Friday Focus - February 28, 2014

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

*Heard after a Daily 5 round in 5K: "Wow I read a lot of books!" Two other boys immediately showed each other their writing and read it to each other.
*I always enjoy hearing math talk was amazed that I went from a 5th grade classroom then into a Kindergarten classroom and saw the same practices: students being encouraged to solve a math problem with different methods and being able to explain it. No matter the grade level, they are doing some amazing work!
*Teacher discussions to utilize MAP reading data to plan mini-lessons (for small and whole groups) on target areas identified in DesCartes.
*Listened in on quite a few Parent/Teacher conferences that started out by highlighting the students gains/accomplishments.  It is so important to celebrate those small wins together!

Events Next Week: Read Across America Week

*In addition to Read Across America week I will be announcing the weekly weather forecast that is predicting reading storms.  Students/Staff should always have a book with them, because you never know when a reading storm may hit!
Monday - Students=Dress Like a Teacher, Teachers=Dress Like a Student
Tuesday - Wear red, white, and blue
Wednesday - Dress up like your favorite book character
Thursday - Wear your PJ's.  "Snuggle up with a Good Book" 6:00-7:00pm. Teachers-please feel free to bring your children and enjoy this family event!
Friday - Hat Day

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!
* ‏@McLane_Ryan  If you want grades to mean anything, they should reflect student mastery, not compliance and responsibility. #Wischat
*Worried about showing your class a youtube clip, because of what might pop up on the side of the screen?  Here's a great tip to keep it safe or "quiet:" Using YouTube Safely in the Classroom
*This is a repeat from Mr. Jordan's email to all staff, but just want to share his demonstration of how to use the Aurasma app. Here's his video: Aurasma Demo  If you want other ideas of how to use Aurasma go HERE

Perimeter, Area and Fraction Math Mosaics. Read about it HERE

Monday Musings - February 24, 2014

The Olympics & The Daytona 500 – A twitter friend & guru wrote a note to his staff last week and I just had to borrow it from him as it really hit home (and I had no other great reflections to share with you for a Monday Musings post!)  The Olympics wound down this weekend and the Daytona 500 just took place.  I’m sure you're wondering how these two events fit in the same sentence.  Both of these events are similar in that they are the culmination of years of work by world class athletes.  The athletes train for their events or races hoping to come home with gold medal or a huge trophy....but only one person gets to win.   Luckily, they all have a fan base that helps cheer them on, congratulating them when they win, consoling them when they lose, but always there for them.  When they don't win, do they quit? Do they give up? Nope, they go home and immediately start planning for the next year, the next event.   They develop a plan for improvement and set their sights on the next opportunity to be successful.   I encourage you to treat our little Dodgeland Trojans that same way.  Support them win or lose.  Keep them focused on improvement.  Work with them to help prepare them to be lifelong learners...cheering them on all the while...and maybe…..we need to view ourselves that same way……..

Friday Focus - February 21, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• A Daily 5 mini-lesson on using text features. The teacher modeled marking up the text (on the SMARTBoard for all to see) to "train" their eyes/brain to start noticing the important text features before starting to read (since a lot of students skip important text features). Students were then given time in partners to practice on their own copy of a similar text.
• After the DART meetings, one class started having students use the online program MobyMax.  Students took a "placement" test at the beginning and it assigned them activities that they need to work on. 
• I've enjoyed a handful of conversations with teachers about MAP data analysis.  I appreciate the time and thought you all are putting into tracking student progress and using the mid-year data to impact instruction for the remainder of the year.  (FYI: I have not approved any mid-year SLO forms yet, because we are going to review some together as an admin team so that we are consistent across the building levels.)

Events Next Week: *Our "Seals on Wheels" dentist will be here next week to provide students with dental treatments. There are no scheduled appointments as she's seeing a number of students.

Monday - Dodgeland's Got Talent!!!  Come and enjoy the talent show 6:30 - 7:30.

Tuesday - Grade Level PLC Meetings (Since we missed out on data analysis Monday afternoon, please bring the reports/forms you were given to use this time for that. You can also continue any discussions needed for WIN planning).

