Hello December!

Welcome back, everyone! I hope you had a restful break. It's hard to believe that December is almost here! We have just three school weeks left in 2020 and I look forward to 2021 with hope and anticipation of a new year. Starting December 7th, we will kick off the Waggoner Ten Days of Cheer! I had fun reimagining this since we are virtual this year. A big bag of cheer will be ready this Friday the 4th in the office for all staff, packed with ho-ho-holiday fun. I hope you feel appreciated all year round! Below is a sneak peek of the ten days, and a December Padlet to post to :)

December Birthdays!

December 8th Angela Hofstrand

December 13th Kathy Lester

Dates & Details

December 2nd No staff meeting - makeup Discretionary Time from last time. 

December 4 Report cards go home this week

December 4 Laura Numeroff Zoom! One link for all Zooms... I will send out to families also! EVERY child receives a book!

https://wintersjusd-org.zoom.us/j/98003889133

Times: 

9-9:30 TK/K
9:40-10:25 with 1st and 2nd
10:25-10:55 coffee/chat with staff

December 9 & 16 kids all asynchronous learning - safety training days and hybrid classroom setup time (more info to follow)

December 7-18 Waggoner 10 Days of Cheer! 

December 15th Holiday Hats & Headbands Spirit Day!

December 18th Bling It On Spirit day!

December 18 Data due to spreadsheet add here

December 19th Winter Break

Laura talks about her latest book Raising A Hero here:

Add your Gold Stars below!

World Kindness Day

Today is World Kindness Day! On this day that looks a little dreary outside, I hope you are finding joy in the little faces on your screens and that love and kindness comes your way today. This is not an easy time to be an educator or just a person navigating this world. Sending virtual hugs your way. 

Also, I want to be sure that you know as much as we love our work, your people are the most important. I am here to support you. If you need to take care of family, the answer is always yes,  at a moment's notice, and if you need help with anything please let me know. 

Robin Preiss Glasser is coming to Waggoner this Wednesday!

9:10-9:50 TK / K ZOOM

10:00-11:00 1st and 2nd grade ZOOM

I have ordered 16 hardback copies of Escape Goat, plus 60 assorted paperback Fancy Nancy Books and I will draw one name per class who attends for Escape Goat and 20 random names per grade of the Fancy Nancy paperbacks. The Zoom link is below, and also in the teacher/staff calendar.  I have also emailed you some images and pdfs to send to families. They are also linked here: TK/K or 1st and 2nd.

All students will get a Laura Numeroff book when she visits in December. 

Robin Preiss Glasser visit details below:

From Robin: Since The TK/K group is shorter and they're little, I won't take questions, I'll just show them my slides which have pictures to look at and then read the book Escape Goat to them. If they want to do a project ahead of time, they can show me what they made, and I will ooh and ahh, and everyone can take photos of their screens. One school had all the little ones color on napkins to make kerchiefs and the kids held those up for me to see. Or they can just draw pictures of goats or lambs or their favorite farm animal and hold those up for me to see.

***For 1st and 2nd grades, here is a  video of me reading the book to share!***

From Robin: The 2nd session is longer and they are older. I'd love them to read the book ahead of time (Escape Goat) and be prepared with questions for me about the themes in the book, like telling the truth, and taking responsibility if you make a mistake. Or they can just ask me questions about making books. It's good if they have prepared a question ahead of time and the host (is that you?) can call on them so there is some order to it. ***Please have kids prepare questions - you can choose one from your class to send me and I will call on as many per grade as I have time for--- Jennifer
Happy Birthday to you-- November!1 Zoe Adams
7 Laura Macay
8 Christine Carlisle
9 Nicole Saporito
14 Carrie Graf
22 Joanie Bryant
23 Stephanie Hernandez

Dates & Details

November 18  Robin Preiss Glasser Zooms!

9:10-9:50  TK / K Zoom 

10:00-11:00 1st and 2nd grade Zoom 

https://wintersjusd-org.zoom.us/j/91594510109

November 18 - Discretionary Time (brief staff meeting at 1:30 to check in)

November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break

December 4 Laura Numeroff Zoom! 

December 4 Report cards go home this week

December 9 & 16 kids all asynchronous learning - safety training days and hybrid classroom setup time (more info to follow)

December 10-18 Waggoner 10 Days of Cheer! 

December 18th Bling It On Spirit day!

December 18 Data due to spreadsheet add here

December 19th Winter Break

Add your Gold Stars below!

Bring on Fancy Nancy!

Robin Preiss Glasser is coming to Waggoner November 18th!

9:10-9:50 TK / K ZOOM

10:00-11:00 1st and 2nd grade ZOOM

I have ordered 16 hardback copies of Escape Goat, plus 60 assorted paperback Fancy Nancy Books and I will draw one name per class who attends for Escape Goat and 20 random names per grade of the Fancy Nancy paperbacks. I will send that info and the zoom link this Friday! 

