Week of January 28th

Celebrations

 

Staff Connection:  Heather Burton, CCR Teacher

I grew up with 4 brothers and 1 sister in Greenville, SC and graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Special Education- Multicategorical.  GO TIGERS!! I am happily married to another Clemson Tiger-Jared and we have 2 girls, Janie (1st grade) and Lightsey (3).

I have been teaching some form of Special Education for 12 years and still love it!  I have been able to teach a variety of ages from preschool-high school and worked as an Autism Trainer supporting teachers.  

After having Lightsey, I decided to take a little over a year off while she was an infant and before Janie started kindergarten.  I am thankful for that time with my girls, but am glad to be back in the classroom. During my free time, I enjoy reading, being outside, watching football, eating, doing and teaching yoga and discovering new places.  I am thrilled to be a part of the Underwood Family and thank you all for being so loving and supportive! Go Unicorns!

Thank you for being helpful!! 

• Jen Page and Heather Callahan for organizing the Spelling Bee. 
• Staff members helping out during the “sick” season with various duties or sub positions. 
• Specialists for helping administer mClass. 
• Christine and Brenda for organizing the mClass schedule and supporting with TRC’s. 
• Grade Level Teams worked hard during Quarterly Planning Days!
• Jen Page, Heather Callahan and Andrea Trowell visited most (if not all) grade level teams during quarterly planning days. 

Wish Well

• Mallory
• ID Mod 2 Classroom Teachers-  they have all been sick with fevers

Report Cards-  Report cards are scheduled to go home next Tuesday, February 5th.  Please put your

student’s MClass Reports in the report card. Elective report card comments are due on January 29th.

 The comments should be specific to the objectives of the elective. For any student receiving a 2 in any area

on the elective report, an explanation should be provided.

Winter Carnival

Feb. 2 11am - 3pm

Winter carnival is around the corner!  We need your help to make it a success.  Please

take a look at the MemberHub SIGNUP to volunteer to come out and help or bring supplies.  

We are still in need of gift cards! Please contact, Jennifer Montaner

at jbmontaner29@gmail.com with any questions.  

You can also buy your wrist bands ($15 Preorder and $25 at the day of the event) for

access to all games, raffle tickets, or make donations anytime.  All are available for

purchase on the Underwood Store.

Check the Underwood Calendar often….

Check the shared Underwood google team drive, folder-Daily absences and info for the preferred sub list.

CAM Docent Program-The CAM Docent program is starting on February 6th.  This

is an incredible experience for 5th grade students to work directly with an artist, learn

about their work, then showcase their knowledge to the public during First Friday

Raleigh Events.  We need staff to attend the training sessions to help the CAM staff.

Sign up here if you are willing to help!

Wake Up and Read!

Please add to your blogs and/or parent notes about our collaborative efforts with the county’s Wake Up and

Read! Program.  You can include the following blurb:

Parents, please check your child’s bookshelf for any books they may have outgrown!  Wake County has

kicked off it’s annual “Wake-Up and Read” campaign. This annual collection supports students at 13

schools and various daycares around the county.  The goal is to provide ten books to each child!

Join Underwood by bringing in at least one gently used book (it can be new) that would be suitable

for a child/children from birth to age 12.  The book drop-off is at the front of the office. Campaign will

end on February 15th!

Chromebook update:

There are multiple faulty Chromebook chargers across WCPSS. We are working to get these

pulled from carts ASAP. Unfortunately, these chargers have corrupted the charging ports

on many Chromebooks. For safety reasons we are pulling these Chromebooks as well.

All faulty chargers and Chromebooks are being collected by WCPSS to be replaced/fixed.

 

***Please check the ports on your chargers and Chromebooks often. If you notice something

is not right, stop using the charger/device and let us know ASAP - this can be a safety issue.

 

If Chromebooks in your grade level have been pulled, please help each other out to make sure

that students have the devices needed for teaching and learning. Let Andrea and Elizabeth

know if you need help getting devices for a lesson.

Conscious Discipline Corner

Quote of the week:     “Your sense of self-esteem does not come

from how other people see you, but from how you see other people.

If you choose to see what’s missing, lacking, and not good enough,

you not only inhibit change from occurring, you also destroy your

sense of your own value. Feeling powerless, you are primed to

blame others for your discomfort.”

