The Final Friday Focus for 2014!!!

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

*Teacher talk that included large vocabulary, but also saying, "in other words..." to help students expand their vocabulary. 

*A quick game of charades to practice science vocabulary (before their test) while waiting for bathroom breaks/milk in the hallway.
*1:1 conference during a Daily 5 round in which the teacher focused the conversation on reading behaviors, because the student is often easily distracted. With the teacher's guidance, the student created a plan himself to sit where he is facing a corner so he can't see others, along with a other goals for himself to read more each day.

Upcoming Events:
Monday - After school Bucket Fillers activity (bus to Clearview to deliver ornaments and go caroling). Feel free to join us!
Have a wonderful holiday vacation with your family!!! :)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*If you haven't already done so, please update your laptops to Yosemite. Please check Brad's email for the details on it. The only issue I encountered was typing in the password correctly. :)
*What are your plans after break with your students for resolutions? Making New Year's Resolutions is a great opportunity to re-focus on behavior, academic or reading goals, while giving students ownership in the process.  See ideas in the "blogs, tweets & pins" section below.


Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!
*I Resolve to Read by Donalyn Miller
*It Pays to Increase Your Word Power

 

Katharine Rainey‏@KatharineRainey#WIEE is not about comparing yourself to others, but yourself from Point A to Point B.

Monday Musings - December 15, 2014

I know what you’re thinking.  “One more full week”.  You know what?  The kids, and their families, are thinking the same thing.  We are given only so many days with the kids so why not make these next seven school days the best they can be?   It takes the same amount of energy to be awesome with the kids as it does to be less than awesome.  How is that possible?  If you are awesome, and you all are awesome, the kids will be awesome, too.  If you are less than awesome, the time you spend because the kids are less than awesome is the same.  Make sense?  I sure hope so.  Be awesome today, and next week, and the days to come.

Friday Focus - December 12, 2014

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

• Math integrated in PE - making estimates about steps for their pedometer and then checking to see if they were over/under their estimate. 
• A mini lesson about quotation marks and then sending students to work in partners to revise their writing to add quotation marks to their writing. (So much more authentic than worksheets!)
• An overflow of gifts to help make Christmas happen for some of our students in need. I seriously felt like the North Pole was next to my office this week! 

Events Next Week:

Monday - Bucket Fillers activity after school (I'll email a list of student names so you know who's staying)

Tuesday - Grade Level Meetings (we'll be further discussing the Badger Exam Performance Task and planning how/when to practice)

-6:30pm 5K/2nd/4th grade Music concert

Wednesday - "Workout Wednesday" attire (please plan to sneak in some exercise with your class!) --3:05 EP Training on SLO Mid-Year Review and 2nd Surveys (in IMC)

Thursday - Christmas sweater day (nice or tacky is up to you!)

Friday - Staff Social Lunch (4K/5K)

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!

*Worksheets are NOT Part of How My Students Show Their Learning

*Top Ten Ways to Encourage Children to Read Over Winter Break

*

‏@KatharineRainey: If you are perfect at it on the first try, you aren't stretching yourself which means you aren't learning. #WIEE

Great idea for the last day before break-What I accomplished in 2014, What I want to accomplish in 2015

Monday Musings - December 8, 2014

Monday Musings

It's that time of year when we are all in a "hustle and bustle" to get ready for Christmas while still continuing with everything else going on.  Some of us may be stressed by what seems to be a lack of time to fit it all in the countdown to Christmas.  Please keep in mind that, for some of our students, there are many stressors:

• Parents threatening children that Santa won't come.
• Overhearing parents stressing over money at this time of year.
• Worrying if they'll get anything for Christmas at all.
• Worrying about being away from school (their safest place) for two whole weeks.

