Weekly Update-1.3.16-1.9.16

Welcome back everyone!  I hope you had a refreshing break and took time to be with your family.  We are looking forward to a fresh start to 2016.  As you think about this semester, I know you will continue to push your thinking and that of our students.  I am so very excited to kick off the second 1/2 of our school year!

Learning Labs on Thursday:
Please bring your pretest results to our meeting along with a charged laptop.  We would like to ask that anyone who has written an SLO to please join us during plan time.  Can't wait to see you!



How do we truly assess our readers?  This is a great article from Scholastic on some of the formal and informal ways we can use assessment to guide our instruction in reading.
Assessment in My Reading Workshop

Comment below on one way you plan holding students accountable for their reading this week.  You might even want to share one of the tips from the book study shared from Igniting A Passion for Reading.   Happy Reading!



Marco and I would like to share a special thanks for the very sweet gift from all of you.  It was truly a wonderful holiday season.






Families-We have free tickets to the St. Louis Billikens on January 16, 2016 as they take on Dayton for their 2nd annual Pink Out game.  If you would like complimentary tickets, please email tmusante@lindberghschools with your child's name, teacher, and the number of tickets of you are requesting.


Tues. 1.5.16 PTG board meeting
Thurs. 1.7.15 Learning Lab
Fri. 1.8.16 PEGS Preview, Cafeteria Workers Day
Wed. 1.13.16 Early Release
Fri. 1.15.16 7:45 2nd and 4th grade-Muffins with Mom

Angie Out: 
Week of January 4-8th
Wed. 1.13.16 9:00 a.m. Admin Leadership Team

Weekly Update 12.13.15-12.19.15

Holiday Party Fun!
Assembly Start Time: 1:30
Party Day Schedule

Friday Hours:
Hours can be flexible on Friday but you should be in the building at least 6 hours.  Earliest start time is 7:00 a.m., earliest leave time is 1:00 p.m.

A Few PD Items for Thought:
A Video on Inquiry-Based Learning:  Developing Student-Driven Questions

• Through inquiry, this model school works to ignite passion, inspire relevance, and develop ownership in their students. Using student inquiries and questions as guidance, teachers develop lessons that engage and excite, teaching their students to be active thinkers rather than passive learners.

Winter Worthy Reads for Teachers

• Are you looking for some new books to read?  Check out this list.  There is an education-related choice, an encouragement-related choice, a reflection choice, and so on (so not all teacher books)

Book Fair:

A HUGE thanks to Michelle Parikh for her efforts and all of the volunteers that helped to make this such a huge success.

Helping Hands Campaign

WOW!  I am absolutely amazed at the generosity of our Concord Families.  Our Helping Hands campaign has come to an end.  Over the last month, students have collected food, cleaning items, and giving tree items.  We have 21 families who will benefit from this amazing endeavor.  

In addition, the following school wide events raised funds for gift cards for AmerenUE and grocery gift cards for our 21 families.  

Jingles for Jammies: $1,200.00

Wacky Hair Day:  $448.00  

Winter Festival Teacher Raffle: $409.00

Proceeds from Winter Festival: $1,700.00

A huge thank you to Jennifer Abercrombie, Erica Hoffman, and Carissa Krupski and their team for all of the organization, time, and effort that was put into this event.

Gentle Reminder:

If you use a Concord classroom after school for girl scouts or boy scouts, please be sure you put things back how they were.  Please do not use the classroom supplies.  Additionally, if any snacks are served, be aware that children with allergies use this space too so you should wipe tables down afterwards.  Thank you for helping us to keep our learning spaces clean.

Concord’s Maker Fair

We will be having a Maker Fair (Previously PRISM night) on February 18th from 3:30-6.  If anyone is interested in doing a PRISM project at home and getting started over the holiday break, here is the link with the information.


12.14.15 Monday: DOC meeting, 7:00 p.m.
12.16.15 Wednesday: 5th Grade Caroling
12.17.15 Thursday: Assembly @ , Holiday Parties 1:00-2:00 p.m. 
12.18.15 Friday: Record Day, NO SCHOOL

Weekly Update 12.6.15-12.12.15

I noticed this week that the counseling room is focusing on having fun and making happiness.  Let's make it a point this week to smile just a little more and have some fun.  While it can be a stressful time of year, remember to take time for yourself and enjoy all of the little things around you.

Hour of Code This Week:

In celebration of Computer Science Education Week, Hour of Code begins tomorrow!  This is a great opportunity for students to strengthen their problem-solving skills using an engaging platform.  

