Wednesday, July 23, 2014
A Summer of Change!!!
I am happy to announce that I will be the new Instructional Technology Specialist at Live Oak Elementary! I still absolutely love teaching, but when this opportunity opened up I had to take it. This is a new experience for me and I am looking forward to all the challenges I will face. My blog will still be up an running. After all I put all my blood sweat and tears into it. Instead of classroom announcements, stay tuned for how I am liking being an ITS and fun things my new school is doing.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Monday, June 9, 2014
New Beginnings
I want to start off by saying thank you for all the love and friendship you all have given me the last six years. I couldn't have picked a better place to grow and develop into the terrific teacher(so I think) that I am today. It is very bittersweet for me to say that I will not be returning to Caraway next year.
This is a personal decision and has nothing to do with Caraway or the community. It has probably been one of the hardest decisions of my life. I love the faculty, staff and students here at Caraway. I love my team and they have been very supportive of my decision. There will never be a school as near and dear to my heart as Caraway.
I interviewed and was offered a job at Cactus Ranch Elementary, which is still in the Round Rock school district. I am sure I will still see you around. I was offered the job the week after school let out. I wish I had known sooner so I could have said good-bye in person. Please stay in touch and keep me updated in your lives. Tell your student that I will miss them very much. I do want to stay connected with the Caraway community and come to school events like Family Dinner Night and the Harvest Festival. It is has really been the hardest decision for me, but knowing that we will keep in touch makes this easier. Thank you so much for everything. I've been truly blessed to have been part of such a wonderful school and community. Maybe we can have a get together at the park by school sometime over the summer so I can give you and your student a big hug and say good-bye one more time. No not good-bye, see you soon!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Unusual Reading Places
This summer, think about unusual and interesting places where you can read and snap a picture. It could be a place you are visiting this summer, someplace around town, or just a weird place in your home - it's up to you!
In the fall judges will chose 10 winners to have their photographs blown up to POSTER SIZE and displayed in the library!
We are SO excited to see what you come up with. It is great to see our library filled up with pictures of kids reading!
In the fall judges will chose 10 winners to have their photographs blown up to POSTER SIZE and displayed in the library!
We are SO excited to see what you come up with. It is great to see our library filled up with pictures of kids reading!
If you haven't seen, our students' pictures from this year's contest are featured on the RRISD Summer Reading Page! http://www.roundrockisd.
Check out the videos for this year's winners or take a look at all the entries for inspiration!
REMEMBER NO PHONE PICTURES!
Details:
o Students should be visibly reading in the photograph
o Any reading material is great reading material for this contest (books, newspapers, magazines, comics...)
o Photos will need to be a minimum of 3400x5400 pixels to be included in the contest (check your camera settings first)
o Unfortunately phone pictures will not have high enough resolution for this contest due to enlargement
o Submissions should be sent FULL SIZE to carawaylibrarycontest@
o Entries can be submitted any time between 5/30/14 and 9/1/14
o Maximum of one (1) entry per student
Friday, May 16, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
New Principal Announced
Dear Parents,
The new Caraway principal will be named at tonight's RRISD school board meeting. These meetings are held in the Round Rock High School lecture hall at 6:30. Numerous faculty members and PTA Officers are planning to attend, and school board meetings are always open to the public. Feel free to call me at 512-464-5504if you have further questions. Whoever is named is going to be so amazed at our friendly and cohesive community!
Sincerely,
Shelly Hohmann
MackinVIA
Last week the Caraway Library launched our new electronic resources! Your student may already be off and running but I wanted to make sure that you are on the same page about these amazing new resources.
The program we will be using for ebooks and digital audiobooks is called MackinVIA. All students will have access to the books the library has purchased from any computer or device(with browser or app abilities) with an internet connection. They may choose from both ebooks AND audiobooks across the levels.
The Basics:
Website: http://www.mackinvia.com
or
Free app: MackinVIA
(Android App | iTunes App | Kindle Fire App | Nook Tablet App | Windows Desktop App | Mac Desktop App)
School: Caraway Elementary (Begin typing and it will fill in itself)
UserID: s###### (this is an ID number - the same as your student’s computer login)
Password: via
Beyond the Basics:
At this link you can find student guides and training videos to peruse at your convenience. Alternatively, you can set your student loose and they’ll be ready to teach YOU in no time! : ) http://www.mackin.com/Help/
One important note: If you are using a device for MackinVIA I suggest immediately clicking the “download” button after any material checkout. This will allow your student to read and listen to electronic materials even without an internet connection. Materials can be found within the book or audiobook section of your device once they have been downloaded. They will go away after the checkout period expires. Easy-peasy!
I hope you will enjoy accessing these materials with your students any time from this point forward as we continue to expand our selection in the future.
Special thanks goes out to those of you making purchases at the Book Fair (this week by the way!) and to The Market 360 Group (http://www.mkt360grp.com/)for their generous donation from food sales at the fall carnival. These two places were the sole sources of funding for all of our awesome electronic resources.
Please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an e-mail if you have any questions about MackinVIA.
Melanie Letendre
Librarian
Kathy Caraway Elementary
Round Rock ISD
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