Hey Panda Family,
Instructional PD on Thursday, March 4 @ 3:30: We will have our next Instructional PD session this Thursday, March 4 @ 3:30. This is required for all instructional staff and has been on the calendar since the beginning of the year. Jayne and Timothy will be introducing 10 tech tips that will improve the hybrid learning experience for students. At the end of this session, participants will walk away with at least one tip that will become their favorite to the point that they cannot wait to implement it. Make sure you have access to your laptop as there will be hands-on activities along the way. Jayne and Timothy will be sending out a link to access the PD.
Kona Ice - March 2nd & March 4th: PTA has scheduled a treat for the students meeting our Boosterthon goal. This Tuesday & Thursday they have scheduled Kona Ice to come treat the students (and the staff too). The Kona Ice truck will be located in the parking lot by the greenhouse. Please refrain from parking by the greenhouse on Tuesday & Thursday of this week. See the schedule linked below for your class' time slot. 4th & 5th grade classes are on the schedule twice to accommodate both cohorts. Your remote-only students will be receiving a gift card to Whit's from PTA. We will put these in your box for your remote-only students when we have them. Kona Ice Schedule
Remote Students Returning to In-Person: We have decided not to wait until 4th quarter to communicate to all remote parents that their child can return to in-person learning. Please send the following message to your fully-remote students via Dojo (you can let them know it is from Mr. Elkins):
Hey Pandas! Effective immediately, your child may return to full in-person learning if you so choose. Any remote students that want to immediately return to in-person learning will need to be a car rider, use a morning/afternoon daycare van, or go to Imprints. If your child needs bus transportation, please contact the front office to get it arranged before your child plans to return to in-person learning (bus transportation is only available for residential students). If your child will be a car rider, please ask your teacher for a pink car rider sign. Students returning to in-person learning are committing to all 4 days of in-person learning each week. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact the front office at 336-703-4122.
- Mr. Elkins
If parents decide to send their child back for in-person learning please let Ms. True know who the student is and when they will begin in-person learning.
Staff Picture: If you would like a copy of our 2020-2021 staff picture please see Ms. Willis. She will get you a copy.
Shred Boxes: We have changed shredding companies. We have a new shred box located by the staff mailboxes, and we also have a shred box located in the teacher's lounge. You may use either.
"Minimal Social Distancing": The district is supposed to be sending out a more clear definition on what "minimal social distancing" means in the coming weeks. What we have been doing in the younger grades has been very effective. I recommend to continue to have maximum social distancing where you can (keeping desks as far apart as possible), but understand if students get closer now it is deemed okay by the NC Safe Schools Toolkit (for example sitting 3 feet from a peer for a small group lesson). In grades 4th & 5th, your student's desks will need to be placed 3 feet apart in order to fit all your students. All 4th & 5th grade teachers may work from the building on March 3 & March 10 if you so choose to work on preparing your classroom for 4-day student return.
Progress Reports: Progress Reports for 3rd Quarter should go home this week of March 1 - 5. Please make sure you are updating your grades in PowerSchool for your parents to see. We will use the same procedures for progress reports as we did the first two quarters. If you have any questions, please see Ms. Grubbs.
Instructional Funds: All certified staff and grade levels were allotted Instructional Funds to purchase instructional items for their classroom. This money must be spent by Friday, March 12 or it will go back into the general school fund. All purchases must be approved by Brendan before going to Pam.
March Drills: Fire drill (cohort B) and Intruder Lockdown. Please review lockdown procedures with the students before Friday, March 5th. If you have any questions please see Ms. Gardner. Here are some drill reminders:
- Lock the door
- Cover the door window
- Turn out lights
- Be quiet
- Depending on how many kids are in the room, move to one side of the room, and discuss how you would react in a real lockdown.
If we are in an actual lockdown, we will not be concerned with social distancing.
