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.