Weekly Update

Concord Team-

I know the times before a break can be quite trying.  Our students are feeling the need to be outside as the weather changes (as are we) and our patience can be low.  Take a moment this weekend to recharge and refocus.  We can do this!  Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you and your students.

Farmers Club Update: This is a big change….Lindbergh is now partnering with the Farmers Club for parking so we no longer have the ability to just park at their facility.  We need to notify them ahead of time.  I have been asked to create a list for next year.  This means that I will need to know ahead of time when you are inviting parents onto the campus for grade level events such as author celebrations, expert fairs, genius projects, etc.  As a grade level, please email me any events for the remainder of the year that you might be planning as well as next year.

Revised MAP schedule: Here is our revised MAP schedule.  Please be sure to take a look because we made several switches including a later start date.  Thanks!

Copy Center reminder: Please remember to to use the Copy Center any time you are making copies.  It is most economical and saves our copy machines from an early death.

Laminating reminder: Please remember to only laminate those items that are necessary.  We are using an extensive amount of laminating materials this year.  

Last call for Teacher of the Year and Support Staff Person of the Year:  Nominations due to the office by this Friday, March 18th.   PLEASE consider nominating someone!

Paperslides: Check out this link to help you understand what a paperslide video is all about.  This is is a great technique  to create a quick video to create, share, and reflect on content.  This video was created by a group of middle school students at Sperreng. It is EPIC....

This blog post has some cool ideas about using photographs to teach Close Reading.  The idea is that students are encouraged to look closely at an image without being told what to see.  What do you see in the image below?  Post a comment in response to this blog post.

Feel free to share this movie with your students.  How does it connect with the habit “Begin with the End in Mind?”

A special thank you to our Dads of Concord on a wonderful Daddy/Daughter Dance.  Here is a link to the pictures.

Thank you to Paula for arranging the Fancy Nancy assembly.  The students really enjoyed it!

Concord Cruise in PE will be on Wednesday/Thursday, March 16-17. As part of the cruise, children can dress up in vacation/cruise/luau attire. They must still wear tennis shoes and no swimwear.

Sunday 3.13.16 Spring Concerts at the High School Auditorium

• 1st Grade: How Does Your Garden Groove? at 2:00 p.m.
• 3rd Grade: Green Machine Team at 3:00 p.m.
• 5th Grade: Gotta Be Jazz  at 4:00 p.m.

Monday 3.14.16 MU Fellows Interviews @ Concord

Tuesday 3.15.16

• 8:00 a.m. Committee Meetings
• 1:30 p.m. Statewide Tornado Drill
• 7:00 p.m. PTG meeting

3.21.16-3.25.16 Spring Break-Wahoo!

Angie Out:

Friday 3.18.16 Principal Mtg. @ Moore

Our Homework Discussion from the Staff Meeting

Here is a blog post titled Homework is Wrecking Our Kids.  Interesting food for thought.  I also added the "transcript" of the Today's Meet activity.

Not sure if meaningful

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by S&a

Don't give much.

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by MG

excessive

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by S&a

The kids work really hard at school so they need to be a kid when they get home! :)

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Meredith

Less homework the better. As a teacher and a parent.

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Happy

Reading daily and practicing sight words is necessary is K.

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Meghan

A little to prepare for ms & hs

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by S&a

Kids need more time to play and unwind

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Angela/Alicia

Hard for parents to stay on top of. Difficult for students who are struggling.

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Spring

I hate it....takes away from family time

8:19am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Schweitzer

It's difficult to get kids to do it & parents to have time to follow up with it.

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by JB

It is stupid!kids should be playing

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Streb

Less homework. Kids need more play time and so do parents!

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by LlCAR

Like to reading nightly and practice some math facts

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Spirit

Some students have the advantage on parental support. Should be ungraded, completion

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by TayKel

Homework can be excessive. Should be a review for students

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by S

reading daily is necessary

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Jenny

Some practice is good as long as it's not excessive

8:20am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Marikate

Homework should be intentional and have a purpose.

