September 30th-October 4th

Food for thought...

This past Saturday I participated in the CapCUE Tech Fest with about 200 other educators! Julie Torres presented a session about flipped learning with her husband, our own Joe Wood was the keynote speaker and many NCS teachers and administrators were lead learners in a variety of sessions. It was definitely a day that filled my bucket! I always get inspired when I can connect with other brilliant educators from NCS and around the state. One of the sessions I attended was led by Lisa Highfill as she also presented on the topic of flipped learning. There were many things that stood out in her session, but one things she said stuck with me.

She was talking about our role as educators. To inspire students, and also to be inspired by them. I loved this! This week, I'll leave you with a few images and a Padlet wall. What inspires you? You inspire me every day. If I don't tell you enough, I appreciate you!

What inspires you? 

Click on the board or visit this link to add something!

http://padlet.com/wall/zihdethtdf 

Created with Padlet

Some things I loved this week:

Third graders singing a rounding chant in the cafeteria!

A first grader demonstrating "NO, back off!" in our martial arts assembly!
Second grade students enjoying TWO presentations connecting their communities unit to the world outside our classroom! Thank you to Vice-Mayor Angelique Ashby for sharing her experties and donating $200 to our library and to purchase balls for the playground!

Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby

Also, students found out about starting a small business from Amie Tokuhama, a baker extroardinare and a PFAA and Leading Edge parent!

Finally, I have loved seeing how our teachers who recently participated in the 2 day GLAD training have been diving in and trying new strategies! Tammy's pictorial input charts and rounding chant! First grade original bugaloos! A Kindergarten Bald Eagle chart. These strategies definitely engage students! Project GLAD is everywhere at Star! I love the second grade communities unit filled with awesome academic language! You are all amazing.

Dates and Details

October 2nd- late start day- you choose PIP or prep/planning
October 3rd- tech time with Joe- we will be uploading our WASC samples to the portal!
October 3rd- Read for the Record!-- Otis by Loren Long 

Read for the Record 2013

I have the book- I would love to read to your class! Or you can log on to http://www.wegivebooks.org/ and read the book online. I have created a We Give Books account for Star Academy- username and password  staracademy . I will also have bookmarks and certificates for every student on that day.

What's Read for the Record?

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record®, presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation, is one day of the year when millions of individuals come together to celebrate literacy and support Jumpstart in its efforts to promote early childhood education. On October 3, 2013, millions of adults and children across the country will read Otis by Loren Long, in support of Jumpstart’s mission to work towards the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. Join Jumpstart’s Read for the Record and put children first! Click here for more information.

October 4th- Early release day 12:30-1:00 in the lounge for progress report and WASC conversation, After 1:00- grade level planning

October 7th- no school for students (staff day)

October 11th- Harvest Festival 5-8 PM
October 14th-17th- Minimum Days for family conferences

October 21-25th- Book Fair!

Tech Tips

It's not really a tech tip, but it does use technology to teach a very useful skill-tying shoes! Check out this video from the Ross Elementary PTA! Shoe tying homework? Awesome!

September 23rd-27th

Food For Thought...

Parent conferences are coming up soon... and with parents come lots of questions :) Here are some random thoughts for this week's blog!  

Why we need Common Core

I’ve watched this video probably 10 times. Every time it makes me chuckle! Even if you've seen it before, I think the point of this video is well taken- as educators we need to be developing critical thinkers, not test takers. Students need to be able to write -- in the content areas and in different genres. This is why we need the common core standards. I’m excited, for what this means for teaching and learning; for students and teachers. And I'm excited to work with such amazing teachers who lead the way with creativity and passion. No bubbles here!

Putting the “ation” in Education

It seems like there are so many “ations” in education. Collaboration. Technology integration. Frustration. Celebration. Multiplication. Inspiration. Information. Vacation!

The list goes on and on. As I brainstormed this list (remember, writing from a list is my favorite strategy!) , I landed on two that go hand in hand and also create challenges for teachers. 

Differentiation and communication.

Differentiation is hard. It takes work. It takes time. First you meet your kids. Then you find out what they know and what they need to learn. Then find exactly the right lesson to meet each individual kid’s need. Wait, what? What materials do I use? What do the OTHER kids do while you’re providing the perfectly tailored instruction? It’s so challenging! Just when you think you have it figured out, in walks the parent. Or the parent calls. Or emails.

“My child is bored.”

Ack. What to do. Sometimes school is boring! Sometimes kids are getting what they need and it’s still not super exciting. And sometimes the work is too easy or too hard. Differentiation, meet communication. Parents can get the wrong impression when a child says they are bored. When I hear this, I try to reflect on the work. How can I make it more engaging? Is there more than one way for students to demonstrate their learning? Do they know this skill already?

I felt like sometimes half the battle was parent perception. What they really wanted to know wasn’t about their child being bored. They really wanted to know what I was doing to meet the needs of their child, and what we were learning about in class. Sometimes parents need education, too.

