February 28, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone on this last day of February - this definitely had to be the fastest month of the year so far between the snow days and vacation. I hope everyone had a wonderful week back filled with great learning experiences. It was a wonderful week for me to walk around and check out all the awesome things happening in our building - we definitely picked up where we left off! From reading workshop to developing conceptual understandings in math to celebrating the 100th Day of school, it was an amazing week - BRAVO! Finally, HAPPY MARCH to everyone! March means the beginning of spring and I don't know about you but I am totally READY!

One of the key ingredients to our success as a school is the incredibly awesome work of our dedicated, passionate and giving teacher aides! THANK YOU ALL because without you, Cantiague would be a totally different space! Thank you Amy, Ashley, Linda, Tara, Gillian, Alana, Mallory, Brittany, Casey, Rachel, Karen, Christina, Matt, Debbie, Jeanette, Terri, Daisy, Jackie and Katie - you are all AMAZING! When this school year started out, I was a bit concerned about some of our involved behavior problems (and there quite a few) but somehow, you have all relied on your patience, compassion and flexibility to meet with varied levels of success with each of your students. Whether it was an intense behavior plan or just helping to alleviate a child's anxiety, you have all gone above and beyond this year and I, for one, would be honored to have ANY of you working with Paul each day. BRAVO!   

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

• WRITING, WRITING and more WRITING! Our kids have been immersed in some wonderful writing opportunities over the last week. Whether they were publishing poems or just free writing in their writer's notebooks, I have seen a tremendous increase in the amount of time we are giving children to write. Thank you for making that happen because writing is so directly connected to thinking so if we give our kids time to write, we are giving them the opportunity to develop their critical thinking skills! Finally, as a different point of view, I was talking with Peter Catalanotto, an author, who said that instead of talking about beginning, middle and end in stories, we should just be focusing on a want, problem and solution because they are at the core of every written text... interesting perspective!

• Book Clubs are unfolding EVERYWHERE! From the primary grades all the way up through 5th grade, our kids are taking control of their literacy experiences and bringing their voice and ideas to the forefront of the discussion. I have watched kids take turns reading excerpts aloud; I have heard them discuss their personal connections to the text; and I have listened to them debate about the details in the text and how they impact the plot. Overall, this opportunity for us to relinquish control over the reading experience is an important one as they develop stamina and critical thinking skills!

• Finally, the various celebrations of the 100th Day of School were awesome and adorable. Whether our kindergarten students were taking 100 giant steps around the building or our kindergarteners were eating 100 different snacks or our 5th graders were reflecting on their lives as if they were 100 (loved their pics that were modified to look old) the 100th Day of School impacted so many of the children in different ways - LOVE IT!  

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

Check out this link spotlighting 3 apps kids could use to design creative animations - Educator's Technology!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, March 3

"B" Week
Happy World Language Week!
All LOGO Contest submissions are due today!

Tuesday, March 4

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - 3PM in the Library!
Gr. 5 DNA Lab In-School Presentation

Wednesday, March 5

Middle School Articulation is happening all morning in the Faculty Room (may conflict w/ lunch periods so staff members may want to eat in the Conference Room)
Shared Decision Making Team - 3PM

Thursday, March 6

CST @ 1:20pm
FINAL Cultural Arts is happening today
Bake Sale

Friday, March 7

Happy TGIF!
Tony is out of the Building today presenting at LILAC!

Kids' Korner

So, while in the lunchroom on Wednesday, one of the kindergarteners came up to me and asked if I knew how to throw a frisbee. When I said yes, he produced the flat circular cap to his tupperware lunch container and asked me to show him. Well, before I knew it, there was a full on frisbee throwing experience unfolding in the lunchroom with kids diving to the ground to catch my throws. Needless to say, the adults trying to supervise the lunchroom were not that happy! 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 - FEBRUARY 28

February 7, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to the most amazing staff in the entire world - working with you each day is an honor that I never imagined I would experience in my professional world - THANK YOU! I also want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as they relate to Paul's surgery today. Although this is Paul's 7th surgery in the last three years, it never gets easier and the fear/anxiety/etc. that consume our family can be overwhelming but being surrounded by an incredibly supportive family and extended family (that includes all of you) makes the whole experience much more bearable. I am not sure how long I will be out but as soon as we have a sense of how Paul is doing I will definitely update all of you via email! Thank you again for your support - it is so much easier to be out of the building on days like today because I know the school is in all of your capable hands - THANK YOU! 

Just so you know, in regards to next week, I will likely be out for a couple of days depending on how Paul is doing - I will be in touch via email!

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...

