Announcements and Events

Spelling Bee Winner - Aaliyah Comer (4th grade)
Spelling Bee Runner-up - Vandreika Kelly (5th grade)
Congratulations to both girls! They will represent our school at the County Spelling Bee on Friday, February 3, 2006.

Valentine's Day Gift Basket - The AR Committee will begin taking $1.00 donations on Wednesday, January 18, 2006. I will announce procedures for turning in donations on Tuesday. Thanks for your support!

STI Professional Development - As discussed in faculty meeting on Monday, most of you have selected dates for PD Web workshop. The list is as follows:

• Wednesday, January 18 - 3rd grade
• Monday, January 23 - 2nd grade
• Wednesday, January 25 - Kindergarten
• Tuesday, January 31 - 4th grade
• Wednesday, February 1 - 6th grade
• Monday, February 13 - 1st grade
• Wednesday, February 22 - 5th grade

Dottye Armstrong, teacher at Zora Ellis, has been approved for catastrophic leave. If you would like to donate days, the forms are in the teacher work room.

Math Standards and ARMT - Now is the time to really look at the standards which will be tested on the math section of the ARMT that you have not covered as of yet. It is critical that you teach all skills that are going to be tested prior to the test. Skipping skills in math is almost impossible, but managing the time between now and April so that students are prepared is crutial.

Bus/Breakfast Duty - Gilman - Haney- Mann

Using "Wait-Time" To Make Questions More Effective

The use of questions is a primary way we interact with learners in both large and small groups. The skillful use of questions not only increases the number of students who participate but also increases their level of thinking. Frequently, teachers ask questions but give learners very little time to think and construct answers. This results in teachers either repeating the question or answering their own questions. A questioning strategy called "wait-time" has been shown to give some amazing results. "Wait-time" is a 3 to 5 second period of silence (silence by the teacher) after he/she asks a question. Educational research has shown that allowing this 3 to 5 second period of silence can give the following results.

• The number of student responses increase
• Students who respond infrequently respond more frequently
• The length of student responses increase
• The depth of student responses increase
• Students respond with more confidence
• Student-to-student interactions increase

Well, you may be asking, "If this is so simple and the results so good, why don't more teachers do it?" Answer: Some don't know about it and for those who do, they find it isn't so easy. Teachers seem to have this tendency to fill any silent space in the classroom with some sort of verbalization or with non-verbal cues that communicate that an answer is expected almost immediately. Using wait-time takes a practiced and concentrated effort. One strategy is to ask a question and then not make eye contact with the class such as looking down or making momentary eye contact with a teaching visual.

The above comes from the Florida State University College of Medicine

Next week

Monday - MLK Holiday

Thursday - Benchmark 2 - 1st and 3rd, Climate Committee Meeting @ 2:45

Friday - I will be out! Mrs. Nelson will be in charge today.

Week of January 23, 2006

Monday - Art classes begin - Connie Vickers, Artist in residence, brief faculty meeting!

Tuesday - Communication Committee Meeting @ 2:45

Wednesday - I will be in an administrators meeting first half of the day.

Thursday - BBSST Meeting @ 2:45, PTO Meeting @ 6:00