October 30, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to the most amazing community of learners and teachers on the planet. Although I know we have the best school on the planet, that whole notion was reiterated this week for me with the #EdCampJericho experience. The day was such a huge success that I think we need to move more and more of our PD experiences in that direction! The collaborative approach to learning that was embraced on Wednesday was inspiring – people shared, deliberated, discussed and learned throughout the day and what we know from the research is that people learn a lot through intentional and focused social interactions (social learning theory), which is what happened at #EdCampJericho on Tuesday. Thank you all for making that happen and making yourselves available to this type of learning. Thank you all for taking ownership of your own professional and personal development as we all continue to work towards enhancing our skill set to support our students and their learning in the best ways possible. We will definitely continue considering ways to embed EdCamp type experiences within our FEOs... please feel free to share any ideas or suggestions with me. 

Although I know district-wide professional development presents its own challenges, hurdles and interesting exchanges, I think the more we talk across the district, the better we get at our craft. We may not always agree; we may not always be on the same page; heck, we may not always be in the same book but ultimately we are learning something from our exchanges. Maybe it is an approach, app, website or management technique that we can take away from the experience; or maybe we are reminded that what we are doing is in the best interest of students even if people in other buildings are doing things differently (not better or worse - just different). So, in the spirit of collaboration and building capacity within ourselves and our colleagues across the district, here is to a reinvigorated dedication to our personal and professional development!

Of course, with all that being said it is Friday and I am excited to share that I will be spending the night at CITIFIELD cheering on my METS as they take on the Royals in the World Series!!! Although we are down 2 - 0, I am confident we can turn things around. And thanks to Clare for reminding me that we were in the same situation in 1986 and we all know what happened then... fingers and toes crossed!


#EDUWINS for the week included...

• Round 2 of our grade level literacy check in meetings went really well! It was so awesome to sit with each classroom teacher over the last week and have intentional, focused and powerful conversations about literacy instruction. I am so impressed by your willingness to openly and honestly discuss literacy practices and how we are all working hard to consistently enhance our craft. 

• Writing workshop in Ally's class and all of the children were engaged and were using their personal revising pens (red felt tip markers) to improve their pieces. The kids were so into the activity and they were dedicated to making their pieces better. Whether they were revising text or the accompanying illustration, they looked like a bunch of professional authors and it was AWESOME!

• Grade 1 in the Science Lab with Jacquie was a blast! The children enjoyed a picture book about animal ears and then were challenged to work collaboratively to explore plastic eggs and try and determine what was inside of them based on the sounds they made when the children shook them. The children were highly engaged the entire time and they had a BLAST!  

Tech Tip of the Week...
Special shout out to Matt C. who shared this awesome resource to help Improve Writing Using Google Docs - it is full of great ideas and tips.

Blogs Worth Reading...
It's Not About The Space... All Learning by Krissy Venosdale

It's Not a Technology Issue by Eric Sheninger

10 Ways To Sabotage Your Classroom Management by Jennifer Gonzalez

Staff Reflection/Blog...
Our latest post comes from Melissa (her 2nd time) who shares a personal reflection about how she took back control (and brought the passion back) in her classroom...


Since the start of this school year, I haven’t been “comfortable in my own skin” and I’ve been trying to figure out why.  At first, I blamed it on the fact that I had never taught fifth grade before, and even though I came back last year, I really missed the bulk of the school year.  Then, I blamed it on outside stress, such as moving, missing my children, finding another home, etc.  Finally, I actually thought to myself that for once in my life, maybe I didn’t love the grade I was teaching.  I’ve been moved around so much, that I’ve learned over the years to just go with the flow and fall in love with the kids, not the grade, but still, something wasn’t sitting well with me.

Then, we had the fifth grade training day with JoEllen...and she reminded me of who I am as a teacher.  When I started teaching, I was hired in New York City and I was lucky enough to be part of a literacy immersion program because I was put in a model school.  Through this program, myself and a bunch of teachers were trained all summer by Lucy Calkins.  We were then sent every month to Teacher’s College to do follow-up work, and I have to admit that this is what made me the teacher I am today.  Except, somewhere along the past year, I forgot who that was.

Even though Ryleigh was my second child, I didn’t really take a “leave” the first time around.  When I came back in April of last year, I was someone else’s classroom with my name on it, which was how it should have been.  I kept the routines the same, followed the plans as they were so that I would cause minimal disruption to the children, as I had already rocked their world by coming back.  So, in the beginning of this year, I tried to keep following those plans and continue what I was doing at the end of last year...only they weren’t my plans, they weren’t my routines.  They were wonderful ones, but it’s kind of like wearing someone else’s shoes.  They just didn’t fit me.

The day we met with JoEllen, her words brought me back to life.  She reminded me of how I used to do things, of what worked for me for the past 12 years, of what made me fall in love with literacy and teaching.  Sometimes, all it takes is a reminder to revive who you are and why you love what you do.  I’m back and I’m me again, and I’m loving my kids...because I guess for me, it’ll never be about the grade.

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, November 2
"B" Week

Tuesday, November 3 

Election Day - there will be strangers in the building!
FEO at 3pm for teachers - district-wide grade level!

Wednesday, November 4

Shared Decision Making Team Meeting at 3PM

Thursday, November 5

CST @ 1:20pm
PTA Executive Board at 9am
Lynda Mullaly Hunt visiting 5th Grade (auditorium)!
Cultural Arts BEGINS!

Friday, November 6

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

Reminders... 

• Don't forget that we are switching to our old dismissal process starting on Monday - fingers crossed!
• Next FEO meeting (after Nov. 3rd) will be November 10th for all staff where Jessica's kids will be teaching us about Google Slides!
• Planbooks to be submitted next week; remember, there are alternatives - ask me about them!