9-5-2014

What a great job everyone did on Wednesday night!  I got so many complements from parents on the staff of Benjamin I was overwhelmed.  Thanks for doing such a great job with the kids on a day to day basis.

Thanks to Barb and Michelle for working the book fair on Wednesday evening and also for the outstanding environment they have created with their middle school friendly mustache photos.  This is my favorite:

Eight alternative social media sites that you might want to consider:
http://dailygenius.com/eight-alternative-social-media-tools-consider/



The 5th graders have been practicing their artistry with their science and math, check out their cool projects:

53 ways to check for understanding:
http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopia-finley-53ways-check-for-understanding.pdf

These outstanding bio-poems are another example of the great creativity shown by our staff.  Great job Colleen and Lauren S:

Wednesday is an early release day for the district.  The tentative schedule is that we will have Todd and Nicole present some of our mandated training, then time will be given to finish up some of the other online trainings that Marcia had sent us via email.  Finally staff will be able to work on their canvas pages with tech support as need. I will send something formal out with a time schedule later today.

Wall Street Journal Article on how to spot a great teacher:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/four-ways-to-spot-a-great-teacher-1409848739?mod=e2tw


Thanks to all grade levels for making Star Testing a priority. Thanks to Jessica E who has been going through the scores to identify students who are in need of support.  At the same time she has been working through the offerings to put together a program for our higher end students with the program Edgenuity.

The PTA is offering each teacher $50 dollars towards student incentives if they join the PTA soon.  What a return on your $5 investment!  Don't forget to get your money to the social committee as well, they help with all of the staff celebrations throughout the year.

I was able to see John put the kids through the pacer test and Jen work with kids in the fitness room.  It was fun to see them inspire and motivate kids to have fun while working out!

Here is a quote from one of our students posted on Canvas to Mr Feffer:
This homework was very interesting and cool because you taught me a lot of new trinkets with the computer and I cant what for math tomorrow and thank you for being so nice I hope you keep on teaching for more years to come.
How awesome is that.  I am sure that many students are feeling the same way.  Thanks for pushing forward with meaningful technology use.

Watch this video on changing education:  It's worth the 11 minutes.

Mrs. Lamantia had a small army show up for choir today, what a wonderful opportunity she is providing to showcase some of our students special talents.  

The two most important days in life are the day you born and the day you discover the reason why.” – Mark Twain