Midweek Updates -- 27 Sept

Just a three (3) quick things for today.  Just because.

First: I need you to turn in your 301 Menu Logs to me or to your Department Chairs (still Bobby and Melissa).  I've already submitted your current 301 hours to payroll, based on your sign-in sheets for the 20 July DuFours' Tele-conference, and for the FUSD Professional Development Day on 15 Aug.  So you should be seeing pay for those days very soon.  But, still, I need your official 301 Menu Logs turned in, too. It's all for the record.  Policy.  Ya know.  The way things are done.  Get 'em to Bobby and Melissa.  ASAP.  Please. And that's that.  Thanks :)

Second: Rio Salado Community College seeks a placement in a K-3 classroom for a practicum student.  She needs to get 60 hours of time done soon.  The practicum will pay you $95.00.  Please let me know ASAP if you're interested in this opportunity.

Third: The first meeting of the Continuous Improvement Plan committee will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, 28 Sept., at 3:30 in room 26.  Thanks in advance to those of you who have agreed to help us get this document pulled together on short notice!

Please acknowledge:

Updates -- 23 Sept.

Hey, it's Friday again!  Cool how that happens, huh.

Thanks for enduring my somewhat overly-dramatic introductory comments at the faculty meeting yesterday.  That notwithstanding, just in case you're interested in reviewing my message to you, here's the video I showed.



And here's what I'd like you to remember: we don't use scalpels and sutures. But we do a similar kind of work here everyday. We help to heal broken children.  All the time.  Our process takes longer.  And it's rife with setbacks.  But I sincerely believe: you each have just as much skill and dexterity at what you do as those surgeons have.  And, I likewise believe that our results are often comparable to the outcomes those gifted doctors achieve, and that they are equally profound as well.

We both strive after, and often achieve, a similar kind of positive result: whole, healthy, smiling children.

And, just as an FYI: Jennifer Yard would like to recommend SmileTrain.org to any of you who might be interested in donating to a well-established international cleft-palate repair organization.

10-Point Kids
Here's the spreadsheet for 10-Point Kids.  And below is an easier-to-grasp list of who's paired with whom.  As to the concerns raised at our meeting about finding the time to meet with your kid, please feel free to do whatever needs to be done to make this program work best... for you and your kid. This shouldn't be a burdensome task.  If it becomes so, just let me know and we can make rearrangements.

Student (homeroom)	Paired with
Edgar (Perkins) Renee (Hurley) Miles (McFall) Tyler (Shaw) Nolan (Shaw) Elijah (Kasch) Jonathan (Paulsen) Shane (Fisher) Makayla (Wyres) Wyatt (Perkins) Kyle (Kasch) Sam (Burgoon) Karl (Fisher) Kit (McAllister) Shantel (Perkins) Aurora (McAllister) Wyatt (Perkins) Jamarri (Burgoon) Quincy (Perkins) Aiden (McAllister)	Coe Pagel Bull Paulsen McQuaid LeMoyne Fresquez Townsend Baker Wyres Onsae Pavich Hurley Fisher Pietropaulo McFall Burgoon/Darr Shaw McAllister McKnight

Odds & Ends

• Kayla Robbins, a "learning community mentor" at NAU, would like to have the opportunity to allow her 12-15 NAU freshman education-majors visit our classrooms one or two times over the course of the next few weeks. If you're interested in having these potential future educators in your room to help out a few times, you can let me know, or you can contact Kayla yourself at 541-693-4222 or via email.
• If you would like to have your rooms vacuumed more thoroughly in the evening, please have your students put up their chairs after school every afternoon.
• Still need a few of you to submit your Classroom Management Plans to me via Google Docs. Thanks!
• PTO would like to know what you dream of, or just what you really need, in terms of technology in your classroom.  I'd like to know, too.  Perhaps we can make a few of your dreams come true...  Tell me what you're thinking of.
• Melissa Bianco would like you to remember,"The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany has planned several fund-raising events this year to benefit local agencies, Marshall being one of them.  The next event is, “Put Some South in Your Mouth,” and will feature foods from the south.  It is a family dinner and song fest with music from the Mike Dunham Band.  It is scheduled for Sunday, October 9 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at the church located at 423 North Beaver Street.  The cost is $10.00 per person or $25.00 per family.  If you are interested in attending, let me know and I’ll get you a ticket."
• The City of Flagstaff is sponsoring the 4th Annual 15-Minute Makeover Day on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10:15 AM (10:15 on 10/15, natch).  If you're interested in getting involved, more information can be found at www.flagstaff.gov/15 or via (former FPD D.A.R.E officer "Bigfoot") Tom Boughner 928-213-2147.

