Gator Run Friday Focus - September 26, 2014

• Team Collaboration Days are next Monday and Tuesday.  Please see the CAB Calendar for details.  You will be meeting in room 851.  Please use this time to investigate CPalms further and plan some higher-level DOK learning experiences. 
•  There is a NESS meeting on Monday at 2:15 in Mrs. Heyman's room.
•  Next Wednesday and Thursday we will be holding our first CARE PLC meetings.  Please see the CAB Calendar for your team's day.  You will need to bring the results of your first reading and math formative assessments to these meetings.  The other day please meet with your team for Team Collaboration.

 Quote of the Week - "Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden

Gator Run Friday Focus - September 19, 2014

As we work to create more experiences in higher DOK levels, it is also vital that we ensure automaticity in mathematics.  Please work each day to provide practice for your students according to the following required fluency list:

 

K - Add/subtract within 5

1 - Add/subtract within 10

2 - Add/subtract within 20

      Add/subtract within 100 (pencil and paper)

3 - Multiply/divide within 100

      Add/subtract within 1,000

4 - Add/subtract within 1,000,000

5 - Multidigit multiplication

• Kids of Character names are due to Ms. Felton by Monday.
• Fall individual pictures are next Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please refer to the schedule sent by Ms. Felton.
• Our first SAC meeting of the year is next Tuesday at 2:15 in the afternoon.  Please join us if you can. 
• We have a Faculty Collaboration for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade next Wednesday at 2:15.  We will be reviewing the CARE process for our PLCs.  There is Team Collaboration for K-2 on that day.   
• No School next Thursday.
• Sunshine membership drive next Friday at 7:20.  

Quote of the Week - "Not all gifts are equal for all students." - Kevin Baird.  Something to remember as we plan learning experiences for our students. 

Gator Run Friday Focus - September 12, 2014

I would like to have a Genius Hour conversation on Monday afternoon at 2:15 in the Media Center.  If you have already signed up for the Genius Lounge or plan to do so in the near future, please join us.  We want to provide support and guidance to you as you go forward with this exciting endeavor.  For those of you are in Clubs or who have a conference, I will hold another conversation in the near future.

• Boosterthon continues next week, culminating with the Fun Run on Friday.  If you are new to the school and haven't been part of a Fun Run before, please see your Team Leader to ensure that you are prepared.
• Next Thursday is an Early Release Day.  We will have a Faculty Collaboration at 1:30 in the Media Center about vocabulary and a faculty Edmodo discussion.
• Interim Reports go home next Thursday.
• Please be aware of which of your students do not have media clearance for external sources.  Ms. Felton and I will begin sending out pictures and video from your classrooms and we want to respect privacy choices.  

Quote of the Week - Planting a little seed before next Thursday's Faculty Collaboration.  “A man with a scant vocabulary will almost certainly be a weak thinker. The richer and more copious one's vocabulary and the greater one's awareness of fine distinctions and subtle nuances of meaning, the more fertile and precise is likely to be one's thinking. Knowledge of things and knowledge of the words for them grow together. If you do not know the words, you can hardly know the thing.” - Henry Hazlitt

Gator Run Friday Focus - September 5, 2014

It's hard to believe that it's only the end of the third week of school.  To me it feels like we are much further into the school year.  Ms. Felton and I are attempting to finish up our Snapshot Walkthrough observations by the middle of next week.  We will then begin scheduling Formal observations.  Please understand that because of the size of our faculty, it is vital for us to begin this process early.  But let's put aside talk about observations for a moment.  What I want to speak about today is highlighting all of the wonderful things that are taking place in your classrooms.  As the "Storyteller-in-Chief" of our school, I want to spread the word about the amazing learning experiences that you are providing our students.  Please invite me to your classroom when you have something awesome planned (and I hope that you have something awesome planned every day).  Have your students invite me as well.  I find that they are extremely excited to have me come in to see them at work.  I want to get the word out about what you and your students are doing.  Our community and the world need to know about our unbelievable Gator Run teachers and what you do every day.  I want to blog about you, Tweet about you, Facebook about you.  You deserve to be spoken about and praised.  Remember that our new motto is "Imagination to Innovation: Follow Your Passion at Gator Run".  Anytime you are doing something that focuses on our motto, invite me in!

