Week of March 26

Thursday Thoughts March 26





  Today I participated in a full day of principal training on Blended Learning.  My goal was to remain fully engaged for the entire time and try not to get overwhelmed.  I met one out of the two goals. The training was a part of my requirement as a Cohort 1 principal embarking on Personalized Learning.  As I conversed with colleagues, I realized that we are doing some extraordinary work here at Medlock.  It was wonderful to share how we are approaching our professional development in a differentiated way.  I was excited to share how our students are participating in Genius Hour, using a variety of apps for presentation and even coding in grades as young as Kindergarten.  The greatest common factor in all of the things that I shared today is.......YOU.  You have embraced the idea that we have to teach differently and that students can and should take ownership of their learning.  You have decided to take risks in the classroom and become more flexible in how you teach.   You have encouraged students to "show what they know" in a variety of ways.  You are the reason that our ordinary curriculum is being taught in extraordinary ways.  You make the difference at Medlock.



Staff Spotlight

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Ashley Mason. Ashley has become a "go to" person for classroom coverage.  In fact, she has even offered to help us out in tough to cover classrooms or when we are in a bind.  Ashley agrees to extra shifts in the cafeteria without complaint.  Teachers have commented that they appreciate the way she follows the plans that are left and holds the students accountable.  We know how hard it is to get pulled to cover a class at a moment's notice.  Ashley thank you for your willingness to support our students and staff everyday.




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

600 Other Ways To Say Common Things: Improving Student Vocabulary

05/24/2013, TeachThought Staff

Your students are bright, but they don’t always sound like it.
Their diction is full of cliche and emaciated language that doesn’t reflect their inner voice, nor does it indicate their vocabulary level.
You want your students to use specific language that demonstrates intended meaning rather than the first word that popped into their head, but you want to do more than hand them a thesaurus and tell them to “figure it out.”
While the following graphics aren’t going to make that happen, they can certainly play a role if posted to your classroom blog, shared on a student-teacher pinterest page, hung on a classroom wall, or reformatted, printed, hole-punched, and stored in a student binder.

Technology Tidbits

http://resources.oswego.org/games/ - great math games for all grade levels

News & Notes

Dr. Scott Muri, FCS Deputy Superintendent, will be visiting Medlock on May 12th after school to discuss the Personalized Learning Initiative taking place in FCS. 

Week of March 19

Thursday Thoughts March 19



 

 What an amazing day you had today!  I'm just sorry that I missed it.  Thank you to those who sent me pictures.  I was proud to share them with my principal colleagues.  Quite frankly,  I couldn't tell who was having more fun, the students or the staff.  One of the many things that I love about being a Mustang is the way we can put the FUN back into teaching the fundamentals.  I know the children enjoyed dressing up and were excited to see you dress up as well. Your love and dedication to our students is unparalleled and I know they will remember fun days like this for years to come. 

 



Staff Spotlight

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Rachna Saxena.  Rachna originally came to Medlock for a long term sub job during Mrs. Gallagher's maternity leave.  A few weeks later, Ms. Plummer had a vacant assistant position in her classroom and Rachna graciously accepted the position.  Initially, the transition in personnel was a bit difficult for some of the students.  This resulted in the students physically acting out a little more than usual.  There were a couple of times that I thought she would throw in the towel, but she did not.  Rachna hung in there and formed a bond with the class. It has been wonderful to learn how the students now respond to her positively.  When she is with students, one of the first things that you will notice is her bright smile.  I am thankful for the assistance that Rachna is providing to Ms. Plummer's class and appreciate the way she cares for our students.

Mindset Moments: Showcasing Student Growth

 

By Kriscia Cabralon March 5, 2015

 

www.scholastic.com

 

Take time to reflect on student learning and create “Mindset Moments.” To learn more about mindsets in the classroom, and especially the difference between fixed and growth mindsets, please check out my earlier post on this subject, "New Year, New Mindset."
Once a week I highlight a picture book that deals with perseverance and a growth mindset connection. After the read-aloud, we discuss the character in the story, the challenges they faced, and how they used a growth mindset to persevere and grow. Below is a small collection of stories we've read this year for this purpose.

This week I wanted to take the focus off of the characters that we read about, and move it to my students and how these lessons apply to them in their daily lives.
I asked students to think about the growth mindset and all that we have learned about it so far. I asked them to share what they know with the class. I got responses that included:

• “Growth mindset is when you keep trying even when something is hard.”
• “It’s when you want to keep learning even when you know a lot already.”

