Sunday, May 27, 2018

Finish Strong!

As is the case with every school year, we have reached the end! I know this week will be exciting but also filled with quite a bit of tears and sadness as we say goodbye to our kiddos we've invested so much into.  So this week take time to let each and every kid know how much they mean to you!

Week at a Glance

Monday - No School
Grades due by Midnight
Tuesday - 5th Grade Water Trip
K-2 Water Day - 8:30-11:00am
PreK Celebration - 9am
Wednesday - Release at Noon
3-5th Water Day - 8:30-11:00am
Senior Walk (approx. 9:15am)
Ganske Retirement Party - 2pm - Library
Thursday - Release at Noon
Kinder & 1st Parties - 8am
2nd Grade Party - 8:30am
3rd and 4th Grade Party - 9am
5th Grade Celebration (in Gym) - 9am
End of Year Convocation (NHS) - 1:00-2:30
Friday - Work Day - Report to campus at 8am

Scholastic

Thank you everyone for helping out with our book fair last week. Our kids went home with over 13,000 books last week.  Yes you read that right.  13,000!!  I can't wait to see how this is going to change the lives of our students.

Morning Duty

There is no PLCs this week but there is still morning duty.

Tuesday - 4th Grade Outside, 3rd Grade inside
Wednesday - Kinder outside, 1st and Prek Inside
Thursday - 2nd outside, 5th inside

Birthdays (and summer!)

May 31 - Amanda Reyes

June 10 - Kelsey Kuehler
June 12 - Ivonne Garcia
June 13 - Melissa Neumann
June 13 - Allison Klinke
June 21 - Cariann Zeitman

July 2 - Rebecca Madison
July 14 - Marylee Argueta
July 28 - Kitty Tripp
July 31 - Jaci Boykin

August 13 - Haven Wisnoski
August 14 - Traci Colbert

In Closing...

I am so proud of the work that ALL of you have put into making our school the best ever. I will be writing you a more in-depth thank you this week, but just know we couldn't have made it through this year without each and every one of you.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Final Full Week!

This is our FINAL full week with kids. So let's make the most of every second. I'll keep this week's blog post short and sweet!

Monday - Scholastic Setup and class walkthroughs
Moreland on Campus - During Conference
Faculty Meeting - 3:45pm - Cafeteria
Tuesday - Scholastic Book Fair Begins
NED Show - 2:15pm - Cafeteria
Wednesday - Delic on Campus for Walkthroughs
Campus Visitors who will walk through classes - morning time
Thursday - Winning House Field Trip
Kinder Round Up - 4:30-6:30pm
Friday - Kinder Round Up - All Day
Book Prom
PPCD Water Day

Moreland

Please make sure all staff makes time to see Moreland at some point tomorrow. IAs will need to find a conference time to be present.

Faculty Meeting

We will have a faculty meeting at 3:45pm tomorrow. We will be done by 4:30pm at the latest.

Scholastic

I am finalizing the scholastic book fair schedule. Unfortunately you won't get it until tomorrow because Scholastic and I will be meeting tomorrow morning after they deliver to go over everything and make sure it makes sense with their staff. Yes, I am planning on working around MAP testing that I see scheduled in the labs.

Morning Duty this Week

Due to our Gym being taken over by Scholastic we're gonna have to be a little flexible this week. I spoke with team leaders on Friday.  This week as students come in (and finish breakfast) they will be going straight to class.

So, this week please plan to be here by 7:15am in your classroom. If for some reason you can't be here at that time, please make sure your team is prepared to take your class.  If you get here at 7:15, you can leave at 3:45 (except Monday).

I appreciate you guys so much for helping make this life-changing, special event, happen!

Campus Visitors

We have a few teachers (who were supposed to come last month) reschedule for Wednesday where you may see them come see the awesome work you're doing, on Wednesday.

House Field Trip

The winning house field trip is Thursday.  We'll leave at 8:30am and be back by 11:30am.  There will be no lunches needed.  I will have a house meeting with the winning house at some point on Monday with students because they will need to fill out a waiver.  Again, no cost to them.

Kinder Round Up


We are doing Kinder Round Up earlier this year. If you have parents who are thinking of enrolling their kids please have them show up this week during our assigned times (above)


Book Prom

Book Prom is Friday. Sarah will be getting information out to those affected by this soon (if she hasn't already!)

Birthdays

Deborah Gonzales - May 21
Gerry Williams - May 23

Retainment Meetings

If you have not met with me regarding potentially retaining a child, you must do so by MONDAY (tomorrow)

In closing...

Let's make this week the best week YET!


