Sunday, March 29

Hello Stoneridge! 

I couldn't do it. I could not resist the urge to share another blog post today! Ha!
Actually, I was so focused on the logistics of getting materials to parents that I neglected to review the expectations for lesson planning. 

I will be meeting with your PLC's on Monday and Tuesday, as scheduled. During those meetings, I will be going over the lesson plan guidelines in detail. In the meantime, look at the Distance Learning website. They have templates for you to use. 

Distance Learning Website

The expectation is that you send me your first two weeks of lesson plans by this Friday, 4/3. After Spring Break, you will be staying one week ahead with your lesson plans. The lesson plans should be similar to the template provided. If you want to use a different format while including the same pieces, that is ok. See below for clarification:

Starting the week of April 12th, every Sunday you will upload to your google classroom five daily lesson plans (one for each day of the week).  Each daily lesson plan should consist of the following:

Morning Message:  A positive video of you explaining the activities to be completed that day. 

Clear Learning Targets: Well designed Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are still key in guiding student learning.

Lesson Plans: Detailed daily lesson plans for your contents areas.  Teachers should be using district adopted curriculum for the majority of core lessons.  

K-5th should include daily Reading, Writing and Math lesson plans.

Check for Understanding: A way for students to synthesize their learning for the day. Can be digital or paper/pencil.  

Daily Optional Activities: Additional recommended activities that teachers can share to support the work of the week or day.

I know that is a lot. I know all of this is a lot. Please please please read the message below and take it to heart. Let it be your guide through all of this. 

For Monday and Tuesday, I will have the staff room/office set up for you to drop your materials off. There will be a table with your name on it. I am pretty sure it will be spread out all over the office. I am having parents bring bags with the child's name and teacher on it, mostly because I want the parents to give me something with the information I need in order to keep the process moving efficiently. If you want to have your things bagged and ready to go, that is completely fine! 

See you Monday and Tuesday! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions! 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Friday, March 27

Hello Everyone!

First and foremost, thank you for yesterday. It was seriously, the best day ever!! The kids and families were over the moon to see each of you. Thank you to Melissa and Jenny for figuring out the route!
And a HUGE thank you to Tamberlyn for being the Timberwolf. The kids went nuts for the Timberwolf and I know that cute outfit was not easy to wear!! 

I have information about next week that I wanted to share before Sunday. I am doing it BLOG style so the format is familiar. As a disclaimer, there is a possibility that I will not be doing a BLOG this Sunday. However, with the way things are changing, I may have a lot to share with you by then. 
Just keep you hands and arms inside the ride at all times and HANG ON!!! 

I wanted to give you a little guidance regarding material distribution next week. As you saw, you may come to campus Monday and/or Tuesday to get materials prepared to go home. What should be sent home: Those Core materials needed for instruction through May and children’s eyeglasses. There should be very few copies being made if you are using the core materials. Less is more!

In the work room, people should Wash-in to copy and Washout. PLCs should try and be aligned, if possible. On Monday or Tuesday, I need your help getting things arranged for distribution. I will be distributing from the front of the school in a ‘drive through’ fashion.

If you could please: 1) Bring the materials to the staff room where I will have a label for your class. 2) Clearly label items with the student’s first and last name. 3) Arrange them in alphabetical order by last name. I am going to request that parents bring a bag to put items in. I will be sharing all of this information with parents. Here is the Parent Letter. Please share it with your parents on Monday afternoon. I will be emailing it Monday morning. Let me know if you have any questions about this process.

Upcoming Meetings: We will have our scheduled PLC meeting on Monday and Tuesday. We will not have a staff meeting this week. I have already changed the date of our meeting to April 15. There will not be any meetings during the Spring Break week. Access to Campus: Please do not access campus without notifying me. Maintenance is monitoring our every move on campus and it adds additional pressure on them if people are on campus and they do not know about it ahead of time. 

Ok, that is all for this 5 minutes. Have the BEST weekend! Turn off the computers and put your feet up for a bit. I know that navigating through all of this can feel like the weight of the world is sitting on your shoulders.

Sunday, March 22

Hello Stoneridge!

Just a quick blog post today.

First, I am super excited about the teachers/staff parade on Thursday. Luisa is helping get a map of our boundaries and then, Melissa is going to help figure out what our adventure will look like! It will definitely be a special and memorable event!
Reminder: It is this Thursday at 1pm.

I am looking forward to checking in with each of the PLC's this week and will have updates for you. 

If you need to access campus, let me know. We have to coordinate with the maintenance department. 

If your students have had trouble logging onto things, the DO has been working hard to create videos and 'how to's' to help troubleshoot. 

Things should get smoother as we keep moving forward.

Thank you for all you are doing! 

I leave you with a little extra motivation:

Sunday, March 15

Happy Sunday Stoneridge! 

First, an important change. Admin is meeting tomorrow at 3pm and they have asked us to change our staff meetings to Tuesday. You are still expected to report tomorrow, but I do not have any specific guidance as to what you should work on. I will send an email if I learn anything different. Also, I do not have a time for our meeting yet but will let you know as soon as I do. 

Please see this message from Brené Brown, my fave. A reminder that we are 'All is this TOGETHER' and some advice for how we can all get through this scary time. 

Surviving this crisis will take a shift in mindset, and that’s tougher than we think - especially when we’re afraid.

