EAGLE MOUNTAIN NEWS & NOTES #29
March 28, 2016
EAGLE MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARY
Email: bmclain@ems-isd.net
Twitter: @bmacEME
REAL QUICK:
I hope your Easter was a special one & that you enjoyed your three day weekend! No doubt we all needed it! It’s always a blessing to get recharged, & I hope you did just that!
Our first week of STAAR testing is upon us & we are READY!!! This is one of those times that I’m reminded that it really does take a village. Thank you for your relentless work in preparing our learners for these challenging tests. We sincerely appreciate the team effort that is so prevalent at Eagle Mountain Elementary! I’m reminded of the quote from Roger Staubach who said "Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparations."
Ghandi once said, "It's the action, not the fruit of the action that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results."
Again, we KNOW how hard you have worked to get your students ready, & you are to be commended for all of your efforts - I REALLY believe they will pay off!
Kelli & I wish you & your students the best this week…You'’ve GOT this! I will be doing my annual “STAAR pep-talks” today with all fourth & fifth grade classes.
Today marks the beginning of the last nine weeks – can you believe it?!
Last week I shared some Discipline tips that serve as relevant reminders along with a few Love & Logic reminders. This week I’m continuing with a little more Love & Logic wisdom because I think it’s particularly timely & reminds us of the importance of using EMPATHY when dealing with not just our kids but also with each other.
Important STAAR Information this week!
· If you are involved in STAAR testing this week it’s crucial that you have read your testing manual & that you follow all testing procedures to the letter. We can’t stress this enough!
· We are not allowing visitors during testing time.
· Remember that cell phones are not allowed & it’s expected that you are ACTIVELY MONITORING if you are giving a test this week.
· Please ensure that all instructional content is covered before administering the test.
· Karen Ray will be serving as our campus monitor.
Here is the Special Schedules that we will be following:
Tuesday Block:
8:00 - 8:50 - 2nd grade, 8:50-9:40 - 1st grade, 9:40 - 10:30 - Kinder 10:30 - 11:20 - 3rd 12:50 - 1:40 - 4th, 1:40 - 2:30 - 5th
Tuesday Lunch: 12:20 - 12:50 - 4th 12:50 - 1:20 - 5th
Wednesday Block:
8:00-8:50 - Kinder, 8:50 - 9:40 - 1st, 9:40 - 10:30 - 4th,
10:30-11:20 - 3rd, 12:50 - 1:40 - 2nd, 1:40 - 2:30 - 5th
WEDNESDAY LUNCH FOLLOWS A NORMAL SCHEDULE
Important Information this week!
· I am working on our faculty calendar for April & need your calendar items no later than Wednesday please.
· Kids will be registering for their clubs during their computer time with Angela Cathey this week.
· Our Eagles of Characters Celebration will be Friday afternoon. Sandra needs your two names TODAY if you haven’t already turned those in please!
· Thanks for turning in Teacher of the Year nominations. I must have the Self-Reflection Input Forms returned from the nominees no later than tomorrow. A committee will meet Thursday after school to review the nominations.
· Please make sure you turn in your grades on time as well as your edit sheets as I would like to sign report cards & that takes a little time, so please get those turned in to Donna as soon as you can this week - THANKS!
· Congrats to the following people on receiving a nice honor in representing us:
DONNA BELL has once again been selected as our Para of the Year! As you know Donna is absolutely amazing & could not be more deserving of this award! Way to go Donna & THANK YOU for blessing all of us at EME in the many MANY ways that you do! You inspire us each & every day – you really really do! (Also, Happy Birthday!)
· You have chosen BETH CARPENTER as your Auxiliary Person of the year! Beth is one of the hardest working people at EME & is extremely deserving of this recognition. THANK YOU Beth for all you are & do for EME - We are fortunate to have you! We sincerely admire & appreciate the pride you take in your work at EME!
· Much to my surprise you gave me the honor of Professional of the Year which is very humbling. Thank you for the many ways that you bless & honor me. I am truly proud & thankful to be your principal. Thank you very much!
· All of our nominees were truly deserving & everyone who was nominated will be honored later in the year.
WORDS OF THE WEEK
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VOCAB IS IN THIS SMORE
QUOTES FROM LOVE & LOGIC:
Rule #1 – Adults set firm limits in loving ways without anger, lecture, or threats.