Here are some questions I thought about in preparation for their questions:

1. Have I clearly communicated what we are learning about in class each week? (Number one parent comment--”My child can’t tell me what he/she is learning about in class.”) In my experience, kids aren’t the most reliable reporters. Keeping parents informed takes time, but so does responding to their questions. Two of our teachers share a weekly Academic Update. Check out the work of Maria and Julie. So much good information!
2. Can I articulate what I am doing differently? When it’s possible, do I offer choice in assignments? Have I pretested the students to determine needs prior to beginning the unit? Can I compact the learning or provide an opportunity for students to work in learning teams with students with similar strengths?
3. What’s driving my instruction? Yes, standards are important. But what about the students who arrive at the door meeting many of the end of year standards? Can I keep going farther? Can I go deeper? Have I considered my students’ interests?

For more strategies for differentiation, check out this article: 
What Works for Differentiating Instruction in Elementary Schools

I see evidence of so many of these in your classrooms! It's time for a celebration!

Dates and Details

September 24th Family Technology Night 6:00
September 26th- no tech time with Joe
September 27th Kovar's martial arts assembly 11:00 am K-3
September 28th CapCUE techfest at NCS
October 3rd- Read for the Record-- Otis by Loren Long 
October 7th- no school for students (staff day)

October 11th- Harvest Festival
October 14th-17th- Minimum Days for family conferences

October 21-25th- Book Fair!

Tech Tip: Little Bird Tales

I heard about Little Bird Tales this summer and haven't had a chance to try it out. Has anyone used it?

September 16th-20th

Food for thought

The power of collaboration.

Technology can connect us anywhere.

Stand by me. 

Playing for Change Band

Success notes
The Cross -Fit training baseball with Julie's class.

The smiling faces at the jog a thon!

First graders learning about the coniferous forest of North America.

Awesome behavior in the lunch room and fast pick up lines after school!

This week was so busy, I didn't get into classrooms as much as I wanted to. I'm so overwhelmed with the spirit of collaboration that is everywhere at our school. Thank you for all you do!


Dates and details

September 16th- late start Wednesday grade level planning

Star Academy Parent Technology Night (computer lab)

September 24, 2013 - 6pm-7pm

September 18th and 19th- Project GLAD training at Star 8:30-3:00 in the library (Hope, Petra, Tammy & Saryn )

September 20th- Picture Day! Free dress still applies.
Schedule: (They may run about 5 minutes ahead. Also, for the group photo, please line up students from shortest to tallest)
AMK 815-830

Kloczko 835-850

Luhrsen 855-910

Torres 915-930

Evans 935-950

Hermosillo 955-1005

Fraser 1010-1025

TK 1030-1045

PM K 1050-1105

September 25th- late start Wednesday with Elsa Ouvrard-Prettol, our NCS librarian! Our topic is books, books, and more books!

October 1st- Skype Party with Erin Dealey-- Deck the Walls Book release! More info to come!

October 3rd- Read for the Record-- Otis by Loren Long

October 11th- Harvest Festival

October 14th-17th- Minimum Days for family conferences

Tech Tips
Not really a tech tip, but a tip nonetheless! Are you looking for ideas for Writer's Workshop? Check out the Writing Fix! It's my favorite writing resource ever. Your head might explode!

Or, 4th grade teacher Corbett Harrison might inspire you! More writing ideas!

Finally, have you ever used book trailers to inspire readers? Here's one for Hello! Hello! by Matthew Cordell 

The week of September 9th-13th

Food for thought...

I love books. I really love books! There are books stacked everywhere in my house, on my dresser, on my nightstand, and in my living room. There are books in my office, on my Kindle, and on my iPad. I've scheduled time to read the past two weekends and it felt SO good. Digging through my box of first grade North America books, I got so excited reading them! Here's a book trailer from one of my favorites! 

Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon

Some of my favorite books are alphabet books. One of my friends shared this Pinterest board with an amazing list of children's literature organized in an ABC list. There's also a fun printable poster!

I also had a chance to blog about books this week on my personal blog. It's my first "It's Monday! What are you reading?" post since Spring break. 

Success Notes:
    Here are some things I loved at Star this week! The PIP proposals! I'm so excited about the diversity in our Star PIPS. Janet will be focusing on Science. Maria and Tammy will explore reading assessments and higher level thinking. Julie, Petra, and Hope will examine how Reading Rewards can inspire and engage readers and writers. Saryn, Amy and Karen are delving into centers and how centers can impact the learning environment in TK and Kindergarten.
     Some other things I loved: Julie's creative digital long term independent study for a student who will be out of the country for two months. Thank goodness for Google! Tammy and Janet's Symbaloo for the lab computers- thank you for inspiring all of us! Caroline and Joe reading out loud to students each week- the kids loved it! Petra's rockin' PE-- nothing like 52 first graders working out to some totally cool tunes! Hope's kids excited about Ivy & Bean and book trailers! Maria using Remind101 to keep her families informed. One of Karen's TK kids bringing a tiny magnifying glass to school- just like the giant one one the wall! Amy's kinders being soooooo excited about S day! And Saryn's kids so excited about the new turtles coming to PM k. I absolutely love the passion and excitement I see around Star- kids and teachers. Thanks for all you do!

