August 31: Why is it important?

So how are we doing?

This week, as I spent time in classrooms, I asked kids what they were learning, which they student could answer. What a celebration that is! EVERY student knew what they were learning to do. Then I asked students why it was important to learn it.
Here are some of the responses:

"Because I want to be a writer."

"I need to know how to count money, because I want to be rich."

"Because my teacher said to do it."

"Because I want to be smart."

"Because I need to make a poster."

"Ummm.....?"

" You need to stop asking me questions."

" I'm not sure."

" I'm sure there is a good reason because my teacher is very smart."

" Because I live on the earth and I should know about the place I live."

" Because I need to explore these math tools because I'll be using them all year."

"Why are you here?"

What do they say when you ask them?

 A few first graders share what they love about their teacher

(if this is blank, it's because of the Youtube filter)

Calendar: Two weeks at a glance

September 3 - 7:

Tuesday:
Josh's Crew to KMAC
Kenny's 5th grade Crew to Educo
*RTI meeting 7:15 a.m.

Wednesday:
* Leadership Team meeting 11:00
* PD: Math 1:30 p.m.

September 10-14:

Tuesday:

3rd Grade Crews to Camp Elim

4th Grade Discovery Crew to Educo

* Administration of CogAt to 1,2,4,5,6th graders 9 - 11 a.m.

Wednesday:

* All School Meeting

* Leadership Team Meeting

* Professional Development: Planning

Focus of classroom visits:

I'll continue to focus on whether the outcomes are evident. I'll be asking kids what they are learning and why it is important.

Have you considered dropping in on a classroom during a plan time? If you were dropping in and saw the following, what would you conclude?

Peek Into Classrooms...

Science Notebook Genre Study - gallery walk

Pam's lesson on Leonardo da Vinci and contour drawing.
Integration of art in science. 

Contour drawing

Tired 3rd grade kids returning home
from field work at Bent's Fort

2/3 Discovery students working like scientists

Go slow to go fast later...

Brittany used Twitter to find out what NASA could offer - 

Student's from Rebecca's Crew filming a news video to share what they learned

ZPD in action - more knowledgeable other leads the learner

Differentiated and supported learning -
breaking down the research and showing them how

IEP services delivered in the classroom supporting research

TCAP feedback for students -
What did kids say?

Featured Folk:

Zina Lech

Kitchen Manager- REMS

                  First of all, Hello and a big THANK YOU to the wonderful staff who have made me feel so welcome here at REMS! I am looking forward to working with all of the great staff here at REMS and getting to know our parents.

            I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I came to REMS from Academy Charter School here in Castle Rock where I have been managing their kitchen for 13 yrs. Before that, I was with Littleton Public Schools for 3 years.  I spent some time in the restaurant business before that. My story is rather interesting. I was born and raised in Capua, Italy. Capua is in the Italian region (sort of like a state) of Campania of which Naples (birthplace of Pizza!) is the capital. Capua today is a town of about 19,000 people but our town has a history that is indeed fascinating. The town dates back to around 500 BC when it was founded by the mysterious, pre-Roman, Etruscan civilization (my own family has Etruscan roots). Upon being conquered by Rome, it became one of the largest cities In the Roman Empire on the famous Roman highway known as Via Appia that went from Rome to Pompeii.  Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony (Augustus) further expanded the city which became known for the best gladiator school in the empire having none other than Spartacus as one of its “alumni”. I used to walk by the arena where the games took place almost every day.

     I am the middle child of a family of three and had two Italian brothers to watch over me!  I had a wonderful childhood spending a lot of time in the countryside and on the beach along the famous Amalfi Drive (many say it’s the most beautiful coast in the world) and the island of Capri with my family and friends. Later I traveled throughout Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, etc.) where developed a passion for the culinary arts. My family and I regularly go back to Italy every few years to visit my family and our son John, studied at the University of Bologna as a college freshman. What an experience it was for John to study (and for us to visit) at the oldest university in the world (founded in 1088) which boasts alumni of the likes of Dante Alighieri, Nicholas Copernicus, Gugliemo Marconi, etc.  My husband of almost 30 years, Leo, is a spacecraft design engineer for Lockheed Martin and gets to work on all kinds of fascinating projects. We have one son, John. John is a 2004 graduate of Academy Charter School here in Castle Rock, a 2008 graduate of Regis Jesuit High School, and a 2012 graduate of the University of Denver where he majored in International Business and minored in Italian (what else?!).