Hour of Code Tutorials

Early Dismissal and Staff Meeting:
During this busy time of year, we wanted to give  you a little gift of time so we will be combining our staff meeting and early dismissal.  Here is the link to the agenda for our Early Dismissal.   Please bring a charged laptop and any items you will need to work on your SLOs.  In particular, we will be working with pre, post, and formative assessments.

While the weekend was certainly filled with a lot of Concord love, there is so much to be thankful for and celebrate.

Holiday Party: Thanks to Marco and Erin for hosting a wonderful party!

Winter Wonderland: What a wonderful event!  It was so much fun to see all of our flyers enjoying the many activities offered by the PTG.  Clearly, my children need to learn the concept of gift giving as they unwrapped the presents they bought at Santa's Corner as soon as they left the gym (as witnessed by Lisa Carson and Peggy Cooksey).  A special thanks to Teri Keutzer for all of her efforts with the teacher raffle and to ALL of the many volunteers who gave of their Saturday.

Music Performances: Thank you to all of the Kindergarten, 2nd, and 4th grade teachers, students, and families who attended our performances today.  A special thanks to Valerie for all of her efforts with these programs.  The hours of practicing were certainly worth it when watching the final performances!



12.9.15 Wednesday: Early Dismissal, Angie out in a.m.
12.10.15 Thursday: Limo Ride-schedule will be shared early this week
12.11.15 Friday: Helping Hands Pack Up Day
12.14.15 Monday: DOC meeting, 7:00 p.m.
12.16.15 Wednesday: 5th Grade Caroling
12.17.15 Thursday: Holiday Parties
12.18.15 Friday: Record Day, NO SCHOOL

Weekly Update 11.29.15-12.5.15

Just an FYI: The grade cycle is open from now until January 3rd for 2nd quarter.  Report cards will not be printed until after the holiday break.

Academic All Stars: Thank you to all who attended!  It was a wonderful celebration of our students and their success.  

Tuesday, December 1:

• PTG Board Meeting 9:00 a.m.
• District PD Committee Meeting a.m.

December 2-5: Concord Book Fair

Thursday, December 3: 

• Learning Lab: Everyone who has a PGP should attend a session as we will be doing some SLO work.
• Cookie Fundraiser Pickup:  Looking for volunteers from 3:00-6:00.  Please use this link to sign up for a shift.  
• 3rd Grade to Busch Stadium
• Strings Concerts: Grade 4 6:00-7:00 p.m., Grade 5 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Friday, December 4: Staff Holiday Party -please bring a white elephant gift if you would like to participate.

Saturday, December 5: Winter Festival

Sunday, December 6: Music Concerts @ LHS

• Kindergarten--"A New, Improved Santa"-- Arrive 1:45; Show 2:00 p.m.
• 2nd Grade-- "Snow Way Out!"-- Arrive 2:45; Show 3:00 p.m.
• Choir/4th Grade-- "Elfis and the Elves Get All Shook Up"-- Arrive 3:45; Show 4:00 p.m.  (Choir opens with a few songs, then 4th Grade Starts)

Wednesday, December 9: Early Dismissal

Thursday, December 10: Limo Ride

Weekly Update 11.22.15-11.28.15

A huge thanks to those who attended the PTG meeting on Tuesday: Paula, Kim B, Peggy, Lisa, Cindy S, and Liz.  Check out these student leaders as they shared their knowledge in the Makerspace.

Just want to share a humble and heartfelt thanks to all of you for such a wonderful first 3 months of school.  I feel so very blessed to work with such an incredible staff and group of parents and students.     

Please be sure to spend time with your friends and family over the next few days.  Enjoy the time off from school and be sure to "sharpen the saw" by taking time for yourself!   You absolutely deserve it.  

Monday, November 23:  Academic All Stars 6:00-7:00  3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers -thank you for your attendance at this event.  

Tuesday, November 24:  Kindergarten Feast

Wednesday-Friday, November 25-27: No School, Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, December 1:

• PTG Board Meeting 9:00 a.m.
• District PD Committee Meeting a.m.

December 2-5: Concord Book Fair

Thursday, December 3: 

• Learning Lab: Everyone who has a PGP should attend a session as we will be doing some SLO work.
• Cookie Fundraiser Pickup:  Looking for volunteers from 3:00-6:00.  Please use this link to sign up for a shift.  
• 3rd Grade to Busch Stadium
• Strings Concerts: Grade 4 6:00-7:00 p.m., Grade 5 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Friday, December 4: Staff Holiday Party 

Saturday, December 5: Winter Festival

Sunday, December 6: Music Concerts @ LHS

Weekly Update 11.15.15-11.21.15

A Video on Inquiry-Based Learning:  Developing Student-Driven Questions

This short 4 minute video is great one on how to put students in charge of their learning. Through inquiry, this model school works to ignite passion, inspire relevance, and develop ownership in their students. Using student inquiries and questions as guidance, teachers develop lessons that engage and excite, teaching their students to be active thinkers rather than passive learners.

