Issue 26 - June 14

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone and Happy Father's Day to everyone who is celebrating this weekend! Being a father is definitely the highlight of my life so I cannot wait to kick back and hang out with Kelly and Paul!

Well, it is hard to believe that we have reached the end of another successful school year here at Cantiague - for most of us, our fifth year together as a collective team. The start of the next school year, which will be my sixth year at Cantiague, marks a special time in my career - it will be the longest stretch of time where I have been in the same school! I am so excited that this milestone is happening here at Cantiague because there is no other place that I would rather mark such a highlight in my career. Being the Lead Learner of this school is such a gift for me because literally not a day goes by where I don't learn something new or see something that impresses me or experience something that makes an impression on me. Our school is the model for what every elementary school should look like - forget what Dr. King says or what APPR expects - every school should just model themselves after our school and not only will children be college and career ready but we will begin to close the achievement gap. Thank you all for another incredible year filled with critical thinking, engaged learning and happy kids who genuinely love coming to school!

Of course, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do in our classrooms if it weren't for certain support structures that are in place that help facilitate learning. First and foremost, thank you to Laura and Pam for all of their hard work each and every day. Many people would argue that the tone of the Main Office directly affects the tone of the rest of the building. Well, it is clear to me that our Main Office is a happy place where people feel supported and children/families feel valued, which can be seen in every one of our classrooms too. Additionally, I want to thank Joey, Joe, Lisa, Edwin, Omar and Eduardo (our incredible custodial crew) for keeping our building clean, beautiful and safe. Without this dedicated team, who approach their work with pride and thoroughness, none of us would want to be in this space (trust me, I have seen some dirty schools) and our children wouldn't be as available to learning! Finally, I want to thank our amazing part-time aides who do so much to support the smooth running of our school. Thank you Janet, Debbie, Elaine, Chris, Olga, Diane and Mary for all that you do each day for our staff and kids - your jobs are not easy ones but we appreciate and value your daily efforts in keeping the students safe and supporting different spaces in the building! Cantiague is a special place because every member of the community plays a critical role - THANK YOU!

Finally, although I typically reflect on the things that I have observed while walking around the building, as a way to wrap up the year, I want to spotlight some of our collective successes and accomplishments this year...

• We were named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School and that is a HUGE accomplishment! 

• We refined both the reading and writing workshops to ensure that they were more closely aligned with the Common Core Standards!

• Book Clubs caught fire in our building and were featured in almost every classroom at Cantiague! Our kids were given the opportunity to take control of their learning as it relates to reading and they were given a chance to independently collaborate and deliberate - the end results were AWESOME!

• We finally got iPads in every classroom - that is a HUGE step forward!

• Seamless technology integration is at its highest levels within different learning experiences (BYOD days, kids using Prezi/Glogster/Edmodo/Animoto/PowerPoint, kids navigating the iPads independently, classes creating their own blogs, enhanced home/school communication, etc.).   

• Shared Reading has been implemented, on some levels, in every classroom! Kudos to our Grades 2 & 3 teams for their thorough and dedicated integration of this sound instructional approach that allowed them to easily address many of the Common Core Standards.

• Successful integration of the Math in Focus resource in Grades K, 1 and 2. Although there were some bumps in the road, especially in Grades 1 & 2, the overall feedback has been positive in regards to our students' development of problem solving skills - get ready Grade 3!

• The successful expansion of our Co-Teaching program from Grades 1 through 5! Thank you to our amazing teams for working so hard to refine and enhance your craft to meet the needs of a diverse group of students! 

• We have active Tweeters - this is AWESOME! Thanks to Allison, Mandy, Ally, Team Sanderly, Lesley, Carolyn, Team Marsen, Team Montonelli, Janine, Lorraine, Jeanne, Kim, Team Leverman, Lisa P. and Rande just to name a few! We are using social media as a way to enhance the home/school connection and that is critical!

• We handled both Hurricane Sandy and the Sandy Hook tragedy with the utmost levels of professionalism and made sure that our kids were fine in the end... we always maintain our primary focus on doing what is best for kids and that means the world to me!

Tech Tip of the Week...