Calendar

• Wednesday, 28 Sept.
• SOAR training 
• Thursday, 29 Sept.
• SOAR training
• Friday, 30 Sept.
• Java By The Gym
• Ken Robinson @ NAU

Please acknowledge:

Faculty Meeting -- 22 Sept.

Please preview our agenda at your convenience.

FYI: The official FUSD Incident Report form is now a part of the list of "Important Stuff" located in the left-hand column. I am told you must use it whenever you refer a student to my office. Please do so. Thanks.

Updates -- 16 Sept.

Friday-Payday! My favorite-day.

Thanks again, everyone, for working together to make every week at Marshall a good week.  I sincerely appreciate all your efforts to go that extra-step, and often that extra-mile, for the benefit of our students and our entire community!  You're awesome.

Fire Drill & Bus Evacuations
We're planning to have a fire drill next Wednesday, 21 Sept., at 2:30 in the afternoon... assuming we can get the alarm panel unlocked... somehow it got locked during the summer and no one knows where the key is.  Regardless, in advance of what we hope is a flawless exercise, please review your red Emergency Folder to ensure you're prepared for this important event.

Bus evacuation drills are scheduled for Thursday morning, beginning around 9:45.  As has happened in previous years, we should be calling you to the bus loading zone by class.  Please be attentive for your notification either by phone or intercom.

Professional Development
Page, Joy, and Jenny will be working with all of us during our first Two-Hour Meeting next Friday afternoon from 1:00-3:00. We will cover several topics during this mandatory training session including enVision math, PLCs, and also how to better understand and utilize student benchmark-testing data.

Our School is Rated-G

Thank you for turning in your recess schedules to me.  Thanks as well for periodically reviewing proper playground behaviors and procedures with your students.  These really are just basic, common-sense things that most kids already know well: no rough play, no jumping off the swings, no bad language, etc... things like that... but worth a review now and then, just as a reminder.

10-point kids
Still more kids than grown-ups in the system.  Please consider signing up if you'd like to get in on the 10 coaching points on the RIF rubric.  For what it's worth, I've really enjoyed my time with my own 10-point kid (Edgar).  I think we've both found it to be valuable and entertaining. Here are our new pairings:

• McFall: Aurora (McAllister)
• Pavich: Sam (Fields)
• Fisher: Kit (McAllister)
• Paulsen: Shane (Fisher)
• Field/Darr: Wyatt (Perkins)
• Shaw: Jamarri (Field/Darr)

On The Calendar
Also coming up next week:

• Tuesday, 20 Sept. -- Visitors from Thailand, 12:15-1:30
• Wednesday, 21 Sept. -- Coe @ Elementary Principal's meeting*, 9:15-12:15 
• *Reminder: Page always has the helm whenever I'm gone.
• Wednesday, 21 Sept. -- Fire Drill, 2:30
• Thursday, 22 Sept. -- Faculty Meeting (mandatory), 8:00-8:30
• Thursday, 22 Sept. -- Bus evacuation drills, 9:45
• Friday, 23 Sept. -- Mustang Gallop previews, 9:00 primary, 9:30 intermediate in the Gym
• Friday, 23 Sept. -- Professional Development meeting (mandatory), 1:00-3:00 in the Library

Please acknowledge:

More Updates -- 15 Sept

Photo credit: Josh Biggs - Arizona Daily Sun

First of all, did you see Ballard and Novak in the Daily Sun this morning?  How cool is that?!

