Can you believe that it is the middle of October, ALREADY? Time flies when you're having fun! I know we are all working so diligently, but I hope you are having fun as well.
Observations have begun. As your "window" is open, I will send your pre-conference google form for you to fill out, and we will talk about those elements during our Pre-Conference meeting. I have 10 days to complete the write up of the observation and meet with you for the Post Conference. I will not release for you to view until after we have talked. We will look through it together and talk through each section. I want you to come with any reflections on the lesson I watched as well. Once we have discussed, I will release it for your electronic signature. I will speak individually with you regarding your window.
LEARNING MOMENT:
Not only are we in the middle of October, we are winding up the first nine weeks. I would like your response for this week's blog to be what is your BIG goal for 2nd six weeks in your classroom. Be as specific as possible. Also, add what you need in order to reach your goal.
Next week at a glance:
MONDAY:
Fire drill at 8 a.m.
If you have not completed your team/individual website (whatever y'all decide) or want to refine it, please come to the lab after school to get this done. I will have it in the weekly newsletter as a place to see what you are doing in your classrooms each week. You need to have it complete on Thursday as you know once parents read the newsletter, they will be looking. The expectation is that you update this each week. I would say, as soon as you finish your lesson plans on Thursday before night, night that you update your site. Add links to help parents/students, pictures (we will have a new list by Thursday). Keep it looking fabulous for our parents.
TUESDAY: Testing begins in the building
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LUNCH
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SPECIALS
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Kinder – 10:50 -11:20
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8:15-9:05
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1st – 11:00-11:30
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9:05-9:55
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2nd – 11:35-12:05
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9:55-10:45
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3rd - 12:05 – 12:35 (5 min change)
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12:45 –1:35
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4th – 12:20-12:50 (5 min change)
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1:35-2:25
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5th – 12:35-1:05 (5 min change)
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2:25-3:15
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Grade levels will have PE every day this week with Marcus and Tina. Kona Ice (1-3pm)schedule will be:
Kinder: 1:00-1:20
3rd Grade (they should bring money to PE) 1:20-1:40 - teachers please pick up your kiddos from front at 1:35 so PE can get the next group.
1st grade - 1:40-2:00 p.m.
2nd grade - 2:00-2:20 pm.
4th grade - 2:20-2:40 p.m. (they should bring money to PE - teachers please go out to Kona Ice truck at 2:25 so PE can get the next group)
5th grade: 2:40-3 p.m. (They will need to bring money to PE and this will take some of their PE time today, Coach.
3:30 - 4:15 - Meeting with K-2 for Mad Scientist Day. By the end of the meeting we will have the following nailed down:
Schedule for the day, activities for each room, a list of supplies needed (for PO), and how to utilize helpers.
5 p.m. GHOST WALK. Meet and Park at the north steps of courthouse (the side facing Landon's). Drinks/Snacks at Ashen Rose after.
WEDNESDAY:
Testing Continues
3:45-4:45 - Differentiation Continues - by Mrs. Newton. Meet in Science Lab Bring your ideas that you worked on and your struggles.
THURSDAY:
Testing Continues
3:30-4:15 - Meeting with 3-5 for Mad Scientist Day. By the end of the meeting we will have the following nailed down.
Mixed up class rosters, schedule for the day, activities for each room, a list of supplies needed (for PO) and how to utilize helpers.
I have Principal's meeting from 9-11 today
FRIDAY:
Testing Continues
504 Documentation Due to Tonya
Because I am asking a lot of "extra" time from y'all this week, I am providing a TACO BAR from Taco Casa for lunch on Friday!!! I want you to know I appreciate all the moments you put in to making our school amazing for our students each and every day. I know you all have families to go home to as well. Balance is hard and I know we are all better at it at different times. I just want you to know that I really try to be aware and appreciate you knowing that I wouldn't ask unless it was important to our success.
The best quote I have from the weekend conference I attended was, "What's learned here, leaves here" I so love that. That should be our attitude after every learning opportunity we have.
Thank you for all you do!
SK loves Rockets
In order for me to be successful in the 2nd nine weeks I must find BALANCE. Not only balancing the new tasks and schedules , but I need to find a happy balance in the classroom. I seems with all the new pacing guides and all of the new requirements this year, sometimes I'm spinning in circles. I need to know that my teaching is solid and I just need to rely on that. TEACH~nothing about that has changed! I need to map my times out, make sure my lesson plans are nicely planed and TEACH! I think I'm forgetting that piece in the craziness that we are juggling everyday! Also, I need to remember that I am surrounded by some pretty awesome people that always have my back and that is pretty cool too!
ReplyDeleteIt seems like yesterday that we were meeting to plan out our year for the first time! It is really flying by! I have several goals for the next 9 weeks. As I settle in I am noticing that I am allowing Debbie Downer to infect my emotions about all the work I have to do :( My personal goal is to see my work as a blessing and be thankful for my busy schedule! I really am lucky in all aspects of my life! My goal for my classroom is to challenge my students everyday. I want to meet them where they are and help them grow into what they can become. Math is hard for 4th graders and I want them to find success and the confidence to know that they are smart enough. I will need to look at how to differentiate in math so that I can meet them where they are. I will need to look closely at my intervention time and how to move those who have mastered the concepts. I also want to continue to build a classroom culture through morning meetings. We are truly blessed to do the job we do! Plus, TACOS always make it worth it:)
ReplyDeleteAfter a thoughtful reflection, I have outlined a few areas that I will work on balancing in the upcoming nine weeks.
ReplyDelete•Work efficiently while I am at school. Prioritize the tasks that I must accomplish and work steadily at them. I will be sure to fully use my planning time and any spare moment that I might have at school. The more I accomplish at school, the less I will have to do at home.