One of the coolest new web tools around is called EduClipper! It is a quickly growing resource for teachers to explore, share and contribute educational resources. Best part is, it was created by a fellow Long Islander - Adam Bellow - who is active on Twitter and is a great resource. Check it out!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, June 17

"B" Week
Grade 5 Moving Up Ceremony - 9am
VIDEO DAY

Tuesday, June 18

Kindergarten Farewell Celebration!
End of Year Staff Party at Linda Schiffer's House
WATER BALLOON DAY

Wednesday, June 19

11:45am Dismissal
X Marks The Spot Day - Sidewalk Chalk Fun
Faculty Meeting at 1:15pm

Thursday, June 20

11:45am Dismissal
Yearbook Day
Faculty Meeting at 1:15pm

Friday, June 21

Happy End of the Year!
9:45am Dismissal - Tony is out!

Kids' Korner

One of the students asked if I were during the summer and when I said yes, he said, "WOW - you are really dedicated because if I were you, I would take the summer off!" 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 - JUNE 14

Issue 25 - May 31

Curriculum Connections...

Happy FINAL FRIDAY OF MAY to everyone! I am excited that tomorrow is the first day of June - it means the summer is right around the corner! Even though I have to DJ the Spring Dance tonight at Paul's school and have tons of HW to do this weekend, there is something about the month of June and summer that is truly magical! I am happy to share that after next weekend (June 7-9), I will have officially completed my first year of the doctoral program. Once again, I thank you all for your support - I could not have survived this year without you! 

On another note, some of you may have heard that I am a finalist for the Bammy Award for Elementary Principal. As you may recall, I was nominated for this award a couple of months ago with over a dozen other principals but yesterday I found out that I am one of the five finalists, which is such an incredible honor! I am actually up against three of my friends who I have connected with on Twitter and have learned so much from over the last year - it is so awesome to be mentioned in such great company! Of course, as Deborah stated at the retirement party, a leader is only as good as those around them so thank you for making me look like a good principal - it is a gift to lead this building each day because I learn so much!

Thanks again to our amazing Sunshine Committee for throwing such an awesome Retirement Party for our Fab 5! It was a blast - celebrating with many of you was the highlight of my week. The dancing, singing, laughing, incredible skits/videos/presentations and speeches by Ellen, Lesley, Beth, Lois and Deborah made this an unforgettable night!

Additionally thank you to all of our amazing classroom teachers who have been thoroughly prepared for the whole reorganization experience this week. Although the process of creating classes from one year to the next is daunting at times, the thing that impresses me most is how passionately each of you feels about the placement of our children. No one is in a rush to "dump" their kids on next year's teacher - there is so much thought and consideration that goes into this process - THANK YOU!

As you may have already seen, an email went out with the schedule/plan for Field Day, which is slated to take place on Tuesday (weather permitting). Please review it carefully because we are doing some things slightly differently this year (mass preps, all specialists helping with the experience, etc.). Let me know if there any conflicts or issues with the plan. 

Please note that you should keep this Fast Friday Focus because it will cover the next two weeks!

Finally, as I do each week, I devoted as much time as possible to traveling around the building to capture the AMAZINGNESS! During my visits this week, I...

• got to hang with Christine and Donna in the computer lab and was totally blown away by what was happening in regards to the seamless integration of technology! There were groups of kids creating Prezis, others creating Glogsters while others were working on the iPads to create iMotion movies - it was AWESOME! And the whole time, Donna and Christine were floating around the room supporting, watching and trouble shooting! I wish I could have videotaped the whole experience! 

• saw Lisa P. facilitating one of her third grade groups and was so impressed with how much she accomplished in the first five minutes of the period - she reviewed nonfiction text features with one child, set another child up for independent reading and completed a 1:1 conference - all within FIVE minutes! Lisa's implementation of the small group experience is something everyone should watch if you have a free minute!

• got to watch Book Clubs in both Melanie's and Janine's classrooms and was so impressed with the level of discussion and the ownership which the children assumed over the experience! These kids were so proud to be leading their own learning experiences - BRAVO!

• I got to meet with our three Book Plate Contest winners and will be working with them to create their own "Book Trailers" using Animoto! These will then be turned into a QR code that will be pasted in the book for future readers to scan! Thank you Lorraine for this opportunity! 

