Have a great break

I hope this break treats you fabulously; you each deserve every moment of it. Take plenty of time to sharpen the saw, and come back rested and ready to continue to provide our students with all they deserve. What a great end to 2017: WE are QUEST. 

The Giving Tree Update!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Giving Tree this year. We were able to help bring holiday joy to 8 families at QUEST and provide gifts to urban choice charter school, Rochester Early College international school and School # 25. This will also be in the January Q & A so all of the families are aware. Thank you for your generosity and putting smiles on kid’s faces. 

Break Heads Up

Over break I am going to Disney with the family and will not be checking email--an attempt to be completely balanced! If there is something urgent that you need support with, please know you can still reach me, but please do so by calling me or leaving a message at the school (Hannah is working a few days).

I hope you take the time as well to shut down your mind. The work we do is tiring, and staying balanced can be a challenge. Take plenty of time for you!

Article Share

The linked article below was shared with us at leadership and was asked to be shared out. As we inch toward a collective understanding or RtI in the new year, our approaches to collaboration will be crucial. Working collaboratively as a PLC (professional learning community) who embarks on cycles of inquiry will eventually become necessary--I have a feeling we will be great at this as we already have a very strong collaborative foundation.

Feel free to reach out to your content leaders, or me, with any reaction you might have to the article that was shared.:

Check it out!

BUILDING HOURS OVER BREAK

Saturday, December 23: CLOSED
Tuesday, December 26: CLOSED
Wednesday, December 27: 6-5:30 PM
Thursday, December 28: 6-5:30 PM
Friday, December 29: 6-5:30 PM
Saturday, December 30: CLOSED

Idea for February 1st...schoolwide DEAR time:

http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

Positive Calls

I have made over 45 positive phone calls this year. Keep me busy next week! Do you have a kid I can call about? Have a child who needs a positive call before heading into break? I would encourage you to submit their name, and reason, using the link below:

CLICK HERE TO SPREAD SOME GOOD

A Laugh

One of the best parts of my job is getting to witness kids doing acts of kindness. Yesterday, I had a student hand me a little package he created. I smiled, high-fived him up, told him his kindness brightened my day, and sent him on his way. I sat down at my desk, opened it, and had to laugh.

Don't worry, I gave it back and called his mom to tell her what a great son she has.

During this fast-paced, stressful time of year, I would encourage you to notice. Stop and notice how much these kids look up to us. Stop and notice what incredible influence we have.

WE are QUEST!

Keep on keeping on...make a difference!

One week left. I know it gets tiring this time of year, but never underestimate the difference you make. 

Weather and Outside Activity

I've had a few questions this week related to outdoor recess in the winter. There are some requirements we must follow based on weather, but mostly we operate with "guidelines."

Requirements: 

Guidelines (not required, but encouraged): 

• Please make sure parents are aware if you are taking kids out in the snow. With it being illness season, this is all the more important. If a child is fighting something and the parent rather them not be outside with the class, please make sure there is an alternative option for the child.
• Encourage snow pants and snow gear when playing in the snow. 
• Equipment is open as Mike and his team are required to inspect all equipment regularly. Please use your best discretion with this.
• Be extra cautious related to snowmobiles. Our security director has been working with the Sheriff, but this can be hard to catch. Please be sure to exit the building first, and when possible exit away from the east side of the school. This seems to be where they are speeding past.

If you have a child that does not seem to have hat and gloves, or boots, but you are feeling like it could be because of a financial burden, I would encourage you to reach out to Val to see if there is anything we can do to help. 

Karen and John need...

K, primary, and elementary teachers,

John and Karen need one level meeting at some point in January to take a look at your needs--which they are calling a needs assessment. When they come, they will ask you some general questions to consider related to instruction and assessment. I have no doubt you all will have great ideas.

If the admin. team person could reach out to Karen and provide her with a time in January, that would be greatly appreciated.

Intermediate, much love for you all, but this is a pre-k-2 needs assessment (with elementary added because that is where the kids go), so you do not need to have them come in.

Thanks,
Derek

One School One Book

If you would like to represent your level for One School One Book please plan to attend a planning meeting Friday December 15th at 8 am in the library (treats provided)!  We are considering several classics.  Please RSVP to Stephanie if you plan to attend: 

The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Winnie the Pooh 

And dreaming big...WILD ROBOT RETURNS!  I am in touch with Hachette as last year they gave us a 60% discount.  

Screenagers

I was able to view the documentary Screenagers today.  I have attached a link to the trailer.  I thought it was very well done and a must see for all parents.  The district will be having a community screening with a discussion panel on January 10th at the high school 7-9pm.   Mark your calendars!  I would highly recommend attending.  It made me think about how we use technology in our classrooms, how as a parent my husband and I help to manage the use of devices in our home, and how multi-tasking, gaming, social media and screen time impact our brains and how we manage our lives.  It will be well worth your time! (Call up some friends and attend together.  You could make a night of it and grab some dinner in town first!)

