Thankful for healthy teachers and students!

There is so much gratitude surrounding these halls! May this WELL DESERVED Thanksgiving break bring you rest, health, wellness and time with your family and friends! 

Did you see our students stuffing their backpacks on Monday and Tuesday?  We never know what goes on with all of our students when they are away for 5 days but I sure feel better knowing they were able to grab what they want or maybe even need.  Marshall continues to support each student in and out of our building.  Thanks for that!

Spotlight on Erin Macdonald, Administrative Assistant
My name is Erin Macdonald, I was born and raised in Flagstaff AZ and attended Marshall Elementary School from 1988-1994.   I had my first child Anthony in 2006.  Anthony started at Marshall at age 4 in the Co-Op and continued his schooling at Marshall until 2016 and is now an 8th grader at MEMS. I started working for FUSD as a traveling, night custodian when Anthony was 1 year old in 2007. After about a year of that I was placed at Marshall as a full time day custodian. I did this work for about 2 years and was asked to apply for the Attendance position. I have been the Attendance Clerk at Marshall since around 2010 when I also became pregnant with my second child Rio, who is currently a third grader at Marshall. I was recently asked to step in as the Administrative Assistant for the remainder of the school year at Marshall while Malinda takes a leave of absence. I love my Marshall family and continue to work here because I love my job and love coming to work every day. Likewise, I can't imagine my child going any where else other than Marshall. He is confident happy and thriving here. You cant find that everywhere.

A blog worth reading: Let's be thankful
I hope you take time to read it HERE.  If not, here is the part that really resonates with me.

And I am so incredibly thankful to work alongside people like YOU every day.  People who pour their heart, soul, time, blood, sweat, tears into these kids.

People who are more than just educators.  People who are life changers.

Our job isn't easy.  Our job doesn't always feel rewarding every day.  But I am thankful you walk alongside me with these kids.  That you jump off the ledge with me.  That you take risks, love deeply, and keep pushing yourselves.

I am thankful for our parents we have who are doing the best they possibly can to raise their children.  I am thankful for our district administration who makes decisions they feel are for the betterment of kids.  I am thankful for our own personal families who deal with our tears and time away from home because we love what we do.

Thank YOU for what you do.  There is no way I could ever express how needed and appreciated you are.

America's Favorite Crossing Guard!  

Vote here and bookmark it until Dec 13th.  I have three emails, I will use them all! ;) Please help spread the word to as many as you can!  You can even share on your Facebook pages or put it in your newsletters!  We know he is the best, we just need the nation to know it too! 

SPED Corner by Hauer 

Misconception 5: Learning Disabilities fade with time.
“Learning disabilities do not go away — they’re with you for life. That doesn’t mean someone with a learning disability can’t achieve or even be wildly successful. They just need to find ways to circumvent or accommodate for the areas in which they don’t do well. The more individuals know about themselves and how to get the help they need, the more they’ll be able to succeed. A person who is diabetic can still be a world-class athlete, but they need to figure out how to balance the management of their medical condition with their training and completion needs. People who have learning disabilities can be (and are) Pulitzer Prize-winning poets, state governors and members of Congress, actors, economists, engineers, physicians,… anything at all. They just need to understand their specific LD-related challenges, find ways to work around these pockets of weakness, and follow their dreams.
“The sooner people learn to talk about their LD and how to be effective self-advocates, the better. There’s some really interesting longitudinal data that shows success attributes among children with LD. Studies tell us that even more important than early recognition of LD, overall intelligence or how many years of special education help they received, the thing that had the biggest impact over time was how well they could articulate their learning disability to others. Starting in elementary and middle school, students should become really good at explaining their learning disability to teachers. By the time they’re in high school, they should know the rights and protections they have and be able to share the details of their IEPs or 504 plans — documents that specify the services and supports they are entitled to receive.”

United Way is Underway!  Dec. 6th deadline

If you participate online, let us know so we can accurately report our participation %.  Also note the Dec. 6th deadline. Together, we can make a large impact!

Record breaking week!

