May 1 – 5.  STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK:)

May 4. Lindemann PTA Mtg. 6:30 PM.  Art Room.

May 8. 6:30 PM. Kindergarten Roundup.  7:00 PM. Board of Education Mtg.

May 16. Lindemann 4th/5th Grade Spring Concert.

May 19. Lindemann Carnival 6:30 – 8:30 PM

May 24. 7:00 PM.  PTA/PTSA Council.  Lindemann Elementary

May 29.  Memorial Day.  No School

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Our Children all Need Great Teachers Like You

You once had a choice
And you chose to teach
And every day
It’s our children you reach

You make the difference
In the life of each child
Those that are quiet
And those that are wild

It’s the way that you teach
You do it so well
They look up to you
And think you are swell

You teach from your heart
That’s plain to see
They think you’re divine
And we all agree

Please never forget
And remember it’s true
Our children all need
Great teachers like you

We appreciate you
And we value your time
And if you should forget
Please re-read this rhyme

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Autism Awareness Event–Success!

I want to commend and congratulate Pam McGuire, Ann Persinger, and especially, our 8th grade student, Braden Albright.  Saturday afternoon, all of their planning and hard work came together. The weather cooperated and we had an amazing turnout.  The sheer number of volunteer students and adults was impressive.  Thank you Mike Darga and Guy DesJardens and all of the staff that came out to support our Autistic Students and Autism Awareness.  It looks like we may get a nice News Herald story written up as well.

TO VIEW PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yubck03818zk093/AAAokcbWgcoH_BMvNfkzqOmja?dl=0

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Happy Friday!

As you may have heard, Mr. Rimsa (My husband), visited our class to teach the kids about nutrition and health. Mr. Rimsa is currently obtaining his Doctorate at the University of Michigan to be a Nurse Practitioner. He brought us an entire set of sight word readers as part of the My Plate program from the USDA. Yesterday, we focused on eating a balanced meal in general. We will go more in depth each week as we focus on fruits, veggies, grains, proteins and dairy. He also brought in a special stethoscope, and alcohol wipes =), so that the kids could listen to his heart. I have attached a few photos and will be uploading more to our Shutterfly Account. Check them out!

Also, this week is Laboratory Scientist Week! I sent Ms. Houpt, Ms. Blake and Mr. Steve (the dragon maker) flowers from our class.

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13 Ways to Simplify Your Life

How often do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed? I sometimes feel like I have at least a hundred things going on. Work, family, my social life, my daily responsibilities, goals, blogging- it’s easy to start feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all. Next thing I know, the mail is piling up because I was distracted when I got home and instead of putting it away, I just threw it on my kitchen counter, I have at least 10 emails to reply to, laundry to do and two blog posts to write. It’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed.

I never considered myself a very organized person. I do love to clean, de-clutter and organize, but I always felt like things went back to being messy in no time. I call it an “organized mess”- it’s also something that I’m constantly working on changing. Getting rid of everything that you no longer have use for, things just sit and collect dust, things that maybe could be of some use to someone else- these are all things that make life so much easier.

CLEAN AS YOU GO

Wash your mug right after you finish your coffee- don’t let the dishes pile up. Do your bed right after you get up in the morning. Open the mail as soon as you get home. If you do these things “as you go” you will notice that you won’t have to spend a lot of time constantly cleaning and throwing things away, looking for things.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

Don’t waste your time for people who aren’t good for you or people whose company you don’t enjoy. Don’t be afraid to cut ties if you feel that the relationship is toxic. Your time is precious, make sure to spend it with those you care about- not those you don’t.

UNSUBSCRIBE

I have a tendency to immediately subscribe to blogs and websites, if I happen to like them at a first glance. Truth is, there are very few of those newsletter emails that I actually read. Once I unsubscribed from a whole bunch of them, my inbox is much neater and a lot more pleasant to browse through.

DE-CLUTTER

Get rid of old things like clothes, dishes, electronics, magazines, furniture,  old makeup– donate what you can. If there are some pieces in your closet that you’ve been keeping for years in hopes that you get to wear them some day- get rid of those, too.

WRITE DOWN YOUR SMALL GOALS

I’m talking about small goals like getting your workout in, finishing reading that book, organizing your pantry, etc. Writing things down can help you get them done, especially when you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start; write down a list of things and start with whatever task you dread the most.

SCHEDULE YOUR “EMAIL TIME”

I try to avoid replying to emails right away (unless it’s something urgent, of course)- it can be very distracting, especially when you get as many emails as I do. I try to schedule some time twice a day when I go through my inbox and respond to emails.

FORGET MULTITASKING

It’s stressful and most of the time you’re not as productive as you would be, if you were to focus on a single task.

CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

This can be life changing. If you find yourself rushing out the door every morning, being in a hurry, getting an early start can give you more time to do things like sitting down and writing down your to-do list, preparing lunch and getting ready for the day.

RE-EVALUATE YOUR COMMITMENTS

Out of all your responsibilities and hobbies, which ones are of most importance to you? Home life, social life, work, side-work, family, any pastime activities- if there’s something that you don’t love doing or it doesn’t give you value, give it up- if you can. Pay close attention to what you do with your time.

Don’t feel obligated to say “yes” to things you don’t feel like doing. Don’t feel the need to explain yourself- if you don’t want to do it, just say no.

