Indoor Recess

I am not a fan of indoor recess. Not sure that anyone is. I would like for us to come together as a school and come up with a plan for indoor recess activities. At other schools there were a few options during this time for kids to do. Not everyone in the school got to participate each day, but it got 7-10 kids out of your room. At one school the library was manned and board games were played. There was actually a HUGE rubberemaid container full of games that were played only during indoor recess. The computer lab is also an option. At Nordale they had cable access, we should now, and cartoons were put on for the 30 minutes. How about the gym? I know that sometimes it is booked with K's, but if not maybe we can get a duty to have access to some balls. Last year when we returned from Christmas break it was dark and cold and we were inside for a long time. Let's put our heads together and come up with something.

Hello All

If you haven't been by to check out the garden lately, you should!! It has grown a ton in the past 10 days or so, and it looks great. Also, you will notice that we are getting a new fuel tank. I have been told it is smaller. Not sure the reasoning behind that. I chatted with Keith as he was painting the doors and trim BLACK!!! AAHHHH! He was not thrilled that they have chosen the same paint and same color when it clearly does not hold up well. What's a person to do? :)

Computer Lab

I would like to recommend that we assign computers in the lab. The older students are continually changing the desktop screen from the standard screen, they are setting some applications to open automatically, and leaving their work on the desktop. It takes two to three hours to log on to each computer and reset them. This needs to be done every few weeks. I realize that they don't understand the difference between their desktop on the laptop and in the computer lab but just talking to them as a group has not made a difference. With a seating chart I can bring those students who are assigned to that computer and explain the situation and have them clean up the screen. It would also me figure out who keeps removing the application icons off the dock so we can teach them not to do it and why. What do other people think? Any other ideas?

Scheduling

I know that we have discussions about block scheduling from time to time. I thought I would bring it up again so we could discuss the pros and cons and determine if it would work for us. I think it would help the specialists who help students with academics. It will not always work for my schedule due to the large number of students I have but for the most part it should.

I also have some comments on scheduling in general. In the fall, I try to set my schedule based on classroom teacher input. It doesn't always work but I have tried to make sure that same teacher doesn't get the bad schedule year after year. This seems to work well at the beginning of the school year but as we get closer to the last semester I get more and more requests for students to stay in their classrooms. This isn't a problem once in awhile but when it becomes frequent it is difficult to make progress on their IEP goals. I know that people have to change schedules during the year for a variety of reasons, hopefully when this happens we can work together to come up with a solution. I would like to add grade level buddies as a time that we do not pull students, it is one of the hardest things for students to miss especially the primary students.

Converstions That We Want To Have

What other kinds of conversations do we want to have?? I know in May there were a few items that we wanted to "discuss" this summer. Post a comment with your idea or conversation.

Winter Gear?
Activites during indoor recess?

Katie's idea

Katie thinks that each classroom needs to have a teacher and an assistant teacher to help all the students. We would not need to get a sub if one is absent or at a meeting.

After school homework club/academic recess detention

Those 2 subjects kind of spurred the blog. Anyone care to comment or give their thoughts?!

The Ceramic Work is Beautiful!

I sure hope that this is the first seed of more blossoming for the Woodriver Warehouse, I mean school. I will take pictures of school playgrounds back in PA and DC. My nieces and nephews are going to a brand new state of the art elementary school. I'll post some photos of their playground. Maybe PTA could help us organize a formal push for grounds/building beautification.

Preview Mural

Finishing tiles still need to be placed and the grout and sealer added but isn't it wonderful!

Mural Installation

Scaffolding should be going up today. The District (Brian) will be mounting the tiles Tuesday. Nancy plans to be there and I'll drive over to take pictures.

Playground Upgrades

Kathleen - I am not sure but I think the rubber padding that is on the playground is the "disabled access" upgrade. I can't believe that it cost $500,000 though so Salcha must be getting equipment also. The person that would be able to answer that would probably be Dave Feree. He is the person who we contacted to put in the slide for our hearing impaired student.

I will stop by the school and touch base with Jillian. I can't wait to see the artwork up on the building.

Garden/Playground

Marcia - I mentioned to Jillian that you'd like to know when they start selling. She'll make email contact if she has your address. If I'm in town, I'll send a wrv all staff notice.

Mackenzie - garden is going in nicely. Jillian is enjoying working with the Woodriver group and had positive comments about the kids. They were hard at work the times I've been by. I planted the extra lilies and watered all the cherry trees + lilacs. That's a great idea to take pix of playgrounds. I did take pictures at Two Rivers.

Did anybody hear the borough meeting Thursday night? Did I hear correctly that 1/2 million was being added to the Oct bond proposal for playground equipment at Salcha Elementary? I think Luke Hopkins got this added. There was mention that Salcha was the only school in the District that hasn't been upgraded for equipment - disabled access. Does that mean we've had our upgrade? It doesn't seem like we benefited to the tune of $500,000! And disabled access - I don't think so.

Handwriting Program

Since we did not finish our discussion on handwriting, I ordered Handwriting Without Tears for next year. I only ordered materials for K-3. I ordered paper for 3rd grade as there was a concern about transferring from writing in the book to regular lined paper. We'll see if this helps. If you come across any good information about handwriting or if you have any thoughts on the subject please post them. Thanks.

Playgrounds

I think it would be a great idea to take pictures of playgrounds around Fairbanks and the U.S. and post the pictures of them so we can get a visual of what is out there. I will take some this week as we are out playing. How is the garden coming?

Thanks, Kayla. I was planning on getting an exterior stain. Let me know if your stain is for exterior. Those were the colors suggested (red or green). I should have a $50 gift card donated by Home Depot so I'll see what's available there. I've been busy with our yard but we did stop by Woodriver yesterday. To keep it safe, John took the weather station down for the summer. I'll get the lilies in by the flag pole this week. I'll let you know if we need to plan a painting party. On our way to Angel Rocks this past weekend, we stopped to check out the art at Two Rivers. They had an artist in residence piece(s) just installed and it's a tile mural theme as well. Well worth the trip out (or side trip if you're headed to CHS). It's stunning. That was my first visit to the school and I was impressed by location and the grounds. They have many inviting play structures. I decided I need to make some school playground visits this summer and compare what's out there. We're planning on installation for the Woodriver mural 1st week of June (Nancy leaves on the 6th). Kathleen

The Old Shed

Kathleen - I was wondering if you already have paint for the Old Shed or if you need some donated. Did you have a specific color in mind? I have nearly a full gallon of both red and green paint that I could part with (although maybe it is just for interior)
Anyway, I am happy to help paint if needed, just let me know.
Kayla

McGill Food Fest

Thanks Mike and Sandy and the 4th quarter party people! It was a perfectly beautiful day with delicious food and good company!!!!!

Dawn's First Blog

Ok!  I am launching into the blogosphere!   See you all at McGill's!

Grammar, Mechanics and Speelling

Yes, I purposely misspelled that word. No one is keeping track of or grading you on any of your language/writing skills this summer!!!

Welcome To Our Blog

Welcome to our summer blog. Hopefully this blog will be a great tool to start and foster some discussions about topics that would otherwise be discussed in the fall. Feel free to post/respond when you get a chance. We would also like for you to share some of your summer happenings!!