August 25

Welcome Back!!

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Coming soon to Arno…

Sept 4

Labor Day- No School

Sept 5

First Day of School

A.M. Classes only- DISMISSAL 11:40

Teacher PD in p.m.

Sept 6

Full day of school

Sept 7

PBIS stations

PTA Meeting 6:30

Sept 8

Fire Drill

And Beyond…

Sept 11

No events

Sept 12

Lockdown Drill

Sept 13

PBIS Meeting 7:45

Sept 14

Meet the Teacher 7:00

Title I Annual Meeting 6:30

Sept 15

No events

Arno Vision

Arno Elementary will provide a system of support to empower

and inspire students to become collaborative learners

that strive for academic excellence

 

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Meet the New Folks…

I am very excited to introduce our two new staff members- Andrea Alvarez and Sarah Andersen.  Andrea will be taking on our Speech position, while Sarah will be the new teacher in 5th grade.  Congratulations to both as they did an outstanding job in the interview process!  In addition, a big Arno welcome to Cassie Harrison and her two aides Tammy Nemeth and Lauren Khattar- ECP program coming from Lindemann.  The fenced area will be the playground area for our new little additions.

 

 

***Please post to your blogs, parent communication, and Meet the Teacher Night materials

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

NEW FOR THE 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR

UPDATE MiSTAR PARENT CONNECTION – CONTACT INFORMATION

As our district continues to build towards more and more digital communications in the future, it is important that you take a moment to update your contact information in MiStar.  Under the “My Information” tab at the top right, you will now be able to update:

  • Email address for parents/guardians
  • Phone contacts for parents/guardians
  • Primary phone number – “Under Student Demographics”

o   This is the phone number used for automated phone notifications. 

  • Add Text Messaging

o   If you wish to receive text messages from the district, please select “SMS Cellular” as the “Telephone Type” for your primary phone number or other parent/guardian phone contacts.

  • Emergency Contact Updates (Authorizing release of your student)

Info on Parent Connect from the district website:

You must have a PIN and Password to log into ParentConnection. ParentConnection is a web program that allows parents to view information about their child.
To receive a PIN and passwords for ParentConnection contact your child’s school.
If you have more than one account to view your children, please contact the school office.
Make sure to insert your email after logging into ParentConnection.  Inserting your email will allow you to access the automated password reminder system.

 

From the PTA

Welcome Back! We hope everyone had an enjoyable Summer filled with lots of fun events!

The PTA has been planning our School Year events and here are some of the upcoming dates that you won’t want to miss!
✏August 31st we will launch our new Spiritwear design at our New Family Day! Come check out our newest design and purchase a shirt for Back To School! We will also have Membership Applications on hand and will be able to answer any of your questions about the PTA! We’re excited to see everyone!
✏September 7th at 6:30 marks our FIRST PTA Meeting of the year! All meetings are held in the Arno Cafeteria and includes free babysitting for school aged children. We look forward to seeing many of you there!
✏️We are looking for a few volunteers to help out with some of our first events: Welcome Back Bagels and Coffee and a few Veteran Members to help those new to our school community navigate the halls the First Day. Please contact the PTA on our Facebook Page (Arno Elementary PTA) or send us an email to: arnopta@gmail.com. We thank you for your support!
We look forward to seeing everyone soon and meeting some new faces as well! Enjoy the rest of your Summer!

From the Superintendent

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5TW2LFZ

Dear APPS Staff,

Please take some time to click on the above link to take a staff survey.  The purpose of this survey is to find out your opinions about your school, department and the district.  Please read each statement and choose the response that most closely matches your opinion.  Open ended responses/comments are most welcome.  Please answer each item honestly as I wish to assess the decision making process and your overall feelings about the culture and climate of your school, department and the district.  Your responses will be completely confidential through Survey Monkey – IP addresses/email will not be tracked.

As your new Superintendent of Schools, the information will be extremely valuable to me in launching the 2017-18 school year as I evaluate our needs as well as our strengths.  Please complete your survey by Thursday, September 14, 2017.  Thank you in advance for participating.

Michael Darga, Superintendent

 

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Remind

Please be sure that you have been added to my Remind account for any emergency contact needed.  Please text @arnostaff to 81010 to join the staff remind.

 

 

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Flipped Staff Meeting

Please be sure that you view the flipped staff meeting so you are prepared with any question during the F2F staff meeting on Sept. 5.

