WAG May 1 #virtualvacation

It was fun hanging out and dreaming about future vacation plans! Plans were shared for everywhere: the beach, Scotland, Cuba, Mexico and more! Flat Camille is already traveling far and wide :) Angela was planning a big trip to the copy machine and staff mailboxes! Lucy won the morning with the best drink-- a fresh fruit smoothie in a fancy glass! Above, you can take a virtual walk on the Wailea Beach Path in Maui!
Hope you can join next week from 10-10:30. I'm still thinking about the theme for next time! Cheers to May!

Dates & Details

Lots of May birthdays to celebrate!
1st Sandy Donaldson -- 2nd Jennifer Kloczko -- 11th Inez Sanchirico --12th Betsy Bryan -- 19th Shonda Childs --24th Jamie Hanna & Jaleea Paminsan -- 26th Tracy Murrin -- 30th Christina Peterson & Nicole Brace
May 4 10 AM Second grade team Zoom

May 4 1 PM First grade team Zoom

May 5  2:30 TK / K team Zoom

*these are weekly standing meetings for your team - looking forward to joining you!
May 8 Virtual Spirit Day-- pajama day! Fun Friday for May 8th will be Disney!

May 6 Teachers- staff meeting 1:30-3 (Zoom)
May 13 Staff Appreciation Virtual Event
May 15  Class Placement cards and PGC Reflections due (info coming Monday 5/4)
May 20 Teacher - staff meeting 1:30-3 (Zoom)

Potty Posts: Inspiration from the staff restroom #thanksconnie



A Bit of Encouragement
Lori SaboIssue #616

“I need help!”
The plea held a tinge of panic. I looked over to see my five-year-old friend perched halfway up the rope ladder. She had changed her mind mid-climb and was feeling insecure about the descent.
I walked to her side.
“I think you can do it. Just move your hands down a bit so you’ll be able to hold on while you lower yourself to the next rung.”
She scooted one hand down, then the next. Then she gingerly let her right foot search for the rung below. Her left foot followed.
“That’s it. Now do the same thing again.”
Hand. Hand. Foot. Foot.
She repeated the steps until she reached the bottom.
“See?” I said. “I knew you could do it by yourself.”
“I kind of needed some encouraging.”
And just like that, I thought, Don’t we all.
We are four weeks into online school, and the expectations for teachers and students are really ramping up this Monday. As the workload increases, we are asking questions like,

Are we supposed to teach new content or just review?
What do we do about the students who don’t have a device?
What about those who aren’t coming to the meetings?
What about my students who are used to having one-on-one support?
How do we grade fairly?
There are so many equity issues, how do we do all of this fairly?

And the panic begins to settle in. Like my little friend, I want to yell, “I need help!”

But if we don’t allow panic to reign, if we can slow our breath and still our heartbeat, we too can focus on the incremental steps to get us where we want to go. It doesn’t have to be fast, and it doesn’t have to be graceful. Just hand, hand, foot, foot. I’m not sure what that looks like for you, but a little encouragement can go a long way. So, consider yourself encouraged. We’ve got this! And don't forget about this resource that might provide welcome support.