Mystery Science: Mystery Science is an online program with some fun and engaging Science lessons. They are offering free trials for the remainder of the school year. I signed up our school for a free trial. This is just another resource for you. Thank you to Ms. Crisp for sharing this! Just follow the instructions below:
Share this link https://mysteryscience.com/start?school_id=348036 with your teachers so they can start using Mystery Science. Any teachers who already have accounts will be automatically added to the school trial. If you need help, please contact us at support@mysteryscience.com.
Monday, March 1 - Ready to Read (wear red)
Tuesday, March 2 - Hats Off to Reading (favorite hat)
Wednesday, March 3 - Wacky Socks (Wacky Wednesday)
Thursday, March 4 - Oh, the Places You’ll Go (college shirts)
Friday, March 5 - PJ Day (cozy up with a good book)
- Please let me know if you still need help getting retention letters out to families.
- We have created a "Remote Learning Contract" to be used for families/students who are showing difficulty in actually participating in online learning.
- This past week, I was contacted by several families asking for me to see a child due to "COVID fatigue". I will start setting up brief sessions after school for our remote learners who need some individual face-to-face counseling. Let me know if you have a student to refer. Thanks!
- Check out this huge list of tech resources by category. If you are looking for a resource to implement, chances are, you will find it this list curated by Jordan Cotten.
- Trish Edwards for inquiring about how to use Jamboards with her students which inspired my need to introduce PD & Popcorn sessions.
- Leslie Gardner for presenting me with a very thoughtful acrostic poem at the last staff meeting.
- Ashley Pollard for letting me know that she was going to use the How many fish? Jamboard with her students.
- 3/2/2021 - Timothy involved with CogAT testing in the morning (will check email and respond to needs when testing is complete)
- 3/4/2021 - Timothy will be attending NCTIES 2021 virtually this year and will not be in the building.
- 3/10/2021 - Popcorn & PD on Jamming with Jamboards in the Classroom at 10:30 am & 2:15 pm.
iReady Lesson Tracking: As your students complete their iReady each week, it is not only important that they get their time in but it is also important to see their lesson completion. What we have seen is some students are getting their time in each week, but are not completing any lessons (basically they are just sitting there). I highly suggest motivating your students in your classroom by giving incentives for lessons completed. If you would like to monitor the lessons completed for your students, simply follow these instructions that were shared by Ms. Jones (thanks Deana!).
Virtual Assembly March 12, 2021: See the details below for the virtual assembly we will have in March.
Program Date: March 12, 2021
Program Name: Space Station Conservation Livestream Special
Livestream Show Start Times:
1:00 PM (PreK-2)
2:00 PM (3-5)
- 35-minute show presents a virtual lesson in energy efficiency.
- Through an interactive web platform, a live host will introduce entertaining sketches featuring a variety of characters in professionally filmed scenes from our live theatrical productions – and guide classrooms to participate in a discussion on resources and energy conservation:
- Students and teachers will also have access to a Q&A with the host
Fire Marshall: Our Spring Fire Marshall Inspection is coming up. We passed in the Fall thanks to our Panda teamwork. See the reminders below:
- Keep doors unblocked (6 blocks/feet)
- Fire exit door should not be propped open
- Keep fire extinguishers unblocked
- No extension cords
- Storage - 2 full blocks clear from the ceiling
ACCESS testing: Thank you to Mrs. Pereda for a great first week of ACCESS testing. Here is the schedule that Mrs. Pereda is constantly updating so you can keep an eye on when your students will likely test.
Computers needed: We will need to gather up computers from about 9:45-11:45 on March 1, 2, 4, 5 for 2nd grade CogAt testing. We will make every effort to quickly get them back to you after testing so you will have access to them in the morning and in the afternoon. Here is the schedule. Thank you for understanding!
From Ms. Mason - I want to give a special shoutout to Jessica, Stephanie, Pam and Jayne - Thank you all for taking the time to help me with my digital image glitches & working to get our student Art work ready for the digital art show!!!
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