-Brenda

Here is the movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQx2X0BXgZg

SCREENAGERS (Official Trailer) www.youtube.com SCREENGERS is an award-winning documentary that probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including the director's own, and depicts messy struggles,...

Be Vulnerable?

Heavy video alert!

Brene Brown is a writer and researcher who has done extensive work around the idea of vulnerability. Although her TED talk is long, I would encourage you to put your feet up this weekend and give it a listen. While you listen, consider:

• What role does vulnerability play in your life and who you are with your colleagues?
• How can you put yourself out there? Do others "see" the real you?
• How does this apply to kids?
• What shame do you hold?
• How do we give kids a sense of belonging here at QUEST?
• How do you teach emotion regulation? 

Reminders

• We have a shared calendar. I would encourage you to take a weekly look at it! 
  
• Joy shop begins next week. 
• Don't forget to complete those Global Compliance Trainings! I'd encourage you to complete them before the holiday--wouldn't it be great if QUEST was the first building to have it done, similar to BEDS? :)
• The budget request can be found on the blog (top). This is for aidable AND any larger purchases you'd like to have considered. Even if we can't make larger purchases immediately, having a list is helpful to a principal so that we can spend on those items when money is less tight. I'm here if you have any questions about the form.
• Two weeks until the holiday break. Make it count! Every kid. Every classroom. Every day. Keep in mind that as we get closer to the holiday, some kids may struggle with the idea of break. This can present itself in a multitude of ways.

Reminder OSOB meeting Fri Dec 15th 8 am library. :)

CIA Change of Plans

Next Tuesday we have our next CIA meeting. Originally, this was going to be all about values; however, being new my planning failed me a bit. We need to review our current budget as we are in the process of planning for next year's school budget. In addition, we also have Barb and Jon Miller coming--Barb to help us with the SLO forms and Jon to give you an FYI about a survey. We will start right at 7:45 so that we can squeeze it all in!

We will continue solidifying our values in January. I will say, however, that community is CLEARLY a core value. That much is clear from all the findings.

Joy

We are hard at work creating a month of JOY here at QUEST. Although Joy is not an IB Profile, finding joy, creating joy, and having joy is one of the richer treasures in life. The process of finding it can be just as rewarding as acquiring it. The best part? Joy is a choice.

This month I am not doing a Principal's Challenge--I know, celebrate--but I would encourage you to find ways to create joy with your colleagues. Joy is a choice, and if you ever need to see what it looks like, just notice how our kids engage with one another--joy will likely be present in most positive interactions. This time of year also brings daily, natural examples of joy.

Thank you for being such a passionate, sincere, and authentic learning community. Thanks for spreading your joy, and your love of learning, to our kids. WE are QUEST!

Keyboarding FYI From the Office of Instruction

As you know, the results from the keyboarding survey indicated that most of you believed that direct keyboarding instruction was best for the success of our students. After an analysis of several keyboarding reviews, examination of features, and recommendations from other districts, the Office of Instruction has decided to utilize EduTyping. For the second half of the 2017-2018 school-year, we have decided to use this program with all of our students grades 3-8. After this year, we will be reaching out to you for your input, as our plan is to continue using EduTyping with grades 3 and 4. The revised ELA/Literacy standards state the in grades 3 and 4 explicit instruction in the area of keyboarding is required.

Key Features of EduTyping:

·       Web-based to enable students to practice at school as well as home

·       Two levels of curriculum—elementary and secondary

·       Elementary: row-by-row method with high frequency and sight words integrated 

·       Secondary:  traditional method of touch-typing and includes a series of interactive lessons that integrates updated pop culture content

·       Includes practice, games, tests and immediate feedback for students

Next Steps:

·       Due to the differences of how technology is allocated and organized at each school and grade level, your building principal will be reaching out to you in the near future to discuss the specifics of where, when, and how.

·       

In order to ensure success we are recommending that students practice keyboarding 3 times a week for about 10-15 minutes, which may include what the students do at home.

·       If you want to explore the program….which includes a free trial….here is the website: https://www.edutyping.com/

A Look Ahead

Why QUEST?

Thank you to Mr. Moon for being our next person to respond to the Why QUEST prompt. Enjoy his response below.

Why do I value QUEST?

·      I love the small town feel. The fact that I can know and interact with every student and teacher in the building is something that is very special to me.

·      I love how our graduates turn out when they leave this building. I have the pleasure of coaching kids at the middle and high school levels and there is something different about a kid that went to QUEST. They really do imitate the IB attitudes and learner profiles.

·      I love the community and traditions that have been developed over the years. I find it awesome that kids can be a part of days such as thanksgiving feast, the sled race, science fun day, field day, and exhibition. You will not find those things at any other school.

·      Finally, I love the way kids treat each other here at QUEST. Older kids will help the younger kids by doing things such as tying sneakers, reading, holding their hands and walking them somewhere if they are lost. By being a positive role model, it creates excitement and motivation by all students to help each other.

Shared Calendar

To help us stay organized, we have added a shared cal. in one of the SharePoints. Thanks to Hannah for going in and adding dates from various documents. The video below explains it.