March 28, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

TGIF to everyone on this final Friday of March... that is right my friends... starting next week we are in April, which is unreal. We have less than 3 months of school left and before we know it, we will be kicking off our awesome ABC Countdown - I cannot wait! Unfortunately, before then, we have to get through the state tests for ELA, Math and Science (for Grade 4). Next week is the ELA on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, which means that some services will be cancelled and many rooms will be used for testing - but, I am happy to say that it will be less disruptive than last year. Please make sure you review all scheduling changes for the upcoming week so we are all where we are supposed to be at the right time!

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for your hard work over the last week or two with getting report cards done and handling the onslaught of conferences this week... you all AMAZE me! From all the specialists who attend every team meeting, to all the classroom teachers who facilitate every conversation, to all the aides who provide the specific data and information, the feedback from our families is always positive. They know that we put children at the center of our work here and our kids are happy, they feel safe and are supported by each of you until they meet with success. BRAVO! I am honored to be associated with this learning organization. 

In case anyone is interested, and has a few extra minutes, click on the link below to read an article I wrote with two other principals based on the book Teach Like A Pirate - those of you who were part of the book club definitely served as an inspiration for this piece... my first official "published" piece, which I am excited to share...

LEAD LIKE A PIRATE

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

• While visiting Carolyn's classroom, I had a chance to watch the children come up to the SMARTBoard during math and explain the different ways that the solved the various problems. I was so impressed with their thinking and their ability to explain their problem solving strategies - they are ready to teach 2nd grade! 

• Hanging out in the hallway by Janine's classroom, it was awesome to watch a small group of students working together using the iPad to generate their latest class blog post. It was great to see the children empowered to take control of the class blog and use student voice to tell the story of their classroom. AWESOME! 

• Finally, I spent time with Rande's class in the computer lab and enjoyed watching them put their Canada presentations together. The students had free choice of what platform to use so there was everything from PowerPoint to Prezi to Glogster - AWESOME!

• In case you missed them, here are the last two Video Updates of the Week featuring Mandy's and Ginny's students - please show them to your class...

Tech Tip of the Week...

In thinking about the different ways to assess our work and the students' work, one of the words we discuss a lot is RUBRIC! So, check out this list of 6 different online rubric generators that come highly recommended... 6 Online Rubric Makers!  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, March 31

"A" Week
Planbooks due for ALL TEACHERS!
Tony in Syracuse (Presenting at a Conference)

Tuesday, April 1

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity for all staff!
ELA Testing - Grades 3, 4 & 5 (AM - many rooms will be used)!
Happy Tuesday!

Wednesday, April 2

ELA Testing - Grades 3, 4 & 5 (AM - many rooms will be used)!

Thursday, April 3

CST @ 1:20pm
ELA Testing - Grades 3, 4 & 5 (AM - many rooms will be used)!

Friday, April 4

Happy TGIF!

Kids' Korner

While doing the Video Update this week, while the children were sharing what was happening on each grade level, the boy who was talking about the Mo Willems author study initially said they were doing an author study of MoMo Williams! 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 - MARCH 28

March 14, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone as we reach the mid-point of March - one of the longest and busiest months of the school year. I know this will be a busy time for each of you with report cards, comments and subsequent parent meetings in the next couple of weeks. If I can be of any support or if you need my assistance at any parent meeting, please let me know and I will make myself available. Thank you in advance for all of your hard work - our kids appreciate it! 

Additionally, thank you to all of you who embraced the NO WORKSHEET WEEK CHALLENGE! I know it wasn't easy but I am hopeful that it was a meaningful experience for everyone to look at our practice from a different perspective. 

On another note, I am happy to share we were able to complete our second unannounced Stay Put Drill with no issues - everyone did exactly what was necessary. There was a quick response and our children's safety was ensured! Thank you for your attention to this drill as being prepared is critical in any crisis!   

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 in honor of NO WORKSHEET WEEK CHALLENGE...

• Tali and Marissa totally flipped math instruction this week and there were no worksheets involved! The children were creating their own fraction stories, playing card games and they even created a hopscotch board for different fraction games throughout the week. Taking fractions OFF the paper is not an easy task but they did it beautifully - AWESOME!  

• The entire Gr. 2 team for flipping their morning geography work and their shared reading experience so there were no worksheets involved. For example, the children studied a map on the board and then came up with different questions and information they could learn just based on the map. Or with shared reading the children were critically reflective of the text without just answer low level questions - WOW!  

• Thank you all for making my 40th Birthday so incredibly AWESOME! I loved the whole Dress Like Mr. Sinanis experience - it was the best birthday ever!

• In case you missed it, here is the Video Update of the Week featuring Allison's cuties and Zach L. - 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 byGeorge Couros. This video is about 20 minutes long and you don't have to watch it - just listen to it! It is about the need for change in the world of education...

