Guide My Feet

So grateful that we don't run this race alone!

The 2014 CEA Convention. Such an incredible experience. I was challenged, stretched, affirmed, blessed, and I grew! I hope you found enrichment as well. We've worked hard to get to this point in the school year. You communicated so well with parents through report cards and parent/teacher conferences. Thank you for putting in sooo many long days leading up to these events that are so critical to the growth of our students. Having these events behind us, I found it such a great time to spend praising God, praying with and for our colleagues and learning together. I hope God blessed, refueled and refreshed you as well!

Sister School-Eagle College

Now that we have conferences/report cards behind us, I wonder if you may be able to find time to have your students write a card or pen pal style letter to a student in our sister school, Eagle College. The students at this Christian school live in a world with a great deal of violence, and we were told they hold very little hope for their future. The teachers who visited South Side hope that by our children reaching out to their children, we may be able to offer a glimpse of God's love, grace and hope for a bright future. They may be able to enrich our children with language and culture details along with reciprocating this budding relationship. Please remember to pray for these children and their teachers as well. 

SPARK 

SPARK is finally taking shape! When the contacts have been finalized, we'll send you a schedule of events for your class. I'm eager to get this train out of the station, particularly in a year when we are unpacking "Love Does". 

Shall We Vote?

November 4th we are voting for governor in the state of Michigan. Shall we hold a mock election here at South Side in the art room? Can we flesh out the details tomorrow?

Dan's Visit

Dan will be visiting South Side on Monday. He's hearing loads of awesome stories about all the great learning that's been going on in our classrooms. Please, don't stress about preparing a dog and pony show! Let's show him the great things we do every day! 

Speaking of Greatness...

Some of the best professional development we can experience is just by observing each other working in our sweet spot: the classroom. There is such a wide variety of gifts each of you bring to your students, I'm eager to help you glean gems from each other. In the next few days, please reach out to a friend/teacher who you have very seldom seen. Let's get both of you into each other's classes. I'll sub in your rooms and let you see the beauty that is happening in the walls of South Side. If you don't reach out to someone, we'll draw names from a hat :)

Paper/Digital

During conferences, you asked parents if they preferred paper or digital report cards. Would you please send your data to me so we can make an informed decision reporting to parents as we go forward? 

Thank you!

Love Doers

Sandy led us in devotions on Wednesday morning by sharing the beautiful life story of a Love Doer: her mom. Sandy's mom lived her life being the loving hands, feet, smile and heart of Jesus right here in this broken world. Where she saw sadness, she brought joy. Where she saw loneliness, she brought friendship. Where she saw hunger, she brought food. Where she saw lice, she brought shampoo and a vacuum cleaner. Where she saw hurt, she brought love.

From Matthew 25

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Sandy humbly went on reflecting on her own life and wondering if she offers enough love to the world as her mom's whole life had exemplified. I'd like to remove my South Side "worker" hat and replace it with my South Side "parent" hat, if I may, as I attempt to answer that question. Sandy and our entire South Side staff, YOU ARE LOVE DOERS to our children, to our families and to our greater community. THIS is your mission field. South Side needs YOU to bring the best of your gifts. God has gifted each of you richly with the knowledge and ability to develop children's academic abilities, but he has also blessed each of you with HUGE, SOFT hearts for young children. You have responded to God's call in your life. You hug children in celebration, and you hug children in tears. You read with children who are excelling, and you read with children who are still stretching. You play with children in a group, and you play with children who are all alone. You greet children excitedly who enter our building full of confidence and excitement, and you greet children gently who enter our building full of anxiety and uncertainty. You pray over our children, you pray over our families, you pray over each other. YOU ARE LOVE DOERS! 

Cameron came into the office at the end of the day on Friday wearing this note around his neck. Now, mind you, I've been passing plenty of these notices out and they are nothing new to me. But, let me tell you, to see one around the neck of my own child who proudly shared the story that his teacher had observed, I was overcome with emotion, proud of my boy and we felt LOVED by his school and by his teacher. At that moment, Cam's 'God Glorifying' tag trumped anything and everything I would have found in his Fun Friday Folder. As a parent, I thank God every day that YOU are partnering with TJ and me in raising and loving our children with our eyes and hearts on God. As a teacher, I thank God every day for the relationships that go beyond mere friendships, but take on the role of a true extended family. As a principal, I thank God every day for a staff who pours their hearts, time, efforts and willingness to make sacrifices all over the place to love and grow our children. I pray that God would give you the strength needed to plow through the wonderful/tiring week that lies ahead. Please take this cookie because it's important. You are answering God's call to work in this mission field. YOU ARE LOVE DOERS! 