Two days in a row with over 190 absent students!  Record breaking.  Thank you for all of your efforts in keeping our school germ free(er) where possible.  We can all do our part! Stay healthy as we continue to see many illnesses on the rise this season.  My new "good morning" daily routine is brought to you by safeHands alcohol free hand sanitizer! 

Don't be ground zero!  Take care of you!

Upcoming Evaluations week of Dec. 2:  Ogg, Shaw, Hulls & Ryan

Happy birthday to you... 

Janea Skinner (belated) 11/18
Franny Gustafson (belated) 11/21
Eva Yazzie 11/30
Darlene Fousel 12/1
Rebecca Soto 12/2 
Sarah Flores 12/2
Andrea Shaw 12/4
Sarah Milios 12/8
Bianca Fahy 12/12
Heather Overton 12/15

Did you see the email from Zachary Fountain (sent 11/25 @ 5:03pm) about the new Anonymous Alert system that will "go live" following our Thanksgiving break?  While we do not allow cell phones here at Marshall during the school day, we will put up a few posters to inform our students about this new resource and have a few stickers available for our parents to take home.  Please review the email from Zach. We will all need to talk to our students about this resource.  
Information regarding accessing the system is now available at fusd1.org/anonymousalerts.


COMING UP...

Monday, Dec 2
~11:30am-12:30pm- Reasor in OISF mtg (Operation Improve School Facilities) Portable 1 This will be weekly for several months.
~XCAT Bowling for Special Olympics!  Go Mustangs!!! 

Tuesday, Dec 3
~Fully staffed and smooth sailing

Wednesday, Dec 4
~4:30-5:30pm PTO mtg
~5:30-6:30pm 5th grade parent info night

Thursday, Dec 5
~Keep calm and carry on!  7 full days and 4 half days until winter break.  Let's finish this second quarter strong! 

Friday, Dec 6
~9:00am Spelling Bee (so exciting)!
~1-2pm ILLP preparation & progress reports in Library for all teachers with ELL students.
~2-3pm Marshall Leadership Team Mtg (Rm 19)
~3:30pm United Way donations due!  $5 is all it takes to participate.  Help us reach 80% participation.

~Dec 9, Construction Begins

~Dec 9-10, 5th grade Social Heath
~Dec 10, Fratelli 10%
~Dec 10, Governing Board Mtg

~Dec 12, Early release 12:25pm

~Dec 13, Canned Food Drive ends with parade

~Dec 18, PTO Craft Night

~Dec 19, Holiday Luncheon

~Dec 21-Jan 5, Winter Break

Bus Duty: 3rd grade Teachers (TPPP eligible)!

Please acknowledge you have read this post.

Attitude of Gratitude!

What are you thankful for?  Here is what some of you had to say...

The support of my Marshall peers.

I am thankful that my little boy still likes to snuggle and hang out with me, for my hard-working husband, family and friends, my sweet, little dog, my family's health and my school.

My Fiance Austen

While sitting by the fire, watching large fat snowflakes gently cascading at dusk in the forest

I am thankful for my family.

I am grateful to have family that supports and laughs with me. I am grateful for the connection to animals and the environment, they bring me so much peace. I am grateful for the abilities that I have to be successful in my professional life. Lastly, I am so grateful to have had the amazing Mom that I had. I am inspired by her every day!

LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER AND SUGAR!

Healthy, happy days with my family.

I am thankful for the grade team I work with! I am also thankful that I can speak freely, and that my voice is heard as an equal. Lastly, I am thankful for my family, friends, and God.

Thankful for my coworkers. Love them!

I am thankful for snowy weather. It is beautiful, and I can play in the snow and go skiing.

I'm thankful for time snuggling with my family.

My puppies and health.

And - my wonderful, supportive co-workers!

I am grateful for my peaceful walks to school, the support of my team and left over Halloween candy

My family, my health & kind co-workers

I am thankful for my students and our relationships that we are building in through the chaos of life and being a little person.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I am fortunate to work and live in a community that is safe and accepting of others. Thank you all for being part of that community!

