The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of September 18
Tuesday, September 19- PIRATE DAY
Friday, September 22- Volunteer Breakfast 8:30 am
Important upcoming dates and events
Monday, September 25- Glenwood Joy Meeting in the LLC
Wednesday, September 27- Begin PTA Fall Fundraiser until Oct. 17
Tuesday and Wednesday, October 3 and 4- Donuts with Dads
Friday, October 6- Grades due for progress reports, Citizen of the Month 9:30 am
Monday, October 9- Professional Learning Day- Schools closed for students
Tuesday, October 10- Progress Reports Issued
Friday, October 12- Glenwood Blood Drive
Tuesday,October 17- Fall Pictures
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
Friday, November 10- Veterans Day (Schools Closed)
Tuesday November 14- Fall Picture Make-Ups
Wednesday, November 15- Pirate Day, Report Cards Issued
You are the BEST!
A BIG thanks to Carol and her food services staff for spoiling all of us!!! DF
To Mindy Tomchik, Tina Repa, Jason Hinson, Dina Dreistadt, and Tara Pfiefer for stepping up and volunteering to do Girls on the Run with me this year!! Y'all ROCK! Alexandra Ambrose
Kudos to Dina Driestadt, Kellie Weisenbeck, Kayla vanWerkhoven, and Meagan Serrano for sharing their chrome book skills with ancient one! Paula Gee
Kudos and thanks to the kind and supportive staff of Glenwood. So many folks have assisted in my transition to this wonderful school. I look forward to learning with you as we continue on our journey into the land of Chromebooks and one to one technology. Diane Dykes
Kudos to Scott and Jillian doing an awesome job presenting in their first SEC meeting here at Glenwood!! Ashley Smith
Kudos AGAIN to Mary Kay for her willilngness to drop everything and help us with Chromebook or laptop questions! Julie White
4th Grade Level- for being supportive and living the motto: Team work makes the Dream work! Mrs. Dykes- supplying music room with much needed tissues- sometimes it’s the little things! Teresa Habib
Kudos to the office staff -Debbie Jones for always taking extra steps in keeping our students safe :) Mara VanAlstine
For Ms. Dreistadt, Mrs. Larson and Ms. Rywalt who didn't even blink when I rode a bicycle into their classrooms. Barbara Kimpan
Thank you to Jen Malit for continuing to show me so many new ways to teach with technology! Thank you to Tara Pfeifer for always being so supportive and willing to jump in and help in any way! Tina Repa
Kudos to the following Gators for signing up to donate at our 12th Annual Blood Drive: Dina Dreistadt, Kim Kennedy, Kasadyne Gmiter, Jennifer Malit, Jason Clark, Marcia Hill, Julie White, and Tom Myers (Dottie's huband). We also have many retired Glenwood teachers as well! Paula Gee
Kudos to Jen Malit for introducing me to Flipgrid and for guiding and encouraging her students to set a fluency goal on Flipgrid Elisabeth Arroyo
Kudos to Tammy Moore for being between two schools and still taking time to attend to us, even for a phone call on the weekends! Jennifer Carson
Marykay rescued my day when I couldn't get into my Chrome book because my password had expired. Thank you for responding so quickly. Kathleen Slinde
Kudos to Mr. Matt for his support in the classroom and his flexibility and willingness in adapting to schedule changes. Michelle Jackson
Thank you to the most amazing team, Pam, and Nancy for all their guidance and support during these past few weeks. They've made the start to my teaching career a great one! Kayla vanWerkhoven
To Caroline Altman for figuring out a way to make a fifth grade language arts activity on a new web site! Kimberle Kennedy
Kudos to Brittany Howell for adding awesome graphics to our Gator Great posters. Thanks to our PBIS Leadership team for sharing our updated student expectations with the grade levels. Thanks to our awesome PE staff for doing a great job on the bus loop. Your teamwork and positive attitude have things running smoothly. Also, thanks for pitching in to make our extended collaboration time a reality! Teamwork makes the dream work! Jenn Haws
Mrs. Haws for recreating our Gator Great posters! Teresa Rywalt
Kudos to fourth grade and specialists for getting tons of work done during our first collaboration this year! I can feel success and positivity all around us! Jennifer Malit
What Great Teachers Do Differently- 17 Things That Matter Most Todd Whitaker
2. 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.