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August 7, 2017 by 

6 Questions To Ask Your Students On Day One

It’s that time again – time to think about that very first day of school and how you greet your class on day one. How will you begin to create an environment for risk and creativity? Will your students be greeted by rules and “thou shalt nots”, or by questions that set the stage for thinking and risking? Here are six questions you should think about asking on day one.

  1. What are you passionate about?

Ask students to think about their true passion. It is very possible their passion is something outside of the classroom. Knowing what they are passionate about will help you better relate to them as people and as learners. It might also just give you a key to unlocking their learning. How will you relate what they need to learn in school to what they are passionate about? That’s a real key to engaging learners.

  1. How do you want to be recognized?

Not all learners want to be recognized in the same manner. What motivates one will not motivate all. Just as students have differing learning styles, they also have differing preferences for recognition. A star or sticker on the forehead might be exactly what Jon wants while a quiet aside to Ben will keep him motivated. How will you know which buttons to push for each student? Start on day one by asking them as part of a short survey. Be sure to record their responses in your plan book for reference throughout the year.

  1. What do you see as your greatest strength?

Over 14 million people have used the Gallup Strength Finder survey to help their businesses and organizations focus on their employee’s strengths. The idea is to focus on your strengths as a means for growth rather then dwelling on your shortcomings. Your classroom can do the same. Every student has their own strength, but too often what they hear most about are their shortcomings. If you want to support and encourage a growth mindset in your class, change the focus from the negative to the positive. Also, knowing what students see as their strengths will help you as you build cooperative or small group work groups.

  1. What name do you want used when calling on you in class?

The name on your official role might not be the name the student prefers. If a boy is called Scooter by his family and friends and wants to be called Scooter in class, make that happen. A person’s name is just about the most personal thing they have. Of course, nicknames have limits and classroom appropriateness has to be maintained.

  1. What will a successful school year look and feel like at the end of the year?

Building an environment conducive to learn begins with setting clear learning intentions. When teachers set clear learning intentions for unit and lesson plans it helps students gain a clear understanding of what they are expected to know, understand, and be able to do. Asking students to focus on their future helps them establish learning goals and priorities for the coming school year. Just as a teacher should review learning goals during and at the end of a lesson, have your students review their progress to their personal learning goals at the end of each quarter and the end of the school year.

  1. What are the characteristics or attributes you want in a teacher?

Begin by talking with your students about your favorite teacher and the things that made that teacher memorable for you. Then ask them to think about a teacher or other adult they found memorable so far. What were his or her characteristics? Use the various descriptions of your students’ ideal teacher as a personal reflective tool. What to they list as the top five to seven attributes collectively, and how do you see yourself as related to those attributes. Are their some areas you might want to work on to be the best teacher for this specific class?

I know there has to be time to set ground rules and expectations, but that can wait a day. Begin with reflective questions and lots of smiles. The advice you were given in some undergraduate class about beginning tough and strict and easing up throughout the year is misguided. Begin by setting an environment of reflection and support. Always remember that students don’t care what you know until they know that you care and have a fantastic school year.

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FROM THE HR DEPARTMENT:

For those employees required to complete Safe Schools Training, the system is now open and available to complete for the 2017-2018 school year.  The modules need to be completed by October 31, 2017.  Please email me if you have any issues.

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PBIS UPDATE

Thursday’s PBIS Kickoff will have a different “feel” this year.  We will have 6 stations around the school and classes will travel to hear about the expectations at each station.  Please be on time to your station at the designated times below:

PBIS Beginning of the Year Stations

Thursday, September 7, 2017

 

There will be 10 minutes spent at each station which includes the discussion and travel time between stations.  You will rotate in sequential order.

 

Start Times and Station

8:45a–Trionfi (1), Smalley (2), Kalis (3), Warneck (4), Guyot (5)

9:35a–Haskin (1), Stanley (2), DiCarlo (3), Wesley (4), Watson (5)

10:25a–Pushman (1), Martinchick (2), Schultz (3), Brown (4), Amonette (5)

11:15a–Cruetz (1), Higgins (2), Hool (3), 5th grade new teacher (4)

 

1.Office Expectations

Staff: Michelle DesJardins or Cathy Anderson

Location: office

 

  1. Assembly Expectations

Staff: Sandy Bennett

Location:  Gym

 

  1. Bus Expectations

Staff: Steve Zielinski

Location: bus located in parking area

 

  1. Cafeteria Expectations

Staff: Kristin Melidosian or Debbie Burgess

Location: Cafeteria

 

  1. Hallway Expectations

Staff: Michele Sbonek

Location: hallway outside of Media Center/Computer Lab

 

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MORNING LINEUP

This year we will start the same as last- the first day will be line up outside the main doors for each teacher, then after return to indoor lineup.  This will give the parents an opportunity to hangout with the kids before the bell, then hopefully clear after.  Please be sure to be visible outside your door area so kids know which line to enter.

