What's Happening on Wake Wednesdays???

Dear Friends,

I wanted to give you a brief idea of "What's Happening on Wake Wednesdays."

Our PLC Teams are working hard to develop quality lessons and assessments for our students. While each grade level has a slightly different focus, the main emphasis is developing lessons that will help all students achieve at their highest potential.

Next Wednesday (Sept. 23rd), our 12:30 early release date, Kathryn Vaughn, with Promethean will be doing a 3 hour workshop on using Promethean electronic response devices to assess student progress.

Welcome Our New Part-Time Spanish Teacher

My name is Amy Gourley, and I am so excited to be re-joining the Joyner Spanish Team! Five years ago I taught Spanish at Joyner, and it is a delight to be back. I have long loved the Spanish language, and I find it so rewarding to share with children. I graduated from Wittenberg University with a major in Spanish and spent a year studying at a Chilean university as well. Since that time I have taught in a variety of settings including high school, elementary school, and even summer camp! A native of Pennsylvania, Raleigh has been my home for the past 10 years along with my husband, Mike. During the last five years our family has grown to include two daughters, Stella and Anna. I look forward to getting to know you and your child throughout the school year as s/he grows in her/his knowledge and love of Spanish.

Please join me in welcoming Amy to our Joyner Family! Amy will be teaching Spanish to grades Pre-K, K, 2nd and 3rd.

Welcome Our New 2nd Grade Teacher Emory Wells!!!

You can meet Emory tomorrow night at Open House!!!

Hello! My name is Emory Wells and I am a native of Raleigh, NC. I graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May, and I am very excited to return to the Raleigh area. I have had some great opportunities to work with children including teaching in a children's home in Guatemala, interning and student teaching in Greensboro, NC, and working as a camp counselor at an International Sports Camp for three summers. I look forward to getting to know the students, parents and faculty at Joyner and I'm proud to become part of the Joyner family!

Emory is a Summa Cum Laude Graduate of the UNC-Greensboro School of Education. Her Academic Excellence (3.95 GPA) is only surpassed by her love of, and commitment to, children. Emory reads, writes, and speaks Spanish!!! She is the niece of Martha Roberts, a long-time Joyner PTA family, and Emory passed up many positions to patiently wait on this opportunity to present itself. We are extremely excited to have her join our teaching family!

President Obama's Speech to School Children

Dear Parents,

I have linked important information about the President's Speech below. Included in these links are an actual copy of the speech itself (released by the Whitehouse), a link to the LIVE Speech site, and links to the classroom materials released by the US DEPT. of ED. for grades K-6.

http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/lessons/prek-6.pdf (Dept. of Ed. Materials for K-6)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/ (A transcript of the Actual Speech)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/ (The Live link to the Speech - 12:00 noon Tuesday Sept. 8)

Possible Parent Spots at Worldview Symposium

Dear Parents,



We are negotiating with UNC Chapel Hill to get a few seats for parents at the Fall Symposium entitled "21st Century Skills for a Global Economy." The cost is $125 for two days (Oct. 14th and 15th) and we will probably only have four seats available for parents. I have linked the information about the Symposium below and the speakers are among the foremost experts in the World on Globalization (Peter Brews is absolutely SUPER!!!)



Yong Zhao is also a featured speaker and I have linked information for his book about education in the U.S. and China.









http://www.unc.edu/world/2009Symposium.htm


http://zhao.educ.msu.edu/ (Yong Zhao, video on this link is very compelling)

Wonderful Book Coming Sept. 8th!!!

Dear Families,

As we continue our focus on Internationalism, I want to call your attention to a new book that will hit the shelves of bookstores on Sept. 8th. Half the Sky was written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, pulitzer prize winning journalists and human rights activists. You can read the first chapter on Amazon.com

I recently sat in on the webcast for the books release and can't wait to read it myself.

Open House is Thursday Night!!!

Dear Parents,

Thursday Night, Sept. 10th is our Open House night at Joyner.

The evening starts off at 6:00 pm with a General Meeting of the PTA in the Gym. (If you haven't had a chance to join the PTA, this is a great night to do it!)

There will be two sessions, one from 6:30 to 7:00 pm and one from 7:00 to 7:30 pm, in which the teachers will present specific information about their classrooms and the curriculum. Teachers will also have a sign-up list for parents to request conferences.

Please note that this is a night for curriculum questions and not a night for individual conferences. We will have many parents who want to speak with the teacher, so it is important to keep our questions related to the classroom and/or curriculum and not to specifics about your child, as we have to be sensitive to the large number of parents present and the short time for Open House.

Labor Day

Monday is a Student Holiday. There is no school on Monday.

Obama's Address to the Nations Children

Dear Parents,

As many of you have experienced if you have watched the news, their is much discussion of President Obama's Sept. 8th 12:00 noon address to school children.

Much of the concern is regarding some of the media's reports that the video is "mandatory" or that children will be "compelled" to watch the video.

One of the greatest things about being Americans is that we have a choice. In this case, parents were sent home a permission form, just like they would have received for any guest speaker or video that is not in our collection, and they can choose whether their child participates. We will have alternate activities based on the NC Standard Course of Study for those who choose not to view the President's address. Those who view the address will also have activities that tie the speech to the IB and character curriculum.

Please note that because of lunch, recess, and the possibility of technical problems, the video may be recorded and shown at a later time or date, once again, only to students we have received permission forms from.

All the best,

Chris

Staying Safe in School Zone

Dear Parents,

Linked below is a short audio clip regarding the latest research on Safety in School Zones.

The clip is appropriately titled, "Zoned out in a School Zone". It is a short 1 minute audio clip and I have also linked the study below it.

Audio

http://inr.mediaseed.tv/oneClip_C/?feed=JXR5aXY4NM5zOyFcZ54qsUkZjuEHaJOt

Study

http://www.usa.safekids.org/wtw/documents/Research08.pdf

All the best,

Chris

Welcome Kindergarteners!!!

The First Week of School was OOOUUUTTTSSSTTTAAANNNDDDIIINNNGGG!!!


Monday it the First "Official" Day of "Big School" for our Kindergarteners!!!

With this in mind, please be extra careful at Crosswalks and Bus Stops and please be patient at dismissal as we will be doing Carpool for the first time with all of our Kindergartners.

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher

We want to invite our Kindergarten families out to our Kindergarten Meet the Teacher on Friday, Aug. 28th from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to meet your teacher and classmates and have a meal with your new friends.

All the best,


Chris