Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Principal Ponderings...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I can tell you that I certainly slept well last week!  Our first few days flew by, and I found myself exhausted by the time I came home each night.  Even though I think it will take the adults some time to get back into the swing of things, it was amazing to see all of our students jump back into the familiar routine of school.  I received a lot of positive feedback from both parents and staff in regards to our new arrival process that we implemented.  Parents said they enjoyed being able to see the class lined up together, as well as being able to see the classroom teacher.  Several teachers told me that it was nice to be able to bring the whole class in at once and give those first key directions to the group as a whole, instead of having to repeat it over and over as kids filed into the room.  Thank you for trying something new!  And for being understanding when I completely forgot to do announcements on the second day!  This week, we will resume our normal arrival process.  We will all need to make sure that we are available in the halls in the morning in case some students still need directions.

I want to thank everyone for being patient as the team of SPED teachers and I worked and reworked the para schedules.  On Friday afternoon, we readjusted the schedules in order to try and cover everyone.  Some teachers may be short some minutes, but everyone who needs para coverage at least has close to the full amount that they should be getting.  Hopefully these will be the last changes to classroom support that we need to make.  Unfortunately, we are still trying to make the recess and lunch duty schedule work so there may be more changes as we work on the coverage.  Thank you for being flexible and understanding.

I mentioned at our Monday staff meeting last week that we are forming a partnership with Tyngsborough and Dracut elementary schools.  We are all three working with TLA for reader's workshop, but are at different points in the process.  We will be bringing teachers together once a month to collaborate and talk about instructional practice in regards to literacy.  The first meeting will take place at Tyngsborough Elementary School at 4:00 on Monday, September 30.  Any teacher that wants to attend is welcome.  Please let me know if you are planning on attending.

Events this week:
Monday - Labor Day, No school!
Wednesday - Staff Meeting, 3:30-5:00
Friday - Congrats!  You made it through a 4 day week!

Great Things I Noticed Last Week:

• In Mrs. Nissi's 4th grade class, I saw students brainstorming and writing personal goals for the upcoming school year.
• In Mrs. Hoke's 2nd grade class, I saw students, teachers and paras building the classroom community by singing and dancing together.
• Mrs. Kineen getting kids moving and running and sweating in P.E.!
• First graders in Mrs. Riley's classroom starting the day writing on some great lined mini white boards.
• Kindergartners eating lunch for the first time in the cafeteria!
• Mrs. Fulreader on the ground face to face with a new kindergartner, comforting him and helping him transition away from mom into the line on the playground.

Check it out:
Have you heard of the Global Read Aloud project?  This is an optional project that runs from September 30th to November 8th, and it mainly involves reading a certain book to your students.  Take a look at the website: http://www.globalreadaloud.com/
From the website: Why participate?
"This is meant to make the world a little smaller, to open our eyes to the rest of the world and look at all of our shared experiences.  How phenomenal for a child to know that the same book they are reading is being read in classrooms across the globe."
If you are interested, let me know and we can put together an order for the books.

Strategies for helping kids become better listeners: http://www.edutopia.org/blog-five-listening-strategies-rebecca-alber

Why Instilling a Love of School Should be Your Highest Priority:  http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2013/08/31/instilling-a-love-of-school/