June 12, 2015

Curriculum Connections... 

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 seventh year together as a collective team... a team that is dedicated to doing what is in the best interest of ALL children. It is hard to believe that over the last 10 months we have made #GeniusHour the norm, we were named a 2015 Model School and thanks to your support and patience, I was able to successfully complete my dissertation. If that wasn't enough, you all made this year incredibly positive for me as I experienced several major transitions in my personal life - THANK YOU! 

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 about test scores and educator evaluations - every school should just model themselves after our school and not only will children be college and career ready but will be LIFE ready because they are happy, secure and feel incredibly valued. 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 impacts the climate of the rest of the building. Well, it is clear to me that our Main Office is a positive and joyful place where people feel supported and children/families feel welcomed, which can be seen in every one of our classrooms too. Laura - you have held down the fort in Pam's absence and Pam - we miss you and cannot wait for you to come back! Special thanks to Elaine and Debbie for helping out too!

Additionally, I want to thank Joey, Joe, Edwin, Omar, Marcel 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 nasty 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, Diane and Melinda 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!

Congratulations again to Ginny, Lorraine, Diane and Janet on their retirements - we will miss you! To everyone moving on to a new job, grade level or phase in their lives - best of luck! And to everyone getting married or having a baby or any other life changing event - I wish you the best! For me, this summer will mark a huge change because I am moving to Pelham Manor with Felix and starting a new chapter in my life that I cannot wait to share with Paul. 

So, please know that all of the above will mark our #EduWins for this week - it seems fitting as we close out the year. Please note this Fast Friday Focus will cover the last two weeks of school so please hold on to it! 

Finally, I hope that EVERYONE will leave a comment this week to share their HIGHLIGHT of the 2014-2015 school year. It is easy to do and will only take a couple of minutes... do it from a desktop computer - it will be easier!

Tech Tip of the Week...

Take this summer to try something new... explore a new blog; try out a new app or find a passion to explore! This will be a great way to prepare for the 2015-2016 school year. 

SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, June 15

"A" Week
I will be meeting with teachers over the next two weeks for our End of Year Evaluations!

Tuesday, June 16

F.E.O. at 3pm in the Library. 
SEPTA Awards Night - 7pm MS Library
(I will be out of the building this morning because Paul is graduating from 5th Grade)

Wednesday, June 17

Happy Wednesday... the last FULL Wednesday of the year!

Thursday, June 18

Jericho Public Library Summer Reading presentations - 2nd Computer Lab throughout the morning (see the email for the schedule)
Pre-Paid Ice Cream Sale
Final Board of Ed Meeting Honoring Retirees! 

Friday, June 19

Happy Friday!
Kindergarten Open House - 8:45am
Guys Do Recess
End of Year Staff Party - Carolyn's House

Monday, June 22

"B" Week
Gr. 5 Moving Up at 9am!
Gr. 5 Moving Up Party - 6pm

Tuesday, June 23

F.E.O. at 3pm in the Library
LAST FULL DAY OF SCHOOL

Wednesday, June 24

Students dismissed at 11:45am

Thursday, June 25

Students dismissed at 11:45am

Friday, June 26

Happy LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! 
Zoom and Zip into SUMMER!!!

Kids' Korner

During the PTA Picnic Around the World a mom pulled me aside and said, "Dr. Sinanis, Cantiague is really a special place that creates such a positive and warm feeling - that is why I come to every event here because that is missing in many other parts of the world!" BOOM! That says it all!        

Pics of the Week...

Check out the last two Cantiague's Week in Tweets - click on the following links to see our Pics of the Week...

