New Teacher in Oakland Virginia Velasquez-Cruz on TV!

Congratulations to new teacher, Virginia Velasquez-Cruz from Reach Academy in Oakland. She is a local teacher recruited through the Teach Tomorrow in Oakland program. Please click the link to see the story! http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8334395

We just never know where our students will end up . . .

I loved this video of author and presenter, Michael Grinder. We always have that ONE kid and Michael was that kid but look at him now. =)

Teacher Organization--Using FlyLady techniques

I'm a fan of Flylady.com for keeping my house from turning into a giant disaster of toys and papers and chaos . . . I saw this post this morning and wanted to share with others who may find it useful . . . especially if you're feeling overwhelmed right now.

Teachers who are FLYing!
flylady, 9/16/2011 2:36 am

Dear FlyLady, I sent you a testimonial recently about adapting the Office in a Bag for teachers. I've been FLYing at home for years, but still struggle sometimes at work, because I feel so "busy." I have learned how to work around this "feeling-busy" problem. I thought I'd share some more tips that I have adapted for teachers (and didn't even realize until I wrote that other testimonial) but that may apply to other Payroll SHEs: Another use for the FlyLady cling: I glued a magnet to it and stuck it on my filing cabinet at school. I use the calendar and kid stickers at school. I use the Office in a Bag for my school papers. I use the lanyard for my school keys. The timer is used in so many ways I can't even begin. I mainly use it for children with attention issues. It helps keep them focused on a task, and they try to beat the timer. It also helps me clean off my desk at the end of the day when I want to go see my babies. I'm anxious to go and am tempted to leave the mess for tomorrow, but then I see my cling magnet and remember to just give it 15 minutes. I always finish in less time. My clean desk is my shiny sink. I also happen to have an actual sink in my classroom, and I've taught the kids how to keep it clean and water-spot free. We do 5-minute rescues of desks every day and thoroughly clean desks every Friday, which takes less than 5 minutes! I adapted my morning and evening routines to fit school. CHECK YOUR MORNING SCHOOL FLY LIST 1. Do you have your exercise clothes, water bottle, lunch, and snack? 2. Have you checked your Hot Spots and put out any fires? 3. Fill your coffee mug. 4. Unpack your school bag. 5. Did you have any breakfast? 6. Fulfill your to-do list before the bell rings. 7. Have you taken a break this morning? Have you had any water? CHECK YOUR AFTERNOON SCHOOL FLY LIST 1. Did you have any lunch/water? 2. Are you prepared to exercised today? 3. Go do a 5 Minute Desk/Closet Rescue! 4. Have you taken a break this afternoon to just sit and be good to yourself? 5. Are you caught up on grading/filing? 6. Make copies/lessons for tomorrow, including necessary supplies. CHECK YOUR EVENING SCHOOL FLY LIST Check your "Before You Leave" List 1. Lay out your lessons for tomorrow. Are the copies made? 2. Is your DESK CLEAN? 3. Go Put out Your Hot Spots! 4. Leave at a decent hour! (5:30 for me) 5. EXERCISE! START YOUR BEFORE BED ROUTINE AFTER DINNER We need our beauty sleep as well as rest for our bodies and minds. 1. Pack exercise clothes and water bottle. 2. Lay out your clothes for tomorrow. 3. Pack your school bag. 4. Make your lunch and snack. 5. Make a to-do list. 6. Go to bed by 10:00. I also use FlyLady zones in my room: there's art, writing, library, their desks (including other centers), and my desk (including cubbies, since I use them, and shelves). Every week I declutter and detail clean each zone (but the kids bear the brunt of the responsibility here - never do for a child what he can do himself!). However, my desk still has to be clean each day before leaving. Five minutes at the beginning of the day our "community helpers" help me keep our classroom tidy and running efficiently. I use the Librarian, Custodian, Botanist, Secretary, Reporter, and Meteorologist. My plants never die, library books are never overdue, attendance gets taken, the room is always clean, and the Reporter and Meteorologist help me remember to do calendar and weather, and they lead it instead of me (I'm still a SHE and forget things). I carry very little of the mundane load in the mornings. I can start teaching at 9:00 sharp instead of 9:30 - WITH a CLEAN room. *Librarian (returns all library books in book crate, passes out overdue notices, straightens books, arranges pillows in the Reading Corner) *Custodian (erases boards and claps the erasers outside, keeps floor clean, carries heavy stuff like lunches and recess equipment, washes tables, makes sure desks are organized) *Secretary (Files worksheets to go home into each student's file, stuffs Friday packets, takes attendance, answers the phone and intercom, runs errands, replaces lunch tickets.) *Botanist (waters, fertilizes, and prunes plants) *Meteorologist (keeps track of weather charts on bulletin board, calls Time and Temp, leads class in morning weather routine) *Reporter (keeps track of and performs calendar duties, leads class in pattern predicting, reports class news) I hope these tips help other teachers, and that some tips help other Payroll SHEs. The best way to learn is to teach, and writing this testimonial reminds me of things I do well. I will focus on them in the fall and teach them to my student teacher to remind me to use the tools that that I know work. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Teaching myself while teaching kids to FLY ******************************* FlyLady here; We have a Teacher Control Journal on our website. Check out our FlyShop for our FlyLady Teacher Tools. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop.asp http://www.flylady.net/pages/teacher_cj.asp Oh and don't forget your water bottle. Our teachers love their water bottle to keep them hydrated. http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_swb.asp -------- You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.? Let's Go for Seven in 2011! Get your FREE Cozi Calendar http://www.flylady.net/pages/cozi.asp Copyright 2001-2011 FlyLady and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved, No reprint to other email lists or websites without FlyLady's permission. You have permission to forward to a friend. Join us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheFlyLady

The Film You WANT To See . . .

UC Berkeley’s Graduate Schools of Education, Journalism, Public Health, and Social Welfare are co-sponsoring an important panel and film screening. The public forum is entitled Interrupting Lives: Curbing Violence in Our Communities. Is There Hope? It features Alex Kotlowitz, producer of the film The Interrupters; Jabari Mahiri from UCB Graduate School of Education; Emily Ozer from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health; Ron Smith, principal of our OUSD's own West Oakland Middle School; and Susan Stone from UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare, along with some community youth speakers (TBD).

The film, The Interrupters, is a powerful film. Juwen Lam of RAD saw this Chicago-based film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and says it is highly relevant to the Oakland context and our joint efforts to curb gun violence in our city. The Chicago “violence interrupters” (their job description) use methods informed by public health and epidemiology, employing public health strategies that parallel those used to reverse any epidemic of infectious disease.

The event will be held on Tuesday, September 6, from 7-8:30 p.m., at the David Brower Center Goldman Theater at 2150 Allston Way in Berkeley (near the downtown Berkeley BART station).

Please go to the following website to read more about this event, and please pass the word to whomever you believe would be interested in attending.

http://gse.berkeley.edu/admin/events/interruptinglives.html

If you are unable to attend the public forum, you can see The Interrupters film from September 2-7. See website for details.

Teachers 4 Social Justice Annual Conference with Gloria Ladson-Billings

Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor at University of Wisconsin and author of The Dream Keepers and Education Research in the Public Interest: Social Justice, Action and Policy as well as Patrick Camangian, assistant professor at USF and co-director and teacher at East Oakland Step to College and Mandela High School will be the Keynote speakers at Teachers 4 Social Justice's annual conference.

The conference is FREE and will be held at Mission High School in SF on Sunday, October 9th. Online registration and conference details are available at the link below.

http://www.t4sj.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=39669&PID=551700