CLEAN UP YOUR DIGITAL MESS

Decluttering is also important when it comes to your digital life. Delete any apps you don’t use, any documents you don’t need, close those tabs. Old school papers, old photos; if you store anything important on your laptop, transfer it to an external drive.

STAY ORGANIZED

Have a place for everything, and put everything back where it belongs. This will make your life much easier.

PLAN YOUR DAY AHEAD

Know what to expect, plan ahead and you will feel more organized and will find time to do pretty much everything. Write to do- lists and set yourself small daily goals that will help you stay on track.

We live in times, where we’re constantly connected, we constantly have something to do and it’s important to know how to slow down. Keeping things simple is no longer… simple. It’s important that you value your time and spend it doing things you need to get done and doing things you love doing. De-cluttering, getting rid of anything that doesn’t serve you will help you simplify your life and feel more at peace. It’s hard to admit it, but sometimes you just can’t do it all. And that’s okay; focus on the things that matter the most.

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7 Great Ways to Use Google for Education

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 / GOOGLE / 1 comment

7 Great Ways to Use Google for Education

GUEST POST BY: Ben Russel

The Google Apps for Education services were first introduced ten years ago. They aimed to increaseinnovation, participation, and creativity among the students and teachers. Since then, Google has worked hard to improve many of their educational products. Google Apps such as Google Hangouts have revolutionized the general view of what an app should do today. Recently, Google has launched a new set of applications called G SUITE for education that seeks to improve the schooling system. Below are some of the educational apps included in the package and how they can be effectively used to improve the education system.

1. Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a simple search engine that is designed to explore scholarly and educative material correctly. It is free to use and can be easily accessed by a student, teacher or parent at any given time and location. Students can take advantage of its great features to enrich their literature knowledge. It allows students to search various forms of research material, be it books, journals, articles or other works of literature. It can display links to original books and articles from the libraries. Also, any student can save the acquired material and reference for future usage.

2. Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a learning platform for institutions and schools that seek to simplify creating, grading and distribution of school work in a digital way. This program aims to remove the tedious process of learning and also minimize the usage of papers and books used in our classrooms. Google Classroom takes advantage of Google Drive features in creating and distributing schoolwork. Furthermore, it can be paired with Gmail to enhance communication among students, school faculty, and parents. Google Classroom makes it easy for the teachers to plan their schedule and communicate effectively to their students and parents.

3. Gmail

Communication between students and teachers has never been easier thanks to Gmail. Gmail is among the best, secure, powerful and free mailing clients on the Internet. Most people use Gmail for business purposes, but it can also be used to enhance education. It is a very effective tool to any teacher, student or parent because it offers online storage, device synchronization and email alerts. Schools can use Gmail to easily relay important messages to their students, parents and the school staff. Report cards and school assignments can be easily and quickly submitted through Gmail. Also, as seen above, Gmail can be combined with more Google education apps to improve productivity.

4. Google Alerts

Browsing through the Internet looking for one piece of information can be frustrating to most people, but not anymore. Google Alerts is a simple tool that allows one to get notifications and emails on topics of interest. It can be a great tool for students when it comes to working on a theory of knowledge essay, for instance, keeping up with current events and just monitoring anything on the web. Like many of Google apps, this application is free, and it is available to anyone interested. Also, this app can be paired with Google Calendar which is also a great tool for both students as well as teachers. It is more versatile than most other calendars providing different features that enable one to create reminders, organize his/her schedule and also share your events with friends and family. Google Calendar can be synchronized with all of your diverse devices such as smart phones, laptops and tablets; this enables you to keep track of any activity marked in the calendar. It is a nice way to keep yourself on track and meet your goals as planned.

5. Google Books

Years ago we had no choice but to visit a library if we needed a book, but now things have improved and we have Google Books. Google Books is a book search engine, and it provides searches of full-text, magazines, and books that Google has collected over time, scanned and converted to text. The books are usually furnished by the publishers, authors or through the Google Books Partner program. Google Books is a useful resource for students who do not have access to a library and also to teachers who are planning their lessons, and they need a quick reference.

6. Google Hangouts

As mentioned above, Google Hangouts is one the most powerful applications. This app offers free video conferencing, voice calls and messaging services. It is freely available to teachers and students. Google Hangouts allows one to communicate with up to ten users at the same time. It also allows remote communication between a teacher and a student; this means that the teacher and the student can be from two different places but still able to communicate and learn. Teachers can help their students on projects, or he or she can pair up students to work on the same project together. Besides, Google Hangouts gives a teacher the freedom of easily inviting guests to give power speaks to the students through video conferencing.

7. Google Drive

The final and perhaps the most powerful of all apps is Google Drive. It is an online digital file storage that allows one to store documents and other files. Google Drive is so much more than a cloud base storage; it packs a lot of important features that are a must-have for any student or teacher. Some of these functions include:

• Google Docs – Google Docs is a powerful word processing tool that is built in Google Drive. It gives one an ability to create, edit and save any Word documents online. One does not have to spend a lot of money buying word processors such as Microsoft Word.
• Google Slides – Google Slides is more like Microsoft PowerPoint; it gives one an ability to create presentations.
• Google Sheets – This is another tool inside Google Drive that provides spreadsheet functionality; it is more like Microsoft Excel.
• Google Forms – This is a simple program that allows one to create surveys. A teacher can use this program to evaluate the students’ moral, attitude and skills.

As observed above, all these apps have different roles to play; if well utilized by a student, teacher or school in general, they can transform the education system for the better. The advancement of technology has provided new and effective ways of improving our intellectual ability. Many tools are at our disposal and we only have to take advantage of them.

