1.1

 

Hi All, 

I hope that you had a restful break and that it was filled with the things that bring you joy. Somehow we are entering 2025. I'm looking forward to the great work that we have ahead of us in the new year. Rowan is currently battling pneumonia in a rather unpleasant end to our vacation. 

  

I spent a lot of time reflecting on the first part of our year and I am so grateful for the hard work and dedication you show your students and colleagues everyday. We are heading in the right direction and the way that you are all showing up for kids is making a big difference.

We've got this, two days this week! 

News and Announcements 

Here's a Midweek Minute from Responsive Classroom. It's filled with some great resources for getting back into the swing post break.

Facilitating a smooth transition back into the classroom after winter break requires deliberate planning.

Returning after winter break can feel like the first day of school all over again. The routines, rules, and procedures that were once so familiar are now a distant memory, and it takes a conscious effort to get back into rhythm with them. Here are five ways teachers can help make this transition positive.

1. Review expectations and routines. After an extended absence from the classroom, students may have forgotten procedures and routines that effectively support a positive learning environment. Reestablishing expectations and reteaching routines helps anchor students as they return to school.   Typical routines and procedures to review: Morning and dismissal routines Responding to a signal Lining up Hallway expectations Restroom behaviors Small-group learning rules Lunch and recess rules

2. Provide socialization time. Set aside time for you and your students to reunite and discuss their time apart. Consider a welcome-back activity that incorporates movement and sets the tone for an awesome rest of the year. Try this whole-group activity: Play music while students mingle around the classroom. When the music stops, students pair up and share. Repeat this activity a few times so that students get to talk to numerous classmates.

3. Revisit some favorite activities. Using activities that students enjoyed and were successful with reestablishes their confidence in the classroom. Revisiting a fun activity, game, or song reminds students of enjoyable experiences in the classroom and encourages them to reengage. Start with the class’s favorite Morning Meeting and Responsive Advisory Meeting activities, energizers, and brain breaks.

4. Engage students in goal setting. We often associate the start of a new year with resolutions. Engage students in meaningful goal-setting opportunities for the second half of the school year.

5. Ease back into academic demands. Students may not be emotionally or mentally prepared for a rigorous assignment or intense new learning right away. Consider some reflection activities that can help students regroup and ease back into their learning.

Explore more tips and strategies for easing back from winter break.

“Seven Tips for the Transition Back to School From Winter Break”

“Reaffirming Community after a Vacation”

“Energizers! Using Quick Movement Breaks in the Classroom”

•  Please take a moment to review the LCAP for the upcoming assessment windows. The semester closes on the 17th. Inservice will be the 21st, the morning will be at U-32 and the afternoon will be a half day for grading. Paraprofessionals will continue training with Cat and U-32 staff in the afternoon at U-32. Report cards are due on the 29th and will go home on the 31st. 
• Looking Ahead: Curriculum and Associates will be hosting a PD day on the 12th of February. Please see the schedule below:

8:15-10:15 Grades K-3, Pacing 

10:30-11:30 Principals, Instructional Leadership 

12:00-2:00 Grades 4-6, Pacing 

2:15-3:15 Grades 7-10, Leveraging i-Ready Data 

2:15-3:15 Grades 4-6 (Optional), Analyzing i-Ready Data 

3:30-4:30 Grades K-3 (Optional), Analyzing i-Ready Data

What's Happening at Berlin?

Thursday	Coffee and Conversations with the Superintendent 8:00-9:00
Friday

Where is Celia?

Thursday	10:00-10:45--Celia and Susanne Check In
Friday	Student Meeting 9:15  Erin Mullaney 1:00  No Team Meetings

 

12.15

Hi All, 

Apologies for the delayed blogpost. I'm feeling the pre-vacation craziness too. I hope that you all had good weekends and that you're continue to evade the germs that are circulating! 

I also wanted to send a huge Thank You to you all for supporting and making Friday a success. It was lovely to circulate around the building and see you all connecting with students in new ways. Please give your feedback here. 

Shout Outs 

• Josh and Lucia for helping cover in Chuck's absence 
• Brittany for the push to make Gifts for Giving happen and for all the support with groups and sorting! 

News and Announcements 

• Please welcome Robin Gannon as Annalissa's long term substitute. She will be with us 5 days a week with some modified hours. Robin has been a teacher in our district for 41 years. She comes to us with a strong desire to help kids and is already a team player. We're ironing out her schedule. Welcome Robin. 
• The second round of iReady Diagnostic is coming up soon. The window is from January 6th to the 31st. Here is a link from iReady about helping kids getting ready for the diagnostic. Gearing Up for 2nd Diagnostic
• Note: We will get to do some data comparison from Fall/Winter in small and large groups in January. I'm interested to see what it looks like, I hope you are too. 