Resource of the week:   Since Conscious Discipline is an adult first model, the Powers and Skills become

embedded in your life.  Listen to Kim Hughes’ podcast on how to Create a Healthy Marriage with CD

NC Check-Ins-  The NC Check-Ins for fourth and fifth grade are this week.  Please be mindful as you move

through the building during the times below:

NC Check-Ins-  January 29 (PM)- 5th, January 30th (PM)- 4th

If you are giving this assessments, please make sure you remember your password to NCedCloud.  

If you cannot remember, please let Alexandria know prior to testing.

Additionally- have students use the mousepad and not the touchscreen for the Check-In.  I have

noticed that those that are using the touchscreen seem to have more errors and it causes an unexpected

error- which will require you to log them back in.

Q2 Electives wrap up-  Elective report card comments are due on January 29th.  The comments should be

specific to the objectives of the elective.  For any student receiving a 2 in any area on the elective report, an

explanation should be provided.

Q3 Electives-  Elective will resume on Monday, January 28th. The spreadsheet for what you are teaching

Q3/Q4 can be found here.  If you want to utilize the Magnet laptops during Q3, see Andrea.  Complete

your elective sign here by January 31st.  Upload your elective letter to the website (directions here) by

January 31st.

Resource for parents to include in your newsletters:

Just a reminder that our Homework Resources for Parents page is growing! We now have ELA resources for

Grade 3 through 5 in both English and Spanish! This is a great way to engage families in how to have the

conversations with their child around their learning.  You can find it by going to Parents, then Homework

Resources in the dropdown, on either the district site or on your school's homepage.

Helping Hands

We had our first Helping Hands program meetings in collaboration with NC State (Amandla).  

The program will be an afterschool program to mentor some of our African American males in

grades 3-5.  Participating students can be found here.  The program meets on Monday’s at 4pm.  

Together we are better!  Feel free to share feedback/celebrations anytime here

Summer Camp -

We are looking forward to an amazing summer at your hosting schools. Even though it is super cold

and hard to think about, summer is right around the corner for us. We have begun hiring awesome

camp staff. I would love it if you could pass along these job opportunities to your staff and anyone

else you may think is interested. It is a fun and engaging job that requires NO night a weekends.

Here are the links to the summer positions that I directly hire for:

Youth Programs Camp Counselor Job Posting  

Youth Programs Camp Director Job Posting  

Regional Coordinator Job Posting

 

NKT-  The window for mid-year NKT opens up this week.  You only have to assess the students that

were in the red and yellow at the BOY.  In this link you will find the grade level list of these students on

each tab.  Once you are done, you will dig deeper utilizing AMC. Please let Alexandria know if you or

your team needs help.

Winter Carnival- The Winter Carnival is this Saturday 11-3.  Staff can purchase wristbands for $15. We look

forward to seeing everyone there.  If you would like to volunteer, please see the SIGNUP.  

Calendar/Important Links:

January 28th-Quarter 3 Electives begin

January 29th-Quarter 2 elective reports cards/K Specialist grades due

January 29th - SIP Meeting

January 31st-Q3 elective signs to be completed & elective letters to be uploaded

February 1st - Fifth Grade Field Trip (International Civil Rights Center and Greensboro)

February 1st-TA Meeting at 7:45am

February 2nd - Winter Carnival 11-3pm

February 2nd - Playground feedback sessions at Winter Carnival from 12-2

February 5th-Report Cards Home

February 5th - Business Meeting 7:45am

February 6th - CAM Docent Program

February 8th - Nominations for Spotlight on Students due to Amy

February 12th - Reflections participants breakfast at 8:00 in the media center

February 13th-Staff Night Out:  Resilience Video at Enloe HS (6-8:30pm)

February 15th - Early Release

February 15th-School Family Assembly

January 21

Celebrations

 

Staff Connection:   Ashley Cooper, Magnet Coordinator

I grew up in Delaware and with two educators as parents, knew that I wanted to be a teacher from a very young age.  I attended UNC-Wilmington and taught Kindergarten for 7 years. I went part-time when I had my daughters, Kaylee (1st grade) and Ashton (3) to be able to spend more time with them as they were growing up.  Currently, I’m working part-time at Underwood at the Magnet Coordinator and I especially enjoy being able to work with students, staff and parents on a daily basis to promote our incredible school. I also own a training company, Connected at Last, where I do Conscious Discipline trainings for educators and parents all over the country.   As I’m currently finding my way through a separation/divorce, I am grateful now more than ever for the relationships and support of my Underwood family!

Anyone who knows me well knows I am a total beach girl….and love to wear flip flops year round!  I enjoy traveling, spending time with friends and family, going out to eat, Pumpkin Spice Lattes and listening to live music.  

