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This blog was created as a communication tool for the Bradwell School of Excellence teachers and staff as we begin this journey to reclaim Bradwell! Join us as we share the joys, triumphs and challenges of building excellence together in an inner city school in Chicago. At Bradwell we NEVER blame the lettuce!
Never Blame the Lettuce!
We never blame the lettuce. If a lettuce fails to grow we look for the reasons it is not growing. We check to see if it needs more water, more sun, or more fertilizer. But we NEVER blame the lettuce!
Principal Kimberly Henderson
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- Kimberly Henderson
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- My name is Kimberly Henderson and I am the principal for Bradwell School of Excellence, a turnaround school for 2010-2011 in Chicago. I am excited to begin this journey of giving our students the world class education they deserve with a staff that has been handpicked to lead this challenge! Anyone can lead a school, I seek to transform the lives of our students who in turn will transform the lives of our staff forever!
I attended:
ReplyDeleteFor Picture Books for Middle school. The big take away was that you need to assess the book for the reading strategies that the book speaks to. From there you can design several mini-lessons around the text. I think the point was to turn folk on who didn't think you could use picture books for the older kids.
The handouts were the great thing. There are activities, thought stems and a book list.
For Emotional Regulation in the Classroom, it highlights strategies to keep kids calm and to defuse tense situations. The big take away is that you as the teacher must keep your cool first. Kids pick up on your tension and that's one way for things to escalate.
For the last session, Writing a Donor's Choose grant, we actually got one started. It only takes a few minutes to sign up at the site, www.donorschoose.org/ The site is user friendly and walks a newbie thru it. It is super easy. There is a handout as well that gives tips that will help you get funded quick. Big take away, be mindful when titling your grant. You want to be creative or "funky" as the presenter said to pique donor interest. For example, my grant is for 40 flash/jump drives so I titled my grant "Jumpin' Jack Flash!"
All in all I'm glad I attended the event. I learned alot.
I attended 3 sessions on Saturday, but the one titled "Using Literature Circles in the Primary Grades" was by far the one I took the most from. Here are my thoughts:
ReplyDelete*Using Literature Circles in the Primary Grades
There was an outstanding article about how to kick off a literature circle in one's classroom using parents and other school personnel. I liked it because it gave students a model. In addition, it pulled families into the learning and showed parents as partners. I am envisioning parent-literacy nights where we lead our parents through some of the exact activities that we do with the children so that they are aware of what we are doing daily, modeling for their own children what it means to be a student, and strenghthening parent/teacher relationships!
Like Tony I went to "Using Picture Books in Middle School" and "Writing a Donor's Choose Grant" and had similar takeaways. Both were great!
ReplyDeleteI also went to the session on Math Songs and Extended Response. This was amazing! Ms. Gilmore from Howe has developed a great way to teach kids math extended response and scaffold it over the course of the year. Her use of song was also inspiring. I would be happy to share the materials with anyone interested!
Me too, Linsey. I already agreed to scan and upload the handouts I have from my sessions for someone else, so I would be happy to pass them along to anyone interested.
ReplyDeleteI attended the differentiation meeting first. Big take away: If you set goals that are beyond students' reach, simply giving them more time is not supportive - it just prolongs their agony!
I learned some math tricks. I'm not sure I would use some of the chants I was taught, but I learned that taking the time to think up some sort of tune, chant, or even a rhythm can support and motivate students to succeed in math and add an element of fun to the day.
I saw a presentation on morning meetings. This was geared pretty directly at primary grades, which doesn't apply to me, but I took away a framework that I think will be useful - house cleaning, community building, skill building, wrap up.
It also got me thinking about my own plans. What will I do for morning meeting? I really want to get students reading news journals, online and in print, as a morning activity. It would be a 10 min classroom hunt through local and national newspapers, and two or three students searching online journals, for daily headlines and news, followed by a quick wrap up of what they found. I think it would be a great way to get them engaging their world and reading for authentic purposed on a daily basis. Suggestion?
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea! I might steal it for use during breakfast. I've really been brainstorming the most effective way to use the time during breakfast. I resist arbitrary do-now's in search of something more authentic and relevant. Reading newspapers/journals would be a great activity (especially since so many people in the world read the news while breakfasting!). Also, I've found that my students enjoy learning about the world/current events and we have the responsibility to educate our students about the world around them. I realize that this breakfast-method would not encompass online reading, but I think it would be great anyway. At the end of breakfast, students could share out what they learned/discussed. I'm excited just thinking about it :)
The symposium was an amazing opportunity. I learned a great deal of information that I look forward to incorporating this upcoming school year. The strategies for co-teaching and inclusion were very helpful. I also learned some great tips and tools for keeping students productive when emotions are flaring and how to develop effective behavioral plans. It was such a pleasure to meet my new family at Bradwell and I am so excited about the utopia we will create for our students. We are gearing up for a phenomenal year. Hooray! Go Bradwell!
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never I guess....I too attended the symposium and found it very helpful as we prepare for the turnaround school next year. I went to three but one stood out above the rest. As Linsey Rose has already talked about, I went to Ashley Gilmore's on math songs and extended response. I knew I wanted to pick hers after I was lucky enough to observe earlier this year with her. She is an amazing teacher and literally does her entire day through song. she also had the highest math scores this past year so it obviously is more than just entertaining, her students are truley grasping the concepts taught through familiar music. I know Linsey, Yonlanda and I all have the handouts from the session and I would be more than happy to share!
ReplyDelete