December 17, 2014

Look who joined us for lunch on Monday!

Welcome to the Speas Global Elementary Blog!

All staff members, let's make sure we are teaching, reteaching, and teaching again the procedures in the common areas (Hallway, Cafeteria, Bathrooms, Playground, Bus).  We should be giving out lots of Bee's for students demonstrating the basic expectations.  It is a good idea to review the procedures before you leave one area to travel to another area.  

Our Mission: It is the mission of Speas Elementary School to provide its students with the tools necessary to successfully meet the challenges they will face in a diverse world.

Goals:

To increase English Language Arts achievement by 10%
To increase Mathematics achievement by 10%
To increase Science Achievement by 10%

picture by C. Cardona

Check out this graphic about global education.  The things above water are just the tip of the iceberg.   Try to go deeper in your instruction and touch some of the issues below the surface.

ISS
Specialists will begin holding ISS in their respective areas on their assigned days on 10.8.   The schedule is below.  Teachers, specialists may be contacting you for work for students assigned to ISS.  Please get them work as soon as possible.   

Day	Teacher	Location
A	Arora	Room 213
B	Bowen	Music
C	King	Art
D	Childers/McMasters	Media/CL
E	Lindquist	Gym

Announcements:.

Dress Rehearsal This Morning.  Teachers---please talk to your students about assembly expectations before they come to the gym.  We need you to actively supervise your students during the assembly.  Expect some delays as this is the first time we have done the entire program.  

 Dollar Dress down is Thursday.

Movie and PJ Day is Friday

AND....... A Big Congratulations to our Teacher of the Year

Karen Johnson

New Speas Elementary Symbaloo page for quick references for a multitude of sites:

http://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/13eOcMEZPT#

email: djjohnson@wsfcs.k12.nc.us
pass: speasbees2014

Please email us with your favorite educator sites so we can create a huge selection of online resources.  

All staff members, let's make sure we are teaching, reteaching, and teaching again the procedures in the common areas (Hallway, Cafeteria, Bathrooms, Playground, Bus).  We should be giving out lots of Bee's for students demonstrating the basic expectations.  It is a good idea to review the procedures before you leave one area to travel to another area.  

SMOD Tickets (dress code violations) are located in the workroom.  Please keep the bottom portion for your own records as a way to keep track of the number of violations.  The continuum is as follows:

1st offense: verbal warning, and letter will be sent home to be signed.  Parent or guardian notified of violation
2nd offense: Teacher notifies parent or guardian and student is removed from class until proper SMOD is delivered.

(Teachers, we all should be enforcing this, it will only work if we all enforce it).

Are your kids more active/talkative lately?  Remember Tis' the Season.  Don't fight the extra energy---harness.  The next two weeks are perfect for group work, collaborative learning, discovery activities--etc.   If you try to make them sit and do seat work this time of year, you may be setting up your class and yourself to fail.  If you need to take more breaks during the day.

The videos and links below can help.  

Interesting facts about Christmas:

http://www.allthingschristmas.com/traditions.html

1. Quick Brain Breaks to use with your students.  

Here is a list of the activities and times during the video
Ear and Nose (0:30)
Lap Clap (1:30)
Vowels ( 3:00)
Flamingo (5:00)
Numbers ( 6:50)
Dancing (11:15)
Fish and Snake (14:00)
Tap Your Head and Rub Your Tummy (16:50)
YMCA  (19:45)
5 Little Monkey's (22:50)
Let's Go Swimming  (25:00)
Let's Make a Pie  (28:20)

There are actually some really good ideas here.  
http://www.teachhub.com/top-10-holiday-learning-activities