After my students told me what they know about growth mindset, I asked them to turn and talk to a partner about the following questions: “Can you think of a time where you used growth mindset? How did your changed mindset help you grow?”

After the partners worked with each other for a short while, I called upon students who had an example in mind to share their stories with the class. I posted a sentence starter on the board for those who needed more prompting.
I asked students why it is important to share and learn from each other’s mindset moments. We discussed how we can go to each other for help. I also talked about how important it is to celebrate the success of others and learn from their experiences.
I wanted to keep the mindset moment energy flowing through our room. To do this, I created a poster using chart paper. I then asked students to take a moment and write down their moments on a sticky note. They could then post growth mindset moments whenever they experienced one and we could share and celebrate as a class.
Students took a few moments for some quiet think time, and then grabbed sticky notes and went for it. Not every student had something to share. Those students were encouraged to take a sticky note and write about what they are going to learn and do better.
After a few minutes of reflection time, students shared their moments with the class and then stuck them on our poster. It was empowering for them to voice their growth and exciting for us to see a peer face a challenge and succeed.

Plans for the Future

The mindset poster will be hanging in our room indefinitely. I plan to expand the poster when our first one runs out of room. There is so much power behind seeing other students' accomplishments in a strong visual representation. In our first attempts to share, it started as only a few voices willing to speak. By the end of our time, however, students were leaving to go home with a pack of sticky notes thinking about their growth mindset moments that they wanted to share!
It would be great to have students type up their mindset moments and create a book that documents how much they have grown throughout the year.
What might you do with your students growth mindset moments? I’d love to hear more ideas!

Technology Tidbits

http://www.funenglishgames.com/writinggames.html- a range of free activities, resources and practice exercises related to writing letters, stories, newspapers, debates, advertising and instructions.

News & Notes

In May we will hold elections again for School Governance Council.  We will elect one teacher representative and one parent/guardian representative.  Please stay tuned for more information regarding the eligibility guidelines and the process.

 

Week of March 12

Thursday Thoughts March 12



 It has been wonderful this week to see the students get so excited about our school wide reading initiative.  I think we as adults don't truly understand the influence that we have on children.  They hang on our every word and our actions make an impression on them.  This can either be good or bad depending on our words and actions.  It is one thing to tell a child that reading is fun but it is another thing to model it for them.   When teaching in an affluent area such as Johns Creek, it can be easy to assume that all of our students have a wealth of books at home and parents who can't wait to read to them.  Unfortunately this is not the case for every child.  For some of our students, school is the best part of their lives.  You provide consistency, high expectations and experiences that they might not have outside of school.   Thank you for all that you are doing to make Medlock Bridge an awesome place for kids to learn.





Staff Spotlight
I would like to shine the spotlight on Ana Moreno and Cindy Olson.  These ladies have truly stepped up and increased their technology use among students within the classroom.  Ana is using Chatterpix as a way to have her students present information and she has added a Symbaloo to her classroom website as a resource for her students and parents.  Cindy has implemented KidBlog and her students are getting really excited about blogging.  Cindy is not afraid to learn right alongside her students and has embraced the support that our KSU Instructional Technology Coach provides.  Ana and Cindy are just a couple of the teachers who are throwing caution to the wind and getting into the trenches of technology use.  Great things are taking place in their classrooms and I appreciate their dedication to students and willingness to try new things.


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

4 Seuss and STEM Activities

By Lindsey Petlakon March 11, 2015

March is here and that means celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America in a number of fabulous ways all month long! I’m a total #STEMnerd and am always game for integrating STEM into seasonal festivities (see my STEM Valentine’s Day post). I loved sharing my "Top 10 Read Across America Ideas for Upper Elementary," and am excited to share ways to incorporate some Seuss-tastic STEM into your festivities at any grade level!

 

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Bartholomew and the Ooblek:

Your kids will have a blast getting ooey-gooey with this fun, hands-on science experiment exploring changing states of matter. See my photos below for real class-tested, teacher-approved photos from our own Ooblek experiments and watch the step-by-step video by Steve Spangler for instructions on how to bring this Seuss-tastic science into your own experiment! This experiment is simple, fun, and great for any age.

