Lakeview News February 12, 2016
Welcome to the Lakeview News
The goal of the Lakeview News is to show the joy and learning that happens every day at Lakeview (including Tessa and Sam in Ms. Ferries' class above). You can access archives for the PTSA-produced Leopard Tales newsletter, as well as view an archive of both the Leopard Tales and the Lakeview News, at the links below:
The Joy of School
Here are a few of our favorite scenes since our last Lakeview News (tap/click to enlarge):
Peter (Lailey) and Mr. Thatcher as 100-year-olds on the 100th day of school.
Kai (Johnson) rocking Reflex Math! (Reflex is provided by the Lakeview PTSA)
A group in Ms. Edwards' class earns Ming the Panda for being "That Group."
Josh (Essig) leading the class in a movement activity during music.
4th Graders in Ms. Friend's class create stories together with Story Cubes.
Leadership and Service at Lakeview
School is about educating the whole child, in academics, yes, but also in leadership and service. There are many informal ways that we recognize and encourage leadership and service, including our Bucket Drop program, 4th/5th grade helpers in the lunchroom, Big Buddies, and the Spirit Stick. We also have more formalized programs, like ASB Leadership and Safety Patrol.
We are looking at ways to broaden the leadership and service umbrella at Lakeview, to create additional opportunities for formal and informal service at Lakeview. One of the programs we are bringing back to Lakeview starting this week is Kid Coaches. Kid Coaches, which goes through an application process like ASB Leadership and Safety Patrol, are 4th and 5th graders who volunteer their lunchtime to help supervise, prove minor conflict resolution, and mentor kindergartners and 1st graders on the playground every day.
Informally we have added the PAWs reward program which recognizes four classes each week for their example during morning line-up, lunchtime, specialist, and all three categories combined. We have completed two weeks of the PAWs program, with eight classes (four selected each of those weeks) who earned at least all "blues" (the top category) in the categories above which were recognized over announcements and who received a class set of bracelets mirroring the category they were recognized for:
- Yellow - Lunchroom
- White - Morning Line-Up
- Blue - Specialist
- Mixed - All Three Categories
Watch for Lakeview students wearing PAWs bracelets and let them know you are proud of their example and hard work. We will continue looking for new ways to build leadership and service opportunities into the every day Lakeview experience!
Update: The Lunchroom
Starting February 1st, we implemented several new lunchroom procedures and want to thank you for partnering with us! We are already seeing significant improvements in the tone, flow, and climate in the lunchroom. Thank you for helping us standardize lunch carts through the Amazon wishlist.
As your student has hopefully shared with you, a major new feature of the lunchroom is our clean-up song that cues students that lunch is ending and to be quiet for furthering instructions. Our incredible music teachers, Ms. Lindgren and Ms. Brackett, adapted a wonderful song and taught it to all of our Leopards. You can hear a recording of the song below, and if you are like me, you'll find yourself humming it when cleaning up at home:
Eat up. Eat up. It's time to finish up. It's time to go so don't be slow! Eat up, eat up, eat up!
Clean up. Clean up. It's time to get cleaned up. It's time to go so don't be slow! Clean up, clean up, clean up!
Line up. Line up. It's time to get lined up. It's time to go so don't be slow! Line up, line up, line up!
Listen up. Listen up. It's time to listen up. It's time to go so don't be slow! Listen up, listen up, listen up!
Teacher Collaboration Update (PLC)
In our continued focus on collaborative best practices at Lakeview (a process we call PLCs, or professional learning communities) we recently revisited our commitment as a staff to collaboration and the progress we are making school-wide. We watched a video that reminded us our one-room schoolhouse roots and how collaborative instructional planning is the critical next step for our school:
If you would like to read more about the PLC model you can find more information, evidence, and resources at:
A Thank You from Ms. Crane
Ms. Crane, our school secretary and registrar, recently completed the first initial push of kindergarten registration, registering over 60 families in a single day. That would not be possible without the help of volunteers, she wanted to share the following:
A very special thank you to Tana Carpita and Karee Oliver for rounding up volunteers for Kindergarten Registration! Thanks to the following people for giving your time that day to make everything run smoothly...Meika Leffler, Lale Giray, Cheryl Geels, Bryanna McCorckle, Rachelle Kortus, Frederieke Adriaanse, Allison Sheffer, Kjerstin Ferullo, Tracy Bumgarner, Jennifer Wilson, Alia Khalil, and Feng Xiou. I appreciate you ALL!
We truly could not do it without you. Thank you!
How to Raise a Creative Child
The New York Times recently ran a story about helping your child's creativity thrive. Researcher Adam Grant found that the 1) practice does not necessarily translate the ability to adapt and grow into new situations, 2) motivation has to come from the child, not the parent, for true progress to be made and maintained, and 3) creativity is most common in people who have a broad range of interests.
In summary the article advises us as parents:
“Hear that, Tiger Moms and Lombardi Dads?” Grant concludes. “You can’t program a child to become creative. Try to engineer a certain kind of success, and the best you’ll get is an ambitious robot. If you want your children to bring original ideas into the world, you need to let them pursue their passions, not yours.”