Thursday, November 1st

Thanks to the Crew team for an entertaining assembly.  Our School culture is growing and these events help.  

I am working to provide provide feedback on your submitted plans.  The goal was Friday and I can safely admit failure on that deadline.  Please allow Sarah and I through the weekend to make our effort meaningful.
  

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween!

Please complete the language survey sent out by Mrs. Swanson's e-mail. All are due this Friday.

Fire drill today at 9:50

Are your report cards complete...including checking "the box"? 

Congrats to Mrs. Welch for a job well done and we wish her the best as she transitions to East Forsyth High School. 

Friday, October 26th

So sorry to have missed posting yesterday. No excuse, just missed it.

Welcome to the end of the first quarter! 

Our Rc day is Monday - Learn and return to school to share with your colleagues.  In addition, Monday is the deadline to submit your lesson plans for the week. 

Tuesday we will begin our Staff crew at 8:00 in the media center.  Pay careful attention to the messages from Katie regarding powerschool grades and report cards.  

Wednesday is Halloween and we will have a school wide Crew assembly at 2:05 to kick off the 2nd quarter.

Enjoy the weekend.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Please contact Katie at ext. 101 when all of your students have completed their test. (accommodations and classroom administrators)

All specials will begin at 10:40.

Since K, 2nd, and 4th have missed specials during testing, the followong adjustment has been made to the calendar.

10:40-11:20	Fourth grade
Dempsey	Art
Hatcher	PE
Howell	Guidance
Raines	Tech
Woody	Music
12:35-1:15	Kindergarten
Binkley	PE
Gutierrez	Tech
Hailstock	Music
Haynes	Art
1:20-2:00	Second grade
Alva	Art
Brown	PE
Connor	Tech
White	Music
Recess change due to Special changes
All recesses will remain the same with the exception of:
Second	11:05-11:35
ALL Fourth	2:10-2:40

No Crew for 1st through 3rd since some crew leaders are testing.  Crew should be held for 4th and 5th.

There is a game going on around the school called "Neck" which involves tagging another student on the neck. If you see your students hitting each other on the neck, ask them to stop this game.  

Tuesday, October 23rd

Support our students as they work on the NC Check-Ins to provide formative assessment data on first-quarter instruction.

PLEASE wear some Orange on Wednesday for UNITY DAY

Wednesday we will finish our team time cycle.  November brings new teams and collaborative processes to improve our school.

Lesson plans for the three day week, October 31st, November 1st & 2nd, will be submitted by all teachers by the end of the Rc day, October 29th.  Feedback will be provided by Friday November 2nd.  

Plans for the November 7th Monitoring and Support visit must be submitted by the end of the Monday, November 5th. 

Monday, October 22, 2018

 Monday, October 22, 2018

If you are interested in having a SMART table in your room, please contact Mrs. Huddleston.

Unity Day is Wednesday, October 24th.  Everybody wears some orange to show support for bully prevention.

Friday, October 19th

Family Crew tonight - 5:30-7:30 in the gym

Enjoy the weekend!

Thursday, October 18th

Thanks for exploring Brunson's culture so we can create space to improve student achievement across three dimensions.  Please share a summary with your colleagues who attended the Math training (slides and handouts in the google drive folder.)  Oh and keep the feedback coming via e-mail..... Oh and let me know if you want to engage with preparation/service for our Monitoring visit via e-mail.

5th grade Recycling Service Project
Each teacher /class representative will coordinate with their grade levels to determine the weekly pick-up.  Please contact the teacher with feedback and suggestions, Thanks!

• Kindergarten, Music and Offices - Pollard
• 1st grade, Media Center and Mail-room - Weber
• 2nd grade and ESL - Robertson
• 3rd grade, Tech, EC & School Counselor - Walters
• 4th grade, Copy Room & PLT - Patrick

Wednesday, October 17th

After your homeroom CREW today, please remember to take the following survey
https://goo.gl/forms/dSYAhxPxU4ajjhxp2

Read this short passage and be prepared to discuss in our ERD opening circle;

In a 2013 white paper for the Hewlett Foundation, University of Chicago researcher Camille Farrington describes four key academic mindsets, each of which is independently associated with increased perseverance, better academic behaviors, and higher grades. Expressed in the first person, from the point of view of the learner, they are: 

• I belong in this community

• I can succeed at this

• My ability and my competence grow with my effort

• This work has value for me 

These four mindsets, Farrington argues, are critical levers for increasing the student engagement and the persistence necessary for students to achieve mastery. And research across a range of studies suggests that educators play a key role in building positive mindsets. Students’ academic identities and attitudes and beliefs about schooling are strongly influenced by the school and classroom environment in which learning is situated; the structure of academic work, goals, support, and feedback in that environment; and the implicit and explicit messages conveyed to students about themselves in relation to that academic work. 

