Galloping Gazette
A newsletter for the Faculty and Staff - Week of 12/9
Put Students First • Seek Growth • Be Open to Change . Do Great Work Together • Value Differences
Principal Message
Last month, we talked a lot in collaboration and data meetings about intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. How can we increase our student's drive and want to do well in school intrinsically? Recently, I was reading an article shared by Responsive Classroom about Developing Intrinsic Motivation with Choice. I wanted to share a few thoughts:
According to Vocabulary.com, the word "intrinsic" is an adjective that means "belonging to a thing by it's very nature." Intrinsic might also mean essential, internal, inner, etc. How on earth can we develop intrinsic motivation with our students when we (their teachers) are on the outside? We all want our students to love school and to enjoy the process of learning. We seem to always be searching for ways to encourage our students to put forth best efforts in everything we ask them to do. We desperately want each student to be self-motivated to learn, and we employ a variety of strategies to promote rule-following behavior and high academic achievement. We often become teachers because we loved school ourselves, so it can be difficult for us to understand why some students don’t. Teachers can have excellent classroom management and still struggle with engaging and motivating all the students in their care. We know that to grow academically and socially, children need us to recognize and encourage their strengths and positive efforts. What is the best way to offer recognition and encouragement that will help develop intrinsic motivation in all our students?
Essential First Step
Our first step in encouraging a student to become more intrinsically motivated is to create the optimal environment that provides interesting, gratifying, personally meaningful learning experiences. When students feel a sense of purpose in their work, they are more likely to investigate and expand into new areas of learning and to persevere when faced with challenges. Limiting the amount of “teacher talk” by asking more questions allows students to actively work on solving problems and finding answers, giving them a greater sense of control.
Providing Choices
Giving students choice is also critical to increasing engagement, ultimately leading to the development of intrinsic motivation. We offer many different kinds of choices during the school day, such as where to sit and read in the classroom, to work with a partner or alone, to use markers or colored pencils. These choices give students a degree of control over their daily life at school, contributing to their sense of autonomy.
Academic Choice
Students become highly engaged and productive when they have choices in what or how they are learning. They’re likely to think more deeply and creatively, work with more persistence, and use a wider range of academic skills and strategies. Academic Choice is a powerful three-part strategy for motivating students’ learning that involves planning, working, and reflecting. When we use Academic Choice, we present the goal of the lesson or activity, then give students a list of options for what to learn and/or how to go about their learning in order to reach the defined goal. Finally, the lesson ends with reflection so students can consider their work and the choices they made. This three-part structure mirrors the natural learning cycle, which involves setting goals, enacting on those goals, and then reflecting on what was learned.
-Robyn
Shout Outs...
- Thank you to Wende for all of your help with everything! - Jackie
- Thank you Travis for volunteering to dye your hair! Jackie and Ally
- Thank you Robyn and Patti for volunteering to be slimed! Jackie and Ally
- Thank you Francis for being the MVP of our crew! Jackie, Liz and Christine
- Shout out to Anne Young for sharing her treasured family artifacts from the Civil War with our 5th Grade students! We were all fascinated! Frances
Travis-thank you so much for your creative and fun culminating lesson on Simple Machines for third grade! The kids had a blast! Ally
- Ms. Backer and Ms. Porter-thank you for your kind words on the thankful turkeys! It made my day walking in and seeing that! Ally
- Moriah and Kim-the turkeys look great! Thank you for your hard work! Ally
- Thank you to the office ladies for always helping out! Ally
- Shout out to Anna, and the Michelle's for covering for me when I was sick last week. And shout out to Debbie for taking care of me and sending me soup and groceries when I have no family in town to take care of me. Y'all the bomb.com! Kelly
- A big shout out to Mrs. Olds and Ms. Jacobs for always being so helpful and making my copies. I truly don't know what I would do without them! Cindy