Coding
Accountability Factor; Want to know what your kids are up to when they are coding? Check out this post by the LINC team. It shows how you can use the See Saw app along with their coding activity. If any of you happened to try coding this week, feel free to share a thought in the comments section of this blog post.

Writing: On Demand Writing Assessments
I know many of you have been holding your writing celebrations for your informative writing pieces. This is just a reminder to continue your pre and post on demand writing assessments for the main units of narrative, informational, and persuasive. These help us to see exactly how our writers are growing as they transfer their skills from our lessons to their own writing.

Have you completed your benefits enrollment yet?  Neither have I but EVERYONE must do this by November 22nd so be sure to take care of it this week.  Annual Benefits Open Enrollment Information.

Our Veterans Day Assembly was an absolute success.  Just want to say thanks again for the efforts of so many.  Here are some links sharing the event:

Picture Video 

Everyday Heroes Song

Pictures

More Pictures

Mom's Night Out was a blast.  Students gathered in the gym to watch Inside Out and have time to play with friends.  I was very impressed with their behavior and for doing the right thing.  Thanks to the Dads of Concord for a super fun night!

GOTR coaches rock!  A big thank you to  Sheri Strebler, Beth Siegfried, Adrienne Heilich, Colleen Hooper, Hannah Shaughnessy, Tara Hickel, Anne Gastreich, Becky Joy, MariKate McNamara and Rachel Bolin.  They celebrated with their 5K race this weekend.  So proud of all our girls and a big shout out to all of the coaches.  Thank you so much ladies!  

News for you to share in your weekly communications: 

PTG Meeting in Library, November 17th

Please join us at 7:00 p.m. for general information about all the exciting events being offered by our PTG and to learn about all of the exciting lessons going on in our library Makerspace.   You will not want to miss this event.  Students will be leading sessions on Osmo, legos, coding, and snap circuits.

Mrs. Gastreich's Class (Thanks for letting me steal this pic!)

Giving Tree 2015

Our giving tree is a wonderful opportunity for you to provide clothing, toys, gifts, and gift cards specific to our Helping Hands families.  Click this link to our digital Giving tree learn more.  There are still lots of spots available.

Helping Hands Week 3: Cleaning Products

Families, you are doing an amazing job of supporting our Helping Hands project.  Please bring in items such as bleach, window cleaner, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, sponges, disinfecting wipes, etc.  Thank you!

Winter Festival: Teacher Raffle

Here is the document for the exciting teacher raffle.  Feel free to download and print additional tickets to win lunch with a Concord Staff member.

Tuesday, November 17: 

• 1st Grade math development 1/2 days
• 6:15-7:00 Party Planning Meeting
• 7:00 PTG General Meeting in Library

Wednesday, November 18:  Early dismissal and Dr. Simpson will be doing walkthroughs with me as part of my evaluation

Thursday, November 19: Kindergarten math development 1/2 days

Monday, November 23: 

• Extended PLCs
• Acacdemic All Stars 6:00-7:00

Tuesday, November 24: 

• Kindergarten Feast
• Student Leadership and Teacher Leadership Committee Meetings

Wednesday-Friday, November 25-27: No School, Happy Thanksgiving!

Angie Out of the Building:

Monday, November 16: Conference 8-12

Friday, November 20: Conference all day

Weekly Update 11.8.15-11.14.15

Veterans Day Assembly:
The assembly will begin at 9:00 a.m.  Please remember to park at the Farmer's club on Wednesday.  Here is the schedule we will use.  Breakfast will be served following the assembly.  Guests and their students are invited to get their food (which will be served in the lobby) and then head to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Week 2: Paper products.  We are so proud of all the amazing donations that students have already sent in.  This week we will be collecting paper products such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, plates, etc.  Keep up the great work!

Extended PLC's on Friday:
Here is the schedule for extended PLC's this week.  We will email later this week with materials you will need.

Teacher Schedule
Start Time	End Time	Grade Level	Location:
8:30	10:30	5th grade	Angie's office
9:00	11:00	3rd Grade	PD Room
11:00	12:40	Kindergarten	Angie's office	Eat Lunch 12:40-1:10
11:00	1:00	4th Grade	PD Room	Eat Lunch 1:00-1:30
12:50	2:30	2nd Grade	Angie's office
1:40	3:30	1st Grade	PD Room

Annual Benefits Open Enrollment Information, please complete by Nov 22nd.

