November 1, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF and Happy November to everyone! Hope you all have a great weekend planned ahead. If anyone is up tomorrow (Saturday) morning between 7:30am and 8:30am, please join me as I will be a Guest Moderator on #satchat, which is a weekly chat for educators. The topic is homework and how we can enhance the process. If you that is too early, then join #NYedchat on Monday night at 8:30pm for a discussion with other NY educators. I co-founded this chat with Bill Brennan, who is the Director of Technology in Farmingdale and we recently re-launched the chat and it will be happening every other week - I hope some #Cantiague folks might be available to join. Just as a tip, if you plan on joining the discussion, I suggest using www.tweetchat.com instead of Twitter.   

Thank you all again for making our PARP Week experience such an awesome one for our children, families and the entire community! Tuesday was an incredible highlight with the families in and out of our building all morning between the magician and the important PARB experiences. Although it is disruptive and exhausting to open our space all day, it is an important part of telling our story. We need the community to understand what we value in our school and inviting them in is one of the best ways to make that happen. Thank you for helping to create such an awesome environment for kids in our space! Finally, a special thank you to Lorraine for organizing the teacher swaps for special read alouds and for selecting the magician - BRAVA!  

On another note, I want to thank everyone who brought stuff in for Eryka, the new 4th grader. We filled four boxes of clothes, jackets, shoes and toiletries - the generosity was impressive. Laura and I dropped the stuff off at the motel and the parents were extremely appreciative. Of course, seeing that one of our children is sharing one room and a bathroom with her parents put things in perspective. There didn't seem to be a desk in the space so Eryka was doing her HW on the bed while her parents were watching television in the same room. Although this is an extreme example of living conditions, our community is diversifying and our children are coming to school from a spectrum of situations - families who speak no English, families where the grandparents are the primary care givers because both parents are working late, families where there is little or no furniture in the home because all the money coming in is going to pay for living in Jericho. I share this because it is another reminder of how important it is that we get to know our children and their families well so we can better support them in school, understand where they are coming from and help them grow.    

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

• Melissa's class was having reading workshop and while most of the students were independently reading there were two book clubs in action. I had a chance to listen in on both groups while they were meeting and I was blown away by the way they managed the discussion. They were responding to each other, respectfully disagreeing with each other and building on each other's comments - all with evidence from the text, which was impressive. Finally, one group was using Evernote on the iPad to document their conversation and plan moving forward - AWESOME!

• Lorraine, who was dressed up in some awesome Native American gear on Halloween, was reading the fifth graders a Native American spooky story and we could literally hear a pin drop in the Library. The kids were so engaged because Lorraine was reading in a low voice and they were hanging on her every word. Whether she is reading in a loud and dynamic tone or in a low and serious voice everyone in the library cannot help but stop what they are doing to listen to her read- WOW!   

• Laurie was working with the fourth graders in the Science Lab using the stream/water tables to help the kids deepen their understandings of erosion. The children considered how both water and gravity and other variables might impact erosion and their understandings and comments at the end were pretty impressive!

• In case you missed it, here is the Video Update of the Week featuring Tali's & Marissa's students - please show it to your class...

Tech Tip of the Week...

I have recently been checking out SCRATCH, which is a very basic coding program for kids out of MIT. It is a really cool resource and it gives kids the opportunity to learn basic coding, which may be of interest to some of our children - maybe an enrichment project? Independent study? Not sure - but I thought it was worth sharing because enhancing the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) experience is always a goal. Research shows that many of our students do not pursue careers in this area yet this is where the need will be as they grow up.  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, November 4

"A" Week
ELA Benchmark for Grades 3, 4 & 5
LOCKDOWN Drill at approximately 9am

Tuesday, November 5

Happy Election Day - enjoy the day off!

Wednesday, November 6

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, November 7

CST at 1:20pm
Brian Heinz Visits 3rd Grade - Library Closed
Cultural Arts Begins
Visitor Shadowing Tony all day!

Friday, November 8

Happy TGIF!
Grade 5 Sports Night - 6:30pm to 8pm!

Kids' Korner

On Tuesday, during the PARB experience one of our dads and I were engaged in a conversation when the man's son walked by and said, "Mr. Sinanis, you remind me of my dad because you both have the same sized belly!" LOL! Really?!?     

