Gator Run Friday Focus - April 8, 2016

I appreciate everyone's support with the parking in the bus loop lot.  I went out to Park Road this morning to make sure that parents do not enter before 7:30 so that our staff can enter on time.  I will be out there on a regular basis to ensure that this continues.  Please also remember that the front car lot should only be used by those individuals working in the front office.  We need those spaces for parent events and we have quite a few coming up soon.  Thank you again for your cooperation.

Next Week at a Glance:

• Our 5th graders will be taking the FSA (FCAT) Science Test on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We will be using an alternate schedule those days.  Please refer to the email sent out by Ms. Felton.
• Report cards go home on Thursday.
• PLCs are scheduled for Thursday at 2:20.  
• I am so excited for our 2nd Annual Multicultural Festival.  This year is going to be amazing.  I hope that you can join us next Friday from 5:30 - 8:00.  What an awesome way to celebrate the diversity that is Gator Run!

Quote of the Week: "While we are postponing, life speeds by." - Seneca.  Time goes by way too fast.  Each day with our students and each other is special.  Enjoy today.

Gator Run Friday Focus - March 11, 2016

This week has offered up a few reminders for me of why we need to appreciate each day and really, each moment.  There are far too many important things in life for any of us to get caught up in petty issues.  I encourage each of you to let your loved ones know how much you care about them each and every day.  Life is too short and can change in an instant.  Please find your happiness.

Next Week at a Glance:

• NESS Meeting on Tuesday at 2:15 in Shari Heyman's room.
• Spring Individual Pictures are Monday and Tuesday.
• Early Release Day on Thursday and Planning Day on Friday.  

Strategy of the Week: I really love this one for professional learning -  Teacher Time Out.

Article of the Week: I think most of you know how I feel about homework.  Please read this article.  It really lays out the negative impact of homework on children's love of learning and of school.  Children need free time, family time, and time just to be kids.  Let's be the advocates for them.  Homework is Wrecking Our Kids

Quote of the Week: 

Gator Run Friday Focus - February 26, 2016

I mentioned this at our Faculty Focus yesterday but I want to address this again here for everyone.  I don't place a lot of emphasis on FSA results or any data we collect in isolation.  Too much is made of how our students perform on one standardized test, which minimizes so much of what we do on a regular basis.  We need to change the conversation in education to include the great work we do each day.  This week reminded me of what is more important.   Cyndi looked through our FSA results and found out that this is how we ranked out of all elementary schools in Broward:

7th in ELA; 6th in Math; and 10th in Science.  While this is awesome and should be celebrated, there is a much better way to judge our school and what we are doing.  Our visitors from Gulliver Prep in Miami were completely blown away by everything that they saw.  The compliment they gave us strengthened my belief that we are on the right path.  They told Cyndi and I that it was great to see a school that was doing what they hope to be.  Wow!  Coming from a school like Gulliver, that's amazing.  They want to send another group to visit us soon.  Kudos to all of you for creating the type of environment where students feel loved, respected and eager to learn each day!

Next Week at a Glance:

• FSA Writing for 4th and 5th grade is on Tuesday.
• PLCs are scheduled for Thursday at 2:15.

Quote of the Week:

Bad things happen:

- Every day.

- To everyone.

The difference is in how people deal with it.  

Gator Run Friday Focus - February 19, 2016

FSA scores were released last week.  We are an "A" school once again.  Here are our results:

Please know that school grades were calculated without learning gains, which will be included for this year.  Cyndi is going to briefly present how gains will be calculated at next Thursday's Faculty Focus.  

Next Week at a Glance:

• Book fair continues until Wednesday.
• We are hosting a Math Night with Mathnasium next Wednesday from 6 - 8 PM.  Hope you can join us!
• Next Thursday is an Early Release Day.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Book Buddies and STEM activities.  We are excited to host a group of teachers from Gulliver Elementary in Miami that day.  They are very interested in seeing what our STEM Day looks like.  
• We have a Faculty Focus on Thursday afternoon.  More information to come but there will be food!
• Next Saturday, February 27th isThe City of Weston's Movie in the Park.  Join us at Weston Regional Park at 7:30 PM for Minions!

