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.