Author: Van Am Gram

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Willing to try…

During a conversation this morning with a learner in my office, the child noticed this little sign hanging on my wall and asked me about it.  I shared how my Granny B would often say things to me that took years to truly understand, but as I grew older, it all made sense (and wanting to remember these “Granny B-isms,” I stitch them occasionally).  The child commented, “Well, my Grandpa tells me smartness comes when you’re old, so you must be really smart now, Mrs. Van.”  🙂

Young learners who are willing to try their BEST (and keep trying) do succeed!  Mrs. Bass shared a touching story of beginning friendships during our Miller Team Rally just this morning reminding all of us of the importance of trying and being willing to try in order to be successful.  Teaching perseverance is not an easy task for a parent or a teacher.  Young students learn best by example; the important adults in a child’s life have a daunting responsibility indeed!

Numerous successes in big and small ways are celebrated daily.  One of the most enJOYable parts of my day at LME is observing our learners in action…and without fail, I see learners and their classroom leaders always willing to try!

EnJOY your weekend; go Panthers!  🙂

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Safety First!

It’s October…that time of year we always welcome our local fire department to campus in order to talk about safety and strategies.  Check out some important tips at home for your family to know:   National Fire Prevention Week
Special thanks to the men who visited our campus today and to all those who serve in communities across the country; we salute and honor you!

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We ARE family!

It’s true; we think of ourselves as family here at LME—one big learning and growing family everyday.  When one of our own needs help, we answer the call in support.  A fourth grade Miller family member, Ethan, is battling cancer right now.  He was very recently diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS); his prognosis is excellent, yet he has months of treatment ahead of him now.  When Ethan came by to visit with Mrs. Bass and me last week (with his mom), I was completely awe-struck by his bravery, courage, and positive attitude in spite of the situation.  I know many adults who would not handle this situation quite so stoically.  In fact, a former teacher of Ethan’s had this to say:  “Ethan has been one student who touched my heart from the minute he walked in my classroom…he’s the kind of kid who makes me want to be a better person because he’s such a great person himself!”  🙂

Ethan’s homeroom class of 4th graders are on a mission now to find creative ways to show their support and encouragement in the long months of treatment ahead.  They have several clever ideas (no money involved, of course) and special plans to invite the entire school to participate as much as possible.  Be watching for fun school spirit events in honor of our Ethan.

In the meantime, there are ways outside of school you and your child can pull for our family member, Ethan.  You are welcome to follow his progress during this medical journey on Ethan’s site and post him a note of encouragement.  Ethan is an important member of the Midlothian Youth Football League—this family of athletes is surrounding Ethan and his family in special ways too.

In personal times of crisis, one of the most important lessons we can teach our young learners is how to care for others through our words and our actions.  I challenge each of us to lift one another up; share a kind word; be an “upstander” (not a bystander).  As my Granny B would remind me:  “Always be a lamp, a lighthouse, or a lifeboat to your friends because friends are the family you get to choose.”  🙂

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Third Grade to the rescue!

I was reminded recently that even Super Heroes need a little help occasionally…in flies our third grade team here at LME.  Pictured left to right are:  Nikki Hoover, Rachel McKee (AI teacher), Jean Waddill, Amy Clark, Traci Samek, and Jennifer Rinehart.  These classroom leaders bring a wealth of experience, knowledge, and great leadership to our third grade super hero learners each day…probably because (as their shirts indicate), they themselves are SUPER powers in the classroom everyday!

Third grade is truly a transitional year during the elementary years in school!  Learners develop the skills needed to critically solve problems; they begin to think in terms of being real problem solvers/resolvers (and we’re not just talking math here either).  Students make the powerful shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” in all subject areas.  It is an exciting time for learners, the classroom leaders, and families!

