Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

How Long Until I Am Finished Teaching?  —

This is a hard time of year. We are starting into testing for the older grades and the students are getting antsy because of the warm weather. Do not give up on the students. Do not let them get to you. They need everything we can give them. In my first year of teaching I learned that we stop teaching students once the end of year test is given and start doing activities to make it until the end of the year. They did not tell me this specifically, but through conversations, I learned this. So my first year went in that way. End of year testing, then activities. It was when I sat down with my principal a couple years later that we started to discuss the end of the year. So when is the last day we stop teaching students? Are there days we should not teach students and just put on a movie or take up a day by just having an activity or game day? We should be teaching every day when the students. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, there should be learning going on. We can’t give up the precious time we have with our students. We give tests all year long. We have the expectation that they will take the tests and that they will see the results so we all know what we need to work on next. The end of the year should be the same. Give the data to the students when we have it and show them what they need to work on. We have so much to get through. Use the time we have throughout the year until the last day we can teach and provide learning activities for students. I understand the last week of school is tough. Provide learning activities that students can learn from. Putting them on a computer at letting them go is not learning. Accountability should be held for each activity.

Quote I’m pondering —

When You allow the environment to control your psychology, you are not going to win.” – Tony Robbins

What I am ReWatching —

Simon Sinek - Start With Why

I taught a little this week in one of the classrooms and the one thing I could have done a lot better was to start with the why. Why do students need this? And it needs to be a great answer, not something they do not really believe they need.

Favorite Article This Week —

Research shows detrimental effects of laptop use in classrooms

How do we use our laptops in the classroom? This is an interesting article about things we need to be careful of. Tech is great, but not the end-all-be-all.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, Jana, for all you do. Every Club day, Jana waits at the end of the hall to make sure her students are with her and ready to go before she takes them out to the Library. Every club day she stands at the corner and reminds students to walk and helps them if they need help. Every day Jana walks around the Big Toy on the playground during lunch to make sure all students are safe. Everyday Jana takes care of the library and makes sure everything is running as smoothly as it can. Thank you, Jana, for all you do for our students. Thank you, Jana, for all you do for the school. Thank you for all you do Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

Enjoy the Break

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Enjoy the break  —

There was an article I read this week about a principal that died of stress at work. Please make sure you are taking care of yourselves and taking time for you. Spending extra time for school is what we do because we care, but make sure you take time for yourself.  Spend time every day doing something for you. You are important to us and the students. Take care of yourself. 

Quote I’m pondering —

"However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there's life, there's hope."

 – Stephen Hawking

What I am Watching —

Teacher, You Matter

Baritone Kafele is a favorite speaker of mine. This is a video reminding we should take care of ourselves. 

Favorite Article This Week —

Knitting should be prescribed on NHS to lower blood pressure, reduce depression and slow dementia

In case you are looking for a hobby, this might be a good one to help with stress. (NHS is National Health System in the UK)

A Big Thank You —

Thank you for all you do. I hope you have enjoyed your Spring Break You deserve it. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.

What did I learn this week?

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

What did I learn this week?  —

This is a question everyone should ask. What did I learn this week? If we haven’t learned something, we need to start learning something each week, or each day. This week I learned that instead of just having a student apologize when they hurt someone, but to do a little extra for that person can make a big difference than I ever thought it would. I also learned that when a student starts to add compliments as their punishment, they realize they can make others happy, and they are a little happier. I have seen student smile more than I have all year when they tell me the compliments they give each day. I learned that giving students technology an not having a purpose and an accountability piece to the tech activity gives stuns a license to either do nothing or do something they would rather do on the computer. I learned that Phonemic Awareness and Phonics can determine if s student will read well in third grade. I also learned that reading comprehension is not base on answering questions, but how students use strategies like Monitoring their own comprehension, generating questions, using mental imagery, summarizing, using graphic organizers, and answering questions as they read. If students use these strategies and understand the words they are reading using PA, Phonics, background knowledge, and vocabulary, they will comprehend text. That was just a piece of what I learned, and I want to know more about each of these things. What I you learn this week?

Quote I’m pondering —

“It is better to know how to learn than to know.”  — Dr. Seuss

What I am Watching —

60-Second Strategy: 7-Minute Writes

I used to see 5-minute writing in some classrooms where the students wrote for 5 minutes and did not stop. It was not graded, it was just for students to write. This is better. 

Favorite Article(s) This Week —

The Gap Between The Science On Kids And Reading, And How It Is Taught

An interesting article about how important phonics and phonemic awareness is for reading. Interesting thoughts.

Reading Rockets - Reading resources for teaching reading. You may need to dig, but there is a lot here.

A Big Thank You —

Thank you, teachers, for all your hard work with the students. We were at this Literacy Academy and as we went over all our Dibels data and Core Phonics data, we found the improvement in the scores to be amazing. The work you are doing with the students is showing. I know that many of you have mentioned that you are seeing the difference in your classrooms. It is wonderful how you will take a learning strategy and implement it because you know it will help students. When Jennifer an Sara bring us strategies and show us how it will make our students successful, I love that we see them being used in your classrooms. It is also great to see in these meetings we go to that we are going things in our school that research is telling Gus we should be doing. That is all because of you. You are where the rubber hits the road. Your classrooms are where the learning and success happens. Thank you for all you do for students. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful Spring Break.

The Instructional Focus

Teachers,

Here is your weekly dose of “5-Point Friday. 

The Instructional Focus  —

The instructional Focus in our school has been improving our Phonics and Phonemic Awareness in all grades, improving fluency and writing in the upper grades, and improving science instruction in the classroom and in the lab. At the beginning of the year, we found that we had a real need for Phonics and Phonemic Awareness as we tested students with Dibels and the Core Phonics Assessment. This led to more instruction in the younger grades with those specific areas and fluency in the upper grades. We are just touching the surface with the writing instruction in 2-5 grades. When we found the deficit in Phonics and PA, the writing piece was pushed to the back because the building blocks of reading and writing needed to be focused upon. Working with Jennifer and Sara this year has been an eye-opener for me to see why students are not reading and writing well in the upper grades. When the basics are not met, they cannot move on to the next step. That makes it harder for all of us, so we needed to concentrate more on the Phonics and PA. Once students have these two firmly in their grasp the next parts of reading and writing come so much easier. I am excited to see the improvement in our students through the lessons and teaching you are doing in the classrooms that is making a huge difference in students reading and writing abilities. The information text geared toward science in the classroom is making a difference also. We are hoping the new reading program will help every more. It has great stories and lessons built on science. The lessons Shelly is teaching and the hands-on activities are going to help students as they see and feel the way science works in their lives. We will see amazing progress in our students this year and over the next few years. Thank you for all your hard work.

Quote I’m pondering —

"If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad." —Miles Davis

What I am Watching —

Let's Teach Kids to Code

Coding is more than a way to write computer programs. This Ted talk teaches what it can do for kids in their lives.

Another Favorite Article This Week —

Using the Socratic Seminar to Improve Classroom Discussions

A little reminder about the Socratic Seminar information Kristen and Alma presented a week ago. The challenge is there

A Big Thank You —

Thank you all teachers that wrote grants for your students for all you do.  Hailey, Irene(2x), Elena, Adriana, Merced, Jaime, Mar, Scott, Julie, and Kathy. 11 teachers received grants. That is amazing. Every teacher that wrote a grant, got one. Next year everyone should write one. That would be amazing. Thank you, teachers, for taking the time and taking a chance to write the grant. We have an amazing school that is always looking for something that will help our students get better. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you and your hard work. Have a wonderful weekend.