Issue 15 - Feb. 1

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to the whole Cantiague family! I hope we all had an amazing week (I know it was a busy one) and that we are all gearing up for an awesome Super Bowl weekend! We are taking Paul to his first official Super Bowl Party and he is so excited to hang with his cousins and watch some football and root for the 49ers (I was a Joe Montana fan so my allegiance is there). He is also going to his first Knicks game on Saturday night thanks to an incredibly kind and generous friend who gave us tickets. It should be a fun weekend - too busy to get any work done for Penn, but in the end, it is what it is!  :)

I would like to take a moment to officially welcome three new staff members... Brittany DeBlasio is the new Teacher Aide working with Alex and Rosanna - welcome! Also, Mallory McCoy, who student taught with Jill, Tali and Marissa, will be our Floater Aide for the remainder of the year! Finally, Harriet Mitchel is returning to Cantiague to work in the Learning Center - welcome back! We are so excited to have each of you on our team! **Note - due to the increase in LC staff, the OT/PT programs will be moved to Room 29 ASAP**

Meanwhile, just to give you all a quick update on Paul's health, he is having his next surgery on Monday, February 25th (hard to believe that 6 months have already passed). It should be a routine procedure and hopefully we will be home the same day. I expect to be out for most of that week (the week after the break). I will also be out all day on Monday, February 11th to take Paul to all his pre-op testing appointments. It is never a dull moment but Paul's courage and incredibly positive outlook are what give us the strength to navigate these challenging moments. Paul, through his actions and words, has clearly communicated that although his medical issues are beyond his control, they will not define him and as a dad, I could not be prouder. Please know that I share this little story because I know all of our lives are consumed by stress, pressure and many other issues that are beyond our control but how we handle them can really affect our emotional well being! (thanks for indulging me- a lot of Paul talk in this week's newsletter). 

Please hold on to this Fast Friday Focus because it covers the next two weeks!

I want to thank all of our awesome teachers for their work over the last three weeks with WRAP testing - we are finally done! It is incredible to hear the stories about how our children have grown as readers - especially in Kindergarten where they have blossomed - and how they are developing sophisticated strategies and skills to deepen their comprehension. All that growth is because of the varied teaching techniques - the shared reading experience; the guided reading groups; the 1:1 independent reading conferences; the meaningful mini-lessons; and the accountable talk unfolding during Reading Workshop and many of the Book Clubs- we have made some significant strides this year - BRAVO!

As many of you know, some of my classmates from Penn visited on Tuesday and they could not stop raving about all of the awesome things happening in our building. From Reading Workshop, to the incredible writing displayed in the hallways to the exchanges with the children - they were buzzing about it all. They visited many spaces and were impressed with each thing they observed! Special thanks to Jill, Mandy, Rande, Meryl, Christine, Donna, Melanie, Tali, Marissa and everyone else who let us invade their spaces and take in the awesomeness! Being the lead learner of this building is an amazing gift and honor!

Finally, as I try each week, I devoted the bulk of my time traveling around the building to capture the AWESOMENESS and during my visits this week, I...

• Saw Ginny conducting a small group reading experience using the iPad as the anchor for the activity; the children were huddled around the iPad, where they were reading a book, and it was clear that their level of engagement was affected as a result of the iPad- AWESOME!

• Got to hang with Karen's class while they were immersed in the Spanish experience with Milissa and their growth since the beginning of the year was impressive! Check out this quick video of Anjali introducing herself and describing herself in Spanish...

• Spent time in Lesley's room while the children were conducting the Book Club experience on their own and the conversational exchange was IMPRESSIVE. Check out a short clip of their discussion...

• Spent time in Rande's room while the children shared their Paper Bag Character Studies! The children presented a lot of information about different main characters in the books they read - from Harry Potter to Joey Pigza - and the information they shared was thorough and comprehensive! Check out this clip of Wesley sharing and describing the project...

• I spent some time sneaking up on Mandy and Allison while they were WRAPing some of their kids and words cannot even begin to express how much these munchkins have grown since the beginning of the year! BRAVO to Team Kindergarten!

• I spent some time in Donna, Christine and Melanie's rooms while the children were doing their country group research projects and the discussions and exchanges were awesome! This specific project allows for a meaningful and easy connection between Social Studies and Writer's Workshop - BRAVO!

• Finally, my Penn friends and I spent some time in the computer lab with Meryl's class and were really impressed with their current work learning about, and playing, the stock market - AMAZING!

Tech Tip of the Week...

As some of us discussed at the Faculty Meeting a couple of weeks ago, KidBlog is definitely a resource worth exploring (talk to Lesley, Christine, Donna and anyone else I may have missed who is using it) to get your kids online and blogging. Check it out and let me know if you start anything with your class!!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, February 4

"A" Week

Moustache Monday - hope everyone participates!

Gr. 3-5 Math Benchmark is happening this week

Tuesday, February 5

Faculty Meeting at 3PM - ALL STAFF

Wednesday, February 6

CST at 1:20pm

Thursday, February 7

Cultural Arts
Gr. 5 DNA In-House Presentation 

Board of Education Meeting at 7:30pm

Friday, February 8

Happy Friday!
Ralph's Ices Sale

Tony leaves by 10:30am for Penn!

Monday, February 11

"B" Week
Happy Monday!

Tony out of the building all day

Tuesday, February 12

Faculty Meeting - details to follow- different things happening

Wednesday, February 13

CST at 1:20pm

Blue Ribbon School Store is happening today!

Thursday, February 14

Happy Valentine's Day
Kindergarten Valentine's Day Breakfast!

Cultural Arts

Friday, February 15

Happy Friday & Happy February Break!

Kids' Korner

While visiting Nancy & Carly's Room (by the way, I get a lot of my quotes for this space from Team Marsen) with my friends from Penn, someone asked if I was the Class Clown at Penn and all four of them immediately said YES! Gosh - is it that obvious? 

Pics of the Week...

My new addiction is Storify, which I started sharing with the parents last week. Basically, it is Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following link to see our Pics of the Week...

FEBRUARY 1st WEEK IN TWEETS

FEBRUARY 8th WEEK IN TWEETS

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, Feb. 7th
• Thursday, Mar. 14th
• Thursday, Apr. 18th
• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th