February 27th

Mr. Browne's Precept

"There is no shame in not knowing. the shame lies in not finding out." ~ Assyrian Proverb

Honey- Do List 

Preference Sheets Back to Jodi- March 13th 

Choose a time for read-aloud- March 6th 

Complete School Climate Survey- May 1st

 The Buzz in My Brain

I am really sorry that I missed our PD this week. I was looking forward to learning with you all.  The buzz in my brain this week has been about schema and how we are laying the velcro for our students to attach new learning to. This is a long-term game and the results of our efforts may not be seen for a while. The work we are doing on the revolutionary war is laying the foundation for US History in grade 11. What we are learning about Africa is the basis of a high school world civilization class. In CLT, one of our colleagues expressed what I was thinking when they said: "but we can't teach everything." This set my mind off wondering how can we capitalize on what our students know? What can we attach to the velcro the already have?  How can we systematically build knowledge K0-3? I started poking around on the internet to learn about brain plasticity and building background knowledge.  Here are a few things that I found and thought I would share.  The "Growing the Brain" video is very interesting. 
Growing the Brain
Building Background Knowledge
Background Knowledge Tips

Let me know what you are thinking. 

 Preference Sheets

Every year we send out teacher preference sheets to determine if people would like to explore teaching another grade level. Here is this year's preference sheet. Please say yes to make a copy of the sheet, complete, and return to me by March 13.

Climate Survey

Below is a message that I received from central office:

BPS has a long history of surveying students, teachers, and parents to better understand school climate and culture. The annual student, teacher, and parent climate surveys are launching soon:

• Student: March 2 – April 3
• Teacher: March 16 – May 1
• Family: March 16 – June 5

Participation is expected for all schools and results are included in the School Quality Framework, and are integral to gauging progress on the district's strategic plan. During the survey window, teachers will receive a direct link to the teacher survey via email, and families will be contacted centrally via email, phone messages, and text messages. 

However, schools with consistently high participation rates send individual messages to their community, create time for family survey completion at events, and follow up to ensure high participation. Early Completion Incentive: Schools with 30% family participation or 10+ points improvement from 18-19, by May 8th, will receive document cameras!

Given the age of our students, we will not be participating in the student survey however I would love to see the staff and parent survey numbers go up!

March Book of the Month

Our March Schoolwide book is "The Undefeated" by Kwame Alexander. The following is taken from the School Library Journal. 

It is a poignant and powerful ode to the resilience and strength of black life and history in America. Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated in 2016, the poem adopts a picture book format with a new title, accompanied by stunning oil paintings in Nelson's trademark photorealistic style. The evocative illustrations stand out against stark white backgrounds and vary in their composition. On some spreads, the focus is on a single expressive portrait; others feature collages of African American icons from various disciplines, or refer to significant historical moments. The art functions in perfect harmony with the poet's spare, striking verse to electrify the Black American experience, and to celebrate black athletes, writers, musicians, activists, and heroes. From the unspeakable trauma of American slavery and the transatlantic slave trade to the brave service of black troops during the Civil War, from the fierce and unwavering fight for civil rights to the Black Lives Matter movement, from Selma to Birmingham to Harlem, this book is both a soaring tribute to the enduring perseverance and achievements of the past and a stirring call to action to "the dreamers and the doers" of the present and the future. Back matter includes an afterword from the author as well as additional information about the historical figures and events featured in the book. 

We will be using a different book for K0/K1. "Get Up, Stand Up" by Bob Marley. The following is from Chronicle Books :
Bob Marley's music has inspired millions of listeners around the world with messages of peace, love, and truth. This third picture book adaptation of one of his beloved songs has a timely message for children: To counter injustice, lift others up with kindness and courage. As a young girl goes on with her day in school, she comes across several instances of teasing and intimidation. But with loving action and some help from her friends, she's able to make things right for herself and others. With exuberant pictures by John Jay Cabuay accompanying Marley's iconic lyrics, Get Up, Stand Up is a vibrant testament to the power we all have to make a difference.

I am hoping to have some guest readers do the reading. Please let me know a time that is good for you by Friday, March 6th.

