- BOLD Literacy: Reading, Reading Everywhere!
- Instructional Coherency: Help With All the Things
- Campus of Learning: #ObserveMe
Thank you so much for a great second week of learning and instruction at NRMS! The 2018-19 school year is off to a Falcon-tastic start, and there is so much great work going on already. Keep on reading to celebrate the hard work of your peers and students and to gain some insight into different instructional priorities.
Falcon Focus: Reading, Reading Everywhere!
In Birdville we are very focused on Building Opportunities for Literacy Daily, and Falcons have embraced the chance to read, write, think, and discuss.
All around campus you can catch glimpses of students' and teachers' reading lives, and listen to them sharing in a culture of literacy.
See below for examples of reading displays, book talks, and other suggestions.
Brittany Joyner invites students to share their book suggestions. She also encourages them to read Lone Star Readers by celebrating their progress and reading alongside them.
The Lone Star Reading Program invites students to read their choice of 10 books from a list, after which they get to attend a catered luncheon with an author. This year, the guest of honor is Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down and Ghost. Want to read alongside the students as well? Check in the library for this year's list!
Looking for a good book to read? Below, Sherryl Dickey shares a book talk over the book she just finished, I'll Push You by Patrck Grey.
jklj
Falcon Focus: Reading, Reading Everywhere!
 |
All around campus you can catch glimpses of students' and teachers' reading lives, and listen to them sharing in a culture of literacy.
See below for examples of reading displays, book talks, and other suggestions.
 |
| Students cozy up with a good book where ever they can. |
Student book talks help students spread the word about reading.
 |
| Book displays help students (and teachers) find their next great read. |
Brittany Joyner invites students to share their book suggestions. She also encourages them to read Lone Star Readers by celebrating their progress and reading alongside them.
The Lone Star Reading Program invites students to read their choice of 10 books from a list, after which they get to attend a catered luncheon with an author. This year, the guest of honor is Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down and Ghost. Want to read alongside the students as well? Check in the library for this year's list!
 |
| Faculty and staff get into the reading fun with a variety of different texts. |
jkljFalcon Focus: Help With All the Things
During our back-to-school professional learning, several teachers led us through instructional campus expectations. Extra thanks to: Robin Asaff, Lindsey Cato, Felicia Cherry, Kylie Cranford, Teresa Davis, Jonie Dodson, Beverly Goodman, Kathy Harvell, James Hollis, Lori Liles, Karen Sanchez, and Amy Thornton for their leadership and hard work. All the presentation materials used can be found in our NRMS Google Classroom, but I've also included a link below to the folder. There are also a few additional resources to support you with "all the things". Click on the red titles to get to the Google folder.
Monday, August 13 Professional Learning - In this folder you can find:
- Falcon Culture 2018-19
- Culture of Literacy
- Tier 1 Priorities & Instructional Coherency
- Literacy Strategies
- Continuous Improvement Expectations
- Workshop Model & 5E
- Building Vocabulary
Thursday, August 16 Professional Learning - In this folder you can find:
- Google Classroom for Beginners
- Google Classroom for Experienced Teachers
- Plan-Do-Study-Act
- Making Your SMART Goals Smarter
- Behavior Intervention Strategies
- Mission Statements: Defining Purpose
Instructional Coherency Documents - This is the list of campus instructional expectations for all of our departments. We will be developing them for Special Ed and Electives through our PLC work this year.
Continuous Improvement Google Site - This Google Site includes examples and how-tos for all of the Continuous Improvement pieces. I will continue to update it with relevant examples from our campus.
Falcon Focus: #ObserveMe#ObserveMe originated from the collective realization of many educators that there was an opportunity to learn from each other. In a Twitter Chat in 2016, one teacher posted the idea of inviting other teachers into their classroom to give targeted feedback. Other educators and groups such as @Robert Kaplinsky and @Teacher2Teacher jumped on this idea and turned it into the movement that it is just two years later.
To participate, determine two to three goals that you are working on in your classroom. Create a short Google Form that visitors can complete in order to collect your feedback. Finally, post an invitation to others to come on in and share their observations.
Jonie Dodson is participating in #ObserveMe this school year. She has shared her editable #ObserveMe sign here. She would appreciate you stopping in to share your thoughts about her classroom!Want to read more?
Robert Kaplinsky started the #ObserveMe movement with this blog post in 2016.
One year later, Kaplinsky wrote a post reflecting the #ObserveMe movement and different "tricks" he wish he had known at the beginning.
Jennifer Gonzalez, creator of the blog Cult of Pedagogy, wrote a piece on why we need to observe each other.
If you decide to participate in #ObserveMe, please let me know! I love visiting classrooms, and would enjoy offering feedback. I will be creating my own #ObserveMe as well. Be on the lookout for a sign on my office door!
If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know. And remember...
It's a great day to be a Falcon!