We also need to keep our own buckets in check at this busy time of year. One of the bucket fillers newsletter has a great message:

Good Busy and Bad Busy

There are two types of busy - good busy and bad busy. Good busy fills our bucket. When we do busy well, life is exciting and activities fill our buckets. Our minds are actually designed to be busy just as our buckets are designed to be full. Dr. Caroline Leaf, author of Switch On Your Brain, says that at any given moment of the day, we have four to seven thoughts going through our brain. Just living is a busy activity. But good busy can quickly turn into bad busy and empty our buckets. In good busy, we listen and watch in a focused, mindful way; in bad busy, we lose focus and shift our attention haphazardly from one thing to another. When we're in "bad busy," we tend to look at things more pessimistically and react more negatively. We see more "half-empty" than "half-full." Bad busy leads to bad choices, poor decision making, and emptier buckets. As we enter one of the busiest times of the year, try to stay in "good busy" by doing regular "bucket checks." Stop at regular intervals in your day and become aware of your body and what you are feeling. These feelings, which are neither good nor bad, are actually signals to get your attention. They let you know when good busy is switching to bad busy.      Good busy is living with a full bucket. It's remembering that it's not about the quantity of what we do; it's about the quality of what we do. Any job worth doing, is worth doing well.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday Focus - December 5, 2014

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

• Students in small groups playing charades with the vocabulary words they've learned the past couple of weeks. I'm amazed at how much their vocabulary has already expanded since I first shared this information with you (just 2 weeks ago!).
• Students proving their answers in literacy by marking where in the text they found each answer or underlining the clues that helped them to make an inference.
• I'm seeing more and more of you posting/referring to lesson objectives (especially during literacy/math).  If you'd like to see one way to use the posted objective, HERE is a quick video clip from teachingchannel.

Events Next Week: Monday starts the 12 Days of Christmas! :)
Monday - Packers Day (jeans too) as the 1st Day of Christmas (see more about this in "nuts & bolts"
-I will be out of the building in the afternoon
-Staff Meeting at 3:05-3:45. Yes I'll be gone, but Jenny and Joyce will be leading it. Please be prepared to discuss your next chapter in High Impact Instruction and bring your laptops to learn about the performance task portion of the Badger Exam (new name for the SMARTER Balanced test)
Tuesday - I will be at the School Leaders and Technology in Education conference (SLATE) along with a district team that includes Ms. Abegglen and Mrs. Larson.
Wednesday- "Giving Tree" gift donations due to Marie (unwrapped with the paper ornament).
Thursday - MID QUARTER!  Yes, it's already time to send home mid-quarter progress reports to keep parents updated on academic progress.


"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*WI DPI has started a My Wisconsin Standards campaign that kicked off this week that you can check out at www.dpi.wi.gov/my-wi-standards. This week’s featured standard and example resources can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/my-wi-standards/math/12-2-14. DPI and other educators are using the hashtag #MyWIStandard on Twitter to share other resources.

*Please let me know if you're interested in helping out with the December Bucket Fillers activity on Monday, Dec. 15 (for card/ornament making and practicing Christmas carols) and/or Monday, Dec 22 to sing at Clearview.

*Monday, December 8 starts the 12 Days of Christmas with something fun or yummy from me each day. My hope is that this will help you feel like you're not just surviving these final days before winter break, but keep you thriving.  I won't tell you all the days, but I will let you know in advance now of special dress days:

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!*Blog post: There Are More Ways Than One to Teach a Mini-Lesson

Monday, December 1, 2014

The Countdown to Christmas Begins!

The next 3+weeks are going to fly by fast. I hope you are well rested from the 5 day Thanksgiving holiday and ready for more fun learning!

Some things to keep in mind over the next 17 days:

• For some of our students who will say “it’s almost break” and lack motivation, it is time to push them & keep them excited and eager to learn.
• For our students who come from challenging circumstances at home and are feeling anxiety about not being at Dodgeland for break (and acting out because of it), it is time to show them how much you care & make the most of these next 17 days.
• For our students that just keep smiling & working hard each day, it is time to pull them aside and tell them how much you appreciate them.
• Help model bucket filling for our students this month so that they feel the positives of giving to others. I am also looking for people to help on Monday, December 15th after school for making Christmas cards and practicing singing Christmas carols and/or Wednesday, December 22nd to deliver cards to Clearview and spread the holiday cheer. Please let me know if you can join us for one or both days. 