• There will be a Sunshine membership drive next Friday morning.  Let's get 100% signed up!
• Boosterthon Pep Rally next Wednesday morning.
• Open House for Pre-K - 2nd Grades is next Wednesday at 6:30 pm.

Quote of the Week - "Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." - Mother Teresa.  Choose your words wisely.

Gator Run Friday Focus - August 29, 2014

We are working on a plan to provide you with additional Team Collaboration time with your grade level teams.  We believe that we can give you over two hours of uninterrupted planning time with support and guidance from administration and support staff a few times during the year.  Please expect a schedule for the first days soon. 

• No school on Monday.  Enjoy your holiday weekend!
• Open House for 3rd, 4th and 5th grades is next Wednesday at 6:30 PM.
• Team Collaboration is scheduled for next Wednesday at 2:15.  
• Our first Team Leader Day is next Friday.  We will be trained on the new iReady computer program that the ESOL Department purchased for us.  We will also be delving further into Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK) and how to create learning experiences at higher levels for our students. 

Quote of the Week - During dismissal last Friday I asked several students how their first week was.  One student answered like this - "It was OK I guess, nothing bad happened."  I was a little bit disappointed in the response, but then I thought that I would pass it along as a challenge.  I told her that was fine but we would be working on making things exciting for her.  So come on everyone - let's make each day memorable for our students!  I know that you can do it. 

Gator Run Friday Focus - August 22, 2014

I'm sure that you all know by now that I am a big believer in collaboration.  It is a must for educators so that we can learn and share with each other as we implement the new standards and flesh out our thematic units.  It is also vital for our students as we create learning experiences for them at each of the levels of Webb's Depth of Knowledge (DOK).  Collaboration is actually in the language of the levels.  To this end it is crucial that our learning spaces reflect our belief that students should be working in groups.  As I walk around the school I hope to see every classroom be set up to allow for collaboration amongst students by the third week of school.  My communication with parents and the community will be that collaboration is evident in all of our classrooms.  

• Our first PTA General Meeting is next Tuesday at 8:30 AM.  If you have done so yet, please join our amazing PTA.  They do so much for our school.
• We will have a Gator Club Meeting at 2:20 next Tuesday in the Media Center.
• There will be a Faculty Collaboration next Wednesday at 2:15 in the Media Center.  Mrs. Knapik has already sent you an email about what she will be presenting on.  We will also review some sample problems from the new Florida end of year assessment.  In addition we will briefly review your responsibilities regarding the RtI process.
• Please check your email at least twice each day and check your mailbox twice a day.  
• Ms. Felton and I will begin conducting Snapshot observations the week of September 2.  You need to know the elements that are on the Marzano tool.  When we come in please make every attempt to implement as many of the elements into your teaching as you can.  This is to your benefit.  

Quote of the Week - "I love coming to this school.  Everyone is always so happy." - one of our new students this week. 

Gator Run Friday Focus - August 15, 2014

Well, the big day is finally here - the first day of school!  The day that brings so much promise for each of our students.  The day where they bring their hope that you will help them find their passion, that you will light the spark to lifelong learning, that you will love them and believe that they can reach the highest levels.  We are blessed to work in the greatest profession there is.  Let's go out there and change the world each and every day this year!  Enjoy the journey.

• This year we are placing scheduled Collaborations on the CAB Calendar for Wednesdays.  Obviously additional team planning and collaborating is welcome and encouraged.  The expectation of Team Collaborations for this year is that they turn into true PLCs.  We will work with our Team Leaders this year to learn what PLCs should be and how we can begin the process at our school.  This week you should begin plotting out the standards you plan to teach in the first quarter utilizing CPALMS. 
• Lice checks for all students will be next Thursday and Friday.  Ms. Felton will be sending out a schedule at the beginning of the week.  
• I encourage each of you to join our PTA.  They do so much for our school and for each of us.  Let's show our support for them by signing up!

Quote of the Week - "So often you will find that the students you're trying to inspire are the ones that end up inspiring you." - Sean Junkins.  Get ready to be inspired!

Article of the Week - The First Days of School by Doug Reeves - http://poofnstoof.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-first-days-of-school-by-doug-reeves.html