Whew! What a day, what a day! Most of the day was captured (and me too!) by central office administrative meetings. The highpoint of the day was returning to school; unfortunately, as the students were being dismissed, for a staff meeting. The focus of the staff meeting was technology. I had prepared for the meeting earlier in the week by creating items for the agenda on the SmartBoard. This in itself was a challenge, and took more time than one wants to think about, but most rewarding. First, I shared a book with the staff that I had scanned into SmartTools. It was a children’s version of the book, “How Full is Your Bucket.” There was a tremendous amount of energy in the meeting and I was psyched to share the new “bells and whistles” on the SmartBoard that I had found. The presentation was well received by all. Half-way through the meeting the staff was invited to the gym where we all participated in Wii bowling. Several of the teachers have not used the Wii system before, so this was a hoot! A special note of thanks must be extended to our tech coordinator, Mike Bourbon, and our excellent physical education instructor, Mark Sheurich, for setting this activity up for the staff. Over the next few months, students will be participating in several different Wii sports throughout the rest of the year. Mark has aligned the Wii sports to our Illinois P.E. standards and will begin teaching next week. How cool will it be for the staff to be able to connect to the kids through this forum?
Yesterday, as I completed by “walkthroughs” of classrooms, I was a bit confused as I walked into one classroom. This classroom, that is typically hustle and bustle, was silent. I looked for the teacher, and her back was turned to me. Historically, this classroom is one where the kids will acknowledge me and continue to go about their business of learning. Hmmm, not yesterday – so, I went to individual student pods to see what they were so intently working on – a writing project. Imagine my surprise when the teacher finally turned around and she was covered with candy items, Scotch-taped to herself! It took everything for me not to laugh out loud at the sight of her. As I circulated around the room, she did the same. She was looking for students who were intently working on their writing. If their behavior and writing met her expectation, she would tap them on the shoulder and they selected a candy off of her. Wow! Talk about a unique way to motivate kids. I still find myself in awe at her ingenuity.
As always, there is never enough time in the day. It is now 10:04 p.m. and I still need to check my E-mail because I was away from the building all day, had a staff meeting after school, and then had to leave for another meeting. Yikes! Have to run so I can check the E-mail, respond, and still get to bed before midnight. Oh! Due to the success of the staff meeting this afternoon, I am meeting with two different grade levels tomorrow to share a few SmartBoard activities for them to implement with their students next week – can’t wait!
Ciao!
Anastasia
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