Increasing student motivation to learn is ultimately contingent upon “creat[ing] a set of circumstances in which students take pleasure in learning and come to believe that the information and skills they are being asked to learn are important and meaningful for them and worth their effort, and that they can reasonably expect to be able to learn the material.”

Tuesday, October 16th

The Junior League puppet show for 3rd grade students will be in the Media Center 

• @10:00-10:40- Fedel, Williams, Jordan 
• @10:45-11:25 Surbeck, McIntyre, Marzullo 

The specials schedule for 3rd and 4th grade that day will be as follows:

• 8:25-9:05- 3rd grade specials 
• 10:40-11:20- Planning for specialists 
• 2:05-2:45- 4th grade specials, PLT (as usual) 

Early Release Day schedules are available in the office.  Each classroom needs a lunch and "pre-lunch" schedule (clarification follows.)

• There are no gaps between classes during lunch so we need to get in and out for every class to finish before our 12:45 dismissal
• By CN policy the earliest lunch start time is 10:00 
• "Pre-Lunch" is 15 minutes before your scheduled lunch
• Take you students to the assigned area where the specialists will engage them in a physical "brain- break" for 10 minutes
• This allows each teacher to have a break before lunch while minimizing transition time
• No additional recess or specials for the ERD as the focus is on Core Instruction

I am at a Elementary Principals meeting today and will return for PLT.

Monday, October 15th

2-hour delay today

• Students enter classrooms @ 9:50
• Pledge at 10:20
• First special is period 4
• Lunch on regular schedule

You were strength when our students and families needed it most.  I am proud to serve with you. Read this message I received from a parent on Friday.

"I just wanted to say that I was very impressed with how calm, quiet, and organized the gym was today at pickup time. It was quite crazy outside, but it was nice to see how calm all the children were. We appreciate your work in reassuring all the children and making it less stressful during the situation today.

Thank you again, and hope you all made it home safely!"

WEEK 3: Cyberbullying Prevention
CHALLENGE: Cyber-kindness

• Create a 30-second PSA associated with anti-cyberbullying statements related to the school’s policy, entered on YouTube or Twitter 
• School twitter account should also tweet out PSAs
• Channel 2 will decide the winner by end of day Thursday, October 18

PLEASE remind families that Wednesday is an early release day. 

Below is the data collected by Martha.  Gift cards will be collected by Laurie through the end of this week

 

Thursday, October 9, 2018

Thursday, October 9, 2018

Report Cards and Mid-term Progress Reports
Things to think about with comments: K, 3-5 Do comments reflect the variants of grades? (A “C” does not have the same comment as an “A”) 1 & 2 · Are comments put in the positive rather than negative? · Are they individualized for that child? · Do comments reflect what WE are doing to differentiate for the student? · Do your comments address the content learned or work habits? · Are you using data in the comment where possible?
Team	Task	Quarter 1	Quarter 2	Quarter 3	Quarter 4
All	Quarter Ends	Oct 26	Jan 18	March 28	June 14
Specialists	Grades Due	Oct 26	Jan 21	March 28	June 14
1st and 2nd	Report Cards to Susana (1) or Kathy (2)	Oct 31st @ 8:00 AM	Jan 23rd @ 8:00 AM	Apr 3rd @ 8:00 AM	Teachers review their own report cards
	Return to teacher for changes	Nov 2nd @ 3:30 PM	Jan 25th @ 3:30 PM	Apr 5th @ 3:30 PM
K, 3, 4, 5	To Katie for verification	Oct 31st @ 8:00 AM	Jan 23rd @ 8:00 AM	Apr 3rd @ 8:00 AM	Teachers review their own report cards and send to Katie by June 13th @ 3:30
	Katie prints, sends to Jeff and Sarah	Nov 1st @ 3:30 PM	Jan 24th @ 3:30 PM	Apr 4th @ 3:30 PM
	Returned with signatures	Nov 6th @ 8:00 AM	Jan 29th @ 8:00 AM	Apr 9th @ 8:00 AM
All	Cards go in Wednesday Packet	Nov 7	Jan 30	Apr 10	TBD
Mid-term reports home		Oct 3	Dec 5	Feb 27	May 8
			K, 3, 4, 5 will update behavior/work habits starting in December