December 15th-19th

Just a few of so many things I loved seeing around school this week!

Ms. Fraser's class working on math on the stormy day

Spanish with Mrs. Valdovinos in 5th grade 

Gingerbread Men!

Fun with friends and rainy day recess kits!

Sunny weather for the zoo trip-- lucky first graders!

TK dancing to a holiday tune

TK performance. Must be Santa!

Dates & Details
Looks like a quiet week!
December 15th-18th- GLAD demo in Amy's room
December 17th- NCS Holiday Breakfast at the main campus 8-9 AM
December 18th - No tech time
December 19th- 2nd annual BLING it on DAY and PJ day for students

December 8-12

Yes, this!

Bling it on day is December 19th!

The tackier the better. 

Wear all of your holiday gear- lights, antlers, socks. 

There will be prizes!

Dates and Details
December 8th- No Office Day 

December 9th Architect Meetings- this schedule has changed since last week

Conference room
1:30-2:30 Kindergarten/TK (movie in library for PM K and PM TK)
2:30-3:30 First and Second grade teachers  (movie in library)
3:30-4:30 Third-Fifth Grade teachers

December 10th- Star Staff Meeting 7:30-8:30 (click here for agenda) & breakfast (click here to sign up). 

December 10th- architect meetings
Conference room
1:30-2:30 Administration building staff (Cindy and Caroline, Patty if available)
2:30-3:30 Library and Media (Elsa, Joe, Joe, Kham)
3:30-4:30 MP building, stage, and green room (anyone interested may join)

December 11th - Tech Time! Click here to view or add to the agenda :)

December 12th- First grade to Sac Zoo
December 17th- NCS Holiday Breakfast at the main campus 8-9 AM
December 19th- 2nd annual BLING it on DAY!

December 1st-5th

Seeking treasure... in a book

image link

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful and relaxing break. December is such a fun and busy month and it will be January before we know it! In addition to getting ready for the holidays, one of my favorite things to do when the weather gets cooler is to put on some thick socks, cuddle up with my puppy and READ. Lately, I've read some great books in anticipation of the Newbery and Caldecott awards that happen in January. I'll be working on getting our Mock Caldecott up and running and quite a few of this year's picture book contenders are in my office already! Do you remember Journey, that wordless beauty from last year that won a Caldecott Honor? This year, you'll have to check out Quest, the sequel by the same author. Here's the book trailer!

If you are looking for a great read aloud, or just want to enjoy a novel yourself, I recommend The Green Glass House by Kate Milford  and The Night Gardner by Jonathan Auxier. Both are amazing! Also, this year's Newbery front runner is Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Prose poetry. Gorgeous. Powerful. 

My friend Poppi is also doing something fun for the month of December -- wrapping up a read aloud to read to her class each day before break. So fun!

Dates and Details:
December 1st- No Office Day
December 3rd- Bullock to Angel Island- Jennifer off campus
December 4th- Rohrbacker to Angel Island- Jennifer off campus (tech time TBA)
December 8th- No Office Day 

December 9th-

Meetings with architect (roving sub to cover if needed)
TK & Kindergarten 2:00-3:00
Admin office 3:00-4:00
Library/Media 4:00-4:30

December 10th- Star Staff Meeting 7:30-8:30 (click here for agenda) & breakfast  (click here to sign up)

December 10th- architect meetings
1st-5th grade teachers 2:00-4:00 (roving sub to cover, schedule TBA)
MP spaces and stage 4:00-4:30 (anyone interested)

December 12th- First grade to Sac Zoo
December 19th- 2nd annual BLING it on DAY!

Tech Tips: Hour of Code
Coding with Anna and Elsa? Frozen style? Yes! 

Check it out here http://studio.code.org/s/frozen/stage/1/puzzle/1 

Or check out code.org for more information and resources!

November 17th-November 21st

Dates and Details
November 17th: No Office Day I'm looking forward to getting into classrooms so you can get out and visit some others. Here's the link to sign up http://goo.gl/r122DT
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library
November 19th: 8:00 am meeting with the Star Academy architects in the library. Click here to preview the preliminary design!
November 20th: No tech time this week- Joe is at a conference and Jennifer is touring a school with the architects
November 24-28  Thanksgiving break
December 3rd- Bullock to Angel Island
December 4th- Rohrbacker to Angel Island
December 10th- Star Staff Meeting 7:30-8:30
December 12th- First grade to Sac Zoo

Tech Tip
Are your students too noisy? Here are two browser-based noise meters that show your students how loud they really are :) 

November 10-14

 

Teachers and students learning together

Amazing and happy kids

Collaborative teachers

Every day I am reminded what an amazing gift it is to be part of the Star Academy community. Both Regina and Kate shared last week that if they were to go back to the classroom, they would want to come to our school. The warm, fun, and collaborative environment doesn't happen by accident. It happens through hard work, keeping an open mind, being willing to share, and by being positive. And you make it better every day. I'm so excited for our future! Thank you for all that you do. I am thankful for all of you!

