October 20-24th, 2014 AND October 27-31st Two Weeks of Blogging!

Support our School Vision-It's all about Building Relationships, Caring for Students and Increasing Rigor!

A Busy Weekend For All.......                       

 Look Who Came Back To Visit!

Late Friday afternoon, I was visited by some Diggs-Latham Family.  Elena brought Julissa and Jenny over to the office. Ms. Hart and I were thrilled to see them.  They wanted you all to know that they miss you all and our school very much.  We reminisced and had a lot of laughs.  Of course, we had to take a selfie and one picture to commemorate the visit. Jenny is happy to be in one grade level working with first graders. I know she is making an impact on her students. Julissa is enjoying High School and says it is a real change.  We miss both these ladies. You can leave Diggs-Latham but you are always welcome back as part of our family:) 

 2014 Heart and Stroke Walk at Tanglewood

I spent my Saturday volunteering for a great cause that is near and dear to my heart, the American Heart Association's Heart and Stroke Walk.  I helped to educate people on the signs of a heart attack, the importance of exercise and a healthy diet and the need to get regular check-ups.  Here are some tips on how to spot a stroke

F.A.S.T.

Face Drooping-Does one side of the face droop or seem numb?

Arm Weakness-Does one arm feel weak or drift downward when raised?

Speech Difficulty-Does the person have trouble speaking or repeating a sentence?

Time to cal 911-Call immediately, time counts.

CONGRATULATIONS To Our Diggs-Latham Families

• Barbie's son was married this past weekend in Florida.  Barbie worked for months creating all of the decorations for an incredible Rehearsal Dinner. It was spectacular! She texted  me that it went well and the kids loved it. I am sure they did as Barbie attended to every detail with love and perfection!  Can't wait to hear all about the wedding when she returns.
• Lisa O'Brien's son Zac, who is a Financial Planner with Thrivent Financial is a 2014 Award Recipient for WS LEADERSHIP <40.  Hooray. I know Lisa is very proud.
• Gloria's son, Jeffrey was featured in Relish Magazine, this past week as a part of the WS Journal.  He is an artist and has a degree in Art from UNCG. He  studied at the Cranbook Academy of Art in Detroit.You can check out his incredible work by going to jeffreypubantz.com     The Pubantz family are very proud of Jeffrey.
• If you have any good news about your family and you want to share, please do, so that I can add it to our weekly blog.  Families are important!

So you think you know what teachers do. Right? Wrong.

Article from the Washington Post

Since we have been sharing professional articles, Megan Shoaf sent this to me to read and I have emailed a copy of it to you all. Thanks Megan! Take a minute to read it. I think you will find it quite interesting!  Let me know your thoughts about the article and the end of the blog under comments. I would also like to thank all of you who not only read, but participate in our Blog Learning Community. Your comments have been insightful, collaborative and inspiring. Thank you.

Week At A Glance

Both Dr. Frazier and I are working very hard completing Pre-Conferences, Evaluations and Post Conferences. We are literally working round the clock, dawn to dusk to be able to provide you with quality feedback and quality conferences that we feel will help you grow.  There are a lot of you and we are doing our best to work around everyone's schedules. We have been very proud of the work you are doing with our students. Thank you.  The observations and conferences continue this week as we continue t schedule.

Read To Achieve Local Assessment This Week

Monday-

• 7:30-Observation-Post Conference
• 8:00 Meeting with Eva Phillips-District/KBR Early Learning Specialist
• Observation 9:25
• Observation 10:00
• Post Conference 10:50
• Observation-1:20-2:00
• Post-Conference 3:10

Tuesday-

• 8:30-9:30 Observation
• 9:30-10:15 Observation
• 10-50-11:30 Post Conference
• 1:55 Post Conference
• SIT Meeting at 3:10-SIT Chairs will send out agenda and notify Schorer,Smith and newest member. (You can get her information from PTA President)

Wednesday-Early Release Day

• District Reading Task Force to meet at Diggs-Latham @ 8:00, in Room 200 We will have district officials in our building this morning.
• Early Release at 12:50-Please make sure you know how students are getting home before 11:30. Thank you for your help with this. You might want to send a short transportation questionnaire home on Tuesday afternoon. We will do an alert now call as well.
• We will start our meeting in the gym at exactly 1:20 and be done at 3:20.
• During this ERD, we will be working on making decision and strategic plans by grade levels and groups as to how we will improve reading on our grade levels based on our Smart Goal. More information to follow.
• I will provide snacks for you this afternoon at our meeting:) We hope to conclude by 3:20.

