page background

Wilson's Weekly

BPS...where books come alive!

Wilson'sWeeklyBPS...where books come alive!

Core Beliefs, Vision, and Mission

Core Beliefs

We believe all students can learn:

  • Learning must have a clear purpose.
  • All learners deserve a safe, respectful, and structured environment.
  • Learners grow with mutual support, responsibility, and compassion.
  • All learners have the ability to grow.


Vision
Shaping the future one child at a time


Mission

Blytheville Primary School fosters a safe and positive learning community. We educate students to be innovative thinkers today and productive leaders of tomorrow.


Behavior Expectations

We are...

  • responsible.
  • respectful.
  • safe.
  • positive.
  • motivated.


Strategic Plan

Our school plan can be found here.

Week at a Glance

NOTE:
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, my home base will be my primary office. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my home base will my kindergarten office.

Schedule Change: New Teacher PLC on Tuesday will be rescheduled. New teachers (first year teachers only) must attend a district new teacher training Wednesday from 3:30-4:30 at the admin building.
  • Teachers that must attend - Thomas, Taylor, Hopkins, Sims, E. Rogers
  • Jackson, Sawyer, Lampe, Murphy - Sally will contact you will plans since you will be at Connections.

This WEEK
    • Monday - Kindergarten PLC 3:30
    • Tuesday - Istation Testing; Jerry Vaughn here; Principal Learn and Grow/ADE Meeting (Wilson out most of the day)
    • Wednesday - Istation Testing; Blytheville Leadership Institute (Wilson out until 1:30); Fundraiser Kickoff PreK-K 12:30 and 1st/2nd 1:00; Building Leadership Team 2:30-4:00; DISTRICT First Year (novice) Teacher Training 3:30-4:30
    • Thursday - Istation Testing; PTO Meeting 4:00
    • Friday - Istation Testing; Tenaris Governance Meeting (Wilson out 8:30-10:30); IF Meeting (Hepler and Jenkins out 1:00-3:00)


    Next WEEK


    Upcoming Events

    The school calendar can be found HERE.

    Reminders and Announcements

    1. During RTI some of you were given a green counseling form for the parent to fill out and return to you. When you receive those back, look at which agency the parent chose. Pick up the referral form and fill it out (as the teacher). Then send both the forms to Kristy Clark, and she will get them where they need to go. Please DO NOT give them to the agency. We have a tracking process that needs to be followed. Also, include as much detail as you can on the referral form, so the agency knows how to prepare for conferences.


    2. Many of you stay late at school to work on grading, lesson plans, etc. If there is ever a time you do not feel safe walking to your car, please, feel free to call the police or myself. We will make sure that someone comes to the school to make sure you get safely to your car.


    3. I am excited for our first Staff Potluck of the year! We will have it on September 27 during each of the lunches. The theme for our first potluck is Chili Cookoff, hosted by 2nd grade. The potluck will be on the stage in the multi-purpose building. You can keep cold items in the refrigerators in either teacher lounge. Hot items can be kept in your room until close to your lunch time. There will be plug ins available on the stage. We will vote on the best chili recipe. The winning recipe will be entered into the Main Street Blytheville Chili Cookoff on October 14 to represent our school. Link to sign up HERE. I would love to see a few more people sign up for chili.


    4. CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs. Fulling and Mrs. McDonald!!! They took the challenge last week and made positive contacts with their parents and emailed me their information. They will receive a $10 Sonic gift card and a jeans pass.


    5. PBIS Behavior Matrix Focus: DISMISSAL

    • Monday - Safe
    • Tuesday - Responsible
    • Wednesday - Respectful
    • Thursday - Motivated and Positive
    • Friday - ALL


    6. FanTABulous Contest - Our goal is to save more than last year's total of 168 pounds. Turn your tabs into Mrs. Moriarty with your class name. The class in each grade level with the most tabs wins a prize.


    7. Box Tops for Education - We are collecting box tops to help pay for our PBIS store. Please turn them into Ms. Newsom in kindergarten or put them in the box in the office.

    zoom_out_map

    Picture Book Recommendation of the Week

    The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds


    "I just CAN'T draw."
    Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you."

    Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can’t draw - she’s no artist. To prove her point, Vashti jabs at a blank sheet of paper to make an unremarkable and angry mark. "There!" she says.

    Children will sympathize immediately with Vashti's first, angry little dot and then cheer her subsequent discovery that even a dot can be art when it springs from inspiration. This empowering tale emphasizes the artistic process, gently reminding the creative spirit in all of us that there is no wrong way to create. With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark - and follow where it takes us.

