Willow Parent Bulletin # 18

January 22, 2021

Dear Families,

Thank you to everyone who braved the cold and patiently waited in line last night while we did the materials pick up for K-2. Having your signs in the window helped us tremendously! Please take a quick moment to compete the attached survey so we can best tailor our next pick up to the needs of most parents.https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=sePsXjEIeEq5by6y2Nbz573Zp5QQnAhAqA-x8PoHy1xUQVZPR0tKVThNTjRZUUlaR1dJNlUxR0FJSC4u

Yesterday I received a few emails regarding some information that was on Facebook. I appreciate having the opportunity to answer those concerns when they arise and assuage fears. The concern seemed to be that students who would be staying remote through the year would no longer have "live" specials. By "live" I mean on Zoom and interactive with the teacher, not in physical proximity. That's simply untrue. To the greatest extent possible, our wildcats will continue to have their specials in the same format that they currently have.

Please know that you can always reach out when you have a question. If we don't have an immediate answer, we will let you know that and get back to you as soon as we do. We know all the stress families are feeling and misconceptions like the one above can just add to that.

We are all in this unique education journey together!

Stay warm,

Melissa

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Book Blurb: "Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride"

Sojourner Truth is a well-known name in history. Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride is written and beautifully illustrated by Andrea and Brian Pinkney. The story covers her life as a slave and how she gained her freedom; from changing her name to how she befriended a woman named Olive Gilbert. Olive ended up writing a book about Sojourner’s life. Sojourner took that book and traveled with it, telling everyone about her beliefs. This story tells it all. Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride is available through the Homewood Public Library.

Why does my child have an asynchronous day scheduled?

Classroom teachers were asked to prepare their rooms in hopes that we soon meet the metrics to bring students back. This is normally a multi-day/week process that takes place in August that got knocked off the tracks like just about everything else. So minimally, we knew they would need at least a day to get ready.

This doesn't mean it's a day off from learning. Your child should still complete all the assignments listed in See Saw or otherwise assigned by his/her classroom teacher. If you will be needing to pick up a lunch for your child over at the Sports Complex on that day, please call the Willow Office and we will take the order instead of the classroom teacher.

The asynchronous days are:

Jan. 22- 2nd grade

Jan. 25- Pre-K and Kindergarten

Jan. 29- 1st grade

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Weekly Announcements brought to you by Mrs. DeBoer

Please join 2nd grade teacher Mrs. DeBoer for this week's birthdays and the Pledge of Allegiance.

https://hsd153-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/patricia_deboer_hsd153_org/EXQaOY8_ajhHiFNOTtlAAtgBML7c5deQS_EWJROZr3iRTA?e=rE7AC7

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Social Emotional Learning this week: Solving Problems

Young children often have a difficult time thinking of the feelings and perspectives of others because they tend to focus on one thing at a time and on the more concrete (rather than internal) aspects of a conflict situation. Sometimes focusing on their own needs and feelings can make it difficult to resolve conflicts among peers.

When conflicts occur in the classroom, they provide learning opportunities in which adults can guide students through the process of peaceful and effective problem-solving. Helping students develop positive strategies for resolving their day-to-day conflicts with peers will help prevent students from developing unhealthy patterns of behavior that can lead to social difficulties later in life. Other students benefit as well, as they observe examples of positive conflict resolution.

Our goal is to give students the skills to work through problems without ever being physical. Part of this is equipping them with a vocabulary to recognize and describe their feelings with the goal of ultimately ''using their words." (appropriately) :)