January 17, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone as we prepare for a wonderful three day weekend - I am definitely looking forward to that extra day because I have plenty of HW to do! I am thrilled to share that on Thursday night I turned in the final draft of my dissertation proposal - 45 pages of blood, sweat and definitely some tears! Thank you all for asking about it and checking in with me. I will be "defending" my proposal NEXT Friday and I will definitely let you all know how that goes when it's over. 

On another note, I am happy to share we were able to complete our first unannounced Stay Put Drill with only some minor glitches and issues. There was a quick response and our children's safety was ensured! Moving forward, as per a decision at a recent District-Wide Health & Safety Meeting, all doors should remain locked at all times. Doors do not have to remain closed but they should be locked. Please keep this in mind moving forward.   

Please note that this Fast Friday Focus will cover the next two weeks so please hold on to it for the schedule of the weeks!  

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

• Jen & Joe's kids launched a personal narrative study within writer's workshop! The children were having difficulty generating small moments so they were encouraged to create a Small Story Map as a way to help them generate ideas for future entries. This graphic organizer helped the children generate some potentially powerful ideas - nice work!  

• During visits to both Mandy and Tali/Marissa's class this week, the children were working on story maps to help them better understand what was happening. In kindergarten the story map was intended to reiterate the concepts of beginning, middle and end while in fourth grade the children were discussing story elements such as climax and resolution. It was a wonderful way to see similar concepts taught to a different depth.  

• Risa gave her children an opportunity to free write in their writer's notebooks during their snack time - love the idea of a working snack sometimes! As Chris Lehman pointed out our efforts to ensure that kids are reading every day and writing as often as possible are important!

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

As an alternative to the typical tech tip, this week I want to share a video that I think is worth watching featuring a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson. This video is about 20 minutes long and you don't have to watch it - just listen to it! It is funny but important - it inspired me and I hope it does the same for others...

  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, January 20

"A" Week
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Tuesday, January 21

R&D Information Session- 3PM in the Library for any teachers who are interested!
Visitors will be in the building from NJ!

Wednesday, January 22

Happy Wednesday! 

Thursday, January 23

CST at 1:20pm
Phil Bildner Visits Grade 5 - Library CLOSED!
Cultural Arts

Friday, January 24

Happy TGIF!
Tony out of the building - time to defend the dissertation proposal!

Monday, January 27

"B" Week
Kindergarten - Gym & Me Event at 8:40am

Planbooks due for ALL TEACHERS - please submit by Thurs! 

Tuesday, January 28

Kindergarten - Gym & Me Event at 8:40am
Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - Exploration of Student Work!

Wednesday, January 29

Happy Wednesday!
Tony will be out of the building - Paul has Pre-Op Testing!

Thursday, January 30

Kindergarten - Gym & Me Event at 8:40am
CST at 1:20pm

Cultural Arts

Bake Sale

Friday, January 31

Happy TGIF!

Kids' Korner

While in the computer lab, a 3rd Grader asked, "Mr. Sinanis, did you shower today?" I immediately responded yes and asked why and he said, "Cause you smell like soap!" Phew... that could have gone a lot of different ways! LOL!     

Pics of the Week...

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

CANTIAGUE WEEK IN TWEETS - JANUARY 17