Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Laurel Mountain SEM

ENERGIZED.... That's how I felt as we left Laurel Mountain Elementary last Friday (in spite of the long drive down to Austin at the crack of dawn)!  It was such an eye-opening experience to see SEM "in action."

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll work on getting a video together to share our experience with you.  Until then, suffice it to say that the excitement on the kids' faces and the passion in the teachers' voices spoke volumes. 

It was also great to discuss the "nuts and bolts" with the campus principal and SEM coordinator.  Our teachers came armed with questions, and it really helped to speak with people who have been through the struggle of implementation.

Check out the pictures below....

Visiting with the Principal and getting ready to see the Clusters in action....


 It was the perfect weather for the Sports and Fitness Cluster to meet!


The First Aid Cluster was exploring different parts of the body.


The Lights, Camera, Action Cluster was adding final touches to student created movies.


Check out Laurel Mountain's SEM Blog and their "Shout-Out" to Austin Elementary

Monday, October 17, 2011

Laurel Mountain, Here We Come!

This Friday is the big day!  We'll be taking our long-awaited visit to Laurel Mountain Elementary to see SEM in action.  We'll be armed with cameras and Flips to document our trip and bring back examples to share with the Austin staff.

Oh, and we'll be leaving at 4:00AM!  I'm hoping there will be a coffee stop along the way!


On another note, check out these examples of the Daily 5 "in action."  Thank you for sending Mrs. O'Neill!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Daily 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5!

With the expectation that the Daily 5 be consistently implemented across Kinder-3rd grade, Austin will host a Daily 5 session tomorrow afternoon for teachers who have yet to receive the training. We can't wait to see the impact that this will have on our little readers!

Check back in a few days for pictures and details on how the day went!

For more info on the Daily 5, check out:

http://www.the2sisters.com/the_daily_5.html