Veteran's Day Assembly

Veterans Day at RAE

When I originally came to RAE, I noticed how loving and caring the people were.  It was a vision of mine to build community between the children, staff and parents.  I became the Social Studies Representative at RAE and saw that Veterans Day was not being celebrated.  This bothered me as I have family that were enlisted in the Armed Forces and saw how our society does not appreciate the sacrifices they made as much as they used to.  This was the perfect way to building community, while teaching to honor, respect and celebrate the true heroes in America.  I asked the new principal at that time, Kristen Harper, if I could organize a Veterans Day celebration and the tradition was born. 

The first Veterans Day Celebration was held in November of 2009.  The Social Studies committee planned for each grade level to have a part in the celebration in order to give them ownership and feel as if they were personally involved.  This way we could teach about patriotism and honoring the people that sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  I wanted to make this real to the students and figured what better way than to have them bring in pictures of family members that served, or are serving in the Armed Forces.   Wall of Honor arrived and the pride in students’ faces as they saw their relatives’ pictures was priceless.  This year we had two actual former StingRAEs enlisted into the Armed Forces.  It then became tradition for me to scan all the pictures and create a video presentation of the Veterans that were special to RAE.

The committee also decided to have an actual celebration honoring some veterans and have the students sing the National Anthem and Grand Ole Flag.  Mrs. Nemec decided that the fourth grade students would learn both of the songs to sing at the assemblies.  After that year, The StingRAE Choir was created and the Veterans Day program became their first performance of the year.  They were spectacular.

The committee also decided to hold an Essay contest, but figured the 5^th grade students would be the best contestants as they also study American History, and understand the sacrifice more than the younger children.  The topics to choose from were, “What does freedom mean to me?  or What is a Veteran?” The essayists were chosen and then allowed to read their essays at the assembly.  Some of those essays brought tears to many people in the audience.

Each year our celebration has grown and changed and I feel so blessed to be able to see the faces of the Veterans as the children sing and celebrate them.  Some of the Veterans have been coming for the past eight years, and I feel as if they are now family.  One Veteran even delayed his vacation so that he could attend our celebration this year.  Now, that is community and family!

Each year I wanted the PTA to help in this celebration and we finally found a way to include this special group of parents.  PTA decorated for the actual reception that was held for the Veterans after each program.  What a beautiful sight!

I have seen an idea blossom into a full-fledged celebration that has become one of the favorite assemblies for many.  I thank my committee members for their hard work and dedication to a worthy cause that makes our heroes feel appreciated and honored.  I know that this tradition will be one that remains at RAE in the years to come.  Thank you RAE family for a wonderful Veterans Day Celebration!

11-16-2016
It was our first STEAM club meeting. I woke up with a headache.  I was rushing around, got to school at 7:15 and I see about 50 parents and K-2 students huddled around our side entrance.  I hear parents and kids already talking to each other about the first meeting.  I walk into class and I have a decision to make.  Do I go and help or do I skip it because I have a headache?  I decide to go and when I walked into the science lab I quickly remembered why I became a teacher.  I walked into the lab and saw 37, K-2, students full of energy and ready to learn at 7:30 A.M.  Mrs. Twiggs did a quick introduction of the teachers and she explained what would take place in the club. The kids were being great listeners.  The conversation that took place next blew my socks off.  A 4th grade student modeled a marshmellow launcher he made for a STEAM project.  He explained he could only use a few materials: cardboard tube, tape, marshmellow, scissors, balloon, etc. Then he started to talk about how he modified his marshmellow.  So we asked, "Why do you think he modified his marshmellow?"  There were K-2 kids talking about squeezing the marshmellow together so that the air leaves the marshmellow so it is more dense.  Then that led to the word volume and then that led to lighter objects flying farther than heavier objects.  This was all coming from K-2 students!  Parents and teachers, I challenge you to get your child here at 7:30 for our STEAM club.  These kids are going to have some awesome conversations!

REMSL

11-16-16

Each week I get the opportunity to participate in a great program through Rice University, REMSL. This program has given me access to so many hands-on, authentic science activities that I have happily brought back to my classroom. Through this course, I am able to better understand the TEKS and more confidently teach my students through the exploration of science. Hands on and dirty are the two major components to these labs and the kids love it!

