N O V E M B E R
2 1 - 2 7 ,
2 0 1 8
El Semanario
Edison Language Academy – Together Through Two Languages (310) 828-0335 www.edison.smmusd.org
ANNOUNCEMENTS Site Council Elections – Deadline for ballots is 11/21, so election results will be announced next week. Our next Site Council meeting is Wednesday, December 19 from 4:00-6:00 pm. It will be the first meeting for new members and the last meeting for retiring Site Council members Betty Baboujon, Carolina Vila, and Rocio Naranjo. We are very grateful for their service on Site Council! Mariachi Concert at Edison – We had a wonderful Mariachi concert last week with the Mariachi Uclatlan (the student mariachi group from UCLA). Thanks to all who came to enjoy the music and learn about SMMUSD’s new afterschool Mariachi program for 5th graders which will begin on Tuesdays afterschool at Edison in January. Thank you to the 5th grade parents who made it a real party by serving pozole, taquitos, drinks and deserts!
Parent Workshop on Mindfulness at Edison -- What is Mindfulness? How do we use it at Edison and how you can use it at home? Join Principal Orum and School Counselor Cynthia Lua for an introduction to Mindfulness as a powerful tool for improving children’s self-regulation skills, reduce stress, and learn to increase focus. The workshop will take place Wednesday, November 28th from 8:30-9:30 am. In the Edison Library.
Pick Up Your “Blue Dog” Orders -- Blue Dog orders arrived to school this week. Have you picked yours up yet? If not, please contact PTA President Heidi Vega Aimonetti at edison.president.pta@gmail.com to get your orders before the Thanksgiving break!!!!
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK: DEVELOPING THE TOOLS OF MINDFULNESS Recently , I wrote about our school-wide goal of “ … developing engaged, socio-culturally competent students with the skills to manage problems and their own learning.” I’m returning to that topic this week to share a bit more about the teaching of Mindfulness as part of Social Emotional Education at Edison. Deepening and supporting this work is part of the charge of our Social Emotional Education Team (composed of Maestras Newman, Cueva, Tejeda, Jimenez, Maiztegui, Oyman and me). One of the things we are working on this year is continued professional development in mindfulness, using the Mind Up curriculum and the work of Mindful Schools to guide us. Simply put, mindfulness is learning how to self-regulate attention, with an attitude of curiosity, openness and acceptance. It is the art of paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. Learning how to regulate emotion and attention are important skills for young children – in fact, these skills are important at any age! Knowing how to pay attention and being able to focus for increasing amounts of time are critical to becoming successful readers, writers, mathematicians and for mastery other subjects. And like any skill, we need to practice them regularly to get good at them and use them automatically. Using mindfulness in schools includes teaching about how the human brain works and learning and practicing strategies to calm and focus our thoughts. You’ll see posters of the human brain in our classrooms and students generally are very enthusiastic about this knowledge. One of the most delightful conversations I’ve had recently was with one of our pre-schoolers who explained to me (in Spanish) that his amigdala was getting in the way of him making a good decision and that he needed to sit quietly and breathe so that his pre-frontal cortex could help him out! We also use mindfulness and brain awareness in counseling and discipline contexts – teaching self-regulation skills and strategies to help children learn to calm the “freeze, fight, or flee” reflex and let the pre-frontal cortex come up with calmer, more rational solutions. Body awareness, breathing, and calming strategies are taught and practiced in classrooms and schoolwide. In our busy lives, taking a few moments to sit quietly and comfortably, breathe deeply, and really engage in the present moment can make a big difference. School Counselor Cynthia Lua and I will be sharing some of the aspects of mindfulness we use at school and how they might be used at home in a parent workshop on Wednesday, November 28 from 8:30-9:30 am. And Cynthia will also share information about the upcoming Reflective Parenting classes (in English and Spanish) for those who want explore these ideas in more depth. If you’d like to learn more, Edutopia also has an accessible collection of resources at https://www.edutopia.org/article/mindfulness-resources. November 22 and 23 – Thanksgiving Holiday recess – No School
November 27 – Giving Tuesday – Support the Education Foundation!
December 6-14 Music Informances – See this week’s e-Blast