Twas The Week Before Christmas

It's here, that final week before Christmas break.  As I've spent time with teams and around campus I have felt the excitement in the air.  Kids are a little more rowdy then they have been and teachers are a little more ready for a break then they have been!

As we enter this final week before Christmas Break, let's keep in mind a few things.

1. Always remain patient and be more forgiving than necessary.  The holiday season isn't something everyone looks forward to.  Whether you have colleagues who struggle with this time of year or you have students who aren't looking forward to little to no gifts and 10 days away from a warm safe place.  We have to remember to be more patient and forgiving than necessary.

2. Lean into the excitement.  Our kids are so very excited. Let's not squelch this excitement but instead find ways to lean into it and bring it out in constructive ways.

3. We're not done yet! Let's keep our focus on the main thing: learning. Let's make sure up until the final day that we provide high quality instruction to continue to fill the many gaps we have!

We've got this!

Week at a Glance

Monday - Jackson Counseling Day

Argueta Coaching Day

Staff Meeting - 3:45pm

School Board Meeting - 6:30pm

Tuesday - Nesloney Coaching Day

Santa Pictures

Christmas Program - 6pm

Christmas Movie Night - 6:45pm

Wednesday - Short Coaching Day

PenPals Demonstration - 3:45pm - Library

Thursday - 2nd Grade Field Trip

Nesloney Coaching Day

Prayer Time - 7am - TP Room

Staff Christmas Party - 5:30pm - Western

Friday - Early Release - 12:00pm

Holiday Parties

Santa Pictures

On Tuesday we will be doing Santa Pictures.  For the families who have turned in their forms, we will pull the students to quickly take their photos. Please make sure all forms and money have been turned into the box (with notification of who it belongs to) outside Cindy's office.

Christmas Program and Movie Night

Mr H and company have worked really hard on preparing another fantastic Christmas Program on Tuesday night. We encourage all who can to please show up to support our staff and children.

After the program we will have a family movie night where PTO will be selling pizza!

PenPals

PenPals is a new fun way to have your children collaborate with others and their writing. We are not purchasing this at this time, but if you are interested in seeing a Demo, please come to the Library at 3:45pm on Wednesday

Staff Christmas Party

We hope you can all join us for our annual Staff Christmas Party! See Cindy to pay your $6.

Friday

Friday is Holiday Parties and Early Release.  Please make sure that your team leaders have put on the spreadsheet what time your parties are so we can hold parents until then!

Birthdays

Dec 18 - Joni Leonard

Dec 22 - Cewilla Thomas

Dec 23 - Aziza Marchant

Jan 5 - LaToya Miller

Family Day

We thought Family Day was a GREAT hit! Every family member that left, left saying how much they enjoyed learning alongside their child.  I think you all did a fantastic job of continuing to build relationships with our families to get them more involved.  If you have any feedback from the day, please let me know!

PLC & Morning Duty

This week we will NOT have PLCs, but we still need help with Morning Duty. Please remember that there should be at least two people at car rider and at least one by the cafeteria door.

Monday - Kinder and 1st Grade

Tuesday - 2nd Grade

Wednesday - PreK and 3rd Grade

Thursday - 4th Grade

Friday - 5th Grade

Tell Your Story

Here is a great conversation with Cicely Lewis.

Blogs/Articles

How to Fix the Apathy Problem in Schools

Teaching the Students We Have, Not the Students We Wish We Had

Being Outside Makes Kids Smarter

Creating a Diverse Classroom Library

26 Children's Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance

In Closing...

Let's all find some ways to spread some Holiday Cheer this week!

You Never Know Who You'll Meet

You Never Know Who You'll Meet

BY MADISYN TAYLOR Everyone is valuable in their own way and capable of expanding our horizons. Our individual journeys take us into many unexpected situations where we encounter a wide variety of people--some quite like ourselves and some very different. We cannot anticipate these meetings, but we can make the most of them when they take place. When we are courteous as a matter of course and open-minded in our assessment of the individuals whose lives briefly touch our own, we are more apt to stumble upon surprising gems of wisdom that open our eyes to new worlds of possibility. Every person we meet can affect us profoundly, just as every situation we find ourselves in can teach us something new. To fully embrace this fact, it is essential that we acknowledge that everyone is valuable in their own way and capable of expanding our horizons. Since we never know when we will happen upon those individuals who will unveil truths before us, we should extend to all people the same generous level of kindness, care, compassion, and understanding. When we assume everyone we meet is special and treat them as such, we can develop a strong rapport quickly. By making an effort to adopt a positive attitude toward others at all times, we ensure that our emotions do not blind us to wisdom that may be lurking in difficult or distressing situations. We are accordingly receptive to knowledge that comes to us in the form of examples, advice, and direct teaching. These brief relationships ultimately have the potential to enrich our lives in a very concrete way. But the wisdom we gain is proportional to the attention we pay to the world around us. The responsibility is on us to maintain a state of awareness that allows us to recognize when we are in the presence of someone consciously or unconsciously in possession of knowledge that will change us significantly. When we are cognizant of the potential for unexpected enlightenment, we make a habit of turning strangers into friends, thus ensuring that we are never without a font of wisdom from which to draw.

