March 25

Getting to know you: Alexandria Judge-Lenkeit (IRT)

20 years of teaching can go by super fast!  I sometimes do not know how I am this old!

Before I started down the path of teaching, you would have found me in my hometown of Clearwater, Florida most likely on the beach (yes, it’s been ranked one of the best beaches in the country)!  Although many people ask and wonder how I could move away from such a beautiful place, I knew at 19 I needed to move away to grow up and determine who I was going to be as an individual. After two years at the junior college in Clearwater, I attended Appalachian State University for undergrad. I then continued my education at the University of North Carolina for a master’s in literacy and then again for administration.

I first started teaching third grade at a charter school in Winston Salem.  To move closer to family (my sister), I moved to this area and taught 5th grade in Durham.  I then made my way to Underwood and taught 5th grade! After two years at Underwood, I transitioned to the IRT/magnet coordinator role.  Through the years I have had many random jobs (from high school, college and after college) and every time it has seemed I have been naturally moved into a leadership role.  For some reason, leading others has been a natural fit.

Family and friends are a huge part of my being.  My mother and grandparents instilled in me at a very young age that regardless of what you have going on in your life, you need to be there for family and friends.   They will get you through the good times and the hard times. They also taught me some of my more quirky behaviors which I can now appreciate (I love to plan/throw parties and unfortunately I iron everything).  If you have not met my sister, Anastasia (she use to be the guidance counselor at Underwood) she is my best friend and my worst enemy! I also have a younger brother, James! In 2009 (I think), I met my husband Matt!  We love to travel and spend time with our children (Benjamin (6) and Logan (3).

Overall, I like to spend time with my family and friends.  I enjoy working out and am super creative if time allows. I also love to work in the yard!  Years ago, I liked to read! I am at a point that my cleaning and ironing have taken all of that time away.  I live each day where I am and know that one day, I will read again!



CELEBRATIONS!

• Artspleasure --- What a wonderful night to showcase the gifts and talents of our students!  Shoutout to the Specialists, Daniel Levin, Julia Mastropaolo, Laura Urben, Ryland Herring and Alex Van Stavern and also the staff who volunteered to support the evening!
• CD 911 behavior support session was attended by Mary English, Ceil, Rachel, Ashley, Travis, Brenda, Allison, Cheryl and Dawn!
• All the staff that came to help Friday morning for support at busses and breakfast-  Olivia, Mackenzie, Diana, Lauren (and anyone else I missed!)
• PTA stipends ($125 a semester), here is the link if you don’t know if you have spent it this year - Staff - Stipend
• 2 weeks until Spring Break!
• Makerspace materials are trickling in.. stop by to see what is new!
• Playground equipment (purchased by PTA) has arrived!!!  
• 15 teachers completed their Quarter 4 electives signs on time!
• Ashley, Alexandria, Mary English, Jen Page, Holly, Heather Peaden for running Art Studio for Artspleasure!

Wish Well
Jackie Jordan
Sherry and family
Star and family

Q4 Electives Updates:
New electives begin Monday.  In preparation, please see below:
-Q3 elective report cards are due on Friday, April 5th.  Any level 2 in any area should be further explained.
-Please return organized elective curriculums to the white bucket on top of the file cabinet.
-You are welcome to come grab your new curriculum out of the file cabinet.
-Be sure to check the newly organized tubs of additional elective materials upstairs in the workroom.
-If you need a refresher on Q4 elective offerings, see here (scroll down)
-Elective signs for Quarter 4 should be completed by Friday, March 22nd so I can print them and hang them in preparation for Monday.  Elective signs can be found here.  
-Elective letters for Quarter 4 should be posted by Friday, March 29th.  Directions  here
-Elective changes should be submitted here.


Commitments Powerpoint from our Business Meeting. (See video on the last slide!) If you want help creating or refining commitments, let Ashley know.  



Friday, Workday!
This Friday, we will meet 9:30-11:30.  After our meeting, we decided since the room was so split we would meet in the middle in regards to the time.  We will finish the trauma series and cover a few other things!