My number one passion is the culinary arts, closely followed by gardening, traveling, and the outdoors. We “farm” an organic garden of almost 1/2 acre where after 20 years of trial and error, we have managed to grow almost every vegetable and fruit (including a small vineyard) despite living at almost 7,000 feet in elevation just west of Castle Rock along highway 105. I do a lot of canning and freezing of our produce that lasts us through most of the winter. We raise all kinds of poultry including chickens, turkeys, geese and have our own bee hives as well.  We pride ourselves with being as close to self-sufficient as possible. I love to entertain and Leo is in the process of building me an outdoor kitchen. The wood burning oven was completed last year and makes the best authentic pizzas and breads just like they did in Pompeii over 2,000 years ago!

I hope this helps us get a bit more acquainted. If we haven’t met yet, please stop by the kitchen and say Hello. I would love to get to know you! 

Our son John (and me!) at his college graduation - Denver University

Our chickens, geese and turkeys 

Bounty from the garden
 at almost 7,000 ft in elevation

Authentic Neopolitan pizza from our wood oven

Wood oven at night

Breads made in the outdoor oven

Our garden

Bee hives

The vineyard

Something to ponder...

Stole this off Brittany's Edmodo post:

Such a great link as we are thinking about outcomes. Read this and think about enduring understandings, essential questions and with outcomes in mind.

"You often hear people talk about how technology is so "engaging" for kids. But that misses the point. It's not the technology that's engaging, it's the opportunity to use technology to create something that is valued by the community and by yourself. Yes, a new device can be entertaining for a while, but when the novelty value wears off, what are you left with? Engagement is not a goal, it's an outcome of students (or anyone) doing meaningful work. Meaningful to themselves AND the community they are in. Meaningful because someone trusted them to do something good, and they shouldered the responsibility. This is not something you Do to kids or you GIVE kids, it's the outcome of this cycle of experiences."

Sylvia Martinez

Engagement Responsibility and Trust - Generation Yes Blog

Home work:

Take some time to visit the blogs of your colleagues. (Easily found on the right hand bar of Pondering of a Principal) http://renaissanceprincipal.blogspot.com/

Consider creating a post on Edmodo to share what strikes you as powerful about the different ways teachers use their blog to make learning visible to the audience. 

What tips would you share on Edmodo for how you've discovered ways to manage the time and tasks of creating your blog? How do you decide what to feature? Do you have some new ideas from looking at your colleagues blogs?

Quote:

"Turning ideas into action - it's a killer!"

Me

Have a great weekend!

Deborah

August 24th: Outcomes

Outcomes
Stage One of Backwards Planning

It was powerful to engage in building new understandings together on Wednesday afternoon. It was so helpful to have a flow chart (which I am still trying to get for all of us - soon I hope!) to see the progression of how to build a backwards plan.

We're starting with stage one - the hardest part. It's important to remember as we work through this stage that we need to talk to each other to get concise and clear on creating (highest level of Blooms!) World Class outcomes.

As teachers, we were not trained to do this and now we are being asked to create learning experiences in very different ways. Why is it important? Creating world class outcomes is going to transform the learning experience for kids. This is a giant transition. We will work together, take small steps and learn along the way. It will require support and the willingness to unlearn and learn again. We're up for that! For those of you who are more comfortable with this change, I call on you to take a leadership role in supporting others as we go.

To recap what we learned (as soon as I have the video for those who missed this, I'll pass it along):

A world class education has three components:

Backwards Planning                 Restorative Practices                   Student Advocacy


We can't work on everything at once, so we will focus on backwards planning. There are three stages to backwards planning and we must move through them in a learning progression. We identified that we very often skip over the first two stages and concentrate on stage three. We must begin with stage one - outcomes. (The backwards planning stages parallel PLC questions: What do we want the students to learn? How will we know? How will we teach it?)
Backwards Planning Stages:
Stage one: Outcomes
Stage two: Assessments
Stage three: Teaching strategies

Stage One has a progression:
1. Enduring Understandings
2. Essential Questions
3. Outcomes

So how do you know if your outcomes are World Class? Here is the filter that as you look at each, the answer must be 'yes'.
* Is it important?
* Is it modern?
* Is it aligned?
* Is it prioritized?
* Is it integrated?