WEEK IN TWEETS

June 5, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday on this first Friday of June! I want to begin by thanking Rob, Phil and all the specialists who helped out on Field Day - it was the most awesome Field Day EVER and the kids had a blast, which is the most important thing! I am so glad the weather held up and that #Cantiague spirit permeated our building from start to finish! I want to thank our Shared Decision Making Team members - Ally, Matt, Allison, Tali, Sarah and Jessica and of course our two student representatives (Alli Pearlman and Rebecca Cho) who were instrumental in enhancing the Field Day experience this year... from making sure each class had a color to adding two colors to the experience to integrating a more robust Apache Relay - these people (in collaboration with Rob and Phil) were instrumental in enacting change and that has been a powerful theme this year at Cantiague!

Enacting change... we have dedicated a lot of time to that notion this year. We literally pushed ourselves out of our collective comfort zones this year on so many levels. Every classroom has a Twitter account this year to share all the amazing stories unfolding in their space... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! Every child has experienced Genius Hour this year... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We all came together to plan and execute our first ever Innovation Day.... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We are shifting from the WRAP assessment to the F&P Benchmark assessment... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We embraced and integrated the notion of coding and computer science in every room this year... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We tackled the notion of digital publications by accessing resources such as Google Classroom and QR Codes and Touchcast... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We basically eliminated test prep this year... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! We amplified student voice this year by having them lead FEOs and PTA Meetings... that has been a HUGE CHANGE! The list can go on and on and the reasons are pretty simple... we have readily availed ourselves to new ideas, we all got more comfortable with pushing ourselves outside of our collective comfort zone (not an easy one), we know the value and importance of collaboration, and, the thing that I believe makes the Cantiague staff so unique and amazing is never wanting to disappoint... we don't want to disappoint our colleagues... we don't want to disappoint our families... we don't want to disappoint ourselves... and most importantly we don't want to disappoint our kids and that is what has allowed us to enact so much change and reiterate the fact that we are the best school on the planet!   


Over the last two weeks, as I walked around #Cantiague, I witnessed the following #EduWins...

• I had the chance to spend some time in Jessica's classroom during writing workshop and I was blown away by how engaged and immersed her students were during the drafting stage in the process. They were all reading over their work, making revisions, drafting and they were all so focused on their work that I could literally hear a pin drop. It is clear that a lot of work has been done this year putting the structures in place for a successful workshop - both in reading and writing - and that was clear during my visit (in the last month of school) based on how dedicated the children were in successfully drafting their pieces!  

• The children in Katie's and Nancy/Carly's classes did an amazing job with the celebration of the fractured fairy tale unit. Not only did they put on two adorable plays, but they also shared the books they created with their families and everyone was blown away. The changes from last year's performances were great too - loved the way each classroom personalized the experience for their children - BRAVO!

• Although the whole Field Day experience was AWESOME, the Apache Relay must be recognized as a really special event that challenged the children to collaborate and think critically in order to win - it was all about strategy and skill, which are important 21st Century Skills! Thank you Rob and Matt for executing this special event that really challenged our children to access the skills they need to be successful in life!

Tech Tip of the Week...

Going with this notion of enacting change, I wanted to share this great article about creativity and why it is more important now than ever to integrate in the classroom. Check it out... Why Creativity in the Classroom Matters More Than Ever! 


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, June 8

"B" Week
Gr. 5 Sailing Trip - Siper, Malone & 1/2 of Levlons

Tuesday, June 9

Gr. 5 Sailing Trip - Cerullo & 1/2 of Levlons
Gr. 1 Waterfront Trip
FEO Cancelled 
Tony out of the building

Wednesday, June 10

Senior H.S. Reunion - 7:45am in the Library
Tony out of the building

Thursday, June 11

CST @ 1:20pm
Extra Extra Assemblies in the AM - check email for schedule
PTA Meeting - 9:30am
PTA Picnic Around The World - 5pm to 7pm
JTA Retirement Dinner

Friday, June 12

Happy TGIF!
Reorganization - Gr. 3 & 4

Kids' Korner

During lunch on Field Day, I explained to the Kindergarten students that they would be able to have an ice after finishing their pizza when one of them got up and said to me, "Thank you Mr. Sinanis - this is the best day ever because I will get dessert twice - don't tell my mom!" LOL!! Love it!!         