8:21am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by Chris

Need to educate parents about more authentic homework experiences. (Other than worksheets)

8:21am, Tues, Mar 8, 2016 by #people

7 Things Extremely Happy People Do Every Single Day

What will you do today to make yourself happy?  Check out this blog post.

Weekly Update 3.6.16-3.12.16

Fancy Nancy author, Jane O’Connor, will be visiting Concord on March 9th for an assembly for grades 1-3. 1st and 5th grade will switch block for the day.  Grades 1-3 should report to the gym at 9:45 a.m.

Visitors This Week:

• Members of the PDC will be at Concord between 9:00-10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 8th.
• Visitors from Hancock will be learning how we incorporate iPads on Friday.

March 7th-11th is National Social Worker Week. Michelle Studer and Jennifer Ulrich

Nominate your colleagues for Teacher of the Year.  Nominations due to the office by March 18th. We have phenomenal teachers...PLEASE consider nominating someone!

Spring Conferences:

Please keep in mind the following criteria for requesting conferences:

As you begin to decide who you'd like to request a spring conference with in March, please consider the list below to help with your decisions.  Students that fall into one or more of the categories below need to have a conference.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Conferences ​should​ be scheduled for the following students...

• All students performing below grade level in any subject area
• All students receiving a C or below in the intermediate grades or AC in the primary grades
• All students who have significant concerns in character development
• All students currently on RTI (Tier 2 and above)
• Any student who has had a significant drop in a grade(s) during the quarter or year
• Any student who has significant effort concerns

Congrats to Anna Martin for being selected by  Merck KGaA, in Darmstadt, Germany to receive funding from the  “Smarter, Together” in the Classroom, a program to support the future generation of passionately curious scientists.  She was able to purchase 2 dash and dot robots, kinex, and other lego/STEM related pieces for her Science centers. Way to go!

Chandra Heinlein OT and Brooke Huffmann SLP won a Lasting Impression Award this week at the  SSD Salutes banquet. This is an award given to support staff who make a difference in the lives of their students. There were 9 recipients of this award from across St. Louis County. Be sure to congratulate them!

Check out this article by AJ Juliani titled 7 Lessons we Fail to Teach in School.  With our recent discussions about dreaming big, I think this is a great reminder about trying something new.  

Bosses vs. Leaders Lesson: Check out this great blog post for your leader time this week.

The moms and their fellows really enjoyed the Mother/Son dance this week.  A huge thank you to the Dads of Concord for hosting this event.  

Monday 3.7.16 DOC meeting 7:00 p.m

Tuesday 3.8.16 Daddy/Daughter Dance Concord 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Friday 3.11.16 1st and 3rd Grade Donuts with Dads, MU Fellows Interviews @ Concord

Saturday 3.12.16 Concord Garden Work Day 9:00-12:00 p.m.

Monday 3.14.16 MU Fellows Interviews @ Concord

Tuesday 3.15.16 1:30 p.m. Statewide Tornado Drill, 7:00 p.m. PTG meeting

Angie Out:

Tuesday 3.8.16 9:00-12:00 p.m. District PD meeting

Wednesday 3.9.16 9:00-11:30 a.m. Admin Leadership Team

Friday 3.18.16 Principal Mtg. @ Moore

Weekly Update 2.28.16-3.5.16

Happy Leap Day.  It’s a bit unfair that because of Leap year we got stuck with an extra Monday.  So to make it a little easier to take, feel free to leap into this day with a Concord spirit day on Monday.  And I thank you for taking the time to read this very lengthy Weekly Update!

 

Learning Labs on Wednesday: Thanks for being flexible.  We are going to host Learning Labs on Wednesday in the PD room.  Please be sure to bring a charged laptop.  Agenda will be coming soon.

Friday, March 4th is a ½ day  Please remind your families that it is an 11:50 dismissal.  PM Kindergarten students will be in attendance.  The schedule can be found here.   In addition, we will have an Leader in Me Assembly at 9:00 a.m. to celebrate our 3rd quarter successes and refocus on our energy on the 7 Habits.

The afternoon is a records day.  Report cards are due at midnight on Sunday.  

