What Did You Learn?

Back at Open House I requested that you always ask your child “what did you learn today?” and that you never accept the “nothing” response.  I hope you stay with that.  I stopped in the cafe on Tuesday to ask some kids about their learning.  This was the most entertaining exchange between me and a table of 5th graders:

Me:  Hello, girls.  Tell me what you’re learning in class.  You can’t say “nothing.”

5th grader #1:  We’re writing friendly letters.  The normal stuff in science, math, and social studies.

5th grader #2:  I learned something about Mesopotamia.

Me:  What was that?

5th grader #2:  We learned about this guy, his name begins with a G, and we learned why the Fertile Crescent is called the Fertile Cresent, and the two main rivers were the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers, and…

Me:  Hold up.  Who’s the guy whose name starts with a G?

5th grader #3:  I think it was Gibberish.

Me:  !

5th grader #3:  (Laughing) Well, his name might as well be!

5th grader #4:  It was Gilgamesh.

They then went on to tell me a little about the story of Gibberish Gilgamesh.

Thanks for sending your kids to us everyday.  They’re a lot of fun!  Happy Thanksgiving.

JK

Thank You

Thanks to the many parents who came to the Principal’s Coffee on Tuesday with me and City Superintendent Ann Monday to learn more about the City-Providence connection.  I think the best part was our tour of the computer and science labs.  As usual, thanks for spreading the word about the great (and unique) things that go on at Providence.

THANKS-giving

Best Thanksgiving Luncheon in Fairfax County!  Sure, you probably think I have to say that, but really – this is my fourth school in FCPS, and I’ve never seen this level of parent and staff involvement.  Just fabulous!  Everyting was great, from decorations, to set up, to volunteers – including our SCA - to the amount of parents who showed up, despite parking issues and bad weather, with great big smiles!  Thank you!

A Little Walk

Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Brown and I try to get into classrooms as much as possible.  There’s usually so many great things to see, that it’s hard to begin to report on it in this blog.  This week, I decided that I was going to take a stroll at random with the intention of blogging about it.  I thought this would be a nice way to give you a real picture of what goes on around here.   These are pics from Friday morning.  I’d meant to start at 6th grade and work my way down, but I ended up enjoying my time there so much that I stayed with them until my next appointment.

Mrs. Dredge taught a small group about Native Americans first contact with Europeans.

Groups created a project on sequencing and writing directions. This group chose "How to Make a Paper Airplane."

Ms. Farmer's class held a Socratic Seminar, debating the impact popular book characters and stories have on kids.

Great stuff!  See you at Thanksgiving Luncheon & Book Fair!

JK

Our Community

The first quarter has ended, and here’s how I know: The PTA placed chocolate bars in every staff members’ mailbox today with a note thanking them for a great first quarter!

What a great way to boost morale!  It’s also a reminder to me that we’re lucky to have the community that we do.  You’re supportive and caring, and always working to make sure that you’re on the same page as your child(ren)’s teachers.  We know that parent-teacher conferences will be productive.  While the conversations are, on the surface, about first quarter performance, they’re really about how to orchestrate success for the rest of the year.

I’m happy to say that we’re entering into our fourth week of our English Language classes for parents.  It’s an amazing thing to see so many moms and dads (and some grandparents) come to Providence at night to learn/improve their English to better help their kids in school.  Thanks to ESOL teacher Mr. Spivey and Parent Liaison Mrs. Guzman-Arevalo for organizing and teaching.  We’re looking forward to offering future classes.  Stay tuned!

Happy Halloween.  Be safe.

JK

Our Canvas!

I had a great meeting this week with some staff members and Cara Radoll, our PTA president.  Our topic: ways to turn our courtyard into an extension of our science lab.  We brainstormed some cool ideas, and we’re looking forward to sharing them at future PTA meetings.  Think gardens, habitats – all kinds of simple, but great things to really make biology come alive!

So…think of our courtyard as a unfinished canvas.  There’s some interesting possibilities, and it’ll take a few years, but I’m thinking we could work together – school staff, students, and community – to paint a pretty impressive picture.  Stay tuned…

Special thanks to the PTA for the great time we had at the Dance last Friday!  Thank you, parents, for coming out despite the rain to make it a success.

JK

Student Council Induction Ceremony

Today room representatives and officers were inducted in our S.C.A.   We had a wonderful and respectful ceremony where we honored the election process and prepared for the work ahead.  Thanks to Ms. Farmer, 6th grade teacher, and Ms. Patrizi, art teacher, for giving their time to sponsor this year’s SCA.   They’ve got great ideas for ways to serve the school and community, and even the cold, wet weather couldn’t dampen these students’ spirits!  Thanks to all parents of students who ran for an elected position.  Your encouragement and commitment to teaching your kids the value of service has a major impact on Providence.

Digital Natives

Technology appeals to a child’s natural need to explore and discover.  I’ve said this before to parent groups: the way to tell the difference between a digital immigrant (like most of us) and an digital native (most kids) is by giving them a new gadget/device and asking them to use it.  The digital immigrants will grab the manual – we don’t want to  break it!  The natives will skip the manual and jump right in!

New technologies appeal to digital natives – computers and applications strive to be more intuitive and user friendly.  Kids don’t have any problem with this!  Sometimes WE are the ones who need to adjust.  At Providence, we’ve begun having these conversations among staff and exploring ways to use our existing tech more effectively and more frequently.  It’s a process, AND it requires ongoing training for us (we’re immigrants, afterall).  But we’ll get there.

Have a great  long weekend.

JK

Mathematics

Think about your elementary school mathematics classes.  Let me guess – visions of countless worksheets, mental math drills, and repetition come to mind.  Did you love math?  Did you see real life applications?  Maybe, maybe not.

As a Math Focus school we’re in a great position to change traditional perceptions of math.  The learning of math concepts and skills should be a hands-on process, and our teachers are always aiming to use whatever tools they can (SMART Board, web tools, tons of vaired, manipulatives) to really teach for understanding and draw connections to real life.  Sure, kids still have to memorize math facts, and perfect practice makes perfect, BUT there’s a whole lot more to the subject.  Special thanks to Larry Cook, our Math Focus Teacher, Tiffanie Wu, our Title I Math Teacher, and Tangie Orr, Resource Teacher.  They make it their goal to work with all teachers to refine our math instruction and make it great.

Parents, when you ask your kids what they learned each day in math, try asking them HOW they learned it as well.

JK

Science Focus

Kids love getting their hands dirty.  If that’s true, shouldn’t they love science?  In my unbiased opinion, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet to say that Providence students learn to love science.  And it’s not just because Ms. Bruno, our Science Focus Teacher, is so nice.

We’re lucky because as a school with a Science Focus, we not only have a science resource teacher, but a working science lab to compliment the already strong science lessons in each classroom.  It’s a place to get elbow deep in soil, to test the laws of physics, and to use the scientific method.  But most kids will tell you it’s a place to have fun.

Thanks to all the parents who came to the Principal’s Coffee on Tuesday.  Great questions!  I hope to see more parents at this week’s Coffee.

JK