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 29, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone on this final Friday of May... that's right people... on Monday we officially kick off JUNE!! This has been the fastest nine months of my life but I am so excited about the coming days and weeks with the ABC Countdown, Field Day (so excited about the battle between FOUR colors) our 5th Grade Moving Up experience - it is going to be AWESOME! We have accomplished a lot this year and have experienced a lot of growth as a learning community (whether it is the birth of Innovation Day or the meaningful integration of Google Classroom) so I cannot wait to see how we close out the year... it will definitely be a year to remember and one that we will re-define the #Cantiague experience.  

Of course, this time of year also brings certain challenges - especially as it relates to keeping the children actively engaged in learning when all they can think about is summer, camp and non-school related fun. With that in mind, please make sure that every minute is accounted for during the school day because when the day is filled with activities and there is little down time, the children tend to meet with more success. Whether it is an increase in Genius Hour during the week or a project that pushes the children to access their critical thinking skills, let's provide them with opportunities to learn, grow and still have fun while in school.

When thinking about our upcoming FEO on Tuesday (6/2) I would like to suggest that we all explore educational blogs that can help us organize our thoughts for the summer and our own professional/personal development as we prepare for the 2015-16 school year. Exploring educationally oriented blogs allows me to experience professional/personal development on my own terms - self-directed learning where I can pursue my interests that will help me enhance my skills as an educator. So, instead of physically sitting in the same space together on Tuesday for professional development during the FEO, I am asking that everyone carves out an hour between now and next Wednesday to explore some blogs and learn something new or try something new or establish a goal for next year - blogs are an amazing resources. Here is a link to a Google Doc that features links to some bloggers who have taught me a lot and I think could be useful for our upcoming FEO (remember we won't actually be meeting in person)...

Blogs To Learn From 

Over the last two weeks, as I walked around #Cantiague, I witnessed the following #EduWins...

• Spent some time in the second computer lab with Melissa and her students and was blown away by the work exploring line graphs while also learning about stocks. Melissa set them up with resources within the Google Classroom and then provided them with a link to a site that generated the line graph after the students correctly inputted information. Melissa also provided the children with 3 stocks they could graph and immediately the room was buzzing with exciting energy. The highlight, from my perspective, was that the children didn't spend time trying to draw the perfect line graph; instead, they worked on analyzing data based on the stock info they graphed - WOW!  

• The children in Adam's class did an amazing job with the celebration of the fractured fairy tale unit. Not only did they put on two adorable plays, but they also shared the books they created with their families and everyone was blown away. Their growth over the course of this unit of study was really impressive - BRAVO!

• On Wednesday we had some visitors from Syosset who wanted to see how we are integrating technology and we had the chance to see some awesome work in the following spaces... Ally's class was having centers where they were using the ShowMe app and Sphero; Jen & Jeanne's class were having their kids use PicCollage to label pictures as they reinforced nonfiction text features; Meryl's class where we discussed the 1:1 iPads in her room; Jessica's room where she shared her experiences with Google Classroom and NearPod and then Joe showed off the important work with LEGO Robotics. Overall it was an AWESOME couple of hours - thank you!

Tech Tip of the Week...

Saw this great article about 30 apps a teacher must have for a paperless classroom! Although we are not there (... yet!), I did think it was a great list to check out nonetheless: 30 iPad Apps for the Paperless Classroom. 


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, June 1

"A" Week
Gr. 4 Science State Test: Written in the Classroom

Tuesday, June 2

FIELD DAY
Full staff FEO... explore the blogs above!