Lindbergh Teacher Grants: Please consider applying for a Teacher Grant from the Lindbergh Schools Foundation.  Grant applications are due on December 1st.  Wish list-like items are great things to apply for grants to receive.  Here’s a link to the application:http://www.lindberghfoundationstl.com/


80's trivia night was a BLAST!  A huge thank you to all involved in making this night so much fun.  A special thanks to Erica Hoffman for organizing this event and DJ Todd Thomas for sharing his talents with us.  I would like to give an extra special thanks to David Shenberger for his efforts with the digital presentation and video/music collection.   I can honestly say this was by far the BEST trivia night I have ever attended.  I'm pretty sure Teri Keutzer would agree!

Please share the following items on your weekly updates/social media pages:

DOC's Mom's Night Out is happening on Friday, November 13th 6-9PM! Only $5/child. Register here: http://dadsofconcord.org/moms-night-out/

Concord Spirit Wear November 2015 Order Form   Please submit form and make payment by PayPal or by sending money to school.  DEADLINE TO ORDER IS FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH. Orders that have not received payment, will not be filled. You should expect to have items come home by the week of December 14th. All orders will be delivered before the holiday break.

If you are looking for additional ways to check for understanding, this is the site for you!  53 Ways to Check for Understanding

Monday, November 9: 7:00 p.m. DOC meeting

Tuesday, November 10: 

• 3rd Grade math development ½ days
• 7:45-8:30 Staff Meeting

Wednesday, November 11: 9:00 a.m. Veterans Day Assembly  

Thursday, November 12: 2nd Grade math development ½ days

Friday, November 13: 

• Extended PLC's for Reading  
• Mom's Night Out, 6:00-9:00
• Picture Retake day

Saturday, November 14: GOTR race

Tuesday, November 17: 

• 1st Grade math development 1/2 days
• 6:15-7:00 Party Planning Meeting
• 7:00 PTG General Meeting in Library

Wednesday, November 18: 

• Early dismissal
• Leader in Me Assembly 9:00 a.m.

Thursday, November 19: Kindergarten math development 1/2 days

Angie Out of the Building:

Tuesday, November 10: Admin Leadership Team 10:00-12:30 p.m.

Monday, November 16: Conference 8-12

Friday, November 20: Conference all day

Weekly Update 11.1.15-11.7.15

I love this message!  Takes just 1 minute to watch.  

Party on the Playground:

Please join us in celebrating the grand opening of our Concord playground.  We will have 2 food trucks if you would like to purchase dinner or feel free to bring your own.  We will have a special guest, 5^th grader Miles Hoffmann from the C-PLAY team, to lead us in our ribbon cutting celebration.  We will also enjoy music from Mr. Joe Gassel.  This should be a fun way to celebrate our new addition

When: Monday, November 2, 2015

Time: 5:00-7:00

Where: Concord Playground

Food Trucks: 

• The Meltdown serving soups and sandwiches for purchase.
• Walk Away Waffles (cash only): Fresh fruit and flavors mixed right into the waffles.

Academic All Stars: 

Just a reminder that our Concord celebration will be November 23rd at 6:00 p.m. I would be so grateful and appreciative if staff would attend, especially teachers from grades 3, 4, 5, and PEGS.

Thank you for your hard work preparing for and completing parent/teacher conferences.  It was a CRAZY week, and we all survived! Enjoy the 3 day weekend.

Monday, November 2:

• Helping Hands Campaign begins-Food collection week
• Party on the Playground 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 3: PTG Board Meeting 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Wednesday, November 4: 5th grade math development ½ days

Thursday, November 5: 

• Learning Labs during block
• 4th grade math development ½ days

Friday, November 6: 

• Building Assistant Day
• Jingles for Jammies
• Adult Trivia Night 7:00 p.m.

Monday, November 9: 7:00 p.m. DOC meeting

Tuesday, November 10: 

• 3rd Grade math development ½ days
• 7:45-8:30 Staff Meeting

Wednesday, November 11: 9:00 a.m. Veterans Day Assembly

Thursday, November 12: 2nd Grade math development ½ days

Friday, November 13: Extended PLC's for Reading

Angie Out of the Building:

Tuesday, November 3: District PD Committee 12:00-3:00 p.m.

Friday, November 6: Principal Mtg. 1:00-4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10: Admin Leadership Team 10:00-12:30 p.m.