• Mandy's class was beginning to explore shape poems and they started with a SHARK! They came up with such awesome words and phrases to describe the shark and they were so excited to get started with their own shape poems! Love how their skills evolve over the years but the foundation is a solid one in Kindergarten!  

• Jill's kids were so engaged during independent reading time where they were building their stamina. The children were reading books from their book baggies and after conferring with three of the students, I was really impressed by their fluency, ability to access background knowledge and identify patterns in the text - AWESOME work!   

• Adam's class during independent reading time was equally as impressive. The children immediately got into their reading spots while Adam pulled a small guided reading group and everyone was reading "just right" books- BRAVO!! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

Some of you may have already heard (or seen on Twitter) that I am now co-hosting a podcast that is featured on the BAM Radio network (it is a website). The podcast is like a short little radio show where my co-host, Joe Sanfelippo (the guy who visited from Wisconsin), and I interview different guests and talk about the importance of "branding" your school or telling your school story (i.e. - tweeting pics, the video update, blogs, etc.) in about 15 minutes or less. This has been a really exciting experience and I wanted to share it with all of you! Click here - BrandED Radio -  for a link to the website where you can check us out if you are interested - please let me know what you think!

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, February 10

"B" Week
Have an AWESOME Week before the BREAK!

Tuesday, February 11

FEO Cancelled
Gr. 5 DNA Experience in school!

Wednesday, February 12

Happy Wednesday... first Wednesday of the week!  :) 

Thursday, February 13

CST at 1:20pm
Cultural Arts
Special TESTING FORUM - 7pm in HS Auditorium (come here a woman speaking about the Opt-Out Movement)

Friday, February 14

Happy TGIF!
Happy Valentine's Day!
Have an awesome BREAK!
Tony out of the building at Penn!

Monday, February 24

"A" Week

Planbooks due for ALL teachers by Thursday! 

Tuesday, February 25

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - teachers only!

Wednesday, February 26

Happy Wednesday!

Thursday, February 27

CST at 1:20pm

Cultural Arts ENDS!

Board of Education Meeting & Budget Workshop #3

 

Friday, February 28

Happy TGIF!

Kids' Korner

While talking to the 4th and 5th Graders about their Digital "Footprints" I used my tweeting as an example to which one of them said, "My Mom said you should win an award for the most tweets ever!" LOL! Backhanded compliment? 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 31, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to the entire Cantiague community! HOLY MOLY - tomorrow is February... where did January go? I am not a fan of this whole time zooming by so fast thing - let's slow it down! LOL! I want to begin by thanking you all for your support and words of encouragement as they relate to Paul. Everything went well with his pre-op testing this week - he was so tough and for the first time ever, did not cry during the whole blood work experience! We actually had a chance to walk through Time Square during a break between two of the appointments and there is a lot of cool stuff happening related to the Super Bowl - if you have any free time this weekend and want something to do- check it out! I also want to thank you all for your support with this whole dissertation proposal process - it was such a relief to successfully defend it but it meant even more to me to get your emails and texts with encouragement - you are the best!

As was announced at the Faculty Meeting on Tuesday, Katie Quinn will be taking over for Jill while she is out on her maternity leave. We are so excited to have Katie taking over this class - not only does she know the children from her work with them last year but she has also successfully taught 2nd and 3rd grade in previous years. 

Thinking about student progress and the upcoming conferences and stuff, February is a great time to reconnect with parents about the progress of their children. We have all finished re-WRAPping the students, we have seen their development in writing and have a strong sense of their mathematical computation and conceptual understandings. Maybe try and touch base with two parents each day to share the children's progress - good and bad - every parent wants to know how their child is doing in school. If you can't get to all the parents, definitely touch base with the families of children who concern you - do not blindside them at a Parent/Teacher Conference. Use the data you have and share it with the families.  

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

• It was an awesome week in the gym with Rob, Phil and our entire Kindergarten team with the fun Gym & Me Events! The kids had such a blast shooting hoops, doing some bowling and participating in scooter races. The best part of the whole experience was that the children did everything on their own - loved the level of independence - BRAVO! 

• The 5th Graders put on an incredible Winter Concert on Tuesday night - the band played beautifully, the orchestra was exquisite and the chorus was really awesome at the end - everyone in the auditorium was smiling. Congratulations and thank you to Dale, Diane and Clare for making this event so wonderful and special for our kids and their families - BRAVA!   

• The entire Grade 3 team of teachers met with Lisa D. to discuss a writing rubric, which they then tested out by reviewing student work. The conversations around the table about the differences between a 3 and a 4 and what each student did well and needed to improve upon were extremely valuable and powerful! This is definitely something I suggest each grade level participates in during a common prep and something we will explore at an upcoming Faculty Enhancement Opportunity.  