Nitty Gritty for Next Week

With a short week, I just have some quick notes to share for next week:

Events Next Week:
Monday - Mentors/Mentees meeting 3:05 in IMC
Tuesday - Grade Level PLC Meetings (discussing vocab implementation-please plan to share an idea and a check-in of where you're at with Cafe strategies and Math Expressions)
Wednesday - I will be out of the building at the SAIL workshop (that's the training I told you about at the beginning of the year that the entire admin team are committed to for 2 years. We will be revisiting our 100 day plan for the district and revising to create the next 100 day plan)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Please plan for our next staff meeting (Dec 8) to go until 3:45 so we have enough time for High Impact book discussions
*Any extra-curricular/extra duty pay request forms need to be turned in to me by Monday to get payment for the December 15th payroll.
*Another reminder that was previously sent out by Dr. Thompson:  If you are interested in leading an XPD, please email your principal or me by December 5.  I hope to have the XPD catalog finalized and distributed by December 19 so that the XPDs can begin in early January.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations

Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge

Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary

Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles 

and they can become your blessings.

~ Author Unknown

Thankful Monday Musings -November 24, 2014

I want to wish you all a happy and healthy Thanksgiving this week! You will have a much needed 5 day break, hopefully filled with family, friends, fun, and some rest!

This time of year I always remember that I have so much to be thankful for. My family, friends, and YOU! You are an amazing group of educators to work with every day! It's always hard to express how much you all mean to me. Not a day goes by that I don't give thanks for what you have accomplished for our students.  Although the daily pressures and demands can be extremely difficult at times, no one can tell by walking around our building because each of you handle things with such patience, professionalism and pride for our school. YOU make Dodgeland Elementary an extra special place for our students! I thank you for that.

Image from Krissy Vensodale

Friday Focus - November 21, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• Great conversations in our grade level meetings with plans to start adding vocabulary instruction to help our students build their academic vocabulary.
• 1:1 conferring with specific feedback to the student that gave them the prompting needed to apply decoding skills (not being told the word).
• Use of the Roundtable strategy for a book group comprehension check and discussion.

Events Next Week:

Tuesday - We will have a TV crew here in the morning to record "Morning Shout Outs" from each 1st grade class. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*I learned that our observation model of 2 formal observations in the summative year of the evaluation cycle did not meet the full DPI requirement for the Effectiveness Project so administrators will be adding an additional informal walkthrough for those teachers in evaluation year.  Don't worry-it's no extra work for you other than reading the form when it is submitted to you and then click "acknowledge."  For those in years 1/2 of the 3 year cycle it is still 2 informal observations.  For new teachers it is: 2 formal/2 informal observations.  As always...let me know if you have any questions. 

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!

*10 Do's and Don'ts For Effective Vocabulary Instruction

*Just for Thanksgiving Fun: It's All About That Baste!"  (youtube parody)

Friday Focus - November 14, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:
*Students used the app "Photo Card" to write parents a note about what they were proud of for 1st quarter and their goals for 2nd quarter. The teacher passed out their parents' email addresses so students could send it to parents straight from their iPads.
*Students begging for more reading time.
*Students bragging to me about how much they wrote in their stories (one student was at 5 pages and still planning to write more!)

Events Next Week:
Wednesday - Grade Level PLC Meetings (see "Nuts & Bolts" for details)
Thursday - I will be out of the building in the afternoon
Friday - Staff Social Lunch (1st grade/Bartlett/Kopfer)

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Grade Level PLC meetings will focus on direct vocabulary instruction to build academic vocabulary. I will be sending out a link to a short screencast for you to watch before the grade level meetings. Our time in grade level meetings will be focused on grade level vocabulary lists.
*Follow-up to student iPad announcement: We need to make sure that we have an accurate list of iPad apps at each grade level for what will be put on student iPads when we change over their set up.  I will resend out the google doc that we originally used and ask that each grade level make sure that what you want on iPads is on that list (with the exact app names).  I will be putting a packet in each classroom teacher's mailbox of the apps that are currently on grade level iPads. Please use that as a guide to add to the google doc spreadsheet or take off apps that students are not currently using.  Some apps take a lot of space and if they're not being used it is best to not have them. Please ask me if you have any questions about this.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!
*5 Creative Ways to Help Students with ADHD Thrive in the Classroom (I also enjoyed the Ted Talk video in this blog post...change the thinking of "fixing" ADHD to using it to help students thrive, because there are many pros to being ADHD!)
*@DrStephenJones  A great teacher will look for ways to improve their instruction so their students understand. #edchat

3 hours agoA great teacher will look for ways to improve their instruction so their students understand. #edchat

Monday Musings - November 10, 2014

As I read through your reflections of student surveys, a common theme I saw was students marking "I am able to do the work given to me" as a common student concern.  Many of you recognized that this survey was given in the first month of school and this concern may likely be due to being in a new grade level with more challenging work for the students than the previous grade level.  Most of you have plans to address this student concern with differentiation, individualized feedback, additional reteaching, etc.

