Mustang Weekly
Week of February 2nd
"The value of experimentation is not the trying. It's the trying again after the experiment fails." -Simon Sinek
Environment
Garden Update!
Don’t forget that we will host some visitors next Friday, February 6th, to see our Reading Garden. Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to prune your beds, pulling out the dead plants. The onions and leeks should be here early next week, leaving plenty of time to get them planted and watered!! This would be a great time to get with your grade level and come up with a watering plan for the rest of the year. Could your bed be watered during recess time, before or after school? What works best for your kiddos? Before we know it, new plants will be springing up and all sorts of new learning opportunities will be blooming in our Reading Garden!!
Learning Design
5th Grade PBL Feature
Fifth graders recently concluded the most successful PBL yet! This PBL centered around the slave trade during Colonial America. Students learned about the dilemmas of living in Africa and facing the European slave traders, the inhumane conditions on slave ships, and life as a slave in Colonial America. Through this Social Studies PBL we also covered math, reading, and writing concepts. Students worked on the PBL in each of their classes. During one math activity, students were given the dimensions of a slave ship and worked to find the perimeter and area of the ship. This brought a deeper understanding of the true dilemma the slaves faced on their journey. Students were excited that the PBL carried over into each of their classes. It was truly interdisciplinary and the students thoroughly enjoyed the project. Their culminating activity was to write a journal entry as a slave. They worked with their group to develop a character and write from his/her point of view during each of the dilemmas. The journal entries were then put together to create a book for the library. By housing the books in the library learners of all ages will be able to explore the slave trade from the perspective of those that endured this time in history.
#AustinBlends Blended Crew Update
I encourage you to check out a blog designed to document our experiences and be a teaching tool for other educators. Follow the link below!
Assessment
February 16th Professional Learning
- Leveraging technology for pre assessment
- Time/opportunities for actual design of pre assessment & Curriculum Compacting
- Using DRA2/iStation to inform lesson design
- Educator choice/flexibility in professional learning
We have several educators working to put this afternoon together. Thank you all for your input!
Morning Announcements
Teacher - Moore
Quote - "I will speak ill of no man and speak the good I know of everybody." - Benjamin Franklin
Healthy Tip - Milk builds strong bones and muscles. Drink at least 2 glasses every day.
Week At A Glance...
- Begins Counselor Appreciation Week. Thank you Jennifer!
- 3:30 SBDM Meeting (followed by Team Leader Meeting)
Tuesday
- 1st Grade Design Day
- Cluster Debrief
- Writing Training (Austin Library)
Wednesday
- 2nd Grade Design Day
- 3:30 Faculty Meeting
Thursday
- TELPAS Training - Kinder, 1st, 4th
Friday
- Rise & Shine
- Kinder Mini Clusters Launch
- Limo Ride (see email from Jenny for schedule)
Looking Ahead...
- Feb 9th - 5th Grade Design Day
- Feb 9th - 6:30 PTO Meeting
- Feb 10th - Transformation in Action visits (more info at Team Leader meeting)
- Feb 10th - Writing Training (Austin Library)
- Feb 11th - Math Academy
- Feb 11th - FedEx
- Feb 12th - 2nd Grade Field Trip
- Feb 13th - Valentine's Parties