Rule #2 – When a child causes a problem the adult hands it back in loving ways.
· In a loving way, the adult holds the child accountable for solving his/her problems in a way that does not make a problem for others.
· Children are offered choices with limits.
· Adults use enforceable statements.
· Adults provide delayed/extended consequences.
· The adult’s empathy is “locked in” before consequences are delivered.
· Make kids feel welcome & we up the odds for kids to get here on time.
· Children need to hear a consistent message about EFFORT.
Better Ways to Say “No”
A good rule for “no” is to use it as seldom as possible. When you do use it, make sure you mean business. At other times, you can make a statement positively & still deny a request. You are saying “yes” instead of “no.” The behavior you want can be established without triggering resistance. Here is an example:
No Statement – “No, you may not watch television until the dishes are done.”
Yes Statement – “Yes, you may watch television as soon as the dishes are done.”
“You can do that when you are in the _____ grade.”
“Tell me why it’s a good idea.”
“Yes, later… or Yes, If…”
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
“That idea has potential. Let’s talk later. Catch me at _____.”
“What did I say?” “What have I said?”
“Convince me!”
LOVE & LOGIC COOKBOOK PHRASES:
Kids seem to have a repertoire of “hooks” they use to get adults to argue with them. Here are some Love & Logic One-liners that will get adults off the hook & cause children to do more of the thinking. Remember the “one-liners” are only effective when said with genuine compassion & understanding. These are never intended to be flippant remarks that discount the feelings of the child. If an adult uses these responses to try to get the better of a child, the problem will only become worse. The adult’s own attitude at these times is crucial to success.
“No problem.” “Probably so.” “I know.” “Nice try.” “How sad for you!”
“Bummer, How sad.” “That’s an option.” “That’s one choice.” “Thanks for sharing that with me.” “I’ll give it some thought.” “I bet that’s true.” “I don’t know – what do you think?” “What do you think you’re going to do?” “What do you think I think about that?” “I’ll let you know what will work for me.” “It will be interesting to see how that turns out.” “I’m not sure how to react to that. I’ll have to get back to you on it.”
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE:
Monday – PLC’s meet, I will be giving my STAAR pep talk to our fourth & fifth graders, Last minute test preparations under way for testing, Grades are due, & Happy Birthday to Donna Bell!
Tuesday – STAAR Writing – 4th grade, STAAR Math – 5th grade, Happy Birthday to Christina Witta!
Wednesday – STAAR Reading 5th grade, Faculty meeting from 3-4 PM – Rick Rigsby will be our featured guest & will bring us a very positive message entitled “Making an Impact.”
Thursday – STAAR make up tests, Teacher of the Year committee meets after school to review TOY nominations - 3PM
Friday – I have a meeting at admin. At 11, Eagles of Character celebration -1:15, Report cards go home.
8 THINGS ALL TEACHERS SHOULD LEARN ABOUT
There’s no getting away from it – Google tools are fabulous for education. Even if you aren’t a Google Apps for Education school, you really should get your Google on. Starting by setting up a Google account, the edtech world is then very much your oyster. Whether you choose to build YouTube playlists, use the single-sign on features to access many more tools such as Padlet (mentioned next); getting a Google account will open up many doors to learning both on a professional development level and on a classroom level. You might like to brush up on your Google search skills too.
Padlet
Teachers should be able to set up a Padlet wall. It can be used for so many different purposes. If you haven’t come across Padlet before then check out this post, ‘How to use Padlet and why‘ – one of my most popular posts over the years. It is super simple to set up and can be used by children from as young as Y2 through to Y13 and still have an impact on their learning, through collaboration, sharing and so much more.
Kahoot
Where to begin!? There are lots of different AFL tools out there but one that always comes back winning is Kahoot. A Kahoot will work on almost any device with a web browser and an internet connection.
Make them at getkahoot.com and play them at kahoot.it. There are lots of guides and interesting ideas on their site. There are three main types of Kahoot that you can create; Quiz, Survey or Discussion. The Quiz is the most commonly used format, it includes timed responses and a points system creating a competitive atmosphere. The survey is similar but does not use points. This means it can be used for feedback or finding out what a class knows without the competition. A Discussion is a single question, without the competitive elements. This can then be used to ignite discussion for example at the beginning of a lesson. For example, you could ask a question such as ‘I believe that women are biologically more suited to looking after children’. The responses will then appear at the front, which could ignite debate.
