September 20, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone as we head into the official start to autumn! I hope everyone had a wonderful week. It was a busy week that featured me getting out of jury duty (thanks to being a full-time student) and our annual trip to the Mets game with Grade 5 and although they didn't actually sit and watch too much of the game, they definitely had a blast. A special thank you to Meryl, Terri, Rosanna, Alex, Katie, Jackie, Rande and Daisy for making sure all our kids got home! Also thanks to Joan, MaryAnn, Clare, Lorraine and Joe for all of their help! 

This upcoming weekend is an exciting one for me as tomorrow I fly down to Washington DC for the Bammy Awards, where I am one of five finalists for Elementary School Principal of the Year. It really is an honor to be nominated because the other four finalists are AMAZING leaders and I have learned so much from all of them. I am looking forward to this black-tie event because even though I have to wear a tux (would rather be in jeans), I get to connect with educators from across the country. I will certainly keep everyone posted on the outcome. Thank you for all of your support because without each of you, I could never be nominated for any award - each of you deserves an award for what you do every day!

This week, as I walked around the building, I spotted these awesome things...

• Karen's class immersed in Writer's Workshop where the children were so focused that literally the only sound that could be heard were the pencils as they moved across the paper - every child was writing. While the children wrote, Karen conferred individually with children and used her iPad for notes- awesome use of tech tools!

• Lisa P. starting her reading groups in her new Tiki Hut/Beach Oasis! The children clearly love huddling under the Tiki Hut or laying out on a beach mat to get comfortable for reading. Not only does Lisa work intensely with each child within the forty minute, she also makes them feel comfortable about reading and when kids feel comfortable, they feel good about themselves and then can avail themselves to learning - BRAVO!

• Risa and Nancy & Carly's kids were all working on identifying Author's Purpose as part of the Shared Reading experience, which is unfolding impressively in both of their classrooms. To see the depth at which the children are being pushed to think using a text that is highly engaging and used for a CLOSE reading over the course of the week is AWESOME! Cantiague really goes above and beyond - Grade 2 kids identifying Author's Purpose in September?? AMAZING!

Please refer to this post (especially for the Schedule of the Week below) for the next couple of weeks! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

As I mentioned last week, you may want to check out EduClipper, which is like a Pinterest for educators. You don't have to actually create an account to check it out! I have found a lot of interesting stuff here that I think you may enjoy - please check it out and let me know what you think!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, September 23

"A" Week
Report Card Committee Meeting at 2:30pm in Library

Tuesday, September 24

NO Faculty Meeting

Wednesday, September 25

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, September 26

CST at 1:20pm
Photo Day - Please be on time

Friday, September 27

Happy TGIF!
Homecoming Weekend
PTA buys Pizza for Kindergarten
Tony goes to PENN at 10am!

Monday, September 30

"B" Week
Kindergarten Hot Lunch Begins 

Tuesday, October 1

Faculty Meeting for Teachers Only 

Wednesday, October 2

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, October 3

CST at 1:20pm

Friday, October 4

Happy TGIF!
Guest Author for Gr. 1 - Library CLOSED!
Ralph's Ices Sale

Kids' Korner

Mandy was showing her own children at home pictures from her classroom from the last couple of weeks and there was a picture of me reading a book to her class outside while wearing a suit and sunglasses. After seeing this picture, one of Mandy's sons said, "Mr. Sinanis looks like a Secret Agent for Obama!" LOL! I could never cut being a secret agent but I love that I looked the part! LOL!

Pics of the Week...

Check out Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following link to see our Pics of the Week...

WEEK IN TWEETS - SEPT. 20

September 13, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone after a hot and awesome first full week of school! I hope we all had a wonderful week and that everyone has some great plans for the weekend. I have a few papers to write but will definitely make some time for some rest and relaxation because we worked so hard this week! BRAVO TO US!

First off, thank you for being the most amazing educators and individuals that I have ever worked with in my career. Thank you for making our school such a fun and positive place no matter what we are dealing with on any given day. Whether it was the intense heat over the last few days or some tech issues or the fact that a few of our classes are at full capacity, there was never an issue because we always kept positive energy flowing through our building and joy consistently filled the space - THANK YOU!! Also, thank you all for making the first seven days of school so successful and powerful for all of our students - new and returning. We started everything off on the right note last week with all specialists and support staff members joining me in front of our school as the munchkins came off the buses - from my vantage point, it was the BEST start of the school year EVER!

Additionally, I want to welcome all the Cantiague newbies one more time... Adam, Anne, Kim C., Lois, Amy, Rachel, Gillian and welcome back to Melissa - our team is now complete! We are so lucky to have each of you on our team because you have all helped make Cantiague an even better place!

In an effort to respect the idea that LESS is MORE, I will try and keep the Fast Friday Focus brief, specific and positive! This week, as I walked around the building, I spotted these awesome things...

• Adam introducing Shared Reading to his students and on the day they practiced ENVISIONING, they drew the most beautiful trees with an incredible amount of detail, which spoke to how closely they read the text - AWESOME!

• Melissa introducing the layers of the earth, which in themselves are not necessarily so interesting, but the way that Melissa described them hooked the children and when it was time for gym, they didn't want the geology discussion to end - awesome example of what engaged learning looks!

• Jill working with her children during writing workshop where they wrote about what makes them special. Jeanne and Linda were in the room at the same time and each adult worked individually with children during some meaningful and powerful conferences - WOW!

Tech Tip of the Week...

I know I have mentioned this before, but if you have not done so yet, you MUST create a Diigo account where you can save your favorite websites to the "cloud" and access them from any and all computers. The best part of Diigo and it's new features is that you can create "GROUPS" and theoretically grade levels can be part of the same group and everyone has access to each other's awesome sites! Here is a Diigo Tutorial to help launch the Diigo experience!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, September 16 

"B" Week

Tuesday, September 17

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - 3pm 
Constitution Day - click here for some resources!

Wednesday, September 18

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, September 19 

CST Cancelled
Gr. 5 Trip to the Mets Game - 11:30am departure
Board of Education Meeting!

Friday, September 20

Happy TGIF!
Carvel Sale
PTA MOVIE NIGHT 
Tony goes to DC for the Bammy Awards on Saturday- stay tuned!

Kids' Korner

During recess, one of our new third graders came up to me and said, "I hear you are the guy to talk to about problems in this place!" LOL! Really?!? Who told him that? LOL!

Pics of the Week...

Check out Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following link to see our Pics of the Week...

WEEK IN TWEETS

HAVE AN AWESOME WEEKEND!