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 - NOVEMBER 1

October 25, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Final Friday of October - it is unreal that we are about to enter the third month of school! I hope everyone has some wonderful plans for the weekend. We are going to be all Halloweened out by the end of the weekend at our house... tonight is the Monster Mash at Paul's school and I am working the dessert stand, tomorrow is the Cantiague PTA Fall Festival (please join us between 12pm and 3pm if you are in the area) and then Saturday night we are going to experience the Rise of the Jack-O-lanterns... honestly, it's my least favorite "holiday" but Paul loves it so, I do what I have to do!   

I want to take a moment to thank all of the amazing Cantiague teachers who participated on the district-wide elementary report card committee - Mandy, Nancy, Adam, Melanie, Melissa and Meryl! They have worked diligently over the last year and a half to represent all of us during this challenging and important process and I think the end result is an improvement over what we used last year. THANK YOU! On another note, welcome to Matt C. who has replaced Adam Welt and is working with Karen - we are lucky to have you Matt! 

I also want to thank you all for making Red Ribbon Week such a positive experience. Let me start by saying I am terribly sorry for forgetting to stop twice yesterday for whole school exercises but thank you to Rob for starting the day off with the rockin' Wall Sit- that was awesome! I appreciate everyone's support on Tuesday night with our NO HW night - I think that was a wonderful night for our students and their families. 

Over the course of the week I have been fortunate enough to engage in conversations with several of you about HW and the exchanges have been really compelling. I think I have been open about the fact that I am not a fan of HW and that sentiment has grown even stronger this year with Paul in fourth grade where the HW seems to pile up and the feedback is rare and meaningless. So, I just wanted to share a few thoughts about HW... quantity does NOT equal quality - we do not have to give a A LOT of HW... instead, we can give meaningful HW assignments that encourage project based learning - let our kids explore their passions and interests... if we do believe in giving HW every night, then we must make sure we check it and offer our students feedback - let's use it as formative assessment - if our kids spend the time doing it, we should value it... and, I would like to offer one suggestion - one day, have your students complete a "typical" night of HW in class during the school day - block out the amount of time you think it should take them to complete and see how that experience unfolds - I think it could offer tremendous insight. (Ok... off my soapbox but I will say that down the road, we may want to start re-thinking our HW policy...) 

Over the last two weeks, as I walked around the building, I spotted these awesome things...

• Jen and Joe doing a math review of addition, subtraction, number bonds and fact families. They employed the alternative teaching model where Joe pulled three students who needed remediation and Jen kept the rest of the class and used partnerships to review concepts. Technology was present everywhere - Joe "flipped" the small group math experience using Educreations where he recorded a tutorial for the students to watch and refine their basic facts. Jen also used the SMARTBoard to practice Fact Families and then allowed the students to use the iPads to explore various math apps - it was an awesome math period that met the needs of the children!

• Mandy has been using these cute videos to teach her children about the different shapes. The other day they were learning about the rhombus and I was blown away by their knowledge of parallel lines, number of sides in different shapes and other fun facts! To top it all off, they do the cutest dance moves while watching the videos - what an awesome way to appeal to all learning styles and heighten the levels of student engagement - BRAVO!  

• Meryl has immersed her children in a persuasive/opinion writing experience. The children have been split into two groups and they are either in favor of homeschooling or public school. They then had to amass information, facts and research to support their argument and formulate a piece of writing presenting their opinion. While they were typing up their final pieces I had the opportunity to engage several of them in conversation about their positions and although they may not have chosen the side they were arguing for, their arguments were compelling and rich - TAKE THAT COMMON CORE!!

• In case you missed it, here is the Video Update of the Week featuring Meryl's students...

 

Tech Tip of the Week...

I was fortunate enough to present on the power of Social Media this week at the Long Island Tech Summit and I learned some great stuff while I was there. One resource I came across is called Smore, which is similar to Glogster (people have used this in the past)! It basically lets children/teachers create virtual flyers where information from different spaces can be pulled together. It is another presentation tool alternative - Glosgter, Haiku Deck, Prezi, etc. Try it and let me know what you think... or let your kids try it and explore!

You may also want to check out this site, ChartChums, which is dedicated to all things Charts for the Classroom - there are some cute things here and its kind of like Pinterest! Ivy, the principal at Seaman, shared this great resource with me. 


