Friday Focus - March 27, 2015

Great Things I noticed this Week:
*Time used during bathroom/milk break to use vocabulary words in sentences. I appreciate seeing the vocabulary efforts continuing to benefit our students!
*Students recording themselves talking about what they learned using the app Tellegami and then inserting their video into Keynote.
*Guiding questions for the lesson objective posted on the board to refer to throughout the lesson.

Events Next Week:
Monday - Budget forms due
-End of 3rd Quarter
Tuesday - grades due by 7:30 am
-Badger test training (3-5th grade teachers) at 3:00pm
-Talent show--please come out to see the great entertainment (including a good staff ditty!)
Thursday - Wear blue for autism awareness day
-3rd quarter report cards distributed (with assembly invitations)
Friday - Happy Spring Break! The server will be getting worked on over break, so please don't plan to come in and work or rely on email...bummer, right?! ;)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*There will be a separate email with details about the Badger test trainings coming up to be prepared. The test window has been pushed back again to April 14th, but we will need to meet a couple of times for training.
*Wondering why I haven't been out in rooms so much? Sorry, but I'm working all things assessment--getting the back end loading on the technical side of students/staff users, reading manuals, etc. for several different tests.  I'm just telling you out of "office guilt!"

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!
*Working with Fragile Writers
*@franmcveigh: Love "speed dating with books" where kids look at books and then talk about them. Pass again. get diff books & talk! #g2great 

Fun classroom timers HERE

go HERE to download

Friday Focus - March 20, 2015

Events Next Week:
Tuesday - grade level PLC mtgs cancelled (due to several other absences requiring subs)
Wednesday - the Effectiveness Project training is being rescheduled (due to me needing further end of year SLO information to share with you)
Thursday - spring Picture day (optional for students)
-last day for students to bring Art fundraiser orders

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Spring has sprung (kind of)...this means that kids don't need time to bundle up to get outside and that WE ALL need to get out to recess duty on time. 5 minutes late in the winter wasn't a big deal, because most kids were still getting all their gear on, but 5 minutes late now and the kids are all outside and we need eyes out for supervision.

*What have you implemented in your classroom from last month's High Impact Instruction chapter? What Guiding Questions (ch 2) have you been asking your students and how has that helped the learning process? What new questioning strategy have you implemented after reading chapter 6? Or if you read chapter 11, how have you looked at the relationships and learning differently in your classroom and how has that impacted the teaching/learning happening? I'd love for you all to add comments below in this post (if you're reading in email you'll have to go to johnsonmemo.blogspot.com)

Just a reminder that our next book study discussion will be on (don't procrastinate until the day before and forget your book at school!):
Group 1: chapter 3 Formative Assessment
Group 2: chapter 7 Stories
Group 3: chapter 12 Freedom within Form

Blogs, Tweets and Pins...Oh My!
*Mid March Madness with iPads in Kindergarten (although interesting to see in all grades what these kindergartner's are doing!)
Need a picture for Bootcamp strategies? This one caught my eye:

Friday Focus - March 13, 2015

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

*Vocabulary review with Kahoot!

*Class discussion about Digital Citizenship...students shared how they have been affected by comments on Facebook (yes, we have kids on Facebook!), texting or even some things on Todaysmeet. The discussion emphasized that things they post can be forever, (which can be for good, or bad) and how to behave appropriately online just like in real life. They also watched THIS video clip.

*During a social studies lesson, the teacher asked a question, gave 1 minute for turn-and-talk and then called on a few students to share their responses. Not a big deal, right? But what I noticed is that the three students called on were all 3 struggling readers that I know likely couldn't read the content independently, but with turn-and-talk were able to gain better understanding to be able to think/respond to the content. 