Article of the Week:  Cool article on how to launch Genius Hour projects with the world - Launch Genius Hour

Quote of the Week: Thanks to Carron Newcomer for sharing this one!

Gator Run Friday Focus - February 12, 2016

This has been an very difficult week here at Gator Run but we are a strong school with a lot of love.  Thank you to all of you for making our school such a special place where students feel welcomed and loved each and every day.  Thinking along those lines, I want to encourage you to take part in a social media campaign that began last year.  Last February, educators began sharing their stories and sharing their love of teaching through the #LoveTeaching hashtag.  Over five million people interacted with the campaign through the #LoveTeaching hashtag on Twitter.  It reached across four continents.

During the week of Valentine's Day, from February 14th to the 22nd, tap into why you #LoveTeaching.  Write a blog post, compose a tweet, post a picture, take a video.  Use the hashtag #LoveTeaching and also #BrowardK12 so that we can easily follow fellow Broward educators.  This is a great way to share your story, become inspired, and make connections.  We need to show the world why we love what we do.  

Next Week at a Glance:

• No school on Monday.
• Our next SAC meeting is Wednesday at 2:20 in the Media Center. 
• Book Fair Night is Wednesday from 5:30 - 7:30 PM.  Hope to see you there!
• PLCs are scheduled for Thursday at 2:20. 

Quote of the Week: "Trying times are not the times to stop trying." - Ray Owen

Gator Run Friday Focus - November 13, 2015

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported me in person at last night's TedX event.  I appreciate it more than you know.  Thank you to those of you who sent wishes of support because you couldn't make it.  There will be a video soon and I will share it with you as soon as I get it.

Next Week at a Glance:

• Have a great week.  I will be in Washington, DC on our 5th grade trip.  If you are interested in following our trip via pictures and updates I will be posting to Remind, please sign up for notifications via https://www.remind.com/join/gre2015dc
• Interim reports go home on Thursday.
• Kids of Character names are due to Ms. Felton by Friday.

Quote of the Week: 

Gator Run Friday Focus - November 6, 2015

What an amazing visit this week from the principals and K and 1 teachers from our Sub-Cadre.  Thank you to all of the teachers whose rooms we visited.  The biggest compliments were for the rooms that we visited in which the students were responsible for their own learning.  In those rooms, teachers were either working with a small group of students while the other students were involved in meaningful independent work or the entire class was engaged in small groups or individually on their assignments while the teacher circulated throughout the room, providing feedback and asking questions.

I understand that my views on homework are not shared by everyone and I respect that.  To me homework seems to be one of those aspects of school that we perpetuate because "that's the way it's always been done".  I do believe that there can be some meaningful homework, but when we start infiltrating on time that children can and should be spending on family and outside interests to just give busy work, then we are wasting their time.  I'm also not a big fan of preparing them for the workload that they will receive in middle school.  So, because middle school provides an inordinate amount of homework and eats away at students' free time, we have to do the same?  In case you are interested in others who seem to agree with my viewpoints here are some articles on the subject:

Homework: An Unnecessary Evil?

More Parents, Students Saying No to Homework

Forget Homework: t's a waste of time for elementary-school students.

Homework is making our kids miserable: Why the classroom staple is a colossal waste of time

Can You Imagine A World Where You Never Had To Do Homework Ever Again?

Kids have three times too much homework, study finds; what's the cost?

Next Week at a Glance:

• Interims are due to Team Leaders on Monday and to Ms. Felton on Friday.  
• Team Leader Day is on Monday.  
• Field Days for the following grades are next week: Monday - 5th; Tuesday - 3rd; Thursday - 1st; Friday - K.
• No School on Wednesday.
• Report Cards go home on Thursday.
• PLCs are scheduled for Thursday afternoon.  

Website of the Week: Curriculet From their website, Curriculet allows you to embed a layer of questions, quizzes, and rich media annotations into any reading assignment.  You can also track mastery of literacy skills and Common Core standards in real-time.  There is a video on their homepage which explains it a bit better. 

Quote of the Week: Just remember that the person doing the talking is the person doing the learning.