November 18th-22nd

Food for thought... Pirate booty!

This past Saturday I woke up at 5 am to go to see Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like a Pirate, in Moraga at Saint Mary's College. I love, love meeting authors! He was amazing, and I highly recommend his book. I'm going to use his "teaser" hook and just share the word cloud and a few pictures from the day... If you want to know more check out my blog post from Lead.Learn.Sparkle or read the book!

The word I wrote the most shows up the biggest. Think he's talking about engagement?

It's all about content.

He had me at secret.

Things I loved...

Word Jam in 2nd grade- which Julie blogged about!

Reading "Deck the Walls" to classes! I loved the kinder version of fa-la-la which sounded a little like la-la-la!

The homemade turkeys outside TK. Big Papi is AWESOME!

The kids' behavior at lunch. They filled my bucket!

Learning about how salt impacts freezing time in 3rd grade.

Hearing all about the Google launches with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders!

Teachers venturing into the world of global publishing, one blog at a time...Awesome

Dates and details:
November 20th- Late start Wednesday- whole staff in lounge (this is a change)
November 21st- Tech time 3:15
November 22nd- Erin Dealey assembly 10:15-11:00 (I can't wait!)
November 25th-29th Thanksgiving break-- Enjoy! 

December 3rd-6th Project GLAD demo- in Petra's class (Petra, Hope, Saryn & Tammy) be sure to arrange your subs)
December 6th- early release day. Grade level planning or GLAD planning (if you're part of demo) Staff potluck?
December 9th- CPR training at Star- let me know if you are interested or visit http://www.axiompros.com/  only $30 (only 12 spots available)
December 10th- Dental presentations by grade level- schedule TBA
December 13th- Phil Tulga assemblies (9:30 and 10:30-- grade levels TBA)
December 18th- Ballet and Music performance in gym at Star 6:30 PM (after school enrichment)
December 20- end of semester
December winter break- December 23rd-January 3rd
January 6- NCS staff development day
January 17 report cards sent home
January 27th - ALA Awards broadcast! More information to come about the Mock Caldecott at Star Academy! Click here for the link to the live broadcast

Tech Tips:

If you want to get rid of the "similar video" suggestions that show up after you insert a YouTube video in your blog, here's some info that might be useful: http://illuminea.com/remove-related-videos-from-end-of-embedded-youtube-video/ 

Removing the "next blog" nav bar in Blogger:

November 11th-15th

Food for thought...
 
This past weekend I loved having time to read and was very excited to finally start reading Donalyn Miller's new book! I had preordered my copy last May and it was finally delivered! I was also excited to read John Schu's blog post about the book where he premiered her book trailer. You can read the post here. On that blog, he also had an opportunity to win one copy of the book-- and I won! This is the second time I have won a book from Mr. Schu-- either I am very lucky or no one else enters! Either way, he asks winners to pay it forward and so I am giving away a copy of the book as well. You'll find the entry form below. Entries will be accepted through November 15th :) If you're thinking about inspiring wild and independent readers you'll want to read this book.

Things I loved this week...

Dates and Details

November 13th- Coordinator Coffee- parents can chat with me from 8:30-9:00 am
November 13th- Late start Wednesday- Cadres meet

November 14th- Tech Time 3:15
November 20th- Late start Wednesday- planning
November 21st- Tech time 3:15
November 22nd- Erin Dealey assembly 10:15-11:00
November 25th-29th Thanksgiving break 

December 3rd-6th Project GLAD demo- in Petra's class (Petra, Hope, Saryn & Tammy) be sure to arrange your subs)

Here's the link to our staff room sign up sheet. Thanks for helping out! 

Tech Tips:

Have you heard about SAMR? Basically, it's a little like Bloom's Taxonomy but for tech. Here's a video to give you a quick overview in 120 seconds!

November 4th-8th

Food for thought...

This is what it felt like around school this week to me. I loved seeing the kids (and teachers) dressed in PJ's, with crazy hair, and even in their costumes on Halloween. Historically, Halloween has not been my favorite day at school and kids can sometimes be crazy! If I had to describe the feeling around campus this week in one word, I would choose happy. The kids were so excited as they hopped out of their cars each morning. I know sometimes that elementary kids don't really understand the meaning of red ribbon week, but I do think being happy is an important part of being healthy. Thank you for being a part of creating a happy school climate this week! 

Things I loved this week...

Awesome "healthy" chains made with our counselor, Caroline Hines!

Crazy Hair Day

Sports Day

Dates and Details

November 4th- We will have visitors from Winters School District- coming to see Common Core in action since you are all so awesome!
November 7th- Tech time with Joe
November 6th- No meeting- planning time 

November 11th- no school - Veteran's Day

November 13th- Coordinator Coffee- parents can chat with me from 8:30-9:00 am
November 13th- Cadres meet

November 15th- Movie night TBA
November 22nd- Erin Dealey assembly- time TBA (shhhh- it's a surprise!)

November 25th-29th Thanksgiving break

Tech Tips

Check out Erin Klein's blog post about accidentally creating a digital writer's workshop in her classroom-- and how it impacted student engagement. Erin is a 2nd grade teacher in Michigan.

Linda Yollis is a 3rd grade teacher in Southern California who blogs with her students. Every November she has Family Blogging Month! Check out her blog about it! Or better yet, watch what her students have to say about blogging in the classroom...

Have an awesome week!