What are you thankful for? Be a guest blogger on the Star Academy blog during the month of November. Check out the blog post for this month to add your thankful thoughts :) The link is here.

Dates & Details
November 10th- No Office Day! I'm looking forward to getting into classrooms so you can get out and visit some others. Here's the link to sign up http://goo.gl/r122DT
November 11th- No school 
November 12th- Wreath orders due and Cadre meetings
November 13th- Genius Hour: What would you like to share? What would you like to learn? Click here to add your ideas!



November 14th Kate Messner Skype 11 AM for grades 1-5 in the gym
November 17th: No Office Day I'm looking forward to getting into classrooms so you can get out and visit some others. Here's the link to sign up http://goo.gl/r122DT
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library
November 24-28  Thanksgiving break
December 3rd- Bullock to Angel Island
December 4th- Rohrbacker to Angel Island

Tech Tip: Sphero
Are you wondering about the little glowing ball that we were trying to drive at last tech time? It's actually a robot! Here's a great post by Jo-Ann Fox about these cool new coding tools. Ten are coming to our school! Also, the Hour of Code is happening December 8th-14th. Check out http://code.org/learn for more info and to sign up to participate. We'll be trying out some coding this week at tech time.

November 3-7

Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to students and families during conferences last week. I had the opportunity to sit in on conferences at almost every grade level and was blown away by your passion and professionalism and LOVE for your students. I can tell that your students love you and love school. Your classrooms are warm and inviting and I appreciate the way you dive into everything one hundred percent-- even our spirit days. I hear from many parents via email and while at school, and I heard so many compliments this week about our school and about you. Thank you for making Star such a fun and fabulous place!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35

PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

November 3-7 GLAD demo in Carly's class, planning in library in the afternoon

November 4: Jennifer off campus all day

November 7th: Make up picture day

November 7th: Fall Festival 5-7 PM  How are your baskets and activities coming along? Be sure your basket items are at school by November 5th. Basket and activity signup here Please have volunteers ready to help with setup at 4:00. Thank you for your help!

November 14th Kate Messner Skype 11 AM for grades 1-5
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library

Tech Tips
Inbox zero? Maybe. Check out this awesome post and find out how I went from inbox 7,000+ to 185 in a week. If I can do it, anyone can. 

Sesame Street and social skills? Thanks to Petra & Hope for sharing!

Sharing

Self control

The ALA book awards are coming!

Mr. Schu's Mock Caldecott post

October 27th-31st

Pirate Treasure: Minecraft & Coding!
At the CUE conference, I got tons of new ideas for using Minecraft and Coding with kids. John Miller shared how it can be used to make a digital picture book! Here's one he shared made by Adam Clarke:

And he also shared the behind the scenes video so you can see how it was made.

Also, I got to try out Sphero and Bee Bot. So fun! I will be purchasing some of these for Star and we can have a coding playdate!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

Minimum Day Spanish Schedule

Market Day Signups for October 29th

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week! 

• Monday- PJ Day
• Tuesday- Twin Day
• Wednesday- Wacky Tacky Day
• Thursday- Team Jersey Day
• Friday- Say boo to Drugs- wear orange and black or a costume

October 30th- No Tech Time :( Our next tech time won't be til November 6th due to conferences and minimum days next week.   http://goo.gl/WefPfl

October 31st- Author Skype in the library (optional)

10:55-11:15 All classes are welcome!
She also shared a coloring page.
Here are her other stories your class might enjoy:
The Magic Chair
What's a Girl to Do? Halloween Hyperbole
The Runaway Rabbit
The Jealous River
November 14th Kate Messner Skype 11 AM for grades 1-5
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library

October 20th

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the thoughtful and sparkly Padlet for Bosses Day! It made my day. Truly, I think I have the best job ever because I get to work with all of you every day. Everywhere I go I tell people about you. Thank you very much for thinking of me, especially over your break!

Speaking of the break, I hope that all of you found time to relax and spend time with friends and family! I think the fall break may have been the best idea ever. October is such a busy month! Keeping that in mind, this week and next week for No Office Day, I'd love to help  you with anything you need! If you'd like to get out and observe, feel free to sign up, and if you'd rather wait until after conferences to get out and visit other classes we can continue that in November. For the next two Mondays, feel free to use me to help out with assessments or anything at all to lighten your load. Otherwise I will just plan on stopping by and just enjoying whatever you have going on. Have a fabulous week!