Wednesday, June 3

Gr. 3 Trip to Brookville - dress comfortably
Gr. 5 Trip to see TomorrowLand (the movie)
Gr. 2 Fairy Tale Celebration - Marsen & Quinn

Thursday, June 4

CST @ 1:20pm
Rain date for Field Day

Friday, June 5

Happy TGIF!
Principal for the Day - Zach & Samantha -be on the look out for us!
PTA Executive Board

Kids' Korner

While visiting a first grade classroom with our guests from Syosset, one of the students said, "Cool Mr. Sinanis - you brought some friends to school!" 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 15, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy Friday to everyone - I hope it is a wonderful weekend! It is hard to believe the day has finally come - I graduate from Penn on Saturday. I will definitely try and tweet some pics in my full graduation regalia - hood and all. I am really excited because Paul and my family will be there to celebrate with me. This whole process has meant a lot to my father, especially as someone who immigrated to this country and left everything behind for the "American Dream." Thank you all again for your support and encouragement over the last three years!

In other news, welcome back to Janine - we have missed you! Janine will be back on Monday. Thank you to Caylie for doing a great job in her absence. Also, as of next Tuesday (May 26), Julie will be taking over in the position of ESL teacher for the remainder of the year - thank you for coming back Julie! To Kerry, we wish you the best and know that your new district is lucky to have you!

I also wanted to share a quick Pam update - we miss you Pam! I am thrilled to share that all tests of the mass removed were benign - that is AWESOME!! Pam is home resting but her recovery will take a bit longer than expected so she will be out for at least another couple of weeks (surgery can take a toll on the body). Please know that Pam is trying to get as much rest as possible so she can heal and get back to us so she may not be able to talk on the phone or respond to emails or text messages. She sends her love and thanks everyone for their kindness and support in her absence.

Finally, this week, instead of specific #EduWins, I have to celebrate one of the greatest and most epic school-wide #EduWins during our time here together at Cantiague... Innovation Day!This experience was truly AWESOME! Each grade level experienced something slightly different - whether kids rotated through stations or worked independently throughout the entire day - but there were some critical common threads: enthusiasm... high levels of engagement... and a sense of pride and passion about the work they were experiencing. 

If I could envision what a school of the future would look like, each day would include features of Innovation Day. We heard kids truly collaborating around something they were excited about; we saw children creating and building; and we watched children accessing their critical thinking skills in ways I have never seen! Those are the LIFE skills we want our children to possess when they leave school and enter life. We want them to learn how to take an idea from their mind and make it come to life - that is what they did today over and over again! Thank you all for embracing this Innovation Day idea and supporting it in a way that exceeded each and every one of my expectations - today is a day I will ALWAYS remember as a true educational experience that was child-centered and took into consideration student choice and student voice. BRAVO TEAM CANTIAGUE!!!   

Please not this Fast Friday Focus will cover the next two weeks so hold on to it for the necessary information! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

Check out this article about effectively using technology in the classroom: 7 Characteristics of Teachers Who Effectively Use Technology - some good stuff to think about!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, May 18

"A" Week

Tuesday, May 19

Grade 3 Trip
PTA Meeting - APPY Hour - 9:30am
Full staff FEO @ 3pm in the Library to discuss end of year!
Budget Vote Day!

Wednesday, May 20

Kindergarten Trip

Thursday, May 21

ABC COUNTDOWN BEGINS! (Here is the calendar)
CST at 1:20pm
Gr. 5 Spring Concert

Friday, May 22

Happy TGIF!
Enjoy the 3-day weekend!

Tuesday, May 26

Planbooks Due for all teachers
Gr. 5 Goes to the MS in the AM
SEPTA - 7pm

Wednesday, May 27

Gr. 4 Science Test - Hands-On Portion for IEP students - Gym closed

Thursday, May 28

Gr. 4 Science Test - Hands-On Portion for all classes - Gym closed
CST at 1:20pm

Friday, May 29

Happy TGIF!
Gr. 5 Peer AIDS Education from HS Students @ 9:45am!

Kids' Korner

As the children were leaving school after Innovation Day, at least five of them screamed out... "Thank you Dr. Sinanis, this was the best day EVER! When can we do it again?" That was literally music to my ears!      

Pics of the Week...