Makerspace:
The Makerspace and it's materials are being used on a daily basis by different classes and electives - so awesome! New items - including craft materials and electronics (circuits, simple machines, etc.) - are being added over the next couple weeks. In order to keep the space and materials manageable, help is needed. If you use, have used, or plan to use (or are thinking about using) the Makerspace, please sign up to manage it for a week. What does managing the Makerspace entail? Simply stopping by for 5 minutes 3 - 4 times during the week to tidy, restock, etc. Please sign up at the Makerspace entrance. Also, please consider including the following info in your weekly communications with families:

K-2 Teachers-Add to your newsletters please:  
Letterland Day at Pullen Park will be on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  K-2 students have been utilizing this program daily. You are welcome to dress up as your favorite Letterland character!  There will be games and activities to participate in as well. We hope to see you there!

Playground Equipment-  Playground equipment has arrived.  The PTA provides money yearly to purchase new materials.  This week, the materials will show up in the carts at the 1st grade hallway.  As a team, please be sure your students collect all the materials at the end of recess and put into the carts.  The equipment is not cheap and if we all work together, we will hold onto materials for a longer period of time.  5th grade/Mrs Snyder’s class, please bring the cart in at the end of the recess block!
*Tip (maybe for next year)-  assign 2-3 people as playground equipment collectors!

Brain Hive -Apparently (I don’t think I have provided you this information), there are at least 31 science titles in Brain Hive in ebooks.  For some reason when I recieved this information in October, I totally missed it and just ran across it in my “to do’s!” I am so sorry!  Follow the directions below and if you have any questions, please reach out to Alexandria:

Please watch the following Brain Hive introduction video to familiarize yourself with the ebook platform for students.
See the Brain Hive School Links to access your school’s site for students. You must use an HTML5 browser such as Chrome for assess.
Each school has a generic login, that will allow students and teachers to access and use the platform without having to create individual logins.
School Name:
User: brainhive
Password: brainhive
Click “Go” and you will see the titles. You can show the titles on the screen during ELA or science. Students can also access the titles on their devices. See the list of titles that match each standard.

North Carolina State Senior Leadership Project (our student teachers)
The student teachers will be providing us information based on feedback we had during our SIP Meeting (based on behavior data).  Each week will they provide information! This is a great launch to our next steps in addressing our instruction when teaching boys.  The second one has been provided by Deena Alzaben (Mary English Hand’s student teacher).

Bridging the Gap Between the Genders - NC State Student Teachers-  Week 2
There is an increasing gap in the academic performance between boys and girls.  Based on the research in an article entitled, “The Feminization of Schools,” boys are performing more poorly than they were a decade ago, and they are dropping out in significant numbers.  In the 2006 Census, 56% of students on US college campuses were girls. Seventy percent of all D’s and F’s in US schools are earned by boys. Boys also comprised 2/3 of the disabilities diagnoses, while also having 90% of all discipline referrals (Mulvey, 2010).  
What could be causing these significant gaps? Thirty years ago, an average kindergarten class was filled with blocks, puppets, games, play kitchens, finger paint, and play dough, with little focus on direct instruction of reading and math.  The teachers would expose their students to these key skills. This seemed to be more of an exposure experience rather than direct explicit instruction with assessments to follow. Fast forward to a kindergarten class today and one might still see the blocks, finger paints, and play dough, but what will also and first likely pop out are the books, pencils, paper, charts, and maps. There is so much more information, opportunity, and expectations.  Today, the curriculum is a lot more rigorous, and much more is expected out of younger students.
Boys typically mature slower than girls and are on average two years behind girls physiologically, but they are put into the exact same classroom environments.  Boys are also held to the same standards even though they are developmentally lagging. They are still asked to master the same skills as girls at a very young age.
The author of the study states also how different young boys are generally: “Boys at age 5 are impulsive, less mature, and physiologically less able to acquire the skills necessary for the reading and writing process (Mulvey p.5).  With the rigor of the curriculum increasing each year, this could be why the achievement gap is growing.
These statistics pose the question,“How can we motivate the boys we teach with the increasingly rigorous curriculum?”  Motivating boys with literature is one strategy. For example,
Barbershop Books is a nonprofit literacy organization. Barbershop Books is a community-based program that creates child-friendly reading spaces in barbershops and provides early literacy training to barbers across America.  Barbershop Books leverage the cultural significance of barbershops in Black communities to increase boys' access to culturally relevant, age-appropriate, and gender responsive children's books and to increase out-of-school time reading among young black boys.  Exposing boys to books that are culturally relevant, age-appropriate, and gender responsive can have an impact on their attitude toward reading and overall motivation at school.