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, October 28

"B" Week
PARP Week Begins - Teacher Swap (1st Period)
Planbooks due for all teacher by Thursday morning

Tuesday, October 29

Extended Faculty Meeting for all teachers
PARP Family Assembly - Magic Show

• Gr. K - 2 at 8:45am
• Gr. 3 - 5 at 10:15am

PARB (Parents As Reading Buddies) Schedule...

                                                            i.      Gr. K – 11am

                                                         ii.      Gr. 1 – 11:45am

                                                      iii.      Gr. 2 – 11:45am

                                                      iv.      Gr. 3 – 8:45am

                                                         v.      Gr. 4 – 9:45am

                                                      vi.      Gr. 5 – 9:45am

Wednesday, October 30

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, October 31

CST at 1:20pm
Kindergarten is on a Trip Today
Students & Staff are encouraged to dress up like their favorite LITERARY CHARACTER

Friday, November 1

Happy TGIF!
Specialists Read To Each Class - Final Day of PARP!

Kids' Korner

Yesterday, while walking around with Sarah, the woman who was shadowing me for the day, we made our way through the lunchroom when a first grader ran up to me, gave me a hug and then looked at Sarah and asked, "Is that your mom?" LOL! Being that Sarah was 10 years younger than me, I took that as a huge compliment!     

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 - OCTOBER 25

October 11, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone and Happy Three Day Weekend - this is definitely a much needed little break - I know I am looking forward to some extra sleep and some time with Paul and Kelly! I hope each of you has some fun plans for the weekend - you all work so hard that any extra time with family and friends is so important! I am excited to share that our copies of TEACH LIKE A PIRATE have arrived and as soon as we work out the details, we will launch our #Cantiague Book Club experience. I have already tweeted with the author, Dave Burgess, and he agreed to be part of our Book Club experience in some way, shape or form... details to come!

On another note, I highly suggest that anyone looking to launch a Book Club in their classroom and wanting to help support the children's independence during the activity stop by Team M & M to see what they put together for their children. The "menu" of culminating activities really speaks to the power of project/passion based learning. 

Meanwhile, just as an FYI, an uncle of mine (my mother's first cousin) passed away yesterday after a year long battle with cancer. It was a difficult last couple of months for our family because we grew up together on the same street and he was like a brother to my mom. I am not sure of the details at this point but I imagine that I will be out at least a day or two next week. As soon as I know the details, I will share that information just so you all know when I will be out of the building. 

On to more positive and uplifting things, this week, as I walked around the building, I spotted the following awesome things...

• Lois was doing an awesome art activity with a group of third graders! The children were asked to fill a square sheet of paper with their name using block letters. The kids were excited to create this piece and Lois explained that as the process unfolded they would then cut the square up into pieces and realign it to create a piece of abstract art - SO COOL!

• Allison during the beginning of the writing workshop experience. The children were reviewing the Parts of A Writer where they went through every body part and how it shaped them as a writer. They then discussed different "mentor" texts that they used to help spark ideas for writing. WOW was all I kept thinking... is this really kindergarten?!?  

• Melanie was doing an activity where the children were being "assessed" on their ability to create a sketch based on what they envisioned after Melanie read a text aloud to them a couple of times. Their attention to detail and ability to zoom in on specific words that best supported the image was impressive - they created some AMAZING sketches! 

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

Lately I have come across a few pretty awesome teacher blogs that I thought might be interested to spotlight this week as a resource - check them out...

Matt B Gomez - awesome K teacher!

Erin Klein - incredible Grade 2 teacher who also writes for Scholastic!

Krissy Venosdale - Tech Expert

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Tuesday, October 15

"B" Week

NO Faculty Meeting

Wednesday, October 16

Happy Wednesday!

Math in Focus Parent Academy - 7pm

Thursday, October 17

Math in Focus Training - Gr. 3 - Room 8 (all day)

CST at 1:20pm

Board of Education Meeting - 7:30pm

Friday, October 18

Happy TGIF!

Tony at Penn - out all day!

Monday, October 21

"A" Week

RED RIBBON WEEK Kicks Off - WEAR RED DAY! 

