IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

This week, our class is focusing on social skills and friendship. Most of our discussions have been focused on making and maintaining friends and how to treat others. This afternoon, we talked about the concept of forgiveness and what it means to truely forgive another person without holding any grudges. We talked about why forgiveness is important and how it felt to be forgiven. Michael told a story about a time when his sister forgave him for accidentally knocking down some blocks. He said, “After she forgave me, my bucket was filled way, way up!” After our talk about forgiveness, we began an activity on compliments and continuing to fill up one another’s buckets. We sat in a big circle and started with a ball of yarn. Each friend gave a compliment to another friend and held onto a piece of the yard as they threw the ball to the complimented friend. As we continued compliments around the circle, we created a web. Ruth called it, “A Friendship Web”. Da’Sean complimented David on his artistic skills. Sascha told Jenesis she thought she was such a good friend to her at recess. Messi was complimented on his story writing skills. It was truly incredible to watch the kids acknowledge one another in such a genuine way.

Here are all of our friends on the walk over to St. Richards.

Last Friday, a friend in the class said, “Mrs. Clark, we have so much paper!!”  I, in return, asked, “What should we do with it?!”  After some conversation we decided that we should look into a Paper Retriever Bin.  These are giant bins (ths size of the giant trash bins outside of our school.)  I contacted the Paper Retriever Company and found out that we might not have enough people to have a bin.  SO….today we took a walking field trip to our neighbor school, St. Richards.  We went over to talk to Mrs. Williams, the Early Childhood and Lower Division Head of St. Richards.  The kids told her what we were doing and then asked if St. Richards would be interested in helping us recycle paper.  She responded with a YES!  We then brainstormed some ideas of how we can communicate with the kids at St. Richards.  Our list involved writing letters, making signs, and writing an announcement for Mrs. Williams to read.  In the next few weeks we will be doing this to build our recycling partnership! 

Mrs. Williams had a lot of questions for us!

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS!  A permission slip went home today for our class field trip!  On November 16th, we will be going to the White River Recycling and Transfer Facility.  We will be studying how the facility works.  Our class wants to implement a school wide recycling program so we will be taking notes!  Please sign and return the permission slip no later than November 14th.  Finally, we will be gone during our normal lunch hours so I ask that all students bring a sack lunch. 

BreAnna is working on her letter writing with the IPad.

We have a new piece of technology that the kids are getting a chance to use in the classroom.  Each day, some students get the opportunity to work on the IPad.  We have many apps for literacy and math.  The kids love to use it!  The new question in the classroom is, “Can I play with the IPad?”

Emily makes a "Lab School Parent" name tag for the Magnet School Fairs.

Last week IPS hosted two Magnet School fairs on Wednesday night and Saturday morning. In preparation for the events, students from Mr. Smith’s Book Club made “Lab School Parent” name tags for Lab School parents who attended the event to answer questions for prospective families interested in our school.

Lab School student Ruth paints with children who are shopping for a school.

Lab School parent Mrs. Beery speaks with a prospective parent.

Lab School parent Mr. Price speaks with a prospective parent.

The Magnet School Fairs were a big success and the Lab School table was very busy at both events.  Our table featured staff members and parents who provided their own perspectives on our school for families wanting to know more about Reggio Inspired, Project-based learning.  Our table also included many activities for children including water color painting and the ever popular Magna-Tiles.

As the student recruitment season continues, our school will host an open house on Thursday, November 10th from 5-7 PM.  Once again, staff and Lab School parents will provide information to prospective families and children will be offered a variety of activities to enjoy while their parents learn about our school.  Please tell your friends about our school.  The most effective method for promoting our school is word of mouth!

I remember when I was young, my parents never used the word “if” when they spoke of college.  They always used the word “when.”  This was curious because no one in my family had attended college until I went to Butler University.

This year Indianapolis Public Schools has begun a College and Career Readiness initiative.  As part of this initiative each school is working to help all children see their future as a high school graduate and college student.  You may have noticed displays in the hallways of our school focused on college.  Examples include the display in our front entry showing where the staff members at School 60 attended college.  You may have also noticed that our hallways are labelled with college names and logos.  Butler Way is of course in the area of the school where our classrooms are located.  Further efforts include field trips to Butler University.  Mrs. Bucher’s class has already visited Butler once on a trip to explore Clowes Hall.  At some point this year each class will visit Butler.

As parents there are many things you can do to prepare your child for college.  Beginning a savings account while your child is young that can help pay for college is important.  In fact, Indiana offers a tax credit to families that save for college using an Indiana 529 account.  The tax credit is a 20% credit on funds invested up to a maximum credit of $1,000.00.  Helping your child succeed in school by spending time with them on homework and volunteering at school can help your child prepare for college.  But, one of the best things you can do to help your child prepare for college is what I was lucky enough to have parents do for me.  When you speak of college, talk about “when” your child goes to college, not “if.”

Ron Smith