I am thankful for all the staff that goes above and beyond to cover for each other when unexpected events arise. It takes a village!

Wow!  I am inspired by you.  I am motivated because of you.  I am proud to work on the front lines with you.  I am GRATEFUL for all you do for Marshall students, for each other, for your friends and your families.  I am thankful for you!

There is confusion about Elementary Early Release Days (Dec. 12

and May 21) across the district.  I received clarification that these are indeed EARLY RELEASE DAYS for all students in the elementary
setting so teachers have time to work on grading.

Congratulations Ms. Beck!  She got engaged!!!  

Construction is all set to begin over thanksgiving break! 

There is much I was able to negotiate with Loven Construction. For starters, we will make a "door" out of the fit kids window so that contractors can enter and exit the area from our fire lane!  This was a huge win for school safety and traffic.  

I moved up our start date from winter break to thanksgiving break to either get us ahead of schedule or assist in keeping us on schedule.  Here are the basics for now:

Wed. Nov. 27th Abatement 

Week of Dec. 2nd - Abatement inspection and final plans (no construction)

Week of Dec. 9 - Construction begins - demo and more.  It will be loud for Sci. lab and Mrs. Joe but they are mindful of our hours of operation.  This means they can hit it hard over the winter break.
I also thought it was important for us all to have two weeks to adjust to new routines (not able to use that bathroom but the hallways will be accessible).  This means we will hopefully have our new bathrooms completed by the end of Feb. with early March final inspections!  Thank you for your flexibility during this remodel as we improve our facilities one project at at time.  If you would like to see the construction schedule in its entirety, see me!  It is fascinating and I have learned SO MUCH! 

Did you know? Marshall's Reflex Math Fluency Facts thru Nov

• We have 320 students actively using Reflex in grades 2-5.
• We have 60% at green light success.  Anything over 50% is considered GREAT.
• Marshall students have achieved 27,000 NEW FACTS TO FLUENCY!!  AWESOME!

SPED Corner by Hauer 

Misconception 4: More students seem to be diagnosed with learning disabilities in today’s society.
“If you look at all of the nation’s students who receive special education services and the 13 different educationally handicapping conditions listed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, almost half — 41 percent — have a learning disability. The numbers of school-age students in each category have changed over time, with some categories growing and others shrinking in number, but most experts agree that somewhere between 4 and 6 percent of the population has a learning disability. Within the LD category, the vast majority of children will have significant difficulties in the area of reading. But remember, not everyone in society who struggles in areas of reading, writing, spelling and math will have LD. “And a word about ‘learning differences’ or ‘preferences.’ Do you know someone who is terrific at remembering names and phone numbers but who doesn’t like to write things down? How about someone who is not a huge talker but who never forgets a face, is great with directions and likes things to be detailed and well-organized. Or how about someone who is hands-on, preferring to dive in and experiment without relying on printed instructions or verbal feedback. Most people have some of these characteristics, and some have strong preferences about how they organize their lives. While these styles or preferences can help us orchestrate activities of daily living, they don’t get in the way of our doing things in other ways. That’s where LD is different. People with LD are ‘wired’ to do things differently, and their struggles are not due to preferences or differences but rather real brain-based disorders. This does not mean that LD is a prescription for frustration or failure. Quite the opposite. But it would be unfair and inaccurate to presume that they can push past their differences if they just tried harder or tried to be more flexible in their approach to learning.”

America's Favorite Crossing Guard!  

This is BIG!!  Mr. Billy is an official nominee and now we have Daily Sun & FUSD helping us!  We must get the word out!  It is up to popular vote and all are allowed AND ENCOURAGED to vote each day until Dec. 12th!  I would love to see Mr. Billy honored with this title!  While he is one of the most decorated veterans and already honored by the Flagstaff community, becoming America's Favorite Crossing Guard just might be one of his greatest honors of all! It will just take seconds out of your day for two weeks to help us get there.  Voting starts MONDAY, Nov. 25th!!! Vote here and bookmark it for 3-weeks! I have three emails, I will use them all! ;) Please help spread the word to as many as you can!  You can even share on your Facebook pages or put it in your newsletters.  

