February 4 - 8, 2019

Bears,

We hope you are thawing out from the cold snap that has recently and rudely attacked a large part of the country.  Warm weather fans - spring is just around the corner.  No, it's actually not - sorry.  There is plenty of winter left (although next week will be noticeably warmer), but that doesn't mean Bacon isn't sizzling (Bacon...sizzle).  We've got plenty going on.

Weekly Recap
Unfortunately, Mr. Coyle was out a few days this week thanks to a bout with a head cold.  He'd like to thank those who stopped in to help cover.  The show went on, students were engaged in learning, and Bacon didn't miss a beat.

On Wednesday, we had our district staff professional development day.  The teachers were engaged in useful and helpful planning and discussions that will ultimately result in better instruction and improved student learning.  Great job to all who took full advantage of the day to sharpen your tools, so to speak.

On Friday, it was double-assembly madness!  In the morning, Jungle John brought some of his critter friends for a visit with our Bears.  It was educational and fun, and the students loved getting some face time with nature.  On Friday afternoon, we made up our rescheduled PBIS assembly.  We recognized our January students of the month, talked about positive behavior, and played a few games.  Always a good time!

Announcements
Teachers, the Bear Bucks store will be open on Monday and Tuesday.  Ms. Berry sent out the schedule a few weeks ago.

The kindergarten classes will be going to see Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat at the Levoy on Wednesday.  Have fun!

There is a staff meeting on Thursday.  This week's discussion will be a follow-up and check-in on the PLC process.

Here's an announcement from our cafeteria manager, Ms. Candy:

Ms. Candy is looking to turn the cafeteria into the "The Bacon Bear Hall of Fame!"  Please send a picture of your athlete, dancer, musician, gamer, or whatever they do that they love doing.  A 4x6 or larger would be best.  If you don't have one that size, send it and I'll make a copy.  If you'd like to email it, send it to candace.devich@millville.org.  I'm looking forward to showcasing our Bears' accomplishments!

PBIS Corner
February Trait-of-the-month: Trustworthiness
For February, we are encouraging our students to focus on being honest and truthful in all their dealings, admit wrongdoing when necessary, act with integrity, and accept responsibility.  When someone is trustworthy, they do the right thing, even when nobody is looking.

Trustworthiness quote-of-the-week: "When in doubt, tell the truth.  It will confound your enemies and astound your friends."  -- Mark Twain

Thought-of-the-week:  We all have"trust accounts" with people.  When we do something that earns or keeps trust, you add a little to that account.  When you do something that breaks trust, the account gets lower.  How much is currently in your trust account?  What are you doing to earn or keep trust with others?

Staff, remember your why!

Image taken from https://www.rd.com/culture/teaching-quotes/

Everyone have a great week!


The week ahead
Monday (2/4): B day-  lesson plans due, Bear Bucks Store (see email from Ms. Berry for specific teachers and times)

Tuesday (2/5): C day - Workout Wednesday, report cards go home, Bear Bucks Store (see email from Ms. Berry for specific teachers and times) 

Wednesday (2/6): D day - kindergarten trip to the Levoy Theater

Thursday (2/7): E day - staff meeting (8am in the gym)

Friday (2/8): A day - wear Bacon gear

Upcoming dates

• 2/12 I&RS
• 2/13 AVID testing (5th grade only)
• 2/14 100th day of school (unless we have a snow day between now and then)
• 2/14 Valentine's day (wear red and pink)
• 2/14 Jump Rope for Heart
• 2/18 NO SCHOOL for President's Day
• 2/21 Staff meeting
• 2/22 Boot day (wear boots to stomp out bullying)

Bacon Pics

Jungle John held a funny and informative assembly - our Bears loved it 

This month's PBIS challenge - clear the yard 

January students of the month

Birthday Selfies!

January 28 - February 1, 2019

Bears,

Our Bears, students and staff alike, are doing great things and having fun while doing it.  Let's jump in.

Weekly Recap
Thanks to the planning of Mrs. Gant, the entire 4th grade were able to Skype with a live scientist - a volcanologist, to be specific. The students have been studying volcanoes this year, and the time spent helped to reinforce some of the concepts they learned.  Through the magic of technology, they were able to spend time with one of the experts in the field.  The students were exceptionally well-behaved, respectful, and asked top-notch questions.  In short, they were a great audience for our digital "guest."   Thank you Mrs. Gant and the entire 4th grade team for pulling this together. 

Congrats to Mrs. Bingham's 3rd grade class on being the first to participate in a reward pizza party for outstanding behavior.  The pizza party met the nutritional guidelines of our healthy school, so double win!  Way to go, Bingham's class!

Announcements
Parents and staff - don't forget there is no school on Wednesday due to the staff development day.

Jungle John will be here on Friday!  See below for assembly times.

Speaking of assemblies, our monthly PBIS assembly will on Tuesday afternoon after lunches.

Here's an announcement from our cafeteria manager, Ms. Candy:

Ms. Candy is looking to turn the cafeteria into the "The Bacon Bear Hall of Fame!"  Please send a picture of your athlete, dancer, musician, gamer, or whatever they do that they love doing.  A 4x6 or larger would be best.  If you don't have one that size, send it and I'll make a copy.  If you'd like to email it, send it to candace.devich@millville.org.  I'm looking forward to showcasing our Bears' accomplishments!

As hard as it is to believe, the 2nd marking period ends next week.  Report cards go home on 2/5.  

PBIS Corner
Trait-of-the-month: Citizenship
For January, we encouraged our students to display good character, positively contribute to society, care about others, do their best, and make responsible decisions.

Citizenship quote-of-the-week: "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is a progress; working together is a success"  -- Henry Ford

Thought-of-the-week:  When we complain without purpose, we magnify the problem.  Make it a point to speak about issues only with people who can be part of the solution.