The focus of my classroom walkthroughs will be to look for evidence that your outcomes are world class. Don't feel threatened. I want my presence in your classroom to be aligned with our goals.  I am uncertain about how I will provide feedback and hope we can learn that together. I am not evaluating...I'm learning with you and our dialogue and interaction can help us both work on creating these outcomes. You all have world class outcomes already, and some outcomes that might need some tweaking - but really, this isn't going to be a big learning curve.

What if you have no idea? That's okay. When I'm there, we'll work on it in a natural way. 

It will help to think about how you can communicate to students why they are engaged in the learning you have created. Perhaps it could look something like, "We learn to write so that we can communicate our ideas, feelings and experiences. To learn to do that, we will be working on...." 
The learning that students are engaged in will reflect your outcomes.

Calendar: Two weeks at a glance

August 27 - 31:

Tuesday:

* RTI meeting 7:15 a.m.

* Mr. Neil's Crew Voyage to Educo

Wednesday:

* All School Meeting: Lisa's Crew Hosts

* 6th grade, 5/6 Discovery Field Work 

* PD: Vertical Team meetings/ Technology

September 3 - 7:

Tuesday:
Josh's Crew to KMAC
Kenny's 5th grade Crew to Educo
*RTI meeting 7:15 a.m.

Wednesday:
* Leadership Team meeting 11:00
* PD: Math 1:30 p.m.

Character Development through Adventure Education

Second Grade Voyage

 Beneficence on a hike

Building a shelter

Solitude and Reflection

Challenge by Choice

Here is a link to Jill's blog so you can see some photos of the First Grade Voyage. Jill also has included the outcomes for Adventure Education in her blog.

1. http://jillfisch.blogspot.com/

Peek Into Classrooms

William Bent (or is it?) expert speaker

Recess: Play has purpose-
Outdoor Learning
I think I can identify the 4 C's here...

PLC at work

Makes you smile that our hallways tell our story...

Dr. Read Aloud

What I know - What I'm curious about
Engaging learners in the process -
and a formative assessment.

A Fishbowl
Students constructing new understandings,
students noticing and learning how to do it,
the teacher as the facilitator.

 Things people share:

Jill Fisch:
I don't post often on Facebook but tonight I posted this:

Why I love teaching first grade: Just home from an overnight trip with my first graders that had lots of hiking and outdoor activities. No time for a shower this morning so I put my hair in a pony tail. A parent just sent me an email and told me that the first thing her daughter told her about the trip was: "Oh my gosh Mommy, Ms. Jill looked so pretty in a pony tail." I felt anything but pretty today but this is exactly why I love teaching first grade. They love everything and notice everything. You can't help but smile. Makes me ready to go back for more even though I am so very tired.

A parent:

(Their students have been in a different school prior to REMS)

"Wow! The communication from your teachers is incredible! I have never felt so informed or so included. My family is in love with Renaissance!

A parent:

(must have chaperoned on second grade voyage)

"The closing ceremony on the voyage made me cry and gave me goosebumps. I knew we were going to love Renaissance, but now I know we picked the perfect school for our kids."

Deborah:

I was wearing a necklace/glass pendant. A kindergartner held it in her hands as I was leaning over her table and gazed into it. "You must be really rich to have such a big diamond! You must be a queen!" I liked that so much better than when they ask me, "Are you the hugest person in the building?"

Have a great weekend!

Deborah

August 16, 2012: It's All Good

August 16, 2012

It's all good! 

Dire Straits - Walk of Life

For your listening pleasure...

dedication devotion

What should "school" or “learning” look like . . .

In a world where almost all factual information is literally a click away?

At a world class school teachers think critically about what and how they teach so that the learning is relevant, purposeful and authentic to the kids they teach.

What are the most important things to teach and what is the most important way to teach? 

What does it mean to be literate in the 21st century? 