As I continued to read these reflections, I made the personal connection to the concept of Mindset...that we all either have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset.  I know that I've previously shared with you what I learned from Growth Mindset in this post: Mindset.  If you haven't taken the opportunity to read Mindset by Carol Dweck, I would highly recommend it as an educator, a parent and just for personal reading.

Whether you just read my blog post or the full book on Mindset, think about ways that you can connect this with your students, especially those that feel they can't do the work.  How can you help them to realize that their mindset can limit them or empower them?  How can your feedback help them to develop a growth mindset?

All images in this post are from Venspired.

Friday Focus - November 7, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• After writers' workshop a couple of first graders eagerly shared their writing with the class and the teacher used as an opportunity to conference with the student to discuss what details/ideas could be added...this helps the individual student along with the rest of the class to think of when they go back to their writing pieces.
• Co-Teaching and differentiation for math groups in a classroom based on the specific skill students were working vs regular ed and special ed. You couldn't even tell which students had an IEP or not!
• Students writing 1st quarter reflections and goals for 2nd quarter to go home with their report cards. 

Events Next Week:

Monday - Packers/Bears Attire (Yes, jeans are ok!)

*Distribute Report Cards

*Staff Meeting 3:05 (agenda in "nuts & bolts" below)

*Read Your Heart Out Reading Challenge-I'll be reading all day in the gathering area (somewhere up high) where all students will get to see.  The point of this challenge from Book It is:

   1. To encourage and promote students to "read their hearts out" and 2. To enter our school in a contest to win 101 copies of the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  Please plan some extra free reading time for your class (and enjoy reading something yourself!) or even take them to the gathering area for their extra reading time.  I will have bookmarks for ALL students to get during their milk break. 

Tuesday - Veterans Day Assembly at 9:35 in the HS gym. As always, please prepare your students for assembly expectations and remember to dress professionally as we have many special guests attending. 

*Fundraiser Pick-Up 3:00-5:00 (just in case parents ask you)

Wednesday/Thursday - Vision Screening - check your incoming or "shared with me" google drive for the sign up

Friday - I will be out of the building 8:45-11:15 for the DART principals meeting

2:00 -starting time for 1st Qtr Dodgeland Pride Assembly

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Monday's staff meeting agenda includes: 1. Information about student iPad configuration changes 2. Discussion/share out time of High Impact Instruction book study.

*The next day for Grade Level PLC meetings has been moved to Wednesday, November 19th. I'll have to check our specials schedule to see if the same meeting times will work. 

*I'm getting closer to done with reviewing Student Learning Objectives/Professional Growth Goals....that means I'm close to figuring out who hasn't turned them in. If you haven't already talked to me about an extension then it's time to turn it in. :)

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!

*Aileen Hower A8: Will students be more likely to remember (positively) all of their assigned reads, or the books they chose and connected with? #IRAchat

*@SheskeySWe've done "book speed dating": 2minutes to peruse a book, then move! ToBeRead lists grow tremendously! #irachat

*Great idea in this blog post: Sharing a Reading Moment

Go HERE to see this larger

Monday Musings - November 3, 2014

I know that this time of the quarter is a very busy time as you finish up your grading and add thoughtful comments to help keep your students' parents informed.  While it is easy to get caught up in seeing this big task as busy work I'd like to remind everyone that the work you do this week is very important to parents.  While each of you does as much as you can to reach out and make connections with parents of individual students, keeping them informed of their progress, the report card is typically the biggest form of feedback.  Whether you are a parent yourself or not, please take a moment to "step outside your teacher self" to read your comments with a "parent hat" on and ask yourself if the feedback shares both a strength and something to work on in a positive tone.  As always, remember that surprises on a report card are never a good thing. If you have a child whose grade has slipped since the last time you informed parents, please make sure that you make a phone call home to let them know.