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Ten Apples Up on Top:

I LOVE an engineering challenge, and so do my kiddos. Each week, my colleague Jenna Weinstein and I get our kindergarten and fourth grade classrooms together for literacy-inspired STEM challenges during our STEMagination Station sessions. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to celebrate Seuss’ birthday with some STEM fun, and found Ten Apples Up on Top to be a perfect fit for our weekly STEM challenge.

Students were given Keva planks (but you could use ANY building materials, purchased or recycled) and were asked to build a structure at least one yard tall that could balance and hold at least one apple “up on top.” Once students achieved that goal, they worked to improve their engineering designs to add more apples to their structures. In the time we had, students were able to support up to four apples on their yard-tall towers.

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The Lorax:

This book is such a wonderful story for so many reasons, especially when considering eco-friendly issues and topics of concern. Last year I tried an experiment simulating an oil spill, its impact on wildlife, and cleanup with my class for the first time. It was amazing on all counts, easy to execute, and used household items to make real-world ecological issues come to life in the classroom. Read my previous post, "Real World Science: Gulf Coast Oil Spill," for full details, pre-experiment prep, tech integration, and more!

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One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish:

This super simple book lends itself to numerous literacy and math activities (including graphing Goldfish colors), but it’s also great for engaging science lessons on colors and color combinations. One of my favorite color explorations is a color-changing milk experiment that is sure to please. Like the oil spill simulation above, I tried this milk and food coloring experiment (courtesy of Spangler) and was more than 100 percent satisfied. With few materials needed and lots of fun for all, this STEM activity is great for any age and pairs perfectly with this classic Seuss tale.

 

Technology Tidbits

 http://www.tvokids.com/games-  The math and science games on this site are wonderful for working on many different math concepts, including counting coins, addition and telling time. In addition, there are great videos that demonstrate various math concepts (click on Watch to view videos).

News & Notes

Please sign up to read at Barnes & Noble Night on next Wed, March 18th. 
Please click here: http://vols.pt/vzycxg

Week of March 5

Thursday Thoughts March 5



 

 

A few weeks ago I had to work a concession stand shift at Chattahoochee High School. During my shift, one of my former Abbotts Hill students walked up to the stand.  I immediately recognized him even though it had been six years since we'd last seen each other.  He is now a junior.    This young man was one of the first Autistic students that I had ever worked with in my capacity as an assistant principal.  We spent ALOT of time together from the time he was in second grade until he went on to middle school.  In fact, I still have a framed picture of me and this student in my office.  He walked up to the concession stand and said, "Hi Mrs. Hutchens, I want a popcorn."  This small interchange was significant to me because he was never one to say much to me.  I told him that I was surprised that he remembered me and I tried to ask him how he's been but he ignored my questions and proceeded to ask for the popcorn again.  Needless to say, I smiled to myself, got the popcorn and he went on his way.   I wish I could tell you that I made some profound impact on his life or that I noticed a huge change in him, but I can't.  What I can tell you is that during our time together, I treated him with love and compassion even when it was difficult.  Even when he was wailing in my office, throwing things around and yes even being suspended, I made sure that he knew that although I did not love his behavior, I still loved him.    You may never know if you have made a positive impact on a child's life but I hope that as you work with all children, you make that your goal. 



 



Staff Spotlight
This week I would like to recognize Kate Johnston.  Being a new teacher at Medlock can be challenging to say the least.  The expectations of lesson planning, differentiating every lesson and even parent communication are all bit overwhelming.  Kate has grown tremendously throughout the year.  She uses feedback to improve her instructional practices and understands the value in collaboration with her team.  She loves her students and has taken the time to really get to know them.  Kate, thank you for giving your best to our students everyday. 

 

 

 

 

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

 

The Profile of a Modern Teacher

Reid Wilson / October 14, 2014

One of the greatest misconceptions in education today is that certain teachers have a higher natural aptitude in technology than others.
This inspirationalgraphic sets out to disprove that notion and remind the audience that external skills are only a function of the internal dispositions that allowed them to grow.

Technology Tidbits

 http://www.cobbk12.org/sites/literacy/math/math2.htm- Over 70 different links to math sites sorted by topic.

News & Notes

Dr. Avossa's visit to Medlock Bridge will be on Wednesday, April 22nd at 2:45pm in the Media Center.  Please email me any specific topics that you would like him to cover.