CNP News

As you can see, I've finally gotten the correct username and password and I'm back on smore! Now just to find enough time to get my newsletter done before 10:00pm on Sunday night. Since it's late I'll try to keep it to just the essential info!

I saw this tweet this weekend and it really spoke to me. Number 1 is something I've been trying to get better at addressing. This can kill a positive work environment and make for dysfunctional grade level teams. I'm asking you if you hear gossip/negativity from a coworker talk to them, see if they need help. Don't let gossip/negativity rule your grade level.

I know this year has been hard starting out not having as much collaboration time as we have had in the past. Hopefully meeting at the end of the day has helped with this. I'm looking at other ways to get grade levels to meet at least once during the week. We need to make sure we are covering the same standards in each grade level. This is going to be crucial for RTI time within your classroom, and if we ever can mix students. We should still be assessing the same standards. How you teach it is up to you, but the same assessments need to be given within each grade level. Also, i've heard "my students are ready for more" if that is the case you need to prove that with data and not just gut feeling. We need to make sure we are following curriculum or grade level pacing with fidelity. We are NOT rogue warriors going off on our own, we are a team, teams work together not independently. I am NOT ok with us not covering things such as phonics because we don't feel our students need it. If you don't have hard data to prove it, then don't skip it.

I would like to meet with each grade level for about 30-45 minutes depending on grade level need. We can spread out in my office. I have already spoken to Paula, Karen, Doreen, and Jason about covering classrooms. I want to go over expectations for eLearning work for Thursday and make sure people have a chance to ask questions about seesaw. The schedule is below. I tried to avoid specials times. Please wait for one of these four to come to your classroom.

2nd Grade 8:30-9:15

1st Grade 9:15-10:00

Kindergarten 10:00-10:45

Please make sure you are talking to your students about what is acceptable in terms of play and use of equipment. Some examples are below.

Teeter Totter:

Only 2 students on the Teeter Totter at a time

Students are to be sitting on the seats

No one should be in the middle or standing on the Teeter Totter

Slides:

One person on the slide at a time

We only go down the slide

We go feet first

Merry Go Round

They may stand inside of the rails only

No one can stand outside of the rail

These are just a few examples, if you have other questions about rules let me know and we can think through them.

Jenn Bruce, Paige Lundquist, Michele Woods, and Cindy Scheiber will all be in a training on the 16th from 8:00-9:30. We will cover them with Paula, Karen, and Doreen. They will train and then come back to your grade level and train you on Pivot. If you want to know more there are videos on the Pivot site as well as on youtube. These will be our go to people if we need ideas of how to use Pivot and the results.

It is ready to be used! This playground is for use when your class has their day in the "grass". I hope this addition will help students have more opportunities for play instead of just a few items we throw out. They can now play on the playground, play soccer, hula hoop, and soon we will have a sandbox connected to the new playground. I hope they enjoy it!