Ok, I was getting a little hungry and took a break from the blog and started looking up recipes.  So, if anyone gets bored and wants to make a cake (please save a piece for Mike D.) here’s the scoop on how to make TEXAS SHEET CAKE!!!  YUM!!!

Texas Sheet Cake

Mason requested a chocolate cake for his birthday and so I knew it was the perfect time to try out this recipe for Texas Sheet Cake.  If you’ve never tried this kind of cake before it’s a really moist, thin cake with a delicious icing.

Here’s What You’ll Need…

– 2 cups flour

– 2 cups white sugar

– 1 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 cup sour cream

– 2 eggs

– 1 cup butter

– 1 cup water

– 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

– 6 tablespoons milk

– 1/2 cup butter

– 4 cups powdered sugar

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– Step 1 –

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

– Step 2 –

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Beat in the eggs and sour cream.  (It will look really thick… that’s okay!)

– Step 3 –

Melt the butter (1 cup) on low in a saucepan.  Add the water and 5 tablespoons of cocoa and bring it to a boil.  Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly (like a minute or two) and then pour it into the egg/flour mixture.  (At this point it will look thin – but that’s okay!)

– Step 4 – 

Pour the batter into a prepared 10×15 sheet pan.  You can grease and flour it or use the PAM baking spray.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

– Step 5 –

For the icing you’ll want to melt 1/2 cup of butter on low heat and then when it’s melted stir in 6 tablespoons of milk and 5 tablespoons of cocoa.  Bring it to a boil, remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

(At this point you can add in 1 cup of chopped walnuts.  I omitted them because it was for the kids)

– Step 6 –

Pour the frosting over the warm cake and spread it evenly.

And ENJOY!!!

– What You’ll Need –

– 2 cups flour

– 2 cups white sugar

– 1 teaspoon baking soda

– 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 1/2 cup sour cream

– 2 eggs

– 1 cup butter

– 1 cup water

– 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

– 6 tablespoons milk

– 1/2 cup butter

– 4 cups powdered sugar

– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

– Step 1 –

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

– Step 2 –

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.  Beat in the eggs and sour cream.  (It will look really thick… that’s okay!)

– Step 3 –

Melt the butter (1 cup) on low in a saucepan.  Add the water and 5 tablespoons of cocoa and bring it to a boil.  Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly (like a minute or two) and then pour it into the egg/flour mixture.  (At this point it will look thin – but that’s okay!)

– Step 4 – 

Pour the batter into a prepared 10×15 sheet pan.  You can grease and flour it or use the PAM baking spray.   Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

– Step 5 –

For the icing you’ll want to melt 1/2 cup of butter on low heat and then when it’s melted stir in 6 tablespoons of milk and 5 tablespoons of cocoa.  Bring it to a boil, remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

(At this point you can add in 1 cup of chopped walnuts.  I omitted them because it was for the kids)

– Step 6 –

Pour the frosting over the warm cake and spread it evenly.

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WORDS OF WISDOM

Thank you to Dr. Hall for sharing this great article on our beloved profession!

From https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201704/the-future-nation-depends-teachers

April 25. 1:00 PM MTSS Lindemann Team Mtg. 6:00 PM Superintendent’s Honors Dinner

April 26.  7:00 PM.  5th Grade Band Concert. Center for the Arts.

April 27. 5:00 PM. 5th Grade Basketball Game

May 1 – 5.  STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK:)

May 4. Lindemann PTA Mtg. 6:30 PM.  Art Room.

May 8. 6:30 PM. Kindergarten Roundup.  7:00 PM. Board of Education Mtg.

May 16. Lindemann 4th/5th Grade Spring Concert.

May 19. Lindemann Carnival 6:30 – 8:30 PM

May 24. 7:00 PM.  PTA/PTSA Council.  Lindemann Elementary

May 29.  Memorial Day.  No School

Final Walk Through

I will be coming around starting next week for the final round of walk throughs.  I’ll look at your schedules for things I want to see- final step will come after you have given the nwea and we have that data to sit down and sign everything.

Announcing our Popular Back-to-School Grant Round – with a New Twist! In recognition of the Meemic Foundation’s 25th anniversary, we are celebrating by funding our largest grant* round ever – $200,000 will be available to fund back-to-school needs for more than 1,000 classrooms and schools. And the exciting new twist? Foundation Club members that are currently employed at an educational institution can apply for funding for their classroom (with a $100 grant) and for their school (with a $1,000 grant). Our$100 classroom back-to-school grant helps fund classroom supply needs. With our $1,000 school grant, any Foundation Club member can nominate their current school, their child’s school, a former school they attended or a local school in need for the opportunity for back-to-school supply needs for the entire school! The grant funding must be used exclusively through our Office Depot® grant fulfilment website. What You Need to Know Application process for both grants is quick and easy Applications are due by May 31, 2017 All winners will be announced by July 7, 2017 The grant must be used at Office Depot, Inc. by October 31, 2017 You must be a Foundation Club Member to apply Apply for either (or both!) grants today. For more details, go to: PinoInsurance.com/BackToSchool Not a Foundation Club member? Register at PinoInsurance.com/Register

A Little About The Meemic Foundation Since 1992, The Meemic Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been supporting education excellence through funding programs and other partnership initiatives. Pino Insurance Agency Rochester: 128 E. 4th St. 248.608.0567 PinoInsurance.com

5th GRADE PARENTS

Mark Your Calendar!

