Monday Musings - September 30, 2013

October is national "Connected Educator Month" so I'd like to highlight it in this post.  You've all heard me talk about how much I learn from being on Twitter to connect with other educators, read blogs and share that information with you.  It has helped me to connect with and learn first hand from the great education authors like Todd Whitaker, the Sisters, Regie Routman, Donalyn Miller, Chris Lehman, the list goes on...

Here is a great post from another teacher on how Twitter benefits her and her students: 7 Ways My Classroom is Better Because I Connect 

Speaking of being connected...I am using my personal day on Monday to join my favorite educational author, Todd Whitaker, and Amber Teaman (an administrator from Texas) to present in Indiana about Principals and Social Media.  Here's the proof!

Friday Focus - September 27, 2013

Image from Venosdale

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

*Daily 5 stamina getting higher and higher in each classroom!
*Teachers sharing their iPad ideas with each other to benefit other classrooms.
*Incredible amount of patience/flexibility when technology doesn't work right.
~Can you tell I've still been spending my time in the labs for MAP testing? ;)

Events Next Week:

Monday - I will not be here. 

New Teachers/Optional Refresher Meeting at 3:05 in IMC on EP Student Surveys led by Mr. Weiss and Mrs. Modaff

Thursday -MidQuarter

11:15-11:30 Special assembly for 5K-5 in the elementary gym. I've been sworn to secrecy not to tell you what it is for, if you try to pry it out of me then you will have to sing on the stage. ;)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*I know you all want more time to better know the MAP data, especially before P/T Conferences. I will plan on that being a major topic at our October 14th meeting. 

*If you are not done with your Self-Assessment in mylearningplan, don't stress. I'll give you until Friday, October 4th.
*Your SLO goals are NOT due yet, so don't worry about them.  We will be training you on SLO October 7 (the 8th if you need to attend with ms/hs)

iPad Tip of the Week:

Are you tired of having to type in your email address over and over in browsers? Do you often send emails or type other notes that have the same phrase over and over? You can create keyboard shortcuts on your iPad so that for one of those phrases you only have to type a couple of letters and it completes whatever phrase you want. For example, whenever I type jj my iPad automatically enters my full email address or if I type sm it automatically enters SMARTBoard.  Watch this screencast (made in Educreations) to see how. Let me know if you need extra help on this:


Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!

50 of the Best Resources for iPads in Education

Monday Musings - September 23, 2013

Image from Carlos Porto

Since we have gone school-wide with Daily 5/CAFE, the one thing I can say that cannot ever be shown in test scores is our students' interest for reading.  Over the past couple of years I have definitely seen a difference in our students' interest in reading; I see many students reading while waiting in the classroom, in the computer lab, in the lunch room, at recess and hear about them reading outside of school.  No test score will ever be able to show that we are creating lifelong readers at Dodgeland.

This weekend I received an email from one of our MS ELA teachers that values the work we are doing:

I want you to know that your hard work with the Daily Five and CAFE is paying off!  My students LOVE TO READ!  Even in between activities, some students have their nose in a book:)  It's changing the way I look at my instructional time, too, so Read to Self must be a priority.

Sometimes you don't get the satisfaction of seeing the impact of what you're doing, but I am grateful and appreciative that you're creating lifelong readers. 

I want to thank you all for the work that you have done and continue to do to model a passion for reading with your students--in your daily mini-lessons and in modeling yourself as a reader for your students!

Friday Focus - September 20, 2013

I feel completely disconnected from the great things that I know are happening in your rooms having been in the computer lab all week for MAP testing, but have heard comments from kids at recess, such as:

• "We got to 5 minutes of reading stamina today!"
• "I used Educreations to explain my math on the iPad."
• "This is the nicest school I've ever been to." (New student that has been to a few schools)

Events Next Week:

Tuesday - Grade Level PLC meetings. I will be in and out of assisting with testing, so Joyce and Jenny will be helping you to look at what the MAP test data means. 

Am I forgetting something?  Just one event seems odd! 

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*I'm hoping to have a "for your next MAP test session" handout to email/put in mailboxes for next week. I plan to just be there for you to get started and then leave. I will also be "on call" for the MS/HS testing. 

*Do NOT feel bad if you are still working on classroom routines/procedures. It's better to spend more time now than to have to correct bad habits down the road. 

iPad Tip of the Week:

Tired of the sounds your iPad makes when you type ("click, click, click") or get emails?  Tap on Settings; Sounds and then see a list of possible reasons your iPad could be making noises! See the screenshot below.  Here you'll see that mine has "alert" next to new mail. If you click on Alert it will bring up a list of options and you can choose "None."  See also down at the bottom how "Keyboard Clicks" is on? You can just tap the on and change it to off. There, no more annoying sounds!

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!

