What is Flexible Seating?

We, in 2^nd grade, love flexible seating! Our kids enjoy having the freedom to choose where they work best.  We have seen a big change in student behavior and productivity since implementing flexible seating in our classrooms.  Have students that need to move? No problem! Stick them on a yoga ball, wobble disk/chair, and watch those wiggles help them learn! While some students still choose a traditional seat option, most students prefer alternative seating.  The students have to cooperate and work out among themselves where to sit each day and to see the conversations and negotiations taking place is awesome! Students take on the responsibility for choosing where they learn best and who they sit next to, which places the accountability on the child to make a great choice.  Kids figure out very quickly their own learning style and how to choose for an academic setting versus sitting near a friend.  It is awesome to see children being empowered!

When asked what their favorite thing is about flexible seating, here is what some 2^nd graders had to say:

“I like getting to pick where I learn best every day.” –Rakkan in Mrs. Palmer’s class

“It allows me to spread out to a different space in the classroom to do my work.” – Rory from Ms. Macha’s class

“It’s just cool because it helps us relax.” – Kannon and Nick from Ms. Bastian’s class

“I like that I am able to choose any seat and there are many different types of seating. We’re not only limited to the chairs.” – Virginia

My personal favorite:

“Why would anyone want to sit in a boring, hard chair all day?!” – Anika in Mrs. Palmer’s class

We are thankful to have the support and opportunity to have flexible seating in our classrooms and we encourage you to try it out for yourself! There are many different options and styles, so feel free to come take a look in our rooms. Be FLEXIBLE! J

11 Thoughts About Teamwork by Jon Gordon

11 THOUGHTS ABOUT TEAMWORK 1. Teams rise and fall on culture, leadership, relationships, attitude and effort. Great teams have a great culture driven by great leadership. Relationships are meaningful and teammates are connected. The collective attitude is very positive and everyone on the team works hard to accomplish their mission. 2. It’s all about teamwork. Sometimes you are the star and sometimes you help the star. 3. If want to be truly great you have to work as hard to be a great teammate as you do to be a great player. I tell this to athletes all the time but the same is true for any profession. When we work hard to be a great team member we make everyone around us better. 4. Your team doesn’t care if you are a superstar. They care if you are a super team member. 5. Three things you control every day are your attitude, your effort and your actions to be a great teammate. It doesn’t matter what is happening around you and who you think is being unfair. Every day you can focus on being positive, working hard and making others around you better. If you do that great things will happen. 6. One person can’t make a team but one person can break a team. Stay positive! Make sure you don’t let energy vampires sabotage your team. Post a sign that says “No Energy Vampires” allowed and keep them off the bus. Most importantly, decide to stay positive. 7. Great team members hold each other accountable to the high standards and excellence their culture expects and demands. 8. Team beats talent when talent isn’t a team. 9. Great teams care more. They care more about their effort, their work and their team members. 10. We > me Unity is the difference between a great team and an average team. United teams are connected and committed to each other. They are selfless instead of selfish. They put the team first and know together we accomplish more. 11. You and your team face a fork in the road each day. You can settle for average and choose the path of mediocrity or you can take the road less traveled and chase greatness. It’s a choice you make each day. Which path will your team take? - Jon

1st grade HOS

This month our first graders are immersed in studying all sorts of life cycles. Insects, chickens, and especially plants! Thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers, all of our first graders were able to participate in a hands on lab experience that let them explore seeds and how they grow!

We started with a seed sort. Each child was to examine a variety of seeds including lima beans, corn, sunflower seeds, and black eyed peas. We made observations about our seeds and compared and contrasted the similarities and differences that we noticed.  We even got to weigh our seeds using a bucket balance!

Next, we took a trip outside. We talked about what plants need to grow. Some of the needs we came up with included soil, water, sunlight and love. Since our school garden is undergoing some construction, we improvised! Our parent volunteers helped each of us to plant our very own lima bean seed. We were given the opportunity to scoop dirt into our own planter. Parents helped us to make a perfect hole for our seeds using our finger. Then we each choose a lima bean that had been soaking in some water. With a little bit of love we covered our seeds and spritzed them with water! We even brought our new plants back to our classrooms where we will continue to observe them as they grow!

When asked what their favorite part of Hands on Science-Plant Edition was, Jenna from Ms. Howard’s class replied “I had so much fun comparing the weight of the seeds using the balance, that was cool!” Aryan in Mrs. Nguyen’s class said “I had fun planting our seed in our own dirt. I can’t wait to see it grow up, up, up!”

