Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon! However, due to Covid-19 restrictions our fall Book Fair is online this year! Please support our school and help your child discover new books, favorite characters, complete series, and more! 

The Book Fair will open on Monday, October 26th, and run through Sunday, November 8th.  You can shop the online book fair here: http://scholastic.com/bf/dothanbrookschool 

Check out the new Virtual 3D experience to get an (almost) live feeling! :) 

Just a little brag 😊

Every year in the spring teachers in the building nominate someone for Teacher of the Year. We all have a chance to nominate, then there is a vote, then the winner is announced at the District-wide Back-to-School Breakfast at the beginning of the year.

This year, Covid-19 hit and all norms went right out the window! I maybe thought about Teacher of the Year briefly when I realized we weren’t doing the District Breakfast, but that was about it.  I assumed we were not doing it this year due to Covid.  There is A LOT we are not doing this year because of Covid! But you know what they say about assuming…

At our first official staff meeting, held virtually, of course, Mr. D announced the two longevity awards (for teachers who have been in the district for a long time) and then said this:  Video

I had no idea! If I even suspected, I would have done my hair and not been eating an apple! :)  The one day I woke up late, threw my hair in a ponytail, and tossed some random foods in my lunch box… turns out to be the day the whole school is looking at me!  LOL.

I feel super appreciated though!

Later in the evening I logged into the high school performing arts department’s Welcome Back zoom meeting for parents and students. When the music teachers pulled up the website to show parents, they also gave me a shout-out for all the work I’ve done on it and how awesome it is.

I work hard, for sure, and I never feel taken advantage of, but it is pretty nice to get the accolades!  And the plaque!

Libraries are for everyone

Check out this amazing graphic from Hafuboti! She has versions is dozens of different languages as well.  They are so beautiful!

Many more at: https://hafuboti.com/2017/02/02/libraries-are-for-everyone

Even better, they are posted under a Creative Commons Attribute/Share Alike license – so you can download, share, modify, and use the images. In fact, she encourages it!

Home Learning

It's hard to believe, but we are in our sixth week of remote learning, with six more weeks to go! If you had asked me back in February if we would have closed schools, I never would have guessed it!  The idea that we took a whole school (a whole district, and state, and country!) and switched withing a mater of days from classroom learning to remote learning is just mind boggling!  I saw this quote on Facebook today and really like it.

Apparently he is a professor of religion, but don't mind that. I just connect with the idea that we are figuring out how to do remote learning only moments before trying to teach it to children and families. Every step of the way we are trying to decide what is best for teachers, students, and families.  How can we engage kids, keep them learning (or at least stop them from un-learning!), while also supporting families and teachers in this unprecedented time of trauma and uncertainty.  It is certainly an experience we will never forget.

That said, I am extremely impressed with how well we as a school community are doing with this new experience.  The teachers and staff are all working hard to deliver the best possible lessons, while trying to teach students how to use the technology, and trying to balance the amount of time kids spend online and off.  Students are working hard to engage with their teachers and get their school work done, even though we know they are missing friends and school activities. The district is working hard to make sure everyone has food they need for their bellies, the technology they need for their education, the child care that essential workers need to keep our society functioning, and the milestone experiences that we all have all been hoping for and planning on. These are not easy tasks for anyone, yet everyone in this community is pulling together to make it work. I'm proud to be part of this community and this school.

On a lighter note, in the past two weeks my library assignments have included art activities to create a patchwork elephant (Elmer) and a rainbow garden (Planting a Rainbow).  Check out some of the beautiful elephants and gardens that are filling my Seesaw feed!

I could go on and on with the beautiful elephants and rainbow gardens, but I'll stop here. We are now moving on to a few weeks of digital citizenship lessons.  Less colorful, but maybe a little more educational. :)

Keep on reading! #dbsreads

I will miss reading to all of my DBS friends during this Home Learning adventure, but I hope the kiddos don't miss hearing stories!  Please continue reading with your children and feel free to share some of the many great online resources available.  As coronvirus sweeps across the nation, authors everywhere have begun offering story times online, via social media or just posting on their websites.  Check out some of these great ones:

• The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds & Activities
  This is a curated list of authors who are reading their own books and offering literacy activities.  Some authors have done one-time readings,while others are offering daily stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
• Storyline Online
  Well-known celebrities read popular picture books. This is a project from the Screen Actor's Guild Foundation. 
• Story Time from Space
  This is one of my favorites! Astronauts read popular children's books FROM SPACE! You can see them floating in the International Space Station. You can see the Space Station behind them. It's very cool! 
• Audible
  Audible is one of the most popular audio book services. My family uses it all the time! We listen to classics, and new books, YA novels and self-help books, picture books and best sellers.  They have everything (mostly) and they are offering it free to students whose schools have been closed due to coronavirus.  
• Scholastic Learn at Home
  Scholastic has created day-by-day literacy projects to keep kids learning at home home. These are great supplemental activities to your child's literacy education -- and fun too!
• Epic!
  Epic! provides thousands of digital books for students to read free online.  Check with your classroom teacher for a class code. 