You can download results at the end of the session as a spreadsheet for ease of storage / printing etc, should you need to although they are all stored on your account if you want to access them again. There are many more features to Kahoot than the ones mentioned here but it’s well worth having a look at! Join up at getkahoot.com – it’s free!
Socrative
Another AFL tool that simply won’t go away and has been a firm favourite of mine for years is Socrative. Available as an app or via the Socrative website, you can create quizzes such as in Kahoot although there isn’t a community store for sharing quizzes. Features such as the space race and more are really helpful in terms of running the quiz. The real win for me however is the opportunities to both:
a) ask quick questions on the fly, e.g. multiple choice, true/false and short answer
b) exit tickets – a fantastic way to gauge progress against learning outcomes in a lesson.
Like the other tools mentioned in this post, this one is free too!
You can download results as a spreadsheet when you’re done too for ease of storage / printing etc, should you need to.
Camera
That’s right – you’ve got it. The humble camera. Have you got one on your smartphone or your work tablet? Use it! You can get such easy wins with your students / children by making their work public on the screen in your classroom. Take a snapshot of an answer to a piece of work a child has completed and put it on the board for peers to give feedback on. Obviously, use of a visualiser or mirroring via Apple TV / Chromecast depending upon your devices would be better but it all still works on the same principle. Making children’s work public will improve agency and authenticity for them. You should be able to use the camera so why not put it to use?
Microphone
Again, such a simple idea but this is more about the children in the classroom using the microphones on the devices they have access to. Allow them to record themselves and send those recordings through to you. Great for pronunciations. Great for explanations. You can easily hear from every child in your class. You’ll also find that many of the children will want to get their recordings right so they will self-correct, do their best work and as a result it should tighten your feedback loop in the classroom. There are so many ways in which you can do this. Here are a few apps you might like to try:
- Adobe Voice – free
- MSQRD – free
- ThingLink – free
I know, I know. For many, this isn’t rocket science to many but a no-brainer, yet the vast majority of teachers do not use social media to support their learning / planning or professional development. You *really* should give it a go. There’s a handy guide here to help get you started and some more reasons why outlined here.
How will Twitter help you with your use of edtech in the classroom? One example would be this. I often say how every day is a learning day, but I wouldn’t learn anywhere near as much as I do if it wasn’t for checking in with other educators and their messages on Twitter. Do it. You’ll wonder why you hadn’t before.
Video conferencing software
Now this might sound a bit ominous but it isn’t. There are lots of tools available such as Google Hangouts (great if you have Google Apps for Education), Skype for Education, FaceTime – some of which you may well be used to using in your personal lives. Connecting with those outside of your classroom however can have a big impact for children. Rather than talking about a topic, why not source an expert to Skype into your classroom? There are lots of resources available such as this one from Microsoft to help you connect with others from around the world.
Another example would be the one highlighted in this post about awe and wonder in the classroom where I used Google Hangouts to conference into a classroom as a Professor of Dragonology. Could you do that?
About the Author
NOTEABLE QUOTABLES:
It’s not what’s poured into a student that counts – it’s what planted.
Strong classroom management is more about class than about management!
SHOUT OUTS!
· THANK YOU Hope Howell for allowing me time last week to share Writing Tips with your fourth graders! You have done an incredible job in preparing our kids & in teaching engaging writing lessons this year which we know will make a difference.
· KUDOS to Donna Bell for being selected as our PARA of the Year for the SECOND year in a row! That speaks volumes & we think you’re cut from a different cloth!
· Congratulations to Beth Carpenter for being named Auxiliary Person of the Year! You, too, are in a class by yourself, & it’s evident that our faculty holds you two wonderful people in high esteem! Nice going!
· KUDOS to Candice Martin & Kim Meadows for going to UNT & getting some incredible donations for our campus! Last week they received four I-pads, several tables & will be getting us some flat screen TV's to use around the school! I greatly appreciate their initiative! Way to go Candice & Kim!