P.S. It's the book fair this week! Sign up for a time Monday or Tuesday to come preview the book fair and have kids fill out their wish lists. The link is below. 

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

October 20-24: Book Fair! Click here for the
Book fair preview and student shopping signup October 20- #noofficeday If you'd like, I can cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectations (Check out the #noofficeday document) 
October 22nd- Mad Science kickoff assemblies 3rd-5th 9:30-10 AM, TK -2: 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
October 23rd- Tech Time- I was thinking this week you may need time for progress reports. Do what you need to :) Our next tech time won't be til November 6th due to conferences and minimum days next week.   http://goo.gl/WefPfl

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week! 

• Monday- PJ Day
• Tuesday- Twin Day
• Wednesday- Wacky Tacky Day
• Thursday- Team Jersey Day
• Friday- Say boo to Drugs- wear orange and black or a costume

November 14th Kate Messner Skype 11 AM for grades 1-5
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library

Tech Tip
Big Button Box of Sound Effects! Over 100 sounds. 
Funny thing I learned about at a reading conference! There is a free version and a version for 99 cents. 
Link to app in iTunes store Beware... it does have a fart noise :) and an oh yeah and a woo hoo!

October 6

Fabulous fall

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed, 4th grade Coloma info night  6:30
October 6- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectaions (Check out the #noofficeday document)
October 8th- no meeting
October 9- Tech time 3:15 -- time to work / collaborate / play  Check out the doc for some of the ideas from last week :) http://goo.gl/WefPfl
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night 6-7 and 5th grade Angel Island info night 5-6
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!
October 20- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectations (Check out the #noofficeday document
October 22nd- Mad Science kickoff assemblies 3rd-5th 9:30-10 AN, TK -2: 10:15 AM – 10:45 AM

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!
November 14th Kate Messner Skype 11 AM for grades 1-5
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner! 6:30 in the library

Tech Tips
Using YouTube Editor

Uploading to YouTube from your iPad or iPhone

Backing up photos automatically to Google+

September 29th

image credit

I am so very thankful to work with such a hard working and passionate group of educators. I also need to remind myself every once in awhile to take some time, relax, rest, and just be. I hope you are looking forward to your fall break and that you are taking time for you. The work will always be there, and the emails can wait. I started today by reading and taking a nap and it felt good! I hope you have a wonderful week and that you schedule some time just for you!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 29: No Office Day! #noofficeday document- 
October 1: Star Staff meeting - 7:30 AM Please bring your writer's notebook :)
October 2: Tech time Click here to view or add to the agenda! 
October 3: Jog-a-thon Click here for info and the schedule
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed, 4th grade Coloma info night  
October 6- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectaions (Check out the #noofficeday document)
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night and 5th grade Angel Island info night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!
October 20- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectations (Check out the #noofficeday document)

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!
November 18th: Star Family Book Club-- Kate Messner!

Tech Tips
This past Saturday I attended Brian Briggs' session about Chrome Extensions. So many great ones! Here's his presentation. Congrats to Carly for winning the raffle for Spring CUE!

September 22nd

Pirate Booty!

This past weekend was the first Area 3 Writing Project Super Saturday and the big theme for the day was writing notebooks and getting started. Several of our teachers attended and I look forward to hearing all about their sessions, and our October 1st staff meeting will be all about notebooks! I also ran across this great post by Donalyn Miller-- Channeling Your Inner Nerd: Writing About Your Passions and after some thought I've decided I'm a writing nerd. What are you nerdy about? Leave a comment and write about it!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 22nd- Jennifer non-contract day (Petra is teacher in charge) and 3rd grade field trip to Effie Yeaw
#noofficeday document- No Office day will be back next week - so add to the doc if you'd like me to support you, co-teach a lesson, etc. 
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries! 
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book
September 24: Star Staff meeting 8:00 AM -- it's PIP Wednesday, so we will meet briefly in the lounge to review the planning doc and PIP process, then you'll have time to think about your PIP and make a plan. Here's the planning document http://goo.gl/VYZp7j
September 25: Tech Time Click here to view or add to the agenda! Amy Harris will be here to share how to create e-portfolios with Google sites
September 26th: Jennifer non-contract day (Petra is teacher in charge)
October 1: Star Staff meeting - 7:30 AM Please bring your writer's notebook :)
October 2: Tech time Click here to view or add to the agenda!
October 3: Jog-a-thon Click here for info and the schedule
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed, 4th grade Coloma info night  
October 6- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectaions (Check out the #noofficeday document)
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night and 5th grade Angel Island info night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!
October 20- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectations (Check out the #noofficeday document)

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!