February 7

Mr. Browne's Precept

"There is no shame in not knowing. the shame lies in not finding out." ~ Assyrian Proverb

Honey- Do List 

Select a time for me to read to your class in Feb.-January 31st

Apply for the interim assessment review team-Feb. 27th

 The Buzz in My Brain

I generally try to work on the Hive throughout the week so that I do not have the heavy lift on a Friday afternoon or forget to put some stuff in. I was feeling pretty depleted this morning. The budget and its impacts on people that I care deeply about and rely on every day, not knowing what the kids need to best help them, some family stuff and a low-grade cold have left me feeling like I am running on empty. At 10:00 this morning I honestly felt that I had nothing left to give anyone. 

Enter the children,  one of our puzzling friends was playing in my office. He told me that he was feeling elated. I asked him what does that mean? He replied that you are so happy you could cry. The same student was playing with T'Chala and Black Panther. He has not seen Black Panther yet. He renamed Black Panther 'Aggressive' and T'Chala 'Dr. King'.  Aggressive wanted to fight but Dr. King would always intervene and say thinks like "take 3 deep breaths like this" or "take a break". Through his play, this student was verbalizing the very strategies and concepts that we have taught him. 

I was walking in the downstairs hallway and walked into the aftermath of a fight. I intervened with the child closest to me and looked to the other child. One of you was already with him. I could focus on where I needed to be. 

One of our colleagues came by and asked for some tier 3 support for a student that was naked in the hallway. I held him as she redressed him. He then put his head on my shoulder and I borrowed a rocking chair in a quiet room and rocked him to sleep. I returned him to the class where he could rest with his friends. The trust that our students have in us is tremendous if they feel safe falling asleep in our arms. 

 I was not sure about sharing this moment of vulnerability with you because of the stereotype that leaders always need to be positive, never let them see the leaders sweat or I am a female leader and you will see this as a weakness.  I decided to share because I realized that how I felt was no different than how many of us feel on any given day. Being a true leader is acknowledging our humanity AND acknowledging that sometimes it is taking in the small moments that allow us to keep moving forward. There is always a way forward and a way to keep doing what is right! Find your small moment when things seem the bleakest. 

Budget Update

Despite the most valiant and best of efforts, the initial budget battle was lost. In order to balance our budget, three significant changes are currently in their initial stages.

1. We will lose the valuable services that Jen Mederios-Crabbe provides for our students for 3 days a week.
2. We will no longer be able to fund the amazing services that Alyce provides for us beyond the COSE position
3. There will be a significant cut in the principal's salary to make it more in line with the BPS principal salary. 

Jen and Alyce will continue to have full-time positions in BPS. Unfortunately, our budget cannot support these positions, in our community, at this time. 

The next steps are to work through the soft landing process. This will allow us to ask for additional funds to restore our lost positions. 

I have a call scheduled with the superintendent on Tuesday. 

Snacks for Students

We had a parent phone call this week because a student was given a Snickers bar as a reward. The student was allergic to peanuts. Clearly, I do not have a problem with food rewards. Please be mindful of providing students snacks with tree nuts. If you are unsure of a student's food restrictions check-in with Sam or me. We have a complete list. 

Homework

Thank you to those of you that stayed later on Thursday to talk about homework. K2 and Grade 1 are going to pilot a homework calendar with their friends during the month of March. They will provide updates at Huddle about how it is going. If any other grades want to pilot this please let me know. 

Intervention

From a faculty senate debrief, it was brought to my attention that the staff would like a more formalized process for intervention. Some of the questions/concerns raised were:

• There is a gap in second grade regarding intervention. 
• There is a lack of a structure for check-ins between the interventionist and the teacher
• The need to identify students who need intervention at the end of the year so that we can implement intervention immediately. 
• There is a lack of clarity around who is getting intervention and how they are identified. 
• Many of these seem like there is a need for better communication about what is actually happening.  
• We will have conversations as a community about this. As we prepare for this conversation here is a document that outlines the factors that our top-notch intervention team takes into consideration when assigning students to an intervention.   

Headspace

Last year as I was struggling with some things a friend gave me a copy of the book "The Four Agreements". I found the book to be very helpful. One of my meditation apps had this summary of the book and the agreements. I found it a really good read and thought I would share it.   

Requests from Mr. Bill

We are finding lots of food on the ground and in the stairwells. Things like orange peels, banana peels, half-eaten bagels etc. This food is a feast for our furry little friends with the hideous tails.  

• Please limit the amount of traveling around the building students are doing with food. 
• Continue to store any food in the classroom in glass or plastic covered containers. 

The smell in our yellow bathroom has been overwhelming lately. Bill reports that students are completely missing the toilet and peeing on the floor. He has asked if we could be a bit more vigilant about what our little friends are doing in the stalls.