My Weekend Rewind

Hello Friends,

I hope this weekend finds you healthy and happy! We had a great learning week at Gilbert Elementary School. This past week in Huddles we discussed academic vocabulary. Implementing an academic vocabulary program will help students develop the background knowledge they need to succeed in school. Our main focus was on the six steps of teaching vocabulary terms described in Marzano and Pickering's Building Academic Vocabulary Teacher's Manual. In a few weeks, the teachers will take time during Huddles to play games that will help increase students' vocabulary knowledge. During Huddles next week, the teachers will discuss goal setting in the classroom. I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Your friend,

Mrs. Neal

Hi Friends,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I will be attending meetings most all week, so I will definitely miss being at school. If you need anything, just send me an email. I will get back to you as quick as I can. If you didn't get the conference forms that I sent you, let me know. We will cover academic vocabulary in Huddles after Fall Break. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fall Break!

Mrs. Neal:)

Growing, Learning, and Implementing

Hi Friends,

I hope you are having a great week! I want to take a few minutes and rewind to last week. Time goes by so fast! I enjoyed meeting with every team during Huddles last week. We discussed our data notebooks, Destination Reading & Math, and discussed how to use the Navigator materials at certain grade levels for math interventions. We had some really great discussions and sharing opportunities. We learned so much by bouncing ideas off of each other. D.R.A. data is due. Please put your data sheets in the D.R.A. folder in front of my desk or my box. September Progress Monitoring data is due on October 1st. I will not be here on that day, so please put it in my box or the September Progress Monitoring folder in front of my desk.

We have some exciting activities going on at Gilbert this week. Grandparent's Day is Thursday. I know that many boys and girls are excited about their grandparents coming to school! I hope you all have a great week. We have eleven more days until Fall Break!

Your friend,

Mrs. Neal:)

Using Data Daily

Hi Friends,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Our week at Gilbert was very full of learning experiences. Last Thursday, we met in Huddles to discuss R.T.I. updates with Ms. Marshall. I also met with my friend Marty Hegwood on Friday to learn about Key Math. This program will help identify struggling learners in math and offer intervention activities to promote success in the areas of difficulty. This Thursday we will prepare data notebooks in each grade level. By using our data to drive our instruction, we will insure that each learner is getting what he/she needs. I will also give an overview of Navigator Math to help teachers use as an intervention tool in the classroom. If you have any questions, feel free to come by and see me in the Huddle Room.

Have a super week!

Mrs. Neal

Welcome September!

Hi Friends,

I don't know about you, but I am loving this weather! The color of the sky lately has been mesmerizing! As I was at my dad's house today, I glanced at his front porch. From the time I was little, I was a decorator; not a professional or maybe not even tasteful, but a decorator none the less. Every fall my parents allowed me to decorate their front porch. My dad would buy me at least two hay bales, and my mom would get together some old clothes for me to conjure up a scarecrow or two. I would rake leaves to fill up Mr. and Mrs. Scarecrow, only to be raking hours later because I loved jumping into my mountainous piles. Let's not forget the pumpkin. I would tell my dad about the design I wanted for this year's jack-o-lantern, and he would do the carving. Even though I'm grown now, I still like to decorate my front porch. Sometimes I even recruit a few Neal boys to help with the decorating. If you have never been much of a front porch decorator, start a new tradition with your family this year. I promise you will enjoy it, and you will make some memories that will last a lifetime.

Last week we discussed integration stations. Stations are a great way of reinforcing the standards in each grade level. It provides time for students to practice what they are learning. When planning stations, keep the end result in mind. What do I want my students to learn from this station? What do I want reinforced? Stations also allow time for students to get away from their desks/tables. The management for station activity can vary from five days a week to one day a week. Remember to start small. Give yourself and your students time to get accustomed to this new activity in the classroom. Check out books in the Huddle Room by Debbie Diller to help you get started.

I hope everyone has a super week. Let me know if you need anything.

Your friend,

Karen:)

Weekly Highlights

Hi Friends,

I hope you all had a productive week. I had a pretty busy week myself. This week was full of meetings, planning interventions, and working in classrooms (my favorite). The highlight of my week was our first huddle. We discussed flexible grouping in reader's workshop. Many teachers even came up with great ideas on how to organize flexible groups in writer's and math workshops. If you need any more information on some of the ideas we discussed, just let me know. Next week, we will discuss literacy and integration stations! I can't wait. I work with the best teachers in Walker County. What is amazing about our teachers is that they take regular ideas and make them fabulous ideas. I hope your week is full of great teaching and learning experiences.

Your friend,

Karen :)

Hi Gator Gang,

I hope everyone had a fabulous first week of school. I know that I did. This week has been very fun and challenging for me. The week has been fun because I have learned many new things with my new job. Everyday, I am trying to write down all of the new things I am learning so that I can look back and see how much I have grown as a teacher. If any of my former students read my blog, I want you to know one thing: new experiences are scary because you are out of your comfort zone; however, they are so worth the butterflies in your stomach. It has been a challenging week because......well.....I miss having a classroom......I miss singing "My Country Tis of Thee." I miss the hugs each morning. I miss reading stories to my boys and girls. I miss telling my students they are the smartest kids in the world. However, even though I am doing a great deal of missing, I am also gaining a great deal, too. I love hearing Mrs. Massey read stories. Mr. Lemons has been a big help to me setting up my computer to talk to other coaches. Ms. Marshall has helped me with questions about interventions. Mr. Hayes and Mr. Harris have answered lots of my questions about my new job. Mrs. Frances makes sure I have a snack each day. I even got to each lunch with Coach Neal one day. My new neighbors have welcomed me with open arms. I get to go into classrooms and learn, learn, learn from every teacher at Gilbert. I also get to be apart of each grade level every Thursday during Huddles. You could say I am one very blessed teacher. I will end this week's post on this note. When I became academic coach, one of my sons said, "Well mom, I guess you are not a teacher anymore." The comment caught me off guard and made me quite sad. After I thought about it a minute, I replied, "No son, a teacher is someone I will forever and always be."

Looking Back & Getting Started

I hope everyone had a fabulous summer. I know I did. It was incredible. I went on a mission trip to Honduras with some friends from my church. I had a wonderful time and made many new friends. The picture on my blog page is of myself and my new friend Shirley. She teaches 3rd grade, too. I was able to go into three schools on my trip. One of the highlights of the trip was when I met the little girl my family adopted. I will try to post a picture of precious Estephany. I hope that I can go back next summer. I would love to take my whole family. We have had a pretty productive summer. I tried to get Coach to do a few projects around the Neal house, and I managed to take Jake, Josh, and Jonah swimming at the F.O. Pool this summer. We are going on vacation during fall break......Nickelodeon Resort here we come! My whole family is looking forward to being slimed! The worst thing that happened this summer was when Jonah and I were attacked by a dog (that we know)! I am telling you that everything is a story around our house! The good news is that Jonah and I are okay. I also got the opportunity to start a new job as the academic coach at the best school in the whole wide world. I will definitely miss Mrs. Caissie. She has taught me so much during these last four years. I am so excited to get to work with each grade level. This might sound a little corny, but I feel that a little bit of me will get to be apart of everyone's grade level! If there is anything that I can do for you, please let me know. Please come by and visit me soon. I hope you have a great start to a wonderful year.