When all else fails: dancing is always fun

http://teachtrainlove.com/brain-break-videos-the-ultimate-holiday-collection/

Calendar

Date	PLT	Encore	T/M	Gym	Events/Reminders
12.17	1	D	X
12.18	2	E	X		Happy Birthday SR!!!!!!!; Dollar Dress Down Day; Staff Dress Down Day; 3rd-5th Trip to WFU Game; Ash out-meeting
12.19	3	A	Y		Happy Birthday Becerra!!!!!; Student Gift Bags go home; Spelling Bee; PBIS incentive Movie and PJ day; Ugly Sweater Dress Down Day
12.20-1.5					No School, Winter Vacation
12.22					Happy Birthday K. Johnson!!!!!!!
12.23					Happy Birthday Vidal Cuenca!!!!!!!!
12.28					Happy Birthday Lindquist!!!!!!!
12.29					Happy Birthday Higgins!!!!!!!
1.1					Happy Birthday Farra!!!!!!!!
1.2					Happy Birthday Hart!!!!!!!!!
1.5	4	B	Y
1.6	5	C	Y		Ash out meeting
1.7	6	D	Y		Canty Out-Meeting
1.8	1	E	Y		Subway Night
1.9	2	A	X
1.12	3	B	X		Quarter Test window opens
1.13	4	C	X		CWT Review
1.14	5	D	X
1.15	6	E	X		Happy Birthday Summey!!!!!!!!; Ash out meeting
1.16	1	A	Y		Quarter Test window closes
1.17					Happy Birthday Bumbrey!!!!!!!
1.20					Happy Birthday Linville!!!!!!!!!
1.21	2	B	Y
1.22	3	C	Y		Johnson out AM, Yoforia Spirit Night
1.23	4	D	Y		Happy Birthday Brown!!!!!!!!
1.24					Happy Birthday Bushey!!!!!!!!!
1.26	5	E	Y
1.27	6	A	X		Report Cards go home
1.28	1	B	X
1.29	2	C	X		Johnson out Quarterly Awards
1.30	3	D	X
2.3					Ash out AM; Access Testing window opens
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.9					Happy Birthday Billingsley!!!!!!!
2.10					IC meeting learning walks
2.11					Early Release
2.12					Ash out AM; Canty Out-Meeting
2.13					Yoforia Movie Night
2.15					Happy Birthday Cartwright!!!!!!!
2.16					No School(workday)
2.17
2.18
2.19
2.20
2.22					Happy Birthday Cokely!!!!!!!!!!
2.23					Ash out AM
2.24
2.25					Johnson out AM
2.26					Evan meet w/grade levels; Happy Birthday Ryabova!!!!!!!!!
2.27
3.1
3.7					Happy Birthday Faragher!!!!!!
3.12					Ash out AM; Chik-fil-A Spirit Night
3.14					Access Testing window closes
3.17					Canty Out-Meeting
3.19					Evan w/ Teachers; Happy Birthday Pfitzner!!!!!!!; Yoforia Spirit Night
3.23					Quarter Testing Begins Happy Birthday Smith!!!!!!!
3.25					Johnson out AM
3.27					Johnson out; Quarter Testing Ends Happy Birthday Ferguson!!!!!!!
3.29					Happy Birthday Mitchell!!!!!!!!
4.7					Ash out AM
4.8					Evan mtg w/grade levels
4.9					Quarterly Awards
4.10					1st Grade Dan Nicholas Park 8:30-2:00
4.13					Canty out-training
4.14					Report Cards go home
4.16					Happy Birthday Hooker; Ash out AM; Yoforia Spirit Night
4.17					Kids Night In Movie Night
4.21					IC mtg.  Instr. strategies
4.22					Johnson out- AM
4.23					Johnson out
4.26
5.1					Canty out meeting
5.5					Ash out AM
5.14					Ash out AM; Papa Murphy’s Spirit Night
5.7					4th Grade Heritage Theater, New Winston Museum
5.20					Johnson out AM
5.22					1st Grade NC  Zoo 8:00-2:00 PM; Yoforia Movie Night; Ready EOG window opens
6.5					Ready EOG window closes
6.7					Water Day

On This Day in World History

December 17

1399		Tamerlane's Mongols destroy the army of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at Panipat.
1861		The Stonewall Brigade begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal.
1886		At a Christmas party, Sam Belle shoots his old enemy Frank West, but is fatally wounded himself.
1903		Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
1927		U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggests a worldwide pact renouncing war.
1938		Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid because ratifications had not been exchanged. France denies the argument.
1939		In the Battle of River Plate near Montevideo, Uruguay, the British trap the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. German Captain Langsdorf sinks his ship believing that resistance is hopeless.
1943		U.S. forces invade Japanese-held New Britain Island in New Guinea.
1944		The German Army renews the attack on the Belgian town of Losheimergraben against the defending Americans during the Battle of the Bulge.
1944		U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.
1948		The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk – the Wright brothers' plane.
1950		The French government appoints Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to command their troops in Vietnam.
1952		Yugoslavia breaks relations with the Vatican.
1965		Ending an election campaign marked by bitterness and violence, Ferdinand Marcos is declared president of the Philippines.
1981		Red Brigade terrorists kidnap Brigadier General James Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. NATO officer in Italy.
1989		The Simpsons, television's longest-running animated series, makes its US debut.
1989		Fernando Color de Mello becomes Brazil's first democratically elected president in nearly 30 years.
1990		Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti's first free election.
2002		Congolese parties of the inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord in the Second Congo War, proviidn for transitional government and elections within two years.
2010		Mohamed Bouazizi immolates himself, the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring.
Born on December 17
1778		Humphrey Davy, English chemist who discovered the anesthetic effect of laughing gas.
1807		John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet, abolitionist, reformer and founder of the Liberal Party.
1908		Willard Frank Libby, American chemist who won a Nobel Prize for his part in creating the carbon-14 method in dating ancient findings.
1929		William Safire, journalist and author.
1930		Bob Guccione, publisher; founder of Penthouse magazine.
1935		George Lindsey, comic actor best known for his role as Goober on The Andy Griffith Show.
1936		Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina), named to the Papacy March 13, 2013.
1937		Art Neville, singer, musician; member of The Neville Brothers and The Meters.
1937		Kerry Packer, Australian businessman who founded World Series Cricket.
1937		US Lt. Gen. Calvin Waller, deputy commander-in-chief for military operations with US Central Command (Forward) during the First Gulf War.
1945		Chris Matthews, news anchor, political commentator; host of Hardball with Chris Matthewson MSNBC.
1962		Richard Jewell, police officer who discovered pipe bombs on the grounds of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, and helped evacuate the area before the bombs exploded.
2007		James, Viscount Severn, son of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex; youngest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.