Sunday, May 13, 2018

Worth Celebrating

Today is a day we celebrate the mom's in each of our lives. I wanted to take the time to thank each one of you. Whether you have your own children or now, every day you serve the children of Navasota, Texas.  You fulfill that motherly role and share hugs, smiles, I love yous, and so much more.  Today, YOU are worth celebrating. Thank you for being a place our children can call home.

Week at a Glance

Monday - 3rd/4th/5th Grade STAAR
Retainment Meetings during Conferene
Tuesday - 3rd/4th/5th Grade STAAR
Wednesday - 5th Grade STAAR
Thursday - Dinner w/a Gentleman
Friday - 4th Grade Field Trip
Final House Games
Last day for Pull-Out Interventions

STAAR

As you're all well aware, STAAR is taking place this week! None of your schedules should change.

If you're STAAR testing, remember when you're students are finished you take them to their normal lunch time. If they tested past their normal lunch time, then you take them as soon as they're all done testing. EACH TESTING PERSON will need to pick up their students from lunch until that student's homeroom teacher is also done testing.

Retainment Meetings

I will have meetings on Monday with those of you who are considering retaining students.  You must bring with you to the meeting...work samples, grades, and logs that show when you had retainment conversations with parents. If you don't have those items, we will not meet.

Dinner w/a Gentleman

We are still seeking help for Dinner w/a Gentleman.  Out of 81 staff members only 4 have offered to help and only 6 (3 of which are the organizers) have filled out the dessert form.  Many of you always ask me to let you know when I need help, I am asking now.  We really need help to have this event go off as well as these kids deserve.


House Games

Our final House Games are Friday! We will then announce this year's winner and get field trip information out to everyone!

Pull Out Interventions

Friday is the final day for Martin, Puentes, Brak, and Brewer to pull out students.

Birthdays

May 20 - Diddy Flores

PLCs

Take this PLC time this week to plan end of year parties (times were already decided by most grades), create those letters to go home, and to prepare end of year awards for your classes.  These are awards that recognize the greatness in each child. As in years past, you know my expectation is that each teacher take the time to really give individual awards that fit that child. Yes, you will be doing awards in your rooms, but it's so important we send them off knowing that we truly saw them for who they were and what they brought our school. If you need help thinking of things, let me know!

Yes, some grade levels will have two days of morning duty this week (and the other grade levels will have two days next week).  Please only have PLC time on the FIRST day of duty your assigned (except 5th grade, you'll have PLC both days due to no conference time for you on Friday).   The other day please go down to class when we release your students.  With the end of the year approaching we need more hands and eyes and ears on duty.

I will need to approve party letters (and they will need to be translated) by Friday afternoon.

Morning Duty Time

Monday - Kinder Outside, First Grade Inside
Tuesday - 2nd Grade outside, PreK inside
Wednesday - 3rd Grade inside, 4th Grade outside
Thursday - 5th Grade inside, First Grade Outside
Friday - Kinder Inside, 5th Grade Outside

Recess


It is imperative that teachers spread out at recess.  Like morning time, several fights broke out at recess.  Teachers need to be standing up, walking around, and actively monitoring students.  Not seated at tables or clustered in groups.  Thank you so much for helping us! We can make it through spring and into summer!

Kids Deserve It

The Kids Deserve It podcast is going on an indefinite hiatus.  Here is our final episode (and episode 100) with Dave Burgess.


Blogs/Articles





In Closing...

As we enter these last couple of weeks lets again keep in mind our tone of voice when working with students. I included the blog post above about students learning less when they sense hostility.  We have to be careful of what we say and how we say it these last few weeks. We're exhausted and on edge, but we can't forget that we're dealing with little people who don't know how to control their emotions. We should know how to control ours. We'll mess up and make mistakes, but let's keep trying to shower them with high expectations and lots of gentle reminders.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Come Together

Come Together

BY MADISYN TAYLOR
In our world, there is always someone in need of our best efforts to rally a group of helpers and healers.
We humans have a knack for coming together and rising up to our potential in the face of a tragedy. Natural disasters and acts of violence bring us out of our small selves and into the world, ready to lend a hand to those in need. This experience is often life-changing for those who are willing to step into the position of helper. We feel as if we are finally doing something really important, and this leads us to feeling more self-actualized. We feel more connected to the people we are helping, as well as more connected to humanity in general. As we expand beyond the boundaries of our individualistic pursuit of happiness there can be a complete reality shift. We often find that it is much easier to be happy when we are motivated in an effort to make the world better in tangible ways, by coming to the rescue of those who are suffering.

