Ms. Park

Mahalo to all of the parents for participating in our conference week! Thank you for allowing me to share my vision and hopes for each student in our enrichment class. I am filled with gratitude for your support and enthusiasm. I will continue to build a strong positive relationship with each student. I believe this is the foundation that will lead to enduring learning experiences for all students. Thank you for being a partner in this important work! :)

"No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship." - James Comer

Veterans Day is such an important holiday for our military dependent students on Schofield Barracks. 🇺🇸 We were ready to march despite the rain at Wahiawā Lions Club 71st Veterans Day Parade. ☔️ Mahalo Veterans! 💙❤️

Aloha! Long time no update. For those of you that have been wondering, I am still at Daniel K. Inouye Elementary School (Hale Kula). I have been transitioning into a new role this year so I've been feeling fairly occupied. 🙂 I ran into some former students at Fall Festival on Friday, which motivated me to publish this post.

This year, I have a hybrid role as a New Teacher Mentor and Gifted & Talented Enrichment Teacher. To me, this means I get the best of both worlds--working closely with both teachers AND students!

As a Mentor, I help teachers who are new to Hawaii get adjusted and guide teachers who are beginning their service in the profession (year 1-3). I meet with teachers one-on-one, visit classrooms, observe lessons, record/analyze student data, provide feedback, gather resources, and facilitate trainings all for the purposes of improving teacher practice and student outcomes. In order to be an effective mentor, I participate in several trainings myself at the district and state level.

As an Enrichment Teacher, I coordinate the Gifted and Talented identification testing for grades 2-5 at our school. The identification process occurs twice a year. Several academic components as well as parent and teacher nominations are considered. Administering and scoring the tests took a lot of time but the fall testing is now complete! I finished interviewing all of the students individually and held my first two classes with students that have been identified as either GT or GT potential. I am looking forward to meeting the parents at conferences this week!

I am also reflecting a lot on school-wide improvement efforts as Chairperson of the School Community Council and Co-Advisor of Eagle Council. We've been more intentional about incorporating student voice in decision making. We have made changes to how the Super Eagle Assemblies are run--frequency, duration, content, incentive, and more--all based on student feedback. We are thinking creatively about aligning events to school-wide initiatives. This past week, we celebrated a meaningful Spirit Week that promoted and reiterated what the students are learning from the new social-emotional learning curriculum. My favorite was "Mismatch Monday" when we wore two different shoes to promote empathy and respect. The best part? It was a student's idea to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes!"

At the Complex Area level, I am participating in the Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Teacher Leader Academy. We just had our first session last week! We discussed what it might mean to be a Teacher vs. a Teacher Leader. We drafted job-embedded goals and discussed different data points and accountability dates. I am excited to explore different leadership competencies and collaborate with educators within our Complex under the leadership of CAS Bob Davis and his team.

This is also my second and final year as a Hawai'i State Teacher Fellow with Hope Street Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating teacher voice and expertise in education policy. I want to share two recent highlights: 1) We met with the new Hawaii State Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Christina Kishimoto to discuss issues and hopes for public education in Hawai'i. 2) The Director, an Alumna Fellow, and I had the opportunity to deliver a presentation on Teacher Empowerment at the Hawai'i State Board of Education's Human Resources Committee Meeting. Both were special opportunities that made me feel heard and validated in the work that I do as a proud teacher of Hawaii public schools. Great things are happening in schools all across the islands and I am hopeful for what the future holds!

TL;DR? Here's the gist: I'm alive and doing well. Here are some professional updates. I may not be posting on this Page as frequently as before.

I miss all of my former students and families and would love to hear how they are doing. ☺️❤️

Sincerely,
Ms. Park

A big mahalo to Outrigger Resorts for hosting Hawaii State Department of Education teachers to learn more about the hospitality industry! 🌺 The staff at Hokulani Waikiki is absolutely wonderful. 👏 From housekeeping to maintenance, operation, and management, we had great conversations on how we can better support our students for future careers. ✨ Also, thank you for the delicious lunch and dessert at Duke's Waikiki! 🍽 Hawaii State Teachers Association

Today Mrs. Fernandez and her family returns home to Florida! ✈️ Her positivity and passion for supporting ALL students is truly inspiring. O-204 will never be the same without her! She will continue her educator journey as a fifth grade science teacher on the mainland. Safe travels and best wishes! 👭

Fifth Grade Graduation Ceremony: 5/26/17. "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" 🎈 Such a bittersweet day! We said Aloha to our 100+ fifth graders as they transition to Major Sheldon Wheeler Middle School or other schools on the island, mainland, and Europe!

