I'm sitting on my porch dressed in a heavy, soft sweater watching the skies change as a storm rolls in. Sitting on the porch is one of my favorite places to be and I'm grateful to be able to sit here quietly and watch the daylight hours come to an end. There is a sense of peace for me in being an observer of the magnificent outdoors. I am so appreciative of the time I've had to be at home, spend some time alone, spend some time with friends and family and to experience a peaceful pace. Not only is a break an opportunity to rejuvenate it is also an opportunity to gain some perspective. Tomorrow we gather back together to be unified in our mission of creating a community of learners. I am so grateful that we have the day to make that important transition back to our school routine. The day is yours to use as you need. This coming week my schedule has me out of the building all week. Tuesday I have an elementary administrators meeting (that was terrible timing) and Wednesday I'll be at the Expeditionary Learning National Conference for the rest of the week. Knowing that you'll need to have someone to lean on, I've asked Bill Dowdle (thanks Bill!) to step into my shoes. He'll be available to support you with students and parents should you need him. Of course, you can always text or call me while I'm away. I'm excited to be inspired at the conference and eager to bring back what I find! Have a joyful first week back! Now, come take a walk with me! Some of these photos are from a week ago, and keep in mind, I'm no photographer. The point isn't my photography skills - rather to share the fall beauty. This is the route I take for my run (yes! I'm still at it...) and then I back track afterwards to snap photos of what captured me earlier. I am in awe of nature.
Looking south towards Cripple Creek
That's my house to the right...the large rock formation
is known as Crystal Peak. It's featured in lots of these photos and well
known for the Amazonite found here.
That's Pike Peak in the background
"Quaking Aspen"
October 21 - 25:
Monday:
Teacher's report back/ NO students
Tuesday:
RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday:
Parent Orientation 8:00 a.m.
Professional Development
* Individual and/or team planning
October 28 - Nov. 1:
Tuesday:
RTI Meeting 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday:
All School Meeting
2nd and 2/3 Discovery Field Work
Professional Development 1:30 library
* Individual work on creating assessments for a content we have individually identified
Thursday:
Halloween Parade
Classroom Celebrations
Friday:
Professional Development Day
NO Students
Professional Development Schedule until next break:
* Adjustments may need to be made
* Details will be provided
October 30: Individual Assessment Work
November 6: Student Led Conferences
November 13: Individual Assessment Work
November 20: Grounding piece: Sharing in small groups progress thus far: (share and get ideas)
then continue Individual Assessment Work
December 4: Learning Expedition Backwards Planning Collaboration (assessment focus)
December 11: Grounding: Sharing in small groups thus far: (share and get ideas)
*Individual Assessment Work
December 18: Reflect and record and identify next steps (include a PD assessment)
Enjoy the beauty, the time to put some balance in your life
by spending time with friends and family
and some time to yourself!
Calendar
October 21 - 25:
Monday:
Teacher's report back/ NO students
Tuesday:
RTI meeting 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday:
Parent Orientation 8:00 a.m.
Professional Development
* Individual and/or team planning
October 28 - Nov. 1:
Tuesday:
RTI Meeting 7:30 a.m.
Wednesday:
All School Meeting
2nd and 2/3 Discovery Field Work
Professional Development 1:30 library
* Individual work on creating assessments for a content we have individually identified
Thursday:
Halloween Parade
Classroom Celebrations
Friday:
Professional Development Day
NO Students
Professional Development Schedule until next break:
* Adjustments may need to be made
* Details will be provided
October 30: Individual Assessment Work
November 6: Student Led Conferences
November 13: Individual Assessment Work
November 20: Grounding piece: Sharing in small groups progress thus far: (share and get ideas)
then continue Individual Assessment Work
December 4: Learning Expedition Backwards Planning Collaboration (assessment focus)
December 11: Grounding: Sharing in small groups thus far: (share and get ideas)
*Individual Assessment Work
December 18: Reflect and record and identify next steps (include a PD assessment)
Being Generous
Active and engaged learning often means lots of fieldwork and changes to schedules. Sometimes we forgot how those changes impact other systems within our building. Zina deals with intense scrutiny and accountability from the district nutritional services program.
We can be generous and support Zina in the cafeteria by remembering to:
* Include Zina on all class absence emails and make it really clear for her by stating, "We will not be eating lunch on date xxxx." Sometimes our emails are not real clear or are buried somewhere in the email.
* Ordering lunches and giving accurate counts on time would be so supportive. Students need to own being accurate about what they order.
* Did you notice a blue ribbon hanging on the wall by the serving line? Zina received this recognition because she had the best food and labor cost percentages in the district.
Featured Folks
By Linda Cunningham
First of all, I want
to say I love my job at Renaissance! This will be my third year here and it
just gets better every year. What I love the most is the focus on
relationships. I teach in a total of 3 schools in 2 districts and relationships
are important in all of my sites, but Renaissance makes a very conscientious
effort to broadcast this to the entire community (including the message written
in the front hall!). For those of you that don’t know me, I am the itinerant
Spanish Teacher for the GT program at DCSD serving two sites, Pine Lane and
Renaissance. Let me tell you a little about my history and my job choice might
make more sense....
I grew up as a
college mom brat, that is to say my mom was getting her Bachelor’s and Master’s
in Fine Arts throughout my childhood. We moved a total of 17 times and I
attended 14 different schools between kindie and 12th grade. Mom was single and
we had no money. We shuffled from one student apartment/house to another and
often had a house full of roommates. My mom was the typical California/Oregon
hippie. I was immersed in college culture in everything from demonstrations to
lectures, all in the wake of the ERA movement in the 70’s.
Not surprisingly, I
went in the opposite direction when I left the nest. I embraced a more
libertarian view and set out to put down deep roots. I came to Colorado from
Oregon in 1992. I married a very conservative man and we lived in our
first house for 14 years. We have two girls, Emma 18, and Hannah 14, who have
moved only three times in their lives and have remained at the same schools
throughout.
What does this have
to do with me becoming a teacher? Well, I realized that my education suffered
severely from all of the moving around we did. I wanted the opposite for my
kids and left nothing to chance. I researched everything I could get my hands
on about ECE and literacy. I taught my kids to read before they reached
preschool. Then word spread and I became the neighborhood and family tutor. I
taught my niece with a learning disability to read as well as a few neighbor
kids. Then I started volunteering in schools. I had caught the teaching bug. I
went to Metro State and got my teaching license and set out to get a job.
So, this job is a
great fit for me! I am able to maneuver between two schools and adapt to the
culture of each one. I am comfortable living out of a cart. I can relate to
people of any political, socio economic, religious or ethnic persuasion. I have
a passion for ECE and elementary education. To put it in ELOB terms, I am
definitely kept just outside my comfort zone and I keep on growing as a result.
I look forward to another amazing year here at Renaissance!
How to Make Stress Your Friend
shared by Lindsey
Peek Into the Life of Our School
Third grade students sharing their thinking about perspectives - Outcome of their Learning Expedition
Guided Reading instruction
Sharing the learning target during the guided reading instruction
Student work displayed
Assessing and feedback
Materials in the 'Maker Station'
Creating a drum in the 'Maker Station'
Checklist so student's can 'own' the outcome and make choices for how they will work with the Ipad
This student chose to do a story retelling.
This student chose to use words to write a story.
Learning Expeditions
First Grade
Unpacking important concepts - Critical thinking and figuring out where it lives in the life of a student
Third Grade
Students discussing perspectives
Fourth grade writing displayed
The writing so speaks of the learners!
How important to include the 'why' it's important to learn something
