Ideas for New School Year

School starts next week, and I need your help. Any parents interested in working with the school on various teams and committees should email me. We need your input on the great things planned and to be planned for SLE children this year. If you prefer, call me at the office at 601-253-2324. Thanks, JH.

"New" Schoolnotes.com

Schoolnotes.com has upgraded itself, and teachers who were using http://www.schoolnotes.com/ should update their pages for this year, too. You can access the new site by going to http://new.schoolnotes.com/. If you have questions, please email me. - JH

Take a survey

Please look at the righthand side of the page for a new survey I've added. Take the survey and give us an idea for what you think SLE can do this year to make our school even better.

August 3-6 Events

The following is a tentative schedule for the first three professional days:


August 3
7:30 - noon - meet at CES for district business
1:00-3:30 - Staff Meeting at SLE

August 4
7:30 -3:30 - Staff Meeting at SLE

August 5
7:30 - 3:30 - Work in Rooms

August 6
7:30-1 p.m. (60% day) Students start
1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Work in Rooms

Unscientific America Article

Go to this site, Unscientific America, for a great interview with the author of the book by the same name. He talks about how the American population's lack of understanding of basic scientific concepts may be adversly affecting our public policies. It's a little unnerving, when you think about it.

See How D.C. Is Coping with Test Scores

I listened to a very interesting story on NPR via the Internet about D.C. schools and their recent analysis of their test scores. The chancellor, Michelle Rhee , gave some interesting information during the interview that may shed light for teachers and parents of South Leake. Click here for a link to the story.

Web Resources for the Coming Year

Those of you who are looking for resources for the upcoming year may want to check out the links below.


•http://www.worldofteaching.com/ - This has many free PowerPoint presentations ready made for you. They are categorized and relatively easy to find.
•http://www.whatworks.org/ – This site offers resources for teaching reading.

•http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2009/01/never-work-harder-than-your-students.html
This is simply an interesting book and author interview that I want to share with you. One of the points the author makes is that the teacher should "never work harder than the student" when learning something. See what you think and write back.

Parents vs. Peers

I read an interesting article about the power of parents vs. peers on children in Scientific Mind magazine. It was actually an interview with the author of a new book on the subject, and it contained some information classroom teachers might want to read.

SLE Mission Statement Question Reponses

 

 Place your cursor at the point you want to insert a comment. Go to "Insert" on the tool bar and click on the yellow cloud/comment bubble. Type away! -Jhenderson 6/24/09 4:39 PM 

 

 

SLE Mission Statement 09-10 DRAFT - Spring Survey of Staff

 

I.              Why Do you come to work at SLE

A.              staff is friendly

B.              feel comfortable here

C.              I started my teaching career at SLE. I have enjoyed working with the staff. enjoy the children. I see alot of ideas that I can bring to them. I like opening them up to new ideas

D.              I feel like a make a difference in children's lives

E.              It is close to home

F.              Teaching is my work (chosen profession)

G.              relationship between paretns, teachers, and principal are very close

H.              I can ask for help without the fear of being ridiculed

I.              I must have a paycheck

J.              Good working environment

K.              Family atmosphere; co-workers are willing to share and lend a hand

L.              good relationships between principal/teachers; teachers/parents; office/staff

M.              Pride in school campus by all

N.              Principal's high expectations of teachers and students

O.              opportunities for CEUs

P.              opportunities to give students a well rounded education through field tips, school functions, speakers, programs, etc.

 

Vision: I enjoy the friendly staff. I am proud of my school and the people in it. I like chosing high expectations for myself, my children, and the people I work with. I like giving opportunities for children to learn and grow. I love having opportunities to learn and grow, also. I must have a way to provide for myself and my family financially, and this job allows me to do so.

 

II.              Why do you teach at SLE

A.              Why is this important to you?

1.              Makes me happy

2.              It is important to feel relaxed and that you can be yourself

3.              Less stress than occurs elsewhere

4.              I am a people person; friendliness is important to me

5.              I get a sense of importance and accomplishment.

6.              I want my work to "accomplish" something in this world

7.              I love to teach

B.              SLE is a good place to teach

C.              I love the sense of family and community

D.              Staff has the same values I have

E.              I like the warm, friendly people

F.              Small classes

G.              It is fun to give needy children opportunitities.

H.              Everyone is so nice

I.              I feel like I make a difference

J.              A strong administrator, caring teachers, and the interested paretns have provided many opportunities for our students

K.              I'm proud of the progress this school has made

 

Vision: I teach at SLE because it makes me happy. I feel relaxed, and I can be myself. I like having fun when providing children with opportunities. I love to teach where I feel I make a difference. I like teaching in a place where the people are friendly, and there is a sens of family with people who have the same values as I do.

 

III.              As a parent, why do you send your children to SLE?

A.              SLE has given my children experiences and preparation for life.

B.              Staff seems exceptional

C.              The size of the school

D.              It is close to home

 

E.              For more one-on-one attention between teacher and child

 

Vision: I send my children to SLE because of exceptional staff that provides experiences that prepares my child for life. The small school size and its nearness makes it seem close to home.

 

SLE Vision

                                                                                                                                                                                     I would change to "...and my collegues". -Ggmarlin 6/30/09 3:14 PM 

I enjoy the friendly staff. I am proud of my school and the people in it. I like chosing high expectations for myself, my children, and the people I work with. I like giving opportunities for children to learn and grow. I love having opportunities to learn and grow, also. I must have a way to provide for myself and my family financially, and this job allows me to do so.

 

I teach at SLE because it makes me happy. I feel relaxed, and I can be myself. I like having fun when providing children with opportunities. I love to teach where I feel I make a difference. I like teaching in a place where the people are friendly, and there is a sense of family with people who have the same values as I do.

 

I send my children to SLE because of exceptional staff that provides experiences that prepare my child for life. The small school size and its nearness makes it seem close to home.

 

Mission

 

 NOTE: After reading the information above, write a short one to two sentence statement here. Go to the "Insert" dropdown tap on the tool bar and click "comment" JH

 I will continue to set high expectations for myself, my students and my collegues.  I will provide an environment that is conducive to learning in a friendly, professional, and collaborative atmosphere.  -Ggmarlin 6/30/09 3:20 PM   This is good. Now make it shorter - 10 words or le -Jhenderson 7/10/09 12:23 PM

 

 

Do you Know Your Twitter From Your IM?

I found a blog post by Craig Jackson that explains what IM, Twitter, and blogs are about. If you are still struggling to grasp the difference, click here and read his blog post.

Homework Assignment Link

I'm working to create a link for parents to check their child's homework assignments that teachers put in their lesson plans. Look for the "Homework Link" on the right side of this page and click on the link.

Or, click here and go to your child's homework assignment.

"Homework Assignment"