This is also my last year teaching fifth grade for now. It has been an absolute joy to be both a homeroom teacher and Grade Level Chair. I have so much love and respect for my team and students. Thank you all for making this year so special! ♥️

P. S. Mahalo to the parents and teachers that sent me photos because you knew I didn't have the capacity to take them. 😂🏃🏻‍♀️💨🤹🏻‍♀️

Classroom Snapshots: 5/18-5/25. From Field Day to Awards Assemblies... Wrapping up the school year! 🙃

Classroom Snapshots: 5/1-5/17. Never before seen photos from May! A highlight? Career Day for all fifth grade students. A few more posts from the end of the school year are on the way... Stay tuned! 👍

Classroom Snapshots: We took ~100 fifth graders to Dave & Buster's on May 12th. We rented out the entire arcade and even had a buffet lunch on the rooftop. This is why we have been fundraising so hard this year... 😉 Students had a BLAST at their end of year field trip!

Classroom Snapshots: 5/11 Poetry Cafe. We wrapped up our poetry unit! 📝 Students recited their original poems to families over a delicious breakfast. Two surprises were in store...

1) I had messaged parents to prepare and share their favorite poems during the "intermission." Students loved the unexpected open-mic and seeing how poetry can be appreciated by people of all ages. 🤓

2) We showed parents a special appreciation video. I think some tears were shed... 😉💜 We intentionally scheduled this event to coincide with Mother's Day weekend! 💐 Thank you for all that you do for our kids, our class, and our school.

We hope you enjoyed our time together. If you weren't able to make it, we missed you! Check out the previous post for the YouTube video.

A big shout-out to Mrs. Roller for the poetry unit planning for the fifth grade team!

Happy Mother's Day! We surprised our parents with a video during our Poetry Cafe event this Thursday. Mahalo to all of our loving parents! 💜

Words of Love from O-204: https://youtu.be/wT8e8OAnGOc

Words of Love from O-204 Class of 2017 Parents Appreciation Video

Classroom Snapshots: 4/20-4/28. Purple Up! , S's (Mrs. Fernandez's daughter) birthday, Earth Day with Kinder Buddies, Stand/Lean/Sit acting, intramural Kickball, birthday surprise for Mrs. Fernandez, poetry challenges, and lunch with Ms. Park.

Classroom Snapshots: 4/10-4/19. Reading original human body systems books to Kinder Buddies, saying farewell to H, PTO Color Run and more!

Classroom Snapshots: Fourth quarter begins! 😀

Classroom Snapshots: Spring break is here! Here are our last moments of quarter 3. 😊

Classroom Snapshots: 2/27-3/10. Most of the photos are from our field trip to the Leilehua Complex Fitness Day and our language arts block concentrating on expository nonfiction writing!

Classroom Snapshots: 2/21-2/24. We went on a field trip to the Honolulu Museum of Art! 🎨 The docents led us on a tour called "Art & Life in Early America." The students had a blast imagining what it would be like to live in the 1600s/1700s! 🕗

Classroom Snapshots: 2/6-2/17. Black History Month celebration, respiratory system simulation, analyzing Paul Revere's engraving of the Boston Massacre, J's birthday, M's special presentation about classroom culture, getting "lost" in the library, solving word problems, expository nonfiction writing (curiosities --> research questions --> search queries), Jump Rope for Heart, and more!

Classroom Snapshots: 1/30-2/3. Hawaiiana, Kindergarten's Chinese New Year Parade, Taxation Without Representation Simulation, Jack and the Parachute Engineering, Mission-US: For Crown or For Colony?, Leadership Lunch for Girls (+ Impromptu Dance Party), and more!

Our "class pet" Bruce wants to explore the world outside of the classroom. We're asking students to introduce Bruce to their families and share their adventures with the class! :)

You can book a weekend with Bruce on https://brucetheman.youcanbook.me/

Please remember to bring him back on Monday and send your photos to Ms. Park via e-mail or ClassDojo!

Classroom Snapshots: 1/23-1/27. Report cards were sent home this week! Please be sure to return the signed envelope. 📩 Happy Aloha Friday + Happy Lunar New Year! 🐲🐉🐓