3:05 Elementary Staff Meeting

Thursday - Mid Quarter -send progress reports home for those not attending P/T Conferences

-P/T Conferences 4:00 - 7:30 

Friday - Staff Social Lunch

The following week: Read Across America week!!!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*My schedule is filling up fast for P/T Conferences. Please let me know if you have a conference you would like me to attend and I will see if I can fit it in.
*For many of you, there may be two late nights next week (Talent Show and P/T Conferences). Please rest up and take care of yourself so you don't get run down with all the bugs that seem to be going around. :)

Blogs, Pins & Tweets...Oh My!
*@Katie_M_Ritter  Feb 19 A1: NEVER start with the tech tool/app… take the tech "out of it" First ask: What are you trying to get students to do? #1to1techat

*Using Series Books to Model Comprehension and Anchor Thinking 

Click HERE for a 5th grade blog post on assessment portfolios

Go HERE to read the 6 Steps

The late Friday Focus - February 14, 2014

You'd think with a 4 day week I'd be caught up and ahead of the game, but I'm not and this is late!  I've been spending today digging deeper into our MAP and finding many areas of celebration.  All of this information will be in the email that goes out to staff for Monday's MAP analysis.  While there are data points that aren't where we want them yet, there are several points of growth.   This doesn't just happen. This happens when teachers dedicate their time and effort to aligning instruction to the common core standards and differentiating to meet our students' needs.  It is your hard work and commitment to helping all of our students be successful that gives us reason to celebrate our small wins at this mid-point of the year. Thank you for all of your hard work!

Events Next Week:

Monday - Full Day PD 

Friday - Staff Social (special ed/speech/Madsen)

Please add Tuesday, February 25 to your calendar for a staff meeting.

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

Additional MAP resources I've found for you...

-A video of a teacher reviewing the class mid-year progress and setting goals for Spring: MAP Goal Setting.

-A video of a teacher having a mid-year data conference with a student: Student Data Conference

-I found a few websites that are filled with website links to interactive online activities to practice reading/math skills by RIT level:

MAP Testing Reading Practice by RIT Score

MAP Reading Activities

MAP Math Activities
I'm adding a page on my memo blog site that will also have the above links in case you want to easily find them later. You can find this as one of the tabs at the top of the page.

*IEP invites are starting to be emailed to you now.
*The computer lab is BACK IN BUSINESS!!! I have a couple individuals to take the MAP test yet, but you can resume your regular lab schedule. Thank you for your extended patience with our snow days prolonging the test schedule!

No Blogs, Pins or Tweets today as there are several great resources above to check out!

Monday Musings - February 10, 2014

I've heard Regie Routman say that you need to do things other than school so that you have other interests/passions to be able to write about.  I often find that she's right, because I found that I was inspired to quickly write this blog post on my personal blog while at a wrestling tournament this weekend as I made a connection to feedback.
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Image from Binghamton Univ

 For the past couple of months my evenings and weekends have been devoted to wrestling.  This is a new sport for me, but one my family is enjoying together as we watch and encourage my 8 year-old in a sport that he has found to love.

 We have now been to 6 tournaments with the opportunity to watch him improve each time with feedback and guided practice from his coaches.  Whether it is a practice or a tournament I have found that his coaches are quick to give feedback in a positive way that is specific enough to tell him what he needs to do differently.  In addition to the verbal feedback they follow the Optimal Learning Model of "I do, we do, we do, you do" by modeling the move, then physically moving their body to practice it and then watching it as they practice the move with a partner while continuing to provide feedback.

 While at tournaments I have been saddened to see how some coaches/parents respond to their wrestlers in a way that is certainly not helpful feedback.  I've heard comments such as, "You should have done better than that!" "I can't believe you didn't cradle him!" or "You let him pin you!"  I have also seen some of these wrestlers a few times now at different tournaments and see the difference in their progress compared to others.  Those that are given positive, encouraging feedback with specific ways to improve seem to improve each time and enjoy the sport whether they win or lose.  Others that have been given hard feedback only seem happy when they win and are practically devastated when they lose.  I can only predict that they won't make it long in the sport.

 I can't help, but make this wrestling connection to what I have learned from the book Mindset by Carol Dweck and the idea of having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset.  I am also currently reading Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. Johnston talks about "yet" as a key word to help keep children from having a fixed mindset, that we want them to say, "I'm not good at this yet" and take steps to help them change that.  As I think about giving feedback in the school setting and as a parent, one quote from Johnston that sticks with me the most is:

"How we give children feedback is probably the most difficult for us to change, but it is probably the point of most leverage."