Thursday-

• FAVORITE TEAM DAY-Wear apparel from your favorite team. Any Sport, Any team!
• 8:20-9:00 Observation
• 9:00-9:45 Observation
• 3:10 Post Observation Conference
• Book Fair Delivered today

Friday-

• EOQ-3rd Grade Math
• Post Conferences/Evaluations, continue

 I Love Picture Day! Isn't he just adorable?

Thank You Home Moravian for the $50 Gift Cards for Teacher Resources!

I have passed out most of the cards. Remember to save the original envelope to put your receipts in with your name on the receipt.  Put your thank you cards and your receipts in the BROWN envelope outside my door no later than November 4th, 2014. Thank you:)

Notes:  Looking Ahead to next week....

1. Monday, October 27th EOQ 4th and 5th grade Math
2. Tuesday, October 28, 4th and 5th grade Reading
3. Wednesday, October 29, 5th grade on-line Science
4. Newsletters Due to Administrators on the 29th
5. October 30th End of First Quarter and Fall Festival
6. October 31-No School RS Day Teacher Workday
7. If I have missed anything, please inform me.  Thanks:)

Saturday's Bully Walk Was A Great Start To Our Week......October 13th-October 17th 2014

 Families had a wonderful time at Family Arts Night........October 9, 2014

 Thank you so much to all of our Arts Team for an incredible evening of Arts.  Community members were able to create beautiful art, play and learn about soccer, Dance, practice and play band instruments,sing and participate in Media activities.  They also learned tips in Orchestra. This night was great fun for all. Thank you Arts Team.  I would also like to thank Ms. Pullen, Ms. Baccari, Ms. Taylor, Barbie Brown, Lisette Prato, Lisa O'Brien and Katie McGregor for lending their support to a great event.  We were also fortunate to have WFU with us that night.

 Annual Bully Prevention Walk!

Diggs-Latham Elementary "Stepped Up" on Saturday to help stamp out BULLYING! Our Students performed under the direction of Ann Farthing. Our girls sang 2 songs (atop the DASH Dugout) dealing with Character and Respect. They rocked the stage. Ms. Farthing did an excellent job teaching and rehearsing these songs on a minutes notice. Our girls performed in front of hundreds and Dr. Emory was in the front row.  Thank you so much to teachers for being flexible and realizing that this was really a big deal for our students and our school. We were specifically asked to do this. It was an honor. Performances take rehearsal and practice just as academics do. They are both important. I know we are short on time for both, but when we work together, our school is a better place! Balancing time between academics and the arts is a challenge for us all because both are so important but remembering that we are an Arts Magnet is important. There will other times throughout the year when kids will have to be pulled to rehearse. We keep this to a minimum, but it is important.  Thank you to all the families, teachers and friends who came out to support us.  A big thank you to Mrs. Studevent who helped coordinate the event and to Amanda Gordon who created the "Diggs-Latham Stepped Up" banner, and took great pictures for us.  She also did this on short notice. The posters were great as well.  Thanks to Zenyth and her husband and Katie, Charlie and Holland for all coming out to support us.  We also had several families:)  It was a Great Day at the Ballpark!

I love this quote!  It is so true, we make an impact on our colleagues, students, families and communities everyday. We want it to be a positive impact.  Our students and colleagues are facing a lot, some things you know about, some things you don't.  Keep that in mind as you go through your day. Know how important your smile, compassion and encouragement truly is to both our students and our colleagues. I have seen kid's faces light up when you give them a compliment or "brag" on them.   They know that you care about them. Thank you!  This is just one of the things that makes our school a great place to work.  Did you know that someone can gain information on the climate of a school after only being in the building 5 minutes?  They look to see how people interact with each other. Do the students seem happy?  Are there smiles in the classroom for a job well done?  Is the school safe and orderly?  Is there quality student work posted, Are hallway displays well thought out and content based? All these things MATTER:)

Looking Ahead:

• Make sure you are up to date on your PEPs
• 3-5 teachers, please make sure that you have read emails from Mrs. Wolfe concerning gradebooks. Ask questions now if you need help and we will be happy to help. Grades and graded work should go home weekly.
• Start planning your conferences for Quarter 1. The end of quarter 1 is October 30th.
• Fall Portraits on the 17th-Dr. Frazier will send out a schedule.
• Everyone can wear their Favorite Team Apparel on Favorite Team Day, Thursday, 10/23.
• Have you changed your hallway displays?  Add the content standard in the corner:)
• October 18th-Cannon will volunteer at Heart and Stroke Walk-Hope to see you out there! Tanglewood Park 7:00-11:00
• Early Release Day is October 22nd.
• Read to Achieve Local Assessment the week of October 19th
• Please pay close attention to Mrs. Perry's emails as important testing dates, etc.. are enclosed
• Have you joined our PTA?  We need you.
• The United Way Campaign is underway-See Alisha if you have questions:) We would love to have 100% participation. You can donate as much as you want or just a dollar.  Every penny counts for great causes. You can choose where you want your money to go
• SIT Meeting on the 21st
• Week of 26th Book Fair-Fall Festival will be October 30
• October 31 is a teacher workday-RS
• Nov. 3-Teacher of the Year Banquet at Old Salem-Mr. Powelson would have gone. Looks like I have no date for the evening:)  Congratulations to Mr. Powelson. We miss him.