Third grade also begins the necessary journey of mandated state assessments in Texas.  With the STAAR test, students are expected to master objectives in math and reading at grade 3.  Our teaching team is diligent to work through required student expectations and while we have no way of knowing (or seeing) specifically examples of test items, we know and use best teaching practices and models to support our learners.  A third grade friend shared this observation: “Third grade is fun because we use lots of technology and online personal networks.”  Another friend noted:  “School comes together for me now because I’m a better reader.”  Finally, one third grader sums it up for all:  “Third grade is all about using your super brain in powerful new ways…third grade to the rescue!”  🙂

Note:  Family is important at LME and we currently have a fourth grade friend, Ethan, who is fighting a rare form of childhood cancer right now.  While his prognosis is strong, we ask you to remember him and his family in the coming weeks.

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Poetry and Pirates…oh my!

ARRGGGHHH, mateys, indeed!  Pirates took over the school in search of treasured jewels this morning as second grade friends held a mutiny on the sailing vessel and used their trusty GPS devices with coordinates to locate the treasure.  The results…a treasure chest filled to capacity was located inside Captain Van’s cabin.  What was I doing with everyone’s treasure?  How did it really get there?  Why do I always take the rap?  All was forgiven and I enjoyed a few moments of craft time as we took the treasured beads and made jewelry in second grade classes this afternoon.  I’m sporting my new necklace too!  🙂

Our third grade friends invited me to their annual Poetry Cafe to share in poetry readings with poems created in a variety of formats:  Acrostic, Cinquain, Color, Concrete, Five Senses, Haiku, and Creature Alliteration.  Poets invited parents, grandparents, friends, and other students to experience the joy of writing personal poetry for expression and fun.  As one poet, Chase, noted:  “I needed to make my grandparents’ day…I know I did!”  🙂

Finally, as is our weekly tradition, our Miller Team Rally this morning featured our fifth grade friend, Matthew, sharing the poem “1492” with our entire campus.  His expressive version brought the story of Columbus’ voyage to life!  Way to go, Matthew!  🙂

Congratulations to our MVPs last week:  Maddie (3rd grader), Seth (1st grader), and this week:  Sawyer (Kinder).  Thanks for being most valuable players on our Miller Team this school year!

EnJOY a great fall weekend, a school day off on Monday (with your State Fair ticket), and we’ll look forward to seeing you on Tuesday morning!

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A SUPER Day!

SUPER heroes landed at LME this morning—dressed and ready for educational action in fact!  In appreciation for all their dedication to our recent fun run, students and staff enjoyed a SUPER hero day filled with activities, SUPER costumes, and fun times.  Being the selfless, uplifting, patient, extra-mile, and reliable learners and classroom leaders takes SUPER power everyday; we all took some time out to celebrate our success today.  From clever homemade touches to highly involved outfits, SUPER Heroes ruled the halls and classrooms.  First Grade teachers in particular greeted learners with music and ‘JESS’ a reminder to use our SUPER Hero powers everyday when learning.

Thanks to everyone for their participation and assistance…as one friend commented, “Super Van, we’re all SUPER learning heroes at Miller!”  🙂

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Are you a strong digital citizen?

Empowering students to think critically and make informed choices about how they create, communicate, and treat others in the ever-evolving, 24/7 digital world is a priority for our campus and Midlothian ISD.  Students need to know the decisions they make communicating on the Internet contribute to their digital identity, or digital tattoo.

With this purpose in mind, Midlothian ISD declared this week, October 1-5, Digital Citizenship Week.  In morning message and throughout the instructional day, we are focusing on five critical themes tied to Internet safety through daily activities and instruction including:

Monday – Copyright & Fair Use
Tuesday – Digital Etiquette
Wednesday – Digital Safety
Thursday – Cyberbullying (LME is also doing “SUPER Hero Day”)
Friday – Digital Footprint

As your child’s first and most important teacher, we strongly encourage you to learn more about what you can do at home to help your child become a responsible Digital Citizen.  Please view these sites for more information.

National PTA

FBI: A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety

On Guard Online

StaySafeOnline.org

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Parent Math Night coming soon!

