Author: Mrs. Ellis

Principal at Dunlap Grade School

Setting Reading Resolutions: Celebrating Readers!

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We are ringing in another New Year! Throughout 2016 I enjoyed reading so many amazing books. As a school, we established a Little Free Library, Free Will Bookshelves, and added over 100 new titles to our library. It is clear when you walk through DGS and see teachers sharing what they’re reading on posters outside their doors, shelves of books in the hallways, and even a bathtub full of books, that literacy is important to our school. Not only is creating a culture of readers a school goal, but it is a deeply rooted value and belief of the staff. More than reading achievement, my goal is and always has been creating learners that LOVE to read. That love of reading with spark lifelong learning and reading enjoyment!

So, as I have done in the past, I set my own reading resolutions to model reading for my staff and students. In the past, I have set goals to read a professional book a month and blog about it, read a particular series or author, or maintain a good reads account. That has all become standard for me, so my reading resolution this year is to promote reading in fun and unique ways with my students and staff. I am starting by having them set their own reading resolutions and I am harnessing the power of social media to do just that.

On our school facebook page, I posted the graphic below (Created in Canva). I am encouraging parents and families to set reading goals with their students! Readers grow on the laps of their parents! As an added incentive, I am gifting a free book and certificate to any student that establishes their own reading resolution! Let’s get out their and ring in the new year with books!

 

Ditch that Textbook Book Study Review

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I read “Ditch that Textbook” by Matt Miller early in 2016. It was among several of the “Dave Burgess Consulting” titles that I had on my nightstand. It only took me a short time to finish the book, mark up the pages with post-its and notes and knew I had to share this book with my staff.

With our professional learning days accounted for and the end of the year approaching, I decided to launch a twitter based summer book study that teachers participated in on a voluntary basis. I sent out an email and was floored that the majority of my staff wanted in! We extended the invite to several other teachers and before we knew it we had our staff collaborating with teachers across the country on the topic of revolutionizing their classrooms!

The first week was simply introductions. Teachers shared their position and a selfie of themselves with the book. It was an easy way to get acquainted with the hashtag, meet the educators participating, and dip our toes into the twitter book study waters. The teachers below are just some of those that participated!

The remaining weeks of the book study focused on each chapter of the book. There were opportunities for goal setting, resource sharing, and celebration of success. Teachers shared their favorite educational book titles, hashtags, digital resources, and more. Staff set goals for integrating technology in meaningful ways in the fall. Mystery Skype Sessions, Twitter Chats with authors, Hyperdocs and digital badges were all shared as goals for teachers. It was uplifting to see many ‘likes’ and “retweets” of their posts as others validated their tweets and learned from their posts!

I embedded some digital badges in the study to recognize those that participated as well. A the conclusion of the study, they were awarded a participation certificate (linked below).

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It was empowering to see how many educators sought to be connected and learn through the summer months. In Matt’s book he indicates the importance of being connected for so many positive reasons: inspiration, motivation, challenge, camaraderie, apps, humor, and collaboration (pages 97-98). Each of those elements was evident during the book study. As teachers used their time on vacation to learn and grow, they were filling their teacher tool belts and making their classrooms better places to teach and learn!

Tools to Spice Up your School Social Media Posts

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Social Media analytic results would suggest that posts that are graphically appealing lead to more engagement, shares, and follows. I’ve compiled a simple list of my favorite tools that are easy to use to create graphics to tell your school’s story in an easy and effective way!

Canva 

Canva is a graphic design suite that allows users to create and customize images for use on blogs, twitter, facebook, and more. I’ve used it to create custom fliers and social media posts to announce early release days, upcoming events, or special news! Images have always gotten more views and social media engagement on our school page, so I make the effort to ensure the posts are visually appealing and easy  Canva allows you to save your images. There are many free backgrounds and layouts as well as a library of paid content, but I’ve not had to use that. The graphics below were created in Canva.

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Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is similar to Canva in the functionalities and provides another platform for one to explore. I’ve used it to highlight my favorite hashtags, upcoming events at school, and event our school facebook page header. It’s easy to manipulate and create custom images using stock graphics or your own images.