•  ‏@schink101h
  Every time you interact with a student you are either "building rapport" or "building a door" between the two of you. #edchat
• A great blog post on growth and learning: "Even When it's Uncomfortable"
• Improving our Narrative Writing
• Teaching Informational Text with Magazines

Blog post on "Improving Narrative Writing" HERE

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Monday Musings - September 16, 2013

I've often shared books/blog posts from Jon Gordon and have to do so again today, because I couldn't help but share this great post from him called Are You a Real Team? (The original post can be found HERE).

Are You a Real Team?

Posted by Jon Gordon

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There’s a difference between being on a team and being a real team.

People who are on a team focus on their own goals.
People who are part of a real team focus on team goals first and their individual goals second.

Individuals on a team are committed to getting better and improving themselves.
Individuals who are part of a real team are not only committed to getting better they are also committed to each other and the team.

When you are on a team you think about how the team can serve your desires.
When you are part of a real team your desire is to serve the team.

When you are on a team communication isn’t a priority
When you are a real team communication is essential to build trust, commitment and teamwork.

When you are on a team you care
When you are a real team you care more.

On a team, your time is more important than your team.
A real team makes time with the team a priority.

On a team, trust, love and respect are not often discussed or cultivated.
A real team focuses on building trust, sharing love and showing respect and ingrain them into everything they do.

On a team people fight and the fighting hurts the team because they don’t have trust and love.
A real team also fights but the fighting makes the team stronger because they have trust and love. They grow from their disagreements.

On a team, not everyone is on the bus.
A real team has everyone on the bus with a shared vision, focus and purpose.

On a team, there’s a lack of leadership
A real team has strong leaders who develop other leaders.

People on a team have an ego to want to be great.
People who are part of a real team also have an ego to want to be great but they give up their ego to serve their team and a bigger cause in order to be great.

So how about your team? Are you just on a team or are you a real team?

- See more at: http://www.jongordon.com/blog/are-you-a-real-team/#sthash.8fGJuok0.dpuf

Friday Focus - September 13, 2013

See bottom of this post for an inspiring Pep Talk from KidPresident

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• Students practicing identifying compass points by walking around the building using a compass app on the iPad. 
• A couple of students were so excited about "Writing Magic" that they spent most of their recess telling me about how excited they are to write and become authors someday. 
• Students practicing math facts with physical activity (great for a brain break too). Students were down on the ground and popping up like groundhogs to say their answers.
• A class was checking their class Goodreads account for a book summary they wrote after reading it. Students noticed that Goodreads was like "facebook for books!"
• I've heard comments from parents of several of our students new to Dodgeland this year about how welcoming our staff are and how impressed they are with everything. 

Events Next Week: Homecoming Week (theme: keep it "low key" by just wearing school colors)

Monday -Elementary Teachers training for MAP testing at 3:05 in IMC.  If you haven't already done so, please watch this intro to MAP video: How MAP Benefits Your Students. You should have already received an email from NWEA MAP with your login and temporary password. Please let me know if you did not receive this. 

Tuesday - Fundraiser Kick-Off at 2:00 in the multi-purpose room. You will be receiving fundraiser packets for your students to take home after the assembly. 

Wednesday - Orders for Jimmy Johns due by 4:00 for Friday's Staff Social Lunch --menus in the mailroom. (Yes, I forgot to set this up this week so it's next week now. Sorry!)

Friday- Staff Social Lunch--I'll have desserts

Homecoming Pep Assembly at 1:00, Early Dismissal at 2:30, Parade Line-Up at 4:00, Parade Starts at 4:30.  

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

• I think all teacher math guides have been distributed to classroom teachers, but we still have quite an assortment of teacher blackline masters books (i.e. resource guide, assessment guide, etc). If you are missing something, please check the table in the office next to mine.  You will also be receiving a flash drive of electronic resources in your mailbox. 
• Mrs. Porter is encouraging students to come to the library in the mornings for looking at books, checking out, etc.  If you are ever on morning hallway/bus duty, please allow students to go if they ask to go to the library.  
• Mr. Modaff will be loading "All the Write Type" in the computer lab that can still be used after MAP testing is complete.  I am not going to set a requirement of how often you should take your students (if you have previously used this with your grade level), but I do encourage you to continue using it as we want our students to be able to type on the iPads and the Keyboards.  If anyone finds a good keyboarding app for the iPad, please share it with Mrs. Porter or Mr. Modaff to put on the self-serve. 
• As Mrs. Bartlett's email shared, we are missing many books from the book room. Mrs. Bartlett, Mrs. Madsen and Ms. Lucht have put in a lot of work into ordering and organizing books for the book room. Please make sure that they make it back. If you have an aide or parent volunteers that bring students down to pick out books, please make sure they are kept track of. Thank you for your help with this. 

iPad Tip of the Week:

 Love using email on your iPad, but NOT like that your signature automatically says "sent from my iPad"?  You can get rid of that and customize it to say what you want. Here's how:

*I used the Educreations app to make that video in just 5 minutes. Using Educreations is SO much easier now that you can erase just your voice recording if you made a mistake and not wipe out the whole screen!

