Mathews Elementary Blog

Budget Concerns

2009-12-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

The economy has hit our state very hard. Schools have really taken a hard hit. It appears things may get worse in coming months as far as budget needs. We are being asked to cut expenses in as many ways as possible. Money for critical supplies for the remainder of the year is gone. We have even bought classroom supplies out of office money and janitorial supplies out of General Activity money. As the new year begins, we will call on you, our parents to help us provide supplies for our students. Needed classroom supply lists will be distributed to the students. The lists will be very similar to requests made for the beginning of a school year. Let me thank you ahead of time for supporting Mathews Elementary School in the wonderful way you always do. Thanks, Kay

2009-12-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Hello Mathews Family,

It is so hard to believe we have made it to December. Everything has been new to me. It has been a real adventure to walk for the first time through the Mathews' traditions and events. Wha an exciting time! I have enjoyed so much getting to know your children. I look forward everyday to being here to greet them.

Our Cornerstone Work is continuing to spread. Students are regularly talking about their schema. Many have studied the strategy of visualizing what they are reading. We are moving into the strategy of questioning. We are learning good readers ask questions about the pictures in the story. They are learning that "thick" questions are more rigorous than "thin" questions. We will be moving into the strategy of "Inferring" in the days and weeks to come.

If you have not had a chance to see the Principal's Pick displays posted throughout the building, they will be up until we get out for the holidays. Please take a stroll to see them. The book is My Name is Yoon and all grade levels studied the same book and the displays are a result of their work.

Teachers are continuing to be trained in Math Exemplars. MathExemplars is a standards-based program using engaging manipulatives while differentiating the same math problem for a variety of learners. The CSU Math Collaborative is presenting this monthly learning development for our teachers.

Be There Campaign

2009-11-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

Today the Muscogee County School district will launch the Be There Campaign in the 5:30 p.m. newscast at the WTVM (Channel 9) television studio. Be There is a multi -media, national,parent involvement campaign that is sweeping the country. It is not a program or a curriculum. It is a campaign designed to inspire parents to be engaged and involved in their child's education and daily learning experiences. The campaign focuses on little reminders that teachable moments are all around us, even for those parents whose schedules may not permit them to be at a school event or extra-curricular activity. We want to inspire parents to make ordinary moments extraordinary by encouraging them to engage with their children during their daily routines. By doing so, we hope to make them aware that teachable moments are everywhere.

The goal is 100% participation (all schools participate). Each school has been tentavively assigned a week to have a parent/child interview to share their teachable moment. The plan is to feature one teachable moment(parent/child) from every school over a year. Our media partner,WTVM (Channel 9) will feature a Be There teachable moment two Wednesdays per month.

Parents who wish to participate should complete and submit a Be There entry form. You can get a form from the office or you can access the entry form on-line, print, and submit to our office at Mathews.

You will receive a district-wide Connect-Ed message about this campaign. I wanted to let you know about it from me first. I know these moments happen all the time with you and your children and look forward to the many entries I know we will receive. Our week scheduled for WTVM is September 7, 2010. We have ample time to get many entries and know we will. There will be a designated place in the office where you can drop in your entries. The website is http://www.bethere.org/.

Please call me with any questions we have. Have a great day ! Kay

Cornerstone Spreads

2009-11-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

It has been exciting to watch the work of the Cornerstone Literacy framework spread at Mathews. As students learn to read, to write, to think critically, to reason, to analyze and evaluate information ,to communicate effectively in a variety of forms, and to inquire systematically into any important matter, it is evident that higher order thinking skills are being activated and lessons have taken on deeper rigor. I invite parents to inquire about visiting a Cornerstone Model Classroom and see for yourself the great work taking place.

We are adding to the strategy of schema by incorporating visualization as a reading strategy. The comprehension strategy of Visualizing is also known as Making Mental Images or Creating Mind Movies. Visualization is the creation of images in the mind as the student reads, processes and recalls what has been read. Visualizing a picture or scene with the words and phrases allows the reader to organize the ideas, to see the relationship among the ideas, and to make meaningful connections with them. Using visualization and discussing the pictures to check for understanding and discrepancies help a reader increase comprehension.