The REMSL program is available to elementary school teachers, K-5, who would like to increase their knowledge in science curriculum. We actually complete the labs that the students would be doing in the classroom, so we can be well prepared before presenting it to our students. Another wonderful benefit is that you get to see the vertical alignment of the science curriculum throughout the entire elementary level. You collaborate with teachers from other grade levels and from different schools, and get a better insight to how the TEKS are built upon each year. It helps to create more thoughtful planning as well as help to lessen the gaps that may occur between grade levels.

My favorite part of the program is that we are shown and able to explore labs that can be implemented into the curriculum. The labs are planned and designed around the materials that a teacher has access to, and the labs can fit within the time constraints that we face every day. The guiding questions in the labs allow for the students’ natural curiosity to flourish and they become the teachers while I become a facilitator. I have seen such a growth in my own personal teaching of science as well as a growth in the students’ understanding of the science concepts. I would recommend this program to any teacher who is willing to grow professionally, wants to gain loads of resources, and have fun! This is definitely not a sit and watch a slide show professional development. J   

4th Grade's Trip to the OLC

10-26-16 and 10-27-16, 4th grade had a great time at the Outdoor Learning Center learning about Science and Social Studies.  The OLC was established in 1981 and is ran by Katy ISD.  It is nestled between Katy High School and I-10 on 34.5 acres of land.  Most of the land is still wooded.  The OLC has a Science classroom full of native animals: insects, spiders, snakes, etc.  There is a caretaker’s cottage, a Texas History classroom, and a barnyard full of farm animals and a small pond.  There are also trails that have native plants and trees marked along the way.  The OLC is great for our kids because it gives them many hands-on learning opportunities.  

Today on our trip, we were introduced to Tex, a cornsnake.  Mr. Grubb got to hold the snake.  The students were able to touch the snake and feel the scales on his back.  Tex was a trooper to put up with all of those kids and Mr. Grubb. “The snake was the best part of the trip,” said Gage, 4th grader from Mrs. Elofson’s class.  

Students were able to pump water and see what it was like to really have to work the land.  Here 4th grader from Mrs. Eubank's class, Ryan Elofson, had to put all his weight onto the handle to get just a trickle of water.  “Wow, I am glad I don’t have to do that every day,” said Ryan.

Throughout the year, the OLC will have multiple festivals.  Please check out their website for more information: http://www.katyisd.org/dept/olc/Pages/default.aspx. 

Our Primal Instinct

Our Primal Instinct

Looking at the lifestyle of our Paleolithic ancestors we learned that in order for them to survive they relied on movement and exploration. Fast forward to the 21st century and this still holds true. While we aren't running from tigers and have a steady food source, we still need to move (exercise) and explore (learn) in order to propel the human race forward.  

What does this have to do with teaching, math, and elementary school??......

If you have ever seen me walking down the hallway with my 1st graders, you would see them swinging their arms, bouncing and skipping down the hallway. This is their natural movement patterns, they crave to move!

Last year, we did a field study with a first grade classroom in which students were allowed a 10 minute break in the morning to go outside and play. The kids were expected to come back in the classroom after the 10 minutes and get back to work. The results were an increase in the overall classroom’s ability to stay on task. In addition, individual kids were able to stay on task for a longer duration. This study supports the need for movement.

Our school supports this idea of movement in our daily activities. From extra breaks for kids, flexible seating, workstations, and Friday chants that might bring down the portables one day. I am so fortunate to work at this amazing school!

Set the Stage to Engage!- A Way of Life in 2nd Grade!

10-27-16  Set the Stage to Engage!- A Way of Life in 2nd Grade!

To us, #setthestagetoengage is not just a hashtag.  It’s a way of life.  In 2nd grade, we believe in getting kids motivated, up and moving, and developing a love of learning.  So far this year, we’ve done two major events that our kids have LOVED!

Writing Boot Camp:

We held our 1st Annual Writing Boot Camp on September 9th.  For this fun day, we had our kids dress in camo, but we didn’t tell them why.  Along came General Capital Letters, General Spaces, General Punctuation, and General Makes Sense.  