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!
*KSH iPad 1:1 Teacher Central: Blog for an elementary school in Hawaii that just went 1:1 with iPads (I added this to the iPad resources tab at the top of the memo blog)
*http://iteachwithipads.net/: blog of a kindergarten teacher that 4K/1st might find great ideas from. (this is also added to the iPad resources tab)
*@pernilleripp

47m

What Are You Teaching the World? A Video to Show Your Students Tomorrow http://bit.ly/1d9oexv  #edchat

Here's the video clip from the tweet above. I never get tired of "KidPresident!"

Monday Musings - September 9, 2013

Image from Venosdale

I've always felt pretty tech savvy...I love learning about what new web 2.0 tools or iPad apps are out and I catch on pretty quickly.  I feel like that all changed when I got my new laptop a few weeks ago...it was only 5 minutes after Brad brought me my new device that I called his office to ask "how do I scroll?" Yes, you heard that right, I couldn't even scroll down on a webpage.  Go ahead and laugh (I know I did).  You were all witness to my lack of skills with this MacBook Pro in our first staff meeting when I couldn't get anything to work right.  After a couple of weeks with it now, I am getting used to it, but still turning to google, youtube or "phone a friend" almost daily to learn how to do things that are different than on a PC.  I am also learning really neat features that I could never do before.

Why do I share this with you? Because I know that, for some of you, going 1:1 with iPads might feel the same way.  I know that it's hard to say "don't worry," but I do encourage you to not be afraid of them and model your learning for your students.  As teachers, we don't have to be the experts of everything that gets imparted to our students.  When we show students that we don't always know how to do something, but learn until we figure it out, we are modeling for them exactly what lifelong skill we want them to have.  

I know I've said this in a previous Monday Musings post, but want to share it again:

We do not have to be experts at the tools...we have to be experts at learning and show students what it is like in real life to not know the answer or not know how to do something. To be successful in life you need to know how to find it out. Or as Will Richardson says we have to be able to "learn, unlearn and relearn."

Image from Venosdale

Friday Focus - September 6, 2013

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
This felt like the smoothest start of a school year ever.  No major first day tears...from students or teachers! ;) I've seen...

•  teachers spending time teaching/rehearsing procedures like the pros that Harry Wong writes about in The First Days of School.  
• students already using their iPads for a variety of uses--math facts games, recording partners to create an iMovie, QR code scavenger hunt and using IXL.  
• students excited about literacy-in classroom book shopping, checking out books in the IMC (and already mastering the art of reading while walking back to their classroom) and writing reading resolutions for the school year. 

You all are off to great start to an awesome school year! 

Upcoming Events:
Today: Elementary Assembly at 2:30 in the elementary gym.  Have students packed up before coming.  We will end our day with our Celebration dance dismissal.
Monday: Elementary staff EP training for the Self-Assessment/PGG. This is for all staff, not just those on the evaluation year.
Thursday: I will be out of the building for training at CESA 6.
Monday, September 16: MAP training for K-5 teachers. I'm sorry to add another meeting, but have learned that the MAP test involves a bit more from your end than the SMI/SRI did.  Please know that it also means you'll have access to all the reports and won't have to wait for Mrs. Huelsman or myself to print them. It will be a great resource for you!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes

• Your team's PLC norms are in your mailbox. One thing that I learned from the PLC institute is that effective teams also revisit those norms at the start/end of each meeting.  One way to help make this easier for you all is I typed up your norms in a google doc (HERE) and also put a QR code to lead to this doc in the data room for you. 
• PLC team expectations-one question that came up as a result of our PLC discussions last week is how often are we supposed to meet? We have our scheduled grade level team days twice a month, but I know you have more to talk about then that meeting time allows for. I would expect that you would need to meet once a week on the weeks we don't have our rotating subs.  I do know that several grade levels meet more frequently and that is fine.  
• Please send birthday students to the office to pick out a book for their gift.

iPad Tip of the Week: 

(I'm planning to add this section to each Friday Focus. If you've got a tip that you think others might find useful, or a question that others might have too, please let me know. I'll share them in this section.)

• If you have a website that you frequently use on the iPad you can add to your homescreen (to make it look just like an app) to get to it quicker.  Watch this video clip to find out how.  I've taken my bookmarked webpages on my homescreen and put them all in a folder.  
• How do you make a folder of apps?  Watch this video clip to find out how.

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!

• Great blog post comparing going 1:1 and having a baby: What to Expect When Expecting Technology.
• "If we create a "team" its not sharing or bragging its increasing "OUR" students success #educoach @stevebarkley
• "we r on a journey, not a race! We must remember the power of our collective intelligence is amazing!" @DrBillBrennan