• Finally, I got to perform with the 5th Grade Band last night (thanks Dale) and it was such a wonderful experience! Our children performed beautifully under the direction of Dale, Diane and Clare last night at the concert and it was really one of the best ones EVER!

Tech Tip of the Week...

As we continue our  iPad implementation and increase in technology integration, I wanted to share this great resource - Appitic that spotlights different apps and this page is specifically for teachers (thank you Jeanne Boyle for sharing). Please try some out and let me know what you think!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, June 3

"B" Week
Gr. 4 Science State Test - Written Portion
Lollipops & Learning Day

Tuesday, June 4

Faculty Meeting for ALL Staff
FIELD DAY!
Picnic Around The World - 5PM- Please join us!
Messy Day

Wednesday, June 5

Gr. 5 Boat Trip 
CST at 1:20pm
New Name Day

Thursday, June 6

Orange Day - Bring an Orange & Wear Orange!
Rain Date for Field Day!

Friday, June 7

Happy TGIF!
Pretzel Day & Wear Purple or Pink!
Tony goes to PENN at 10am!

Monday, June 10

"A" Week
Quiet Day
Gr 4 Teachers Scoring Science State Test 

Tuesday, June 11

Faculty Meeting for all staff
James Bruchac Visits with Gr. 3 & 4 in the Library!!
PTA Meeting at 9:45am 
Rainbow Relay Race Day - Wear your Favorite Color & let's race!

Wednesday, June 12

Jericho Public Library Visits
CST at 1:20pm
Surprise Day - shhhh... We are SWAPPING!

Thursday, June 13

High School Reunion at 7:45am!
Gr. 5 Trip to CitiField
Terrific T-Shirt Day - wear your favorite t-shirt!

Friday, June 14

Happy TGIF!
Unbelievable Us Day - Celebrate ALL we Learned this year!

Kids' Korner

In honor of Joke Day, I had to share my absolute favorite of the day - Why are ghosts such bad liars? Because you can see right through them!! 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 MAY 31

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

Thursday, June 13th

Issue 24 - May 24

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone and Happy Memorial Day weekend to all - we all deserve this extra day off before we enter the final stretch of the school year with 19 days of school left! Even though there are technically less than 3 weeks of school left, I feel like we are still so incredibly busy and there are still such awesome things happening in our school. Thank you all for your dedicated efforts in continuing to keep our children highly engaged, critically thinking and actively learning - BRAVO! 

Congratulations are in order... Marissa Levine was granted tenure last night at the Board of Education Meeting! We are so lucky to have you on Team Cantiague Marissa - your knowledge base, work ethic and passion for doing what is best for children has made our school an even better place. A special thank you again for your work on the Compact Committee this year as you facilitated the Signature Project fundraising event - BRAVO! Cantiague Elementary is a Blue Ribbon School because of teachers like you, especially as a member of Team Leverman!

On another note, I want to thank all of you for your incredible work at our Faculty Meeting this week. I thought the conversations that filled our Library related to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics were AWESOME, POWERFUL and REFLECTIVE of our growth, development and the direction were are headed. I really enjoyed the perspectives shared from each grade level, the development of ideas from the primary level through the intermediate level. I also value the work that we still have to do - teaching and learning is an ongoing process that never ends and our curriculum (made up of a bunch of different resources) is a living "document" that can be modified, enhanced and enriched. Thank you to Joe P. for keeping us headed in the right direction and ensuring that the math instruction throughout the building was Common Core aligned. 

Furthermore, thank you all for making the kick-off to the Cantiague ABC Countdown such a huge success! From Exercise Day to Pink Shirt Day/Cantiague Cares Day, the school has been buzzing with enthusiasm and excitement - thank you all!

Finally, as I do each week, I devoted as much time as possible to traveling around the building to capture the AMAZINGNESS! During my visits this week, I...

• Have had the pleasure of working with a Book Club in Alex and Rosanna's class. We are reading the book Wonder and the level of conversation has been impressive - the children are so excited to get together and share their thoughts, opinions and perspectives related to the text - thank you for letting me join the group! 

