1 visit, 20 minutes, 3 sentences

February, Language Arts/English Department

One Visit, Twenty Minutes, Three Sentences or What We Saw…

Pre-k—Jen Beasley's class—Jen had read the book Jambo Means Hello a few days ago since they are studying Africa. Today she was calling children up one at a time to have them choose a letter from the alphabet to illustrate a Swalhi word. The child I observed choose the letter L. She looked through the Jambl book to find a Swahili L word and chose Limpo, which means money. She wrote Limpo and then illustrated the word. It was fun to see her thumbing through the pages and looking for her word. Outside the door, several children were working on a HUGE picture of Africa. They were matching flags to the various countries and then gluing them in the correct places. They had to look at the letters of each country to make the correct match. I loved being in pre-k!! Betsy Anderson
K--Rachel Brodie’s class--Nurturing environment that promotes success. Kids are engaged. The room felt calming. Yun Tansil
K—Rachel Brodie’s class-- Kindergarten Spelling and Handwriting: In one small group of eight, the teacher models how print a capital and lower-case letter on a small whiteboard. Students copy. Students are asked to write teacher-selected words starting with the same letter. The teacher gave the students a sentence to write (did not include the letter). Trey Colvin
K—Janice LaMendola's class--Took a dive into Janice LaMendola’s world. It was amazing! Little bitty kids are studying about artists. During my short visit, Janice and I discussed many items. I will share the juicy stuff later. Kidding! My class will be presenting fables to her class tomorrow. Janice is so creative and intelligent. She is a natural born leader. Love her. Judy Campos
1st--Betsy Anderson’s Class–The children were working on biographies and it looked like an extensive unit. Betsy began by guiding through what to look for in a biography while reading it –
1. Name of the person
2. Where and when they were born
3. Family life
4. What they had to overcome
5. Why they are famous, impact they have on us today.
After the children learned about reading a biography (and getting the vital information from it) then created their own about a friend, and eventually wrote a biography of a famous person.
I really enjoyed watching the children at all of their different levels. You can tell that Betsy really considers the different pace of each child. I enjoyed talking to the children about who they chose and listening to them tell me what they have learned about this person. Jen Beazley

2nd--Yun Tansil’s class--I just spent a few minutes with Yun Tansil’s second graders. I was very impressed by the purposeful focus. She had her class at their desks writing letters to their parents about the upcoming conferences and Peggy Fredrickson’s class in the corner area absorbed in free reading. It was a room packed with engaged kids and positive energy. Dan Kasten
2nd--Angie Manning’s class--Kids listening to kids. Readers theatre performance. Kids
speaking to kids. Compliments. Suggestions. Advice. Lisa Sealy

3rd --Karen Dzialowski’s class--Offering children choices, keeps them engaged and enthusiastic. Warm and effective instruction helps them take their learning to greater heights. Rachel Brodie

3rd--Karen Dzialowski’s class--The children presented on fables, a true child-centered evaluation. The confidence danced with creativity to make wonderful projects. The specific compliments exchanged fostered a love for humanities.
Thanks for this project, it was such a joy! Chloe Bade
5th –Tony Adler’s class--Wow. Middle school amazed me. Tony kept everyone involved, and it was clear that the children were truly learning. Humor, compassion and flexibility allowed them to participate freely. Rachel Brodie

5th—Barby Gregory's class--I walk into Barby’s History class sensing the focused energy and attention of her students. Barby is reviewing the three major battles that shaped Ancient Greece’s history. All eyes are on her when she asks, “Which of these Persian battles had the longest lasting influence on western civilization and why?” Jake Mazow quickly responds, “The Battle of Thermopylae, Mrs. Gregory, because it saved democracy as we know it today.” Wow!!! Janet Cashen


5th--Barby Gregory's class--
Learn the way to learn
My hands, my eyes, my ears seize
Information links
Take that, stupid twitter!
Katherine Lewis

6th—Monica Bullock’s class—6th graders making connections from The Giver to utopia/dystopia, Wordly Wise ,Tiger Woods, history, and a broken arm. Susan Bauman

7th--Peggy Turlington’s class--Lesson on short stories where students were kept engaged through her use of diagrams, props, student actors. Students fed off Peggy’s energy and enthusiasm. Carla Kinney


7th—Mike Jenks's class--
Michael Jenks in class:
Using humor to trick you
Into learning stuff.
Blake Harkey

7th—Mike Jenks's class (again)--
The day before the History exam we retell America.
Pencils move from spiral to eye to mouth back to paper:
I write, I see, I digest.
The Mississippi crests the levy for a moment:
The mind can bring her back within the banks.
I am almost 13 now:
I can travel and shape this unruly river.
Adam Holt

7th--Mike Jenks's class(and again!)--Connecting past-present. 1819 depression to 2010 recession. Immigration. Moses Austin 1821/Ad Council 2010--drawing people to Texas. History=relevant. Linda Woolley

8th--Blake Harkey’s class--Composition. Blake_H reviewing for finals: coach running practice. Create energy & focus, call out missteps, congratulate mental hustle, show what to expect and how to succeed. Joel Garza

8th--Susan Bauman's class--
Multi-purpose lesson:
• test-taking skills focusing on quote identification
• Susan asks and teaches the kids to ask about the implications of each quote, why is it important? This gets them to analytical vocabulary, explicating how a passage tells them something about character, story arc, etc.
• Tech use: quotes typed on smart board ahead of time, Susan writes students’ verbal responses underneath
• Susan writes verbatim thus giving group opportunity to workshop each other’s responses. Farid Matuk

9th—Joel Garza's class--
The class featured the most thorough welcoming/acknowledgement of a visiting student I’ve ever seen, complete with hilarious digs at ESD. With the lights out and atmospheric trance music playing in the background, Joel (or Giuseppe Garzino, as he introduced himself, reinforcing my theory that he desperately wants to be Italian) led the students through a look at why certain New Testament texts became canonical and why others were left out. He then entered that day’s assignment by offering the thesis of “The rhetorical aim of the Bible is to teach its reader to be righteous” and asking the students to support that with evidence. Andy Mercurio

9th--Scott Cotton's class –Discussed independent projects, readings, had whole group debates. Let students talk and enjoy casual “historical interactions.” Gives students a lot of think time. Encourages children to conduct research to get the answer. Students were so engrossed in material. Didn’t believe it was 9th grade history. Greenhill is crazy! Students who want to learn?! Beth Boyd
I observed Wayne Hines’ French II Honors class last week. I realized that English teachers share a great deal with MCL teachers: an attitude about language that embraces style as well as structure. Students in both departments must take risks in attempting to communicate clearly and effectively in language. Both prodding and encouragement are in order. I was impressed with the way Wayne wove together formal instruction about verb tense with conversations about more appealing matters: clothes, sports, etc. Students carried on dialogues, making up sentences that reinforced command of tenses as well as new vocabulary. Cues in the form of posters, images on overhead projector, and the teacher’s smooth handling of transitions from topic to topic inspired me. Marilyn Stewart