All students will get a Laura Numeroff book when she visits in December. 

Robin Preiss Glasser visit details below:

From Robin: Since The 1st group is shorter and they're little, I won't take questions, I'll just show them my slides which have pictures to look at and then read the book Escape Goat to them. If they want to do a project ahead of time, they can show me what they made, and I will ooh and ahh, and everyone can take photos of their screens. One school had all the little ones color on napkins to make kerchiefs and the kids held those up for me to see. Or they can just draw pictures of goats or lambs or their favorite farm animal and hold those up for me to see.

***For 1st and 2nd grades I will make a video of me reading the book to share! -- Jennifer (this will be done by Tuesday)***
From Robin: The 2nd session is longer and they are older. I'd love them to read the book ahead of time (Escape Goat)  and be prepared with questions for me about the themes in the book, like telling the truth, and taking responsibility if you make a mistake. Or they can just ask me questions about making books. It's good if they have prepared a question ahead of time and the host (is that you?) can call on them so there is some order to it. ***Please have kids prepare questions - you can choose one from your class to send me and I will call on as many per grade as I have time for--- Jennifer ***

Info to share with kids: 
Robin Preiss Glasser has had two careers, the first as a professional ballet dancer and the second as a children’s book illustrator. With over 100 books to her credit, and winner of the Children’s Book Council’s “Illustrator of the Year Award” in 2013, Robin is best known as the illustrator of the Fancy Nancy series. Books in the series have been on the New York Times Bestseller list for more than 330 weeks, selling over 43 million volumes. Nancy now stars in her own Emmy-nominated Disney television animated series that premiered in 2018.
Lambslide, and Escape Goat, written by international best-selling novelist Ann Patchett, are Robin’s most recent books.
Robin has two grown children, Sasha and Benjamin, and lives in San Juan Capistrano, California, with her husband, attorney Robert Berman.

Here is a video where the Author Ann Patchett & Robin Preiss Glasser share about their latest book, Escape Goat!

 

Happy Birthday to you-- November!
1 Zoe Adams
7 Laura Macay

8 Christine Carlisle

9 Nicole Saporito
14 Carrie Graf
22 Joanie Bryant

23 Stephanie Hernandez

Dates & Details

November 11 - No School / Veterans Day & No staff meeting

November 18  Robin Preiss Glasser Zooms!

9:10-9:50  TK / K Zoom 

10:00-11:00 1st and 2nd grade Zoom 

https://wintersjusd-org.zoom.us/j/91594510109

November 18 - Discretionary Time (brief staff meeting at 1:30 to check in)

November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break

December 4 Laura Numeroff Zoom! 

December 4 Report cards go home this week

December 9 & 16 kids all asynchronous learning - safety training days and hybrid classroom setup time (more info to follow)

December 10-18 Waggoner 10 Days of Cheer! 

December 18th Bling It On Spirit day!

December 18 Data due to spreadsheet add here

December 19th Winter Break

Add your Gold Stars below!

Happy November! #thankful

And just like that, it's November! November is one of my favorite months- I love fall leaves, family, and cooking. I also love the spirit of Thanksgiving and really focusing on finding things to be thankful for. Each day, I try to post or share one thing I am grateful for. Some days are harder than others, for sure. Today, I am grateful for our Waggoner team! I love how you all come together, whether it's dressing up for a fun event or digging deep to provide the best for our kids and families. Happy November! May your days be filled with things to be thankful for!

Have a wonderful week!

November Birthdays!
1 Zoe Adams
7 Laura Macay
8 Christine Carlisle
9 Nicole Saporito
14 Carrie Graf
22 Joanie Bryant
23 Stephanie Hernandez

Dates & Details
Oct 26-Nov 8 Waggoner Book Fair continues
https://www.scholastic.com/bf/waggonerelementaryschool
November 3 9:00-10:30 Jennifer @ Leadership
November 4 K-5 ELAC on zoom 6-7 PM
November 11 No School - Veterans Day
November 18 Robin Preiss Glasser is coming!
November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break
December 4 Laura Numeroff is coming!
November 21-29 Thanksgiving Break
December 19-January 4 Winter Break

Add your Gold Stars below!

Calling all y'all Waggoner Witches!

This is what I imagine us looking like at Friday's Witches Wave. Ha! 

Don't forget to dress your witchy best this Friday! Which witch is which???

Let's say cheers to fall with a TGI Thursday! Steady Eddy's is now open late Thursday through Saturday with expanded outdoor seating. Carla says it's not too busy between 3 and 5 so I would like to invite you to meet up downtown Winters this Thursday if you are free. Their new nighttime menus are below. We'll be outside in the fresh fall air! All the regular coffee and tea drinks are available too. 

Feeling a little like this?