Speaking of the week that lies ahead

First and Second grade teachers, please send home report cards with students' Friday Folders. We'll already have your envelopes stuffed with the paper cards and the question prompts for your families. If they ask, the cards are available online via powerschool as well. 

Conferences

Please note that first and second grade will be giving parents the Discovery scores. Remind parents that if there is a discrepancy with the Discovery score and the work and assessments you are observing and recording in the classroom, these scores are one piece of the picture of the whole child. Please refer further concerns to me. I like it under the bus from time to time (kidding-I do welcome the questions and conversation).

New this year, please ask your parents (again, only for first and second grade teachers) if they prefer to receive the report cards digitally or on paper. Rather than responding to the squeaking wheels, it's wisest to gather some feedback and data. This is not meant to be a conversation so you may need to curb the discussion back toward the students' work and growth if the parents wants to convince you one way or the other. This is asking for only simple feedback. This data will be helpful in how we deliver the quarterly growth statements in the future.  

If you'd like, here is a suggested outline that all elementary teachers will use as a reference to guide our conferences:

Kevin Kammeraad

As has been South Side's tradition, we try to get in a "brain break" for everybody in the midst of the parent/teacher conference flurry. Kevin will be here to delight and enrich our students on Tuesday, October 21 at 10:30. He should wrap things up around 11:15. I will be in an admin meeting so Amanda Bohle will open and close the assembly. Thanks, Amanda!

CEA

Don't forget to sign up for lunch on the white board in the staff center. Enjoy the opportunity that we can eat more than an apple in two bites and force it down the gullet with a splash of water. 

Also, please note that after closing ceremonies on Friday early afternoon, you are free to begin your well-deserved report card-free, post-parent/teacher conference weekend!!!! Can I get an AMEN!

Dates for your blog:

Upcoming Events

October 21 - Kevin Kammeraad @ 10:30 All are welcome!

October 21 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:20-8:40 PM

October 22 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 3:00-8:40 PM

October 22-24 - No School - Conferences/CEA Convention

October 30 - Picture Retakes

November 27-28 - Thanksgiving Vacation

Sheri!!! We're praying for you, Sister!!!!

Praise Him, Praise Him All Our Little Children!

Be still my heart! So much love in this faces and energy in these waving hands! That we have been called to spend our day growing these special little people, as whole children and as children of God, is humbling, exciting and exhausting. Thank you for coaching and leading our students through another heartfelt Grandparents' Day! 

There's not a lot of new information to share with you this week (did I just hear a sigh of relief? ;) 

Report Cards

We will begin printing report cards on Thursday, the 16th, so please try to complete your class's cards by 8:00 on Thursday morning.

Varsity Basketball Players Visit

As your students are eating lunch on Tuesday, the 14th, we will be visited by the high school basketball team to invite students to join the Little Maroons. This will require nothing of you, other than an unsurprised look on your face when the basketball team overtakes your room at lunchtime for a few minutes.

Upcoming Events

October 21 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:20-8:40 PM

October 22 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, 3:00-8:40 PM

October 22-24 - No School - Conferences/CEA Convention

October 30 - Picture Retakes

November 27-28 - Thanksgiving Vacation

This, That and the Next Thing

Need a binder for that ebook? Enough said! ;)

Grandparents Day Practice:
Next Wednesday, October 8 at 12:30 (second grade, we'll need you to have 2nd bell...sorry!), we have one more Grandparents' Day practice. In this final practice, we'll put the whole beautiful program together. If it's raining, we'll be on a pretty tight schedule to get in and out of the gym in time for HC2 to take over at 1:15. We'll try to run through the practice from beginning to end before 1:15.

Park at Maranatha
So that we can maximize parking for our grandparents on Thursday, the 9th, please plan to park your car at the Maranatha Church parking lot on the 9th. This will free up at least a few more spots for our fleet of Grandparents that morning.

Kevin Kammeraad: Tuesday the 21st at 10:30 Kevin will be coming with his team to South Side. This program will last about 45 minutes.

EpiPen Training
Hendrina, our school nurse, is required to give us a refresher course on epi-pen use. She'll only need about 15 to demonstrate the pens and allow us to practice. Please mark your calendars for October 27, Monday @ 3:30 for a 15-minute epi-pen training.

Monday and Tuesday
I will be out of the building next Monday and Tuesday, October 6 & 7, to learn more about a potential accreditation process for HC. I'll keep you posted on that front.