End of Year

Class library cleanout — guidance for teachers

Nate Meyers End of Year

As we prepare to close the year and think ahead to welcoming and making space for a new classroom library, please go through your current library and cabinets to decide what to keep, give away or throw away.  Please reference guidelines here and detailed below.  Contact Katie if you have questions or want assistance sorting through books! 

RETURN to Title I office:

    • Borrowed book sets
    • Unit resources (books from novel studies can be kept in classrooms)

 

  • Black DIBELS boxes- please clear out ALL booklets and papers and leave on the table in the title I office- we are getting a new edition next year, and these boxes will be prepped over the summer

KEEP these books!

  • Texts that are used in Read Together 
  • Books that belong to Journeys or reading intervention or assessment kits (ex. LLI)
  • Books that you know students enjoy in read-to-self 
  • Text sets that you use in reading groups 
  • Books from your personal library – make sure they are stored in a safe location

GIVE AWAY these books!

  • After you determine what you want to keep, students can build their own take home library! This is a wonderful opportunity to give our students the gift of choice as well as the tangible gift of books to add to their at-home library.

THROWAWAY these books!

  • Ripped, dirty, damaged, or outdated texts, or those that are not culturally appropriate
  • Do not just leave texts you don’t want in the hallway, please dispose and/or mark as trash
  • Connect with Katie if you have questions about what to get rid of

WHEN will I sort through my library?

Some ideas to engage students while you are sorting through books and instructional resources:

  • Engage students in helping to sort nonfiction books by subject.
  • Assign numbers and have students “shop” (to take home and keep in their own library!) for books from your give away pile in the order of their number.  
  • Assign independent work.
  • Have a choice board of independent/partner reading activities.
  • Have students try to find the oldest book in your room!

 

Last Day Logistics, 6/25

Nate Meyers End of Year, Uncategorized

Last Day Logistics, 6/25

  • Lunch for students will be a grab-and-go. Students will receive a bagged lunch on their way home. We will share the logistics of distribution procedures next week.
  • We will have a 30-minute meeting from 12:30-1:00 on Friday to celebrate and end the year all together. At our regular staff meeting Zoom link.
  • The remainder of the day will be yours to make sure rooms are packed for the summer. Please make sure before leaving that you have checked out, handed in your keys, and picked up your water bottle along with some other extras in the office.
  • **PRIZE**: A prize will be rewarded to the person that can find the most obscure item or book during the cabinet/closet/book purge. There will be a first and second place prize. Entries can be dropped off to Nate.

Classroom Cleanup Clarification

Nate Meyers End of Year

When it is time to clean your classroom for summer vacation.

We appreciate the attention to detail and cooperation in making sure rooms are extra tidy this summer so they can be efficiently clean. For context, all four schools will have IT updating technology, custodians installing new furniture, deep cleaning rooms, and fixing them up along with removing any remnants of unnecessary COVID protocols (i.e. blue arrows), all while navigating summer school. This year the Sokolowski is not slated to have summer school, but if for some reason we need to open more rooms, I want our classrooms to be prepared. 

Here are some expectations for classroom cleanout:

  • The goal is to have as much off the floor as possible.
    • Please take home or store valuable or important materials. This will ensure nothing is damaged when cleaning or moving classrooms.  
  • Counter space can be used to stack furniture (that fits up there without hanging over) like bookshelves, small tables, chairs, or anything too big for a cabinet and too big to take home.
    • An idea could be to fill up your plastic cart and move it onto the counter. 
    • Papers, books, or other soft items should not be stacked on counters. Please use cabinet space for these types of materials.
    • NOTHING over the vents
  • Did you check out the classroom library preview? I hope so! Now would be a great time to sort through your library and make room. That can be some bonus storage space for the summer.
  • Please make cabinet space for materials. Now is a great time to purge the cabinets of materials that are outdated, broken, or just obsolete. You can throw those things out.
    • If you are unsure what to throw away or need a second opinion, check in with Nate.
    • Please do not throw any math manipulatives away before checking with JZ
  • If necessary, you can use the classroom cubbies to store materials, but please try and use cabinets first. If you end up using the cubbies, please cover them with paper, tablecloth, or trash bag. 
  • Bulletin boards do not need to be covered.
    • However, please take down anything that may fall off over the summer or is not flush on the wall. Also, take down anything that you do not want to get damaged.
  • We are here to help. If you have a question or an exception to the above, please do not hesitate to reach out so we can come up with a plan. 
    • Please do not wait until the last day of school to address concerns because our options will be more limited.

Chromebook Collection Information

Nate Meyers End of Year

With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, we need assistance to collect Chromebooks, IPads, power chords, hotspots, etc. from students in attendance during the week of June 21, 2021.  For students who attend OLA or who are absent during the last week of school, the district will be offering outdoor drop-off opportunities during the week of June 28th which will be staffed by IT staff and custodians.

We are specifically asking if you can:

  • Help us let parents of in person students know that they will be asked to bring their device back into school during the week of June 21st. The attached flyer says that the school will let families know the exact date when the devices need to be brought in, we will announce that all Chromebooks can be returned Monday the 21st. 
    • Please post on your school story or message to families and talk to students about the plan (see flyers below)
  • Teachers will place 5-7 Chromebooks with chargers, IPads, hotspots, etc. into plastic bags that will be provided in each classroom and seal the bag closed. At present most classrooms have approximately 15 to 18 students in them so 3-4 bags should be sufficient per classroom.  Custodial staff will be delivering the bags to each classroom beginning towards the end of this week and continuing until Monday.  Additional bags will be provided to the office in case devices are delivered there.  We ask that the teachers place the bags carefully in a box  where they can be easily seen by custodians – and where it will be clear that the bag does not contain trash. (If you need a box we have some in the office. Just check with Jessica.)
  • The office will also provide a class list. Please highlight names once they return their equipment.

If students or their parents indicate that they have lost a charger or some other device, it would be helpful if the teacher could list the student’s name and what item is missing (e.g., Chromebook, Chromebook charger, hotspot, hotspot charger) and seal the note in one of the bags.  When the IT team opens the bags later in the summer in order to update Aspen, they will review this information.

School staff do not need to go into Aspen when the students are returning their devices next week.

If you have any questions please reach out!