United Way is Underway!  Dec. 6th deadline

Our Marshall goal was 80% participation by all certified and classified staff members in 2018.   We made an awesome effort to reach 48% participation and generously donated $1,017.00  I chose Community Impact Fund and $ out of my paychecks. There are many ways to participate.  Flat $5 works too!  Forms are up front.  If you participate online, let us know so we can accurately report our participation %.  Also note the Dec. 6th deadline. What are you supporting?  

• KinderCamp - Preparing students with little or no preschool for kindergarten during the summer. Over 387 children were served last June including students at Killip, Kinsey and Thomas Elementary schools.
• Dolly Parton Imagination Library - Nurturing a culture of literacy by mailing free books to children birth to five years. Last year 45,286 books were given to children and their families.
• LAUNCH Flagstaff - Engaging education, business and community leaders to advance world-class education in Flagstaff.
• VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program) - Processing over 1,400 tax returns and saving individuals tax preparation costs.
• Crisis Response/Recovery - Assisting communities, neighborhoods and individuals recover from the impacts of natural disasters and emergency events including our community’s recent experiences with fire and flood.

Please help us reach our goal!  

Upcoming Evaluations week of Nov 25th: Voorhees, Gerlick & Hauer

Coming up

Monday, Nov 25
~Thankful for a quiet day
~Thankful for the sanitized       school.

Tuesday, Nov 26

~Thankful for our students and all we did to support them over this 5-day weekend. 

Wed, Nov 27-29 
~No School, Thanksgiving Holiday!

~Dec 4, PTO mtg 4:30pm

~Dec 4, 5th grade parent night meeting

~Dec 6, Spelling Bee

~Dec, 9-10 5th grade Social Heath

~Dec 12, Early release 12:25pm

~Dec 13, Canned Food Drive ends with parade

~Dec 18, PTO Craft Night

~Dec 19, Holiday Luncheon

~Dec 21-Jan 5, Winter Break

Bus Duty: 2nd grade Teachers (TPPP eligible)!

Please acknowledge you have read this post.

No slow November!

What an amazing week we had!We crushed the Cognia review, we hosted THE BEST Parent University to date, we ate leftovers and we took some time to develop as professionals during the You Matter district-wide PD day.  I hope you found your Friday valuable and I hope you know how much YOU MATTER!  You matter to me.  You matter to your students.  You matter to your colleagues.  You matter to your friends and family.  You matter to so many people that you deserve to take better care of yourself. 
I hope you do.  It's important. 

**Do you subscribe to Angela Watson’s “Truth for Teachers” podcast? It’s amazing!
Click the picture below to check out this episode: A Crash Course on Trauma-Informed Teaching. 

You’ll learn ways that trauma impacts students and what we can do to support kids without carrying the weight of that trauma ourselves. The podcast also provides specific dos and don’ts to make it easier to navigate this in your classroom.
Trauma-informed teaching is not a curriculum, set of prescribed strategies, or something you need to “add to your plate.” It’s more like a lens through which you choose to view your students which will help you build better relationships, prevent conflict, and teach them effectively.

Spotlight on Mrs. Christina Janeway, Attendance Clerk
My name is Christina Janeway, some of you may know me well and I have had the pleasure of working with you as a parent first and then as a coworker. To those of you who may not I am also known as Miss Christina, Kindergarten Aide to the wonderful Jessica Housholder. I have worked at Marshall Elementary for 7 years. And prior to having my 3 children I worked for Weitzel and Christensen Elementary in the special education preschool. I first started working at Marshall as a copy aide for the teachers. I know many of you are saying, “Wait a minute, we had a copy aide?” Yes however as that position went away I found a place in the Kindergarten alongside the most amazing kindergarten team ever!
But my History with Marshall didn’t start there. Thirteen years ago my son Matthew was in the special education preschool at Sechrist Elementary and we had hoped to continue elementary there, despite living out of boundaries. However two weeks before school was to start I received a letter informing us he was not accepted. A broken hearted, anxiety ridden mother began calling schools to see who would take us; a friend suggested Marshall and I called the newly hired principal Staci Zanzucci. When I began explaining our situation she stopped me mid sentence and said,” Don’t worry, your son has a spot here.” I burst into tears and after our first meeting with his Kindergarten Teacher Mellissa Bianco, I began to fall in love with Marshall. Matthew is now a Senior!

