Cole Miners' Dig
June 7, 2024
After months of work, the placement process for the 2024-2025 school year is complete and class lists have been created for next year. Students will travel to their new classrooms on Monday, June 17th to meet their new teacher and see their new classmates for Move Up Day. There will be absolutely no changes to placement at this time. If your child is upset that they didn't get the teacher that they hoped they would get or friends that they had hoped they would be placed with, please use the moment as an opportunity to validate their disappointment and support them in understanding that it is an opportunity to build new friendships and connections with new teachers in the building.
Field Day is going well today thanks to the efforts of Mr. Thornton, staff, and parent volunteers. We are so fortunate to be able to have this memorable day for students filled with fun, games, and joy!
The Safe Routes to School program came to Cole School on Monday to share bike safety tips with students in K, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Students learned how to check their bikes to ensure safety with ABCs for air, brakes, and chain. Meanwhile the first graders took a field trip to Franklin Park Zoo. They had perfect weather for the visit and learned so much about animals while there!
We had a few concerns this week with student use of smartwatches and devices. As a reminder, they are not allowed to use these devices during the school day. The rule for electronic devices that includes smartwatches can be found in the Parent/Student Handbook and I've included it here:
Using personal electronic devices including smartphones and smartwatches is not permissible during the school day (including bus rides to and from school). If brought to school, all personal electronic devices including smartphones and smartwatches must be turned off and kept inside their backpack. The school will not be responsible in the event that the device is lost, stolen, or damaged while on school property.
Unauthorized student use of electronic devices during the school day will result in the device being confiscated. The device will be returned to the student and/or the parent after a conference with an administrator. In the event that a parent deems it necessary to contact their child during the school day, they may do so by contacting the main office directly.
This article summary was shared in this week's Marshall Memo by Kim Marshall and I thought it was worth a share with families here:
A Tribute to Adele Faber
Adele Faber, a former high-school teacher who, with co-author Elaine Mazlish, helped countless parents and educators communicate more effectively with young people, died April 24th at age 96. Inspired by psychologist Haim Ginott, Faber and Mazlish were best known for their 1980 book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. Here is a selection of quotes:
Parenting:
- I was a wonderful parent before I had children. I was an expert on why everyone else
was having problems with theirs. Then I had three of my own.
- Children don’t need more things, they need more love.
- It’s not helpful when parents respond with more intensity than the child feels.
- The attitude behind our words is as important as the words themselves.
- Sometimes it’s more important to be kind than to be right.
- Children often experience praise of a brother or siter as a put-down of themselves. They
automatically translate, ‘Your brother is so considerate’ into ‘Mom thinks I’m not.’ It’s
a good idea to save our enthusiastic comments for the ear of the deserving child.
- It’s a bittersweet road we parents travel. We start with total commitment to a small,
helpless human being. Over the years we worry, plan, comfort, and try to understand.
We give our love, our labor, our knowledge, and our experience – so that one day he or
she will have the inner strength and confidence to leave us.
Autonomy:
- Never do for a child what he can do for himself.
- When we give children advice or instant solutions, we deprive them of the experience
that comes from wrestling with their own problems.
- Support your child through his or her struggles, rather than rescuing them from every
difficulty.
- Our role as parents is to be our child’s emotional coach, not to fight their battles for
them.
- Children grow less anxious and develop more self-control when they realize they can
manage their feelings and problems themselves.
- The more that children believe they have a say, the more they are willing to take
responsibility for their behavior.
Emotions:
- Behind every behavior, there is a feeling. Behind every feeling, there is a need.
- It’s hard for children to change their behavior when their feelings are completely
ignored.
- Not till the bad feelings come out can the good ones come in.
- It’s important to make a distinction between allowing feelings and allowing actions. We
permit children to express all their feelings. We don’t permit them to hurt each other.
Our job is to show them how to express their anger without doing damage.
- Connection is our deepest human need.
Praise and criticism:
- Praise should focus on the child’s effort, not his or her abilities.
- Children become very uncomfortable with praise that evaluates them. They push it
away. Sometimes they’ll deliberately misbehave to prove you wrong.
- When a kid is starving, even cotton candy is better than nothing. But why settle for so
little? We want to give our children the kind of emotional nourishment that will help
them become independent thinkers and doers.
- Instead of focusing on what’s wrong, start by acknowledging what a child has
accomplished. Then point out what still needs to be done.
Support:
- A child needs encouragement like a plant needs water.
- Encouragement can be the oxygen of the soul.
- When a person is drowning, it’s not the time to give swimming lessons.
- Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it.
- When our children feel safe around us, they can open their hearts to us.
- To be loved equally is somehow to be loved less. To be loved uniquely – for one’s own special self – is to be loved as much as we need to be loved.
What a week for Magnificent Meerkats! So many students were nominated for their amazing attitudes, excellent behavior, and helpful spirits!
- It is with good reason that she has been nominated for this award before by specialist teachers and now by me. She is a team player and approaches all situations with kindness and a great attitude. She makes others feel special by always encouraging friends and giving them compliments. She is a hard worker and takes pride in all she does. She follows Cole School and second grade expectations ALWAYS!
- He has been doing his best to power through some days and weeks that aren't as "normal" as he'd like. He's really showing some resiliency and flexibility. Also, he's been going above and beyond lately to help keep the classroom tidy, leading by example.
- She has gone above and beyond in the classroom this week! She has been a kind friend and has offered to give up her spot or turns with things when there wasn't enough for everyone. She has shown integrity by standing up to people who are not saying kind things. She has been helping take care of our classroom and keeping it clean without even asking! We are thankful for all of your hard work this week, keep it up!
Book checkout has ended for the year! Please help your children find and return their books as soon as possible. Final notices are going home today. Lost books cost $15 each and can be paid to the Cole PTO and notice sent to Ms. McGarry. Students who do not return their books or pay for them will still have a charge on their account in September and will not be allowed to check out books until it is resolved. I appreciate your help! If you have questions, please email Ms. McGarry at michelle.mcgarry@norwellschools.org.
June
June 10 - Connections Meeting - Speak Up, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
June 10 - K Whales and Dolphins enrichment
June 10 - Grade 5 Band Concert
June 11 - Grade 4 Play
June 12 - Gr. 4 Tent Day
June 13 - Gr. 4 Geography enrichment
June 13 - Gr. 5 Move Up Day to NMS
June 13 - Grade 5 Celebration 6-8pm (Grade 5 Students and Parents only, no siblings or other family please)
June 14 - Gr. 2 Field Trip
June 14 - Gr. 5 Field Trip
June 17 - Tentative Last Day of School and Move Up Day for K-4
