Reporting our Findings

Teachers,

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

Reporting our Findings—

I appreciate your help with the PD for next year. I think you have some great ideas on what you want and we will do what we can to set these trainings up so you can get the best professional development possible. We are talking with a couple trainers from the State office that will come down and teach you more about phonics (lower grades) and writing (upper grades). These are the two we are starting to set up right now. The next question I have is if we have PD come more than once, how often would you like them to coms to you have enough time to implement and write down questions before we have them come again? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? We would love to hear your thoughts on this. Send me an email and let me know. 

We are looking at this information and looking for the best options for training we can find. We have some amazing people within our district that we will use. We will get more information on what specifically we can do as we get closer to next year with those persons. There were also some other great suggestions that we will look for next year also. Thank you for your help with guiding our PD.

Quote I’m pondering —

“We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” 

― Archilochus

What I’m watching —

NCAA Softball Player Carried by Opponents After Injury

This is what teamwork and Sportsmanship is all about. How does this relate to us with our students? With our fellow teachers? With our parents?

Favorite Article This Week —

Transforming School from Performance to Learning

I have talked to you about growth mindset before and one of the speakers at the Title 1 Conference spoke about it. This is an article he wrote about growth mindset in schools. Love the learning zone vs. performance zone comparison. What can we do to make outle classrooms a learning zone?

A Big Thank You —

Thank you Ines. I don't think I can say thank you enough for all you have to deal with. You are the one everyone sees first in he school. You know everyone in the school. You deal with my translating issues. Ines we would be lost without you. Thank you for all you do. And thank you for keeping our school organized with inventory. It is coming up and I know you are gearing up for it. We all appreciate your work, even if I had to give up Coke for, what is it now? Oh ya, 44 days. Thank you for all you do. Thank you.

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

Back to the Learning

Teachers,

Here is your New Years dose of “5-Point Friday. 

Back to the Learning—

The next two months are the best months for learning. Students are coming off a two week stretch of relaxation and down time and are primed to start up their brains. They have been in school for 5 months and should know the rules, even though you will have to remind them perhaps for a few days, and they know the procedures of your classrooms. Now hold them to them and teach. Once it hits spring break they start thinking of the end of school and we have about a month and a half to keep them going before they need more entertainment in the lessons. A few reminders about testing. DRA is coming quickly after we start. WIDA testing is also here. Sage will open in March so think about when you want to start your writing testing. We will worry about the rest in April. Remember that testing is a snapshot of your students. It does not define them and it should not define you. It is data to help us know where we need to go next for us and our students. Thank you for all you do. Now teach like the wind... Sorry. I just watched the Three Amigos. 

Quote I’m pondering —

“The point of learning is not just to know things, but to be a different person– more mature, more wise, more self-disciplined, more effective, and more productive in the broadest sense.”

― Grant Wiggins

What I’m watching —

Kid President's Pep Talk to Teachers and Students

We all need a pep talk from the Kid President. Keep on Dancing!

Favorite Article This Week —

Are You Doing Your Own Homework?

Just a thought about homework as we start the new year. 

A Big Thank You —

Thank you First Grade. Working with you in your PLC’s has been wonderful. Talking about students and how to work with those that are in need. Our discussions about students, curriculum, and your ideas for lessons have been fun to be a part of. Watching the work you do in the classroom is also a joy to see as your students work through your planned lessons. I appreciate all you do for your students. I know the students do also. Thank you for all you do. 

I am also thankful for everything all teachers are doing to increase the reading skills in your classrooms. After learning about teaching Phonics in the classroom from Sara and seeing and hearing the ideas going around about how to implement it into your classrooms is amazing. I am so excited to see how the DRA scores and Dibels scores improve this year. Thank you teachers for working to help our students be successful readers. Thank you.

I appreciate all of you. Have a wonderful weekend.