The Wolf Tales
Tallwood Elementary School Staff Newsletter
Week of December 21, 2015
A BIG Thanks To...
Thanks to all for providing that great opportunity for other teachers to learn from you as we visit classrooms for digital learning walks! You guys are ALL leading the way! DF
As Mrs. Merce was walking her morning students out to go home, I heard one student say, "I just wish we could stay at school all day today because it was so fun!" That was a great Pirate Day! Gena Edwards
Thank you to Mrs. D’Antonio and Ms. Bulger for helping me with Parent of the Month consistently and for all of their help with the 4th grade guest speaker!!! They both always go above and beyond! Tammy Schubart
Thank you to the administration, Mrs. Storm, the office staff, Mrs. Timmons, and my fourth-grade team for stepping up to help me when I had an emergency. Michelle Hanley
Thank you to the organizers and participants of the Crockpot luncheon… clever idea enjoyed by all. Thank you to Tammy for guiding the 5th graders through middle school registration. Heather Wren
Thank you to Tamyra Natividad and Angie Clifton for coming to Monday night’s PTA meeting and supporting your students in the show! The parents really appreciated your presence, and so did I! Lindley Fox
Thank you so much to Tomika Knox for having my back when pregnancy brain kicked. I appreciate you going above and beyond to let me in my room in the morning. Leanna
Thank you Tomika for helping us clean up our Exploration Park build in the cafeteria. You made a huge task much more manageable. 5th grade teachers
President's Day
Teacher Websites
Whole Brain Teaching Attention
Upcoming Events in December
- Dec. 21- Centerville ES teachers learning walks (9:00 am grades 4 and 5; 12:20 pm Grades 2-3)
- No Collab week of Dec. 21
- Dec. 23- POLAR EXPRESS DAY and adjusted dismissal
- Dec. 24- Jan. 3- Winter Holidays!
It’s People, Not Programs
We can spend a great deal of time and energy looking for programs that will solve our problems. Too often, these programs do not bring the improvement or growth we seek. Instead, we must focus on what really matters. It is never about programs; it is always about people. This does not mean that no program can encourage or support improvement of people within our school; however, no program inherently leads to that improvement. Each of us can think of many innovations that were touted as the answer in education Too often, we expect them to solve all our woes. When they do not, we see them as the problem. If we take a closer look at some examples, however, we might see that effective teachers never forget. It is people, not programs, that determine the quality of a school.
All teachers are aware that the students in their schools have individual needs. Educators need to be equally aware that faculty members also vary in their individual abilities and approaches. Whether the arena is classroom management or instructional techniques, effective educators focus on the people, not the programs. They see programs as solutions only when the programs bring out the best in their teachers.
How many of us have ever been in a poor lecturer’s classroom? Probably almost every one of us, at one time or another. When I say, “poor lecturer’s classroom”, which of these three words captures the problem? Most people respond, “lecturer”- but that is not right. An effective lecturer can hold a class spell-bound, delivering important information in a way that makes sense, laying groundwork for active learning. The word that captures the problem here is “poor”.
If you peeked into that classroom you might think, “Can’t the teacher see that the students are bored stiff?” Well if her students have looked this way for 23 years, why should she catch on now? Or if his classroom is quiet for the first time all day, why should he stir things up?
But banning lectures from our classrooms won’t improve our schools. The person, not the practice, needs to change. The first step may be the hardest: The teacher must recognize the need to improve.
What Great Teachers Do Differently
Todd Whitaker