• Hung out in every second grade classroom. The second graders did an AMAZING and INCREDIBLE job during their Fairy Tale Celebration the other day! The fractured fairy tales they performed were adorable and hysterical. They also wrote and published their own fractured fairy tales and the quality of their writing was awesome! Their pieces were filled with details, descriptive language and dialogue - BRAVO!

• Got to spend time with Jeanne while she was working 1:1 with a fourth grader and I was blown away by the growth this boy has made over the course of the year! Jeanne came up with a variety of activities to help the child develop his "Super Sentence" writing skills and his ability to add adjectives and details  to his sentences by the end of the period was really impressive - WOW!

• Visited with Karen's class while they were in the second computer lab. The kids were working on publishing their own fiction pieces and they were really excited about this mini unit of study in writer's workshop. Loved reading their pieces and sharing their enthusiasm! 

• Had a blast with Allison and Mandy's classes during Exercise Day where one of the dads from Mandy's class, who is a personal trainer, came in and worked the children out! It was so cute to watch the children try and follow his directions!

Tech Tip of the Week...

One of the coolest web based resources I have explored of late is Padlet, which basically is like a virtual bulletin board that could be used for a lot of different purposes. Check out this blog post - Using Padlet - for ideas/suggestions for how this app could be used!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, May 27

"A" Week
Happy Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 28

Reorganization Meetings for Grades 1, 2 & K (that order)!
HAT DAY

Wednesday, May 29

WRAP TESTING
Ices Day
CST at 1:20pm
Hands-On Science State Test- Gr. 4 - Moses, Levermans & Huzarsky in the gym
Cantiague Retirement Party

Thursday, May 30

Hands-On Science State Test - Gr. 4 for Test Mods, ESL, etc.
Gr. 5 Spring Concert!
Jump Rope & Jokes Day

Friday, May 31

Happy TGIF!
Kindness & Kisses Day
Reorganization Meetings for Grades 4 & 3 (that order)!

Kids' Korner

After Allison explained that I was her boss and that Hank was my boss, Abby G. announced that she was HIS boss! 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 - MAY 24

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, June 13th

Issue 23 - May 10

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone! I am excited for the upcoming weekend as we will be celebrating Kelly's birthday (it is next week) and then Mother's Day! I actually booked a Zumba party for Kelly and 30 of her closest friends to dance the afternoon away (not sure if I will Zumba). As for Mother's Day, we haven't exactly finalized a plan but I will make sure we celebrate both our moms and Kelly - I don't know what I would do without them! 

With that being said, I would like to wish everyone who is celebrating a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY on Sunday! I hope each of our Cantiague moms has an awesome day and weekend because you all deserve to be celebrated and honored for all that you do each and every day—both here at school and at home. I am seriously in awe of each of you because somehow you manage to fill the roles of teacher, parent, psychologist, caregiver and advocate all day at school and then go home to your own children/families and fill these roles (& more) with grace and patience—you are all an incredible inspiration! 

Additionally, I want to take one last chance to wish each of you a HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK! It was an incredibly hectic week so I didn't necessarily get to speak with everyone in person but I want you all to know that it is an incredible honor and gift to be your principal! 


In thinking about the amazing teachers in our building, I want to take a moment to commend our awesome CST/IST Team. This has been an especially busy year because of the fact that Beth was split and because of a high number of referrals to the CSE based on specific student needs, which all came after various appropriate RTI attempts. MaryAnn, Lisa, Deborah, Joe, Beth, Kim and Lois work tirelessly throughout the year to support specific student needs, help with various intervention plans and when necessary, spend hours testing a child. The care and compassion exhibited by every member of this team ensures that the needs of each child will be met and that no matter what is needed, we will find a way to try & make it happen. As we sit through annual reviews, I am reminded of their efforts– thank you CST!

This week also allowed me the opportunity to publish a new blog post inspired by each of you and the amazing things you all do each day - Educators: More Than A Number! Check them if you have time and are interested!

Please note that you should keep this Fast Friday Focus because it will cover the next two weeks!

Luckily, most of the ridiculous state testing is over so I was able to visit more classrooms, listen to more kids and just get reconnected! This is some of the stuff that I got to see this week...