• I want to give a shoutout to you all for increasing the percentage of students hitting the 30min mark by 8% percent last week! We are also still seeing a high passage rate which is fantastic. Keep it up! :) 

• Here is a great article about the importance of explicitly teaching Executive Functioning skills. Many of these skills directly link to our Transferable Skills district wide. Remember we can't hold kids accountable for something that we haven't explicitly taught them! I know I can find myself falling into the they should know this "by osmosis" trap with some of these skills. I have some more resources and am happy to talk about this more if you'd like. 

12 Reasons to Teach Executive Functioning Skills Explicitly

                        Here is an explicit teaching checklist if you'd like to check it out. 

• Staff Meeting: 
• I will meet with the support staff first from 3:00-3:15. We will join as a group at 3:15 and then I have a few tasks for us to finish before the break. 

Reminder: 

• Please enter through the main doors of our building to the greatest extent possible. It's preserves the integrity of our emergency exits and ensures that all doors that are supposed to be lock stay that way. 
• I have started to lock the door to the "attic" so that no student(s) go up there unexpectedly. This creates a massive safety hazard. Please bring your key if you need to go up there. 

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday	Staff Meeting 3:10- 4:45 Board Meeting--All Virtual
Thursday
Friday

Where is Celia?

Monday
Tuesday	WCLT Meeting 8:00-12:30 **Out Principal's Meeting 12:30-1:00  **Out  Student Meeting 1:00-1:45 Student Meeting 2:30
Wednesday	Observation 9:30-10:30  Student Meeting 12:00 Staff Meeting 3:10-4:45 Board Meeting 6:00---???
Thursday	Special Ed Meeting  8:15 Conference Room  Meeting 10:00 Student Meeting 2:00 District Safety Team meeting 3:00-4:00
Friday	Student Meeting 9:15 Meeting 1:00

12.8

 

Hi All, 

What a winter wonderland we've entered! I hope that you all had a good weekend. I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for all you do for our young people everyday. Students get their needs meet and it's clear that you are all working hard to meet each kids where they are at. 

I also wanted to apologize for my typo in our weekly update. We are not in school from 12/23-1/1 not 12/13-1/1. I have corrected the error in the newsletter. 

As the germs are flying around our building please encourage students to do the following: 

• Wash hands frequently 
• Cover their coughs when they sneeze 
• Hydrate 

If you have concerns about a child's health please consult Erin Mullaney. 

Shoutouts  

• Chef Jake for a wonderful meal last week at the board meeting 
• Deborah for covering for PK---you rock! 
• All staff for a great start of a conversation about data in our building. I'm excited to see what the January data brings us. 
• Megan Mitchell for updating the Weekly Team Meeting Plan

News and Announcements 

• Our Humanity and Justice Coalition is getting our regularly scheduled meetings back up and going. They are open to anyone interested in participating. Please meet us in the conference room at 8:15 tomorrow morning. We will be meeting with a representative from a program called Reading to End Racism.
• Mandatory Trainings---I got a list this past week of staff members who have not completed their mandatory trainings. 😟 Please check in your Vector portal and ensure that you have completed your trainings ASAP. I will be sending emails and following up in person. 
• Staff Meeting
• Budget Update
• Gifts for Giving/Holiday Bazaar 
• Schedule 
• Needs?
• Project Tutorial 
• Quick Read Article--RC around vacations
• Here's a snapshot of last week's MyPath Usage. Our, lesson passage is looking great! As a reminder we are aiming for a minimum of 30 mins of MyPath usage per student per week. This is differentiated instruction at each child's level with minimal need for teacher prep! 

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	Humanity and Justice Team Meeting 8:15
Tuesday
Wednesday	Staff Meeting 3:10- 4:45
Thursday
Friday	Community Day/Gifts for Giving

Where is Celia?

Monday	Meet at CO 3:00  Curriculum Council 3:45-5:30
Tuesday	Principal's Meeting 12:30-1:30   Student Meeting 1:45
Wednesday	Staff Meeting 3:10-4:45
Thursday	Budget Work Session 1:00-3:30 **Celia Out**
Friday	Community Day/Gifts for Giving

12.1

 

Hi All, 

I hope that you all had a great vacation and that the time off was what you needed! We had a week that was full of all of the things family, fun and food. I can't believe that we are in the month of December. This first part of the year has scurried by so quickly! Thank you to everyone for making it such a great start of the year. 

