The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of October 8
This week at Glenwood
Monday, October 8- Professional Learning Day and Virtual Learning Day. No school for students
Tuesday, October 9- Progress Reports Issued
Thursday, October 11- PIRATE DAY
Friday, October 12- FOOTBALL FRIDAY
Virtual Learning Days October 8 and November 8
October 8 Professional Learning Day
Analyzing your DSA- Grades 1-2- at 1 pm (bring your DSA data)
Analyzing your DSA- Gradses 3-5 at 2 pm (bring your DSA data)
All meetings will be in the Library Learning Commons
Upcoming Important Dates and Events
Tuesday, October 16- PICTURE DAY
Thursday, October 18- Glenwood Blood Drive
Wednesday, October 24, Grades 4 and 5 TLLT training
Thursday, October 25- Grades 2 and 3 TLLT training
Friday, October 26- Grades K and 1 TLLT training
Friday October 26- PTA Fall Festival 6-8 pm
Friday, November 2- Citizen of the Month 9:30 am
Tuesday, November 6- Staff Day, and Virtual Learning Day Schools closed to students
Monday, November 12- Veterans Day Schools Closed
Wednesday, November 14- Report Cards Issued
Tuesday, November 20- PIRATE DAY
Wednesday, November 21- Adjusted Dismissal
Thursday and Friday, November 22 and 23- Thanksgiving Holidays Schools closed
Grateful Gators!
KUDOS to Mr. French for approving jeans on Oct. 18th to everyone who is helping with the blood drive. (food donations, blood donations, station workers)
KUDOS to Tara Pfeifer for always looking out for my first graders. KUDOS to Dina Dreistadt for the constant reminder of what it takes to be THAT teacher. KUDOS to Kevan Sime and Kathleen Slinde for parting with their Magnet Men. KUDOS to Cec Drucker, Nancy Cuppett, and Susan Cotthaus, former Gators, for donating food items for Beach Bags. Our retired teachers rock! Paula Gee
Kudos to Jenn Haws for juggling all the aspects of her job while training the substitute AP. She does an amazing job keeping up with EVERYTHING! Janet Zitt
Thank you Mrs. Munson for implementing a Math Congress Exemplar. It was the perfect way to hit the 5 C's and get a pre-assessment of my students understanding of rounding! Also, thank you Mrs. Haws for sharing your passion for reading with my students! My students were very excited to learn the GPS strategy. Lindsey Recine
Allison Harder for being so accommodating in her schedule! Thank you! Diane Dykes and her class for ROCKING the scavenger hunt activity with my class - great job! For everyone who has pitched in this week helping out D4...it's been a team effort - I appreciate it! Jen Malit
John McFarland for being a risk-taker and teaching teachers some math. For 2nd and 3rd grades for stepping out of their comfort zone and trying something new their GRT threw at them. Barb Kimpan
Much appreciation to Symphony and Teresa for welcoming me with open arms to Glenwood and making me feel comfortable. The staff at Glenwood is amazing and I love the positive vibes when I walk in the door! Thank you, Nicole Sutorius
"Kudos to Mrs. Doss for always being a smiling, shining face in the mornings. Great way to start the day!" -Allison Harder
I want to thank my grade-level and many staff members including Mr. French and Mrs. Haws for your continued support. I truly appreciate it! You are all amazing! Susan Bowers
KUDOS to the Kindergarten team for collecting so many supplies for the teachers in NC that were affected by hurricane Florence! And KUDOS to Amy Doss for delivering all the supplies to Kelly Hogard at Indian Lakes! Jessica Palmer
Kudos to Brittany Howell for being a Seesaw featured author! You do a great job making activities. Thank you to Frat, Blaine, McCarvill, and Mrs.Zitt, Salty, and the clinic for all the support as we work through getting some of my littles adjusted. Hill- without you I’d be lost EMerce
Thank you so much to Susann Rossero for going above and beyond to help one of our families in need! The students are SO excited about their “new threads.” J Thank you to Alexa Ambrose and Mindy Tomchik for being such amazing Girls on the Run coaches! They are so motivating and dependable! Thank you to Scott Thieje, Jen Malit and Josh Cake for going above and beyond for their students! Their patience and dedication is truly commendable! Thank you to Tara Pfeifer for stepping up and helping out anytime she’s asked! She really helped out our GOTR team this week! Thank you to Jenn Haws and Dave French for always advocating for our teachers and our school! Our admin truly looks out for our team! Tina Repa
Special Weeks in October
Happy Birthday!
Kennedy, Kimberle October 12
Dreistadt, Dina October 14
Orner, Valerie October 14
Harvell, Elizabeth October 18
Kechter, Sandra October 20
Smith, Ashley October 21
Olimpiade, Antonino . October 24
Seabrook, Anita October 25
Rymer, Louise October 26
Cleghorn, Erica October 31
Howell, Brittany October 31
Checking for Understanding
Checking for understanding is the simplest kind of formative assessment and is crucial for the success of any lesson. Both during and after each guided practice attempt, the teacher should be checking – formatively assessing a sample of students to determine whether students seem to have mastered that particular step and are ready to move on to the next one. Almost any attempt to check for understanding during a lesson will immediately increase the proportion of students who will succeed. Lessons that include effective use of formative assessment produce the following results:
They have 20 to 30 times as much positive effect on learning as the most popular initiatives.
They are about 10 times as cost-effective as reducing class size.
They would add between six to nine months of learning growth per school year, per student.
They account for as much as 400 percent “speed of learning differences”; that is in some classrooms, students would learn four times as fast as a result of its consistent use.
The results of teaching would vault the United States into the top five in international rankings of mathematics.
The result of formative assessment is comparable to the results achieved through one-on-one tutoring.
Some of the simplest common forms of checking for understanding are:
Circulating to observe student work or listening to students as they work in pairs; even one or two minutes of circulating can give you an adequate idea of student progress
“Cold calling” on a random (or selective) sample of students or pairs randomly between each step of a lesson. Note that this is very different from asking students to raise their hands!
Having students signal their understanding with thumbs up or down, for example
Using slates
These checks must be conducted quickly and efficiently in a minute or two; this is not the time to tutor individual students, which interrupts the flow and pace of a lesson. These quick checks allow the teacher to know whether and how they need to execute the next element of the lesson: providing feedback and correctives in the form of adjustments to instruction.
~From Focus by Mike Schmoker
Thanks ROFO ES