We set up an obstacle course, and once completed, students had to work together to build a 5 Star Sentence!  Capital letters, spaces, punctuation, makes sense, NEATNESS COUNTS!    We had so much fun!

Sight Word Workout:

We held our 1st Sight Word Workout on Oct. 10th.  The kids came to school dressed in work out clothes, and we had our own Olympics in the classroom.  The students read our sight words, did excercises, and had fun learning!

#setthestagetoengage is a way of life for us, and it’s one we plan to continue!

What is Read Deed Run Doing?

10-27-16  Do you love to do nice things for other people?  Do you love to read?  Do you love to run?  If you do, check out our awesome Read, Deed, Run kids.  The students of RDR have been working hard to do great things in the community, develop their love of reading, and build their running endurance.  This week at RDR we have been given the opportunity to be apart of a new program, Teddy Cop.  Our very own Officer Santiago has brought 80 bears to school for the RDR students to dress in police uniforms.  These bears will be taken to special education classes to teach students about safety and help build a positive relationship with police officers.  We are so lucky to be involved in such a great program.  

This week students were sporting capes as they ran, and some spiffy teachers too!  Our kids truly are SUPER HEROES, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to show it off.  Check out our SUPER HEROES on Twitter (#RaeRDR, #superkidsdoingsuperthings)!

We will be meeting in November to celebrate our U.S. Veterans, learn about animal shelters, and prepare Thanksgiving baskets.  

RAE's New Coding Club!!

Have you ever wanted to learn something new?  Maybe you heard about a cool new game from a friend, or a hot new nail trend found its way to your favorite Pinterest board.  For me that “thing” is computer coding.  I don’t remember it being an option in school for elementary students, let alone female elementary students (or junior high, or high school for that matter!), but when I found it a few years ago it sparked a new found interest that reignited my passion for learning. 

I started off small – www.code.org – very user friendly, already laid out for you, and immediate results.  How fun!  I thought my students would LOVE this, so I made some generic user accounts and let them go for it during rotations.  I had several students take their information home and continue the courses over the year and eventually they had made some really neat things. 

The next year I made it my mission to have the whole school participate in the hour of code in early December.  My homeroom even Skype-ed with A REAL MICROSOFT PROGRAMER!  It was fascinating to see my students respond so eagerly to something that I had only learned about a few years prior. 

We continued to implement different coding based activities as a 3^rd grade team the following year, which was made even more engaging with different apps, lots of team work, and even some new STEAM activities that required the kids to know how coding worked. 

This year though – oh man.  This year is THE year.  This year we started our first code club at RAE!  It has been a dream of mine for the last SEVERAL years – and now here we are!  Because it is the first time we’ve tried this I went with a club that google created.  This first 5 week session the students are focusing on story telling through code using www.cs-first.com (to learn about coding, what to code, and the gist of how to code what the daily project is), and www.scratch.com to create story telling masterpieces! 

I’ve given you all this background information because one split second of the code club will forever stay in my heart.  The kids were hard at work coding their sprites to move about the screen and jump between backdrops.  They were laughing, joking, and trying to decide how to get the best story for our end of club showcase.  I looked over at one of the students who normally watches the video once and goes on to create, and they looked stumped – how was this going to work?  They didn’t have the video from the previous lesson, and this particular activity relied on the knowledge from it.  I started to walk over to help, and had to stop.  Another student who is one that can be quite reserved during our afternoons had jumped out of their seat and sprung into helper mode.  She was the guru.  She knew exactly what prompts to select to make it work.  She was helping her friend, and together they made it work.  I just watched with a smile.  My normally quiet little girl empowered by her knowledge was something that I love to see as a mom and as teacher. 

That is what it is all about.  Teaching everyone that they can do it, and all you have to do is try.  Even coding at 8 or 30 J

Kindergarten is BUSY!!!!