MORE 5th GRADE

CAMP PHOTOS!!!

We have uploaded even more photos for our parents to view and download.

Please click on the link to check out these new additions.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/azpirn2zmqyjzfn/IMG_1130%5B1%5D.JPG?dl=0

Grade Level Scheduling for next year

You have all now gone through one year with your schedule and hopefully worked out the bugs.  The goals for your schedule should be:

• Common Language arts block (to accommodate tier work, practices like guided reading could be staggered- or at the same time depending how you view it)

• Common Math Time

• Common time for science/SS would help planning for the rest

• Within your common times, please review your current practices so that we can maximize instructional time.

• Review your morning arrival work- valuable on-task time is there for the taking.  We do not have preps until 9:30- What a great time to plan some grade level interventions!

• Please review the non-negotiables that were agreed to by the grade levels.  I should be able to see these practices going on in your room. In addition, the Workshop model has been implemented and will be part of the walkthrough evaluation next year, please reflect that in your planning.  Please let me know what materials and/or training I can provide to get us in the right direction.  Please highlight these items and their times in your schedules- that I would like to have to me by Thursday, June 15 in whatever format look you wish.  These will be shared with our new principal.

• If your grade needs additional time, please see me for some options, please remember the preps are common so as to offer time to meet among the grade- that can be an option

• Working with George, Mike Cip, Erica and Tina  should offer insight to build your schedule around instructional time, not when a student is pulled out.

Please understand that this starts to allow us to implement various degrees of tiered intervention in the classroom, grade level, and building.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions as we move forward.  I will have info on classroom placement for students very soon.  I understand that there may unforeseen obstacles that come into scheduling in the process, try and get as close as you can to the above.

K-5 non negotiables

Grade 2

ALLEN PARK HIGH SCHOOL
STATE CHAMPIONS

VARSITY COMPETITIVE CHEER TEAM!

Planbook

Planbook is an online platform where you can do your lesson planning and share back and forth with your peers.  Please see more info below and the video.  If you are interested, I would be happy to pay for a subscription for next school year.

10 REASONS TO LOVE PLANBOOK.COM

A little over a year ago, I tried something new…online lesson planning. Like most of you, I was used to writing down plans in a spiral bound lesson plan book. While that method is obviously time-tested, I’ve found that online planning offers some pretty impressive benefits when compared with the old standby. In fact, all three members of the Teaching Trio are loyal Planbook.com users!

Here are a few of my favorite things about Planbook…

1. Color code classes any way you want. Just because you skip the paper planner doesn’t mean your plans can’t be cute! Mine is a rainbow!

2. Attach files and web links for easy access. This is especially helpful now that our school doesn’t allow USB drives or Dropbox! I attach everything I am using to my plans, even if I already have copies or I know it’s on my school computer because…

3. View & copy last year’s plans. Talk about a time saver! Obviously, I’m not copying an entire year over (although it’s possible), but I do sometimes copy one unit that went really well. I love that I can use it to find attachments easier than hunting through all of my various drives too!

4. Templates save precious planning time. Enter all of those things you do over and over once, and never do it again! See my enrichment schedule at the bottom of the screenshot for an example.

5. Bump or Extend a lesson with 1 click. Planbook bumps all of your lessons forward or backward automatically when you do this. There’s even an option to lock a lesson so that it doesn’t get affected by a bump (for an assembly, etc.)

6. Share plans with teammates – My plans are shared with our SPED department so that they can easily see what’s going on in my class, and we can plan together. Nikki and I were teammates the past few years, and we would often share our plans with each other. They are easy to import in when one of us had planned a special unit.

7. Create and send substitute plans easily – I added a lesson plan tab called “Sub Notes” where I type in all of the little things that a sub needs to know (how to turn on the morning news show, when students leave the room for support services, etc.). These things are now ready to go anytime I need a sub, and I don’t have to re-type them over and over or copy and paste. I simply log in to Planbook (usually from bed, if I’m sick enough not to go in), “fluff out” my normal plans so they will make sense to the sub, and send the link to one of my teammates. The sub then has access to any printables, presentations, videos, or web links that s/he will need that day. Couldn’t be easier!

8. Common Core Standards already loaded. If you don’t use Common Core (we don’t), they will add them for you. Juliet had our standards added in a snap.

9. Easy to follow tutorials for everything you could ever want to do!

10. Awesome customer service! They are constantly improving based on our feedback. This summer, they launched an iPhone app (iPad app was already available) and made several other changes based on teacher requests.

Now for the nitty-gritty. Planbook is not free, but it’s cheap. $12 a year is less than most planners out there, for a lot more features. It’s 100% worth it in my opinion. If you aren’t sold yet, there’s a 30-day free trial, no credit card required.

FYI – I am not recieving any compensation for this post, I just happen to love Planbook!

Source: Orange County Democratic Women / Public Domain Photo; Glenn Geher at rally in Goshen, NY

Recently, I was asked to speak at an event focusing on the future of our nation. While there are clearly many approaches one might take to developing such a speech, my approach followed from my long-standing career as an educator. To my mind, more so than any other members of society, educators (of all kinds) are those among us who hold the responsibility of cultivating the next generation of citizens and leaders.

So if you are worried about the future of our nation, I suggest that you take a step back and think about the young people in your world. Because they are the future leaders of this world. And I suggest that you think about the many teachers that they will have during their decades-long education because these are the folks who will shape the approach of these young people to nearly everything.