The fluent will lead,
the literate will follow,
and the rest will get left behind            
    - Jason Ohler
    Educational Leadership
    March 2009

Fluency is the ability to practice literacy at the advanced levels required for sophisticated communication within social and workplace environments.
               
 - Jason Ohler

Life long learners become their own teachers.

Do you focus on and assess the most important outcomes for your students?
(Creativity?  Collaboration? Critical Thinking?  Communication?)

Are we focused on the right outcomes for students’ futures?






                        What's Happening...

Voyages begin...

This week Lisa's 6th grade Crew went backpacking in the Ironclad Mountains and 2nd grade went to Camp Elim.

(No opportunity to get photos from those groups at the time of this post)

Second grade students prepared for their voyage by recording their thoughts and feelings. Here is a demonstration of critical thinking -

"I feel sad to go away from home and I feel scared a little and a little happy 
and some of the time I feel the same in 1st grade and I will sometimes feel the same in the world."

First graders learning to work in partners.
Important 21st Century skill!

Saw this in Neil's room
Setting expectations

Ms. Linda sings El Alfabeto

Melissa, our Speech Language Pathologist

Jane, our occupational therapist and
Chris, our school psychologist -
Heidi, director of Camelot, in the back.

Mr. Chris supports students on how to handle unkind actions and words - bully prevention skills.

Guess who wasn't feeling well on Tuesday?
Adorable Lochen, Hanni's kindergarten son.
Don't you just want to cuddle up there with him?

All School Meeting

Diana prepares for her 'Eye of the Tiger'  Battle of the Books presentation at All School Meeting

Glee Club singers lead the National Anthem at
All School Meeting

LIVE music at All School Meeting
Our very own rock star- Tyler!

and rock star music teacher, Ms. Cheryl!
Love your new choir shirts!

Back to School Picnic

Do you suppose they arranged the rain on purpose so that people would have to huddle together under tents and get acquainted?

Calendar: Two weeks at a glance

August 20 - 24:

Tuesday: 

* RTI team available to meet with teachers 7:15 a.m.- 8:30 a.m.

* Lindsey's Crew Voyage to Educo

Wednesday: 

* 1st grade Crews to Camp Elim

* Leadership Team meeting 11:00 a.m.

* PD: Backwards Planning

Friday:

* 3rd grade fieldwork to Bent's Fort

August 27 - 31:

Tuesday:

* RTI meeting 7:15 a.m.

* Mr. Neil's Crew Voyage to Educo

Wednesday:

* All School Meeting: Lisa's Crew Hosts

* 6th grade, 5/6 Discovery Field Work 

* PD: Vertical Team meetings/ Technology

Wednesday Professional Development:

The plan for the focus of our time on Wednesday afternoons is driven by the needs we identified as a staff in the spring. 

We have created time on these afternoons to collaborate, build new understandings and practices, time for creating backwards plans, building capacity with digital tools and how we can use technology as a tool for learning, and to go deeper with the work we have started in writing. Our work together will also help us to understand how we can become highly effective as evaluated by the CITE tool. (Continuous Improvement of Teacher Effectiveness)

We have been using backwards planning for developing our Learning Expeditions and are now using it to develop our writing genre units of study. By deepening our understandings of this planning tool we are addressing CITE standard #1: Teachers create lessons with world class outcomes. We will use our time to become masters with this tool and to have the time it takes to create assessments and feedback systems- addressing CITE Standard #3: Selecting performance assessments that demonstrate student learning.

 In writing, we'll revise and create learning experiences to teach the writer and provide opportunities for grade level Professional Learning Teams (PLC's) to meet with other grade levels in Vertical Team meetings with a focus on student data. Our collaboration will address CITE Standards #1 (creating lessons with world class outcomes) and Standard #2 and Standard #3: facilitating learning activities that require students to analyze, synthesize, evaluate and create.

In Math, we will begin by examining the resources we presently use and identify other resources that may support our math instruction and differentiation. The scope of this learning and how we will generate new understandings is still fuzzy. As we delve into the work, the process, resources and path will become clearer. Again, this work will address CITE Standards #1 and #2 and #3.

