The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of March 5
School Safety Lock Down Drill this week
March 6- Tech Tuesday- PLAYPOSIT with Theresa Rywalt in Pirate Room
March 9- Learning walks with teachers from Moneta Elementary School, Moneta VA.
Important upcoming dates and events
March 13- 3rd, 4th and Special Ed Music Program in Gym 10:15
March 14- Digital Learning Night 7 pm
March 20- Spring Pictures
March 20- Tornado Drill
March 21- Sweets and Treats- PK,K and 5th
March 22- Digital Learning Day
March 27 and 28- Donuts with Moms
March 29- End 3rd Grading Period
March 28- GRIT workshop with 2nd grade during Collaboration
March 30- Staff Day- Grades Due
Grateful Gators!
Kudos to the 2nd grade team, great ideas flowed at our collaboration and I am proud to work with such great people! Theresa Rywalt
Kudos to the PTA for the very successful movie night on Friday. Lots of parents and students:having a great time. Shirley Haywood
KUDOS to the specialists for passing out Brag Tag beads. KUDOS to Mr. Hinson for always helping out when needed. Paula Gee
Thank you to Diane Dykes for scheduling docents from the Chrysler Museum to share about Ancient Civilizations! It made for a fantastic PIRATE Day! Andi Larson
Theresa Rywalt, Andi Larson, Dina Dreistadt, Andrea Neal, Lindsey Recine, Susan Bowers, Stephanie Marshall, Tony Trovato, John McFarland, Jennifer Malit, Brittany Bookout, and the entire 5th grade team--for getting your gifted referrals in on time. You all did an awesome job. You really know your kids. To all the teachers who have been so flexible when I've had to cancel and/or reschedule lessons because I was sick. Thank you for all the support. Barb Kimpan
Many thanks to Mrs. Haywood for support with a student who needs some extra attention. Your time is greatly appreciated! Kudos to Mrs. Haws and Mrs. Malit for the support with teaching summarizing to my 2nd graders. It is always wonderful to see children sharing knowledge and teaching other students. The 4th graders are awesome learning buddies! Thanks to Mrs. Lewis for being a security guard who not only knows our students, but loves them as well. You do an incredible job, so glad you are with us! Diane Dykes
Thank you Jessica and Regina for all your help in C-5! Vickie Storm
'Kudos to Mr. Rouse for always being so dependable at day care duty! He always has the place set up and ready to go! Also, Kudos to Mr. Thietje and Ms. Rossero for all of their help and support in the morning! You were so flexible and kind with our crazy schedules! Kudos to 5th grade teachers for all of their extra efforts and smiles when getting our kiddos ready to go to middle school! They are amazing. Tina Repa
Kudos to 3rd grade, ITS, TST, and guidance for hosting and sponsoring our Sweets and Treats! Stephanie Marshall
Kudos to Mrs. Storm who helped copy, laminate, cut, and bag a bunch of cards to support word study. Your hard work will benefit all of our 4th and 5th graders. Thanks for being speedy and organized. Jenn Haws
Thanks Ms. Lewis, Mr. Hinson, and Mrs. Stacy for getting the SCA coat drive pick-up ready to go. Things went smoothly and UMM was so appreciative! Jen Malit
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Theresa Rywalt 3-05
Allison Webster 3-12
Sullivan, Angie 3-14
Caitlyn Chandler 3-16
Mary Salisbury 3-19
Vickie Storm 3-20
Amy Doss 3-24
Lisa Praileau 3-26
Maniel Arnaldo 3-26
Kenya Jones 3-29
Stephanie Marshall 3-29
Pfeifer, Tara 3-30
Five Tips to Help Manage Stress
Let’s face it, the next five weeks are probably the most stressful weeks in the school year. It is a long stretch with no breaks and this year with an extended school day. One way we can stay healthy at this time of year is to recognize that these days can be tough and to be proactive as we move through the days ahead. Here are five simple ways to manage stress from the American Psychological Association. Whatever you do to combat stress, remember to take care of yourself in the coming weeks so you can take care of your students!