We have continued to talk about wellness and all of the stress in our work and lives right now. Sometimes self care seems like just another thing we have to DO. I mentioned this Brene Brown podcast with the authors of Burnout and I loved the list of seven things to do to complete the stress cycle. It seemed like something manageable. Like I feel like I can at least make time to breathe... thank you Christine for your meditations. Anyways, just passing on the list and the link in case you'd like to check it out.

https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-emily-and-amelia-nagoski-on-burnout-and-how-to-complete-the-stress-cycle/

Here are some relaxing sounds for you to enjoy this week. 

This week's Waggoner Wave! https://wagwave.blogspot.com/2020/10/lots-of-fall-news.html 

Dates & Details

Oct 26-Nov 8 Waggoner Book Fair 

https://www.scholastic.com/bf/waggonerelementaryschool
October 27 9:00-10:30 Jennifer @ Leadership
October 28 No Meeting - Happy birthday Kristina!
October 29 TGI Thursday at Steady Eddies 3:00!
October 30 Halloween Drive By Parade! 8:30-9:30 & 9:45-10:45
November 11 No School - Veterans Day
November 18 Robin Preiss Glasser is coming!
November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break
December 4 Laura Numeroff is coming!
November 21-29 Thanksgiving Break
December 19-January 4 Winter Break

Add your Gold Stars below!

Pioneers, Shout Outs & Stress Relief

This week I would like to first give a special shout out to our amazing intervention team! Thank you so much for your hard work and collaboration to get intervention up and running in this virtual world! It has been incredible to watch all of the different ways you have innovated and organized everything to get our intervention kids connected for additional support. You are truly venturing into a new frontier ahead of us and we look forward to learning from you as we move towards grade level wide differentiation in November. We are so grateful to have Jill, Juli, Nan, and Inez! I am excited to share that Jill will be here on a long term basis through at least December, and also am thrilled that Inez has had her time increased to 75% recently. That has been a long time coming. Thank you, ladies! 

Also, another shout out is needed for Connie and Carrie who are our pioneers for in-person instruction. Thank you for going first! This tiptoeing in with a tiny group of kids allows us to test it out on a small scale and ensure we have the safety protocols in place. I know it's still scary. I am encouraged by the success of the childcare program and am anticipating this will also go well. Masks will be worn by all. 

Finally, a shout out to Christine for the guided meditation on Wednesday. We appreciate your support of our wellness! To add to Christine's work, I have also included a brief video below to de-stress this week! 

Dates & Details

October 20 9:00-10:30 Jennifer @ Leadership
October 20 12-3:30 Jennifer at DO interviews Computer Support Specialist
October 20 3:45-5:15 CAIT
October 21 iReady PD 2nd grade 9:30-11:30
October 21 Professional Learning 1:30
Oct 25-Nov 8 Waggoner Book Fair
October 28 Professional Learning: DBE Meeting / EO Vertical Articulation 1:30
October 30 Halloween Drive By Parade! 8:30-9:30 & 9:45-10:45
November 11 No School - Veterans Day
November 18 Robin Preiss Glasser is coming!
November 23-27 Thanksgiving Break
December 4 Laura Numeroff is coming!

Sweater Weather

The leaves are starting to change, the weather is cooler, and it feels like boots and sweater weather! I hope your weekend was filled with beauty, pumpkins, and rest. Sweater weather is just better! What is something that made you happy this past week? Leave a note in the comment section at the end of the blog.

October Birthdays!

6 Yisenia Gonzalez

10 Lucila Escamilla

11 Kristie Oates

28 Kristina Keola

World Mental Health Day 

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day and I listened to a few podcasts on my walk. One theme that kept popping up is how important it is to find to find things to be grateful for, and. the more we look for positives the more we will see. One of the podcasts also talked about the importance of anger - it is an emotion that motivates us and gets us going, but also that it is not an energy we can sustain. Another idea that resonated with me was that self care isn't about feeling happy or finding joy all the time, but rather allowing ourself to feel all of our feelings.  

On the topic of gratitude, this Ted Talk from 2011 is one I thought you might enjoy. It's just six minutes long.

Nature’s beauty can be fleeting -- but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day.

Dates & Details

October 12 WAEA Board Candidate Forum on Zoom 7:00 PM

October 12 Indigenous Peoples' Day

October 14 SIPPS Zoom PD 9-12 (pre registered only)

October 14 Professional Learning 1:30 

October 15 Board Meeting 6 PM

October 20 9:00-10:30 Jennifer Leadership

October 20 12-3:30 Jennifer at DO interviews Computer Support Specialist

October 20 3:45-5:15 CAIT

October 21 iReady PD 2nd grade 9:30-11:30

October 21 Professional Learning 1:30

October 30 Halloween Drive By Parade! 8:30-9:30 & 9:45-10:45