News and Announcements 

• PAW it up for the week---remember 5 positives to every correction. Prompt kids for the behavior that you are looking for and then notice when they do it. 
• Snow at Recess---Quick Reminders
• Boundaries remain the same
• No snowballs---snow may be thrown at a designated *by adult* target 
• Kids need to have snow pants in order to play in the snow, please encourage appropriate gear. I know this can be a sticky spot for 5/6. 
• Please remember to wash your hands and encourage your kids to do the same, there's a lot of ick going around right now.
• Staff Meeting---We will cover the following: 
• Guest Presenter--Arlyn B.--SWANK Licensing
• Community Winter Celebration
• Other celebrations (?)
• Nuts and Bolts 
• Responsive Classroom Articles 
• Quick Read---Discipline Response
• Revisiting Classroom Rules
  

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday	Staff Meeting  Board Meeting @BES
Thursday	Coffee and Conversations with Steven 8:00-9:00
Friday	Team Meetings--- 5/6, 4, 2

Where is Celia?

Monday	9:30 Interview  10:30 Lori/Celia Check In  1:00 Meeting with SS
Tuesday	WCLT/Principal's Meeting after WCLT---Celia Out until 1:30  Student Meeting 3:30
Wednesday	Staff Meeting Board Meeting 6:00
Thursday	Coffee and Conversations with Steven Celia and Susanne Check In 10:00  Student Meeting 2:30
Friday	7:30-8:30 LAU Meeting  10:00 Observation  11:00 Elementary Principals Meeting  Team Meetings

11.17

 

Hi All, 

We survived a supermoon week! I hope that you all got a peek at the beauty of that moon last night. It was nice to be reminded of the light during this dark time of year. I also hope that you've gotten some time outside in the sunshine and crisp, fall weather...what a gift! 

Shoutouts 

• Megan Keys---thanks for thinking of your class and supporting all kids 
• Nancy Robinson---YOU ROCK! Thank you for being so flexible and making a schedule that's meeting all students needs in the short term. 
• Lori and Doreen for making the Harvest Luncheon signup so easy. 
• Jessie Dall and Kristina Snook for your support of the Book Fair Quick Read---Discipline Response
• Kristina Snook and Wagner/Agran thanks for being so creative and starting Art Club on Tuesday mornings...what fun! 

News and Announcements 

• New Faces
• Please welcome Stacy Magoon in the kitchen supporting Chef Jake and Ashley Arnold supporting PK. We are thrilled to have them both aboard. 
• Staff Meeting---We will cover the following: 
• Budget Information 
• Holiday Plans---School Celebrations 
• Next Whole School Celebration 
• Responsive Classroom Articles 
• Quick Read---Discipline Response
• Revisiting Classrooom Rules
  

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday	Harvest Luncheon  Staff Meeting  Board Meeting
Thursday
Friday	Team Meetings--- 3, 1st, K

Where is Celia?

Monday	8:15 Meeting 9:30 Pre Observation Meeting  10:30 Lori/Celia Check In  3:00--District Safety Team Meeting
Tuesday	WCLT---Celia Out until 1:30  3:45 Student Meeting  FOC Affinity Group  7:00 PTNA Meeting
Wednesday	Staff Meeting Board Meeting 6:00
Thursday	Celia and Susanne Check In 10:00  Student Meeting 2:30
Friday	7:30-8:30 LAU Meeting  10:00 Observation  11:00 Elementary Principals Meeting  Team Meetings

11.4

 

Hi All,

I hope that you had a great weekend! In a ridiculous turn of events I found my car keys IN the bag of candy from Trick or Treating. Christian and I were in stitches trying to figure out why and how they got in there! 

Here are a couple of quick lessons and information about democracy and the voting process. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/teaching-students-about-elections

Early Elementary Voting Lesson

 News and Announcements 

• District Writing Prompt
• Delivered November 4th or 5th---scored the 6th of November at staff meeting
• The prompt and directions are linked above.
• There will be No Staff meeting the 13th of November due to conferences.  
• Family Conferences---The day for conferences is the 11th of November.
• All non-teaching staff---the expectation is that you will be in the building for conference day. ESP you will start your day at U-32 and end your day here at Berlin. You should have received an email from Julia Pritchard last week detailing your morning. 
• Dismissal--Please see your email from Friday afternoon. Bussing students will be dismissed through the side gym door. Parent Pickups will be dismissed to the veranda/walkway and then shuttled to their cars. 
• Data Meetings---see data to bring here

What's Happening at Berlin?

Monday	District Writing Prompt
Tuesday	District Writing Prompt  Election Day
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday	Team Meetings--- 3, 1st, K

Where is Celia?

Monday	8:15 Meeting with Julia  IIW Q1 Wrap Up
Tuesday	**Celia Out---WCLT All Day
Wednesday
Thursday	Celia and Susanne Check In 10:00  Student Meeting 2:30
Friday	7:30-8:30 LAU Meeting  Team Meetings