March 13, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone! Hope everyone has some great plans for the weekend especially with the temps finally above the single digits- I know I am THRILLED!!! As you are reading this, I am in Washington D.C. participating in Digital Learning Day, which is the kickoff for the Teaching and Learning Conference. I am so excited to be presenting and representing our school community alongside people like Linda Darling-Hammond, Andy Hargreaves, Randi Weingarten and Martin Luther King III (check out all the speakers here and if you scroll down in the ABC order, you will see me) in an event supported by the Department of Education and the White House under the umbrella of the #FutureReady initiative. It is pretty exciting to bring the work we are doing at Cantiague to the national stage... GO #CANTIAGUE!!

In other news, the good ole dissertation is coming along... about 115 pages written so far and nearing the end. It is such a consuming and laborious process but it will be done soon - I could not have survived the last three years without all the support from my Cantiague family - thank you. I am scheduled to defend my dissertation on Friday, May 1st and assuming I get it all written and that goes well, I will unofficially be done! Graduation is on Saturday, May 16th and I am super excited for that event too. I am hoping that Paul will be able to join me too - part of this whole journey has been about him and him understanding the importance of working hard for something you value! 

Finally, a special thank you to everyone who came out to the PTA Game Night Event - it meant the world to me to see so many of your faces in the crowd from all the tweets - you all ROCK!

Please not this Fast Friday Focus will cover the next two weeks so hold on to it for the necessary information! 


This week, as I walked around #Cantiague this week, I spotted the following #EduWins...

• Carolyn took the whole Genius Hour experience to another level this week with a snowman building challenge! That's right - Genius Hour went outdoors and it was awesome. The children were challenged to work in groups and their task was to build the tallest snowman possible and the results were impressive. This whole experience was important for so many reasons... not only did the kids get outdoors and move around for the physical well-being but they also worked collaboratively and accessed their critical thinking skills during the challenge and that is all at the core of 21st Century skills... BRAVO! 

• Melanie and her kids for trying Google Presentation/Slides as a way to share the children's passions and interests. Giving our children access to collaborative cloud based resources like Google docs or Google classroom will make them a lot more college and career ready than any multiple choice based test! I also have loved watching the book clubs unfold in Melanie's classroom - the kids have had some great discussions and seeing them build their levels of independence are impressive!

• Genius Hour is on FIRE at Cantiague and I thank you all for even taking a risk and incorporating this hour into your classrooms in some way, shape or form! I can tell you that I have gotten a LOT of positive feedback from the children and families and when we get positive buzz, it is a great sign that we should keep doing it! So, please continue to share your Genius Hour ideas across the grade levels... the results have been AWESOME! 

• Finally, if you didn't see it in the email I sent out earlier in the week, check out the Student-Led PTA Meeting because they were truly awesome. It is about 10 minutes but well worth your time... 

Tech Tip of the Week...

To shift gears a little this week, I wanted to share this 2 minute video that Christina B. (thank you) shared with me last week. It is such a positive reframing to dealing with a bullying situation and I would LOVE to try something like this at #Cantiague... Maybe Thursday, March 26th? Check it out and let me know what you think...

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, March 16

"A" Week
Gr. 3 - 5 Math After school Test Prep

Tuesday, March 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Grade 5 Articulation Meetings - All Day- Faculty Room
Full staff FEO @ 3pm in the Library - 5th Graders Teaching us about Google Classroom, Docs & More! 

Wednesday, March 18

Suzy Kline visits with Grade 2 - Library Closed!
Kindergarten Field Trip - Hofstra
Gr. 3 - 5 ELA After school Test Prep

Thursday, March 19

CST @ 1:20pm
Budget Review Meeting - Board of Ed. at 7:30pm
PTA Staff Appreciation Luncheon - Library closed!

Friday, March 20

Happy TGIF!
Tony's LAST WEEKEND of classes at Penn!

Monday, March 23

"B" Week
PTA Joint Council - 9:30am at Jackson
Gr. 3 - 5 Math After school Test Prep
Tony is out because Paul is having surgery

Tuesday, March 24

Report Cards posted today
No FEO this week!

Wednesday, March 25

Gr. 3 - 5 ELA After school Test Prep

Thursday, March 26

CST @ 1:20pm
Board of Education Meeting at 7:30pm
Parent/Teacher Conferences - 3-5pm; 7-9pm
Positive Post-It Day??

Friday, March 27

Happy TGIF!
NO School for Students... Parent/Teacher Conferences

Kids' Korner

On my birthday one of the first graders said to me, "Mr. Sinanis, you look good for an old man!" LOL... thanks, I think!        

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