Each year we keep an ongoing document of awards received on behalf of Underwood, Underwood students or Underwood staff.  Please notify Ashley if you have anything to share!

         

• Fun times had at Taco Tuesday 
• Shellie Hubbard for leading the Sunshine Squad!
• Heather Burton for leading the Atlanta Trip Meeting
• Amy Schnitzer for supporting the organization of the Helping Hands meeting this past Monday.

                                                                                                           

Wish Well

• Mallory
• Amanda and Maggie-  You all are doing great! 

 

Communication:

Professional Development Opportunities

DEN (Discovery Education NetworK) Ambassador Program-  2 opportunities are available (check here for more information)

Atlanta Trip Update-  If you were unable to attend the meeting this past Friday to go to Atlanta, but still would like to know and/or attend, please reach out to Heather Burton.  She will include you on our communication. #Unicorns Gallop to ATL

Commitments --- It is important that we do our best to be on time for meetings, especially business and staff meetings. At our last PLT, we had less than 30% of our staff in the media center. This impacts our ability to share clear information, gather feedback and use our time effectively. I know it is hard sometime having multiple 7:45 meetings, but it is part our responsibility be on time for these meetings.

Wrapping up Q2 Electives-  Elective will be down for one more week and will resume on Monday, January 28th.   Elective slips will go home with students on January 22nd. Elective report card comments are due on January 29th.  The comments should be specific to the objectives of the elective. For any student receiving a 2 in any area on the elective report, an explanation should be provided.

Q3 Electives-The spreadsheet for what you are teaching Q3/Q4 can be found here.  If you want to utilize the Magnet laptops during Q3, see Andrea.  Complete your elective sign here by January 31st.  Upload your elective letter to the website (directions here) by January 31st.

Check the shared Underwood google team drive, folder-Daily absences and info for the preferred sub list.

Resource for parents to include in your newsletters:

Just a reminder that our Homework Resources for Parents page is growing! We now have ELA resources for Grade 3 through 5 in both English and Spanish! This is a great way to engage families in how to have the conversations with their child around their learning.  You can find it by going to Parents, then Homework Resources in the dropdown, on either the district site or on your school's homepage.

Dig In-  The 9th annual Dig In! Is being held on March 9th.  We have had many Underwood Staff members attend this in year’s past.  If this is something you are interested in attending, please email Alexandria Judge-Lenkeit.  (check here for more information)

Kyte Learning-  Are you in need of digital credits.  Check out on the “Rapid Identity- Wake ID Portal” Kyte learning.  Here is a personal account from Karen Fichter-Venners-

I needed .73 CEU's to fulfill the Digital Literacy requirement.  I was able to earn that credit using Kyte Learning. I spent one evening at home and learned some new technology tools, (Flipgrid, Flippity and Quizzizz) and gained some new knowledge of the tools I am already using. (Google Classroom, SmartNotebook, Weebly)  The best part, I earned my credits sitting on my couch.  

So, if we have a snow day, a sick day or something and want to check some things off your list, know that this resource is available.  It will automatically upload into eSchools monthly!

Helping Hands

We had our first Helping Hands program meetings in collaboration with NC State (Amandla).  The program will be an afterschool program to mentor some of our African American males in grades 3-5.  We start with six (confirmed 2 more) students and hope to increase this in talking with families. There will be 3 NC state students each week that will work with the students in a mentorship.

Keeping Organized-

NC Check-Ins-  January 25th (PM)- 3rd, January 29 (PM)- 5th, January 30th (PM)- 4th

Quarterly Planning Days-  January 22 (4th/K), January 23 (5th/1st), January 24 (3rd/2nd)

Together we are better!  Feel free to share feedback/celebrations anytime here

Creativity

CAM Docent Program-The CAM Docent program is starting on February 6th.  This is an incredible experience for 5th grade students to work directly with an artist, learn about their work, then showcase their knowledge to the public during First Friday Raleigh Events.  We need staff to attend the training sessions to help the CAM staff. Sign up here if you are willing to help!

 

Let’s learn more about YOU!!  In the celebrations section of this blog, we have been featuring our new staff members in an effort to learn more about them.  Now it’s your turn!  We would like to showcase all staff members throughout the course of the year.  (These will also be archived in the Team Drive). If you are willing, send Ashley 2-3 paragraphs as well as emailing me a picture of you! Things you might want to mention:

• Family, Hobbies, Role at Underwood, What you love about being an educator, Past experiences

Critical Thinking

Summer Camp -

We are looking forward to an amazing summer at your hosting schools. Even though it is super cold and hard to think about, summer is right around the corner for us. We have begun hiring awesome camp staff. I would love it if you could pass along these job opportunities to your staff and anyone else you may think is interested. It is a fun and engaging job that requires NO night a weekends.