Check out Cantiague's Week in Tweets (special Innovation Day edition) - click on the following link to see our Pics of the Week...

WEEK IN TWEETS

May 8, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

Happy TGIF to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week - our first week in a while without any state tests or make-up tests - WOOO HOOO!  I would like to begin by wishing 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! Thank you for sharing so much of yourselves each and every day! 

It seems rather appropriate that Teacher Appreciation Week leads up to Mother's Day! I hope everyone enjoyed the week and the mini celebrations that unfolded throughout the week. Feel free to send a thank you note to our PTA because I know they really enjoyed celebrating each of you. I know I have said this before but it bares repeating... It is an honor and privilege to learn from and work with each of you on a daily basis. Your dedication, incredible work ethic and positivity makes this a space where all learners - children and adults - can thrive and prosper. 

Finally, I want to thank all of you for the congratulatory texts, emails and phone calls earlier in the week after I successfully defended my dissertation. You each played a role in my journey to this point - thank you for the support, patience and encouragement whenever I needed it. The whole dissertation defense process was quite a surreal experience and the notion that I can officially call myself "Dr. Sinanis" has yet to sink in... fortunately, I still prefer Tony - except when my mom is yelling at me.  :) 


This week, as I walked around #Cantiague this week, I spotted the following #EduWins...

• Huge shout out to our Team K teachers who put together an awesome first day of Incoming Kindergarten Orientation. The kids were engaged in some great activities and it provided us an opportunity to get to know them - as individuals and as learners. The team also created the most amazing introduction to Kindergarten at Cantiague video that left our incoming families excited about next year. AWESOME WORK!  

• I recently visited with Tali's class and they were inspired by the Caine's Arcade video where a child created an entire arcade using cardboard. Well, her class took the idea and ran with it and have created their own cardboard arcade and are excited to host their own carnival. This is definitely an example of the power of Genius Hour and giving kids an opportunity to create and think outside of the box - no amount of test prep or worksheets would yield the same results! 

• I had a chance to spend some time in Adam's room and was blown away by the fact that the children were discussing potential Genius Hour projects over the summer inspired by their exploration of expository text as part of reading workshop. The children were so engaged and were so excited to share their ideas - AWESOME!

Tech Tip of the Week...

As we continue to explore the importance of Digital Citizenship (our in-house committee will be meeting soon), check out this article for some great tips and resources: Teacher's Guide To Digital Citizenship.


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, May 11

"B" Week

Tuesday, May 12

Grade 4 Trip
PTA Meeting - APPY Hour - 9:30am
Full staff FEO @ 3pm in the Library to discuss final plans for Innovation Day!

Wednesday, May 13

Incoming Kindergarten student orientation - Library closed in the AM!

Thursday, May 14

INNOVATION DAY is here!!
Ralph's Ices
Board of Education Meeting - 7:30pm at MS Library

Friday, May 15

Happy TGIF!
SEPTA Movie Under The Stars - 7pm @ Cantiague
Tomorrow... Tony graduates from PENN!!!

Kids' Korner

While visiting a kindergarten classroom one of the kids asked, "Now that you are Dr. Sinanis, can we come to your office instead of Nurse G?" LOL... ummmmm.... NO!   :)       

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 24, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

TGIF to everyone on this final Friday of April... I don't know about you, but I am totally excited for these last few weeks of school. It means celebrations, reflections on all the amazing learning that has unfolded, end of year reading assessments, the ABC Countdown, Moving Up and Field Day just to name a few! Even things will speed by, I hope we can all slow it down and reflect on all of the amazing things we have accomplished this year... thank you all for always being willing to take a risk and try something new... BEST. SCHOOL. COMMUNITY. EVER!

Special thank you to everyone, especially Joe P., for working so hard to get our little mathematicians prepared for the NYS Math Tests! I think our kids did a really amazing job and that is because our math instruction goes above and beyond the Common Core and the state of New York. Thank you Joe for setting that bar so high and pushing our kids to think critically and reach for those deeper conceptual understandings - that is always our goal. It is such a relief to be done with the majority of the state tests... enough time wasted on disrupting learning... back to what matters... KIDS!