Staff, remember your why!

                        Image taken from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_butler_yeats_101244  

Everyone have a great week!


The week ahead
Monday (1/28): D day-  lesson plans due

Tuesday (1/29): E day - PBIS assembly (afternoon), last day of 2nd marking period

Wednesday (1/30): NO SCHOOL for students, staff development day

Thursday (1/31): A day - 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade PLCs

Friday (2/1): B day - K PLC, Jungle John assembly (grades K-1 from 9:25-10:15, grades 2-3 from 10:30-11:20, grades 4-5 from 11:35-12:25)

Upcoming dates
2/2 Groundhog day
2/5 Report cards go home
2/6 Kindergarten trip to the Levoy Theater
2/7 Staff meeting
2/12 I&RS
2/13 100th day of school (assuming we don't use any snow days)
2/13 AVID testing (5th grade only)
2/14 Valentine's day (wear red and pink)
2/14 Jump Rope for Heart
2/18 NO SCHOOL for President's Day
2/21 Staff meeting
2/22 Boot day (wear boots to stomp out bullying)

Bacon Pics

4th grade getting ready to Skype with a scientist  

Mrs. DeVita's class is excited about their new books 

5th grade getting ready for their research projects

Reward lunch in Mrs. Bingham's room

Birthday Selfies!

January 21 - 25, 2019

Bears,

Hello, everyone!

We hope you had a great week, and we trust another great week is in store for all our readers.  Between then and now, enjoy the three day weekend.

On Monday, we pause to reflect and remember the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the spirit of his invaluable contribution to making our world a better place, let us consider and take to heart not only the nature of his drive and passion but also how he went about doing what he did.  Among his other attributes that helped him be the man and leader he was, one quality he had was focus - the ability to be single-minded about his life's purpose.  He knew what he wanted to see, and he didn't let anything deter him from his work.  He saw with conviction and clarity how his mission fit into the overall narrative of change, and he didn't focus on anything else.  He let nothing, even the danger against his own life, distract him from his target.  He was focused.

There are lessons here for us.  Today (and this might be more true now than at any other time in modern history), we are bombarded daily with opinions, distractions, and distortions on reality that seek to make people lose focus on the good we have in each of us.  Instead of focusing on our differences, maybe we could instead focus on what each of us can do to help our neighbors.  We could focus on how we can work together instead of against each other.  We could focus on how beautiful, unique, and special each individual is.  While there will always be disagreement and debate among even the most like-minded people, maybe we could focus, despite those inevitable "agree-to-disagree" moments, on how to move forward in shaping the world we want our children to inherit. 

Dr. King worked to bring us to a place where we value the content of each other's character.  Ask yourself this - have we been a good steward of the world he and many others have tried to give us?

Let's not lose focus.

Everyone have a great weekend!


The week ahead
Monday (1/21): NO SCHOOL in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 

Tuesday (1/22): E day - lesson plans due 

Wednesday (1/23): A day - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade PLCs, Workout Wednesday 

Thursday (1/24): B day - K PLC 

Friday (1/25): C day - 2nd grade PLC, Pajama Day (anti-bullying for PBIS)

Upcoming dates
1/29: PBIS Assembly
1/30: NO SCHOOL for staff development  

Bacon Pics

Ms. Candy, Bacon'e cafeteria manager, getting feedback from Kindergarten on some our newest food options

Birthday Selfies!

January 14 - 18, 2019

Bears,

We hope everyone had a fun-filled week (and weekend, depending on when you're reading this).  Next week, we're already looking at mid-January, which means this year, albeit a very short year so far, is racing by.  Okay, maybe it's a stretch to say the year is racing by when it's only January 13th, but it was a quick 13 days, right?

This week at Bacon, we had our dental assembly (see below - tons of pics from that one).  Students were treated to an informative and fun time of dental hygiene awareness.  Remember kids - and adults - a flossing a day keeps the cavities away...well, that, and brushing, and eating the right foods, and going to the dentist, and...

Changing gears a bit - we've been talking more (and hope to focus on this even more in the future) about social-emotional learning, the idea that we can learn to better manage our emotions, relationships, set goals, feel empathy for others, make better decisions, etc.  The stress here is that we can learn to do this better.  When learners are not emotionally capable of managing themselves, learning cannot take place, at least not effectively.  When students (or anyone) goes through something difficult or traumatic, there are healthy and unhealthy ways of dealing with it.  Something that is not helpful is the idea of "getting over it."  To quote Mike Foster, author of the book Five Dates, "Pain doesn't need another critic; it needs a friend."  This week's thought/challenge: Let's all seek to help someone going through a difficult time - not by fixing it for them (because we can't), not by criticizing how they are coping, not by telling them they should be over it by now, but by being available, by listening, or simply by being present.  Sometimes it's all they need - sometimes, it's all we can do.  And if we are doing all we can for others, isn't that part of what life should be about?

Everyone have a great week!

The week ahead
Monday (1/14): E day - lesson plans due, I&RS meeting

Tuesday (1/15): A day - 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade PLCs 

Wednesday (1/16): B day - Workout Wednesday, K PLC, 

Thursday (1/17): C day - 2nd grade PLC, staff meeting (8 am in the library)

Friday (1/18): D day - wear Bacon gear 

Upcoming dates

1/21: NO SCHOOL in observance of Martin Luther King day
1/25: Pajama Day (anti-bullying)
1/29: PBIS Assembly
1/30: NO SCHOOL for staff development  

Bacon Pics

Dental assembly

Students from Mrs. Catlett's class studying energy and engineering by building bumper coasters  

Birthday Selfies!