I have been teaching college students since 1994 – and let me start by saying that I have very high expectations for my students. Sure, I want them to learn the content of whatever I’m teaching and write great papers and all that – but as someone who sees teaching as largely about shaping the next generation, my take on teaching always goes well beyond the classroom. In my work as a teacher, ultimately, I charge my students with the following:

I tell them that they are the future leaders of this world. And it is up to them to leave this world a better place because of their having been in it. If you are a student of mine, I tell you that your job here is ultimately to leave a positive mark – and I never let my students forget that.

Attributes of Great Leaders

So what kinds of attributes does one need to leave a positive mark on this world? What are the attributes of a great citizen and a great leader? If you want to be a great leader, then what qualities do you need to develop?

Here is a short list:

• You need to work hard – because there is no substitute for that.
• You need to be honest and transparent – because people need to be able to trust you.
• You need to be principled, having a strong set of guidelines that shape your actions – because people need to know where you stand.
• You should treat others with respect – because, at the end of the day, we are all in this together.
• You need to work well with others, in spite of differences – because people come in all shapes and sizes – and our leaders need to understand this fact.
• You need to be selfless – putting the needs of others before your own needs – because we don’t really need selfish leaders right now.
• You need to develop an approach to life where you are ultimately working for the greater good – just because …

To my mind, these are the attributes that we must require of our leaders. And we must not settle for anything less. And it is largely up to the teachers in our world to help cultivate these qualities in the next generation – for the good of us all.

Bottom Line

The future of our nation is less clear now than at any point that I can remember. As someone who focuses on practical solutions to problems, I’m not very interested in looking back – rather, I’m interested in how we, as a nation, are going to get back on track. I am looking forward. I’m interested in how we are going to come together as a people successfully in the future.

Toward this end, I say we look to our educators. Educators in the United States comprise a foundational resource for the future of our nation. If you are an educator, I say that you should always keep in mind how influential your work is in shaping the future of this world. And if you are a bright young person looking for a way to make a positive mark, let me tell you this: In the teaching professions, the potential to leave a positive mark on this world is enormous. You really can’t do much better than the field of education when it comes to having a significant impact on the future.

Concerned about the state of the world and interested in how you might be able to help build a brighter future? I say you do whatever you can to support education – the educators among us are those who are most directly building that future.

To all the teachers out there, I say this: Thanks so much for all of your selfless effort on behalf of both our children as well as the greater good. The world needs you right now more than ever.

************

Happy spring holiday season to all the readers of Darwin’s Subterranean World! Here is to a bright future for all of us!

Acknowledgment: Many thanks to the Orange County Democratic Women for inspiring this post by asking me to speak at their event this weekend – the civic action shown by this group is simply exemplary.

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APPS LIMITED SCHOOLS OF CHOICE PROGRAM for 2017-18

The Allen Park Public School District has established a successful Schools of Choice Program for the past several years and the Board of Education has approved continuation of the program for the 2017-18 school year for Kindergarten through 8^th Grade.  (Requests for specific elementary schools cannot be guaranteed)

Applications are available beginning Monday, April 10 at the Riley Education Center, 9601 Vine.  Completed applications will be accepted beginningTuesday, May 2 through Monday, May 22, 2017 from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. weekdays in the Pupil Accounting Office at the Riley Education Center.  Completed applications must be presented in person to ensure that all information is complete.  A random draw selection will be held on June 1 at 9:00 a.m. at the Riley Education Center.  The draw will determine numerical selection for acceptance of candidates.

We ask that you help us by sharing this information with friends and/or family members who may be interested in having their children become a part of the Allen Park Public Schools Family.

For more information about the Schools of Choice Program, please see the attached FAQ’s, visit our website at apps.k12.mi.us or call (313) 827-2105.

PRESCHOOL INFORMATION

If you have a child who will be 3 years old by September 1^st, 2017 or a 4 year old child, consider enrolling them in our Preschool Program.  Please come with your child to our Preschool Open House on Thursday, April 20^th, 2017 anytime between 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM at Lindemann Elementary, 9201 Carter.  You will be able to meet our teachers, experience our classroom centers, discover theme-based teaching, and make new friends.

Registration will begin for in-district residents on Friday, April 21^st, 2017 at 7:30 AM at the Riley Education Center, 14700 Moore. Out-of-district residents may begin registering Friday, April 28^th, 2017 at 7:30 AM.

Our office hours for registrations are 7:30 AM – 3:45 PM, Monday through Friday.

NO REGISTRATION WILL TAKE PLACE DURING OPEN HOUSE 

For further information, contact Kristy Caleca in the Preschool Office at 313-827-2662 or caleca@appublicschools.com

MARK YOUR CALENDAR – KINDERGARTEN ROUND UP

MONDAY, MAY 8, 2017 – 6:30 p.m.

at Arno, Bennie and Lindemann Elementary 

*Children who are five years of age by September 2 thru December 1 may only be enrolled for kindergarten at the request of the parent/guardian through a signed waiver process.  Waiver form is available at the Riley Education Center.

Kindergarten Information & Registration

Young Fives Information

 

Charity Basketball Game 2017

For the 10^th year in a row the Lindemann teachers will be playing against this year’s 5^th graders in a charity basketball game.  Each year our charity game raises thousands of dollars for a worthy cause.  We hope this year will be no exception.  The Muscular Dystrophy Association is our charity this year in honor of one of our 5^th grade students.  All the proceeds from the game will go to the MDA.