• Ilene serving some delicious quesadillas in honor of Cinco De Mayo! It has been so great to listen to our children's growth in the area of Spanish - from being exposed to Spanish texts to the different activities, our children have grown a LOT!! 

• The kids in Alex and Rosanna's class engaged in the Math Quest experience where they were working in groups to solve some challenging word problems. Their collaborative efforts to tackle problems that forced them to access many strategies and skills was impressive!

• Our 3rd and 4th graders during their Spring Concerts - they were really excellent! The 3rd graders were the best recorder players that I have heard in years and our 4th graders played with such enthusiasm and pride! BRAVO Dale, Diane and Clare!

• I got to visit with Tali and Marissa's class while they were working on their animal research projects and to observe the seamless integration of technology was beyond impressive. There were PowerPoints, Prezis, Glogster and even a Haiku Decks being created to present information they had researched - AWESOME! 

• Finally, I got to read with a little boy in Mandy's class and I was so impressed with his ability to use a bunch of skills to figure out unfamiliar words and then be able to do a retelling that focused on the beginning, middle and end - WOW!

Tech Tip of the Week...

As we continue our slow but study iPad implementation and increase in technology integration, I wanted to share this great resource - Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools - on the left hand side of this website are a bunch of links that spotlight different web based resources that can enhance the learning experiences for kids. Please try some out and let me know what you think!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, May 13

"A" Week
Happy Belated Mother's Day
Dancing Dreams Assembly - Gr. 2 & 3 - 10am @ Auditorium
Dads Do Recess

Tuesday, May 14

Faculty Meeting for ALL Staff
Gr. 3 Trip to Outdoor Ed Center
Guest Author visits with Kindergarten - Library Closed

Wednesday, May 15

Gr. 4 Trip to Outdoor Ed Center
CST at 1:20pm

Thursday, May 16

Happy Thursday!
Cantiague ABC Countdown Kicks Off!
Guys Sports Night - Gr. K-2 @ 6pm; Gr. 3-5 @ 6:50pm!

Friday, May 17

Happy TGIF!
Gr. 4 Planning with Lisa D. - Literacy Lab is closed!
Tony goes to PENN at 10am!

Monday, May 20

"B" Week
PINK SHIRT DAY - Cantiague Says NO to Bullying!
Gr. 3 Math In Focus Training 

Tuesday, May 21

Faculty Meeting for all staff
BUDGET VOTE DAY!!
PTA Meeting at 9:45am 

Wednesday, May 22

Gr. 5 Trip - Blue Man Group
CST Cancelled
Gr. 2 Fairy Tale Celebration!

Thursday, May 23

Happy Thursday!

Friday, May 24

Happy TGIF!
Gr. 1 Open House
Gr. 5 Visits the Middle School

Kids' Korner

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, instead of me sharing anything, just walk around the building and check out the pink sheets that up all over the place (thanks PTA) to see the amazing things our kids have to say about you!

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 -  MAY 10

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th

Issue 22 - Apr. 26

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone! All I can say is that this day could not have come soon enough... LONGEST couple of weeks EVER! Between the state testing, various meetings, some student behavior issues and other stuff, this has been quite a busy time. Fortunately, the weekend is upon us and the opportunity to rest and unwind (in my case, doing HW for Penn) is finally here. I am hopeful that everyone can come out to Happy Hour for a little while today because a Cantiague celebration (for Dr. Sapienza, Joey's birthday, etc.) is always a fun time! 

As this week, and the majority of the NYS Testing comes to a close, I would like to extend a special thank you to Pam who came in early each day of state testing to help me package the tests! Also, thanks to Kim Kelly who stepped in to man the Main Office while Pam was helping me - there is nothing like the team work here at Cantiague - this is what makes us a special place! I also want to take a moment to commend our students and each of you for all of your hard in preparing our students for the Math assessments! Our children did an outstanding job and it is because of each of you. I had the pleasure of administering the assessment to a bunch of students and I was blown away by their understandings of concepts and how critically they were thinking throughout the process—BRAVO team Cantiague and especially our Math leader and expert— Mr. Joe P.!