Here are the links to the summer positions that I directly hire for:

Youth Programs Camp Counselor Job Posting  

Youth Programs Camp Director Job Posting  

Regional Coordinator Job Posting

 

CDAT Survey and efforts-As mentioned, one of the action steps of our SIP relates to class commitments.  Please complete this short survey found here by Wednesday, January 16th.  Then CDAT will analyze the results and determine our next steps.  Again, I'm linking all the efforts that the CDAT team is responsible for this year....see here.  Please review...we always welcome any feedback/ideas for future too….send along thoughts to Ashley.

 

June 2019 License Renewal-  If you are up for renewal in June, I have emailed you personally and told you how you are with your credits.  On April 15th, you will need to go to the online state licensure site and apply for your license. You cannot do this prior to that date, or it will all be returned.  Please let Alexandria know how to support you with this process!

 

NKT-  The window for mid-year NKT opens up on January 28th.  You only have to assess the students that were in the red and yellow at the BOY.  In this link you will find the grade level list of these students on each tab.

Collaboration

Wake Up and Read!

Please add to your blogs and/or parent notes about our collaborative efforts with the county’s Wake Up and Read! Program.  You can include the following blurb:

Parents, please check your child’s bookshelf for any books they may have outgrown!  Wake County has kicked off it’s annual “Wake-Up and Read” campaign. This annual collection supports students at 13 schools and various daycares around the county.  The goal is to provide ten books to each child! Join Underwood by bringing in at least one gently used book (it can be new) that would be suitable for a child/children from birth to age 12.  The book drop-off is at the front of the office. Campaign will end on February 15th!

Media/Tech Collaboration

I'm looking forward to meeting with grade levels during 2nd semester planning days. Be thinking of ways the media/tech program can support and magnify your teaching and learning. Some recent examples.....

• Mrs. Peaden's class is using quality resources, both books and online, to research. They are also getting into the habit of citing sources. 
• Using social studies content, Mrs. Mozingo's and Ms. Gary's classes are practicing speaking and listening using Flipgrid.
• Kindergarten students are learning to log into WakeID, which gives them access to age-appropriate resources and tools. 
• Mrs. Vinson's elective is exploring electrical engineering using Makey Makey and Snap Circuits.

Media Center- So, in support of MTAC's focus:

MTAC will meet next on Thursday, January 24. MTAC's focus this year is Equity and Cultural Competency. To learn more, please join us and/or check out the Library Media Program Portfolio (this is a work in progress.) Also, we ask that all staff members consider the following:

• How often do my students have access to the library? How often do my students have access to technology to support their learning? How can I help to improve my students' access to resources? How can the library media program help to improve my students' access?
• We will be beginning a diversity audit of our collection in January. Do you know of parents/community members who would be interested in assisting with this task?

Questions? Contact Andrea.

Conscious Discipline Corner

Quote of the week:    Empathy teaches emotional regulation, integrating the brain so children can take personal responsibility for their actions.  

Resource of the week:   Watch these videos on the D.N.A. Process (describe, notice, acknowledge) to build emotional regulation and upshift student’s in moments of conflict.  

Calendar/Important Links:

Calendar/Important Links:

Important Dates Document-  Please double check this against the school calendar.

January 21st - Holiday

January 25th-Spelling Bee

January 28th-Quarter 3 Electives begin

January 29th-Quarter 2 elective reports cards/K Specialist grades due

January 29th - SIP Meeting

January 31st-Q3 elective signs to be completed & elective letters to be uploaded

February 1st - Fifth Grade Field Trip (International Civil Rights Center and Greensboro)

February 1st-TA Meeting at 7:45am

February 2nd - Winter Carnival 11-3pm

February 2nd - Playground feedback sessions at Winter Carnival from 12-2

February 5th-Report Cards Home

February 5th - Business Meeting

February 6th - CAM Docent Program

February 8th - Nominations for Spotlight on Students due to Amy

February 12th - Reflections participants breakfast at 8:00 in the media center

February 13th-Staff Night Out:  Resilience Video at Enloe HS (6-8:30pm)

February 15th - Early Release

February 15th-School Family Assembly