February 26 - March 2, 2018

Bears,

It's been a fun-filled past few weeks at school. We recently had two great events - the Chinese New Year Celebration and Jump Rope for Heart.  The pictures mostly speak for themselves, but a few thank-yous are in order.

First, a great big thanks to Mrs. Rohaly and Ms. Peck for organizing and pulling together the New Year's celebration.  It was a true cross-curricular, multi-discipline event in which the entire school got to participate.  Also, many thanks to all the classroom teachers who opened their rooms to our music and art teachers and helped get the students ready for the celebration.  It was a fun event!

In addition, thanks to Mrs. Muhlbaier for organizing the Jump Rope for Heart and Ms. O'Neill and Mrs. Bingham for helping to pull everything together for the event.  A number of Leader's Club members from Millville High School also helped out, and it was another fun whole-school event for our Bears to enjoy.

It's been an interesting few weeks for other reasons as well.  The flu/cold/strep throat - you name it - has made the rounds at our school.  While the number of student absences has been holding steady and actually gone down a little, our staff members have been going through the unpleasantness as well.  I'd like to thank Mrs. McCafferty from Culver for helping to keep the office going while Mrs. Klaudi and Mrs. Polof were down and out.  In addition, several staff members helped in the office to cover the phones and make sure everything was running smoothly.  It took a team and a family to pull together to make sure we carried on, and people went above and beyond to keep our school moving.  Thank you, all!!

This week, we have our PBIS assembly in which we'll do our usual recognitions, rewards, and game - but we'll also feature two students who acted as heroes recently.  We are looking forward to honoring their good deed - stay tuned!

Before I close out this part of the blog, I offer you a thought for this week.  We were given two eyes, two ears, and one mouth.  Could it be that we should spend twice as much time paying attention to others and listening than we do speaking?  Maybe some of us would do well if we talk less, listen more, and focus on what others are doing around us.  I know I'm guilty of doing too much of one and not enough of the others.  How much do we miss because we are too focused expressing our thoughts instead of trying to see the world as others see it?  How much do we not hear because we're already focused on the words we are convinced we need to share?  I think we were meant to be here for each other.  How much can we do that if we have a hard time really seeing and really hearing what others are going through?   Just a thought...

Everyone have a fantastic week!


The Week Ahead

Monday (2/26):  B day - Lesson plans due, Read Across America Week Begins,  FOX IN SOCKS (wear silly or mismatched socks)

Tuesday (2/27): C day - CAT IN THE HAT (wear favorite hat OR wear black and white)

Wednesday (2/28): D day -  Workout Wednesday, WACKY WEDNESDAY (wear wacky and crazy hair OR wacky and crazy clothes, PBIS Respect the 29th assembly (2 pm)

Thursday (3/1):  E day - GREEN EGGS AND HAM (wear green) staff meeting (8am in the library)

Friday (3/2):  A day - MY BOOK ABOUT ME (dress as your favorite character from any book)

Upcoming Dates

3/6 - Progress reports go home

3/7 - NO SCHOOL, teacher professional development day

Chinese New Year Parade

Jump Rope for Heart

Congrats to Max, Bacon's top fundraiser for Jump Rope for Heart

Bacon Pics

Birthday Selfies

February 19 - 23, 2018

The Week Ahead

Monday (2/19):  NO SCHOOL

Tuesday (2/20): C day - A great day of fun and learning

Wednesday (2/21): D day -  Workout Wednesday

Thursday (2/22):  E day - Staff meeting, (8am in the library), I&RS meeting

Friday (2/23):  A day - Wear Bacon gear, Boot day (to stomp out bullying!)

Upcoming Dates

February 26 - March 2nd - Read Across America Week

2/26 - wear silly or mismatched socks
2/27 - wear favorite hat or wear black and white
2/28 - wear wacky or crazy hair OR wacky and crazy clothes  
3/1 - wear green
3/2 - dress as your favorite character from any book

February 12 - 16, 2018

Bears,

We hope everyone had a great post-Super Bowl week.  In one of the more exciting Super Bowls in recent memory, the Eagles finally did it.  It was a memorable season for many reasons, and now the Birds can proudly name themselves among the champions. 

For me, more important than the victory was the lesson on failure Nick Foles shared after the game.  In the last number of years, Foles went from being a backup quarterback, to being a starter with a brilliant stretch of greatness, to being traded, to being a starter with not much success, to being released, to contemplating retirement, to being backup on a different team, to coming back to Philly once again as a backup, to Super Bowl MVP.  Amazing. It proves you really can't script your journey.  His life clearly didn't progress in a strait line from when he entered the league to being named the most valuable player in the most important game.  Life is rarely a sequence of events that, on the surface, logically connect and build off one another.  There are zigs and zags, detours and setbacks, highs and lows, things that make perfect sense and things that make no sense. 

But Foles proved that some old cliches are true - work hard, stay humble, and keep going.  And when you fall, get up.  Here is what he said about failure and persistence:

So there it is. Wise words from a champion, an MVP, and a genuinely humble and grateful person.   

Announcements

Don't forget about our FUNdraiser at Moe's this Thursday.  It starts at 4, and we hope you see you there!

And after dinner, come out to Lakeside Middle School for the district's third and final strategic planning meeting.  The start time is 6:30, and it will take place in the cafeteria.