We are thankful to have wonderful volunteers that make experiences like Hands on Science possible for our students. This experience definitely sparked some wonder and excitement about plants in these first grade botanists!

What Can I Do to Help My Child in Reading?

What Can I Do to Help My Child in Reading?

        In my 20+ years of teaching, I have heard this question from parents many times.  Every time I hear it no matter what the child’s age, I give parents the same answer, “Read to your child.” Every time I say it, parents look shocked and ask me, “Don’t they need to read to me to improve in reading?”  Of course children need to read to become better at reading, but first they need to want to read.  While it has many other benefits, reading aloud helps to build a love of reading. 

        “The single most important activity for building knowledge of their eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children,” stated the Commission on Reading in a 1985 report (Becoming a Nation of Readers).  Jim Trelease, the author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, names two aspects of learning to read.  One aspect he calls the “how-to” and the other the “want to.”  He states that, “Without the ‘want-to,’ all the ‘how-to’ drill work is not going to create a lifetime reader. Your reading aloud is what builds the child’s ‘want-to.’”

        There is much research on the topic of reading aloud to children.  What it all boils down to is this:  Reading aloud improves a child’s future success in reading.  How does it help? In so many ways:

• ·        It is time for one on one attention and bonding. 
• ·        It exposes children to books that are above their reading ability.  This is huge for struggling readers who feel left out from what their peers are reading. 
• ·        It introduces children to good literature, a new author, a different genre or topic.
• ·        It builds a child’s knowledge about subjects which he/she is not familiar. 
• ·        It develops comprehension skills.  Stopping to share your thinking and discuss what you are reading models what happens inside of a reader’s head and helps students begin to form their own ideas.
• ·        It also increases a child’s speaking, listening and reading vocabulary as children hear and discuss words that may be unfamiliar to the child.
• ·        It makes you a role model for reading.  It shows students what reading should sound like, how we think about our reading and why we read.

·        Finally, it helps students build a love of reading.  Many of us can recount stories from childhood where an adult read something to us that sparked an interest and encouraged more reading.  Reading aloud to children, gives them a similar story to tell. 

        So, next time you wonder, how can I help my child in reading?  You have your answer, read to them.  The benefits are well worth your time.  

                                                                      Sincerely,

                                                                               Mrs. Davies

Top 10 Team Building Ideas by Jon Gordon

Top 10 Team Building Ideas In a world where we're more virtually connected than ever it seems that our teams are more disconnected than ever. For example, in my work with sports teams I have found that far too many don't make the time to invest in relationships and team building. They work on their conditioning, skills and plays but too often fail to develop the chemistry and relationships that truly build winning teams. United, high performing teams don't happen by accident. They are built and developed through great communication, shared experiences, positive interactions, common challenges, and vulnerable story telling that connect people at a deeper level. For these reasons I'm convinced you and your team must make time for team building to foster communication, connection and commitment. Talent and practice can make you a good team. But you must come together if you want to be great. This applies to businesses, schools, hospitals and non-profits as well. In this spirit here are 10 team building ideas. (I'm a proponent of a weekly team building session but you can find what rhythm works best for you. For example, the Pittsburgh Pirates do a team building session before each new series.) 1. If You Really Knew Me. If you really knew me you would know this about me_________. I recently took a leadership team through this exercise and at first they shared very shallow comments like "you would know that I'm very generous and wonderful." But after challenging them to go deeper and sharing something vulnerable about myself they started sharing meaningful stories and feelings that connected the team in a deep and powerful way. Thanks to author Mike Robbins for the idea. 2. Share a Defining Moment - When a leader and each team member share a defining moment in their life you learn things you never knew before. Immediately you know your team members a whole lot better and feel more connected to them. I like to have each person in the room simply stand up and share a defining moment in their life. It’s amazing how simple and powerful this exercise is. 3. The Safe Seat - I recently wrote about how Dabo Swinney, the head coach of the Clemson University Football team, put a "safe seat" in the middle of the team meeting room and had each team member sit on the seat and answer questions about his life. It's called a safe seat because what is shared in the room stays in the room. This makes it safe for each person to be vulnerable and transparent. You can read the full story here. 4. Hero, Highlight, Hardship - I learned this one from Cori Close, the UCLA women's basketball coach, who told me this idea when I spoke to her team a few weeks ago. With this exercise each person talks about one of their heroes and why they are their hero. Then they share a positive highlight as well as a hardship from their past. 5. The Hard Hat - As a team, discuss and identify the characteristics of a great team member. What does it mean to be a great team member? Write all the characteristics on the board/wall. Have each person choose the one that resonates most with them. Visit HardHat21.com for 21 ways to be a great teammate. 6. Get on the Bus Together - A lot of leaders have their teams read The Energy Bus to create unity and a common dialogue but Rhonda Revelle, the University of Nebraska Softball coach, took it one step further. She paired up her team and had each pair present to the rest of the team 1 of the 10 rules of The Energy Bus in a fun and creative way. Some made a video, others sang a song, some gave a speech, some made a painting, etc.. Rhonda told me the team took on a whole new life and energy after these teammates brought the rules to life for each other. She said this energy propelled them to the College World Series that year. 7. One Word - Have each team member choose one word that will help drive them to be their best and bring out the best in others. You may choose a word such as: connect, commit, serve, give, help, care, love, tough, relentless, excellence, selfless, and so on. Each person should choose a word that is the right fit for them. Once you choose your words you can make a team poster, sign or image that features all the words of the team. Visit Getoneword.com for more ideas. 8. Fuel up the Tanks - The Brown University Women's Lacrosse team gave each player a manila envelope with a picture of a bus and their name on it. The envelopes represented their energy bus tanks and were placed on a table in the locker-room. Players were also given index cards where they could write something positive about a teammate and place the card (positive fuel) in their teammates manila envelope (energy bus tank). After practices and games players were encouraged to write positive comments and fill their teammate's energy bus tanks with positive energy. The exercise created more positive interactions and generated appreciation and encouragement that fueled the team throughout the year. 9. Leave a Legacy - Have each team member create and share a legacy statement that includes the kind of impact they want to have on their team. How do you want to be remembered? What do you want others to say about you year later? Knowing how you want to be remembered helps you decide how to live today. 10. 20 Questions - Make up a list of 20 questions. During each team building session pair up with a different team member and ask/answer the questions about each other. This will help you get to know your team members and become more connected. It's a great exercise for sports teams to do when they are on the bus or plane. What are some of your favorite team building exercises? I would love to hear them. Post your comments on Facebook here or send me a Tweet. - Jon