I will record myself reading some stories as well and post them as activities in Google Classroom or Seesaw.  Remember, reading and being read to are equally valuable. Read to your kids and explore these online resources together.  Take advantage of this time when your children are home. Enjoy!

   

Coronavirus takes over the world

Wow! What a whirlwind week it has been! Exactly one week ago we were in school, wondering what the status of school in Vermont would be for the foreseeable future. Other schools in other states had started closing down due to the rapid spread of the Cornonavirus (aka COVID-19). Because of my role, the principal had asked me a few days earlier to look into a few tech-related questions associated with closing school and transitioning to elearning. Friday afternoon he was pulled into a meeting at the Superintendents office and the Governor of VT was scheduled to speak in the evening. We were all (mentally) prepared to be shut down. But nope, Governor Scott said that schools will remain open. By Saturday schools within an hour from us had started closing and by Sunday the state of NH closed down their schools. Governor Scott made an announcement Sunday evening saying that schools in Vermont would also be closing and had to be closed by Wednesday, and that parents could optionally keep their kids home all week. There was a lot of confusion about the whole thing and we all waited anxiously for word on Sunday night about what the plan for Monday would be. It felt like a surreal snow day situation. Late Sunday night we got word that school would be open for students on Monday and Tuesday, then support staff would stay through Thursday and teachers would stay through Friday. We went in Monday to about half the student population, and by Monday night we were all feeling the rush. Our Wednesday staff meeting got canceled, the professional development I was supposed to do all morning on Wednesday got moved up to Tuesday with the boss finding coverage wherever he could for me and the other teachers. I had sub coverage on Monday and Tuesday while I rushed around, getting things setup, getting accounts made and Chromebooks organized and staff supported. It was wild. Kids had cracked and bleeding hands from washing so often. The run on Purell and toilet paper was a constant source of amazement and conversation. On Tuesday we had about 25% of the student body and staff was told we would have Wednesday to finish prepping, but that’s it. By 5pm Tuesday, when many of us were still there, prepping lessons and handing out Chromebooks, we got a message from the Superintendent that staff should stay home Wednesday, but admin would be there for the whole duration. As of Thursday, admin were told to stay home full time too. It was crazy! Like every minute things were changing and even sometimes when it wasn’t officially changed, we all had the feeling that it would be changing and were acting accordingly. It was nuts.

Now we are home, trying to adjust to this new normal. I keep forgetting what day it is. My own kids are in vacation mood, not yet fully understanding what "school" on Monday will look like. I don't fully understand what school on Monday will look like! It is such an amazing experience that we are all undergoing together; uncharted territory that we must explore blindly, hand in hand (but six feet apart!), and we find our way.

Hopefully by next week we’ll have settled in to this new version of school and life. We are currently closed until April 6th, but it's quite possible that we’ll be closed (much) longer than that. The unknown makes everything harder to plan for. What a weird and surreal experience.

On a lighter note, I’m so thankful that I work with kind and flexible coworkers, that our students are facing this bravely, that the technology exists to make this type of transition happen, and that my own family is healthy and well and not worried for our own health or financial stability. I’m thankful that the weather is warming and the days are getting longer. Can you imagine if this had happened in January?! At least now we can get outside, take the dog for a walk, and breath in the sunshine and fresh air.

Hang in there world, friends, and DBS family. We'll get through this together, side-be-virtual-side.

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Dear families,

January 31, 2020 is Multicultural Children’s Book Day. At Dothan Brook School we are preparing for MCCBD 2020 and hope you will join our celebration of diversity through children's books. As you may know, it is critical to expose children to books where they can see and learn about people like themselves (mirrors), as well as see and learn about people who are different from them (windows).

Multicultural Children’s Book Day‘s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators. According to their website, this non-profit has donated over 7,000 books to kids and that number continues to climb.

We will be celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day for a whole week at DBS! Starting on January 27th, class council lessons and library activities will focus on diversity in literature. We will also be introducing the concept of books as windows and mirrors. Lodge circles that week will focus on diversity in literature as well.

We would love for you to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of diversity in the books with your children as well. We understand that talking about diversity can be challenging and uncomfortable, even for parents and teachers! For many, there is a fear of saying the wrong thing, or opening up a conversation you aren’t able to fully address, and often it feels easier to just not even begin the discussion. We would encourage you to take this opportunity to give it a try. Remember, we are all learning together!

Here are a few suggestions for talking about diversity in literature with your children:

• As you’re reading, pause to ask questions, such as:
• What is it like to feel different and not fit in?
• Was there a time you felt like this?
• Don’t skip over foreign words. Make an effort to learn them. Practice saying them together.
• Point out foods and clothing in stories that might be different from typical American food and clothing.
• In your home library, have students find a book with a picture of someone who looks like them and a book with a picture with someone who doesn’t look like them.

