Week of February 27

Thursday Thoughts February 27

I realize that part of enjoying each day is laughing at yourself and others.  I don't mean laughing at the expense of someone else, but more like laughing with someone when they share something funny.  I love to hear the stories that teachers tell about things kids say and do in the classroom.  I had the pleasure of eating with two students this week in my office and these second graders had me laughing out loud.  There is something about the innocence of children where they will say just about anything without regard to your job title or "importance".  I reveled in the fact that they took the opportunity to make their pitch about increased recess time and made recommendations of the field trip locations that would best suit their needs.  In my short 30 minutes with them, I noted that my hectic day was put on hold to laugh and enjoy the main reason that I come to work each day....for the students.  I encourage each of you to find something within your day that makes you laugh.  I then encourage you to share it with a colleague.  It just might help you get through your day and bring a smile to the face of someone else.

 

Staff Spotlight

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Vaishali Gokhale.  She is a part of the Pre K Team in Traci Fleck and Devon Ferry's classroom.  Although Vaishali works with the team to support all of the students, her primary reponsibility is toward one of the wheelchair bound students in the classroom.  I have had the opportunity to watch her interact with the student and I can tell you that she genuinely cares for him and wants to see him succeed.  Vaishali has a gentle demeanor and works in the classroom to ensure that it is a learning environment in which all students have the opportunity to excel.  Vaishali, I appreciate that you have a heart for children..... especially those with special needs.  Thank you for all that you do!

4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills

20 Reflective Questions To Help Students Respond To Common Core Texts

Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)

Check out the following website:

 http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then let this site provide the picture to inspire your words. Choose a picture from the gallery, and add text. Great way to get students practicing how to be more descriptive.

http://www.seussville.com/ Classroom resources and ideas/activities for Read Across America.

News & Notes:
I am excited to announce that we will have four more Korean Exchange Teachers coming to Medlock Bridge at the end of March.  They will stay through postplanning.   Please email me if you are interested in serving as a mentor teacher for one of the four.  

Week of February 20

Thursday Thoughts February 20

 

  

 

One of the things that I love about children is that they know how to live in the moment.  I wonder at what age we begin to lose that ability.  I find that as adults, we are often so busy worrying about what we have to do tomorrow, next week or next month, that we seldom enjoy what we are doing today.   The pressure of deadlines, time lines and pacing charts overshadow the joy of teaching and reaching others everyday.  I encourage each of you to find something to celebrate each day.  It may be a small thing such as a student who stays on green or something bigger such as an accomplishment of someone in your own family.  Either way, you can't let a day go by without finding something to be thankful for and enjoy.  Life is tough and it throws many curve balls our way.  We have to take lessons from the kids and find joy in the smallest things.    

 

Staff Spotlight:

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Matt Rogers.  If you have ever participated in one of his PE classes then you know that he develops creative games for the students that require alot of collaboration.  Matt puts a great deal of effort into his program and wants the students to master the skills and have fun doing it.  Matt has also been a team player.  He has had three different itinerant teachers this year and has been accommodating and welcoming to them all.  Matt is a key member of the safety team and whenever we made an all call for additional help at carpool on some of the colder winter mornings, he arrived wearing a big smile (and shorts).   Matt's assistance with the activities such as Carnival and Runapalooza help to make those events run smoothly.  I am sure that he is one of the few PE teachers (if not the only) who designs the T shirts for field day.  The designs are always a hit and this year's design is no exception.   Matt, thank you for the work that you are doing with our students and for our school.   