Building a Great Culture- by Jon Gordon

14 Thoughts About Building A Great Culture 1. Great leaders build and drive great cultures. They know it's their number one priority. They can't delegate it. They must lead and be engaged in the process. 2. Culture is the reason why great organizations have sustained success. Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drive behavior. Behavior drives habits. Habits create the future. 3. Culture beats strategy. Strategy is important but it is your culture that will determine whether your strategy is successful. 4. If you focus on the fruit of the tree (outcomes and numbers) and ignore the root (culture) your tree will die. But if you focus on and nourish the root you always have a great supply of fruit. 5. When building a team and organization you must shape your culture before it shapes you. A culture is forming whether you like it or not. The key is to identify what you want your culture and organization to stand for. Once you know the values and principles that you stand for, every decision is easy to make; including the people you recruit and hire. 6. A culture of greatness doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when a leader expects greatness and each person in the organization builds it, lives it, values it, reinforces it and fights for it. 7. Culture is dynamic, not static. Everyone in your organization creates your culture by what they think, say and do each day. Culture is lead from the top down but it comes to life from the bottom up. 8. Your culture is not just your tradition. It is the people in your building who carry it on. –Brad Stevens, Head Coach, Boston Celtics 9. When leading a new team or organization, it will take longer to build a new culture if you allow negative people from the previous culture to contaminate the process. 10. When you build a strong, positive culture most of the energy vampires will leave by themselves because they don’t fit in. But you may also have to let a few energy vampires off the bus. 11. Creating a culture where people are afraid to fail leads to failure. Allowing people to fail and learn from failure ultimately leads to success. 12. Change is a part of every culture and organization. Embracing change and innovating will ensure that your organization thrives. 13. Progress is important but when innovating and driving change make sure you honor your tradition, purpose and culture. This generates power from your past to create your future. 14. Culture is like a tree. It takes years to cultivate and grow and yet it can be chopped down in a minute. Protect your culture. Download This as a PDF Poster / Shareable Here. -Jon

**  I think we are constantly doing these things with  nurturing, challenging, and achieving.

Where in the World is Gingy?

Where in the World is Gingy? 

‘Twas the week before Sing-Along, and all through the school,

you could hear children cheering and not following hall rules.

To what do we owe such a joyous clatter?

Why, Gingy came back to see what was the matter.

More rapid than eagles he appeared in our rooms,

with tales of traveling around the world in a zoom.

He brought the kids treats and decided to stay.

Because there’s no better place in the world than at home with StingRAEs!