Considering the many benefits of this kind of gesture, it is surprising that more of us don't devote our lives, or at least some portion of our time, to serving people in need. We don't have to wait for a tragedy to come together, as a community or a nation, and offer ourselves to the world in service. Sometimes it's easier, of course, to respond to an event that has just happened rather than to ongoing problems like homelessness, poverty, and illness. But the truth of this world is that there is always someone in need of our best efforts to rally a group of helpers and healers. Maybe we feel discouraged because these smaller acts and gestures don't generate the same kind of energy and attention from other people as heroic acts in the face of immediate disaster, and perhaps an effort to change this is one way to change the world.

The more we promote, applaud, and actively inspire humanitarian efforts in the world, the more others will be drawn to this kind of work. We might pay a little less attention to sports and celebrity gossip and a little more attention to those everyday heroes who devote their lives to alleviating suffering. The more attention we pay, the more we will inspire others and ourselves to be of service in a world that greatly needs our attention.

Week at a Glance

Monday - Staff Appreciation Week Starts
Penny Wars Start
Book Day!
Nesloney Out in Afternoon
Tea w/a Lady Meeting - 3:15pm - Library
Dinner with a Gentleman Meeting - 3:45pm - Library
Tuesday - Lunch from Lamar University
Nesloney out in afternoon
Tea w/a Lady - 5:30-6:30pm Gym
Wednesday - Delic on Campus (walkthroughs)
Neutzler Baby Shower - 3:30pm - Library
Friday - Lunch from PTO

Staff Appreciation Week

This week is National Staff Appreciation week.  We have some special things planned for all of you.  The two days we'll tell you about in advance are Tuesday and Friday.  Those two days lunch will be provided by Lamar University and by our wonderful PTO.  We hope to celebrate all of you this week and all you do for our campus and our students.

Nesloney Out

I will be out two afternoons this week.  I have a court date for my mom's estate on Monday and an MRI on Tuesday.  I hate being out, especially the last month of school, but these are things I cannot put off.  Please keep our 5th grade students and staff in your thoughts are we are still dealing with many repercussions from the wreck.  If you have a few free minutes this week to check in on 5th grade teachers and provide a little support, I know they would greatly appreciate it.

Tea w/a Lady and Dinner w/a Gentleman

My how the time is flying.  We have Tea w/a Lady this Tuesday at 5:30pm.  There is a final meeting for the event at 3:15pm on Monday if you planned on attending. Thank you Ms Day and Ms Short for heading this event up!

We are gearing up for Dinner with a Gentleman next week and will need all the help we can get.  If you can help please stop by the library at 3:45pm on Monday to see how you can help.  If you're interested in helping organize or help organize the event let me know.  

Book Day!

Book Day is MONDAY! I am BEYOND excited about this and super upset that I will miss some of them due to court date for my mom's estate.  But I know they will be amazing none the less.  Remember our entire goal of spending this money was to provide students with books, show the excitement of reading, and prepare them for the Summer Reading Challenge.  So please spend time each day this week talking the summer reading challenge up.  They need to start putting in their minutes right away and keeping track online so they're used to it come summer.  We're in this to win it!

#30SecondBookTalk

Thank you all for voting.  Unfortunately I didn't win!

Delic on Campus

Delic will be on campus on Wednesday to do campus/classroom walkthroughs with me and the admin team to help us continue to make sure we're bringing our best every day and continue to find ways that we can better support you!

Birthdays

May 11 - Theresa Sanders

PLC

Use this week to plan with teams.  Make some great plans for these last few weeks to keep instruction going strong!

Morning Duty Days

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE spread out in cafeteria.  We need you actively monitoring as many fights have been breaking out in the mornings in the gym due to teachers not walking around and watching, listening, to what is going on.

Monday - Kinder ELAR and 2nd ELAR inside; 1st Grade ELAR outside
Tuesday - Kinder MATH and 2nd math inside; 1st Grade MATH outside
Wednesday - 4th Grade ALL inside; 3rd Grade ELAR outside
Thursday - PreK all inside; 3rd Grade MATH outside
Friday - Brak, Bradford, Brewer, Outside ; 5th Grade ALL inside

Recess

It is imperative that teachers spread out at recess.  Like morning time, several fights broke out at recess.  Teachers need to be standing up, walking around, and actively monitoring students.  Not seated at tables or clustered in groups.  Thank you so much for helping us! We can make it through spring and into summer!

Blogs/Articles




In closing..

This week is about you. Celebrating you. And I can't wait to show you how much you mean to all of us, and to me.