October 15, 2016

Apples, scarecrows, spiders oh my!   Fall is in the air with the enticing aroma of warm applesauce wafting through the halls of RAE.  Where is it coming from?    Kindergarten of course!   We have studied our five senses and are using a multi-sensory approach to build our schema about fall.  We began introducing the concept of schema (i.e., what you already know) by creating a yarn web right in the center of our circle time with the children anchoring the web points with various fall pictures.   We learned that we can increase our schema by reading books, having conversations with others and being involved in new experiences.   These web like connections in their brains are improved when the children have conversations and experiences during station time where the children can sharpen their academic and social skills while having fun! 

 Kindergarten also had a lot of fun during our recent fall festival!  We counted with spider rings, made pumpkin shapes using pattern blocks, played pumpkin bingo with letters and sounds, did spider spelling word puzzles, took scarecrow pictures, and made a spooky snack to highlight a few activities.    Parent volunteers came to help us out and a good time was had by all.

  I recently attended a workshop at Rice University on the importance of play.    It was refreshing to have scientific research to confirm what RAE kinder teachers already hold as a precious part of early childhood education.   Play promotes flexible thinking, social skills, higher cognitive function, vocabulary, and enhances executive function.   Future employers are not only looking for employees with academic abilities, but the ability to have flexible thinking and to get along with others.   We are preparing them for their future when we allow them to play.  

By the way, there was a sighting of Debby Johnson and Jennifer Perez rolling pumpkins down the hall last Friday, delivering the goods for our next kindergarten adventure!   Thank you ladies!  

1st grade and the Human Body!

First Graders at RAE just finished an awesome Health & Body Structures unit of study in Science.  The students learned about the brain, heart, lungs, and stomach.  This unit is always fun and interesting for the students, but this year it was even better.  Mrs. Nguyen and Mrs. Buller went to some professional development sessions over the summer and brought back some new and exciting ideas to RAE.  One was a paper bag vest project for the Health & Body Structures Unit.  Students brought in paper bag vests made at home.  In class, they used paper towel rolls with a baggies at the end (trachea/diaphragm), baggies with straws (lungs), and a pink paper heart to create a model of the respiratory system.  They were so engaged while creating the model and so excited to put it on later in the day when all the glue was dry.  It was a very memorable learning experience for all!

I had just attended WGEDD, What Great Educators Do Differently, and EVERYONE was talking about blogging: Jimmy Casas, Mark McCord, Todd Nesloney, Sanee Bell, etc.  I mean these are some famous people in the world of education and PLN’s.  I had heard about blogging and how important it was to reflect and share about our practices, but I had always thought…….I reflect enough.  Why do I need to do this?  This is just one more thing!!  Then, I started reading my summer professional development books:  Kids Deserve It and Hacking Leadership AND they are talking about the importance of blogging.  So, I took that as MY SIGN to start blogging.  I actually took that as my sign to start a campus blog.  I wanted to start a campus blog because RAE has such a great depth of teacher excellence and I felt it would spur on great conversations.  I was hoping to inspire more teachers to grow professionally and reflect about the outstanding teaching and learning that is taking place at RAE.

After a few meetings with our CTD, Ellen, to help me design the blog and our campus administration team to discuss the reasoning for the blog, I finally feel like we are ready to launch our first blog at RAE.  So……….

Dear Teachers and Staff,

I don’t want this to be just one more thing to do.  I want this blog to genuinely reflect the outstanding teaching practices at RAE.  I want you to brag to the world about the awesomeness that is coming from RAE.  I want the community to hear about how we are changing the world one student at a time.  I want the community to know when the lightbulb went off for a student and now they understand a concept.  I want the community to know how we nurture relationships, how we challenge each other to become better for the sake of our students, and I want the community to know how we set goals in order to achieve great things here at RAE.  So, who is going to join me?  I know there are a few of you reading this wanting to step out on a limb and grow professionally.  If you are wondering what blogs look like check out these bloggers: Teachers College, Jimmy Casas (WGEDD), Mark McCord (KISD), Sanee Bell (KISD), Graham Fletcher (3 Act Math), Adam Welcome (Kids Deserve It), Brene Brown (Literacy Guru), Angela Maiers ( Spark/Genius Hour), Dr. Tony Sinanis (Hacking Leadership), Meeno Rami (Thrive), Coaches Corner (KISD) and NCTM just to name a few!  Let the BLOGGING begin!!

Tommy