Following up on a few things, and adding a few more:

Thai Visitors
The visitors from Thailand will be in our building from 12:15 until about 1:30 on Tuesday.  Please be ready to have them drop in and spend a few moments "experiencing" the goings-on in your room.  We're not planning any special programming for them at this time, but hope to be able to tour them around and give them the flavor of our unique school as best we can.

Faculty Meetings
For the record: I am not anti-faculty-meeting; I am pro-planning-prepping-and-collaborating.  As stated at the beginning of the year: We will have faculty meetings.  We must at times.  Just not every week or on some set schedule.  Whenever we meet together as a faculty, I want that time to be purposeful and relevant.

That said, you're soon to get your fill of faculty-meeting.  Next week we will meet at 8:00-8:30 on Thursday, 22 Sept. for a standard faculty meeting to discuss matters related to the Random Acts Of Kindness program and other sundry concerns (agenda forthcoming).  Subsequently, we will also meet the very next day from 1:00-3:00 on Friday, 23 Sept. for our first Two-Hour Meeting to develop a better understanding of PLCs, AIMSWEB, enVision Math, and the RTI framework (agenda forthcoming).

Please acknowledge (Thanks!):

Updates -- 13 Sept.

Hello everyone,

Just a few mid-weekish updates...

The Joint Councils & PTO
Site, Arts, and Science -- the Joint Councils -- will meet for the first time tomorrow evening beginning at 5:00.  Likewise, PTO will hold it's first meeting afterward, beginning at 6:30.  More information about agendas and materials is on the Marshall School Community blog.  I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at these meetings tomorrow.  There's much work to be done.  But it's good work.  As always!

Foreign Visitors
A group of dignitaries from Thailand will be visiting our school next Tuesday, 20 Sept.  Led by Assistant Superintendent Dave Dirksen, NAU College of Education Dean Gypsy Denzine and Kathy Gill Brown, our visitors are said to include the nation's Minister of Education and 5 or 6 others.  Not too sure about the deets at this point.  But wanted you to know.  More information is likely to be forthcoming as it becomes available...

No Parking
I was informed yesterday that the City will be working in the Rio drainage near our NW parking lot on Thorpe Street this Wednesday and Thursday. They will be putting barricades in place to cordon off several parking spaces in that lot.  Please don't park within the barricades. Otherwise, our parking situation should be minimally impacted by this activity.

Tax Credit Request
The new (to-be-approved) Teacher Request for Tax Credit Money form is available online.  Pending approval by the Site Council, please use this form for all future requests to expend tax credit monies.

Please acknowledge this post below:

Info & Updates -- 09 Sept. 2011

Happy Friday y'all!

And welcome to Marshall School, Sarah Kuhn, our brand-new Resource teacher!  Yay!

Thanks, everybody, for working successfully through the two days that had me out of the building this week.  I really (really!) appreciate how capable you all are at managing your classrooms, the kids, the school building, the lunchroom, the playground, and everywhere else without me.

I'll bring you up-to-speed with everything I learned about teacher evaluations this week in the near future.

Thanks as well for a great Open House last night.  As I said in my email earlier today, I thought we had a great turn-out, despite the weather.  Hopefully you had at least as much fun as I did seeing and meeting so many great, smiling, happy people.  They all seemed genuinely thrilled to have the chance to come and meet you and see your rooms first hand.

We're quite blessed to work in-and-for this community. Doncha think?

Just a few things for the good of the order...

First, please watch this video-overview (sorry everything is kinda backward in it; we'll fix that next time) of your Emergency Folder. Afterward, please make sure you can:

1.  locate your Emergency Folder at any time
2. understand its contents and intent
3. utilize it effectively in the event of a drill or emergency

Links to Emergency Folder contents:

• Emergency Folder Materials .pdf
• FUSD 2010-11 Phone List
• Marshall Incident Assignments
• Marshall Phone Extensions
• Fire drill dates: Sept 21 @ 2:30; Dec. 8 @ 2:30; Feb. 15 @ 2:30; Apr. 3 @ 10:00
• Lockdown drill dates: Oct 19 @ 2:30; Jan. 18 @ 10:00