Marshall has been a beautiful home to all three of my children, Matthew, Mitchell and Katie and halfway through Katie’s Kindergarten year became my home too! So I am so excited to continue to partner with you my Marshall Family in a different capacity as Attendance Secretary Clerk for the remainder of the year. While we all miss Malinda so much and wish her well, I hope I can be of help and give Erin the support she needs in the front office as well as Janelle our bold leader! And of course please let me know how I can be of service to all of you amazing teachers who live everyday to serve, teach, reach and shape young minds! You are setting the foundation for all future learning! We are Marshall ElevatED!

Thank you Ms. Shaw for bringing back America's White Table! 

SPED Corner by Hauer 

Misconception 3: Learning disabilities usually correspond with a low IQ.
“If a person’s intellectual capacity is below normal, their problems learning are not said to stem from a learning disability. Again, these are processing disorders that occur for reasons other than diminished cognitive ability. They’re not due to poor vision, poor hearing, they’re not caused by environmental or cultural factors. They aren’t caused by ‘dysteachia’ or a lack of opportunity to learn, and are not a result of a less than optimal home environment. Children with LD have the mental machinery to do well, but because of the unique ways that their brains are organized to receive, process, store, retrieve and communicate information, they struggle to accomplish tasks that are necessary to success in school and in life.

“The other thing I must stress is LD is absolutely not about laziness or a lack of motivation. These are real disorders — with impacts that are felt every day and in so many ways. Imagine how you would feel if every time you read something new you needed extra time to sound out each word, re-read each sentence more than once to retain its meaning, and struggle to remember details and take notes. Now imagine the stress of the school day, worrying about whether you will be called upon to read aloud or write on the board, in effect being asked to put your LD on display. And the same goes for the workplace. The key is to help those with LD to circumvent the challenges of their learning disabilities so they can share what they know in ways that demonstrate strength, leveling the playing field so their difficulties don’t define who they are and what they can accomplish."

Technology standards by grade.

This is a great resource----> HERE

Please take time to fill out the CNA survey before Nov. 20th. Find it HERE

Coming up

Reasor out~Mrs.Overton is acting administrator

her cell is (928) 853-5591

Monday, Nov 11, No School Veterans Day 

Tuesday, Nov 12
~9-10am Bus evacuation drill
~5:30pm Governing Board          Mtg (Marshall is a B!)
~5:30pm SMS 5th grade  Parent Night & Showcase event

Wednesday, Nov 13

~5:30pm MEMS 5th grade Parent Night & Showcase event

Thursday, Nov 14

~9:30-12:00pm  Housholder to Lake Mary

~5:30-6:30pm 5th grade parent meeting for kayak trip

~Overton at Admin, Cindy Foubert can help if you need 

  (928) 863-8991

Friday, Nov 15

~Overton at Admin, Steve McAllister can help if you need 

   (928) 890-7994

~Have a GREAT weekend!

Upcoming Evaluations week of Nov 18: Flores and Ryan

~Nov 12-18, Reasor out. Heather Overton will be able to assist and support you as your acting principal.  We are so fortunate.  Thank you Mrs. Overton!
~Nov 20, 5th grade middle school visitation
~Nov 20, CNA survey must be completed by all staff (email Reasor when done).
~Nov 27-29, No School Thanksgiving Break.

~Dec 6, Spelling Bee

~Dec 18, PTO Craft Night

~Dec 19, Holiday Luncheon

~Dec 21-Jan 5, Winter Break

Bus Duty: Kindergarten Teachers (TPPP eligible)!

Nov 12-15


Bus Duty: 1st grade Teachers (TPPP eligible)!