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

Check out this great piece that offers 13 suggestions on how technology can help improve student writing - it is from the Edudemic site! Click here... 13 Ways... 


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, February 3

"A" Week
Happy First Monday of the Week!  :)

Tuesday, February 4

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - 3PM in the Library!
Gr. 5 DNA Lab In-School Presentation

Wednesday, February 5

Happy Wednesday!
Today is Digital Learning Day - maybe do something fun with technology or do a lesson on Digital Citizenship!
Check out this funny video about HUMP DAY...

Thursday, February 6

CST @ 1:20pm
Cultural Arts is happening today
Budget Workshop 7:30pm

Friday, February 7

Happy TGIF!
Tony is out of the Building today - Paul is having surgery!

Kids' Korner

So, I have nothing this week... first person that posts a comment with a funny, silly or interesting thing said by an anonymous student will get a treat!      

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 - JANUARY 31

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

January 10, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF and here is to an awesome weekend! Unfortunately, I will be stuck in class all weekend so please think of me as you are doing something fun! I am happy to say that I am in the home stretch with my dissertation proposal... I am defending it in two weeks. - January 24th! Then I will have a little down time before the actual study begins... good times!

Meanwhile, I am so glad we all survived one of the coldest weeks ever. Thank you to Joey, Joe and the crew for keeping everything running smoothly! Thank you to Kim, Lorraine, Lois, Lisa, Lisa, Rob & Phil for standing outside in the freezing cold weather this week to make sure our kids got in safely - you braved the cold weather with a smile on your faces - THANK YOU! Hopefully the worst is behind us in terms of the cold weather.

Finally, as I mentioned, Chris Lehman is coming to Cantiague on Monday and I am super excited about his visit. We will be walking around the building in the morning on Monday through about noon. I really cannot wait to hear his take on how things are going and in what areas we can grown and enhance our practice... free PD is the best!   :)
     

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

• I had a blast with Milissa during Spanish class in Tali and Marissa's room! I had the opportunity to work with a student who speaks Spanish fluently yet is normally so quiet around me. Not only did I get to practice my spanish skills but I got to hang out with this awesome little girl who made my day and taught me so much! The rest of the students were really engaged too as they prepared for their skits for next week - I cannot wait to go back next week to perform our dialogue skit! MUY BIEN! 

• Meryl's class working in small groups and immersed in powerful conversations about whether certain ideas were representative of themes in the book they had just completed. The kids were seriously debating concepts like persarverance and trying to decide if there were enough actions or events in the text to qualify that as a theme in the text - POWERFUL STUFF!   

• Jill's kids were working on Writing Workshop as they neared the end of their FUNctional Writing unit and the children were creating advertisements/fliers! Needless to say, I was so impressed by the way the children laid out their advertisements and the information they included to make their objects more appealing. They took nonfiction writing in a whole other direction and it was awesome! TAKE THAT COMMON CORE! 

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

The idea of teaching our children the skills necessary to be good digital citizens is important. I came across this link a while ago and thought it was worth sharing again - The Path to Digital Citizenship! There is a section specific to elementary kids- check it out!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, January 13

"B" Week
Chris Lehman in the HOUSE!

Tuesday, January 14

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - 3PM in the Library!
Gr. 5 DNA Lab In-School Presentation

Wednesday, January 15

Happy Wednesday!
Grade 3 Earth Balloon

Thursday, January 16

CST @ 1:20pm

Friday, January 17

Happy TGIF!
Happy Three Day Weekend!

Kids' Korner

While in the lunchroom a first grade student ran up to hug me and accidentally hit me where it hurt and when I cringed in pain, he said, "Sorry- I do that to my dad all the time and I have to remember where my hand should go!" Um... YEA! 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 - JANUARY 10

January 5, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to the entire Cantiague Family! I hope you all had a wonderful break and that everyone enjoyed the three-day weekend thanks to our snow day on Friday. Although I have enjoyed the down time (especially since I have had so much work for Penn), I am ready to get back into the swing of things - I miss being in your classrooms and spending time with the kids! 

Please note that this week's update will be a quick and short one without all the bells and whistles because we only had one day of school last week (I don't really have much to write). So, this will get us through the next few days! 

First off, in case you didn't see it on Twitter, here is a new video featuring our kids (near the end) where kids from New Jersey, Minnesota and Cantiague share what they hope to see in schools in 2014 - their vision for schools. Check it out - it is really cute...

Tech Tip of the Week...

If you have not downloaded Toontastic on your classroom iPads yes, you must do so ASAP!! It is a wonderful story telling app that lets students record their own voices telling a story using the pre-loaded characters that are available through the app. It helps teach kids about story arc, story elements and mood just to name a few. Paul LOVES it!  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, January 6

"A" Week
Happy first Monday of 2014!