Everyone have a great week!

The Week Ahead

Monday (2/12):  C day - lesson plans due

Tuesday (2/13): D day - A great day of fun and learning

Wednesday (2/14): E day - wear pink and red, Workout Wednesday, 100th day of school, I&RS meeting, Valentine's Day

Thursday (2/15):  A day - Staff meeting, (8am in the library), Moe's fundraiser, final MPS strategic planning night (6:30 - 8pm at Lakeside cafeteria)

Friday (2/16):  B day - Jump Rope for Heart ($5 to participate), Chinese New Year parade, wear Bacon gear

Upcoming Dates

2/19 - Schools closed in observance of President's Day

2/23 - Wear boot day (to stomp out bullying!)

Bacon Pics

A happy Eagles fan

Cooking with Candy

The Cat in the Hat surprised us at Bacon!

Mrs. Gandy receiving her Teacher-of-the-Year award at last week's board meeting

Birthday Selfies!

February 5 - 9, 2018

Bears,

Are you watching the big game?  For those pulling for the Birds, we hope you have a great weekend.  For those cheering on the Pats, we hope you have a terrible weekend (kidding, sort of).  For those watching just for the commercials, we hope they don't disappoint.  For those not interested at all, sorry to have bored you with this opening paragraph.  Let's get down to business...

At this week's staff meeting, we focused on mindfulness as a way to help our students deal with social and emotional obstacles to learning.  The impacts of this aspect of positive psychology have been making their way into schools as educators find more ways to help students process and handle the stress that comes with being a learner in the 21st century.  Regardless if one is into the meditation background of mindfulness, it can still be a beneficial approach to help students sort through difficult emotions, teach them how to control outbursts, and guide them into clearer and more focused thinking.

My big takeaway from this training was an image the presenter showed of a brain scan comparing a healthy brain and one that's been damaged through abuse, neglect, or other factors that hurt emotional and social development.  The parts of the brain that help people process emotions and social interaction didn't "work" correctly, and that in turn can have a dramatic effect on learning.  The social, emotional, and learning centers of the brain play off each other.  When the brain's development has been stunted in these areas, it cannot process information the way it should, and learning is impacted.  Mindfulness training has been shown to reverse these damages.  The parts of the brain that aren't working correctly can be retrained and restored through consistently using simple techniques that help that individual cope with outside stresses and internal turmoil.  The result is that the brain is better equipped to handle information and learning.

That's the short version, and I probably haven't done a great job of covering it even at a surface level.  This is something I'm just getting more into myself.  The bottom line is this - there is more to preparing students for learning than what we think of as traditional schoolwork.   Part of the equipping we need to do should be based on social and emotional health.  Good teachers intuitively know this, but with the research proving this to be so, it should serve as a reinforcement that school is more than academic assignments and grades.

Announcements
It's not too late to order Carnation Grams.  They are $2 each.  Return the order form and money to Mrs. Lore as soon as possible.  They will be delivered on 2/14.

Signup slips for this year's floor hockey season are in front of Mrs. Bingham's room (15).  They are due by 2/11,  and the season kicks off on 2/16.  All games will be played before school.

Welcome to Moe's!  Moe's will be having a Bacon FUNdraiser on 2/15 from 4 - 10pm.  You don't need to bring anything - just show up and order!

And after your delicious dinner at Moe's, join us at the Lakeside Middle School cafeteria for Millville Public School's final strategic planning session.  You do not need to have attended the other sessions to come out. This event is open to all parents, staff members, community members, local business leaders, and 4th and 5th grade students.  See below for details.

Everyone have a great week!

The Week Ahead

Monday (2/5):  C day - Wear Eagles green if they win (to celebrate) or lose (to mourn the loss and show support for a great season), lesson plans due, board meeting to recognize teacher and educational services provider of the year (7 pm at Culver Center)

Tuesday (2/6): D day - A great day of fun and learning

Wednesday (2/7): E day - Cat in the Hat visit, Workout Wednesday, report cards go home

Thursday (2/8):  A day - A great day of fun and learning

Friday (2/9):  B day - Wear Bacon Gear

Upcoming Dates

2/14 - Wear pink and red for Valentine's Day

2/15 - Moe's fundraiser

2/15 - MPS final strategic planning meeting

2/16 - Jump Rope for Heart

2/16 - Chinese New Year Parade 

2/16 - Floor Hockey Begins (3rd - 5th grade)

2/19 - Schools closed in observance of President's Day

2/23 - Wear boot day (to stomp out bullying!)

Bacon Pics

Mrs. Rohaly and some 1st graders preparing for the Chinese New Year parade

Mrs. Lunemanns' class checking out a hornet's nest - an old, empty nest! 

The nest was impressive up close (before "dissection")

Math sports in Mrs. DeVita's class

Math sports in Mrs. DeVita's class

Math sports in Mrs. DeVita's class

Math sports in Mrs. DeVita's class

Mrs. Rohaly doing an Arts Infused lesson in Mrs. DeVita's class

Cooper is excited for Sunday

Bacon staff getting ready for the weekend 

...on the road to victory

STEM snowflake project in Mrs. Muhlbaier's class 

Snowflake project

Snowflake project

Birthday Selfies