    Recipient of the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award and the Christopher Award for books, which affirm the highest values of the human spirit.

    Resources for the book

    The Dot Song (video below) is a collaboration between Emily Arrow and author/illustrator of THE DOT, Peter H. Reynolds.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_I43cxDQ-o
    The video below has the author explaining where the idea for the book came from and he reads the book.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CHBrRyPb2I
    zoom_out_map

    Pin of the Week

    Brain breaks are an important part of any educators day. Students need multiple opportunities to get up and wiggle so they can focus on their learning. Brain Breaks are a quick and effective way of changing or focusing the physical and mental state of the learners in your group. They are also a useful tool for students to use to help activate, energize and stimulate their brains. I have started a Pinterest board with a variety of videos you can use as brain breaks. I will continue to add to this board. If you have a fun one that you use in your classroom, send me an email with a link to the video or a description of the activity (does NOT have to be a video). For each email to me with a separate activity or video, I will enter you into a prize drawing (enter as many times as you wish).

    One of my favorite songs is a great brain break also: Happy.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt4qZgghw20

    Motivational Quote of the Week

    SAM FOSS (1858­–1911) was a popular journalist, humorist and poet. He was widely published in newspapers and quite successful with his lectures and readings. His most noted written work was created from an experience he had on a humid summer day while taking a walk in the country and becoming lost in thought. With the sun blazing down on him, he suddenly realized how hot and tired he was.


    He noticed a big tree at the side of the road, so he stopped for a moment to rest in the shade. Then he saw a little sign on the tree that read, “there is a good spring inside the fence. Come and drink if you are thirsty.” Foss climbed over the fence, found and enjoyed the cool water, and then read another sign attached to a bench, “Sit down and rest awhile if you are tired.” Now thoroughly delighted and intrigued, he saw a barrel of apples nearby, which was accompanied by yet another sign. “If you like apples, just help yourself.” He picked out a plump red apple, bit into it, and then looked up to see an elderly man watching him.


    “I’m glad you dropped by,” the host told Foss. The grateful traveler then asked about the signs and the gifts. The elderly man explained that the flowing water was going to waste, the bench had been gathering dust in his attic, and he had more apples in his orchard than he could possibly use. He went on to say that he and his wife had decided it would be neighborly to offer tired, thirsty passersby a place to rest and refresh themselves. He said that in doing so they had made a host of new friends. “You must really like people,” Foss responded to the explanation. “Of course,” the elderly man replied. “Don’t you?”


    Later, as Foss thought about the pleasant encounter, he remembered a line from Homer’s Iliad that read, “He was a friend of man, and lived in a house by the side of the road.” From his personal experience and the line from Homer, a poem began to take shape.

    Excerpt from "The House by the Side of the Road”

    I see from my house
    by the side of the road
    By the side of the highway of life
    The men who press on with ardor of hope,
    The men who are faint with strife.
    But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—
    Both part of an infinite plan—
    Let me live in a house by the side of the road
    And be a friend to man.


    Kindness is like a snowball rolling down a hill: each selfless act or word is another snowflake that joins the others, creating a force much more powerful in the process. Kindness and honesty create trust, improve relationships, and make you feel good about yourself. So why aren't more people kind? Almost everyone understands the power of kindness because we've all been on the receiving end of it. But perhaps we haven't been motivated to practice this virtue in our daily lives.

    What the Principal is Reading

    zoom_out_map

    Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

    Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.
    zoom_out_map

    School Culture Recharged by Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker

    Why do some schools succeed while others struggle? Why do policies and programs often fail to deliver what they promise? In this follow-up to their insightful School Culture Rewired: How to Define, Assess, and Transform It, authors Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker offer practical advice and strategies that help you build positive energy to reinvigorate your school's culture and staff.
    zoom_out_map

    Heist Society by Ally Carter

    When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help. For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family's history--and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
    zoom_out_map

    Archives

    This is the list (with links) of all of the newsletters for the year.

    August - Back to School, One, Two, Three
    September - Four, Five, Six
    October -
    November -
    December -
    January -
    February -
    March -
    April -
    May -
    zoom_out_map

    About the Principal

    I am proud to be entering my second year as the principal at Blytheville Primary School. I love what I do and the community I work in. I enjoy spending time with my family, reading books, and going to the zoo, especially the Memphis Zoo.

    Email: jwilson@blythevilleschools.net
    Website: http://www.blythevilleschools.com/o/bps
    Location: 1103 Byrum Road, Blytheville, AR, United States
    Phone: 870-763-6916
    Facebook: facebook.com/cimeronejana
    Twitter: @cimeronejana