Friday Focus - April 25, 2014

Upcoming Events:
*Thursday/Friday - 4K Screening (held in the 4K rooms, speech rooms and conference rooms)
*MAP testing starting May 1st (I'll email out the final schedule)
*Mid-quarter is already fast approaching---Monday, May 5th

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*When we start counting down the days to summer then our students start counting down the days and their behaviors/focus tend to get "off".  Here's a great post from a teacher on this topic: 5 Reasons Why I Stopped the Summer Break Countdown.
*I shared last week the note about the need to turn in laptop cords at the end of the year.  We will also need to turn in our key fobs so they can be repurposed to be used on the doors AND the copy machines! :)

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!!
*What do QR Codes Have to do with Reading Comprehension?

Thursday Thoughts - April 17, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• Mrs. Kopfer's long term sub said that our students in all grades are so well behaved; our school was much more enjoyable to sub in than some other schools he has been in.
• Students publishing their own books on the iPad and airdropping them to classmates and then reading other students' books.
• Students reviewing book trailers/book talks from a QR code in the classroom library during book shopping. 

Events Next Week:

Tuesday - Marie should be back :) :) :)

   -Grade Level PLC Meetings (agenda below)

    -Earth Day-we will be having students pick up trash for the first part of lunch recess. We will have garbage bags and gloves-please tell your class to plan to work with a partner and stay with their grade level, because we will be splitting up around the school grounds. 

Wednesday - I am out of the building (for DPI Digital Learning Advisory Council)

Thursday - Tornado drill at 1:00

Feel free to wear your jeans/Dodgeland shirts today

Friday - Grandparents day--professional dress please

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

*Grade Level Meetings Agenda:

• Math progress--will you finish this year? If not, what is the focus in our final stretch of the year?
• Cafe Strategy progress--Using the CAFE Menu aligned to CCSS (in shared drive under CAFE if you misplaced yours) what strategies need to be the focus for the final stretch.
• Scheduling end of year testing
• Any other curriculum planning you need to do together.

*When we turn in laptops this year, we HAVE to turn in the power cord to go back to the leasing company (or pay for a replacement).  If you don't know where your cord is right now, you'll want to add this to your "Spring Cleaning" list so you won't have to pay for a replacement.  Everyone was issued a power cord for the laptop in addition to the cord that is attached to the docking station. 

*I'll have the student profile cards in the mail room sometime next week. We will work on class lists at our May 12th staff meeting. 

*For those of you with classroom Facebook accounts: I'd love to add you as an admin to the school page to post great learning to help share with parents the great things happening at Dodgeland! Please let me know if you would like to do this.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!!

*Roll the Dice on QR Codes blog post

* ‏@Primary_Ed  Apr 12 1:1 iPad Poster for Guided Reading by @mrsevon1: http://tonyv.me/ipadgrm  #ipaded #3rdchat pic.twitter.com/9vTHUoN32B #edchat #edtech

Monday Musings - April 14, 2014

I'm continuing to share what I learn as I read Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller. Habit 3 of "Wild Readers" is that they share books and reading with other readers. Since we have implemented Daily 5/Cafe I have seen both our students and staff become a reading community of people talking about what books they're reading and sharing book recommendations with each other.  
Miller writes that Reading communities have these benefits (p. 98-99):

• Foster connections with other readers.
• Increase how much readers read.
• Challenge readers to stretch.
• Improve readers' enjoyment and appreciation of what they read.
• Suggest titles for additional reading.
• Encourage mindfulness about what you read and share.

As a classroom teacher, I'm almost certain that I committed "Readacide" by giving my students packets and "fun" book reports to complete for each book they read, like making a diorama or creating a brochure for the book. Avid readers don't do things like that for each book they read...they talk about books with other readers and share book recommendations.  Miller points out that "when we finish a book, we consider our personal reactions to it, and if we appreciate it, we share the book."  
What are some ways that you can get students to talk about/share their books?  Some ideas from Miller include:

• Reading Graffiti - a large piece of chart paper on her wall that students can add their own "graffiti" or major catch phrase from the book. Each quote students write is an endorsement for that book.
• Book commercials - take the last five minutes of class time or another transition during the day for students to give a 90 second book commercial to introduce a book they have "endorsed." Ask if anyone else has read it and allow others to share their impressions. Use this time for students to add to their "books to read" list if they get new ideas. 
• Reading Doors - you've all already done this by displaying books you've read on your door to share your reading life with your students.
• Goodreads.com - for both teachers and students to connect with other readers. I have always wanted to join a book club, but just don't have the time. Goodreads has been a great tool for me to expand my reading choices from other readers I connect with there.

What other ways do you have students talk about/share books? I'd love to see other ideas in the comments section.

Friday Focus - April 11, 2014

Events Next Week:
Monday - Staff Meeting 3:05
Thursday - "The Energized Guys" performance in the gym.  10:00-10:40 3-5th Grades, 10:45-11:25 5K-2nd Grades
Friday - No School - enjoy the 4 day weekend!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Monday's staff meeting agenda is HERE. *Please bring your iPads with the app Photocard downloaded already.  You will see Schoology overview. You can see a brief overview of what Schoology is HERE.  I see this being an extremely useful tool for 3-5th grades. K-2 you will have to see it to decide if it will be doable for your grade levels.
*We will be starting a building level tech leaders team. This team will meet monthly (more/less if needed) and will serve as the team to learn new tech info to share with staff, but also to share our tech needs with Mark/Brad.  Please let me know if you are interested.

Blogs, Tweets & Pins...Oh My!
*7 Tips for Dealing with Challenging Students
*After Spring Break, Some New Ideas to Try

Friday Focus - April 4, 2014

Great Things I Noticed This Week:

• We had several guests visiting our classrooms this week and they shared numerous positive comments with me: 
• The kids were so well behaved!
•  The teachers were so helpful!
• The teachers were so great with engaging students with technology!
• Learning is really differentiated for your students with many choices for them!
• The kids really knew how to explain what they were doing!
• Amazing school!

 I get to see all of these things on a daily basis in your classrooms, I'm glad that others get to see how amazing you are too!

Events Next Week:
Monday - I'd like to view the bus rules video contest submissions Monday afternoon with student judges and will email those details
Tuesday - Grade Level PLC Meetings
EP Training 3:05 (End of Year SLO Review for all staff) in the IMC
Thursday - Ronald McDonald "Its' Book Time" presentation 2:00 (approximately 45 minutes) in the gym
Friday - Staff Social Lunch
2:15 Dodgeland Pride Assembly

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
*Tuesday Grade Level PLC Meetings: please plan to talk about 4th quarter plans for literacy mini-lessons, pensieve documentation, WIN progress/planning, and any other curriculum discussions you need to have.
*We will be starting a building level tech leaders team. This team will meet monthly (more/less if needed) and will serve as the team to learn new tech info to share with staff, but also to share our tech needs with Mark/Brad.  Please let me know if you are interested.
*When you have time, please download the app Photocard (there's a free and a lite version, but they're both free). This app will be shared at our April 14th staff meeting.

Blogs, Pins and Tweets...Oh My!
*What Students Remember Most About Teachers
*@WriteAboutThis Interested in learning and sharing more #edtech? Check out this one-app-a-day idea from @toniamcm http://ow.ly/rYOg4  #iPadEdChat

Multiplication Grid Game: Roll die and color in grid, then solve. Player who colors in the most squares wins.

A A Great video on the concept of developing "grit" or a growth mindset in our students (and it's only 6 minutes):