Take a break from the stressor. It may seem difficult to get away from a big work project, a crying baby or a growing credit card bill. But when you give yourself permission to step away from it, you let yourself have time to do something else, which can help you have a new perspective or practice techniques to feel less overwhelmed. It’s important to not avoid your stress (those bills have to be paid sometime), but even just 20-minutes to take care of yourself is helpful.
Exercise. The research keeps growing — exercise benefits your mind just as well as your body. We keep hearing about the long-term benefits of a regular exercise routine. But even a 20-minute walk, run, swim or dance session in the midst of a stressful time can give an immediate effect that can last for several hours.
Smile and laugh. Our brains are interconnected with our emotions and facial expressions. When people are stressed, they often hold a lot of the stress in their face. So laughs or smiles can help relieve some of that tension and improve the situation.
Get social support. Call a friend, send an email. When you share your concerns or feelings with another person, it does help relieve stress. But it’s important that the person whom you talk to is someone whom you trust and whom you feel can understand and validate you. If your family is a stressor, for example, it may not alleviate your stress if you share your work woes with one of them.
Meditate. Meditation and mindful prayer help the mind and body to relax and focus. Mindfulness can help people see new perspectives, develop self-compassion and forgiveness. When practicing a form of mindfulness, people can release emotions that may have been causing the body physical stress. Much like exercise, research has shown that even meditating briefly can reap immediate benefits. Thanks ROFO ES
Road Tested / 3 Steps for Think Alouds
Despite their benefits, think alouds are not common in K-5 classrooms. In my work as a teacher educator, I have found that the explicit modeling component of think alouds requires deliberate planning – we cannot assume that effective think alouds will come to us naturally. In a year-long research project with a teacher study group, I created a three-step process to help teachers think big with think alouds. I then refined and tweaked the process in my work with K-5 classrooms. As I plan my think alouds, I skim through the selected text three times – each rereading is described in the steps that follow. Just as training wheels provide stability and confidence when learning to ride a bike, so does the script of a think aloud. The end goal is to be able to think aloud independently with comfort, ease, and skill.
Identify Juicy Stopping Points. The first step in planning a think aloud is a close examination of the text. With a stack of sticky notes in hand, I peruse the text, searching for places to make inferences, synthesize information, monitor and clarify my confusion, ask a question, or think through the author's purpose. I see these spots as "juicy stopping points" that can either lead to comprehension opportunities or stumbling blocks. In my first reading, I may identify more than 15 juicy stopping points in a standard children's picture book.
Determine Where and When to Think Aloud - In my second reading, I examine each stopping point and critically reflect on the need for that point. The goal here is to narrow down the stopping points to a more manageable number so I do not overwhelm students and detract from the comprehension process. I keep several factors in mind, including my purpose for selecting the text, my learning objectives for the lesson, and which comprehension strategies are familiar or unfamiliar to my students prior to reading the text. I might eliminate stopping points that focus on minor details or occur after very short portions of text. After my second reading, I typically end up with about five to seven stopping points. These are the bare bones of the think aloud I will model in front of my students.
Write Scripts on Sticky Notes - The goal of my third reading is to identify exactly what I will say in front of students. I literally write out, in first-person narrative, what I will say in response to a text to give students the chance to eavesdrop on the reading process. The use of "I" statements encourages students to emulate purposeful reading.
Go Below the Surface Each read aloud—whether of a storybook or of a few paragraphs in a science textbook—provides the opportunity to model our metacognitive processes. Typically, we ask surface-level questions like "Where does the story take place?" and "Why do you think he left the town?" These questions serve merely to assess students' understanding of the text. As we think aloud, however, we can mentor students in building the comprehension skills they need to become successful independent readers.
~ Molly Ness . THanks ROFO ES