GEORGE COUROS TED TALK

  


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, March 17

"B" Week

Tuesday, March 18

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity- 3PM in the Library for all staff to continue iPad discussion!
Grade 3 class on a trip to Brooklyn Museum!
PTA Meeting at 9:45am

Wednesday, March 19

MS Counselors visit Gr. 5 classrooms
Grade 3 class on a trip to Brooklyn Museum! 

Thursday, March 20

PTA Staff Appreciation Luncheon!
CST at 1:20pm
Grade 3 class on a trip to Brooklyn Museum!

Friday, March 21

Happy TGIF!
Tony at PENN!
Cerullo's class on a trip!

Monday, March 24

"A" Week
Happy Parent/Teacher Conference Week! 

Tuesday, March 25

Levermans on a trip!

Suzy Kline visits Gr. 2 - LIBRARY CLOSED!

Report Cards Issued
No FEO!

Wednesday, March 26

Happy Wednesday!
Moses' class on a trip!

Thursday, March 27

CST at 1:20pm

Parent/Teacher Conferences 3pm... till whenever! 

Friday, March 28

Happy TGIF!
No School For Kids... PT Conferences!

Kids' Korner

While in the Library a kindergarten student asked me if I was going to be the Leprechaun this year that would mess up their classroom. I said I wasn't tiny enough to be one to which he quickly responded... "You can be the big fat leprechaun!" LOL! Really?     

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 - MARCH 14

March 7, 2014

Curriculum Connections...

TGIF to everyone after another snow shortened week! I am so done with the snow and shoveling and trying to find parking (yes, the burden of living in NYC)! Honestly, I am even done with the cold temps - I am so happy we were able to get out for recess this week - that was totally needed... for EVERYONE! I hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend... don't forget to turn your clocks one hour AHEAD on Saturday night... SPRING AHEAD!

I would like to start by thanking everyone for making the visit on Thursday with Barbara Bauer an amazing one! She could not stop raving about all the awesome things she observed and namely, the continuity across the grade levels - BRAVO!! YOU ALL ROCK - thanks for making me look good!!

On another note, I am excited about next week... for the opportunity to tackle the optional "NO WORKSHEET CHALLENGE!" As I mentioned at the FEO, this is an opportunity for everyone to reconsider and reframe and reconsider how we use sheets of any kind in our classrooms. The challenge is optional and I want to reiterate that I am not challenging us to go PAPERLESS... instead, let's reconsider the value of the worksheets/sheets we are using. Do the activities challenge our kids to access their critical thinking skills? Do you need the sheet to accomplish the goal? What are kids learning by completing the sheet? Things of that nature. So, not only will we save some trees but we might push ourselves out of our comfort zones and have an awesome time doing it! Please keep the dialogue flowing next week so we can discuss what sheets we feel don't count as worksheets, what activities we are doing in place of the worksheets, etc. I am so excited about NO WORKSHEET WEEK! :)     

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

• Loved hanging out in the gym with Rob and Phil and watching the kids participate in all the fun circus themed activities! The kids were having such a blast trying their hand at everything from cup staking to trying to create structures with the hula hoops to scarf tossing... it is a fun and AWESOME time!

• The continuity in the area of mathematics across the grade levels is really impressive! I have seen various grade levels immersed in fractions this week and to see how the skills and concepts evolve from one grade level to the next is really awesome. The children are developing an understanding as young as second grade and then by fifth grade they are multiplying and dividing fractions - it is a wonderful thing to watch!

• Finally, I am so incredibly impressed with the level of rigor and vigor in reading and writing instruction in kindergarten and first grade! The children are being pushed to self-reflect on what strategies they are using in both areas in Kindergarten. Also, our students in Grade 1 are experiencing book clubs and developing independent discussion skills. THIS IS CRAZY!!! 5 and 6 year olds are totally accessing their critical thinking skills and it blows me away! WOW!   

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

Tech Tip of the Week...

Check out this great blog post spotlighting the Explain Everything app used in conjunction with math instruction... Explain Your Thinking With Math Stations!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, March 10

"A" Week
Today is going to be the BEST Monday of the week!

Tuesday, March 11

Faculty Enhancement Opportunity Cancelled!
Happy Tuesday!

Wednesday, March 12

Gr. 5 DNA Field Trip- Siper & Burrows 
We are halfway through the week!

Thursday, March 13

CST @ 1:20pm
Guest Author for Grade 4 - Library CLOSED!
Gr. 5 DNA Field Trip - Alites

Friday, March 14

Happy TGIF!
Second Marking Period ENDS!

Kids' Korner

While doing the Video Update this week, while the children were simply supposed to introduce themselves, I zoomed in on the first child and he says... "I forgot what I am supposed to say..." LOL! Really?? Watch the video... its funny!        

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 - MARCH 7

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