Fear and anxiety can drive us to become very self-focused. This global pandemic is a real case of “getting sick together” or “staying well together.”

Our choices affect everyone around us. There is no such thing as “individual risk” or “individual wellness.”

This is the ultimate reminder that we are inextricably connected to each other. Turning away from collective action right now - as tempting as it is - will only generate more pain.

Owning and embracing our global interconnectedness (from a safe distance) and thinking about others as we make choices is, ironically, our only path to safety for ourselves and the people we love.

We can all get really shitty really fast when we’re afraid. I get it. I’m using deep breaths along with my personal mantra: ” Try to be scared without being scary.” Feel free to borrow both - they can help.

It’s also really normal for everyone to be on our nerves: The people who aren’t following the rules, the 10-second hand washers, etc. I get that too. TRUST ME.

But, like it or not, we just can’t give up on people. We’re all we have.

Stay awkward, brave, and kind. Love each other. Spread calm.

xo,

BB

What strange waters we are wading through. We will just take one day at a time and keep moving forward. 

First and foremost, the only thing I know right now is that things are changing by the minute. I started this blog at 2pm and the information has changed 3 times since. 

I know you all have at least a million questions and I am sorry that I do not have many answers right now. 

I am going to send a message to families letting them know we will be sharing more information later this week. If you could please share with your families that breakfast and lunch will be served on Monday and Tuesday at the normal time. I will also share that information, but messages from you are a safer bet. 

If you had a student absent on Friday and they want to get work, let parents know you will be in touch with a time to pick it up sometime this week. That is one of the details we are trying to work out. 

During this time, remain calm, flexible and remember that there are only so many things we can control. Focus on those. Answers to the other things will come in time. 

Don't hesitate to reach out with questions. 

Sunday, March 8

Happy Sunday Stoneridge!!

Rest up and get ready because......

We can do it!!

Thank you to all of you that attended Benefit for the Arts!! And thank you to those who were not able to attend. Regardless, of whether or not you were there, you worked hard to promote the event. It was a HUGE success and totally RAD for sure! 

Now, for some disinfecting news. 
On that note...

Do you notice a theme?? 

Just a reminder to have your students pull the chairs away from desks and tables. You could have them line them up, if you wanted. The custodians are directed to only mop the floors once a week. 

My son's teacher sent a message asking for parents to send in individual supplies for their child so they do not have to use the community items. Another teacher asked for donations of hand sanitizer. Just throwing those out there as ideas for you. 

REMINDER: Tomorrow is the Baked Potato Staff Luncheon!

Coming Up This Week:
Monday, March 9
Baked Potato Luncheon
8:50 Flag Ceremony

Tuesday, March 10
8:00am House Teacher Meeting
4:00pm RTA Executive Meeting

Wednesday, March 11
9:15-12:15pm 2nd Grade Field Trip to Roseville Theater of Arts
3:30pm PBIS Tier 1 Meeting
5:00pm Costa Vida Spirit Night

Thursday, March 12
Brooks Off-site 9-12pm
3:30pm SSP Meetings

Friday, March 13
Phil Tulga Assemblies
9-10am Preschool-2nd grade
10-11am Grades 3-5

Have the BEST week!!! 

March 1, 2020

Welcome to March! It is crazy to think there are ONLY 3 months left. And in those 3 months we have Benefit for the Arts, Open House, the musical, testing, Carnival, the many end of the year activities and more! It is going to FLY! 

In that time, we will also be working on setting our vision for next year and the years to come. Many of you tell me you want to see Stoneridge cohesive and wonderful like it used to be. There is one thing I can tell you, and that is Stoneridge will never be like it used to be. We have new staff, new students and new leadership. That being said, I can ALSO tell you that we are an excellent school and that we will grow to be even better. 

With our grade level changes we have bridged gaps between grade levels by opening relationships, expanded expertise to different grade levels, moved personalities to age groups where they will thrive, and spread the gift of experience to touch more students. 

When I look at our grade level teams, I am thrilled by the potential! 

What I ask each of you is: Are you willing to be part of the story? Part of the group that embraced change, dug in and did the hard work. The group that moved us from where we are now to where we are headed. I have no doubt that each and every one of you is capable.

I have said it many times before--I am excited for what is to come and working to get there with YOU!

This Friday is Betting on the Arts!! Dust off your 80's gear and get ready to party! Please remember to add your availability to the sign up that Stephanie shared. Thank you again to Stephanie and Sara for being the teacher representatives.

This Wednesday is our Data Discussion Day. Here is the Schedule

PLC time this Monday is to look at your daily schedules. In this time, I would like your grade level to revisit the activities you do, including the time for rehearsing/practicing. Is there a place to add back instructional minutes? Also, look at your field trips. What is the tie to the standards? Do more than one grade level go on the same field trip? Next week, I will be sharing a grid to add up weekly instructional minutes.

Coming Up This Week:
Monday, March 2
8:50am Flag Ceremony
4pm AFG Committee Meeting

Tuesday, March 3
3:45pm SSP Facilitators meeting

Wednesday, March 4
MTSS Data Discussion Day
3:30 Staff Meeting- The focus will be PBIS and some FUN to go with it!

Thursday, March 5
3:30pm SSP Meetings

Friday, March 6
3rd Grade: A Touch of Understanding
1:15pm House Meeting
6pm Benefit for the Arts