Tuesday, January 7

Kindergarten Registration - AM
Faculty Enhancement Opportunity - 3pm in the Library for all staff!

Wednesday, January 8

Kindergarten Registration - AM!
Rubinberg - Open House
Shared Decision Making Committee Meeting - 3pm

Thursday, January 9

Kindergarten Registration - AM!
CST at 1:20pm
PTA Executive Board Meeting
Grade 3 Teachers - Math in Focus PD
Cultural Arts

Friday, January 10

Happy TGIF!
Kindergarten Registration - AM!
Team M&M & Maione Open House
Tony goes to Penn!

Pics of the Week...

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

WEEK IN TWEETS - BEFORE THE BREAK

December 13, 2013

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone as we launch into the final week of the year before we kick off 2014! I would like to begin by wishing everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR (this is the final Fast Friday Focus of 2013) and may the new year be filled with health, happiness and only wonderful things for each of you and your loved ones - you all deserve the best! Meanwhile, I hope everyone has some wonderful plans for the weekend and for the holiday break. We have a busy weekend ahead as it is actually Paul's birthday on Sunday and we are doing a "family party" and he is beyond excited! I also have to start... and finish my holiday shopping! LOL!

I would like to begin by thanking you all for Wednesday night... words cannot capture what that night meant to me. I am beyond humbled and incredibly honored by that community celebration in honor of the Bammy Award (a collective award for our entire community). I have no words except to say THANK YOU for letting me be the Lead Learner of this most unique school that is very much a utopia for me. You have all changed and enriched my life and I am a better person because of you. I hope you all had a blast because I know it was a most perfect night for me especially considering that I had the chance to celebrate with my family! THANK YOU... THANK YOU... THANK YOU!

I also have to thank you all for welcoming our many guests over this last week. I know it is always disruptive to have people in and out of your classrooms but know that your efforts are greatly appreciated. It is such an incredible honor to show off all the amazing things happening in our school - whether we saw kindergarten students self-assessing their reading skills, second graders making inferences or third graders navigating the shared reading experience the realities were the same - our curriculum is rich, child-centered, vigorous, meaningful and highly engaging. BRAVO to our entire team because it takes a village to educate kids and we do that REALLY WELL! In the end, all of our visitors left here feeling inspired, re-energized and informed (ok - maybe a little disappointed too cause what they saw happening here isn't happening in their spaces but there is always room for growth and that is why they visited). THANK YOU AGAIN! And a special thank you to Lisa D. for helping to coordinate these visits!   

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

• Christine and Donna's Morning Message where the class takes apart a message their teachers write and they are challenged to find contextualized grammatical errors, mechanical errors, spelling errors and even embedded mathematics word problems. Best part of the experience was that the children basically ran the whole morning meeting themselves - what an AWESOME way to make a "boring" topic interesting and meaningful to kids!

• Nancy was leading half the class through a lesson on making inferences in literature and I was blown away by the students' collective ability to identify relationships between the actions of the characters and use that information to make inferences! It was really impressive to hear them think aloud about how they could use background knowledge and text evidence to establish appropriate inferences - AWESOME!

• Milissa was working with the fourth graders during the FLES experience and I was so impressed by the children's ability to communicate in Spanish with such confidence and be able to use appropriate greetings and even share their birthdays - WOW!

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

I highly recommend that you all check out the site PADLET, which is basically a virtual bulletin board. You give it a name and then you can have kids go to that specific webpage (usually an easy address they can copy) and have them use the space to share comments, links, videos, etc. A great way to do a virtual K-W-L or just a place to compile information over a unit of study. AWESOME resource!  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, December 16

"A" Week
Gr. 4 - Immersed Storytelling Experience - All Week Rm. 7
Planbooks Due for all teachers by Wednesday!

Tuesday, December 17

Gr. 2 - Night Star Lab - see email for schedule
Teach Like a Pirate Book Club Meeting - 3pm!

Wednesday, December 18

Staff Holiday Luncheon - Thank you for all you do!
Team M&M Trip to Safety Town

Thursday, December 19

CST at 1:20pm
Rubinberg Trip to Safety Town
Cultural Arts Begins

Friday, December 20

Happy TGIF!
Maione Trip to Safety Town!
Happy Holidays!

Thursday, January 2

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2014... Here we come!
CST at 1:20pm
Cultural Arts

Friday, January 3

Happy TGIF!

Kids' Korner

I got nothing this week... anyone else have something funny? Please post a comment!      

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 - DECEMBER 13