•I will make time for myself. This may seem obvious, but worries about school have been consuming my life recently. I have stopped exercising, cooking, playing my instruments and gardening. I will balance my time to include some of the activities I like to do.
•I will focus on the tasks at hand. Too often I find it easy to second-guess my decisions or to replay troublesome scenarios from the day. Instead of endlessly rehashing what went wrong, I will focus on productive tasks, such as designing motivational lesson plans.
•I will set boundaries. No one really expects me to be on call twenty-four hours a day. Although there will be many after-school demands on my time, I will learn to gently refuse those that will be too demanding and accept that it is okay to say no sometimes.
•I will always have something to look forward to. I will make a point of planning a weekend excursion or even spending time flying with my husband. Looking forward to something pleasant will help my mindset.
•I will be reasonable with my expectations. When I consider how to improve the way I manage my class or conduct myself as a teacher, I will keep in mind that I can't change everything all at once. In fact, there are some things that I just can't change at all. Deciding to hold reasonable expectations for my performance is an important choice that can prevent stress and help keep the demands of my career in balance.
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DeleteI love what everyone else has said. Seems like we are all in the same mind set! I have a few goals myself;)
ReplyDelete-Boundries. I going to try really hard to shut off my work/school brain when I walk out of the building. There will ALWAYS be something that I COULD be doing but I’m doing no one any good worrying about it. I have taken my work email off of my phone to really push myself to create those boundries. My family needs me when I’m home and I am oh so thankful for that!!!
-Interventions: being intentional. I have set up a pretty good schedule in my room but I want to make sure I am intentional with that time in small groups. And Gina made a good point about scheduling so many things during the day in our classrooms and not getting to interventions is a real struggle.
-Time management as a whole: using the time I have during the day (planning, etc) better.
-Planning one day out, each day. I know this will help me stay on track.
-Stop and listen to my kids more. This includes my own 4 at home. I think they can all tell my mind is running to something else while they are sharing. Not ok.
Thats really just a start. I could use a lot of personal/professional growth;)
I have loved reading everyone else's comments. I feel like we are all struggling with the same things. I need to focus on time management for Intervention. I find that I am making time for it most days, but then students lose time elsewhere because its going on for too long. Or we are focusing on something else and miss it entirely. I need to work on a schedule for Intervention that ensures I get that done, as well as everything else we need to accomplish after.
ReplyDeleteI also have problems turning my brain off once I leave here. I want to try to be more organized so I can leave soon after meetings end and not stay up here for hours after school-even though I love it here!
Another goal I have is the use of technology in the classroom. We have been using our chromebooks everyday in a purposeful way. Even though it is useful,I find myself using the same things over and over when they work well and I want to continue to search for new resources to excited the students!
https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-sense-community-math
DeleteI came across this article while looking for something else. I thought some of the websites looked interesting. I played 2048 and really liked it. Might be worth checking into.
ReplyDeleteThe next nine weeks, hmmm. 🤔
Well, obviously my ultimate goal is healing and getting back to my students and working with THE most amazing team of educational professionals ever!!
Balance is a theme resonating through several posts. I share in this endeavor as I seek learning opportunities for my students that offer all that they hoped and imagined would be their experience at KGJ. As is advised on airplane trips, one must make sure to secure their own oxygen before assisting others. So slowing down to breathe every now and then will allow me be there for those who need me to be at my best.
The beginning of this year was a whirlwind as we all were moving in; setting up; acclimating to our new school, students, and schedules; and figuring out how to “STEMify” our lessons. I was at the cusp of realizing that balance. (Of mice and men) I was raised to find the positive in every experience, so I plan to use this time away to catch up on my reading of professional books and articles that have been accumulating on my shelves and have all systems in place ready to launch upon my return.
Ditto on the intervention time.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to get my small groups running like a well oiled machine and be able to monitor kids' growth so I can keep pushing them in the right direction.
I am very much looking forward to starting some differentiation menus, too. Ms. Newton said she would help me out with that.
Ditto! Ditto! Ditto!
ReplyDeleteWell... Pretty much a lot of what Diana said! I like a lot of what others said as well, but she hit most of the same points that I have.
ReplyDelete- Make time for myself - I have started trying to doing this more with all the things I have going on. School, Grad School, Military, and (trying) to have a personal life outside of that.
- Set boundaries - I have to have time to stop doing things and put them down. There will always be more and more that I could do for the class and school, but I need to put a limit to it instead of getting to school so early and leaving so late.
- Time management - Working with a few issues I have going on, trying to make sure I am getting all the PA's and lessons completed in time and with great quality.
- Being reasonable with my expectations - I forget sometimes that they are 5! I want them to do so many things and make these amazing creations and projects, but I forget sometimes that they've never done this before.
- Ditto pretty much to the other things everyone else has said!!!!
Everyone has such great comments and seems like we are all falling into the same well, needing to be pulled out. I really need to find a balance between work, family and everything else going on in my life. I feel like this leads to time management. I have to manage my time at work so when I walk out these doors, I can spend time with my family and doing the things that need to be completed outside of work.
ReplyDeleteAs for the classroom, I too feel like my intervention/small group time is something I need to improve on. I have things in place but feel like they are still just "okay." I need to get a plan together that is GREAT not just okay!!
I feel like balance and time management are the two big things that I want to improve on. I want to be able to leave school and school and focus on my family when I am at home. My boys need me as much as my students do and I need to make sure that when I am hgoing me I am there with them. I struggle with being a mother, a wife and having a career. Lately I feel like if one of those titles is thriving the other two are suffering.
ReplyDeleteLike Paige mentioned, I want to listen to my students more and really hear what they say. Now that I feel like I somewhat know what I am doing I will be able to find the balance for all areas of my life to thrive and be successful.