Here are the links to reading levels for your reference:

Instructional Reading Levels by Quarter (named in the drive as:  Instructional Level Expectation for Reading-most current copy (9.8.14))

Instructional Reading Levels by Month (named in the drive as:  Lindbergh Instructional Text Reading Levels by Month-most current copy (9.8.14)

Support Staff and Teacher of the Year Nominations are due by March 18.  Please take a moment to nominate your deserving colleagues.  

Arts and Education Fund: The Arts and Education Campaign has begun.  Please consider supporting the Arts and Education Council with a donation.  The Council provides many great art education and outreach programs for our students and K-12 students throughout the Greater St. Louis area.  You may give a one-time or monthly on-line donation by clicking on the following link:  Concord's Arts and Education Council Fundraising Page  If you prefer to write a check, see Katie Goedde or Valerie Creech.  

Check out this blog post about how to help no student leave the mini-lesson meeting area confused.

Here are some great groups to join on Facebook if you haven’t done so already:

• Units of Study in Writing TCRWP
• Units of Study in Reading TCRWP
• The Reading Strategies Book Community - Jennifer Serravallo

      

I came across this quote and would love for you to discuss in your weekly meetings what it means to your students:

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Reading Celebration on Friday.  A special thanks to Leslie Weiss and her data collection team, the LHS drumline and cheerleaders (with support from David Weiss and Alec Patton), and to the Student Leadership Committee for their organization of such a fun event.  It is important to celebrate when students put first things first and begin with the end in mind.  Be sure to check out photos from the event!

I also want to thank the Dads of Concord for such an amazing Casino Night.  As this was my first, I had no idea what to expect but it was such a fun time.  I can’t wait to hear about the totals from  all of the incredible donations from our families.   

Please be sure to share the following items in your weekly updates to parents:

Last Day of School is Friday, May 27: The recent snow day on Feb. 24 has shifted the last day of the 2015-16 school year to Friday, May 27. The 27th will still be a half day for students. As a reminder, emergency makeup days are posted through Friday, June 3, to accommodate potential future school closings this winter. If we have any additional days off school, it will change the last day of school for students. The district's Google calendar and the official 2015-16 School Year Calendar reflect these changes.

2015-16 calendar link (revised)

Concord Fly Up Day: May 27th

Concord End of Year Party May 24

Records Day: May 31

Gentle Reminders: Parents please send in lunch money to the office.  Remember you can check your child’s balance on the SIS portal.  In addition, be sure to phone in to our attendance hotline when your child will be out.  314.729.2409

MAP dates:  We have scheduled our tentative testing dates for April 11-29th for grades 3-5.  Please try to avoid scheduling appointments or missing school during this window.

St. Baldrick’s Shave for Childhood Cancer: Caelyn W. (Greteman’s 1st grade class) is participating in the St. Baldrick’s shave for childhood cancer.  If you would like to support her, her shave will be at 5:15 on March 5, 2016 at Helen Fitzgeralds.   Here is the link for her fundraising page: https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/813788/2016

Tuesday 3.1.16 PTG Board meeting 9:00 a.m., Mother/Son Dance 6:00-8:00 p.m. @Concord

Wednesday 3.2.16 Learning Lab

Friday 3.4.16 CLC Assembly 9:00 a.m., ½ day School, Staff appreciation lunch, Lindbergh Leader

Monday 3.7.16 DOC meeting 7:00 p.m

Tuesday 3.8.16 Daddy/Daughter Dance Concord 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Friday 3.11.16 MU Fellows Interviews @ Concord

Saturday 3.12.16 Concord Garden Work Day 9:00-12:00 p.m.

Angie Out:

Tuesday 3.1.16 MU Fellows Interviews @ Columbia

Wednesday 3.2.16 9-11 a.m. District Walkthroughs, 1 p.m. Meeting at C. O.

Friday 3.4.16 Elementary Principal mtg. 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday 3.8.16 9:00-12:00 p.m. District PD meeting

Wednesday 3.9.16 9:00-11:30 a.m. Admin Leadership Team