 

Friday Focus - February, 7, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:
*With our unexpected loss of a Dodgeland family member there has been a tremendous amount of support/nurturing for one another, along with kind words from parents/community members.  I have heard a number of stories about the kindness our high school students are showing during this time that you would be proud of.
*At a sporting event this week I had a conversation with a parent this week that started with: "I'm so surprised by the state ranking system on those report cards." When I asked her what she meant, she went on and on about how impressed she has been with our school (their family has been here a couple of years), because of how much her children have learned with us, our high standards and said, "It's like you know my kids so well that you know how to place them with the best teacher each year." I of course had to tell her that all of our teachers are the best!  Another parent (new to our school this year) overheard this conversation and added that she is also amazed by how much her children are learning at Dodgeland compared to their previous school.
*I have enjoyed working with our ELL students 1:1 for ACCESS testing and seeing students get excited over their increase in MAP scores in the lab this past month, but I'm SUPER excited to get back into classrooms where the real action is next week!

Events Next Week:
Monday - Elementary Professional Learning Meeting. The agenda is HERE. Please plan to bring/share how you are currently utilizing mid-year data and using it for conversations with students to give them ownership of this data. Specials teachers-I know you don't have MAP/Benchmark data, but please think of what data you do have for these conversations.
Tuesday - Grade Level PLC meetings (mid year data) Please bring benchmark data and MAP reports
Thursday - Summer School Class proposals due
Friday - No School - Happy Valentines Day!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*For today's assembly I'll be bringing around certificates ahead of time for teachers to bring.  Since I'll be duct taped to the wall, I'll need you all to help with passing out certificates. Don't worry, I'll keep one hand out for the microphone to do all the announcing. PLEASE talk to your students before the assembly about being quiet. I know it can get long, but we will be broadcasting this LIVE ONLINE and the microphone will pick up their noise, which means it may be hard to hear any of the announcing on the broadcast.
*I will email out the schedule for MAP make-up/completions with the hopes that all will be done to have reports for our grade level meetings on Tuesday.
*When students are in the computer lab, please do NOT have them shut off computers, just log off. Especially do NOT have them shut off the computers by pushing the power button. We are starting to have some computer issues that we believe are from the "hard shut down" of pushing the button. Thanks for reminding your students about this.
*Please welcome Nicole Justmann (former Dodgeland graduate) to our team as a special education aide.  In addition, Barb Zank will be here as a long-term sub for Tammy Bussewitz.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!
*“Take care of yourself.  Take care of each other.  Take care of the kids.”

John Gunnell, Principal of Baraboo Middle School (@gunnellAP)

*A great blog post on how we can impact the connections our students build with one another: Share this with all schools please

*My favorite new visual for the SAMR model of integrating technology...using Starbucks coffee as the example!!!

Monday Musings - February 3, 2014

As we've transitioned to Daily 5/CAFE, we've put a tremendous emphasis on students spending time reading and writing, because these are the two practices that will help them improve as readers and writers.  It can be hard to give up old practices, activities and even worksheets that have been ingrained in our practices, but we have to constantly be asking the question: Will this help my students become a better reader/writer?

I was reminded of this when I read the DailyCafe Newsletter a couple of weeks ago with this article by Allison Behne:

Tip of the Week—January 17, 2014

Unscramble—RTHWOSSLE RKSHWOETSE

Allison Behne

I have always enjoyed word finds and word scrambles. They don't take a lot of thought, and they keep me busy when I need something to pass the time. However, when my daughter brought home a word find for homework a few nights ago, she did not find it enjoyable, and neither did I. It was very challenging, due the next day, and took an hour and a half to complete—time that could have been better spent finishing math homework, studying for an upcoming test, or reading a book.

As parents, my husband and I asked, "What is the purpose of this assignment, and what value could it possibly be providing?" As a teacher, it made me reflect on my classroom and the assignments I give my own students. To be respectful of the students' time and take them to the next level, I need to be sure I am assigning only work that is meaningful and provides individualized, authentic practice.

Before I hand out a worksheet or assign a number of problems or pages in a book, I ask myself these questions:

• Will I take the time to grade this? If not, what is the value of students' doing work on which they will not receive feedback?
• Is it a good use of time? What benefits will the focused effort on the assignment provide? Would students be better off doing something else?
• How will this assignment help children move forward? Answering this helps me validate my decision to have them spend time completing the assigned task.

Most important, I have to remind myself that fair is not always equal and that what is good for one student is not necessarily good for another. Gone are the days when I had to follow a practice book in chronological order and pass every worksheet out to every child. Instead, I have the opportunity to provide each student with individualized work that is a valuable use of his or her time.

Did you figure out the scramble? Let's save trees, time, and brainpower by refusing to assign worthless worksheets.