Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Late January News


Greetings!   I hope you all made it safely out of your driveways and along the streets this morning.  It was slick! What a crazy winter!  Please make sure your child has waterproof boots on for the rest of the week since the field is a swamp!

Two exciting pieces of news: 

  • First, the report cards are almost ready! If you have not already followed the directions to set up an account online to view them, please do so using the instructions in my last blog (below).  It is the same information that was sent via the HH Eblast.  Let me know if you have any questions.
  • Second, your child has probably told you that we had a terrific visit from the Wayland Middle School students last Friday.  They helped us begin the process of creating our Environmental Public Service Announcements in IMovie.  (Pictures below).  
  • Now we could REALLY USE YOUR HELP in getting these polished and ready for showing!  Technical experience helpful but not required! I can work around your schedule!






Important: If your child has not shared information about a person who inspires them, please discuss it with them and help them prepare this valuable assignment.  Information was sent home again yesterday. I’ve extended the due date to this Friday to sign up, and next Friday (February 2) to share.  Thank you!!

Finally, I was so glad to see so many children from our class at the Martin Luther King Junior Celebration at the Middle School last Friday!  It was a fun night with good food, music, and a wonderful message of peace and friendship.  Our beautiful posters were hung on the windows, and will be scanned in for all to see on our lobby TV!


Take good care and stay warm!

Monday, January 15, 2018

Mid January News



Greetings-


I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend, and found some time to talk about the impact that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on the world.  His message of peace, love and equality are as important now as they were then!  As your child’s “village” we have the unique opportunity to help make their world a better place for the next generation, in which everyone is valued and respected.

I have been thoroughly enjoying the “shares” that children have brought in this past week of someone they admire and why!  If your child has not signed up yet, please have them do so by this Friday.  I would like everyone to share by the end of January.  What a great learning experience for all of us!

Speaking of amazing people… Pat Conaway’s presentation (see my last blog!) helped us launch our new writing unit! The students will be doing research to learn about our environment (which is tied to our science units).  Then, working in small groups, they will write an “Opinion” about something that people can do to make our world a better place.  They will back it up with facts, and create a Public Service Announcement.  We hope to put these into IMovie to make them available for peers, families and friends! If you have any experience with IMovie or PSA’s, please let me know.

In math this month we are working on one of our most important units this year:  Addition and Subtraction of 2-digit numbers.  We will be sending home information about the strategies we use in second grade, which help students see WHAT they are doing and WHY, to build a secure foundation for their future learning.  

Finally, we’ve been working hard on creating Report Cards that reflect where your child is in meeting end-of-year standards.  Here is some information from our Technology Department on how you will be able to access these:

IMPORTANT NOTICE
FROM WPS TECHNOLOGY OFFICE:

Please log in to your guardian HAC account and confirm that we have proper email addresses on file in our Student Information Database

Dear Wayland Elementary School Families,

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new Student Information System, eSchoolPLUS. After extensive research and assessment, eSchoolPLUS was selected as the best option for Wayland teachers, students and guardians because of its intuitive, scalable and secure solution to manage student data. There is also a mobile app called eSchoolPLUS Family that you can download from the app stores.

Home Access Center (HAC) replaces iParent and iStudent as a communication portal. It allows students and guardians to access a wide range of student data; including demographics, attendance, test scores, class work assignments, schedules and student fees. We will continue to update and add new features in HAC as needed by each grade level.

If you already have an account from an older child in the High School or Middle School, you can now see your Elementary student in Home Access Center. If not, we welcome you to view the HOME ACCESS CENTER INSTRUCTIONS to create your HAC account. Once logged in, please update your email address and phone number(s) by clicking on the Registration icon and then Contacts - (Edit).

Later this month, we will notify you when you will have access to your child's report card online through Home Access Center.

Kind regards,
Leisha Simon
Director of Technology

Thank you again for all of your support!  Stay warm!


Deborah Niles

Monday, January 8, 2018

Back from the Break update:

Hello families-

This is just a quick note to share 3 things:
1) a letter from our school nurse... click here...

2) a few photos of “bag man”... from a fun visit with Mrs. Morrison's dad, Pat Conaway, who came today to talk about his work in Environmental activism (you will hear more about this soon!)




 and
3) to remind parents to send in shoes or sneakers for the classroom (6 children did not have these today and it makes our sitting area rather wet and uncomfortable). Everyone got out in the snow today though, and had a blast!   

Finally, please let me know if you have any questions about our January share of a person whom your child admires.  Click here for the information.

Thank you!!!
PS I decided not to give new spelling words today, so please ask your child to continue practicing the words they received last week for our usual quiz on Friday. 



Thursday, January 4, 2018

Happy New Year!




Happy Snow Day!  I hope your family is staying warm and enjoying the unexpected time together. I am completing a course that I began over the vacation and didn’t have time to finish.  I’m excited about trying some new ideas in the classroom this year!

It seems like our vacation was so long ago now!  I hope you all had time to relax and “recharge your batteries” over the break.  I had a wonderful time with my twins, who are 27 and were both able to return for a visit.  Words of wisdom:  Cherish the time your little ones are still in your home!  

Homework:
This week we had a modified homework routine- we are starting a new unit in math, and by next week students will have some strategies for Adding 2-digit Numbers, so I can send home a game to play!  Spelling work continues, and I can see the results in students’ writing already.  Reading expectations will increase to 20 minutes per night, but there is always flexibility in whether this is spent in read alouds, independent practice or using Raz Kids or Lexia.

Sharing:
We have been doing much of this in class informally, but I would like to begin a weekly topic and assigned dates so students can have opportunities to share about their opinions and interests in a deeper way.  Your child’s day is on this Schedule, but they may pick any week in January for their share.  This month the topic will be “Someone they admire”.  This could be a family member, someone in the community, or someone not so close to home...There are interesting biographies on two sites links from our HH web page under “For Students” … Enchanted Learning and Encyclopedia Britannica. I will send home a suggested format for this share on Friday, January 5.

Winter Gear:
Thank you for sending in all appropriate winter gear, as well as the handy cloth bags!  Remember to include: shoes (for classroom use), boots, mittens, hats, coats and snowpants.  We will definitely need them now!! Stay warm!!!


Temporary Substitute:

You may hear about a substitute Teaching Assistant we have in our classroom … and it’s a familiar name to many:  Ms. Russo is actually Heather Russo, Deb Russo’s daughter!  She is on break from school in Maine and filling in for just 2 weeks while Julie Pond visits HER daughter in Virginia.  Small world!