JMQ Flash
January 11 - 14, 2016
The Weekly Scoop
- Monday - 1:30 ESC
- Tuesday - I will not be back on campus until after lunch.
Also, the fire drills will not be announced this semester. You might want to review with students the fire drill procedures. The weather is turning colder, so I would suggest students take their coats to Specials this week.
Have you written your LISD Foundation Grant? It is not too late! It is never too late until a deadline has past, says the best of procrastinators! The deadline is January 15, 2016.
A huge "thank you" goes to David Harris, husband of Mesha, Pre-K IA, and father of Jonathan, JMQ Kindergarten student. Mr. Harris built our new anchor desk over the Christmas Break. What a wonderful example of sharing one's gifts! Mesha, too, has been instrumental in taking our announcements "to the next level." We are grateful for all their help!
Thank you, Mesha!
We appreciate you, David Harris!
Our vision!
Professional Development - IDEAS & TOOLS
Long, but a must-read!
Visual Media
There are so many ways we can use visual media at Johnston-McQueen. It is engaging as a teaching tool, and students can use it to communicate and create! It does take time, though, to learn about apps and other visual media tools.
YouTube is available to you at school (not to students), and there are tons of ways you can use videos as "hooks" for lessons. Use Pure View to take off the adds so that students see only the content you want them to see. Ruthie shared that wonderful tool with us in the fall.
The short montage of popular heroes would make a wonderful introduction to a literature circle with a heroism theme. The protagonists in the literature circle books might experience very different conflicts (internal or external) that propel them on different paths. I have added one real-life video that might give students a different perspective on heroism. I particularly loved the 7th grader's reference to a superhero book which spurred him to action to help the bus driver. Finally, I will share a video that my 5th graders loved when we studied the Declaration of Independence and the events that led up to it. There is another version with clips from movies about the Revolutionary War which might be suitable for older audiences.
Lucy - Fashion Monster or Critical Thinker?
Mentoring Minds has listed some great strategies to use in the classroom to help teachers instill critical thinking routines in students. You will find those 10 critical thinking tips below.
For Principals & Teachers
Conversations
Instead of asking a student about his name tag as referenced in the post below, we would probably address a shirt that is not tucked in. The suggested five simple conversation starters below can be used by every staff member.