Randolph School Notes for January 18, 2013
KINGS OF THE PERFECT SCORE!
In bowling, it’a a 300.
In baseball, a grand slam.
In football, a Super Bowl win.
In Custodial Services, it’s a 4 out of 4 that makes a perfect score!
Congratulations to Robert Mounce, Stan Minchow, Nick Thomas and Al Boyd, our Randolph custodians, for ONCE AGAIN earning a perfect score on the building’s annual (surprise) inspection! Because of their care and service, our school is a clean, safe, healthy place to learn and grow! Hats off to these “Kings of the Perfect Score”!
ELL FLEX SESSION
We’ve enjoyed coming out to all of your buildings and sharing the flex session ELL Essentials. Every elementary building has had the opportunity to participate in the session as a staff. However, we know that for one reason or another that sometimes doesn’t work out. If you’ve not had the opportunity to take this required flex session, we’re offering it one more time on February 7th in the Calvert Elementary Multipurpose Room from 4:15 to 6:00.
If you haven’t taken this session, please click here to register.
Thank you for the opportunity to share about ELL!
Holly Tracy, Molly Williams, and Michelle Story-Koh
CALENDAR
Jan. 22 Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
Katie, Erin, Josh, Krsitin C., Kelly V., Deb F.
Jan. 22 Family Reading Night! 6:30-7:30 p.m. Grades K, 1, 2
Jan. 28 School Improvement Process (SIP) Committee meets 8:10
Jan. 28 Principals Curriculum Council 12:30-4:30
Jan. 29 PLC EARLY OUT at 2:18
Jan. 29 ZUMBA is coming! All classes will participate in Zumba exercise and dance on Tuesday. Everyone should wear their gym shoes and get ready to ZUMBA!
Jan. 30 Teachers in grades 5, 4,3 meet with Dr. B. and Mrs. Bushaw
for instructional conferences—note change of day to WED.
Jan .30 Staffing Conference at LPSDO for 2013-24; 1:15-2:45.
Jan. 31 Teachers in grades K, 1, 2 meet with Dr. B. and Mrs. Bushaw
for instructional conferences—note change in day to THURS.
Feb. 5 Professional Community Meeting 4:00 All staff invited.
Feb. 7 Multicultural Fair Planning Committee meets 6:00!
Feb. 21 and Feb. 26 Parent Teacher Conferences—Check your times now!
Remember, we’ve scheduled brothers and sisters’ conferences back to back for family convenience! Plan to attend and participate!
Feb. 22 Lefler and Grade 5 Staff Members meet 4:00 at Randolph
March 2 BIST District Workshop at Randolph: “I Wasn’t Trained to Do This!” Working with students with mental health needs. 8-4:30 Saturday. Cost = $60.
First three Randolph staff to email Dr. B. get in free!
LOVE and LOGIC MOMENTS
(Two for the Price of One This Week)
Teaching Empathy
You hold the door for your spouse, and your children are watching.
A child at the grocery store drops his toy, and his mother has her hands full, so you bend to pick it up and offer it to the child. And your children are watching.
It’s a snowy morning, and your older neighbor is struggling to clear the driveway to get to work. So you and your son grab shovels and help her.
Your daughter is waiting at the bus stop with her friends. When the bus arrives, the kids start to climb aboard, but one girl drops her backpack and books spill out onto the ground. Although she was almost ready to get on the bus, your daughter goes back to help her friend. They pick up the books and laugh, and climb aboard the bus.
Watching children develop empathy for others is such a delight. Empathy opens the door to understanding others, appreciating differences, noticing, and caring. It is the antithesis of self-serving, whiny, and narcissistic behaviors. Daniel Goleman calls empathy “the foundation of all emotional intelligence.”
Empathy is noticing how another person is feeling, and for a moment standing in his or her shoes. It requires a calm and caring state of mind, and is a step that precedes service to others. In our busy lives, it is sometimes difficult to let go of our own pressing worries and consider the perspective of another.
Helping our children develop the capacity for empathy is one of the great gifts we can offer them. In Stand in My Shoes: Kids Learning About Empathy, children can learn directly how to use empathy in their lives.
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.
Bob Sornson
Putting An End to Homework Battles
Far too many parents find themselves mired in un-winnable power-struggles over homework…battles that damage parent-child relationships result in further resistance to learning and they steal joy.
There’s good news! With some practical tips, we can enjoy cooperative kids while building a life-long love of learning:
- Prevent resistance by providing choices within limits.
Of course, only give choices that will make you happy regardless of what your child decides. For example:
Do you want to work on math first or reading first?
Would you like to do the odd problems or the even ones?
Would you like to read sitting down or standing up?
- When your children get resistant, allow them to learn by refusing to.
Refusing to do a homework assignment can serve as a more important life lesson than the content of the assignment.
The next time your child gets resistant, experiment with walking away from the table and saying:
I love you too much to fight with you about homework.
I’ll be happy to help when I see that you want my help.
- Let their grades be their grades.
When their grades are poor, be sad for them. Using empathy rather than anger dramatically increases the odds that they’ll actually feel bad about getting bad grades. When this begins to happen, the consequence comes from inside the child…rather than us having to provide one from the outside. In my book, From Bad Grades to a Great Life (now available as an e-book) I provide a variety of additional strategies for helping kids develop this type of internal drive.
- Build them up in their strengths.
Kids who make a lot of mistakes also need to experience plenty of success. That’s why it’s so important to encourage them to spend time and energy on their strengths. Celebrating their successes cements our relationship and gives them the courage to tackle the tough stuff!
Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.
Dr. Charles Fay
My Plate: Grains
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
Grains are any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or another cereal grain. There are 2 different sub-groups of grains: Whole grains and Refined grains. My plate recommends making at least half of your grain intake whole grains.
What counts as an ounce?
1 slice of bread
1 cup ready-to-eat cereal
½ cup of cooked rice, pasta or
cooked cereal
Goal- 5-6 ounces a day