Joy in a Box

A mailbox was placed in the school lobby for 'Kindness Week'.  A few days later it was overflowing with letters of appreciation written by students.  They were addressed to all different staff members including bus drivers, custodians, office staff and previous teachers.  I am not sure which was more heartwarming, seeing the expressions on the faces of children as they mailed them, or the joy they brought when read.                                                                                                          

So many of the letters I received were truly precious, it was impossible to choose a favorite.  I selected these two to share because I loved seeing how they chose to draw me.

A student who transferred to Sweetsir in the middle of last year gave me this picture with a letter stating, 'You filled my bucket since I met you.'  I remember trying to offer him some words of encouragement when he arrived on his first day looking scared and anxious.  It touched my heart to see that he remembered it too.                  

2012-2013 Kindergarten & Preschool Registration

Walk-in registration for kindergarten is held during the month of March.  Please help spread the word!  This early enrollment is essential for planning class sizes.  Packets can be picked up in the school office and should be returned by March 30th.  Preschool enrollment is also underway, call the school for more information or visit the posting on the district webpage:http://www.prsd.org

Internet Safety Lesson

Ms. Sarah Angell, our School Counselor, visits k-2 classrooms every other week to provide guidance related lessons on topics such as friendship skills, conflict resolution, bullying prevention and personal safety.  She uses the Second Step Program, which is the curriculum used throughout the district, along with other resources.  Ms. Angell is currently teaching first and second graders about internet safety using a BrainpopJr video.  Brainpop is a website featuring these characters in short animated videos on a multitude of educational topics.  Many teachers use the clips as an activator to introduce lesson topics.  Although most of the site requires a subscription, there are a number of free videos worth viewing with your children.
BrainpopJr is geared for grades k-2 and the adjoining site, Brainpop, is more for grades 3-5.  I've embedded the 'free movie of the week' on the side bar of this blog.  Below is the link to the BrainpopJr movie on Internet Safety:
http://www.brainpopjr.com/artsandtechnology/technology/internetsafety/

Your child could be Principal

The Merrimac PTO will be hosting a silent auction on Friday, March 16th at Zorino Vineyards.  They are looking for donations to help raise funds to support school programs, field trips, and cultural arts.  If you wish to donate an auction item or volunteer to help, contact the PTO ( jmarden@merrimacpto.org).  This should be a fun night out for parents and friends!

One of the items up for bids will be "Principal for the Day."  This was a very popular item at my previous school.  Students got a kick out of seeing a classmate dress up and help me run the school.  The "Principal" helped greet visitors, supervise the cafeteria, check in on classrooms, and even made a few rules (teachers were forewarned there might be no homework and extra recess time).  I look forward to having just as much fun with a Sweetsir student as Principal.

Creative Math Instruction

Mrs. Grimes, Title One Math Teacher, created this number grid on the floor of her classroom.  

To help students develop number sense, she has them physically move from one number to another as they practice adding and subtracting.  On 'Stuffed Animal Day', students enjoyed having their favorite pals participate in the activity!  

Talented Bucketfiller

Mr. Sam Bruce, Sweetsir custodian, painted this mural in our cafeteria. He decided to spruce up an old bulletin board and surprised the students with this colorful painting. It's a great reminder of our school-wide theme to promote kindness by filling buckets. To learn more about the bucketfilling concept, click on the tab near the top of this blog.

We will be celebrating 'Kindness' with special theme days the week of February 12th. Students will be collecting donations for Pettengill House and jumping rope for the American Heart Association. There will also be a mailbox in the lobby where they can place letters of appreciation for adults in the building. At the end of the week, some of the letters will be shared at a school-wide assembly.

Blogging Challenge

I always love a challenge, especially if it gives me an excuse to avoid housework, LOL.  I met Larry Fliegelman when he worked as a principal in nearby Boxford.  He has since moved to Vermont, but keeps in touch with many colleagues through twitter.  He has posted a challenge to blog 14 times in the month of February (#14inFeb). http://t.co/J4XpUyQL  Larry, you're on!

I started blogging after attending the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association conference last May.  I was inspired by meeting other administrators who were enthusiastic about using twitter to develop a PLN (Professional Learning Network).  I jumped on board and began reading tweets from educators across the globe.  Since tweets are limited to 140 characters, I love being able to read many snippets in a short time.  I find it helps me stay abreast of things happening in the education field.  I often stumble upon links to interesting blogs, podcasts and videos.  The past nine months have been not only enlightening, but also very validating.  I've read so many postings about the need for educators to focus on creativity, communication and collaboration, it made me realize how cutting edge we are as a school district with our multi-year focus on embedding 'Habits of Learning' in all k-12 classrooms.

Modern technology has helped educators across the globe connect in ways never before possible. Below is a chart from the traffic page of this blog.  Would you believe it been viewed by people from as far away as Latvia and Malaysia?  How exciting to think that teachers in other countries might borrow our idea to dress up as fact triangles and rack up 'Math Fact Power Hours!'

Pageviews by Countries United States 4,579 Russia 77 Germany 69 Canada 36 France 30 Australia 29 United Kingdom 28 Latvia 27 Ukraine 21 Malaysia 10