The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of February 18
This week at Glenwood
Feb 18- Black History Month Special Activities
Feb 18- Kindergarten All Day Collaboration
Feb 18- Library Learning Commons CLOSED
Feb 22- 5th Grade All Day Collaboration
FEB 22- PTA BINGO 7 PM
Upcoming Important Dates and Events
Feb 26- Begin Fun Run Glenwood Fundraiser
Feb 26- STAFF MEETING AT 3 PM in Learning Commons
Feb 27- Pirate Daty
FEB. 28- LIBRARY LEARNING COMMONS CLOSED 9-9:30
March 1- ACCESS testing begins
Mar 4- Achieve 3000 meeting with teachers 3-5 during PE
Mar 6- 2nd Grade Seussical Program 6 m
Mar 7- FUN RUN DAY During PE
Mar 7- Learning Walk #4 for Learning Walk Team
March 19 and 20 Donuts with Dads
Grateful Gators!
Thanks Tony for sharing an engaging Jamestown activity! My class loved it, and they also enjoyed having your kids come in and share their experience. I appreciate you both, Pam and Jessica, for stepping in and helping when I was in a crunch! Pam - you've been simply amazing while 4th grade gets our field trip set up, and for helping with everything the SCA has to take care of! Thank you! Jen Malit
To my Glenwood Family for all of their love and support. NO ONE works in a better place than thisAmy Doss
Mrs Gee~ she sent first graders to our room and inspired one of my students to go home over the weekend to make her own animal project! Rymer~holding it down while I was out of town Pam & Nancy~being supportive- Repa~the best counselor- Erica Cleghorn
I would like to thank Ashley Smith for coordinating the Autism shirt orders for Glenwood. As well as, to all those who order t-shirts, we had a total of 50 orders. Thank you all for your support!!!! Scott Thietje
Many thanks to Mrs. Repa for always coming to the rescue in a timely manner with patience and a positive attitude. You Rock!! Marcia Hill
Thank you Barbara Kimpan for providing my class with great hands-on equations lessons! Kathleen Baltazar
Kudos to Sarah Staie for pulling my room together every morning while I was out with the flu! Kudos to the first grade team for a productive collaboration. Wish I could have been there!
Meagan Serrano
For our wonderful art teachers, Allison Harder and Susan Arnold, for completing their gifted applications with deep thoughts and personalized touches. For Donna Faini, who taught a double class so I could go home when sick. For Michelle Fargo, with nerves of steel and a calm demeanor, even when other people miss their deadlines. For John McFarland and Tony Trovato, the most awesome handymen Glenwood has ever had, who don't laugh at me when I'm holding a nut and bolt in my hands. Barb Kimpan
Thank you to Mrs. Serrano for your support in a situation last week. Your back up was truly appreciated! Thank you to Mrs. Kassie for taking time out of her busy schedule to visit us during our community helper unit. The kids truly enjoyed listening to their own heart beats. A big kudos to Mrs. Dykes for her big heart and caring so much for our little ones. We truly appreciate all that you do for them:) Danica Petko and Jennifer Hernandez
KUDOS to Joshua Cake for running my school errands in Norfolk! KUDOS to Will Ferebee, Ms. Drucker, and Ms. Williams for their expertise on the Ellison Machine. KUDOS to Mrs. Habib for teaching my Gators a fabulous song about Presidents. KUDOS to Mr. French and the K teachers for making a fuss over our habitats. KUDOS to Mrs. Pfeifer for rescuing me on her first official day back! ❤️ Paula Gee
Glenwood's Boosterthon Fun Run is coming!
The money will be dedicated to creating learning commons areas around our school. Many times you see students sitting in the hallways working, and these learning commons areas will provide work places with green screen, flexible seating and whiteboards. We feel this will be very effective for our students. With this program, we can possibly raise a large amount. We will have a staff meeting on day 2 for the Fun Run staff to provide teachers with more information on how this will impact the classroom.
The dates and timeline is below:
Fun Run Dates- February 26 through March 7
Staff Meeting at 3 pm on February 26th in the Learning Commons as a kick-off.
Student Pep-Rallies on Feb. 26th- PK-2 at 9:30 am and 3-5 at 1:30 pm in the cafeteria.
Teachers may wear Jeans EVERY DAY through this period of Feb. 26- March 7
The Fun Run itself will be on March 7th outside weather permitting:
PK and 1st grade at 8:30
2nd and 3rd grade at 10:00
4th and 5th grade at 1:30
More to come!
Happy Birthday!
Rouse, Matthew . February 18
Stacy, Mary . February 18
Silvey, Rosa . February 19
Jones, Debra . February 24
Bacus, Romeo . February 28
Bussuvanno, Melinda . February 28
Hernandez, Jennifer . February 29
Special Weeks in February
The Importance of Having Fun with Your Students
Here’s a question to consider: Would you like to be a student in your classroom? Would you be engaged? Eager to learn? Would you go home bursting to tell your family about all the fun, exciting things you learned?
There is a lot of hard work to be done in the classroom, but without incorporating fun in creative learning, we are missing an opportunity to make a meaningful, long-lasting impact on our students.
