WHAT DO YOUR TEACHERS DO ON 1/2 DAYS?

Often, parents and kids wonder, "Why do we need to have 1/2 days?" or "What do the teachers do during those 1/2 days when the kids aren't there?"

The fact is, that the 1/2 day early release Fridays are extremely valuable to our staff and in turn have a great impact on what and how your children learn. As I'm sure you can imagine, a day in the life of an elementary classroom is very busy and there is little, if any time for the teachers to work together and collaborate in planning their curriculum or evaluating their instruction. During 1/2 days teachers can work together in grade level teams, curriculum teams, or staff committees.

Today, during our 1/2 day teachers worked in grade level teams to analyze reports from the state OSPI and WASL data related to Math. We looked at three different articles related to math instruction, "WASL Math Strengths & Weaknesses," "Lessons Learned from Scoring the Math WASL," and "What a Strong Math Classroom Looks Like." Teachers read and discussed these articles and then brainstormed ways that we can improve in the math areas that our students struggle with: measurement, geometry, and probability and statistics.

The good news is, because of this type of collaboration our math scores have greatly improved. Our 3rd grade Math WASL Scores were quite good this year and exceeded the district and the state. We had over 85% of our 3rd graders meet or exceed the standard in Math! Way to go 3rd graders (now 4th graders).

Please feel free to ask your child's teacher what they learned on the last 1/2 day and how this time helped them be a better instructor.

FIRST - CARNATION TIGER TABLE!

Today was our first Terrific Tiger Table for the 2007-2008 school year. We honored about 40 Carnation students who got to have lunch with me (Mr. Poage) and Mrs. Marvin (our counselor) on stage. In addition, students got a special certificate from their teacher, and a pencil, Juicy Juice, and special eraser from our school business partner, Nestle. It was a great day! Please check out the newsletter on Friday to see who got a Tiger Award this month!

(Right) is our new Tiger mascot, purchased by the CE-PTSA. He came to lunch with us too. Help us name our tiger by voting below!

Have a great week!

Mr. Poage

CLASSROOM VISITS!

I have had a great time these past couple of weeks getting to visit every single classroom in our school. During this time we visited about the job and responsibilities of a principal and decided that my biggest job is to keep everyone safe and to help people learn. Some classes even had time to do some acting when we acted out the different Respect Rules for our class to help us learn.

In addition, we talked about our 3 Carnation Respect Rules:
1. I will RESPECT myself and others.
2. I will show RESPECT for safety.
3. I will show RESPECT for school and personal property.

And, we practiced the Carnation RESPECT sign (the letter "R" in sign language) and how and when to use it.

Thanks so much for being such TERRIFIC TIGERS when I came to your classrooms! You were very RESPECTFUL and good listeners! Mrs. Marvin, our school counselor will be back soon to visit with you about good friendship skills and bullying.

Have a great week!
Mr. Poage, Principal

FLASHBACK!

Remember this? Last year we had a special treat having the "Hip Hop Handbook" Team come to Carnation Elementary. They taught us how "break-down" and create Hip Hop Style Music and Art. It was an awesome time for everyone!

Did You Know?

This summer 9 of our Carnation Elementary Staff members attended a wonderful Arts Camp at Seattle Art Museum? Teachers learned how to dance, act, and create beautiful artwork, all of which will be taught to our students at Carnation this year. Samples of our artwork are displayed in the Gold Hallway (outside the MPR) in our beautiful "Carnation's Featured Artists" display case purchased last year by our school partner, Nestle.

Look for more exciting Arts Activities this school year at Carnation. Including:

-Our "Me, Myself, & I" - Snapshots Displays - on display in September
-Costume Ball - October
-"Snapshots of our Community" -Theme - Fall
-Annual Veteran's Day Assembly - November
-Annual PTSA Reflections Arts Contest & Winter Band Performance - November 29th
-Kindergarten Music Program - December
-Missoula Children's Theater Production - "Jack in the Beanstalk" - January

Don't miss these fabulous opportunities to expose your children and family to the ARTS!

Carnation Curriculum Night - Success!

Thanks to all the Carnation parents and kids who made it out the school Thursday night (9/13) to learn more about our classrooms. We are so fortunate to have outstanding classrooms and teachers for everyone. We look forward to all that we have to learn this year.

We also had about 115 kids come to our PTSA Movie Night to watch "Cars" that night. There was popcorn and juice and water and lots of fun. Thanks to our childcare sitters (Elizabeth and Ryan) for all your help! Thanks also to Joyce & Missy for ALL your help that night.

By the way, Congratulations to Mr. Owen's 5th Grade Multiage Class for winning the PTSA Door Prize for having the most parents attend the PTSA Meeting! You get an extra $50 for your classroom grant.

Did You Know?

Did you know that 90% of Carnation's 3rd graders passed the Reading WASL this past spring? That was higher than the district and the state scores for 3rd grade! Way to go 3rd graders!

The Principal's Page

Hello Carnation Friends,

Thanks for visiting my new blog. This is something we've wanted to try at Carnation Elementary School to help enhance our webpage, our community communications, and to provide a wonderful opportunity to connect "virtually" in our school community. I hope you find this blog informative and helpful.

I've listed several resources for parents and kids of websites and books that I found particularly helpful. I hope you enjoy them as well. Please feel free to share your ideas or links for others to view of websites that you like and think are educational and helpful.

Here's to another great school year!
Mr. Poage :-)