The Coaches' Corner
December 2016
Brag Board!
BIG THANKS to my Grandview teachers for sharing your class, time, and talents with me, and letting me teach with you! I am learning so much from you all, and I'm having SO MUCH FUN!
Eastview teachers, your enthusiasm is contagious! Just being around you all always boosts my spirits! You clearly LOVE what you do!
Maplewood, you always impress me with your ability to be strong and build each other up! Your passion and dedication to what you do is inspiring! Your compassion for children is infinite. Thank you for always putting kids first!
VISIBLE LEARNING- Check out this video by John Hattie
THIS-N-THAT
Google Classroom & Padlet
I am so excited to watch the great things that so many of you are doing with Padlet & Google Classroom. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to share your classes and your time with me! Keep up the great work! If you want any help with any of this, please let me know.Nifty Links
I recently attended a High Ability workshop and discovered some very interesting resources. Check out these links:
The Differentiator is based on Bloom's Taxonomy, Kaplan and Gould's Depth and Complexity, and David Chung's product menu.
http://byrdseed.com/differentiator/
This site offers a great way to build depth and complexity.
Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything
http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html
Kathy does a great job integrating technology in meaningful ways.
THOUGHT PROVOKING THOUGHTS...
What We Can Learn From Super Mario’s Levels
"If the designers have done their jobs, the player should always feel slightly challenged, but never overwhelmed. As teachers, we should aim for the same goal: students who are stimulated but not frustrated."
Here's a link to the rest of this article: http://www.byrdseed.com/what-we-can-learn-from-super-marios-levels/
Reading Workshop
The holiday break is quickly approaching. Please keep a few things in mind.
1. Guided reading should be taking place every day. Guided Reading groups are fluid, students should not be placed in one group at the beginning of the year and left there all year.
2. Teachers are expected to meet with all students in their classes. This includes Sp.Ed. and RtI students.
3. Running records are to be done 2x/month on all students who are below grade level.
4. We are to be using our curriculum maps and our data to drive instruction. It is critical that we stick to the curriculum maps so that our extremely transient students don't miss important content.
GO Math!
Friday, a representative from GO Math will be coming to work with our lead teachers and coaches on Personal Math Trainer. Hopefully, they will be able to provide insight into some of our issues. Principals are sending out forms to gather feedback by Thursday so that we know what to ask on Friday. If you have any issues that you would like us to address, please be sure to let us know.
If you are doing something special in your room that you think would benefit others, please feel free to share. We can always learn something new!
Grade Level Meetings
January 24th- 3rd Grade
January 26th- 4th Grade
February 7th- 6th Grade
February 8th- 5th Grade