Daily Archives: 03/15/2015


Mindful Monday – Mindfulness Bell Practice

Today we are going to learn a simple way for us to bring our mind and body back into balance.  There may be times during the day where you are unaware of what you are feeling and why, and taking a few moments to stop, take a breath and observe what is actually happening, will allow you to respond more effectively to your experience by reconnecting with your thoughts and feelings.  You can practice this at times when you feel tired, upset, maybe hungry, or need a restorative break.

We are going to follow the acronym STOP-S for stop and pause. T for Take a breath.  O for observe, and P for Proceed.

(Ring the bell)
We are going to take a few moments to practice with STOP.
(Ring the Bell)
Let’s pause and take a 3 deep breaths.  Observe what is happening inside both your mind and body.  There may be things there that feel uncomfortable, so work towards allowing them to be there just as they are.  Not pushing them away or down, but just noticing their presence without judging them good/bad, right or wrong.  Just let them be.
Take 3 more breaths as you would naturally breathe in and out.
In time as you continue to practice in this way you will begin to feel that no matter what arises inside, you have the ability to be with it, and that the feelings and sensations associated with it do pass, and you can then proceed on with your day.

Teachers please find a place in your room to write the acronym
STOP-
Stop-Take a break-Observe-Proceed.

Take this practice and use it as necessary in your day to help maintain and create more balance and peace.

Have a great Mindful Monday!


Updated Drop Off And Pick Up Procedures

Dear Bobcat Parents,

Please review the drop off and pick up procedures. This week we were lucky that a student was not seriously injured. The near miss incident was due to a violation of the procedures.

  • Students must enter and exit cars from the car doors on the curb side (right).
  • Students must not be dropped off or picked up from the outside lane, only from the lane that is adjacent to the curb.
  • Cars must not be left unattended at any time.
  • 95th Street (back of school) is not a designated car drop off and pick up area, only walk in.
  • Drop off and pick up lanes should maintain a steady flow. Please do not stop to send phone messages, walk your child to the gate, wait for a person, have social conversations, or to watch your child while he/she is in line under the shelter. Parents whom wish to engage in any of the above mentioned activities can park, for free, in the parking garage and walk to the school entrance.
  • Drivers must respect posted traffic signage, including speed restrictions.
  • Parents should take into consideration the traffic around the school in order to have time to drop off, pick up and arrive at their next scheduled stop. Drivers in a hurry pose a potential risk to the safety of students.
  • Bicycles and skateboards must not be ridden on the sidewalks leading to a school entrance (School Safety Zone).
  • Dogs (pets in general) are not permitted in the School Safety Zone.
  • Traffic infractions and erratic driving should be reported to Bay Harbor Islands Police. School staff does not have the authority to issue a summons or direct traffic. Our responsibility and concern is the safety of the students.

 

Please understand that these rules are not capricious impositions. The administration and staff are genuinely concerned for the safety of the students who attend Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor K-8 Center, your children.


Music Students Win Chorus Award

 

Our school chorus sang at the Dade County Youth Fair March 12th. PAL provided a bus for us.

 We won a blue ribbon for first place, and a purple ribbon for a special award, as we got first place perfect score!

We had the chorus on WBHE March 13th and we wanted to congratulate Ms. Abigail Rubin, Music Teacher and her award winning singing students.

 


TESTING TESTING 123 – Please sign the petition

 

TESTING TESTING 123

We have gotten 470 signatures in 3 days! The petition is starting to spread to other cities around Florida.

The best way to make this bigger is to sign it and share it with as many FLORIDIANS as possible.

SHARE IF YOU CARE!!!!

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/testing-testing-123-1

https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQChodU22nFVbAYD&w=158&h=158&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpetitions.moveon.org%2Fimages%2FAddYourName_10.gif&cfs=1&upscale=1

Sign the petition: Testing Testing 123

Testing Testing 123

To be delivered to The Florida State House, The Florida State Senate, and Governor Rick Scott

PETITION STATEMENT

We challenge legislators to visit at least two schools for a minimum of 45 minutes and meet with teachers, administrations, parents and students to understand the issues better, to begin to have an open dialog with the people directly impacted by the testing environment and to start to make real progress in a more logical process.

There are currently 451 signatures. NEW goal – We need 500 signatures!

PETITION BACKGROUND

  • If it is your goal to see our teachers stressed out to the max: you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to take the heart and passion out of teaching: you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to turn our kids into machines with no possibility to be inspired: you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to tear apart families with the stress of homework and extra tutoring that take away from family time all in the name of preparing for these tests: you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to prove to yourselves that our students are the best with ridiculous testing that has no validity or true measure of anything…you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to torture everyone in the system with teacher pay directly linked with student test results: you are succeeding!
    • If it is your goal to keep our teachers on edge by changing their goals and schedules and forcing them to change their lesson plans throughout the year to meet these demands: you are succeeding!

    Is the message we are trying to send clear enough? You are destroying everything good about teaching and learning! The heart of education is dying. The best teachers are hanging on for dear life and many are choosing to leave because they are just fed up with the system. Parents and children are unable to have quality home life because they are in a mad race to complete all of the homework tasks assigned and completely terrified all year of the inevitable testing which is consuming months of teaching the tests and taking up precious learning time!

    After school activities should be enhancing the children’s lives, not enslaving them to their education. The school system has already practically eliminated all of the arts, recess, music, and other enrichments due to “lack of funding.”. They should be enjoying sports, friendships, hobbies and family life, not doing more school work!

    • We parents serve on PTAs and volunteer during and after school.
    • We donate money and time to help our teachers improve their learning environments.
    • We raise money in addition to the taxes we already pay because our school doesn’t have enough to purchase basic supplies and equipment and make improvements to the school.
    • We work side by side with the administration and other parents trying to raise money for our school in an effort to make it the best it can possibly be.
    • We believe our system is completely out of control and that whoever is making the decisions is either not well informed or knowledgeable about the education system or simply does not care!
    • We believe that the powers that be are completely out of touch with the reality of schools and their barriers, processes and challenges as well as the financial burdens and lack of time to complete all requirements.

    We need the madness to stop. Our teachers, parents, students, and administration need a break! We encourage each of you to visit at least two schools for a minimum of 45 minutes and meet with teachers, administrations, parents, and students to understand the issues better, to begin to have an open dialog with the people directly impacted, so that you can get a real life perspective and start to understand our plight.

    • How is it that students and parents were told they would be taking an online writing exam (typed) this year, yet there were no plans, money or time to teach them how to type properly? How is it that a timed writing test can be given to students that have rudimentary typing skills (more likely thumb only texting skills)?
    • How is it that our schools with their minimal funding and overcrowding can be expected to prepare and test all of their students with insufficient computer labs?
    • How is it that you expect to inspire brilliance and forward thinking and innovation when you are twisting the learning to the point of absurd stupidity. The amount of time it is taking to teach our children the ridicuous processes/requirements of the lessons could be better spent giving the extra time towards creativity in the classroom which is what really engages the students. If you treat them like robots, they will become robots.
    • The people across the nation are standing up and demanding a change! What are you planning to do yourself to serve the people that have put you in your positions? Do you care? We want to know what you are prepared to do to find new answers that make sense.

    We need change!