Report Card Administrator Assignments, Tips, etc...

When turning your report cards in for review, firstly, you should make sure they are on time.  Secondly, put them in a folder with your name and grade clearly marked on it. Place in the folder a class roster. THIS IS NEW. The reason we are asking for this is because in the past we have been short report cards by accident. We want to help you by making sure that all students have cards. Please check to make sure that attendance, all grades, correctly spelled student names are included and the report card is complete. Switch with a coworker to proofread. It will save you from having to reprint the cards later after editing.  We waste a lot of paper if we keep having to reprint. If a child receives a poor grade, your comments should address this. If a child is doing a great job, put forth a lot of effort or has shown great character, your comments should reflect such. Comments are important. If grades and/or behavior are needing improvement, ask for a parent conference. Teachers often ask Dr. Frazier and I to sit in on conferences for support. We are happy to do so. Staying connected to families is important.  Dr. Frazier and I do our best to get the cards back to you quickly. We read every card. We glean a lot of valuable information from our work.

QUARTER 1-

End of Quarter 1 is October 30th

November 4th-Grade Verification to Mrs. Wolfe-It is also her Birthday!

November 6th-Report Cards Due to Administrators

Quarter 1 K-2 report cards go to Frazier and 3-5 Cards go to Cannon

Since we are off on the 11th for Veteran's Day, we will send cards home on the 12th

Would Love Your Feedback! Please respond to my comment at the end of the blog:) Thank You.

The Fair is Here and So is Fall! October 6-10th 2014

Diggs-Latham Shows Off Artistic Ability at the Dixie Classic Fair

A big thank you and congratulations to Mrs. Amanda Gordon and her Art Students for representing Diggs-Latham in Grand Fashion.  This display takes a lot of effort and we truly appreciate the work put in by students and Mrs. Gordon. A special thanks to colleague Zenyth Thomas who helped Mrs. Gordon with setup.  Now that is TEAMWORK!

Bully Walk This Saturday and Our Choral Students Are Performing!  WSFCS Bully Prevention Walk 10/11/14 at 8:15 am. We hope that you will all join us as we walk the mile to stamp out Bullying.  Last year we had a good size group of students, faculty members, staff, family members, etc...All are Welcome!  This is a photo from last year's walk.  

Diggs-Latham Dodge Ball-Thanks Ross and Emily!

We all had a great time last week at the Dodge Ball Game. DL staff floated in and out and a great workout was had by all.  This was also a great stress reliever!  Thank you to everyone who participated. Great Idea Ross!

Thank You to All Who Participated in Diggs-Latham Grounds Pride on Saturday Morning!

Thank you so much to the Grounds Committee for planning this terrific event. Students and staff coming together to beautify our grounds is truly admirable. It was a beautiful day and as a school, we so appreciate your giving up a Saturday.  I understand there are photos and I will put them on next week's blog!  Thank you Mrs. Ochoa, Mrs. Wright, Ms. Wynns, Ms. Magness, Mr. Wright and Mrs. Baccari.  If I left anyone off, please let me know as I am going by Dr. Frazier's list.  Thank you Dr. Frazier for having the building unlocked. I would have loved to have been there but my parents just sold their house and have to be moved in three weeks. I was helping them get ready for the big move to Florida:)  I am proud of you all for stepping up for our school!  THANK YOU.

Looking Ahead.........

10/6-Observations/Walk-Throughs     ITBS this week

10/7-4th and 5th grade Strings-WE WILL NOT CALL YOU. Be in the gym, seated and ready to go by 10:10.

10/7-Faculty Meeting 3:10  BRING your GREEN BOOK and be familiar with chapters 1 and 2.

10/9-Family Arts Night for Specialists, attendance is not mandatory for staff unless you are volunteering to help the specialists out:)

10/10 Book Worms Meeting for corporate volunteers at 9:00

10/11 Bully Prevention Walk at the Dash Stadium! COME JOIN US!

Family Affairs......Prayers and hugs to Mrs. Gilliam, Mrs. Hopson and Mr. Holmes as they continue to recover. We miss them all:)

Please Note: We will have workmen tackling the challenge of the erosion by the educator warehouse.  They will bring in some fill dirt, regrade and seed.  Keep your fingers crossed.  They will also be spreading the piles of mulch they left on the playground. They have been short handed.