So that you can plan ahead, here is the schedule of our Wednesday afternoon professional development sessions until Fall Break:

8/22--Backwards Planning

8/29--Vertical Teams/Tech

9/5--Math/Planning

9/12--Planning

9/19--Vertical Teams/Tech

9/26--Math/Planning

10/3 - Planning

FYI:

Leadership Team Meeting

At the Leadership Team meeting this week we defined the norms for the group,  clarified the vision and created goals. We identified current initiatives and implementation at the school and district level. We prioritized those initiatives and created action steps (focus of PD came from this phase) to move our implementation forward.

We also discussed financial needs of our school for recommendation to REA for the fund raising committee. The team agreed that having sound enhancement systems for classrooms and the library would be a valuable fundraising project.

The focus of the next Leadership Team meeting will be reviewing our TCap results and examining our Unified Improvement Plan.

REA

The executive board of REA (Renaissance Educational Association) met with me this week. There will be a general session for all REA members and any interested community member in September (likely via an adobe webinar) to hear the plans and goals of REA for the 12-13 school year.

The Fundraising Committee will be focused on:

1. Scholarships for the 13-14 school year

2. Technology rejuvenation fund

3. Capital Improvements (building/outdoors)

* This is where the sound enhancement systems will live

4. Teacher Development ( a pot to support professional development - perhaps opportunities to attend state/national conferences, etc.) *This is new

The amounts are still to be determined and there are a few details that remain to be determined, but I'm sharing the general gist with you. 

* We will have Boot Camp this year and it is scheduled for Friday, October 5th - last day of school before Fall Break.

Featured Folks

authored by Melissa Salazar

My name is Melissa Salazar and I am from New Mexico.  I moved to Colorado in 2003.  Since I young I had a dream to live in CO and my dad helped make sure that happened   At 18 years old my father moved from Mexico to the United States to provide for his family and give us the best life possible.  He has worked so hard to provide for us and still does.  My dad is a business entrepreneur and has worked on drilling rigs for over 44 years.   When I was young my father told me I was going to college, so I never questioned him.   He is the boss and my hero.  My mother has also played a huge part in who I am today.  She is always there to teach me, advocate for me, and sit with me and my siblings when we need support.  After having 5 children (between the ages of 3 and 15) she went to school and earned a degree in special education.  She worked as a learning specialist and a Dean of Student for many years.   Before moving to CO I actually worked with my mother and was the speech therapist at her school.  My mom has had a huge part in helping me grow in my career.  I became a speech therapist because of my sister Erica.  Erica, who is 2 years younger than I am has special needs and has had to participate in multiple types of therapy throughout her life.  She is the best medicine when you are sad and motivates my family and I to keep pushing forward.   My parents not only gave me the opportunity to have an education and career, but they also provided me with multiple opportunities to experience life. Travel is one of the many ways they have provided us with life experiences.   My favorite hobby is traveling.  Not only have I had the opportunity to go on trips with my family and friends, I was given the opportunity to travel with an organization called Up With People.  .  I traveled so many places and learned so much that year.   I have so many great memories from that year, but  one of the best moments for me was the day we performed and sang for Pope John Paul.  After I am able to retire my dream is to travel as much as possible.

 My parents and four siblings are not the only people in my life.  Five years ago I met Tony (my boyfriend, fiancée, husband, whatever you want to call him).  We live in Highlands Ranch and have 2 dogs. Their names are Mondee and Cally.  My family got Mondee  for me.  I named him after one of my cousins who had passed way.  My cousin was so special to my family.  I will be honest,  I was not sure how Mondee and I were going to make it through his puppy stages.  Thank goodness I had Tony to help me.  I swear Mondee had ADHD.  Now that he is  a bit older Mondee has turned out to be the best dog.  After having Mondee for a while I begged to have another dog.  Tony got Cally for me last year as a birthday present.  She is a fluff ball of energy that I think we needed.  Cally has the best personality.  We also have 2 ferrets (Pepper & Griz).  Our animals are so spoiled.  When Tony and I  are not working we enjoy watching Avalanche hockey, going to sporting events, hanging out with friends, playing with the animals, and spending time at home.

My Family

Puppies

Tony and Me

Have a great weekend!

Deborah