Events Next Week:
Monday - Professional Development: please make sure to sign up on the google doc for the sessions you want to learn from (Dr. Thompson emailed this out with the descriptions for each). Make sure to bring your *updated* iPads/laptops
Wednesday - I will be out of the building to proctor make-up ACT for the HS in the morning
Friday - Staff Social Lunch (Special Ed/Speech/Huelsman)

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!!
*Growth Mindset Resource Round-Up

Growth Mindset resource from the Round-Up post

Monday Musings - March 9, 2015

I saw this quote shared by my friend John Gunnell on Twitter and thought of the work that we do with our students everyday.  Our work isn't easy; Dr. James Strong even says, Teaching IS rocket science!  For years we have been responding to the needs of our students through responsive teaching, What I Need, the Student Intervention Team process and now formally for students of significant concern following the new Specific Learning Disability criteria.  As I think of this new specific process, I know that it is formalized and more paperwork, however, it's not much different than what good teachers have always been doing...responding to their students and their needs, not blaming students and always trying to find ways to help them succeed.

Thank you for the work you do each and every day to help all of our students achieve their potential and responding when they don't.

Friday Focus - March, 6, 2015

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*After a brief mini-lesson on using word parts to determine meanings of unknown words, students read their good fit books for a few minutes and found words to add to a chart that they could then apply the skill of using word parts to determine the meanings. As students were practicing applying this skill, a handful referred to their word wall of previously learned vocabulary words.
*A class discussion after students took the Badger practice test....students were asked to share struggles and celebrations, which were recorded on the board. One student shared that she finished only one question, but it was a long passage and she worked hard the whole time to read and focus on it. The teacher then asked the class, "how could you turn these struggles into celebrations?" Students talked about how some passages were boring, but painting a mental picture could help keep it from being boring! They also talked about how they book club books took a lot of time, but they took a long time on those and enjoyed them too. Another student idea shared was that when the words in the questions were confusing he "traded words" like the strategy he learned. 

This class discussion made the whole "test prep thing" seem so relaxing and more like any other class lesson/discussion.

Events Next Week:
Sunday - Daylight Savings Time begins --Change your clocks!
Monday - Staff Meeting
Tuesday - Grade Level PLC Meetings
4:00-6:00pm Art Show
Thursday - I will be out of the building for a training

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

• Staff Meeting - We will be in groups to discuss the chapters read in High Impact Instruction (Part 1- ch 2 Guiding questions, Part 2 - ch 6 effective questions, part 3 - ch 11 Power with, Not Power over). We will also continue to learn about additional "bootcamp" strategies for ELA
• Grade Level PLC Meetings: 
• 3-5 Badger Practice Tests/discussion for scheduling of tests in April
• K-5: Performance Tasks - what have you done? Plan for developing performance task opportunities for your students. *We will look at how you can use your social studies/science content to develop performance tasks.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!

*Five Minute videos on empathy, kindness and connection

*Quick Ideas and Strategies to Prepare Students for Writing Assessments

*@JohnWink90: 

22 minutes ago

Let it Snow or Let It Go: Evaluate your Instructional Activities http://ow.ly/JNpnU 

Interactive notebook flap for Vocab. More HERE

Monday Musings - March 2, 2015

Our work in education is so important in the lives of our students, yet at times, it can feel so overwhelming. Especially with new mandates and initiatives that we have very little control of, yet they require our time and attention. At times they can be things we really just don't want to do, but know that we have to do. While we can't choose what we "have to do," we can choose how we're going to respond to them. We can choose to spend all of our time complaining about it and dragging our feet; however, that will just drain us, both emotionally and physically, leaving little energy left for anything else. At times, we have to just make the best of a situation, do what we have to do, and keep moving forward. 

For me, personally, this means just "sucking it up" and learning each new assessment that has come our way (as the DAC, that means several for me), writing a letter to our legislators/senators and then turning off the news for my mental health, trying my best to keep up with the load that is piling up, and then go home to spend time with my family.  

What new "load" is a burden for you this year? Find a way to let it go. Do what you have to do with it, and then don't waste any more energy on it than you have to. Spend the rest of your energy on those cute little faces in your room!