Have you wondered how you can help your child more effectively in math?  What is Singapore Math?  How do we use First Steps in Math everyday?  What’s on the math scope and sequence each grading period?  You’re in luck!  Our MISD Elementary Campuses and the Department of Learning have teamed up to bring you Rickey Mickelman, math consultant, on October 18th from 6:00 pm to 8:00 p.m. here at LaRue Miller Elementary in the cafe.  Please read and then RSVP on the flyer coming home soon and plan on joining us! Math Parent Night

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Second Grade Success!

Second grade truly is a magnificent year in the life of an elementary learner.  Reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and language begin the powerful transition from beginning skills to more comprehensive understanding. Second graders in MISD earn number grades for the first time (which also opens up another interesting transition for parents!).  There is a SUPER team of classroom leaders who dedicate their time and teaching talents during this magical year:  Heather Cooper, Valree Milson, Krista Bruton, and Lana Beckwith.

As a second grade friend reminded me:  “Mrs. Van, second grade is hard.  I get ‘real’ grades now and I have to read to learn stuff.”  Another friend added; “You should see our homework each week; she means business!”  One friend commented:  “We use cool technology in our lessons and my teacher is always asking lots of questions–where does she get all those questions anyway?  It’s exhausting some days!”  🙂

Second grade teachers just humbly smile in response, knowing first hand the enormous strides these learners will make as the year progresses.  There’s a natural transition beginning where learners take the foundational skills of PK/Kinder/1st grades (especially in reading) and begin to shift the skills to true application in daily work.  As they learn new material, learners apply prior knowledge a bit more easily to form greater understanding.  For example, instead of learning the basics of how to read, they begin the process of reading to learn for information.

You can always count on lots of smiles, laughs, great stories, smart work, and fun times in second grade.  It’s the best time of learning because the reality of state-mandated assessment is not present to cloud the natural learning process.  Second graders often show the greatest strides and biggest successes; enJOY the second grade year!

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A Sock Hop, some sodas, and those classic cars…

We celebrated the end of this week with our annual PTO Sock Hop, Classic Car Show, and the first Family Night Event of our school year.  We certainly hopped into it tonight with our best moves, some sweet treats, cute photos, and lots of laughing conversations.  Every type of music from those 50’s classics to present-day group dances were cleverly spun for fun in the gym with laser lights and twinkling brights.  Students shared new dance moves, taught the adults some interesting steps, and shared some laughs (sometimes at our expense).  I was specifically told, “you’ve got some interesting moves there, but you might want to adjust them at your age…or at least take an Advil tonight!”  Good advice . . .   🙂

We also enjoyed touring outside and talking with owners of several classic vehicles.  Several of our dads tested each other’s knowledge of each one (and that of the owners as well).  One little friend asked, “Will you show us how to burn rubber again?!”  🙂

Of course, none of this is possible without the many PTO volunteers and parents who spent countless hours organizing, planning, decorating, checking everyone in, serving soda floats and other treats, dancing, laughing, and welcoming new friends to our LME Family.  Our highly active PTO Board members this year are:  Angela Shaver, Gayle Turner, Nicole Blackmon, Kirsten Wilson, Wendy Hein, Khristi Hullett, Amy Byers, Tracy Brown, Keisha Buchanan, Stacy Moore-Helms, Lori Walk, Christie Clenney, Julie Bates, Cara Roberson, and Heather Cooper.  Please watch the PTO website @ http://www.millerpto.com and “like” them on Facebook (LaRue Miller PTO) for the latest updates and information throughout the school year.  PTO is the lifeline of our campus everyday and we can’t imagine having school without them!  Ladies, you always ROCK IT here at Miller and tonight was no exception!

Family events such as tonight bring our entire learning community together to relax, enjoy, and celebrate.  Our thanks to everyone involved–those who assisted, who attended, and who chose to spend a glorious autumn evening here with us at LME!