In other news, please note that it is Annual Review and CSE season, which means MaryAnn and I, along with many of the specialists, will have crazy schedules over the next weeks in our attempt to get to every annual review and CSE meeting. There are many classified children in our building and thus there are many meetings to attend. With that in mind, I apologize in advance for disruptions to specialists' schedules and to my own schedule... running around like a chicken without a head isn't all its cracked up to be... LOL!    


Please not this Fast Friday Focus will cover the next two weeks so hold on to it for the necessary information! 


This week, as I walked around #Cantiague this week, I spotted the following #EduWins...

• I had a chance to be in Katie's room during independent reading time and I was so impressed with how comfortable and engaged the children were throughout the entire visit - they have grown so much this year! Their reading stamina has come such a long way and it was so great to watch them be so focused on their books and enjoying them so much. I don't care what NYS says because at Cantiague, we value the development of life long readers... not day-to-day test takers! BRAVO! 

• While visiting Caylie's room this week, the children were engaged in an activity connected to Earth Day... turning trash into treasures. Well, the end result was very much a Genius Hour experience because the children were taking cardboard, plastic, paper and a bunch of other types of "trash" and were creating some of the coolest new treasures. The room was buzzing with ideas and energy. The best part was, they were all immersed and engaged - AWESOME!

• While visiting Ginny's room during the shared reading experience in the morning, I was blown away by the children's ability to basically lead this experience on their own. One child was at the board with a pointer and she led the children through a reading of the poem and they were all engaged and reading the poem aloud with little teacher assistance - WOW!! Talk about lead learners! 

Tech Tip of the Week...

As we continue to plan for our upcoming Innovation Day (May 14th), I wanted to share this interesting article piece about how any classroom can be turned into a Makerspace, which aligns with many of our efforts this year (Genius Hour, Passion Projects, etc.). So, check it out and let me know if you are interested in buying any of these materials for your space so we can start putting together our own Maker Space. How To Turn Any Classroom Into A Makerspace!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, April 27

"B" Week
Alites & Kupferman - Earth Day Open House - 8:45am
Planbooks due by Thursday for all teachers!
PTA Shoe Drive is happening this week!

Tuesday, April 28

Moses - Earth Day Open House - 8:45am
Joint PTA Council - 9:30am - HS
Full staff FEO @ 3:30pm in the Library - Innovation Day - Meet at 3:30pm in the library to debrief

Wednesday, April 29

Happy Wednesday! 

Thursday, April 30

CST @ 1:20pm
Carvel Ice Cream Sale
Incoming Parent K Orientation - 7pm

Friday, May 1

Happy May Day... it's like a fresh start for all!
Grade 3 Trip
PTA Ladies Luncheon
Tony will be out today... I am defending my dissertation!

Monday, May 4

"A" Week
Happy Monday... 8 weeks before we close out for the summer!

Tuesday, May 5

No FEO this week!
Gr. 3 Chick Workshop
Gr. 5 Trip to Blue Man Group - district-wide trip
Happy Cinco De Mayo

Wednesday, May 6

Incoming Kindergarten Student Orientation - in Mandy's classroom - her students may be occupying the 2nd Computer Lab!

Thursday, May 7

CST @ 1:20pm
PTA Executive Board - 9:30am
Gr. 3 Spring Concert - 7pm
Gr. 4 Spring Concert - 8pm 

Friday, May 8

Happy TGIF!
Career Day... schedule and details to follow!

Kids' Korner

While visiting Ginny's classroom, one of her little munchkins came up to me and said, "From now I am going to call you Dr. Mustache!" Not only was the title funny but he said it with an evil voice, which made me crack up! So, I have my new personal hashtag... #DrStache!!  :)        

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 17, 2015

Curriculum Connections...