Nov 18-22

There will be no blog next week. This is your two week blog :) 

Please acknowledge you have read this post.

November to Remember

What a week we had!  Congratulations to all for the MAJOR accomplishment of a B - Highly Performing!

You Believed! Together, we B rising!

Now everyday we chase that A!

#MarshallElevatED

SPED Corner by Hauer

Misconception 2: Learning disabilities are easily diagnosed.

“There is no quick and easy way to know whether a child has LD. There’s no blood test or X-ray that can be done as part of a child’s annual physical. And even our most sophisticated brain scanning technologies and genetic studies can’t (yet) predict LD. What we do know is that learning disabilities run in families, and that a family history of academic difficulties could be an indication of risk. Determining whether a child has LD is a process that unfolds over time and must include information from multiple sources. Parents need to provide their impressions and family history information. Educators need to offer detailed information about the child’s progress and how well they respond to instruction. Specialists need to document performance on assessments designed to tap academic skill and the ways that the child processes information. And other factors such as attention, behavior, and medical history need to be considered.
Are there some early signs of LD to look for? Sure. In the area of reading, for example, watch for slow or limited vocabulary, difficulty rhyming, trouble mapping the sounds of letters to their corresponding shapes — these might all be early warning signs of dyslexia, a specific learning disability in reading.”

PARENT UNIVERSITY

Please continue to talk to your students about the PJ, popcorn & movie night.  Please continue to recruit your families.  Many have worked really hard to plan an epic night.  It is only a success when our parents attend!  Our ambitious goal is 1/2 our families. Thank you Heather Overton and the Parent Engagement Committee for your hard work on coordinating this awesome event!  Thank you Marshall staff for attending and supporting our families.  

****Reminder******
An Engagement Review, conducted by a team of outside evaluators from Cognia, is scheduled for Marshall School November 5th 2019.  During the review, the Engagement Review Team will conduct interviews with a range of stakeholders including students,  administrators, teachers and instructional staff.  School visits and classroom observations using the ELEOT observation tool will also be scheduled during the review to measure the quality of our district.

HERE is the SCHEDULE for Tuesday, November 5th:

+1pm arrive.  ELEOT obs

+2:30 Focus group interview - students (20)

+3:00 Principal interview 30 min

+3:45 Focus group teachers/instructional staff (45min) time card for your time! 

Interviews will be in the Science Lab

My understanding is that students will be given a ticket if they are chosen to be interviewed. Please let students know that there might be visitors in your classroom to see what we do :) and do so well! 

Technology standards by grade
If you haven't looked yet, the technology standards can be found HERE or better yet, look what FUSD has put together for each grade HERE!

Please take time to fill out the CNA survey before Nov. 20th. Find it HERE

Coming up
Monday, Nov 4 

~AM indoor recess - At 8:30am, I will escort Billy Weldon to the gym.  We will have all students in there to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.  This was organized by a parent and many of you made huge cards.  The plan changed when he couldn't come to Taiko.  Thank you for your cooperation.  
ps.  He just sent me a text about how much he loves Marshall and Marshall students.  His last words in the text "Marshall is my life".

Tuesday, Nov 5
~1-5pm Cognia accreditation visitation (eleot observations, student, teacher and principal interviews) 


Wednesday, Nov 6
~5-7pm
PARENT UNIVERSITY AND STUDENT PJ/POPCORN MOVIE PARTY
~No PTO 

Thursday, Nov 7


Friday, Nov 8
~No School for students.  All staff mandatory PD day.

Monday, Nov 11
~No school - Veterans Day

~Nov 12-18, Reasor out. Heather Overton will be able to assist and support you as your acting principal.  We are so fortunate.  Thank you Mrs. Overton!
~Nov 20, 5th grade middle school visitation
~Nov 27-29, No School Thanksgiving Break.

~Dec 6, Spelling Bee

~Dec 18, PTO Craft Night

~Dec 19, Holiday Luncheon

~Dec 21-Jan 5, Winter Break

Bus Duty: Special Area Teachers (TPPP eligible)!

Please acknowledge you have read this post.