The Gator Tales
The weekly staff newsletter for Glenwood Elementary School
Week of February 26
February 26- Pirate Day!
February 26- PBIS Team Training- Hinson, Long, Bowers. Jackson, Haws
February 28- Grades due for progress reports
March 1- Meet and Greet staffing fair
March 2- Citizen of the Month
March 2- Progress Reports go home
Important upcoming dates and events
March 6- Tech Tuesday (Topic Coming Soon!)
March 14- Digital Learning Night 7 pm
March 20- Spring Pictures
March 20- Tornado Drill
March 21- Sweets and Treats
March 22- Digital Learning Day
March 27 and 28- Donuts with Moms
March 29- End 3rd Grading Period
March 30- Staff Day- Grades Due
Grateful Gators!
Kudos to Debbie Jones for helping 5th grade on Friday!! You were on point! Amy Doss
Kudos to Mrs. Gee and her class. I love getting sweet little notes and treats from your students for no reason, it always makes me smile. Thank you for thinking of me. Kudos to Mrs. Virginia Fields, you always go a step beyond what is asked of you. I love your positive attitude. and Kudos to whoever made the chocolate and peanut clusters for the SCA bakesale. They were very much enjoyed! Molly Loch
Thank you to the entire Glenwood staff for supporting the SCA Pop-Up Bake Sale! The SCA kids had a blast going around the school with the cart full of treats just to make your day. Jen Malit
to Carol Karpovich for taking such wonderful care of my kids while I was out of town: Carol, you are so loving! Thank you. Melissa Cummings
“SCA is an important factor in developing young leaders… kudos to Mrs. Malit and Mr. McFarland for bringing their A game for these students!!!” Anonymous
Kudos to Marykay for her speedy efforts in maintaining the Glenwood data spreadsheet and adding District Benchmark scores. Kudos to Malit and Dykes for their "Reading Buddies" program. Your students are very excited about working together. Great collaboration! Jenn Haws
Kudos to Ms. Kassie for visiting our class during community helper week! You are so good with our kiddos:) We appreciate you so much! Danica Petko and Jennifer Santiago
KUDOS to Pam Jones for jumping right in and tackling time sheets and make-up hours. KUDOS to Theresa Rywalt for opening her New York heart up to make sure one of my students has a basic need met. KUDOS to Marykay Roemer for always making things look easy. KUDOS to Caroline Altman for "WOWing" my first graders with DASH. KUDOS to Sandra Kechter for her time and energy with the portable library. Paula Gee
Thanks to Diane Dykes for trusting my class to teach her second graders the awesome GPS strategy, and Jenn Haws for amping up the Egypt article!
We had an awesome Digital Learning Day Celebration with Caroline Altman! She taught my kids how to Make-a-Movie and Make-a-Map on BrainPOP so they can share their digital citizenship skills with K-3 Glenwood Gators . Jen Malit
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Melinda Bussovano Feb 28
Jennifer Santiago Feb 29
Kimberly Garcia03-02
Meghan Mathews03-02
Christopher Green03-03
Kathleen Slinde03-04
Theresa Rywalt03-05
Allison Webster03-12
Sullivan, Angie03-14
Caitlyn Chandler 03-16
Mary Salisbury3-19
Vickie Storm03-20
Susan, Cotthaus03-22
Amy Doss03-24
Lisa Praileau03-26
Maniel Arnaldo03-26
Kenya Jones03-29
Stephanie Marshall03-29
Pfeifer, Tara 03-30
Eight Ways to Grow as a Teacher
1. Start Small – Don’t reinvent everything you do, even if that new “thing” you’ve found suggests to do exactly that. This needs to be sustainable. Start small, even if you’re starting small so that you can change everything.
2. Start Right Away – Within reason. Soon your perception of that new idea or resource will change- lose its shine, or become vague somehow. Start small, and start right away.
3. See Learning as a System –With new changes, adjustments need to be made. Your new assessment strategy, learning app, social media tool, or clever use of analogies will change the ecosystem of how you teach. Which is good. Go with it, not blindly, but with the understanding that if you’re not adapting, you’re likely withering.
4. Reflect, Reflect, Reflect – Reflect on what you’ve learned, reflect after further reading, reflect after discussing it with students or colleagues, then reflect after giving it a try. Consider using “How did it go, and how do you know?” to help frame that reflection, which forces you to both confront how you think things went, and then consider the “data” or evidence of that assessment (whether formal or informal).
5. Collaborate Meaningfully – Speaking of sharing it with colleagues, collaboration only opens up new thinking to further thinking, revision, and extension (a colleague offering up an excellent literacy strategy to go with your new spin on blended learning, for example), but also “puts you on the hook” to see the idea through (unless you want to be known as the teacher who starts a million projects without seeing any through).
6. Listen to Students – They’ll let you know how you’re doing, and how any changes to your teaching are “going.” You just have to be willing to listen with an open mind.
7. Stay Curious – Just as you encourage your own students to stay active, engaged, and connected, you can keep reading about new ideas, connecting to new communities, participating in twitter chats and collegial conversation in order to reflect, and in the process continue to refine yourself professionally, making lasting change in the way you teach.
8. Celebrate Learning – Because that’s why we’re here. Without celebrating our success – the success and growth of your students and how you helped them make it happen – your job is unsustainable. The same way your students need to see progress and believe what they’re doing is working, so do you.
~ From teachthought.com THANKS ROFO ES