Dear Mom and Dad, ask me questions.

Elementary school days are the best of days. This is time when you are most able to shape and form your child's character and future. As your child moves into the preteen and teen years, the ability to influence slowly slips from your fingers. As a parent of an high school senior and sophomore, I recall the feeling being palpable; I didn't like it. Embrace this short amount of time to guide your children! It will be gone sooner that you imagine. You will be addressing high school graduation announcements and scheduling time with a photographer for senior portraits, just like me. (A little tear in my eye as I type this...)  

A note from your child... Dear Mom and Dad,  Please talk to me and ask my opinion. I am getting older quickly. I have a lot of thoughts. Here are a few questions you could ask me (thanks to iMom and All Pro Dads).  What do you like to dream about? What is your best memory this school year? Who is your hero? Why? How would you describe your family? If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? What are you most proud of yourself for? Who is the kindest person you know? Why? What do you like most about your best friend? What is one thing you would like to learn to do well? If you were an animal what one would you be and why? When is the last time someome hurt your feelings? How did you react? Do you know someone who is going though a hard time? How can you help them? What is the scariest thing that happened this year? If you could keep only one thing, out of everything you have, what would it be? Who do you think is really successful? Why? What’s the best thing about your teacher this year? When do you feel misunderstood by grown-ups? What three words best describe you? What’s something that makes you angry? What’s the best compliment you ever received?

Join iMOM or All Pro Dad for email updates by clicking on the "daily email" link at www.imom.com or at www.allprodad.com. © 2011 iMOM. All Rights Reserved. Family First, All Pro Dad, iMOM, and Family Minute with Mark Merrill are registered trademarks.

Each day you entrust your precious children to Rockenbaugh Elementary. We do not take the task lightly. Thank you for allowing us to share in their development. It is an honor to serve the families of our community.

To the greatest of days,

Lisa Young

Spring Has Sprung

Internet Safety Presentation
What a wonderful meeting we had this past Thursday! You may have heard me say that the digital devices we are giving our kids are like knives; they can be used to help save a life in a surgery but they can also be deadly. We must teach our kids the proper way to use these devices and the associated dangers and risks. The parents that attended want to continue our discussion. So, in May, we will be hosting another Internet Safety presentation. Make this a family event. Bring your children (young and old) to hear about the proper way to use these devices. Date and time to be announced soon. 

Education researcher Robert Marzano says, “Applied effectively, technology not only increases student learning, understanding, and achievement but also augments motivation to learn, encourages collaborative learning, and supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.” The power of student use of technology, however, does not really lie in the device itself. The power is in what the device helps the student do. For instance, the Mid-Continent Regional Education Laboratory (McREL) identified 246 separate studies that demonstrate that the use of nonlinguistic representations has a very strong positive effect on student learning. For years teachers have struggled to find ways to incorporate this strategy. Digital devices offer a huge array of resources to meet this need—from streaming video to interactive presentations. We hope to see you in May!

PTO Sock Hop Coming!

Come to our yearly fundraiser, Friday, April 19 from 5:30 p.m.- 8:00 pm. The Sock Hop at the Rock will have the following: a DJ, Aleda's Pizza, and a Dessert Buffet featuring "Desserts By Design"!  We'll also have Photo Booths, ipad Raffle, Door Prizes, Auction, Car Hop relays, Costume Contest and more!  Great Photo Ops! Bring your camera! Please come and support your school. We are wanting to purchase iPads for the classrooms! Register by April 17 online by clicking this link: www.respto.com 

Click here to see the many bidding options: Bidding for good.

LHB Ranch Fire Pit

1. I can't wait for the highest bidder that gets to pick two friends to take out to my family ranch house in Springtown, Texas! We will build a fire in our fire pit, roast hot dogs, and make smores. The next day after a hot breakfast, we will will go on a hike and look for fossils (Fort Worth Natural History and Science Museum has a Springtown excavated dinosaur)! 2. One of my hobbies is shopping! Come shopping with Mrs. Young (a $100 gift certificate is included for the winner.). 3. You and your friends could have a blast spending the evening at Rockenbaugh! Games, treasure hunts, and more!

STAAR Testing
Due to state regulations, RES Campus will be closed to outside visitors during the week of STAAR Testing, April 22-26. Thank you for your support during this time. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Blackwell, our RES Testing Coordinator at janet.blackwell@southlakecarroll.edu 

Kid President Inspired RES
This year we have been watching videos of Kid President on our Dragon Tale News. Our desire is that each day is filled with joy. We started with one of Kid President's original videos:

We showed a few other of his videos. At our last Rocken' Dragon Spirit Day (the Friday after the STAAR tests,) we showed the one on encouraging us to dance. I explained to all of our kiddos that we had been working very hard, so we were going to celebrate by dancing like Kid President. We did the Harlem Shake and sent it to him. He liked it, and SoulPancake responded that they liked it and were going to forward it on as well! #awesomeyear #kidpresident #rockenbaughES rocks!