Sources:
Mulvey, J. (2010). The Feminization of Schools.
Education Digest, 75(8),
35-38.


Buddha Bowl Lunch for Wellness Fair
In honor of the Wellness Fair (and wellness at Underwood), let's do another Buddha Bowl Lunch on Friday, April 5. If you are interested in participating (there's something for everyone!),please sign up here - Wellness Fair Buddha Bowl.  We will also be hosting the Wellness Fair presenters who are donating their time, so please consider throwing in a couple extra servings.For those of you who did not participate on our last Buddha Bowl Friday, just know that really anything goes. There are no rules, as long as it's (somewhat) healthy and yummy to you!

KHS readers
A group of students from Knightdale HS students will be coming to Underwood on Monday, April 8 from 10:10 - 10:40 to read and visit with our students. This is the info from Kristel Behrend, librarian at Knightdale High School:

Our HS Library Media Studies students are currently preparing for our Literacy Week (#JustReadIt) 4/8 - 4/12 and they really want to be role models for younger readers. So we'd like to take a field trip ... (and also to Hunt Library) to do read-alouds to ES students.  We're talking very simple - kids come in, pass out some bookmarks, share why they should read and read a picture book to a class.

This looks like a great opportunity for encouraging and inspiring our students!   Sign Up for KHS student readers   **Please indicate your class/elective grade
level so students can plan accordingly.


Staff Development Opportunities-

Teacher Summer Writing Institute-Due to popular demand, the county is offering for the 3rd year in a row the Teacher Summer Writing Institute from June 17-21st at Carroll Middle School.  Please review this flyer if you are interested! Teacher Summer Writing Institute flyer  There are only 50 spots available.

A STEAM Virtual Professional Learning Series sponsored by PBS Education
Our world changes every day, and with that, our teaching practice does to: there is always more to learn as a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) educator. In this three part series, we’ll look at ways to inspire our young scientists and make concepts such as data and computational thinking engaging!  Register for the three part "Live Learning" experience: Inspiring Young Scientists Through STEAM Education.

NCCAT
NCCAT has released their summer programming- https://www.nccat.org/programs/calendar-seminars

PTA Stipends-  If you have needs or requests, the PTA has asked that you spend the money prior to May 1st. Before submitting a request through our Instructional Needs Form, please spend this money first.  Please let us know if you have any questions.

RTA Summer Camp - Our Summer Camp will be at Brentwood Road Elementary and we will be with Brentwood and Joyner. Summer Camp will run from July 15-30th for 12 student days.  The teacher workdays are July 11, 12, and half-day on July 31. Staff interested in serving as the Lead Teacher will need to apply for the position in Applitrack.  Each host site has a posting for the Lead Teacher position.

EOG dates 2019
Wednesday May 29th- 3rd and 4th Grade ELA
Thursday May 30th - 3rd and 4th Grade Math
Friday May 31st- 5th grade Science , 3rd and 4th grade make ups
Monday June  3rd- 5th grade ELA
Tuesday June 4th- 5th grade Math
Wednesday June 5th- 5th grade make ups

Check the Underwood Calendar often….

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

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


Conscious Discipline Challenge of the week:  
When a staff member is having a hard day, ask:
“It seems like you are having a hard time. What can I do to be helpful right now?”
“Do you want me to just listen or help you problem solve right now?”

Calendar/Important Links:

March 25-Q4 electives start
March 26-Leadership Meeting at 7:45am
March 26th-Q3 ends
March 29-Workday (We will meet from 9:30-11:30  as a staff)
April 2nd-Business Meeting; 8:15am
April 5th-TA Meeting; 7:45am
April 5th-Wellness Fair
April 9th-Leadership Meeting; 7:45am
April 9th-Q3 Report Cards go Home
April 11th-CD PLT at 7:45am
April 12th-Living Rhythms (9:30 K-2; 10:30 3-5)
April 15th-19th-Spring Break
April 22nd - Teacher Workday