April 22,2016

The 'Gift' of this time of year...

I know that everyone is feeling the pressure of too little time and so much to do by the end of the year. However... this can also be a pocket of time when you have a unique opportunity as a teacher.

You are in the home stretch. You know now where kids are in their achievement and growth and the impact you can make with them this year, draws to an end.

What about those ideas you had sketched out earlier in the year but just didn't get around to doing? What if there was something you were curious about and have really wanted to try, but it didn't quite 'fit in'. I wonder....

Do it! 

Precisely at this time of year is a good time to try something out and just 'sample' how it goes. Is there a resource, a method, an idea, a digital tool that you just want to play around with to test it a bit? No pressure to measure or hold kids to mastery of any kind. Just play. Sometimes, it just the right thing for you as a teacher to have a bit of fun and enjoy the experience with no particular outcome in mind. 

Celebrating all the wonderful things going on...

Demonstration AND personalized feedback!

A student in Lauren's room highly engaged in creating during their Learning Expedition

Here is the rubric the students collaborated on that is guiding their work.

Bethany supporting students who are creating

Brooks finding a way to increase ownership of recycling!

Lulu the artist

Guess who's talking about books!

Second graders in Dana's Crew
had a museum exhibit showing off their expertise from reading non-fiction.
Don't you just love that he even has an outfit to go with his exhibit!

Students from Jen's Crew were a captive audience as Evan explained what he had learned. All these kids had great visual displays to accompany their learning.

Fourth graders dressed for success...
and field work to the Colorado State Capitol

Check out who is seated in the Supreme Court Chambers!

"4th graders have been working on a high-quality visual representation as an end product for the Colorado History expedition. This product was part of a study of boom and bust trends in Colorado's history. Students discovered that the current Colorado flag is experiencing a boom right now. They figured that it would probably bust soon, so they created new Colorado flags to reflect their learning about Colorado history. During the study, they learned that the current Colorado flag was adopted by the state senate. So, they decided that they should present their ideas to a Colorado Senator. Last Friday, we had the chance to travel to the Colorado State Capitol to present four of our flags (these were voted on by our crews) to Senator Chris Holbert. Luca, Kelby, Viola, and Logan all did an amazing job presenting our ideas in a professional manner, while seated in the Supreme Court Chambers. This fieldwork gave students the opportunity to discover more about the world around them and gave them a chance to be active citizens - to try to make a change. "

Calendar

April 25 - 29th:
Kenny's Crew Winter Voyage
Climbing Week

Tuesday:
* RTI/MTSS 7:30 a.m.
Suzi's Crew Field Work

Wednesday:
* PD: Collaborative Planning/Building Leadership Team Meeting
5:30 Parent Course on Anxiety offered by Allison

Thursday:
Lisa's Crew to CRCC

Friday:
Billie's Crew Field Work

May 2 - 6th:
* Benefits Open Enrollment

Tuesday:
RTI/MTSS 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:
9:00 a.m. Musical Theater Performance
1:30 p.m. PD: QRI assessment training
5:30 Parent Course on Anxiety offered by Allison

Thursday:
Deborah out - PK-12 Admin. Mtg.

Friday:
Second Grade Field Work - Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo
6- 8 p.m. Musical Theater Performance
Saturday:
6-8 p.m. Musical Theater Performance

Inviting you to take a stroll -

Be sure to spend a few minutes popping into rooms.

The documentation panels, student work, and displays that are everywhere in the building are such a celebration! It's an important time of the year to soak up all the great things that have been built to this point. Take a few minutes during a plan time, lunch or break to see all the high quality student work, talk with teachers and kids and hear the stories, and shout "Ta Dah" together!!!

Closing Thought - 

Chelsea shared some words of wisdom with me this week that she's applying and has found helpful.

We all share a common trait. We all strive for excellence in all we do. As a result, we are often our own worst critics and we tend to judge ourselves very harshly. 

Her words of wisdom:

Judge and be judged.

Or...change that messaging to ourselves to be:

Learn and help learn

Enjoy your three day weekend!!!

Deborah