Monday Memo for the week of September 19 - 23

Here are some of the great things I noticed last week:

**A 2nd grader in Mrs. Zastrow's class excitedly shared, "I could build stamina all day!"
**Found a class that reached 18 minutes of stamina for read to self.
 **4th Grade classrooms were focusing on explaining HOW they got their answers in math (not just the right answer).
**Students in Ms. Johnson's classroom were working in collaborative groups to plan how they will make a model of a plant/animal cell--they were all actively engaged (often in group work some sit back and let others do the work).
 **Ms. Braunschweig followed up a great picture book with a baking project--students had to learn to read a recipe and follow the directions (and of course eat the cookie the following day!)
**Some of the 1st Graders in Ms. Lucht's class told me about the book choices in their book boxes.  One creative boy was excited about a book that was too hard, but read it to me with his make-believe story for the pictures (and was very entertaining)!
 **Several classrooms had the Lesson objective (or objectives for each subject of the day) on the board to provide focus and use for reflection at the end of the lesson.  
**Mrs. O'Toole was persistent with Independence for Read to Self and rang the chimes just 10 seconds after students starting choosing their spots, because a couple students asked, "Can I sit here?" She reviewed the I Chart and then they tried it again---with independence this time!
 **When Mrs. Stampfl's class walked back from their SRI test, many students were proud of their results and shared their high scores with me!  On top of that, Jenny printed the 5th grade SRI results and they are GREAT!!!!!


Events this week:  (You can see these events on the google calendar on the right side of the blog as well)
Tuesday - Trojan Jr. Football game at HOME 6:00 PM
Wednesday - All K-12 Staff Meeting in the Media Center
Friday - Walkathon 1:00-2:30


"Nuts and Bolts" Notes: 
**Just a reminder to park in the 2nd section in the parking lot--MaryBeth is usually the first person in the parking lot, so you'll see her vehicle there if you're not sure.  This is to allow enough space for parents when they come for drop-off/dismissal.  Thank you!
**Our first "Tuesday Tech Day" is next week on the 27th.  I am planning for this one to just be on SMARTBoards and hope you all had the chance to complete Christina's survey. She will be using this to plan for Tuesday.  If you haven't, you can click here for the survey.  Thank you Christina!
**I started a Daily 5/Cafe page on the blog, just click the tab at the top. If you find something helpful to add to it, please email me and I will add it.