The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of October 9
Monday, October 9- Professional Learning Day- Schools closed for students- See schedule below
Tuesday, October 10- Progress Reports Issued
Friday, October 12- Glenwood Blood Drive
October 9 Professional Learning Day
10:30- Continued Digital Learning Tools with Caroline Altman and Shelia Teri
Lunch on your own
1:00 Work in your classrooms
Welcome New Gators!
Important upcoming dates and events
Tuesday,October 17- Fall Pictures
Wednesday, October 18- School Security Assistant Day! Go Mrs. Lewis!!!
Monday, October 23- Achieve 3000 rep visit with grades 3-5 during PE in Pirate Room
Thursday, October 26- PIRATE DAY
Friday, October 27- PTA Fall Festival
Monday, October 30- First Grade Gifted Testing
Friday, November 3- Citizen of the Month 9:30 am
Wednesday November 8- Transition to Middle School program for Gifted parents 6:30
Friday, November 10- Veterans Day (Schools Closed)
Tuesday November 14- Fall Picture Make-Ups
Wednesday, November 15- Pirate Day, Report Cards Issued
Grateful Gators!
Kudos to the Kindergarten Team for helping out when I had an unexpected absence. It meant a lot to know you all were checking in on my room. Thank you Mrs. Haws for being available on short notice to help support A9. A big thanks to the office staff (and countless others in the hall!) who have helped make a big deal when my little buddy makes good choices! EMerce
Kudos to Alexa Ambrose for getting ‘Girls on the Run’ off the ground and “running!” It is SO much fun and the girls love it! – Tina Repa
Kudos to all of our fabulous Pre-K teachers for letting us come in and work with our smallest gators! Those little bodies come with some big personalities and your “tiny-human” management skills are amazing! – Tina and Tara
Kudos to Mr. Hinson for cleaning up a bead explosion in the mailroom!
Kudos to the followings staff members for signing up to donate blood: Tina Olds, Pamela Buckardt, Kathleen Slinde, Jessica Palmer, Meghan Mathews, Kimberly Garcia, Jennifer Santiago, John McFarland, and Tom White (Julie's husband). You are the best! Paula Gee
Thanks to Jen Malit for taking time out of her day to show me how #booksnaps works, so I can add it in to my language arts block! She gave me a TON of helpful tips to prevent possible problems. JMcFarland
Pamela Buchart for staying after school with the Kindergarten team to help with some planning and providing ideas. Also for being so quick to come up with some answers to help Kindergarten with our growing curriculum and grade level! Caitlyn Chandler
KUDOS! Cafeteria staff- wow, they keep things running smoothly. Many thanks for all they do to keep kids fed and cared for during their loud, chaotic lunch times. Teresa Habib
THANK YOU Teri Ennis for accepting the permanent sub position for Kelli Medina and starting on the same day! You have been amazing! Jessica Palmer
Kudos to Ms. Cotton for always being such a hard worker! Ms. Cotton also recently helped with a urgent clean up on her lunch break! Jessica Durkalski
I would like to give a big thank you to Marykay Roemer, without a doubt, she goes above and beyond internal customer service. No matter the question, task, or when I need her assistance with technology support, Marykay is eager to help! Not only does she resolve my issue, but she does it in a professional, positive and friendly manner! Thank you for all you do!!!!!! I would like to thank the fourth grade teachers for their support and welcoming arms, as I transition into Glenwood this school year! Your smiles and positive energy creates a welcoming feeling! Here's to Kellie, Jen, Kim, John, and especially my two partners in crime: Alexa Ambrose and Tony Trovato! Bring on 2017/2018, we've got this!!! Scott Thietje
Kudos to Jen Malit and John McFarland for helping with the after school Chromebook training for the Teacher Assistants and Permanent Substitutes! Caroline Altman
Kudos to our cafeteria staff who weathered our fire drill in the middle of lunch with patience and grace. Everyone did a great job getting out of the building quickly and pitching in to help each other out. Kudos to the fourth grade team for your efficient completion of the IPT testing. You were well prepared, timely, and organized! Thanks! Mrs. Haws
Kudos to... Marykay for working hard to get First their chromebooks; Caroline and Tammie for doing the orientation; Mrs Dykes and her class for assisting me to get my students logged into their CB and Google Classroom- they were lifesavers for me and were great models for my students.; Mrs Staie for letting my Ss who was too scared of the spiders in our bathroom use your class bathroom;Paula always sharing your yummy treats during collab ; Kathy- keeping us up to date with all our reminders- Amanda Agreste
Congrats Caroline Altman for being selected to be a presenter at the VSTE State Technology Conference in December!!!!
What Great Teachers Do Differently- 17 Things That Matter Most Todd Whitaker
5. Prevention versus Revenge
When a student misbehaves, the great teacher has one goal: to keep that behavior from happening again. The least effective teacher often has a different goal: revenge. Ineffective teachers are motivated after a student misbehaves, to punish the student. If a child does not bring a pencil to class, they want the child to feel badly about it and choose to behave better as a result. They focus on the penalty, the punishment– the past.
Does every teacher have the same options? Every teacher has the same tools in their bag of tricks. Every teacher can use proximity or eye contact, send a student to the office, praise, argue or yell. Not every teacher does, but any teacher could do everything on the list. What, then is the difference between good classroom managers and poor classroom managers? It is not what is in our bag of tricks. A great teacher reaches in once or twice a day. A poor teacher grabs away several times an hour, and if we reach into our bag often enough, we're going to pull out some ugly ones. Some options that might be in your bag– yelling, arguing, and humiliating– deserve special attention. When is sarcasm appropriate in the classroom? - Never. Who decides how many arguments you get into each week– We do. We never win an argument with a student. As soon as it starts, we have lost. If their peers are watching they cannot afford to give in. We would like to win, but they have to win. When is an appropriate time for yelling? -Never. Students we are most tempted to yell at have been yelled at so much, why on earth would we think this would be effective with them? Effective teachers choose wisely from their bag of tricks.
As educators, we know how important it is to treat students with respect, no matter how they behave. We do this for our students’ sake; otherwise, they wont thrive in our classrooms. We also understand that we should extend the same respect to their parents– again, no matter how they behave; otherwise, won’t be able to work productively with them to help their child. However, there is another reason we should treat students and their parents with respect: We do if for our own sake. Think of how you would feel when you know have treated a student or parent inappropriately. Knowing that have made them feel badly, you feel worse!
Todd Whitaker
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Kim Kennedy Oct.-12
Dina Dreistadt Oct.-14
Valerie Orner Oct.-14
Betsy Harvell Oct.-18
Sandra Kechter Oct.-20
Ashley Smith1 Oct.-21
Antonino Olimpiade Oct.-24
Anita, Seabrook Oct.-25
Erica Cleghorn Oct.-31
Brittany Howell Oct.-31
8 Things to Look For in a Student-Centered Learning Environment
2) Students know what they are learning and why
3) Blend of individual, collaborative team and large group work.
4) Students use personalized technology to produce as well as consume.
5) Students have some opportunity to work at their own pace and explore their own interests.
6) Students are doing the bulk of the work and the talking.
7) There are multiple forms of assessment, feedback and demonstrations of learning.
8) Instruction, culture and environment reflect and include student and staff diversity.
Emily Liebtag- Getting Smart blog