Scholastic Book Fair Volunteers

Our Scholastic book fair will be December 14th-18th in the Memorial Learning Commons. I'm really looking forward to a successful book fair in order to get a lot of fiction and nonfiction books for our collection.

I need your help! If you're willing to volunteer, please fill out the form below.

Let me know if you have any questions, comment, and/or concerns.

Thanks so much in advance.

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Mrs. Olshaw's Visit to Oak Alley Plantation, Louisiana

Mrs. Olshaw and other Burlington Public School educators are in Louisiana this week for the NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) Annual Conference. Yesterday her homeroom students and I connected with her via a Google Hangout on Air from the Memorial Learning Commons. 

Mrs. Olshaw showed us Oak Alley Plantation as she walked around the big house, through beautiful trees, and into slave homes.  She and her students compared Oak Alley Plantation to Plimoth Plantation (where her students visited as third graders).  

As you can hear from the YouTube video, her students were thrilled to "visit" Louisiana to learn about some of our rich American history.

Mrs. Olshaw in Louisiana connecting with her students in Burlington. 

An Oak Alley Plantation Slave Home

The YouTube video of our Google Hangout on Air (about 11 minutes)

Mrs. Olshaw and I would like to thank Katie Bercury, Burlington Public School's Social Studies Coach, for orchestrating the trip to NCSS as well as for helping plan this virtual field trip.

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Trusting the Process

Mrs. Dressler started a staff book discussion on the book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. Staff members and I are trying to foster a growth mindset in ourselves, as well as our students, opposed to having a fixed mindset.

This week I read The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthral aloud to students. (We’re in the midst of an Amy Krouse Rosenthal author study during the Global Read Aloud.) I shared that I’m an “ok” skier, reader, and deep breather and I strive to set goals, reflect, and trust the process to become a better skier, reader, and deep breather.

After reading the book, students brainstormed social, emotional, academic, and athletic tasks they’re “ok” at and shared with a few of their classmates. Third, fourth, and fifth grade students wrote a reflection about what they're "ok" at on their iPads using Google Classroom and Notability or Google Docs.

I look forward to continuing the conversation with students about trusting and praising the process.

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