October 31-November 7

Next week, our teachers will be meeting with each family in our school to connect and share information and progress about our students. It is definitely a stressful time for teachers as they complete progress reports for a whole class of students, and parents may also be nervous to hear about their child from the teacher's point of view. Nerves aside, conferences are a great time to connect and learn about each other, to be empathetic, and to celebrate our students-- each has a unique and special gift inside! I think too that considering the perspective from both sides of the table is so important. One of the teachers who went through the Area 3 Writing Project with me in 2015 wrote this post about her experience from both sides of the table, and I shared it on my blog. I hope you all enjoy! Have a great week!

The Dreaded Parent Teacher Conference By Autumn Ernest

Dates & Details
Oct 31 Halloween dress up day- no masks, weapons or face makeup
Nov 1 minimum day- Ed Camp with Stoneridge (at Star-
PLTW & Workshop) 1:00-3:30 in the library 
Nov 2  Grade level meeting - open agenda-- enjoy!
Nov 2 & 3 Two day GLAD training in library
Nov 7-10 Parent conferences (minimum days)
Nov 9- no staff meeting, no late start (conferences)
Nov 11 Veteran’s day- no school
Nov 21-25 Thanksgiving break
Nov 30-- rescheduled cadre / PIP Wednesday
December 7 -- whole staff PD
December 8 Family Writing Night & Stars Parent Night
December 19th or 20th Pajama Reading Day? 
Dec 21st 4th Annual Staff Bling It On Day!!!
Dec 22-January 3 Winter Break

Star PD Schedule 2016-17 (I have been updating with changes)

Want to visit your colleagues to check out their classrooms? Here is the doc with the daily schedules. Also, in November I hope to hold some assemblies where Amy and I can take a grade level or two at at a time to free you up to do some classroom visits and collaborate with your team. Stay tuned after conferences :)

Literacy O'Lanterns
I know it's too late for this year and Halloween, but I learned about Literacy O' Lanterns from some principals across the country. They did their staffs as a PD-- so fun! Others called them Storybook Pumpkins. Do you think it would be too weird to do in November before Thanksgiving? Check out the blog posts by Brad Gustafson :)

Literacy O' Lanterns
Introducing a New Crop of Literacy O'Lanterns