Thoughts for the week...
March 17, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Look out for one another. Check in with each other. We've had a very difficult couple of weeks. If you feel you'd like additional support, please let me know. This will be another difficult week and we will pull together and support one another. Draw strength and joy from the energy of the young people we serve. Those 450 smiling faces, full of giggles are full of energy and ready to share! |
Link to Morning Announcements Monday, 3/17(C)- Happy St. Pats!
FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!
Saturday, 3/22- Trisha Raft's Birthday
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Thoughts for the week...
March 9, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" SAS experienced a great loss last week. Jim leaves behind a legacy of kindness, humor, and inspiration. We at Woodland Meadows, and across the district, stood together, supported one another, and laughed through our tears at the many memories of Jim and the many ways he impacted our lives. As we celebrate his life, your courage, strength, and compassion for one another should also be celebrated. The Saline Area Schools community is filled with the most inspirational, outstanding professionals. Each of you are so very special. We often overlook the greatness that is right here everyday. I want to take this opportunity to recognize how appreciated you are, how much I appreciate your work with our students, but moreover, how much I appreciate each of you for WHO you are- not simply what we do. Thank you, I appreciate you, and please take some time today to let someone know how much you appreciate them. I also want to celebrate some very special staff members who are moving on to some exciting new opportunities for next year.
We certainly wish all of them well and I am looking forward to some celebrations! Sadly, Annie George, our cafeteria assistant has had to resign due to a serious medical issue. I will continue to update you as I am made aware of additional changes. Appreciate each other; recognize the greatness that takes place throughout Woodland Meadows every day; and have a wonderful week! |
Link to Morning Announcements Monday, 3/10 (D)- Tuesday, 3/11 (E)-
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Thoughts for the week...
March 2, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Welcome March is Reading Month! Please remind your students about our special dress up Mondays. It will be hard for them to remember on Mondays so your reminders will be important. Thank you to all of you who helped planned this year's fun activities. This week I want to share a link to a resource I have been using. Take some time to sift through the many strategies that support Universal Design for Learning. Some resources are better than others so allow time to explore the resources that are available to support your learning goals. The photo is of one tool that I thought would be useful for our student learning goals. |
Link to Morning Announcements
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Thoughts for the week...
February 23, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" We are getting into the spring presentation season! It's my favorite time of the year because that hard work you put into presentations becomes life-long memories for our kiddos and their families. To avoid conflicts, please remember the four steps to sign out common locations.
Looks like we will be getting another blast of frigid air this week. We stay indoors for recess if the windchill, or feels like temperature is below 10. If you are unsure feel free to call the office to check the temp. A sense of humor about this winter can help keep us all positive. Thank you Scott for not doing this.... Enjoy this short..... |
Link to Morning Announcements Monday 2/24 (D)-
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Thoughts for the week...
February 17, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" I trust everyone was able to enjoy the President's Day holiday weekend. This week's common core thinking exercise from the project based learning group centers on snow storms. How appropriate! Feel free to review the lesson to get a feel for common core aligned project based learning exercises, or to modify it for your grade level and give it a try. Click Here for the lesson Speaking of snowstorms, Tuesday marked our 7th snow day. It appears imminent that we will be making up time in June. Here is a link to Supt. Graden's blog regarding the snow days. Finally, a secret video has been found of David Raft telling Laura Wilczynski that the SMS "Schools of Rock" dance was better than Woodland Meadows' dance. This rare footage captured her reaction. |
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 2/18 (E)- Snow Day!
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Thoughts for the week...
February 10, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Last week we met to review the Reading data on students and regroup them based on their "Best Fit" instructional needs. I was really impressed to see the level of thought and focus on making data driven decisions. Well done! I know many of you are incorporating current events into your classroom or Best Fit groups with the Sochi Olympics. Here is a link to a Project Based Learning lesson focused on the Olympics if you would like to explore the idea. Additionally, last Saturday the FSAS Snow Blast event took place at Travis Pointe. It was a big hit and I saw many of our staff as well as parents there to support the Foundation and Saline Area Schools. We are fortunate to work with such a supportive community. This week Woodland Meadows PTA is hosting Math Night for our students and their families. This is a great opportunity to show support and to interact with families. Thank you for all of your efforts! |
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 2/11 (A)-
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Thoughts for the week...
February 3, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" CONGRATULATIONS to our amazing Schools of Rock Team! Other events this week include Empty Bowls fundraiser on Thursday to support Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County, as well as Snow Blast on Saturday to support the Foundation for Saline Area Schools. Next week, Woodland Meadows PTA has Math Night. Enjoy the many opportunities to support our community.
On Wednesday we have technology training. Please bring an ipad with you. We will meet in the media center. |
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 2/04 (A)- no best fit 7:30 Tech training 2:10 Dentist visits First Grade
Saturday 2/08- Snow Blast HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!! |
Thoughts for the week...