Beginning the School Year: It’s About the Learners Not the Content

Too many classes, all grade levels, begin the school year with getting down to academic business – starting to cover content, discussing expectations regarding academic requirements, giving tests, and other academic information provided by the teacher to the students in a mostly one-way communication.  The human or social element is often disregarded.

I believe that all classes should begin with focusing on having the students make connections between themselves and the educator; and between one another.  I want students to learn about one another in a personal way.  I want to learn about my students so my instructional strategies can be more personalized and tailored to their needs and interests.  Beginning class with a focus on connections rather than content gives learners the following messages:

  • You are the focus of the class not me.
  • You are important as a learner in this class.
  • You will be expected to engage in the learning activities during class time.  You will be an active learner.
  • You will be expected to do collaborative learning during the class time.
  • I, as the class facilitator, will be just that – a facilitator.  I will introduce the learning activities, but you will be responsible for the actual learning.
  • I will get to know you as a learner and try to help you find learning activities that are of interest to you. (From my post: Beginning the School Year: It’s About Connections Not Content)

Two things that I believe needs to occur at the beginning of the schools year:

  1. Get to know the learners – as individuals with unique backgrounds, interests, strengths, weaknesses.
  2. Establish a learning community where all learners are seen as having value in our classroom

Getting to Know Learners

One of our primary goals at the beginning of the school year is to get to know our students. This is important for several reasons. First, the better we know our students, and the more they know we know them, the more invested they become in school. Also, a dynamic and vigorous learning environment is built on relationships. When we create strong connections with our students, we create a learning environment where risk-taking and collaborative learning can take place. Finally, the better we know our students, the better we can help craft learning experiences that match who they are. Knowing our students is fundamental to real differentiation. (6 Strategies For Getting To Know Your Students)

This coming school year I am working with gifted elementary students. To support those messages I discussed above, I am going to have them do the following Hyperdoc starting with our first meeting together.

 Link is at the end

Using a Hyperdoc such as this has the additional benefits:

  • It leverages the use of technology which consistently is of high interest, high engagement for my learners.
  • It is a Choice Board.  Choice Boards:
  • It supports several of the new ISTE NETS for Students:
    • Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
    • Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
    • Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
    • Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. (https://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students)

Building a Learning Community

Community building activities are important in my classroom. It begins the first week of school and continues throughout the entire school year.

The intentional building and supporting of friendships is a cornerstone of a caring school community. Providing frequent opportunities for students to be in close proximity to others is not always enough to enable them to build a net­work of friends and feel connected to the classroom and the wider school com­munity. Careful classroom management and planning of student-student and student-teacher interactions, together with appropriate instructional strategies, can have a positive impact on social relationships and lead to the development of a support system that will enhance students’ learning in all curriculum areas. (Why create positive classroom communities?)

A growing body of research confirms the benefits of building a sense of community in school. Students in schools with a strong sense of community are more likely to be academically motivated (Solomon, Battistich, Watson, Schaps, & Lewis, 2000); to act ethically and altruistically (Schaps, Battistich, & Solomon, 1997); to develop social and emotional competencies (Solomon et al., 2000); and to avoid a number of problem behaviors, including drug use and violence (Resnick et al., 1997). (Creating a School Community)

I’ve written several blog posts about team building activities I’ve used with my elementary students and will use again with them as (1) they really like the activities, and (2) there is almost always more to learn even in repeat activities.

STEM Activities That Support

Since my gifted classes have a strong focus on STEM, STEAM, and Maker Education, my learners will be asked to do several of the following team building activities:

Team Building Activities That Support Maker Education, STEM, and STEAM 

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Team Building Activities

Other team building activities can be found within the following resources:

As a parting shot, I’d like to mention that some teachers believe they do not have the time to do activities such as these. To that, I counter with several arguments for their use:

  • Getting to know the students and building a community often act as a form of prevention for behavioral management problems. When learners have trust in their teacher, their peers, and the environment, they become more engaged and less likely to “act up.” This form of prevention actually saves time in that the educator doesn’t have to deal with misbehavior.
  • School should be lots more than just the transmittance of content. It should include social emotional life skills that will assist learners in navigating in their worlds outside of school now and in their futures.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pi54QMZVoE0X6NWW6gKSe2MFsuLEqfbq6wYgkNb4Aec/edit

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Room Configuration

In order to address the need for student collaboration as part of best practice/turn and talk- please make sure you have students set up in table groups as opposed to rows.  This will continually give you the ability to facilitate collaboration within your room.