It is important that students continue making connections to activate schema (prior knowledge) well into this strategy of making mental images. The bottom line we want all children to learn is that everybody's mental images are different because everyone's schema for text is different.

More on Visualization next time.

2009-10-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

Parents, I wanted to let you know that thanks to our awesome PTA an awning will be installed Oct.23, 2009 at Parent Pick-up. This will certainly be an appreciated addition for our students, parents and staff. Thank you for making this happen.

Starting soon , parents dropping off or picking up their children will see"No Idling: Young Lungs at Work" signs posted in the carpool lane. The No -Idling Zone is part of our involvement with the Clean Air Schools program, in partnership with The Clean Air Campaign. Through this program, we are working to protect the health of our students and the health of our environment. and we ask you to show your support by turning off your engines. MCSD has also adopted a no -idling policy for our school busses, greatly restricting the idling time on school grounds.

The emissions that come from our tailpipes harm all of us, especially children who breathe more and at a faster rate than adults. Georgia has a higher than average rate of pediatric asthma, and even low levels of pollution can trigger an asthma attack or respiratory symptoms.

So, if you are going to sit still more than 30 seconds, please remeber to turn your car's engine off. You will not only improve our air, you'll also save money in fuel and vehicle wear and tear costs.

To learn more about air pollution, its effects and how we can all breathe easier visit CleanAirCampaign.org

Local School Council

2009-09-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Parents,
I want to make you aware of a function of the school, the Local School Council.The A+ Education Reform Act of 2000 established school councils in Georgia to "bring communities and schools closer together in a spirit of cooperation to :
_ solve difficult educational problems
_ improve academic achievement
_ provide support for teachers and administrators, and
_ bring parents into the school-based decision-making process"
School councils provide advice,recommendations, and assistance to principals and local boards of education. School councila are made up of a minimum of 7 council members with parents making up a majority of the council.
At this time the LSC meets the first Thursday of each month at 8AM. Members are elected annually. However, much like the local school board and the city council, any parent can attend and observe the workings of the council. You may determine from the visit you would like to be a member. That would be a good outcome. If not interested in serving on the council you may still attend every meeting. The agenda is always posted in the office at least a week prior to the meeting. Please know that you are more than welcome. We will meet Thursday,Oct.1 at 8AM.If you would like to know more about LSC respond to this blog, email, or call me.

Fun at Mathews

2009-09-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Mathews had a special guest from Japan , Ms Hijri Hattori speak to our 3rd and 4th graders. She works for the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Georgia. She shared customs, toys, games and writng symbols with our students. Hopefully the world is a little smaller as a result of her visit.

Along the same lines, thanks to our wonderful PTA all of our students were treated to a bilingual Hispanic folktale today. Ask your students to tell you about the stories Senora Tortuga told in th eplay today. Not only were the students entertained, they also were exposed to the language and customs of Mexico.

The world theme of the book fair sponsored by the PTA brought home to our students how global we are all becoming.

What's On My Mind?

2009-09-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Mathews' Blog! This is an avenue to share what's going on at Mathews. You can find out information about programs, activities and events. This is also a place to let us know what's on your mind. Check regularly for updates.
So far we are off and running! I can't believe we have been in school over a month. So much has happened and I am looking forward to each and every day.
Mathews has just finished the Cornerstone Review. We were the first of ten schools added to Cornerstone this school year. Cornerstone will help our students learn to read, to write, to think critically, to reason, to analyze, to evaluate information, to communicate effectively in a variety of forms, and to inquire systematically into any important matter. Cornerstone brings rigor and higher order thinking to our students, while also helping them to become responsible for their own learning. Cornerstone is also a program that lends itself to diffirentiation, to meet the needs of all students. Cornerstone promotes literacy through the use of book clubs, a leveled book room will be added, Principal's Pick books will be a school-wide strategy book that will be used at multiple levels to increase diffirentiation. As a result of the school reaview, a time line will be developed to drive the direction of this program. Stay tuned for more information.

2009-08-15T14:56:00.001-07:00

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