January 27, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Woody Allen once said, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." I can relate. That is surely how things are shaping up this winter! I am sure that many of you are feeling the same way with the many lessons, meetings and events you have had scheduled on these many snow days. Of course, I also believe that sometimes things work out just the way they need to. Perhaps Mother Nature is well aware of the many things we need to get done, and what a gift these extra days have been for catching up! The gift of time is something for which I am appreciative. I have been busy working on my eportfolio as well as getting through some of those important tasks that tend to be set aside for later. I hope that you too are enjoying this time, staying warm, and finding some positives in this wintry weather! |
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 1/28 (A)- Snow Day! Wednesday 1/29 (B)-
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Thoughts for the week...
January 20, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" To continue the links I've been sharing for project-based learning, this week the PBL project has released an exercise focused on the space program. It was designed to honor the anniversary of the Challenger disaster and to promote "common core thinking". Students grapple with the question "Should the US dedicate more resources to the space program or are the resources better used elsewhere?" Follow this link for more info on this exercise. Tuesday is the day! Therapeutic masseuse Donna Marshall will be here from 10-1:30. Sign in on the document sent out earlier, or drop in when you can. She and I both hope you enjoy this service and know how much you are appreciated. Enjoy this video created by one of our first grade best fit groups! http://video.videolicious.com/a0329fc2-4130-4ad4-8d9c-1e8c97100623 |
The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Sunday 1/19- Peggy Blattner birthday
Tuesday 1/21 (A)-
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Thoughts for the week...
January 13, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Without regularly scheduled staff meetings, it is difficult to meet the many new faces that are around Woodland Meadows. If you have not had an opportunity to say hello to Annie George, our cafeteria assistant, or to Erica Hyatt, our new literacy tutor, please offer them a friendly hello. We also have new student teachers, interns, and practicum students. Noah is an intern who will be learning from Kim Munn and Melissa Talladay. Dina is a practicum student learning from Jen Culver. She has taken the time to introduce herself HERE. If you are mentoring a student teacher, using this forum or our morning announcements is a great way to do so. We are a very friendly and welcoming staff with so much to offer young professionals just getting started, take a moment and go out of your way to introduce yourself! You'll make a new friend and make a difference in the molding of a new colleague! To thank all of you for your work, therapeutic masseuse, Donna Marshall will be here on January 21 between 10:00-1:30. A sign up page will be coming soon. Unfortunately Desiree, who provided our hand waxing in the past is unable to make it. I hope you enjoy this little treat! |
The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 1/14 (B)- Friday 1/17 (E)- Comfy Clothes Day (Thanks Mrs. Black's class!!) |
Thoughts for the week...
January 6, 2014 The Weekly "Buzz" Stay warm. I was tempted to leave it at that. But, there are a few things I want to share. First, Happy New Year! I hope you and yours have enjoyed the break and found time to spend with those you care about. I hope you all received the snow day call. Just a reminder that Superintendent Graden tweets, posts to the website, then contacts students and administrators. Then, I contact our WM teachers and staff. Once we return, the days will pass quickly! Teachers, before time gets away, please contact me with a proposed time to meet between January 14 and February 14. During that meeting I would like to discuss the many elements of domains 1 and 4, that I may not be able to see during an observation. We will also schedule an observation. Please come prepared to share your practices and plans in those domains. You can review the rubrics here under the evaluation tab on our weebly site. Have a great week ahead. Stay warm. |
The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Monday 1/6 (A)- SNOWDAY! Tuesday 1/7 (B)- SNOWDAY! Wednesday 1/8 (C)- SNOWDAY!
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Thoughts for the week...
December 16, 2013 The Weekly "Buzz" Saturday's snow had many snowmen and snow-women longing for summer. Enjoy this short clip!
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The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 12/17 (B)- Crazy Holiday Sock day! 9:00 Michelle at admin training Wednesday 12/18 (C)- Ugly Christmas Sweater Day 1:00 Foster/Stevenson Seasonal stories Laura Wilczynski's Brthday Thursday 12/19 (D)- Holiday Bling Day 9:00 Kindergarten Holiday program
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Thoughts for the week...
December 9, 2013 The Weekly "Buzz" Hats off to the social for planning a great Holiday Party last week! It was wonderful to have an opportunity to relax and laugh in a non-work setting. I see a few of our lovely gifts have found a new home in the office. :-) We have ten days of instruction before a well-deserved break. I know we are all working hard to get those last lessons in to complete our units prior to break. Let the count down begin! This week PTA hosts the annual Gingerbread night. PTA surveyed our staff to select a day that would better for our staff to attend. Please consider stopping by to support them as well as our students and their families. They LOVE seeing you at events! 'Tis the season! |
The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Tuesday 12/10 (B)- Friday 12/13 (E)- |
Thoughts for the week...
December 2, 2013 The Weekly "Buzz" Welcome Back! I trust that you each found some time to relax and become refreshed during the Thanksgiving break. At our table, we speak about what we are thankful for. You were mentioned as part of the many things I am thankful for. I am very thankful for your professionalism and dedication to our students each day. I am truly blessed to learn from and work with each of you every day. Thank you for your hard work, and thank you for enriching my life. Now, onto December! Think about the following video and how it relates to our work daily. |
The "Szczech" list...
Link to Morning Announcements
Monday 12/2 (A)-
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!! |