Tuesday, October 22

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity

Red Ribbon Week - NO HW Tonight

Tony out of the building at a Conference 

Wednesday, October 23

Red Ribbon Week - Bring a RED healthy snack!

Thursday, October 24

CST at 1:20pm

Red Ribbon Week - Exercise Day - we will make 2 or 3 random announcements for everyone to drop what they are doing and do an exercise (jumping jacks, run in place, etc.)

Friday, October 25

Happy TGIF!

Red Ribbon Week - Team Up for Healthy Living - Wear your Favorite Jersey!

Kids' Korner

During the Book Fair Preview Night, while I was working the register, one of the children came up to me and said, "Mr. Sinanis, shouldn't you be taking pictures on your iPad and tweeting them?" LOL! They know me so well!

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 OCTOBER 11

October 4, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy October - I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend where we make time for some fun, rest and relaxation! Although I have a lot of HW for Penn, which mainly involves writing my dissertation proposal, my fingers are crossed that Paul does not come home with any HW this weekend - it definitely puts a damper on the fun (HW definitely feels different as a parent when it takes your child hours to complete)! 

Meanwhile, I hope everyone had a positive experience at the Faculty Enhancement Opportunity this past Tuesday - whether you were talking Social Studies, exploring math or choosing a "workshop" I hope the experience was truly a point of enhancement - please know that any and all feedback is welcome! Additionally, if you have not already done so, please enter your goals on OASYS at this point as we have discussed them and they have all been approved (if you submitted them to me). Let me know if you have any questions about entering your goals. Finally, please be aware that I have begun conducting formal observations, which will be both announced and unannounced depending on the situation. So far, I have been really lucky with the unannounced experience as I have observed some great stuff! 

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

• Christine and Donna's class immersed in the reading workshop experience and it was AWESOME! Donna pulled two students for a guided reading group where the children worked on monitoring for meaning by comparing and contrasting using a nonfiction text - take that Common Core! At the same time, Christine was launching a Book Club with four students who were reading the same book and within minutes were able to facilitate their own discussion after Christine modeled for them - talk about high level skills! It was really an impressive literacy block and I only wish I could have recorded it all!

• MaryAnn was conducting a social skills lunch bunch with a group of third graders and the experience was wonderful. The children were playing the Friendship Game and it was so impressive to hear them verbalize the characteristics of a "Good Friend" and then work together to navigate different situations presented in the game. MaryAnn's patience, sense of humor and encouragement made every child feel good about themselves and made the experience a successful one!  

• Tali and Marissa launching a new read aloud - I have never seen a group of kids so excited to find out what book their teachers would be reading to them! Tali and Marissa hid the book in the bag and were offering the children different clues about the book and the author and the children were literally jumping out of their spots to guess the text and were thrilled to find out that they would be hearing FRINDLE! During the interactive read aloud, the idea of accountable talk was promoted and the students were pushed to make inferences about the main character's traits based on his words and actions - it was AWESOME! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

As many of you saw in our update earlier this week, I worked witha group of kids to create the following VIDEO UPDATE! I have to share that the feedback has been really positive and creating the video was super easy using the iPad and the Touchcast app. I highly recommend you check it out because I think there a bunch of ways this tool can be used in the classroom - for presentations, alternative to "reports," for assessments, etc! Let me know if you try using it because I would be happy to assist in any way! 


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, October 7

"A" Week
Gr. 5 Meet the Author at JPL @ 10am
(Gr. 2 & Gr. 5 switch lunch periods for the day)

Tuesday, October 8

Faculty Meeting for all STAFF
Gr. 1 Field Trip - Outdoor Ed.
Book Fair Preview Night for Families - 6:30pm
PTA Meeting at 7:30pm

Wednesday, October 9

PTA Book Fair

Thursday, October 10

PTA Book Fair
CST at 1:20pm

Friday, October 11

Happy TGIF!
PTA Book Fair

Kids' Korner

Whenever a child celebrates a birthday in Allison's class, the rest of the children give the birthday child verbal gifts (compliments, kind words, etc.) Recently the children were giving verbal gifts but they only commented on the child's physical appearance and external characteristics so when Allison suggested that they try and compliment the INSIDE of the student one boy raised his hand and said, "I really like your blood pressure!" 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 - OCTOBER 4