Admission is a suggested donation of $2 per person.  Doors open at 5:00pm.

The game is Thursday, April 27 at 5:30pm in the Allen Park Middle School gym.

This year’s game will already set a record for participation with 73 5^th graders and 19 teachers expected to play.  Come help us set a fundraising record too!

April 17. 9:00 AM Administrative Council Meeting.  7:00 PM Board of Education Mtg.

April 18. 10:00 am. Mike at Ediex Training (Riley).

April 19.  6:30 PM 5th Grade Middle School Orientation.

April 20. Mike @ Downriver Superintendents Mtg.   5:00 PM  Lindemann Science Fair

April 21. Mike @ WCSSA Superintendents Mtg.

April 22. Autism Walk @ Middle School

April 25. 1:00 PM MTSS Lindemann Team Mtg. 6:00 PM Superintendent’s Honors Dinner

April 26.  7:00 PM.  5th Grade Band Concert. Center for the Arts.

April 27. 5:00 PM. 5th Grade Basketball Game

Announcing our Popular Back-to-School Grant Round – with a New Twist! In recognition of the Meemic Foundation’s 25th anniversary, we are celebrating by funding our largest grant* round ever – $200,000 will be available to fund back-to-school needs for more than 1,000 classrooms and schools. And the exciting new twist? Foundation Club members that are currently employed at an educational institution can apply for funding for their classroom (with a $100 grant) and for their school (with a $1,000 grant). Our$100 classroom back-to-school grant helps fund classroom supply needs. With our $1,000 school grant, any Foundation Club member can nominate their current school, their child’s school, a former school they attended or a local school in need for the opportunity for back-to-school supply needs for the entire school! The grant funding must be used exclusively through our Office Depot® grant fulfilment website. What You Need to Know Application process for both grants is quick and easy Applications are due by May 31, 2017 All winners will be announced by July 7, 2017 The grant must be used at Office Depot, Inc. by October 31, 2017 You must be a Foundation Club Member to apply Apply for either (or both!) grants today. For more details, go to: PinoInsurance.com/BackToSchool Not a Foundation Club member? Register at PinoInsurance.com/Register

A Little About The Meemic Foundation Since 1992, The Meemic Foundation, a nonprofit organization, has been supporting education excellence through funding programs and other partnership initiatives. Pino Insurance Agency Rochester: 128 E. 4th St. 248.608.0567 PinoInsurance.com

APRIL 16-22, 2017

BE STORM SMART!

DO YOU HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE?

Basic Emergency Supply Kit:

• Water, 1 gallon of water per person per day for at least 3 days for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three day supply of non-perishable food
• Manual can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Special needs for baby, pets, the elderly and disabled
• Medical needs including prescription medication
• Battery-powered radio. Batteries for radio
• Flashlights and batteries
• First Aid Kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Important telephone numbers including utility company
• Local Maps
• Cell Phone with charger

Preparing for a tornado or thunderstorm:

• Plan ahead. Be sure everyone in your household knows where to go and what to do in case of a tornado or thunderstorm warning.

• Know the safest location for shelter in your home, workplace, and school. Load-bearing walls near the center of the basement or lowest level generally provide the greatest protection.
• Know the location of designated shelter areas in local public facilities, such as schools, shopping centers, and other public buildings.
• Have emergency supplies on hand, including a battery-operated NOAA Weather Radio, flashlight, and a supply of fresh batteries, first-aid kit, water, and cell phone.
• Keep a three-day supply of food on hand. Keep some food in your supply kit that doesn’t require refrigeration. For more information on food safety following an emergency, visit www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/poweroutage/needtoknow.asp.
• Make an inventory of household furnishings and other possessions. Supplement it with photographs of each room and keep it in a safe place.
• Sign up to receive text or e-mail alerts from your local media, weather provider or the Weather
• Channel at www.weather.com.

What to do when a thunderstorm approaches your area:

• Stay tuned to your weather radio or local news station for the latest updates from the National
• Weather Service or go to the National Weather Service Web site, www.nws.gov.
• Seek safe shelter when you first hear thunder or when you see dark threatening clouds developing overhead or see lightning. To determine the proximity of the severe weather, count the seconds between the time you seelightning and hear thunder. If the time between is less than 30 seconds, ensure you are in a safe location and stay inside until 30 minutes after you last hear thunder or see lightning. Remember, lightning can strike more than 10 miles away from any rainfall.

• When you hear thunder, run to the nearest large building or a fully enclosed vehicle (soft-topped convertibles are not safe). It is not safe anywhere outside.
• If you are boating or swimming, get to land and seek shelter immediately.
• Telephone lines and metal pipes can conduct electricity. Any item plugged into an electrical outlet may cause a hazard during a tornado or thunderstorm. Do not use corded (plug-in) telephones except in an emergency.

What to do when a tornado warning is issued for your area:

• Quickly move to shelter in the basement or lowest floor of a permanent structure.
• In homes and small buildings, go to the basement and get under something sturdy, like a workbench or stairwell.
• If a basement is not available, go to an interior part of the home on the lowest level.
• A good rule of thumb is to put as many walls between you and the tornado as possible.
• In schools, hospitals, and public places, move to the designated shelter areas. Interior hallways on the lowest floors are generally best.
• Stay away from windows, doors, and outside walls. Broken glass and wind-blown projectiles cause more injuries and deaths than collapsed buildings. Protect your head with a pillow, blanket, or mattress.
• If you are caught outdoors, a sturdy shelter is the only safe location in a tornado.
• If you are boating or swimming, get to land and seek shelter immediately.