How can you include students in this feedback process?  We know that feedback is what helps students grow, so including them in report cards can be powerful.  One idea would be to conference with students individually so they see their report card before it goes home and give them the time to ask you any questions and write a goal for themselves.  Then when the report card goes home, students will be able to explain to parents what their grades mean and talk about their goal for next quarter.  Just think of the parent phone calls that might prevent if the child can answer the question to why a certain grade is what it is?

I'm sure you all will have other great ideas on including students in this process to have ownership of their learning, so please feel free to share with one another.  And if you've got any sort of resource that you've created for this and would like to include it as an artifact in your documentation log, it would go in Standard 4: Assessment for and of Learning.

Friday Focus - October 31, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:
*Great conversations in grade level meetings about students that have made progress in previous years (as a result of your great work) and your focus in literacy for the next month.
*Integration of new tech ideas learned in our last PD--student use of Keynote and Pages with plans to create a class book using iBooks author.
*Students writing at recess time, because they just didn't have enough time to write their exciting stories (and begged for more time).
*Halloween themed activities that were still completely focused on the same math/literacy skills you would normally teach (but the attention of candy hyped children!)

Events Next Week: *Don't forget to change your clocks this Sunday "Fall Back!"
Wednesday - End of 1st Quarter
Thursday - 1st Qtr Grades due by 7:30 am (report cards will be printed for you to make changes by Friday afternoon)
-I will be at CESA 6 in the morning for Effectiveness Project training
Friday - I will reprint report cards after school so you will have them to send home the following Monday


"Nuts & Bolts" Notes: 
*Grading notes: as always...no blank grades or *. Instead use P (pass) or else Mark will have to hunt you down to fix it for the errors it runs on his end ;)
*Sarah will be creating a google doc to share with you all to enter your Honor Roll and "On a Roll" students. Please enter your students into the doc instead of emailing her. Thank you!
*The Pride Assembly on November 14th will be moved up to 2:00, because we will be having the elementary dancers perform one of their competition routines for us first.
*I was "double dog dared" by one of our teachers who shall remain nameless (although I will share she is recently engaged) to take part in the Principal Challenge by Book It to read all day to encourage kids to "read their hearts out" and possibly win 101 copies of the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.   Challenge Accepted!  I'm planning for this to take place on Monday, November 10th and am working on the details, but I'm pretty sure it will involve me being up high for all to see (but not on the roof). I will also likely make a schedule for classes to join me for reading if interested and will send that out next week.  Please feel free to plan EXTRA reading time for your classes on that day too!
*Back by popular demand: our Dodgeland clothing store! The link below will take you directly to the site for Dodgeland apparel.  The link will remain open until Friday, November 14.  Ameriprint estimates four weeks to fill the orders, so you should have your clothing before Christmas.

http://stores.inksoft.com/dodgelandstaff

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!
*Blog Post: Using Airdrop in the Classroom
*@CVULearns: If you give a summative and most of the class doesn't do well, then make it a formative and design more practice. That's our job. #sblchat
*Need Ideas for report comments? Check HERE for ideas.

This "pin" is from one of our classrooms!

Monday Musings - October 27, 2014

With Red Ribbon/Fuel Up to Play week I coincidentally came across this tweet:

You can read the full article from that tweet HERE. 

The article shares some great ideas for adding movement to the classroom (in addition to the great brain breaks you all already do).  I couldn't help looking at the brain scan image and also reflecting on  how much I personally struggle in our PD days or at conferences when I have to 

sit for an extended period of time...I end up fidgeting, feel the need to stand, look forward to the bathroom break to get to move my legs and sometimes beg Mrs. Kuhn if I can borrow a yoga ball to sit on.  Think about how long some of our students sit...on the bus before school, at breakfast, in the classroom, at lunch, the bus ride home, etc.  Keep in mind what their brain scans might look like if they were taken in your classroom.  Are they getting a chance for movement? Are they getting that needed blood flow/oxygen to their brain so they're ready to learn? 

With it being Red Ribbon/Fuel up to Play week, add in some extra movement this week and join in the fun...I'll bet you'll enjoy the movement too!