If you are interested in exploring further, check out these sites:

• https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/literacy-empathy-discovery-action-the-mission-of-mcbd2020/
• https://www.weareteachers.com/mirrors-and-windows/
• http://www.aldenhabacon.com/13-tips-how-to-talk-to-children-about-diversity
• https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/teaching-diversity-place-begin-0/ 
• https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-teach-children-about-cultural-awareness-and-diversity

Student Newspaper

The 5th graders who aren't in band come to library twice a week for enrichment activities. For the past few weeks we have been working on a student newspaper and today it finally went to press! The kids were thrilled to print, fold, and deliver them to the students and teachers in grades 3-5.

You can read it online here: DBS News - Issue 1

Red Clover winner

The Red Clover Award is a Vermont state book award for the best new picture book of the year. The committee chooses ten books and children in grades K-4 read them and vote.

My method of voting worked well last year, so we did the same thing again this year. After I read all ten books to the kids (over the span of several weeks), each kid gets a sticker dot to place on their book page of choice.

This year Whoosh, by Chris Barton, was the clear winner. It is a good book, but I'm a little skeptical of how many kids truly loved it and how many were voting for the book with the most stickers. :) I may try something a little more confidential next year!

Whoosh tells the true story of Lonnie Johnson, the inventor of the Super Soaker.  Mr. Johnson grew up in the 1950/60s, competed in science fairs at colleges that had just barely desegregated, worked at NASA on the Galileo mission, and went on to invent many things, including the Super Soaker.  The book is the story of diversity and overcoming adversity. A story of grit and perseverance.

I'll send the votes to the state to be compiled with votes from all of the other elementary schools.  We'll see if the rest of the state agrees with DBS's choice.

(My husband, reading over my shoulder while I wrote this, just went on a long tangent about thermal coupling, thermal piles, and the importance of the work Lonnie Johnson did for NASA and our space program.  So, I guess this guy is well known in the engineering field!)  

Mini golf video

I was playing with a new program this evening and decided to use it to put together a video of the PTO mini golf event from last month.  :)  I'm VP of the PTO, so I thought it would be a good job for me.  Check it out!

Battle of the Books winners!

The Battle of the Books took a little longer than expect, but we made it to the end and celebrated!

The fourth grader winner were able to defend their book, The Land of Forgotten Girls, by Erin Entrada Kelly to the end, convincing their peers that their book is best.

4th grade winning book

Fifth was a cliff-hanger for a few extra weeks, but the winners put together a cute (spoiler alert worthy) news report to help their book win the battle.  Congrats to When Friendship Followed Me Home, by Paul Griffin.  

5th grade winning book

  

Each team got to invite friends and we all celebrated with a pizza and brownie lunch.  Crazy kids! :)

4th and 5th grade Battle of the Books winners, plus their invited guests.

Next week all the 4th and 5th grades will be taking a Battle of the Books survey.  I can't wait to see what they have to say.  

We will also be voting for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher book awards next week.  All of the books in the Battle of the Books this year are on the Dorothy Canfield Fisher book award list.  

Vermont Institute of Natural Science

The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) has an excellent educational program and does a lot in schools, including DBS.  Today Anna from VINS came to DBS with a few of her feathered friends.  I had 1st grade at the time so I got to go too! :)

The kids loved seeing the birds, especially the one that pooped on the floor.  Can't beat that for an assembly!  After she put the birds away the kids got to come up and touch the feathers, wings, and feet.  A little cringe-worthy, in my opinion, but the kids loved it!

Anna and her owl

Bird feet are fascinating

This is pretty much how I felt about the feet getting passed around!  :)

Wings galore!

Bird wings and feet.  The kids were amazed that they are real.

The kids had a great time!

Book fair

My brain has been 110% book fair this week!  It's crazy and all encompassing and totally amazing!  I loved seeing how excited the kids got and how eager they were to check it out.  The 5th graders were excited to help bring boxes upstairs so they could get a sneak peek at the books.  Every time the fair was open it was busy and there was energy in the air.  I love it!

5th grade helpers

Quick break to check out the books. 

They wanted to keep going and set up the whole fair, but I made them wait.  There were so many boxes!  I needed to peek through it myself first to figure it all out!

I think several kids wanted to spend the whole week in front of the shelves. 

The book fair was "closed" during library classes, but the didn't stop the kids from observing from afar. 

I tried teacher wish lists this year with some success.  I'll do it again next year with better promotion and visibility. 

The fair was in the library from Friday's Teacher Preview through Thursday morning, then a bunch of amazing teachers and volunteers whisked it down stairs and set it up again in the front lobby.  I am ever so grateful for all the support I got with this effort.  We were up and running again in the lobby by early Thursday afternoon, just in time for parents coming in for conferences.

Thank you all who came, visited, purchased, volunteered, schlepped boxes, supported my efforts, gave me advice, and put up with my exhausted mind this week!  It was amazing and I'm glad it's over.... until next year!

Except, PS, if you missed the fair, or thought of something else you want, you can order online through November 11th. Orders will be shipped, free of charge, to the school. If you're shopping for presents, leave me a note on the check out page and I'll make sure to get them to you discretely without little eyes seeing.