May 13, 2016

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday the 13th... I am totally avoiding black cats and walking under ladders and whatever other superstitious things are out there today! It was such a busy and hectic week between Kindergarten Orientation, a bunch of Annual Reviews and the Spring concerts - I felt like a chicken without a head! I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped make everything a success - Mandy, Ally and Risa for overseeing kindergarten orientation; Dale, Clare and Aimee for making the concerts so awesome - our children never cease to amaze me; and Anne & MaryAnn for facilitating all the annual reviews - you rock! 

As you know, this week was also a bittersweet one for me as I was officially appointed to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in Plainedge. Paul and Felix joined me on Tuesday night at the Board Meeting and it was great to have them by my side. Ivy Sherman and Denise Nash were also there to support me and Wayne (one of our Cantiague dads) was there and actually spoke at the Board Meeting and sang my praises, which was really nice (and embarrassing). Just so everyone knows, my last official day at Cantiague (but I will be around throughout the summer if and when I am needed) will be Tuesday, June 28th and my first official day in Plainedge is Tuesday, July 5th. Needless to say, the next few weeks are going to be nuts but I am excited to soak up every minute of time with our Cantiague family and making it count... #BestEndOfYearEver!  

This last week was an important one at Cantiague because we welcomed back both Donna and Melanie - welcome back ladies, we have missed you terribly! Please give Lia and Piper hugs from us and thank them for sharing their mommies with us for the next few weeks. Also have to extend a huge thank you to Matt and Callie who both did an amazing job filling in for Donna and Melanie - the transitions were seamless and the kids continued to thrive, learn and love school - thank you for making that a reality. Finally, a special thank you to Ed for filling in for Matt in Jessica's room - we appreciate all of your hard work. 


#EDUWINS for the week included...

• Participating in the Grade 4 Orchestra rehearsals this week with Aimee was really impressive. Her ability to keep every child engaged in a fun way while also pushing them to be "professional" was amazing. From simply getting into position to play to actually playing, we all had a really positive experience. The student musicians (including myself) have clearly grown a lot this year - BRAVO!    

• Spending time in the library with Michelle, Tali and Tali's class was pretty awesome. The children made great use of the space as they spread out and were immersed in their animal research. While the children worked (independently, in pairs and in groups), Michelle and Tali were checking in with the children to ensure they were successfully using online resources to research their animals. The room was buzzing because the children were clearly highly engaged in this process and were excited to be learning about the different animals. It was an amazing use of the library! 

• Spending time in the ESL Room with Caitlin while she was working on vocabulary words from Wordly Wise with some 4th graders was really impressive. Caitlin had the words written in English, phonetically sounded out and also in the children's native language so they could not only learn how to spell them but to also pronounce them and then understand them - it was an awesome sight to behold!  

Tech Tip of the Week...
Check out this resource - 12 Free Add-Ons That Take Google Docs To The Next Level - love some of the free resources!



And for fun, watch this...

Blogs Worth Reading...

How Being a Mom Changed My Teaching by Starr Sackstein 

Design Thinking In The Primary Grades by Krissy Venosdale 

7 Strategies for Deescalting Disruptive Students by Lani Aquino 

Staff Reflection/Blog...

***We have no staff blog post for this week***

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, May 16
"A" Week
Gr. 5 is going to Blue Man Group today!

Tuesday, May 17 

Full staff FEO to start in the Library at 3pm - will feature Innovation Day planning time! 
Budget Vote Day
PTA Meeting at 8:45am
Minecraft Recess Club
Gr. 5 Author Visit at the JPL

Wednesday, May 18

Incoming Kindergarten Orientation all morning! The children will be working in the Library

Thursday, May 19

INNOVATION DAY is here!!
ABC Countdown Kicks off today
Board of Education Meeting at 7:15pm in the MS Library

Friday, May 20

Happy TGIF!
Gr. 2 & 5 are on trips today!

Reminders... 

• Don't forget to implement lessons from our Digital Citizenship Curriculum... access it here!
• Our next whole staff FEO will be Tues. May 17th - featuring time to plan for Innovation Day! 
• Innovation Day is coming on May 19th! Click here to check out the plan from last year... feel free to use the same plan or change it up!