Assessment - Last day to enter DIBELS scores is Wednesday, May 11th. Benchmarking must be completed by May 20th. Teachers should send final data to Lyndsay, Leslie and I. If you owe reflections (ITPDP tied to May data), please get those to Lyndsay and I prior to June 3rd.
Technology Integration - Thanks to Carrie and Leslie for providing some great learning on Wednesday. It was fun to watch all of you in the lab learning like your students would! Either of them would (and I would too!) be willing to help you and/or your team continue your leaning. If you take one of Carrie's lessons and implement it with your students over the next two weeks, let me know. Some ideas mentioned yesterday worth reviewing...
- Skype In the Classroom (https://twitter.com/SkypeClassroom) or Skype Education (http://education.skype.com) - Find guest speakers, collaborate with classrooms across the country or have individual students read with other students across the web.
- Projectors in the Classroom - There are tons of ideas out there and you may want to begin thinking as a team about how you will use you classroom projector starting next fall!
- Liked using the Voki site? There is a Teacher's Corner with questions and answers galore!
Meetings Next Week - May is a busy month! Please continue to check and add items to the calendar in the copy room. Communication is the goal this month! :-) A couple meetings/events to note for next week:
- Monday: PBIS Core
- Wednesday: 1st Gr Roster Mtg; 5th Grade @ Biztown; Waukee Library visit
- Thursday: Kindergarten Roster Mtg
- Friday: PS Core (bring an Allington idea/learning with you!)
Recess Follow-Up - Please refer to the email I sent last Friday regarding "extra recesses" for your students and the safety concerns. If extra outside time is earned by your class, please be aware that you cannot use the main playground at the same time another grade level has a scheduled recess. A teacher may choose another area outside the building as long as it does not 'double up' the playground. I hope that clears up some of the confusion.
Final Thoughts for the Week
...where I keep talking/typing and you
don't necessarily have to continue listening/reading.
"This is okay, but I know you're capable of doing much better, Doug."
Although it is true that those words could be said by my supervisor, Dr. Buck, or by my wife, Jen, on occasion....the words were first uttered (or maybe first heard) during my 5th grade year in school. Ms. Guge was a 'rookie' teacher who decided that my "okay" effort that usually resulted in sufficient work and teacher praise, was not okay anymore.
"What?!?!" I thought, "You just started this teaching-gig and you think you know me and know what you're doing?? You want me to put more effort into my school day? I liked the way things were going when 'okay' was 'okay!'"
Not only did she want me to put more effort into everything I did, but she showed me why it was important to do my best work, motivated me to not be settled with being 'good' at something like math or writing, taught me how to learn from my mistakes and from others, and she did a very simple thing...praised me when I gave the extra effort. Ms. Guge collaborated with my parents (behind my back I think) and continued to push me and my classmates that entire year - although we didn't really think it was 'work' as we wrote a newspaper, did a newscast, explored science outside the school building and I wrote my first book (which has traveled with me to 5 houses in a box Jen has labeled "Doug's Childhood Crap"...seriously! I'm sure there might be some items I can get rid of in that box, but not my book).
I can tell you that 75% of what I remember from elementary school (K-6) was during Ms. Guge's first year of teaching and, to be honest with you, my first year of learning. Thank you, Ms. Guge (now Mrs. Nunez) for turning me on to learning. I'm still doing it and there are still days I know I'm capable of much more!
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