As the weather improves, spring kicks into full effect and our children become less focused in class, lets try and remember a few important things:

1. We need to keep the children engaged at all times—the longer children are engaged, the more productive and positive the tone of the building will remain!

2. This is an opportune time for project/passion based learning activities where children have a chance to apply the different skills and strategies they have learned throughout the year in the different areas. This is also a great way to infuse the iPads and let the kids create! If you are doing anything, please let me know and I will be happy to help your initiatives!

3. Reinforce the need to be safe, positive, responsible, kind and respectful everyday!

This week also allowed me the opportunity to publish two new blog posts... one related to state testing and my frustrations - How Will This Help? ... and a second one that I wrote with a friend of mine, Tom, who is a principal in Wisconsin entitled Everything We Need To Know We Learned on Twitter (we wrote this together using Google Docs- the power of collaborating is AWESOME)! Check them if you have time and are interested!

Please note that you should keep this Fast Friday Focus because it will cover the next two weeks!

Unfortunately, the state testing took up so much of my time this week so I had limited time in the classroom but I know there are still so many amazing things happening in our building! This week I got to see some limited stuff...

• Laurie engaged the third graders in a really fun hands-on activity where they had to construct resources to support the pollination of a seed! The kids made boats, helicopters, parachutes and other stuff so they could see how a seed physically travels for the purposes of pollination - AWESOME! 

• The kids in Meryl's class were working in groups using laptops, iPads and desktops to create their own little music videos to songs where they wrote the lyrics! It was so awesome to watch the children engaged in this opportunity to collaborate and create!

• I got to hang out in Carolyn's room during independent reading time and the children were so excited to share the books that they were reading. They were engaged, focused and engrossed in their reading. All the while, Carolyn was using her iPad to confer with students and make notes of her observations - great use of that resource!

• I got to see Christine and Donna's class with Clare in the auditorium preparing for their upcoming Recorder Spring Concert and they were doing such an excellent job and they were having fun at the same time. 

• Finally, I got to visit Joe's room during the Grade 2 Math Enrichment period and I was in awe of their work. The children were engaged in some awesome games and they were applying all their problem solving and critical thinking skills all while having a blast- BRAVO!

Tech Tip of the Week...

Thanks to some of the response I got last week, a couple of people shared some great resources...

Dawn Camilleri shared the link to this great blog that is rich in resources for teachers... Teaching Blog Addict 

Jeanne Boyle used this cool app with her students - check it out - Educreations

Lisa Palmieri highly recommends this app - Running Record Calculator


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK...

Monday, April 29

"A" Week
Planbooks due for ALL staff by Wednesday morning!

Tuesday, April 30

Faculty Meeting for TEACHERS ONLY
Gr. 3 Planning Meeting with Lisa D. - Lit Lab Closed!
Staff Luncheon

Wednesday, May 1

Incoming Kindergarten Student Orientation - Literacy Lab CLOSED for the day!
NO CST - Meeting to Plan for next K Orientation
Gr. 3 Chicken Incubation Experience

Thursday, May 2

Happy Thursday!
Tony is out all day - religious holiday!

Friday, May 3

Happy TGIF!
Tony is out all day - religious holiday!

Monday, May 6

"B" Week
Co-Teaching Consultant Visits 

Tuesday, May 7

Faculty Meeting for all staff
Gr. 5 Planning Meeting with Lisa D. - Lit. Lab Closed 

Wednesday, May 8

DNA Trip - Alites
CST at 1:20pm
Gr. 3 & 4 Spring Concert - details to follow!

Thursday, May 9

Incoming Kindergarten Student Orientation Pt. II - Library CLOSED for the day!
Final Compact Committee Meeting of the Year!

Friday, May 10

Happy TGIF!
Career Day - schedule to follow!
Pre-Paid Carvel Ice Cream Sale

Kids' Korner

While discussing the Jester Jim experience with a 4th Grader he said to me, "So, can I call you Tony from now on? I mean, we do go way back and you're not that much older than me!" LOL - I almost said OK because he didn't think I was that old!  :) 

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 - APRIL 26

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th

Issue 21 - Apr. 19

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone - I, for one, am THRILLED that it is Friday! This has been one of the longest weeks of the year for me (and many of you)! 