4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills

Practical Critical Thinking Skills for the Real World

From mentoringminds.com

Teaching concepts in the classroom doesn't accomplish anything unless students understand how those ideas apply to the real world. The same is true for critical thinking skills. Unless students have a grasp of the practical application, they won't absorb the important lessons inherent within critical thinking education.
In order to instill in students an appreciation for critical thinking, show them how those skills can be beneficial in the world outside the classroom. Teachers and administrators need to design a creative curriculum that not only emphasizes critical thinking skills in general, but also shows how these skills translate to the real world.
Challenge students with examples
The easiest way to help students better understand how their critical thinking skills will improve their lives and help them manage the world outside the academic setting is through examples. That means going well beyond simple word problems or teaching them how to read news reports. Students need to be made aware of how critical thinking is crucial in a work environment, in personal relationships, and in the way they conduct their affairs.
Part of the process of building that understanding requires the introduction of the less pleasant realities of life. For instance, it's rare that grade school students are introduced to concepts like mortgage rates, long-term health care decisions or project management. However, broaching those topics can be vital to making students aware of how important critical thinking will become later in life.
One way to do this is to introduce a new problem every day. At the beginning of each class, a teacher can put a real world scenario on the board and have students either think about it throughout the day or make it part of their homework. An example would be to ask them a moral question they might encounter in a work environment later in life–e.g., what would they do if they found out a co-worker was violating a contract with a client, but that the violation was helping the company and enriching employees, including themselves?
Often, the process of thinking about those types of questions is just as important as the conclusions reached by students, since it challenges them to imagine themselves in various real-life scenarios.
Use simple, everyday examples
If those kinds of problems prove troublesome, using much simpler examples and questions may be more effective. Teachers can start with something as easy as asking students what they would like to eat for lunch, and have them explain why they came to that choice. This is a great way to introduce cost-benefit critical thinking analysis while also getting students to think about nutrition. You can talk about how one option might be tastier and another healthier, and how they have to weigh their desire to eat something salty with their need to stay healthy.
Another relatively simple concept is time management. This is something that every person has to deal with throughout their lives. Time management usually isn't as important for children as it is for adults, but having them think about it now should serve them well later in life.
You can start this process by having students draw up a schedule of what they plan to do once school is out for the day. Divide the time after they get out of class into half-hour or hour-long blocks, then have them fill each block with what they plan to do during that time. Once they have done that, ask them why they chose each activity. The next day, check in with them to see if they stuck to their schedule, and ask them why they did or didn't.

Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)

Check out the following website:

http://scratch.mit.edu/- if you have kids that enjoy coding during Digital Learning Day (next Friday) then they will enjoy this free coding website.  Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages.

News & Notes:

Tonight the school board approved that Friday, March 14th will be a student make up day.  No additional days will be added to the end of the school year as snow days!!

Week of February 13

Thursday Thoughts February 13

People never cease to amaze me. Actually, when I say people I'm just referring to myself.  I wonder if you can relate. Just as recent as last Friday, I was sharing with someone how tired I was and that I needed a break.  Low and behold, Mother Nature gave me a break....an extended break.  But instead of enjoying the past three days and relaxing, I have been feverishly working.  My excuse is that I want to get caught up or that I want to get ahead.  Now I am starting to wonder if I even know how to relax.  I could take lessons from my husband, who has the concept mastered or my son who has abandoned all thought of school and any work related to it.  Yet somehow I feel a bit of guilt if I am sitting around for any length of time being "unproductive".  Hopefully this all sounds foreign to you and you have had a good time off this week.  I am sure that you have gone outside and made snow men with your kids or won the snowball fight in the cul de sac.  I am sure that you can rattle off the latest medal count for the Olympics or recall the plot of that juicy novel that you just finished reading.  However, if you can only list the number of papers that you have graded, or the lesson plans that you have tweaked for the third time, please put down your "work" and go relax.  Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and a snow free day.  Get out and live tomorrow.  Be "unproductive."  In fact, make it an unproductive weekend!!  Who knows, you just may realize that relaxation now makes you more productive when the time comes.....which is Tuesday!  Have a great weekend!

 

Staff Spotlight:

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Katie Skelly.  Katie truly leads by example.

 She (like all of the kindergarten assistants) is often pulled to cover a class in just about any part of the building.  Katie always responds with a smile and does a wonderful job in spite of the quick notice or tough placement.  She is an asset to her Kindergarten classroom and she volunteers to take additional shifts in the cafeteria if we are short staffed.  Katie I am thankful that you are a part of the Medlock Family and we appreciate all that you do.

4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills

What’s All This Talk about Rigor?