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Word Swag

A text editing tool, word swag allows you to take any text and make it into a visual display complete with backgrounds and stock templates. Available on Apple and Google Play, I use this mostly for curating text into graphic images and sharing them out. Some ideas may include posting a favorite educational quote, a unique quote by a student, or for summarizing a short thought in a graphic image. Use word swag to capture what students and teachers say and share them out on a school facebook or instagram page! Take your favorite quote from an author or colleague and create an image with those words to post!

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Instaquote

Instaquote is similar to Word Swag and allows you to put text into a form, select background and layout, and generate graphic images to post on your social media pages to tell your schools’ story.

HyperLapse

Hyperlapse is limited to Apple products, but is a fun resource to create quick videos in a time lapsed format. HyperLapse allows you to take video of any activity and speed it up. Imagine what you can when you video a classroom activity from start to finish, a PE lesson, or an art project. The possibilities are endless. I posted a HyperLapse that included a tour of our entire school in under 1 minute. You can check that out HERE

I also used HyperLapse to showcase our school-wide writing project on Instagram HERE

Boomerang

Boomerang takes a short 3 second video and loops it continuously. I learned about it when my 2nd grade teacher shot a video of the custodian and me installing some nature timber outside her classroom. It brought a smile to my face and was funny to watch. You can view that HERE. I’ve since used Boomerang to highlight students celebrating an accomplishment, PE activities, and meeting behavior goals.

Each of these elements can be posted to facebook, twitter, instagram, Pinterest and More! I challenge you to find a tool and share your school’s story! Feel free to share what you create! I’d love to see them!

Professional Learning in a Ball Pit

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Inspired by the video created by Soul Pancake, I wanted to translate the effects of the experience in the ball pit to the staff in my building. In the video, two strangers sit and discuss question prompts written on various balls. Through the experience they come to common group, develop relationships, and communicate on a deeper level. Plus, sitting in a ball pit is fun, unique and out of the norm for most adults!

 

So, with a baby pool and plastic balls already in our storage room from our school carnival, I set to replicate the experience as an ice breaker to our staff meeting. The ball pit wasn’t as big as the one from my inspiration and the staff weren’t strangers to each other, but we did learn a lot about each other!

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  • What’s your proudest moment as a teacher?
  • Why did you become a teacher?
  • How do you de-stress after a challenging day?
  • What are you most passionate about?
  • What content area, skill, or concept do you enjoy teaching the most?
  • What is your favorite technology tool to use in the classroom?
  • How do you connect your students to others outside the walls of your classroom?
  • If money were no object, what would you want to add to your classroom to improve student learning and engagement?
  • What’s your favorite read aloud?
  • What website do you visit most frequently?
  • Use only one word to describe your classroom.
  • What is one thing you would wan the public to know about teaching?

Some questions were also just plain silly to bring some laughter and levity to our experience:

  • Would you rather be hairy or bald?
  • What would you name your yacht if you had one?
  • What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
  • What would the title of the book based on your life be?
  • If your personality was an animal, what would it be?

 

The ball pit ice breaker was a perfect introduction to our staff meeting. With a little humor and fun, we learned about the teaching practices and lives of our staff.

#IETC2016 Conference Review

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I attended the Illinois Education and Technology Conference in Springfield, Illinois on November 17 and 18 as part of our district’s 1:1 initiative. With the expectation to learn about practical and meaningful ways to incorporate technology across learning environments, I was not disappointed. I only wish I could have personally attended more sessions! The storify below includes twitter resources that were shared throughout the conference!

Parent Lunch and Learn: Sailing the Seas of Literacy

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literacy-lunch-and-learnDunlap Grade School hosted its first “Lunch in Learn” of the series on November 16, 2016. The topic of the month was focused on literacy and fostering a love of reading at home. 2nd Grade Teacher, Mrs. Pitzer, facilitated a parent discussion on essentials of reading, ideas, and resources. This event was intended to engage parents in a learning opportunity to extend teaching practices in the home. In addition to the resources shared, parents were given copies of several books to support reading at home! You can view the Facebook LIVE Video HERE

We will continue the Lunch and Learn series in December with the topic of “Educational Gift Giving” on December 14th at 11am.