After a tornado or thunderstorm:

• Inspect your property and motor vehicles for damage. Write down the date and list the damages for insurance purposes. Check for electrical problems and gas leaks, and report them to the utility company at once.
• Watch out for fallen power lines. Stay out of damaged buildings until you are sure they are safe and will not collapse. Secure your property from further damage or theft.
• Use only chlorinated or bottled supplies of drinking water.

PARENTS:  Preparing for emergencies shouldn’t fall on your shoulders alone. Young children and teens alike need to be part of the process — for their own safety and sense of empowerment.

• Work together to build an emergency kit.
• Sit down as a family to talk about your communications plan.
• Role-play what you would do during a disaster.
• Hold fire drills in your house.

http://www.ready.gov/kids

Charity Basketball Game 2017

For the 10^th year in a row the Lindemann teachers will be playing against this year’s 5^th graders in a charity basketball game.  Each year our charity game raises thousands of dollars for a worthy cause.  We hope this year will be no exception.  The Muscular Dystrophy Association is our charity this year in honor of one of our 5^th grade students.  All the proceeds from the game will go to the MDA.

Admission is a suggested donation of $2 per person.  Doors open at 5:00pm.

The game is Thursday, April 27 at 5:30pm in the Allen Park Middle School gym.

This year’s game will already set a record for participation with 73 5^th graders and 19 teachers expected to play.

Come help us set a fundraising record too!

ELEMENTARY STUDENT HELP NAME

ALLEN PARK POLICE DEPARTMENT’S NEWEST

K-9 Member:  PHANTOM

Officer Franco with the Allen Park Police Department has recently been chosen and accepted the position as the new K9 Handler for the department.

Being an Alumni of Lindemann, Officer Franco reached out to the students at Lindemann, Arno and Bennie to assist him with choosing a name for his new partner. There were 912 total votes which included 38 classes.

Well, I finally got the ok to share some info about our new K-9, “PHANTOM”

He is a male 13 month old German Shepard.

Once training is complete, he looks forward to meeting everyone. Thank you again for all the help with the naming process.

Officer Christopher Franco
Allen Park Police Department

FRIENDLY REMINDER

Good afternoon –

I would like to ask our parents to please not bring their dogs to school during drop off and pick up times at Lindemann Elementary School.  The main office has received many different complaints about several different dogs (both small and large) that are causing some anxiety with many of our students and parents.

As the building principal, I am entrusted to create a safe school environment for our school community. During the end of the school day we release around 700 students at one time.  As parents, we all know it’s a bit hectic on school grounds during that time of the day.  Even our best trained dogs can get a bit jumpy at times. I would hate to find out one of our school community members were injured due to a dog bite, scratch, etc.

Parents – please do not take matters into your own hands by confronting other adults regarding our request to not bring dogs on the property. Please continue to express your concerns to the main office so we can reach out to those individuals.

I appreciate your cooperation and understanding.  If you have any concerns please feel free to contact my office so we can further discuss this issue.

Thank you,

Mike Darga, Principal

The Interactive Museum Project

Teaching during the months of April and May are tough. Everyone is ready for summer! Break up the routine by challenging your students with a Museum Project!

This project allows students to develop content knowledge and improve research and collaboration skills by curating their own museum exhibit! This project can be adapted to any grade level or subject area. Besides being a terrific learning project, it gives students the chance to engage in the real-life work of historians, museum exhibit creators, and docents.

Note: This idea is from my book, The Chromebook Classroom. Download the complete PDF here.

The interactive museum is a 3 part process

1. Pick / assign topics – students can work in small groups or individually. Ideally you will have a broad topic that you can split into small topics for each student or group.
2. Create Exhibit – Student will research their assigned topic and create some sort of visual “exhibit” to share with others (presentation, poster, song, animation, etc).
3. Showcase Learning – set aside a “museum day” for students to share their work.

Create strong Guidelines

In order for this to be a success, you must have strong rubric and clear expectations. Resist the temptation to provide specific details for this project. As long as students meet the project expectations, the project can take on whatever form they feel is best (song, poster, PowerPoint, website, video, essay, interpretive dance, etc)

The lack of directions will be difficult for many students; They are used to being told exactly what to do. The struggle is part of the learning process.

Teacher Matt McCullough used this project with his students when they were studying the Cold War. He has graciously shared his project guidelines which you can access here

For more tips, tools, and templates, and student examples, download the PDF version of this lesson!

Helpful? Let me know!

Are these lesson ideas helpful? Please let me know by clicking reply.

If you use this idea, I would love to see some pictures or videos of your museum day! You can tweet them to me (@jrsowash) or click reply to this email!

John R. Sowash

Twitter | Blog | Profile

Sara introduced this article in her blog.

It got me thinking.  

THOUGHTS ON HOMEWORK

This article introduces an idea that may be something we want to explore as we decide on a school wide homework policy for the coming year.  This is a first grade example, but has elements that can transfer across grades.

MAKING HOMEWORK OPTIONAL IS THE WAY TO GO!

Homework. It’s a cringe-worthy word. The problem most parents complain of is TOO much homework (which I agree).  And the complaint from most teachers is that it’s a lot of prep (I agree) and that much of the work is done by the parents. Students begin to hate homework starting early in their elementary years (yikes).  Here’s how we make it work for parents, students AND teachers!