Week at a Glance

Sunday - Grades Due by Midnight

Monday - Nesloney Coaching Day

MAP and Istation Testing Begins

Jackson Counseling Day

Tuesday - High School Music Performance - 7:45am
2nd Grade Planning - 8:00-11:30
1st Grade Planning - 12:30-4:00

Wednesday - Nesloney Coaching Day
3rd Grade Planning - 8:00-11:30
Kinder Planning - 12:30-4:00

Thursday - Short Coaching Day

Staff Prayer Time - 7am
4th Grade Planning - 8:00-11:30
5th Grade Planning - 12:30-4:00

NISD Art Show - 5:30-7:00pm

Friday - Family Day

House Games - 2:15pm

Staff Christmas Party

Thursday, December 20th at 5:30pm is our annual Christmas Party at the Western.  That day is also Ugly Sweater contest day!  We hope you can make it! Remember to fill out THIS form to reserve your meal and pay your $6 to Cindy Puentes!

Family Day

Our first ever Family Day will be this Friday!  What is Family Day? It'll be an opportunity for family members to come spend an hour in their child's class to take part in the learning.  They'll check in whenever they can make it and get a "check out" time one hour from when they check in!  We're excited to invite families in to see the great work you're doing with the kids.

PLCs

This week's PLCs are as follows.

Monday - 2nd/3rd ELAR

Tuesday - 4th/5th ELAR

Wednesday - 2nd/3rd Math/Sci

Thursday - 4th/5th Math/Sci

Friday - 1st Grade

Morning Duty

Monday - 2nd Car Rider, 3rd put one at Cafeteria Door and others in Gym

Tuesday - 4th Car Rider, 5th put one at Cafeteria Door and others in Gym

Wednesday - 2nd Car Rider, 3rd put one at Cafeteria Door and others in Gym

Thursday - 4th Car Rider, 5th put one at Cafeteria Door and others in Gym

Friday - split to all stations

Marylee's Mother

HERE is the information for the visitation and funeral for Marylee Argueta's mother if you would like to pay your respects.

Tell Your Story

This week's conversation is with Staci Erickson.  A powerful story about how she decided to donate her kidney to a complete stranger and about her dealing with forgiving her father.

Blogs/Articles

If People Talked to Other Professionals the Way They Talk to Teachers

Postal Service Responds to Letter Boy Sent to Dad in Heaven

The 10 Best Children's Books of 2018 

In Closing...

As we know, any moment could be our last moment.  Let's not take for granted any time we have with each other. How can you show the people around you how much they mean to you? This past week we had the unique opportunity of taking part in history. The passing of President George H.W. Bush and his train passing through Navasota.  It was a pretty powerful experience that I hope you were able to take part in.

Here is a clip of his son, President George W. Bush, sharing at his funeral.

Building Culture

If there's one thing I've learned over the last few years, it's that it takes all of us to build a school culture.  The administration plays a part, the staff plays a part, and the students and parents play a part.

It isn't just a one person show.  But sometimes I think we all find ourselves guilty of waiting for someone else to do the lifting.  I've even found myself guilty of it! But the truth of the matter is, when we aren't happy with the way something feels, we have the ability to change it!

When we don't like the way something looks, the message that was sent out, the idea that was chosen, the decisions that were made, we have two choices.  The first one is the easy one, sit and complain.  It's so easy to tear something apart and talk about how terrible it is. How much you hate it. How you sure aren't doing it.  But the second, and much more difficult decision, is deciding that despite what is taking place, you have the power to make it better!

When we wallow in our own frustrations and complaints we begin to show others that it's ok to do nothing. I find myself easily drawn into a mindset of complaining. I have to continually look at a situation and ask myself, "Stop. How can you make this better? How can you fix this? Who can you work with to build this up?".  Those answers don't come easily and they don't always come quickly. But I found, that I am happier and enjoy what I do much more when I'm working hard to look for solutions instead of drowning in what I find wrong.

Week at a Glance

Monday - Jackson Counseling day

Nesloney Coaching Day

Tuesday - 4th Grade Math Benchmark

5th Grade Science Benchmark

Nesloney out at Region 6

Picture ReTakes

Wednesday - Short Coaching Day

4th Grade Reading Benchmark

Thursday - Staff Prayer Time - 7am - TP Room

Principal/AP Bootcamp - Admin may be off campus off and on throughout the day

Friday - Argueta Coaching Day

Nesloney Off Campus

School Spelling Bee

Saturday - EdCamp Aldine

Sunday - Grades due by Midnight

Benchmarks

This week is the finale of our Fall Benchmarks.  This week 4th-5th will be Benchmarking.  This is our time to see exactly where kids are and how we need to work moving forward.

I expect you to sit with your classes and set goals with your students.  Bring in a level of competitiveness between classes as well. And remind them that kids who improve the most will get House Points.

Things to keep in mind...

1.  No schedules will change. Just please be aware of testing if you're in that grade level's hallway.

2.  Monday during conference tested grade levels will sign out bins with Marylee Argueta.

3.  We may be pulling IAs to help in some areas.

PLC This Week

Due to Benchmarks and Data Conversations, PLCs this week will be as follows...

Monday - 2nd Grade
Tuesday - 3rd Grade
Wednesday - 5th Grade
Thursday - 4th Grade
Friday - Kindergarten

On your PLC day your team should split between at least 2 at car rider, at least 2 in Gym, and at least 1 at the cafeteria door (and if team is large enough another in the cafeteria).

On Time

This is just a reminder that all contracted staff's work day starts at 7:30am.  Just like any other job, that means that you are ready to work at 7:30am and not pulling into the driveway at 7:30am.  Your contracted hours are also until 4pm.

This week will be having discussions with those who continually arrive late or leave early.

Tell Your Story

This week's conversation was with Derek Lopez from Stand Up Our Kids.



Blogs/Articles

We are Family. All of Us.

Teaching Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Break

The Difference a School Librarian Can Make

A Year of Healing, Part 1

In Closing...

When helping others, sometimes they just need a little encouragement.  Be a voice that uplifts this week.