Tech Tip:
Make a meme! You can create your own memes at http://memegenerator.net/ 
Megan Ellis, an awesome teacher from Palo Alto is a meme goddess. She wrote a great post this past summer about using memes in the classroom that is sure to make you chuckle. Have a great week!

Memes In the Classroom: Why I Let My Snark Flag Fly

September 15th

Pirate Booty
This past weekend Carly and I spent as Civil War soldiers preparing for our 5th grade field trips in December. Here's a little iMovie trailer I made for fun on the ferry back! We had a ton of fun!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 15: After school enrichment starts
#noofficeday document- I'll be in classrooms all day - during the unscheduled times I will just be dropping in, and if you've scheduled me to come in I am looking forward to it!
September 18: Tech time 3:15 Click here to view or add to the agenda! This week we'll be having a blog workshop to beautify, build, or add something new to your blog
September 19: Picture Day , no Friday walks 
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries! 
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book
September 25: Tech Time Click here to view or add to the agenda!
October 1: Star Staff meeting 
October 2: Tech time
October 3: Jog-a-thon Click here for info and the schedule
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed, 4th grade Coloma info night  
October 6- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectaions (Check out the #noofficeday document)
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night and 5th grade Angel Island info night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!
October 20- #noofficeday Let me cover your class so you can take a look at classroom community and expectaions (Check out the #noofficeday document)

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!

Tech Tips
Here is a little more info about Voxer in case you are interested.
Click here to get started with Voxer
Here's a YouTube video:

September 8

Pirate Booty
This week Donalyn Miller's post "No More Language Arts and Crafts" on her Book Whisperer blog really validates the work you all are doing this year to inspire passionate readers! Her post did also make me think that sharing these kinds of posts with our families might also be a good idea- especially if they are wondering if our changes are crazy!  Thank you for all you do!








Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 11: Tech time 3:15 Click here to view or add to the agenda!
September 11: Star Parent Ed Night: Google Apps & the Common Core 6:00 in the library

September 15: After school enrichment starts
September 19: Picture Day , no Friday walks 
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries! 
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book
September 25: Tech Time
October 1: Star Staff meeting 
October 2: Tech time
October 3: Jog-a-thon
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!

Tech Tip

Use your phone as a presentation remote? Free app and Chrome Extension= awesome!

Save a Google Spreadsheet as a Doc!

http://practicaledtech.com/2014/09/08/practical-ed-tech-tip-of-the-week-convert-spreadsheet-cells-into-a-document/ 

September 1, 2014

Pirate Booty!

Image credit

I love to read many different blogs, but Katherine Sokolowski's Read. Write. Reflect is definitely one of my favorites. I can't think of a post I didn't love, and she blogs about everything-- books, her family, her dog, and her 5th grade students! Her blog is a great place to find blogging ideas. This week, she wrote a post about purpose and authenticity that I'd like to share with you. Here's a quote from her post:

"This will be a short, but sweet, post. I just wanted to share something that has really been helping me plan in the last few years. Looking at my students’ work this week, I realized I’ve changed a lot from the teacher I was eighteen years ago. Assignments, lessons, anything, have to go through two guiding questions…
What is the purpose of this?
Is this authentic?
When I ask myself those questions, it eliminates a lot of what I used to think was important."  

Click here to read the entire post with pictures. Enjoy!

Dates and Details

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 2: NCS PD day (no school) main campus in the AM beginning at 8 AM, juice and coffee at 7:45. Wear your best aloha wear! Lunch on your own followed by a staff meeting at Star in the afternoon. Click here to view the agenda-- please bring your writer's notebooks! We will meet in Petra's room.
September 3: Star Staff meeting 7:30-8:30 Click here to edit/view agenda location: Julie's room
September 4: Tech time: Education City PD 3:30-4:30
September 11: Star Parent Ed Night: Google Apps & the Common Core

September 15: After school enrichment starts
September 19: Picture Day , no Friday walks 
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries! 
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book
October 3: Jog-a-thon
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!

October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week and Red Ribbon Week!

Tech Tips

Lisa Highfill is an amazing educator from the Bay Area and is a fabulous resource for anything and everything tech related, especially YouTube! Here is a link to her channel-- and this week she has featured TONS of resources for Google Sites. Follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/lhighfill  . Here's a video for changing fonts and themes!