Dates & Details

September 9th- late start Wednesday grade level planning

September 16th- late start Wednesday grade level planning

Star Academy Parent Technology Nights (computer lab)

September 10, 2013 - 6pm-7pm

September 24, 2013 - 6pm-7pm

September 13th- Jog-a-thon 8:30-11:00 Turn in forms as they come in, and be sure the student name and teacher name are on the envelope :)

September 18th and 19th- Project GLAD training at Star 8:30-3:00 (1st & 3rd grade teachers)

September 20th- Picture Day!

September 25th- late start Wednesday with Elsa Ouvrard-Prettol, our NCS librarian!

October 1st- Skype Party with Erin Dealey-- Deck the Walls Book release! More info to come!

October 3rd- Read for the Record-- Otis by Loren Long

October 11th- Harvest Festival

October 14th-17th- Minimum Days for family conferences

Tech Tips

How to force a copy of a Google Doc
Do you want to share a document but are worried about your document being changed? Check out this video to see how to do it just by adding &newcopy=true to the end of the share url.

Using Google Forms to schedule parent conferences
My friend Poppi Canepa teaches first grade at my old school, Buckeye. She created this awesome form to schedule conferences. It might inspire you to create your own, or just click File>Make a copy -- no starting from scratch!

Have a great week!

The week of September 2nd-6th

Food for thought: Inspiration Saturation       


When writing, it is important to consider many things, but there are three that I try to keep in mind when writing: audience, purpose, and form. Whether it’s a blog post or a parent newsletter I ask myself these questions. Who is going to read it? What content or message am I trying to share? What is the best way to deliver the message? This year, I have challenged myself to blog weekly via this staff blog, and as often as I can find the time on my personal blog. However, blog posts are not built in a day! During the week, I’m often inspired by something I see in a classroom, that I read in a book or online, or by a conversation with a friend or colleague. In A Writer's Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You, Ralph Fletcher shares a variety of strategies for writing- and one of my favorites is “writing from a list”. All week long, I make a list. My “list” is powered by Google- I love that I can jot my thoughts, copy links to online treasures, and even copy html code to embed a video - all in a Google Doc.     
This week I have a problem. My list is too long! Is it possible to have too many ideas? Have I reached a point of inspiration saturation? I review my list and discover again why I wrote them down in the first place. I love the ideas. They give me chills. I can’t wait to share them! I take a deep breath and remind myself to focus. Even the best ideas can get lost in the shuffle. And so I choose, just one, or two (okay,maybe I can hide a few in the tech tips section!) for this week. There will be time for the other ideas and new blog posts, and I realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing network of friends and colleagues that inspire me day and night. Whether it’s at my school, on a run with my friend, on Twitter or Facebook, or even in a book, ideas and inspiration are everywhere! Where do you get your inspiration?        
        Out of all of the ideas on my list, I selected just one to highlight this week. I’m excited about the journey we are on to engage and inspire our students. Technology is just one tool that can help us reach that goal. Ultimately, we’re trying to create a place of wonder and magic- where students love to be. Check out Lisa Highfill’s TedX talk and follow her on Twitter @lhighfill. She’s a California girl and is presenting at the CapCUE Tech Fest September 28th at Natomas Charter School. I’ll also be sharing this video with parents to share what we are trying to accomplish together. Happy teaching and learning!

Success notes

       Things I loved this week at Star... the princess gowns and Chicka Chicka letters in the TK class. Kindergartners reading the morning message and learning about their senses. First graders talking books on Padlet and world maps painted with sparkles. Mystery readers and goal setting in 2nd grade. Making words for spelling instead of memorizing a list in 3rd grade. Mr. Wood's best tech rule ever-- "Don't freak out!" Tons of physical activity. Happy kids at school. Standing room only at Back-to-School Night. Totally awesome! 

Dates and Details

September 4th- Whole staff collaboration 8:00 in the lounge

September 6th- Minimum day / PIP proposals due

       12:45  Whole staff collaboration in the lounge

       2:00    Grade level planning

September 9th- late start Wednesday grade level planning

September 16th- late start Wednesday grade level planning

Star Academy Parent Technology Nights (computer lab)

September 10, 2013 - 6pm-7pm

September 24, 2013 - 6pm-7pm

September 13th- Jog-a-thon

September 18th and 19th- Project GLAD training at Star 8:00-3:00

September 20th- Picture Day!

September 25th- late start Wednesday with Elsa Ouvrard-Prettol, our NCS librarian!

October 3rd- Read for the Record-- Otis by Loren Long

October 11th- Harvest Festival

October 14th-17th- Minimum Days for family conferences

Tech and Teaching Tips

• Kids video dance collection shared by Julie
• Linda Yollis blog- Skyping at Back-to-School Night about blogging with students!
• Bloom's Taxonomy questions for readers shared by Petra
• Dance Mat Typing
• Listen to Reading- Reader's Workshop resources
• Using Ipods as a listening center
• Listen to reading daily 5 pinterest board
• Listening center recording sheet
• Tons of links for typing and more

Have a fabulous week!