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DGS Royal Playscape and Science Learning Center

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After being inspired by the beautiful Outdoor Nature Explore Classroom at Northminster Learning Center, I wanted to bring elements of a nature based play area at Dunlap Grade School. We’ve started phase one of our project by adding the Royal River Bed Playscape. This area allows students to jump, crawl, and hop from stump to stump through a stream of wooden stumps. The project started out with a donation of time from our wonderful Village Maintenance staff and included a weekend of work time by myself and my evening custodian.

 

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Additions to the playscape include three nature explore tables that will allow students to create, investigate and observe materials in their natural world.

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The fifth graders also built and are using a microinverebrate manor to observe the world of insects and plant life around them. They carefully monitor the variables that sustain life and make scientific hypotheses about the impact the environment has on the species in the manor. This is correlated to the Next Generation Science Standards and provides meaningful opportunities for observation, investigation, and writing.

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Our third graders wrote a grant and planted a beautiful native plant butterfly garden. Our 2nd grade classes use it annually to release their butterflies. It is a gorgeous addition to the play scape that continually changes throughout the season.

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Tires were placed around a mature tree in the play scape. Seemingly unimportant at first glance, they serve as “Little World” play areas for our younger students. Our children that prefer quiet or independent play activities can use the materials in the tires to immerse themselves in imaginative play. Each tire is filled with different materials and supplies for children to play with: trucks, dinosaurs, insects, shells, and people.

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Finally, we installed a Free Little Library in the front of the school this summer. We are adding a second library to the rear of the building to provide students the opportunity to read during their independent play time. Benches and seating areas are embedded around the area for students to access.

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These materials do not replace the typical playground equipment that our students also have access to, rather they supplement it and provide students additional outlets for play and exploration.

3 Steps to Thankfulness: A Principal’s Gratitude Challenge

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Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Between the beautiful colors in the season and sense of gratitude at the forefront of the holiday, it’s hard not to show your appreciation! I find it important to be deliberate and strategic in offering my support and gratitude. I also find it important to demonstrate my thankfulness to not only my staff, but my students and families as well. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, parent or student, I urge you to reach out this Thanksgiving holiday and show your gratitude with simple gestures.

My personal gratitude challenge is three-fold:

  1. I made it a personal goal to write a note to each of my students; 254 in all, with specific notes of encouragement and gratitude for the simple ways they bring joy. This simple act, although time consuming, ensures that I am seeking to celebrate the positive attributes and successes of my students. It ensures, that despite any challenges, I recognize that all students have unique qualities that make them special and worthy of my appreciation and support.

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2. Staff need to hear they’re appreciated and their hard work is validated. Who doesn’t like to get a handwritten note showcasing their talents and recognizing their skills. Along with notes for each of my students, I am working to ensure each staff member gets a handwritten note that honors them and their work with our students. I’ve already seen an impact of this as teachers proudly hang their notes in their classrooms or add them to their social media accounts.

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3. Finally, the day before Thanksgiving Break, I have made it a tradition to do a “Donut Drop” at morning drop off. With donations from a local bakery or grocery store, I personally greet each car at drop off with a donut and sweet note thanking them for their support of their students, my staff, and our school. It’s amazing how a simple gesture brings joy to the families and promotes a positive school culture. Not only does the breakfast treat start their day off on a positive note, but the personal interactions and greetings build rapport and relationships with the parents and families of your students.

 

A staff member of mine initiated a school-wide gratitude challenge as well. Thankfulness is contagious!

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I’ve included copies of the forms below and welcome you to use them or edit them to suit your needs. Be mindful that a simple gesture goes a long way and it doesn’t need to be elaborate. The time the you invest in demonstrating your gratitude will support your attempts to promote and develop a positive school culture.

 

 

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