- Shout out to the PTA for organizing and putting on a wonderful Santa’s Shop for our students. Anne
- Thank you to Ms. Backer and Ms. Porter for our wonderful thankful turkeys. Definitely made my day!!! Love Marissa
- Thank you Ms. JOY for keeping the office so nice. You are awesome Ms Mercy
- Thank you Olivia for allowing me to be your copilot for the week! Muchas gracias, amiga. Ana
- Thank you Travis for your mechanic skills jumping my car. I cannot thank you enough! - Ana
- Shout out to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Nicolosi, and Ms. McNeely for holding things down for me last week! Anna
- Shout out to Debbie and Travis for helping me set the stage to engage for our class safari to watch the wildebeests migration in East Africa. Tammy
Schedule for upcoming weeks
** PLC Focus- Math- Number Talks and SEL competencies **
Monday, December 9th
- 3rd Day of Christmas- Donut Day
- GOTR 2:45- 4:15
Tuesday, December 10th
- 4th Day of Christmas- Snowflake Gratitude Day
- PAC/Leadership Meeting 3:00
Wednesday, December 11th
- 5th Day of Christmas- Bingo Day
- Watch Dog Dad Mike Kennedy
- 11:00 2nd PLC
- 12:45 1st PLC
- 1:35 4th PLC
- Chorus Field Trip to Nursing Home 12:30-1:20
- GOTR 2:45-4:15
Thursday, December 12th
- 6th Day of Christmas- Popcorn Bar
- 8:30 5th PLC
- 9:20 3rd PLC
- 10:10 PreK/K PLC
- VB Education TGIF Celebration @ Sandler 6:00-8:30
Friday, December 13th
- 7th Day of Christmas- Chips and Salsa
- Watch Dog Dad Saulo Ortiz
- Progress Reports Quarter 2 due
- Staff Holiday Party @ Patti Csenar's house 4:00
PLC Focus- Content/Technology and Review Q1 Results
Monday, December 16th
- 8th Day of Christmas- Channel Your Flannel
- 5th Grade Electricity Expo 9:15, Cafeteria
- GOTR End of Season Party 2:45-4:15
Tuesday, December 17th
- 9th Day of Christmas- Tacky Sweater/Jeans Day
- Chorus Field Trip to Administrative Buildings 12:40-1:40
- Faculty Meeting 3:00
Wednesday, December 18th
- 10th Day of Christmas- Holiday Hats and Subs and Salads for Lunch
- Chorus Concert 8:30am - Pre-K, 1st, 2nd, and 4th
1:30pm - Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th
- 11:00 2nd PLC
- 12:45 1st PLC
- 1:35 4th PLC
- Newspaper Club- 2:45-4:00
- Chorus Concert for the Parents- 7:00pm
Thursday, December 19th
- 11th Day of Christmas- Green Grinch Day
- 1st Grade Grinch Reading with Travis, Cafeteria 9:00
- 8:30 5th PLC
- 9:20 3rd PLC
- 10:10 PreK/K PLC
- PTA Meeting 3:00, Library
Friday, December 20th
- 12th Day of Christmas- PJ Day
News and Notes....
- Please make sure you send your party schedules to Ceci so she knows when to expect parents.
- Don't forget that we are still doing the "Good Phone Call of the Day". If you have a student that has done something that goes above and beyond, or just had a really good day, please e-mail Ms. Backer. We want to start filling the wall up in the office.
- Progress report dates:
** Specialists are due Tuesday, December 10th by 5 pm. Please email when you are done so Mrs. Mounce can notify the teachers!
** Teachers are due Wednesday, December 11th by 5 pm.
Please send Mrs. Mounce the pdf of your progress reports when you are done.
Progress reports are to be sent home via email on Friday, December 13th to any student performing below grade level.
Progress Reports are issued at the midpoint of each grading period for students performing below expected levels, grades 1-5, including students with Individualized Education Programs.
Teachers will use the electronic grade book version of the Progress Report, which will be sent electronically to parents with an email address in the Student Information System. Paper copies will be provided for parents without an email address in the Student Information System. Please send them by 10 am to ensure you have time to print any that do not have active email addresses.
Lularoe Fundraiser- Shop For a Cause
Kathryne Gresham Ripley, a Lularoe consultant, has very generously offered to donate her profits to help pay off CFES student's lunch debts. Please use the link below to order and help support our students and her business.
Morning Meeting Moment
For December, make sure you are really taking the time to review the four components of morning meeting. This will ensure that you are reinforcing the expectations of morning meeting. Each week in December, we will provide you with a quick review of each part of morning meeting, as well as with some updated resources. This week, we will focus on the SHARING:
- Provides an arena for others to share news.
- Let’s students learn about each other.
- Offers practice speaking to a partner
- Allows practice with careful listening.
- Offers students an engaging way to develop empathy, consideration of other perspectives, and social awareness
- Enhances student vocabulary development and reading success.