Think of your own learning experiences — is there one that really stands out? Was it a hands-on project that incorporated art and textiles? Was it on a field trip? Was it a science experiment that you were allowed to try yourself? Or maybe it was a game you played with fellow classmates?
Research tells us that fun is necessary for authentic learning and long-term memory. Fun promotes learning, and it increases dopamine, endorphins and oxygen. Neurologist and educator Judy Willis’s book “Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher” (ASCD, 2006) had this to say about the benefits of fun in the classroom: The truth is that when the joy and comfort are scrubbed from the classroom and replaced with homogeneity, and when spontaneity is replaced with conformity, students’ brains are distanced from effective information processing and long-term memory storage. The highest-level executive thinking, making of connections, and “aha” moments are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of “exuberant discovery,” where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning.
Making learning fun in your classroom is possible. Not only for your students, but so you can also have fun teaching.
~ Adapted from Virginia Teach blog, September 11, 2018
https://www.vateacher.com/the-importance-of-having-fun-with-your-st
Thanks, Salem ES
Ten Tips for Working with Struggling Readers in Guided Reading
Guided reading offers many advantages as you work with students who need extra help. Your support makes it possible for them to learn from their reading just as your stronger readers are doing. Here are ten specific suggestions for working in guided reading with readers who need extra help:
Involve them in guided reading every day. The students at the lower end of the achievement continuum are the ones least likely to gain from independent work; they need the most instruction. Carefully selecting texts for them and providing supportive instruction will enable them gradually to tackle more difficult tasks.
Provide appropriate levels of text for them to read. Students cannot use effective reading strategies when the texts are too difficult. Use the text gradient to find books that students can read and, at the same time, find interesting.
Guide them to search for information in the text. As students raise questions during discussion, they may need to confirm their hypotheses with information from the text. Teach them how to search for information in the text to find answers to their questions.
Emphasize fluency in reading so that language can power the reading process. Many struggling readers read slowly. Reading slowly interferes with comprehension; however, the slower you read, the harder it is to think of the text as conveying meaning. As students read texts at the appropriate level, you may need to teach fluency. Activities like shared reading, readers’ theater, poetry sharing, and audio books support fluency.
Give them opportunities to discuss their reading. More than other students, struggling readers need time to talk before reading, while reading, and after reading. The greater the struggle, the more essential the conversation.
Have them write in connection with reading. Writing is the ideal activity to extend their understanding of what they read; and they learn more about writing at the same time.
Provide opportunities for silent reading. Silent reading is faster than oral reading. It is also easier to comprehend when reading silently.
Provide a few minutes of work at the end of the guided reading lesson. Using magnetic letters, dry-erase boards, or markers and paper, quickly explore principles that will help struggling readers understand how words work (for example, changing letter clusters with the same rime to make new words).
Be sure they spend their time reading text. Struggling readers especially need to spend their time actually reading rather than doing all of the extraneous activities that seem to surround reading.
Introduce them to series books in guided reading. Almost all students in the intermediate grades love series books; they are especially good for students who need extra help because they provide extra practice on easy material.
~ Fountas and Pinnell
Thanks ROFO ES
The Importance of Not Stepping In
I had a fantastic opportunity to do a student podcast recently, and although the students were there to ask me questions, I took a lot of time to ask them about their own experiences in school. Honestly, I would rather hear from them and their perspectives than
I would talk so I tried to get in as many questions as possible. It was such a pleasure to connect with these students.
We got onto the topic of “empowering” students and why I thought it was so important. Something they said triggered a thought I had about one of my favorite basketball coaches of all time, Phil Jackson. For those who don’t know Phil Jackson, he is famous for coaching the Michael Jordan Bulls and the Lakers to 11 total NBA championships, the most of any coach in the NBA. His resume is incredible as a coach.
There was something that he would do that was unlike any other coach that was meant for the long-term success of his teams. Usually, when a basketball team is facing a situation where the momentum is shifting, and sometimes the crowd is getting rowdier or losing interest in their own team, the majority of coaches will call a timeout to regroup their players. I have watched basketball enough that I can tell when a timeout is about to be taken because you can feel it in the stadium. Phil Jackson would often just let his players stay on the court and let them try to figure out, even when the pressure was high, to get themselves out of a bad situation. The mentality was that there might be a situation in a playoff game that the team is either limited in timeouts or doesn’t have one at all, and the coach won’t be able to save them. It is better for the team to learn how to figure it out on their own while actively playing in the game.
Do you see a connection to a classroom? Often, as a teacher or principal we want to jump in when our students struggle with new learning in a situation, but what does that lead to when they are on their own? I have talked often about working with students that were sent to the office for behavioral issues, and I would merely ask, “Why are you here?” and then follow the answer to that with, “What would you do if you were me?” The point of those questions was for the students to develop the skills and mentality to be able to figure out tough situations on their own since we know we will not always be around.
When you look at the situation with school or coaching, when we empower others, we have to realize that what is most comfortable for us at the moment can lead to detrimental consequences in the long term. Giving up ownership now can help our students figure out their direction in the future. Engagement is more about today where empowerment is about leading to better choices and application both today and tomorrow. It is not always easy, but ultimately it will be worth it.
THE PRINCIPAL OF CHANGE- GEORGE COUROS