August 25, 2014

Pirate Booty!
Last Monday was my first "official" No Office Day and I enjoyed being in classrooms and with students and teachers all day! I was able to visit 9 out of 13 classes and am looking forward to spending time in classrooms this Monday. Please let me know if you'd like me to come at a certain time, to work with a small group, or even teach a lesson! Let me know how I can support you and your students. There are four questions that I will be keeping in mind this year as I visit classrooms:

What did I learn?  

What did I notice?

What does the teacher want me to learn?

What do the students want me to learn?

I am looking forward to learning with you! Here's a little collection of images from my first #noofficeday!

Book Love
Check out this 40 Book Challenge trailer made by Jennifer DeWeerdt and her 5th grade class in Martinez! Could you make one with your class?

Dates and Details

August 26: Jennifer off campus in AM at admin

August 27: grade level
August 28: Genius Hour 3:15 in the lounge Click here to view/edit agenda

August 29

Fit Friday walks
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
AM TK/K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35
PM K and PM 12:30-12:55

September 1: Labor day, no school

September 2: NCS PD day (no school) main campus in the AM, lunch on your own, staff meeting at Star in the afternoon. Please bring your writer's notebooks! We will meet in Petra's room.
September 3: Star Staff meeting 7:30-8:30 Click here to edit/view agenda location: 
September 11: Star Parent Ed Night: Google Apps & the Common Core

September 15: after school enrichment starts
September 19: Picture Day
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries! 
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book
October 3: Jog-a-thon
October 6 & 7: Two day GLAD training- Fassler, Duley, Steinlein, Rohrbacker, Bullock-- subs needed
October 9: Star Academy Parent Ed Night
October 13-17 Fall Break!
October 20-24: Book Fair!
October 27-31: Minimum days- parent conference week

Tech Tips

Google Plus and Auto Awesome

Get fun special effects added to your photos, mini-movies automatically made just for you, & relive and share your adventures.

Here are just a few examples of what Auto Awesome did to my photos-- I did nothing! (And it is even awesomer that they automatically back up from my phone!)

April Fool's Day added a friend to this pic!

Turned my pics into a gif

Cool effects

Snow added to Karen's bulletin board from last year!

August 18, 2014

Week one- check! Congratulations on a fabulous first week! It was so fun to walk the campus and see happy kids and teachers building community and diving right into academic content from the very first day. Our smooth opening is due to the hard work of every person at Star! Thank you so much for making our school such an amazing place to be every day! I see treasure everywhere!




Here is a little collection of images from the first week...

And here is a fun video and song to make you smile! Turn it all the way up! 

Teachers are...I don't know!

Dates and details
August 18th and 19th BTSN Schedules
Monday August 18th:
TK-2nd grades 5:30 PM-7:10 PM
TK & K 5:30-6:05 in classrooms
6:10-6:30 general session in gym - All grade levels attend
6:35-7:10 1st & 2nd in classrooms Tuesday August 19th:
3rd-5th grades
5:30-6:00 in gym
6:10-7:00 3rd-5th grades in classrooms

*If you present during the earlier session Monday, be sure to end on time so the general session can start right on time. Feel free to turn out the lights and walk out with your parents or you may be stuck there forever!

August 19: Jennifer off campus in AM at admin

August 20: prep, Jennifer off campus in afternoon

August 22: 

Fit Friday walks- PM K and TK can pick a time and walk together. Just avoid a pickup time :)
3rd-5th will walk from 8:40-9:05
K-2nd will walk from 9:10-9:35

August 27: grade level

September 1: Labor day, no school

September 2: NCS PD day- main campus in the AM, lunch on your own, staff meeting at Star in the afternoon

September 15: after school enrichment starts
September 23: Star Family Book Club 6:30-7:30  Library Mysteries!
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Stella Louella and the Runaway Book

Book Love
I'm adding this section to share a book or two each week. This week I'm sharing two books by Katherine Applegate-- The One and Only Ivan (have you read it yet?) and The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, which comes out in October! Enjoy the book trailers!

Tech Tips:

Random name selection tools from Richard Byrne

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/08/two-good-random-name-selection-tools.html

FASST Math is coming! Preview the information and try it out for fun!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/math-fact-fluency/fastt-math-next-generation/

All about FASST Math

http://teacher.scholastic.com/math-fact-fluency/fastt-math-next-generation/about

Watch the demo and play!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/math-fact-fluency/fastt-math-next-generation/about/watch-demo

Sushi monster iPad app

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sushi-monster/id512651258?mt=8