TGIF to everyone! I hope we all had a wonderful first week back after spring break - in spite of the ELA testing that unfolded. Thank you to our amazing teachers in Grades 3, 4 & 5 who worked so hard this year to implement sound instructional strategies to address the standards and give the children meaningful learning experiences. I think the tests were ridiculous and "unnatural" - who reads without stopping for 70 minutes and answers dozens of questions in the real world??? NO ONE except for our kids... it frustrates me beyond belief but that is a whole other newsletter! 

In the end, I can honestly say the amount of formal test prep that took place this year was the least amount that I have seen in my seven years here and I am really proud of that trend! Thank you for taking risks and incorporating ideas like Genius Hour, Shared Reading and Book Clubs, which, if implemented faithfully, will accomplish the same goals as any test prep! Also, a special thank you to our Grades K, 1 & 2 teachers for laying such a solid foundation in the areas of reading and writing workshop - our kids could not meet and exceed expectations without your efforts, which built upon one another each year! BEST TEACHERS EVER!!!

Next week is an important week because on Wednesday we celebrate Administrative Assistant's Day. In honor of this special day, I must send a huge shout out and thank you to Laura and Pam who hold down the fort each and every day. The greet everyone with a warm smile and hello, they put the needs of the children first and always figure out a way to get things done. Thank you both for being you and for taking such great care of me and our entire school community. Finally, a special thank you to Debbie, Elaine and everyone else who helps out in the Main Office each day - we are a better place because of the collaborative efforts in the office!

Finally, the Math State test for students in Grades 3, 4 & 5 will be unfolding next week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Please make sure you review all the testing accommodations and scheduling changes to ensure a smooth and successful week for all. Here they are again in case you misplaced the links...

Testing Accommodations

Testing Scheduling Changes  

This week, as I walked around #Cantiague this week, I spotted the following #EduWins...

• Reading workshop in Jill's classroom this week has been AMAZING! I had the opportunity to visit twice this week during this time and the children have been immersed in exploring nonfiction texts and the results have been impressive. At one point hey were discussing "NL" post-its, which they were going to use to document New Learnings in their books, while at another time they discussing cartilage, which is found in sharks and they made the connection that it is also found on our noses... WOW!  

• While visiting Jen and Jeanne's room during Weekend News time, I was really impressed with how much they were pushing the kids to add volume and depth to their writing with appropriate mechanics. All of the children were actively engaged and most of them were able to generate almost two pages of text about something they did over the vacation with some great descriptive language - AWESOME! 

• While visiting our entire second grade team - Carly, Nancy, Katie and Adam - they have been working so hard with their fractured fairy tale unit in writing workshop. Their ability to manage small group conferences to scaffold the children and help them generate meaningful and appropriate fractured fairy tales has been impressive to watch. It is clear to me that small group writing conferences can be powerful - BRAVO!!

Tech Tip of the Week...

As we continue to explore different types of exit slips to serve as formative assessment opportunities, check out this article: 10 Smart Tools for Digital Exit Slips!


SCHEDULE OF THE WEEK... 

Monday, April 20

"A" Week
M.S. Counselors Visit Gr. 5 in the PM

Tuesday, April 21

Grade 1 Author Visit - Library Closed
Full staff FEO @ 3pm in the Library to discuss Innovation Day... May 14th 

Wednesday, April 22

Happy Administrative Assistant Day - Thank you Laura & Pam!
Happy Earth Day!
Gr. 2 Field Trip
Gr. 3 - 5 MATH State Test

Thursday, April 23

CST @ 1:20pm
Gr. 3 - 5 MATH State Test
Board of Ed Meeting - LEGO Robotics Presentation - GO JOE!

Friday, April 24

Happy TGIF!
Gr. 3 - 5 MATH State Test

Kids' Korner

After the testing, one of the third graders said to me, "Mr. Sinanis, I love independent reading but hate reading for the state tests because the stories are so boring and hard to understand." From the mouths of babes...        

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