This year my teammates and I made our 1st grade homework OPTIONAL. Yes, you heard it. We don’t REQUIRE our students to do homework.  We do ask that they read 20 minutes per day, but there are no math worksheets, no book reports, no reading calendars, no homework folders.

BUT- they do have a chance to do homework if they’d like! Many parents in our community are heavily involved and really would like their children to do homework each night to teach them things like time management, responsibility and to practice the skills we are learning in class. I agree that these things are important, but RESEARCH (John Hattie’s research is great to look at) shows that homework does not really help in the success and growth in our students.

What do I do INSTEAD?

Present homework as a choice.

Each week we have a newsletter that lists our optional homework. For each item the student completes and the parent initials, he/she gets a Homework High-Five (a raffle ticket). If they do 5 parts, they get 5 tickets!  I do not need any other “evidence” other than a parent initial. This keeps the work on my end limited, but students are able to bring in any work they’d like me to see. For instance, a student made an elaborate leprechaun trap last week as a weekly challenge and took a picture to show me! 🙂 The students turn their newsletter note on Friday, regardless of how many tasks they’ve completed (even if it’s zero) because at the bottom the parent signs off that their child did their reading each night…which is the only requirement.  NO READING CALENDARS. 🙂 I do feel the need for at least that much accountability (signing a note)…especially when a majority of my students prefer video games over books.

Required:

Take-Home Reading Folders (20 min. each night) or just reading any book before bed! I want them to LOVE reading and if they prefer their own books to read, they just need to let me know that.

Optional:

Spelling Practice (depending on the difficulty, they can earn up to 3 tickets for doing this 3 nights)

Math Website (i-ready for 30 minutes per week and I can easily log in to track progress)

Weekly Challenge (see below)

First Grade Goal (learn address, write birthday, write phone number, etc.)

Stapled to newsletter each week is always the spelling list. For math practice, my students all have accounts on i-ready math (paid subscription from our school) which is a differentiated, computer math program. It teaches the students lessons on their level and assesses them using animated games and activities. Our kids love it.

Each week there is also one “weekly challenge” and we like to really mix it up with these challenges. They earn a ticket for completing it. Here are some ideas:

*play outside for 20 minutes each night

*check out a book at the public library

*help make dinner

*do the dishes

*listen to a song and make up a dance

*build a leprechaun trap

*play a board game with your family

*read a book in the dark with a flashlight

*read to a sibling or stuffed animal

*write a letter to a friend

*visit a nursing home

*Practice jump roping

*build a snowman

*teach your parents how to do the “Milk Shake”

*draw a map of your house

*with your family, take a walk around the neighborhood and count the stop signs

*Play four corners

*Draw a picture for a neighbor and deliver it (with the help of an adult)

*preform a science experiment from sciencekids.co

*with help from an adult, research online about emperor penguins and write three facts about them

After students bring in their note, a parent volunteer calls them into the hall to fill out their Homework High-Fives. I like my students to sign their own tickets so they can feel excited about it! This motivates the students to do the homework, even though they don’t have to, because they want to win a prize. W

I draw 5 names each week. The “extra names” get dumped into a larger tub and I draw one grand-prize winner each month. So, I have a huge tub of all of the tickets they’ve ever signed.

There’s always a chance to win!

What do my students win if their name is called?  COUPONS!  I love Proud to be Primary’s Class Reward Coupons (and so do my students). They are obsessed with picking the coupon that allows them to switch seats and sit by a friend. Ugh. 😉

Everything you need to know about these awesome coupons can be found {here}.

Parents were SHOCKED when we said we have “optional” homework. There were some who jumped for joy and some who just could not believe we would encourage this craziness! We had to get them on board with it. HA! Before we started, we sent home this important note. The parents who “hated” the idea of getting rid of it were still pleased to see they could still make their kids do homework with this optional method.

 What have I noticed since doing this for the first time this year? I have noticed that parents are less stressed, families are more happy, and I have not seen a decrease in academic success! Who even knows who was actually doing that math worksheet I used to send home, right?

If you’d like to see examples of what I send home, click HERE.

What are your questions?

Comment Below.

FAQ:

What about students who NEVER have help at home and then are never able to earn a ticket?

You can allow those students to take a few minutes of their class time to complete parts of their homework. These might be your students you’re already holding interventions for, so why not give them a few minutes and work on their homework as well.

What if a student does not practice their spelling and does horrible on their test each week?

I just sit down and talk with the parents about the importance of practicing at home at least once or twice. We practice a lot at school. We have a new phonics rule each week and we read books with that phonics rule, read poems and practice reading and writing those words each day in word work.

How do you hand student who do not have access to a computer for your online math option?

We are lucky enough to have a class set of laptops for out grade-level and so I allow students to do i-ready math as a fast finisher in the morning. Before that, I’d let that student use my laptop when they finish their journal in the morning so that they can get the i-ready signed off. The students all know how to log in to their own i-ready account so it’s very independent.

If you don’t do reading calendars, how do you know the students are reading?

Because I do take-home reading folders, I keep track of what books I send them and the dates they return them. If they are reading 20 minutes each night, they should be returning their books about 2 or 3 times a week (depending on their reading level). I also send reminders home if I haven’t seen their folder in 1 week. ALSO, a big indicator if they are reading at home is their progress in guided reading groups. 🙂

MORE THOUGHTS ON HOMEWORK