Last week as I flipped through the channels and ended up watching a football game, I thought to myself, this is going to be a long couple of hours. I began thinking about the role each player has on the team. Whether they play the entire game or only a few plays, they never know how their play will affect the outcome of the final result. This month I ask you to think about your role on the team. As we continue to improve, take risks and reflect on the work, we will only get better if we work together as a team. Think about this quote whether you are planning, teaching or meeting with your team; how will giving 100% of yourself make a difference? No one is asking you to be perfect . . . just give a perfect effort. So as you enter the building each day and either begin your new goal or are remembering to reach your current goal, please remember you have so many impressionable minds watching. I am asking that you reflect and think . . . can you proudly say that you are setting a positive example for your students and colleagues? As you step into your classrooms and work with the students, you realize that the “playbook” (plans) may not always work as you had anticipated. That is why I have “Assistant Coaches” to help and support you in your efforts. A quote I once heard from a movie said, “I can coach them, but I cannot play for them.” Please be open and willing to hear the feedback, ask for help, and we will be there for you!! There were so many great plays in the game but I realized, “It’s not about the win/loss record, it’s about the team.” I LOVE MY TEAM and look forward to a winning season with all of you!!! Because at the end of the day… Have a Fabulous Month,

Missy

Dec. 1-4 Holiday Store

Dec. 1

Dec. 2

Dec. 8th Team Leader

Meeting Dec. 9-11

Washington Trip Dec 15th Chorus

Assemblies 8:15 4th & 1st Then 5th & K

Dec 16th Chorus Assembly

8:30 2nd & 3rd Dec 17th

Faculty Holiday Lunch

Dec 18th Staff Holiday Party

 

 

Field Days

 

 Attention  ALL  TEACHERS  -­‐  EVERYONE  WHO  

REGISTERS  TO  HOST  AN    HOUR  OF  CODE  RECEIVES  A  $10  GIFT  CARD!  

 All  schools  are  invited  to  celebrate  Computer  Science  Education  Week,  which  is  December  7  through  13,  by  participating  in  a  special  event  called  the  “Hour  of  Code.”      All  participating  teachers  that  register  on  the  site  before  December  7  will  receive  a  $10  gift  card  for  Amazon,  iTunes  or  Microsoft.    No  experience  or  computer  is  required!  https://hourofcode.com/browardschools/prizes/hardware-­‐signup  During  and  leading  up  to  the  Hour  of  Code,  please  post  -­‐  photos,  thoughts,  videos  to  social  media  using  the  #BrowardCodes  hashtag  (can  use  #HourOfCode  too).      Also,  during  the  Hour  of  Code  week,  send  your  photos  to  code@browardschools.com  

Westchester elementary is proud to be designated "NO PLACE FOR HATE"

"Hug My School Circle" December 3rd on the basketball blacktop starting at 8:20 for a school picture. Students will wear Westchester T-Shirts and come out to the blacktop on schedule. 5th graders will be the inner circle then 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st and K Approximate line up times: 5th Grade-8:20 4th Grade-8:25 3rd Grade-8:30 2nd Grade-8:35 1st Grade-8:40 Kindergarten-8:45 We will have all students and staff join hands around the “Blacktop.”—figuratively having a circle that is unending to create a physical sense of community, respect and kindness. Mrs. Geraine will read "No Place for Hate" promise and ask the student body to repeat it. Each grade level will have a representative to let their butterfly go to acknowledge, "Love our earth and each other."

“Education is the most powerful tool you cause to change the world.”-N. Mandela

 

 

The Role of Mistakes in the Classroom Alina Tugend

Author, journalist for The New York Times, and mother of two wonderful boys As the school doors swing open to welcome the start of another year, both teachers and students will have goals: to inspire a class, to learn new things, to get good grades.

What probably won't be on that list is to make a mistake -- in fact many. But it should be.

Why? Because we're raising a generation of children -- primarily in affluent, high-achieving districts -- who are terrified of blundering. Of failing. Of even sitting with the discomfort of not knowing something for a few minutes.

If students are afraid of mistakes, then they're afraid of trying something new, of being creative, of thinking in a different way. They're scared to raise their hands when they don't know the answer and their response to a difficult problem is to ask the teacher rather than try different solutions that might, gasp, be wrong. They're as one teacher told me, "victims of excellence."

Why is this? Because success in school is too often defined as high marks on tests. And if results are all that matter in education, then mistakes play no positive role. They are only helpful if we believe that the process of learning -- which inevitably must include the process of erring -- is just as, or more, important than getting to the correct answer.

I realize that parents play a crucial role in how their children view mistakes -- and I've written about that -- but here, I'm focusing on educators.

While writing my book Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong, I came across some fascinating research about how children learn and what message they take away about mistakes.

Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, has conducted groundbreaking research in this area. One of her experiments asked 400 5th graders in New York City schools to take an easy short test, on which almost all performed well. Half the children were praised for "being really smart." The other half was complimented "having worked really hard."

Then they were asked to take a second test and given the options of either choosing one that was pretty simple and they would do well on, or one that was more challenging, but they might make mistakes.

Of those students praised for effort, 90 percent chose the harder test. Of those praised for being smart, the majority chose the easy test. Dweck has conducted such experiments and studies in a variety of school districts -- low-income, high-income, homogenous and mixed- culture and races.

A cornerstone of Dweck's research is the concepts of fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. Those with fixed mindsets, as Professor Dweck says, believe people are good at something -- either good at math or music or baseball -- or they're not. For those with a fixed mindset, mistakes serve no purpose but to highlight failure.

Those with what Professor Dweck calls growth mindsets -- who believe that some people are better or worse in certain areas but we can all improve and develop our skills and abilities -- are much more likely to be able to accept mistakes because they know they're part of learning.

And studies in a secondary school have shown that when students are taught about growth mindsets and that the brain is malleable, their motivation to learn dramatically increases. Take a look at the web sitewww.brainology.us if you want to learn more.

This doesn't mean, of course, that we can all be world-class chess players or pro athletes, but rather that we all have a

 

 

 

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