I apologize for my crankiness on most mornings this week - please know it was not directed at anyone but it was a sign of my frustration with these ridiculous state assessments. We are not supposed to talk or write about the tests but this is all I will say... in what other area of our lives do we expect 8, 9, 10 and 11 year olds to sit quietly for almost two hours just reading and writing without a break for three days in a row? Sitting quietly is hard enough for two hours but to have to read and then try and answer questions that are completely set up to trick them (THREE DAYS in a row) is RIDICULOUS! You want them to read a text and then show an understanding? FINE - then give them questions or opportunities to show their understandings and new knowledge. Don't ask them to describe which paragraph BEST supports this, that or the other... who reads for those purposes? NOT ME! And guess what, I turned out ok (I think) - I went to college and I have a job that I love even though I am not the best reader in the world! This whole experience angers me as a parent, educator and advocate for kids because I do not believe there is a crisis in the world of public education today - this crisis is being generated by politicians, commissioners of education and the media and I don't think it is rooted in facts or research! If "they" really want to fix the crisis in our educational system, then address the issues of race, class and segregation - those are the problems that the Common Core and these tests will NEVER fix! Ok - that is all I will say - I am stepping off my soap box now - thank you for letting me rant and rave! 

On another note, I want to thank all of you for your incredible work at our Faculty Meeting this week. I thought the conversations that filled our Library were AMAZING, RICH and REFLECTIVE of our growth, development and the direction were are headed. I really enjoyed the perspectives shared from each group, the development of ideas in a vertical way from one grade level to the next. I also value the work that we still have to do - teaching and learning is an ongoing process that never ends and our curriculum is a living "document" that can be modified, enhanced and enriched. For me, it was clear, that two things we want to address, school-wide, next year, is developing an "argument" in writing using evidence and faithfully using the Shared Reading platform to support all reading (close reading too) strategies and skills. 

Furthermore, a special thank you to all our amazing teachers, aides and specialists who proctored the torturous exams this week - your positive and supportive approach made such a difference for the children!

Unfortunately, the state testing took up so much of my week that I had limited time in the classroom but I know there are still so many amazing things happening in our building! This week I got to see some limited stuff...

• Ilene was nice enough to let me hijack her read aloud of the Spanish version of Hungry Caterpillar in Lesley's class and I had such a blast! I was really impressed with the childrens' developing vocabulary in Spanish - they knew colors, adjectives and certain nouns - MUY BIEN! 

• The fourth graders are doing some awesome work with animal research projects! The kids are learning as much as possible about each animal and are working on different presentations - I saw a couple of really cool Prezis - WOW!

• I got to hang out with Karina and her small Kindergarten group while they were playing Subtraction Bowling to help them build their basic number skills and their automaticity with different subtraction facts!

• I spent time in both Kindergarten classrooms this week and was impressed with their literacy work. For example, the children were being introduced to digraphs and they were working on identifying and building compound words. Mandy and Allison found ways to make these learning experiences hands-on and in some cases enhanced with technology. 

• I got to visit in Jen and Joe's room during their math instructional block and was impressed with the small groups that were running and the children's ability to employ different mental math facts - cool stuff!

Tech Tip of the Week...

Thanks to some of the response I got last week, a couple of people shared some great resources...

Janine Maione shared - Reader's Theater Scripts - her kids LOVE this creative way to expand the reading experience!

Jeanne Boyle shared a link to the following blog - iPad in the Classroom and it has a lot of awesome resources for iPad usage in the classroom!

Schedule of the Week...

Monday, April 22

"B" Week

Tuesday, April 23

Happy Tuesday!

Wednesday, April 24

CST at 1:20pm
MATH TESTING Gr. 3-5

Thursday, April 25

MATH TESTING Gr. 3-5
Happy Birthday Joey!

Friday, April 26

Happy TGIF!
MATH TESTING Gr. 3-5

Kids' Korner

While testing a fourth grader in my office, he says, "Mr. Sinanis, I think I am smarter than the people who made up the ELA!" AMEN to that! 

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 - APRIL 19

Upcoming Board of Education Meetings...

• Thursday, May 23rd
• Thursday, June 13th