By NCTM President Linda M. Gojak
NCTM Summing Up, February 5, 2013

Recently, I had a conversation with a group of math coaches who are working with elementary teachers on implementation of the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. The discussion turned to a description of rigor in the classroom. The coaches commented that many of their teachers were confused by exactly what was meant by teaching and learning with rigor. The coaches weren’t sure how to respond.
Rigor in the Common Core State Standards The word “rigor” is widely used in policy discussions, but it’s rarely understood or defined, and often it merely passes as code for “better.” It is interesting that the term “rigor” does not appear in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, although it is certainly implied. “Rigor” appears multiple times in the U.S. Department of Education’s paper, “A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,” as well as its recent document, “ESEA Flexibility”—both of which include a call for rigorous academic content standards.
Rigor in InstructionThe coaches and I began our work of exploring the notion of rigor with an online search of the word “rigor.” The thesaurus led us to a list of synonyms, including “affliction,” “inflexibility,” “difficulty,” “severity,” “rigidity,” “suffering,” and “traditionalism”—none of which describe characteristics of rigorous mathematics instruction. No wonder the teachers were confused! However, two additional words included in the list—“thoroughness”and “tenacity”—provided avenues for some serious thought about what “rigor”implies. We generated the following chart, which led to an interesting discussion with the classroom teachers. There are certainly other characteristics that can be added to the list.

Learning experiences that involve rigor …	Experiences that do not involve rigor …
challenge students	are more “difficult,” with no purpose (for example, adding 7ths and 15ths without a real context)
require effort and tenacity by students	require minimal effort
focus on quality (rich tasks)	focus on quantity (more pages to do)
include entry points and extensions for all students	are offered only to gifted students
are not always tidy, and can have multiple paths to possible solutions	are scripted, with a neat path to a solution
provide connections among mathematical ideas	do not connect to other mathematical ideas
contain rich mathematics that is relevant to students	contain routine procedures with little relevance
develop strategic and flexible thinking	follow a rote procedure
encourage reasoning and sense making	require memorization of rules and procedures without understanding
expect students to be actively involved in their own learning	often involve teachers doing the work while students watch

Rigor Involves Everyone Rigor involves all partners in teaching and learning. Teachers must consider rigor in planning lessons, tasks, and assignments. Rigorous lessons build on and extend prior knowledge. They encourage productive struggling. Although the objective of a lesson should be clear in the teacher’s mind, the lesson should not focus on one correct path to a solution or even one correct answer. A rigorous lesson embraces the messiness of a good mathematics task and the deep learning that it has the potential to achieve.
Students who are successful in a rigorous learning environment take responsibility for their learning. They learn to reflect on their thinking. They persist in solving a problem when the path to solution is not immediately obvious. They recognize when they are not on the correct path and need to switch directions during the solution process. Students must learn to ask productive questions rather than expecting to be shown how to proceed. (And, teachers must answer those questions with just enough information to move students forward while preserving the challenge of the task!
Rigorous teaching and learning require rigorous formative assessment throughout a unit so the teacher knows what the student has learned and can plan additional activities, or adjust them, to address student needs. Students also have a role in formative assessment—they must approach tasks with tenacity and ask clarifying questions when they are unsure how to proceed. All assessments must include opportunities for students to demonstrate the processes and practices in their approach to doing mathematics. Good formative assessment can be incorporated into daily instruction and prepare students for the summative assessments that take place at certain points throughout the unit of study.
Moving toward RigorHow can we support classroom teachers and pre-service teachers (pre-K–16) in working toward greater rigor in mathematics instruction? Professional development experiences that model rigor through the use of rich tasks, rich discourse, and good questions allow teachers to experience rigorous instruction. When selecting tasks, teachers must be sure that mathematical ideas are explicit and the connections are clear. The days of a few word problems at the end of multiple skill exercises in the textbook are over! Concepts must be introduced and explored in contexts that are interesting and motivating for students. Tasks must provide entry points for all students, offer them well-defined opportunities to make connections to other mathematics, and include both opportunities and expectations for them to develop deeper understanding. The focus and coherence of the Common Core State Standards lead the way to rigorous instruction. It is time for us to begin the journey.


Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)

Check out the following website:

www.yummymath.com- A site with real world math problems for grades 3-5

www.mathwire.com- Awesome math activities for your classroom categorized by standards. Would be a good resource to use during grade level planning.

http://www.101qs.com/- A very cool site that gives students an intriguing picture or quick video and then asks them to write "What's the first question that comes to your mind."  You HAVE to check it out!!

News & Notes:

The PTA Staff Appreciation Luncheon will be held on Wednesday 2/19. 
The breakfast will be on Thursday 2/20.
We are working on the rescheduled date for Digital Learning Day.
3rd, 4th & 5th grade Data Talks will take place on Tuesday 2/18 during common planning times.
Core Team Meeting will take place in Room 408 on Tuesday 2/18 at 2:45
I know there are more events/meetings that must be rescheduled.  I will forward that info next week.