 

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NEW FAMILY OPEN HOUSE

Next Thursday, August 31, is our New Family Open House at 12:00 p.m.  At this time, our new Arno families will be coming to check out our wonderful school.  If you are around and are able to help guide our new families on a short tour, I would really appreciate it.  In the past, families have loved spending a little time with our great staff and learning all about Arno!  Please let me know if you think you’ll be able to help out so I can plan accordingly!

 

School office supplies on board.

MATERIALS

All material orders have arrived and have been delivered to your grade level.  If you feel as though you are missing something that was ordered, please let Michelle know.  As far as I saw when unpacking the boxes, we have received most everything that we had ordered in the spring.  Construction paper will be arriving soon!

 

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Teacher Professional Development Dates

This year, the district calendar reflects 7 half-days of teacher PD plus 1 Full day that is required by the state.  Those half-day PD dates feature no school in the afternoon, 11:40 dismissal.  The dates for this school year are as follows:

10/6, 10/31, 11/21, 12/15, 1/15 (FULL DAY), 2/16, 3/09, and 3/29

 

Let’s Get Techy…

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21 Things for Chromebooks Basics

Video worth checking out…

http://mistreamnet.org/videos/3714

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Check123: Video Encyclopedia

What it is: Check 123 is a new video encyclopedia site for kids. All videos are validated and ranked by Check123 professionals, are 1-3 minutes in length, and a curated on just about any subject you can think of.  Broad topics covered on Check123 include: history, sports, politics, food, performing arts, economics, earth, nature, tech, philosophy, music, cars, pets, human body, arts, geography, religion, psychology, TV, gaming, science, literature, fashion, media, and space.

How to integrate Check 123 into your classroom: Check123 is a great place for students to begin their research. These videos are between 1 and 3 minutes each, keeping students engaged in a topic and giving them bite-size information. I like that the videos are so well curated, it keeps search results on topic rather than the endless dig for quality content that can happen in a YouTube  search. Check123 videos are also wonderful as provocations for further inquiry. The short format gives students just enough information to whet their appetites and encourage additional questioning. Check123 is a great one to keep bookmarked on classroom and library computers for quick reference.

Video is the preferred learning method of 90% of our students at Anastasis, when they do a search, they usually begin on a video site. With Check123, they are sure to get some quality results back to kick start their learning and research.

Tips: Check123 is free for teachers!

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Making & Science with Google

Making & science with Google

What it is: Making & Science is an initiative by Google aimed at showing students that anyone can be a maker or a scientist. Using the featured Science Journal app (Android and Chromebook only), students can measure light, sound, and more. They can also use the app to record observations, organize data, and add observational notes. Making & Science has partnered with Exploratorium for some fantastic activities that will have students exploring the world as a makers and scientist in no time. Students will explore light, sound, motion, graphs, conductivity, and much more through activities powered by the Science Journal app.

How to integrate Making & Science with Google in your classroom: The Science Journal app makes any Android phone or Chromebook computer into a scientific tool that students can use to collect data on light, sound, and motion. The activities included encourage students to explore the world as scientists and makers. The activities are simple enough for any classroom, and lead the students through understanding how the world around them works. They are a great kick-off to more in-depth studies of light, sound, and motion and teach students how to use the sensors on their phone and computer to collect data.  Most activities take 15-30 minutes, so would be the perfect length for groups of students to visit as a center if you have a few devices for students to use. I love the way each activity thoroughly introduces a concept, and equips students with the tools and understanding for further experimentation and investigation. The activities included are wonderful, but after students have a basic understanding, encourage them to come up with their own investigations of light, sound, and motion.

Students could use the Exploritorium Activities as guides for creating their own investigations and activities to share with the class.

Don’t miss out on the Making and Science YouTube channel, and recommended podcasts. They are AWESOME!

Tips: While the activities reference the Science Journal app for data collection, if you have access to other types of devices you can still use these activities! Just download a light, sound, and motion sensor app and your students can complete any of the activities on the Maker & Science site.

 

Professional Development that lets you see with new eyes