The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of January 15
January 15- Dr. Martin Luther King Day- Schools Closed
January 16- After School Mandatory PLP- Learning Targets
January 19- PIRATE DAY!
Important upcoming dates and events
January 22- Achieve 3000 rep meet with 3-5 during PE in Pirate Room
January 26- End 2nd Grading Period
January 29- Grades Due
January 30- Club pictures/ Grades due
January 30- Orchestra program 6:30
February 5- Report Cards issued
February 19- President's Day- No School
February 20- Gifted Testing for referred students 2-5
February 26- Pirate Day!
February 28- Grades due for progress reports
Glenwood Reading Month Special Events
Thursday, January 18th-”Immerse Yourself in a Book”- Students and staff are encouraged to wear their pajamas to school that day. All of Glenwood will stop and read from 9:55-10:15am. Please feel free to have students make bookmarks, respond to a book using Seesaw, Flipgrid, etc… or write their own story to share with a friend. (Friday, January 19th is Pirate Day!)
January 22-26th- “Ask and Analyze to Discover the Mystery Character”- During the morning announcements January 22-26th a new character will be described for grades NK-2 and 3-5. The students will put their answers along with their name and teacher’s name on a piece of paper and place them in the appropriate grade level box inside the front doors of the library. Everyday a student from each grade level will be randomly chosen from the correct responses to receive a prize.
Friday, January 26th- “Transform Yourself into a Book Character”- Students and staff are encouraged to dress up as their favorite book character. Students can write a letter to their favorite character, describe their book character on Seesaw, Flipgrid, etc….or write a new story with their character.
We hope that all teachers will show their ENTHUSIASM and encourage their students to participate in these January activities as we continue to develop independent and lifelong readers and writers.
Glenwood’s Reading Team
Grateful Gators!
Kudos to Theresa for the playposits, the kids love them, thanks for sharing.
Pam and Liz, we look forward to participating in all the fun activities you have planned for Reading Month!
Tammie, great to see you back with us. News about marker space is exciting. Diane Dykes
What Great Teachers Do Differently- 17 Things That Matter Most
16. In Every Situation, Ask Who Is Most Comfortable and Who Is Least Comfortable
All educators face the challenge of balancing rules and guidelines with those times when we need to make exceptions. This is especially true when it comes to behavior expectations for students. We can be concise, be clear, and communicate– but situations still arise when tough decisions are much more in shades of gray than we wish.
If a teacher argues with a belligerent parent, who feels uncomfortable? Not the parent; hostile parents love to argue. It’s their niche. That’s one good reason never to argue with difficult people– they have a lot more practice at it! However, another reason is that part of our job as teachers is to teach people appropriate ways to behave, not just help them refine the inappropriate skills they already have in abundance.
No, it’s the teacher who argues with a parent who feels uncomfortable and is likely to avoid the parent. The parent actually feels empowered– free to go tell everyone how the teacher acted, what was said, and how the argument ended. That parent will come back to the school ready for battle.
It is always okay to gather everyone’s input. But it is more important to be aware of what our best people’s views are. Many students– like many adults– make decisions basked on what is best for them. The best students– like the best adults– make decisions based on what is best for everyone. If we seek input from our most capable students and colleagues, we are much more likely to make the right choices.
Effective educators continually ask themselves who is most comfortable and who is least comfortable with each decision they make. When we face a challenging decision, we feel less alone if we ask ourselves, “What will the best people think?” And we’ll feel even less along if we go to our best people and ask them what they think.
Todd Whitaker
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Kimberley Green- Jan 21
Marcia Hill -Jan 22
Cake, Joshua - Jan 25
Lindsey Recine -Jan 26
Kathy Laubach -Jan 26
Michael O'Callahan - Jan 28
Ebony Tucker - Jan 31
ATTEND TO THE DETAILS OF COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION
Teachers of transitional and fluent readers often struggle with teaching comprehension during the guided reading lesson. The first challenge is to identify a focus. Understanding that self-monitoring is the very first comprehension strategy to teach, I follow it with visualizing and self-questioning. These three strategies seem to be easiest for teachers to implement and most valuable for readers to use. When I conduct workshops, I first model specific comprehension strategies and provide guided practice before I have teachers apply one of the comprehension strategies to the text they plan to use with a group of readers.
Knowing how to chunk the text is another challenge. Some teachers have students read huge sections of text without asking students to stop to reflect on their thinking. I show teachers how to chunk text into smaller segments and then have students write short responses that connect to the comprehension focus. Getting readers to stop, think, and jot helps them reflect on their reading.
~ Janrichardson.com
Thanks ROFO ES
Digital Learning Summer Summit for Teachers
As you begin to make plans for summer 2018, please be aware of the dates for the Digital Learning Summer Summit for Teachers (DLSS). The DLSS consists of 4 days of professional learning available to all school division staff, with most sections targeted for teachers. Information regarding these learning opportunities will be conveyed later in the school year. This will be a great opportunity to support our growth as we move to a one-to-one school.
Jun. 20-21 - Digital Learning Summer Summit
Aug. 13-14 - Digital Learning Summer Summit