Calendar-wise

• AM & PM teacher-duty changes next week to Resource and Music.  Please arrange yourselves to cover the front hall and cafeteria, playground, kinder-playground, and bus lanes both before and after school.  Thanks!
• I've got Admin Council next Monday at 1:00.
• Willow Bend is scheduled to be in some of your classrooms on Monday.
• AIMSWEB is done, but several classes still need to get in the lab to enter 4-Sight data. Please do this at the beginning of your Library time next week. We need this data ASAP!
• Joint Councils (Site, Arts, Science) meet Wednesday 5:00-6:30 in the Library.
• PTO meets Wednesday 6:30-7:30 in the Library.

Last couple of things

How are our School Committees coming along?  Have any of you taken the initiative to get your committee off the ground?  I've not heard from anyone about meeting times and dates.  Do you want me to do this?  'Cause I can.  But, I was kind of hoping you'd just invite me to your first get-together when you'd worked it all out.

Likewise, have you met with your 10-point kid?   Thanks to many of you, we've got lots of new kids and several new teachers on our list.  I hope to do more a bunch more pairings next week.  But for those of you who have already been paired, I hope you've had a chance or two to get to know your kid already.

Have a great weekend everyone!  Don't forget to acknowledge...

How Open House Should Go

Well, it's almost here: Open House 2011!  I know all of you and your classrooms are almost ready to go.

I think I am, too.

At-right you'll find the handout that will be distributed at the door (it will be folded in half).   You can download it as a .pdf, too.

The schedule for the night will run on the big-screen TV at the front door all evening as follows:

Primary families: Visit classrooms: 6:00-6:15. Welcome time in the Gym: 6:15-6:25. Visit classrooms 6:25-7:00.

Intermediate families: Visit classrooms: 6:00-6:30. Welcome time in the Gym: 6:35-6:45. Visit classrooms 6:45-7:00

And, just so you're up-to-speed minute-by-minute, here's my plan for the night:

6:00 -- Doors open; flyers will be distributed at the door; folks will visit classrooms and sign up for PTO and Councils in the entryway
6:10 -- Announcement: "Primary teachers, parents, and students, please join us in the Gym for a quick 10-minute meet-and-greet time. If you have students in both primary and intermediate grades you may choose to come now or at 6:30. But you only need to come and listen in the Gym once tonight." Primary teachers will close their doors and come to the gym along with parents and students.
6:15-6:25 -- I will quickly introduce of each of our primary teachers and then dismiss them back to their rooms.  Parents and students will stay while I welcome them and give a quick run-down of a few things (parking,  drop-off, cafeteria, attendance, tax-credit contributions).
6:25 -- Primary students and parents dismissed from Gym; folks will visit classrooms.


6:30 Announcement: "Intermediate teachers, parents, and students, please join us in the Gym for a quick 10-minute meet-and-greet time." Intermediate teachers will close their doors and come to the gym along with parents and students.
6:35-6:45 -- I will quickly introduce of each of our intermediate teachers and then dismiss them back to their rooms.  Parents and students will stay while I welcome them and give a quick run-down of a few things (parking,  drop-off, cafeteria, attendance, tax-credit contributions).
6:45 -- Intermediate students and parents dismissed from Gym.
6:45-7:00 -- Folks will visit classrooms

7:00 -- Announcement: "Thanks for coming to our Open House this evening.  We hope you had a great time and that we see you back at Marshall on a regular basis.  Don't forget to visit us online, to keep up with all that's going on around here, at marshallelementary.blogspot.com.  Good night."

Have a great long weekend!

Couldn't have come at a better time. No?

Just two quick things before I go:

A link to a Google Docs folder chock-full of FUSD Common Assessments.

And a photo for Cheryl:

If not now, when?

Thanks, everyone, for another good week!

Updates -- 01 Sept.

[Please acknowledge this post below.]

First of all, sorry about the confusion regarding the cancellation of today's faculty meeting.  Thanks to your loyal reading of this blog, I removed it from the MASTER calendar several days ago... but forgot to notify our webmaster of the change... and so it was still on the calendar you can find on the fusd1.org website.  Sorry for the confusion.  Shaddy and I are working to align these two calendars more closely.  But, in the meantime, as far as school-business goes, please keep a closer eye on the MASTER calendar.  It's up-to-the-minute up-to-date with everything that's going on around here.  Promise.

