grade level to take to your classrooms. I have a poster of each teaching area for you to use.

Teacher Stations: (Please keep your presentations to 10 minutes for rotations) Touch on Respect, Responsibility, Resourceful, Safe, and United in each area using the posters.

  Lunchroom Rules (near kitchen and entrance to lunchroom): Farnsworth, Carreon

Playground Rules (outside by the basketball court): Cruz, Paystrup

Hallways (by 2nd/3rd grade classrooms): J. Gonzalez, M. Gonzalez

Bathrooms (center bathrooms across from Science Lab): Welch, Andersen

Drop Off/Pick Up Rules (by School Entrance): Hicks, Olsen

9:00 -

1st Grade - DropOff/Pick Up

2nd Grade - Lunchroom

3rd Grade- Playground

4th Grade- Hallway

5th Grade- Bathrooms

9:15 -

1st Grade - Bathrooms

2nd Grade - DropOff/Pick Up

3rd Grade- Lunchroom

4th Grade- Playground

5th Grade- Hallway

9:30 -

1st Grade - Hallway

2nd Grade - Bathrooms

3rd Grade- DropOff/Pick Up

4th Grade- Lunchroom

5th Grade- Playground

9:45-

1st Grade - Playground

2nd Grade - Hallway

3rd Grade- Bathrooms

4th Grade- DropOff/Pick Up

5th Grade- Lunchroom

10:00-

1st Grade - Lunchroom

2nd Grade - Playground

3rd Grade- Hallway

4th Grade- Bathrooms

5th Grade- DropOff/Pick Up

10:15-

Back to classes. Review what they learned and head to lunch as normal, or semi-normal on the second day back to school.

Quote I’m pondering —

To thrive in life you need 3 bones. A wishbone. A backbone. And a funny bone. 

—Reba McEntyre 

What’s Happening This Week —

Monday, Aug. 13 - School Starts 7:55am

Tuesday, Aug. 14 - PBIS Rotations

Friday, Aug 17 -  Kindergarten Open House, Fire Drill 1:00pm

Favorite Article This Week —

3 Reminders for the Beginning of the School Year

Three important ideas to remember as we start this year.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you for all your preparations and work you put into your classrooms and curriculum. Thank you for being at Dixie Sun. Thank you for taking our wonderful students and providing them with an opportunity to succeed. You have so much to offer our students. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work.

Priorities

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Priorities  —

My son came to me yesterday and showed me that he is getting an amazing award from his high school. He treated it as something that was not important. He is being awarded something that not many students get. Then in the same conversation, he talks about things that seem so important to him, but in a month will not make any difference to him because he is graduating. As I talked with him about these two different things I am reminded that as we go through the next month wrapping up our year, getting all the teaching and learning in that we can, we need to remember what our priorities are in teaching. Our question should be, “What is best for the student”. In each situation, we need to decide if what we are saying or doing will help this child grow and be positive for them. Students are doing out of the ordinary things during this time of sunshine and realization that the end of the year is near. Make your learning interactive and activity based. Less computer time and more activity, move around time, and learning activities will help students keep focused. There will be paper-pencil work to do. There will be teacher talk time. Mix it up a bit. Take an extra breath when your student that has done the same thing all year and it still gets on your nerves when they do it. It will be worth it to them and to you. The priority is the student. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Life is like a straw, only you can make it suck.” – Travis Wood

What I am Watching —

The Amazing Race - Educator’s Version...

Gerry Brooks video. Need I say more?

Favorite Article This Week —

Google Forms Basics

Here are 7 steps to getting a google form made and out to your students. Any student can use them. It is all in how you put it together.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you for all your hard work with the dance. Jamie you need a big thank you for all you did for the dance festival. All the planning, all the work you did getting the school dance put together, all the posters, and just putting it all together. Thank you for all your hard work with music this year. Music is such an important part of the school. The arts give our students opportunities that help with academics. Jamie, Thank you. Teachers thank you for all your work getting ready for the festival. Thank you for all you do Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Control

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Control  —

At our Behavior Management training this week I read a saying that reminded me of what we need to remember as teachers. Pat Cross said, “If it weren’t for students impeding our progress in our race to the end of the term, we could certainly be sure of covering the material. The question, however, is not whether we, as teachers, can get t the end of the text of the end of the term, but whether our students are with us on that journey.” We control what happens in our classrooms. We control the environment and how engaging our lessons are. We control how we act and react to what students do each do. We control how we perceive the actions of others. We control us. We cannot control students. We do not control student behavior. If we try to we will end up in a  fight-or-flight situation for the student and the teacher. When a student misbehaves, we need to remember it is not a threat to us. We need to address the situation with the student and move on. We need to remember to answer the question, What is best for the student? Forcing the student to do something is trying to control them. We need to find a way to change their behavior by thinking it as a puzzle that needs to be solved, but not a threat to be removed. One of the reasons Kim challenged each of us to take on a child in our class is to alleviate some of these behavior issues. If we build a relationship with our students they will work with us. If we demand and control, they will end up worse then they already are. Let’s make their days better for being here. If we create excitement for them being here, they will do more of what we ask. Thank you for all you do. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What I am Watching —

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

This is a great video explaining what these are. We all need a Growth Mindset. It makes life less stressful.

Favorite Article This Week —

Fair Isn’t Always Equal – 3 Grading Malpractices

Grading is always a tough thing to do. That was the first major conundrum I ran into my first year of teaching. I am not a fan of grading elementary students. Labels an wait until high school.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you teachers and staff that helped during the Open House. We are in need of students at our school and We sure appreciate taking some time to walk around with the few parents that did come and help show off how wonderful our school is. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule and help promote our school. We appreciate your dedication and help. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Missed Opportunities

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Missed Opportunities  —

I have done a little teaching in a couple classrooms over the last couple of weeks and I recorded myself. It is hard to watch myself teach and look at all the missed opportunities. Annette Brinkman taught about missed opportunities in the classroom and how they can help us see the things we could be doing in our classroom to help students. A couple of the missed opportunities I saw in my recordings were stating and restating the Objective in my lessons. I did it in one, but not in another. I also need to Keep checking on each student to see their successes and where they need help. The little things in our lessons can turn into missed opportunities for students to learn and succeed. I have handed out a couple cell phone tripods to record yourselves teach. If you have not done so, please do and take a few minutes and set it up. No one else needs to see it. If you have questions about a missed opportunity in your video, ask Alma, myself, or Kim. We are always willing to coach and help you improve. If you would like to use a tripod to record yourself with your phone, ask and I will loan you one. Recording yourself should be used as an opportunity to see what you are doing and to find those misses opportunities that will help you be the best teacher you can be. You are an amazing family of teachers in an amazing school with the best students. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“Behavior change is the only real apology.” – Mel Robbins

What I am Watching —

LEARN HOW TO FOLD A WORLD-RECORD-SETTING PAPER AIRPLANE

Just in case you wanted to know. A pretty cool math measurement experiment.

Favorite Article This Week —

We Must Maslow Before We Bloom

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Bloom's Taxonomy are important in education. Maslow must come first so we can Bloom.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you for all you did at Literacy Night for parents and students. As I walk around I was able to see the parent lessons going well and the fun activities for students were fun. Thank you for taking the time and teaching the parents that came to the literacy night. Thank you for taking the time to help with parents. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.