Week of February 6

Thursday Thoughts  February 6

 

 

Although I am not a huge Olympics fan, I truly enjoy watching some of the events.  I especially like the personal stories of the athletes and learning about the obstacles that many had to overcome to get there.  I am amazed at the intense training that the athletes put themselves through for years on end.  Hundreds of athletes train for thousands of hours to compete for a few minutes. This is all done so that they can become champions.  I believe that just like the athletes, each one of us has a personal story of both trial and triumph.  I know that our experiences contribute to who we are and what we do.  And even though you are not Olympic athletes, the work that you do with children everyday qualifies each of you as champions in my book.  

Staff Spotlight:
This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Chris Bellagamba.   In spite of moving to a new grade level this year and taking on new curriculum, Chris accepted the challenge of sponsoring the MBES Student Council.  She has implemented lunchtime council meetings where the students are constantly thinking of ways to make our school community a better and more fun place.  She encourages the kids to think outside of the box yet teaches them to be responsible and respectful.  The council is in full swing with the school store and we will soon enjoy the spirit days that they have initiated.  Not only has Chris led students on the council, but she has also embraced the concept of 21st Century teaching and learning within her classroom.  You will always find her students creating and collaborating, no matter the subject.  If you find yourself in need of assistance or advice, make your way down to Chris Bellagamba's classroom.  Chris, thank you for your passion for teaching and overall contribution to the MBES Family.


4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills

Practical Critical Thinking Skills for the Real World

From mentoringminds.com

Teaching concepts in the classroom doesn't accomplish anything unless students understand how those ideas apply to the real world. The same is true for critical thinking skills. Unless students have a grasp of the practical application, they won't absorb the important lessons inherent within critical thinking education.
In order to instill in students an appreciation for critical thinking, show them how those skills can be beneficial in the world outside the classroom. Teachers and administrators need to design a creative curriculum that not only emphasizes critical thinking skills in general, but also shows how these skills translate to the real world.
Challenge students with examples
The easiest way to help students better understand how their critical thinking skills will improve their lives and help them manage the world outside the academic setting is through examples. That means going well beyond simple word problems or teaching them how to read news reports. Students need to be made aware of how critical thinking is crucial in a work environment, in personal relationships, and in the way they conduct their affairs.
Part of the process of building that understanding requires the introduction of the less pleasant realities of life. For instance, it's rare that grade school students are introduced to concepts like mortgage rates, long-term health care decisions or project management. However, broaching those topics can be vital to making students aware of how important critical thinking will become later in life.
One way to do this is to introduce a new problem every day. At the beginning of each class, a teacher can put a real world scenario on the board and have students either think about it throughout the day or make it part of their homework. An example would be to ask them a moral question they might encounter in a work environment later in life–e.g., what would they do if they found out a co-worker was violating a contract with a client, but that the violation was helping the company and enriching employees, including themselves?
Often, the process of thinking about those types of questions is just as important as the conclusions reached by students, since it challenges them to imagine themselves in various real-life scenarios.
Use simple, everyday examples
If those kinds of problems prove troublesome, using much simpler examples and questions may be more effective. Teachers can start with something as easy as asking students what they would like to eat for lunch, and have them explain why they came to that choice. This is a great way to introduce cost-benefit critical thinking analysis while also getting students to think about nutrition. You can talk about how one option might be tastier and another healthier, and how they have to weigh their desire to eat something salty with their need to stay healthy.
Another relatively simple concept is time management. This is something that every person has to deal with throughout their lives. Time management usually isn't as important for children as it is for adults, but having them think about it now should serve them well later in life.
You can start this process by having students draw up a schedule of what they plan to do once school is out for the day. Divide the time after they get out of class into half-hour or hour-long blocks, then have them fill each block with what they plan to do during that time. Once they have done that, ask them why they chose each activity. The next day, check in with them to see if they stuck to their schedule, and ask them why they did or didn't.

Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)

Check out the following website:

www.buildyourwildself.com- A website where students can create a digital human and add animal characteristics. Students studying animal biomes could use this as a prewriting tool.

News & Notes:
The security buzzer system is scheduled to be installed on the door near the flagpole next week. I will send an email highlighting when the work will begin and end.