Decisions, decisions...
Thanks for responding to our last poll pertaining to your desires regarding the frequency of posts to this blog.

[poll graphic removed]

With 35 votes cast, it appears 60% of you would prefer to see more frequent, shorter posts,

And so you shall. Watch...

Coming up next week

• All week: AIMSWEB testing K-5.  Joy and Jenny have published a schedule. If you have questions, please follow up with them.
• Monday: No School.  It's Labor Day.
• Wednesday: Tech Coach Training.  Kasch, Bianco, Shaddy and I will be out.
• Thursday: Open House 6:00-7:00 PM.

Classroom Managment Plans
I've asked Nick Cathey, our Positive Behavioral Support guy, to meet with all classroom and special areas teachers to help you get started writing up a classroom management plan.  We've worked up a simple and hopefully-effective Google Doc Form for you to fill-out and submit to us.  Why?  Simple.  We'd like each of you to have a solid management plan in-place and in-writing... it's just good practice.  But we'd also like to have a written record of your classroom system in order to allow us work consistently within your program when we're dealing with your students (and their parents) now and then.  Look for Nick to drop by in the near future during you planning time.

Diamondbacks Tickets
Flyers were disseminated on Wednesday for the upcoming Marshall School Night at Chase Field on 24 Sept.  Tickets are on sale in the office. More information is available on the Marshall School Community blog.

enVision Training
Sue Pierce sent out an email inviting teachers to an upcoming enVision math training session.  Dates are TBA, but she has asked that you complete a short survey to convey your needs/desires in this regard to her.

Accelerated Reader
For the past year we've used the online version of Accelerated Reader at Marshall and, as a result, we now receive an annual bill for the services they provide.  Our current bill was over $3000.  However, Mr. Shaddy worked out a substantial savings (nearly $1000!!!) for us thanks to his persistent and deliberate efforts working with their customer service representative the other day (Nice work, Dino!).  Chiefly he was able to finagle this savings because we only used 185 AR student accounts last year.  So, this year, based on last year's utilization numbers, and in order to save such substantial amount of money, we're only ordering 240 AR student accounts.  You should talk to him if you'd like your students to have a few of them.

Paper
More than you ever wanted to know about copy-paper: We went through 50,000 sheets of paper (Yes! Five-oh-thousand sheets. That's10 big boxes worth) in the first 10 days of school.  As of right-now, we have about 35 full-boxes in storage.  And that's it.  At this rate, that's perhaps 30-35 days worth of paper.  After that we need to place another order.  Boxes of copy-paper cost $35.00 each.  This quickly adds up to a lot of money, and potentially one of our biggest annual expenditures.  If there's any way for you to reduce the amount of copying you're doing, please do so.  If there's any way you can ask your parent-community to contribute to our paper supply, please feel free to ask.  Some classrooms are doing this already.

You've been set a quota on copies: 2000.  But it's not based on time, nor is it limited to that number.  If you use your 2000 copies tomorrow, or not until January, whenever you run out, all you need to do is come and see us in the office.  We'll reset you.  But we're keeping a list.  And I just gotta say: there may come a time where we have to enact a more equitable and economical means of managing our use of copy-paper school-wide.

NAU Students
We've been asked to consider bringing the NAU Praxis teacher-training program into our building.  I'm not too sure of the details at this point, but because I get the sense this is something we might actually be able to see happen here by spring semester 2012, it's worth apprising you of the possibility now.  If you've got an interest in being involved in helping make this happen... or if you've got strong feelings yay-or-nay about bringing this program to Marshall, please let me know.

In the same vein, I received a call this week from Suzanne Griffin, the coordinator for NAU's 308 practicum program.  She'd be interested to hear from you if you'd like to have one of these pre-service teachers work for a short time in your classroom this semester.  Please give her a call [901-573-2644] or send her an email if you're interested.