TLC Updates from Kathy and Dana-December

Hi Teachers!

Below are notes from our training on the "PLANNING" Phase of the TLC.  We are really excited to be taking steps forward by setting time to meet with the first grade team in January to facilitate a conversation that will enable us to use the study and select phases (including defining essential questions and enduring understandings) and move into the planning of their next science unit!  We will plan on meeting with an intermediate team later in the spring. If you would like any additional information or would just like to talk about the TLC and messages from the district, we are happy to meet with you! 

Sincerely,

Dana and Kathy

Consulting the Rubric-What stands out in the Select and Plan Phases?

            Group Generated List, plus:

·                   Select: knowing your students and matching them to effective best practices for instruction

·                   Plan: Involving students in the planning phase! relevance, goal-setting, transfer, higher order thinking skills, using data to support students, planning with students in mind, incorporating technology

§  Teachers have the tendency to jump here at times, without first having a conversation about the key ideas and clarifying the enduring understandings and

·                   How do these 3 phases connect to each other?

o   Interconnected, build on one another, slowly focus in on what will be taught and learned

Focus on Literacy (compared to math of the past session)

·                   Using Rigby AS A RESOURCE

·                   We noted: Conversational themes, Facilitator themes, Use of resources as the conversation flowed

·                   Rigby theme tests are not recommended as a whole because they focus more on grammar and skills rather than comprehension.  Pieces can be pulled to measure specific skills, but overall they are not recommended to get a full picture on what students know (in relation to the curriculum frameworks).

Action Planning Time

What's New?

Here's a fun fact to begin with...The "Read For the Record" results are in...2,057,513 children read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats in October!  That number would have been 481 less had Riverdale not participated in the event! Thanks for participating in this reading activity for the day!

Incredible Stats!
November was a busy month for us!  I met with 86 small groups and classes throughout the 18 days we were in session.  With a flexible schedule, we are able to meet the academic needs of classes and circulate books at the same time!  Bonnie and I met with an average of 7.6 classes and small groups each day in November!  This totals 2,576 students during scheduled times!  Add to that all of the walk-in traffic we have every day and I call that a Developing Power Library School!  Speaking of, we recently were awarded the official certificate noting that status we have earned as a school.  Look for it to be on display soon!

Did you Know?
*  We have recently weeded the fiction, biography, and professional sections of the library.  This will help make the new books stand out as true "gems!"  The average copyright date of the Riverdale Library at the start of the year was 1997.  Libraries should have no older than 10 years as the average.  With our weeding and about 500 new books so far, our goal this year is to bring the average date up to 2002.

*  Our visiting author, Justin Matott, will be here on Tuesday, January 25th!  He will host 2 large assemblies (one for K-2 and one for 3-5) and then conduct grade level writing workshops with 3-5 in the theater.  More information to come...We have his titles in the library!  Come check 'em out!

*  We will also welcome David Kronk on Monday, Februray 7th for grade level work with Kindergarten, first, and second grades!  Again, schedules will follow!  I always get excited when scheduling authors--and this year it will work well coinciding with February's "I Love to Read" month!

* In the first trimester we loaned 47 books to other schools and borrowed 9 for our patrons at Riverdale!  Interlibrary Loans (ILL's) are easy to execute with our incredible Destiny system!  Kudos to Bonnie for managing all of the ILL traffic in and out of the building!  If you are in need of a resource we don't own, we'd be happy to arrange an ILL for you!  Let us know!

* Our circulation consistently hovers around 200-210 items per day!  That sure adds up over a trimester's time--we circulated 9,925 items from August to mid-November this year!  There is research that accurately correlates circulation of library books to academic achievement!

New Books!
* Our first order of Rainbow Books arrived a couple of weeks ago--we have MANY new multicultural books (holidays, celebrations, children around the world) and lots of high interest non-fiction (sports, ghosts, mythology).  We also ordered some new high interest low level fiction for those hard to please older boys!

* Our first Mackin order is arriving as we speak!  We got the new Guiness Book of World Records,  The Dork Diaries (girl equivalent to the Wimpy Kid books), and more of the 39 Clues titles, as well as many others!  Another order of 105 books was just sent off last week!  We should receive theses in January.

* Most of the new titles are on display in the library--come see what we have to offer you and your students!

Collaboration Superstars
*  Barb Zoeller-I have LOVED working with the second graders on their personal narrative endings!  I also have to give Ms. Zoeller a big "kudos" as we've really co-taught (not just coordinated) this mini-unit!  That's working toward the collaboration Power Library Goal!  ***PLUS, a bonus: She lets me borrow her beautiful green vest for outside duty!  :)  Thanks, Barb!
*  Jackie Woytek-I enjoyed seizing an opportunity to discuss ethical use of mentor texts with her students!
* Karen Robinson-I enjoyed teaching your kids how to use Wordle and am looking forward to tomorrow when we use it for a second time!
*  Third grade teachers-Thanks for using World Book Kids as the first source of information with this me as the students researched their countries this year!  Their PowerPoints are really great!
* Preschool and Kindergarten teachers-Thanks for allowing me me to read aloud the CCBA titles to your classes and get them ready to vote in February.  StorylineOnline.net was fun to explore with the Kinders as well!
* Chuck Freeman and Jeanne Vollmar-  Thanks for being my "guinea pigs" with posting book reviews on the Destiny catalog.  While we are having a few glitches, it is a great success overall!  I look forward to reviewing books with all of 4th and 5th in the future!
* Thanks to you all! I love working with you and your kids!

Technology Resources
Check out these super cool links!

TagGalaxy   http://taggalaxy.de/
A great way to instantly grab images to help with teaching concepts.  Also shows kids how to narrow your search!  Great for ELL's!

Science Games http://www.gameforscience.ca/games.php
Pretty cool critical thinking and real world problem solving games!  I played "Forestia" for a few minutes!  Amazing!

Blabberize!   http://blabberize.com/
Add voice and a mouth to any photo! You can even call in your audio using your cell phone!  Pretty cool!

TLC Update
Kathy and I will attend the TLC training this Wednesday morning and will be passing along information from that soon. :)