Monday Memo - Week of April 16

Image from Follow My Bliss

 Great things I noticed last week:
 *I heard a class get excited when they got an extra read-to-self time.
*A parent came in to share with me that 3 of our students stood up for a boy being bullied on the bus.
*On a classroom chart asking "How does reading make you a better writer?" Some of the incredible  student responses included:
 -If you read a book you like you can make a book similar to it, but don't copy it.
-You can make connections when reading and write about them.
-We read books to learn more words so we can write with more descriptive and interesting words.
-When you read a book and find a good lead you like, you can use it to start your own.
 
Events this Week:
Monday - Probationary teachers meeting at 3:05 in the Media Center
Tuesday-Tech Tuesday in Christina's room...she will share a couple of tips with you on saving your SMART files (good to know with the end of the year approaching so fast) and will also share with you about kid blogs (we already have a few classes that are utilizing kid blogs and seeing some awesome things happening!) If you have any tech ideas to share, please bring them.
Wednesday - K-3rd grade teachers meeting about SAGE at 3:05
Thursday - Tornado Drill beginning at 1:00 (an email will be sent with further details)
Friday - Staff Social Lunch
    3rd Quarter Dodgeland Pride Assembly at 2:00

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes
*The Volunteer appreciation tea date has been changed to April 27. Please email me names of your volunteers by this Wednesday so they can be sent invitations. There will be a sign up to bring snacks/treats for the tea in the lounge.
*Last Friday I shared with you my reflection on the book Mindset.  In this blog post, a teacher shares with you how she taught her students about the difference between a fixed and growth mindset. It is very interesting to see how her students reflected on this.
*Reading for pleasure makes your brain grow--a teacher's blog post of a scientific brain research study to share with your students.

*Just sharing a video clip from www.teachingchannel.org that highlights how the Morning Meeting can be used not only for building classroom culture, but also to integrate difficult vocabulary and other academic skills: