December 15, 2016

Happy holidays from us to you!  We hope that you have a restful, relaxing, rejuvenating and safe holiday season with family and friends.  We know it's been a stressful time and there may be more along the way.  We encourage you to take a break, take care of yourself, and come back ready to focus on all things positive and about our kids.  

As we come into more and more classrooms (less lately and we apologize 

=(   ....hoping that will change when we return!!), knowing what you want to focus on, we are noticing a shift in objectives that needs to take place in some areas.  We are going to review THIS ARTICLE in chunks so that we can effectively frame lesson objectives to student mastery and not student activities!  PLEASE read over the break if you get the chance!  Super Easy read and a hard copy is in your mail box.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*January 3, 4- MAP Testing for English

*January 5- Makeups for English
*January 10- Faculty Meeting *NOTE DATE*

*February 6, 7, 8, 9- BLOCK Schedule for Writing Test

*February 10- Makeup Writing Test

*April 24-May 12- Block Schedule for CAASPP test!

December 9, 2016

The December challenge within the district (on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook) is #sparkle and, no, I didn't hand pick it, though it's RIGHT up my alley!!  #Sparkle stands for: Spreading Positive Actions Regarding Kind Loving Encounters! As each person spreads some "Sparkle", they are paying it forward, which causes a chain reaction that spreads positivity! 

Have you seen these #sparkle acts around campus?  Have you had a #sparkle moment yourself?  SPREAD THE #SPARKLE, especially when it comes to our kids!  From the students that are picking up garbage, to the ones that are helping a friend with their homework, to the ones that are bring in toys and cans for those less fortunate...There are #sparkle moments EVERYWHERE! You just have to look! =)

As we come into more and more classrooms (less lately and we apologize 

=(....hoping that will change next week!), knowing what you want to focus on, we are noticing a shift in objectives that needs to take place in some areas.  We are going to review THIS ARTICLE in chunks so that we can effectively frame lesson objectives to student mastery and not student activities!

We are moving our Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance/Sports Assembly to Friday, January 6, 2017!  This will be to recognize grades, perfect attendance, cross country team, basketball teams, and our football team. Please note that award levels have changed slightly and will include prizes, certificates, and raffles!!  Schedule is coming soon!

3.0-3.4 Honorable Mention

3.5-3.9 Honor Roll

4.0 Principal's Honor Roll

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Alex for sharing Seesaw from the CUE conference!  Such a fabulous experience and to Dalal for sending out how to Hyperlink documents!
• SUPER shout out to Christen for creating an easy sheet for SPED goals/accommodations!
• SUPER shout out to Dalal, Josiah, Aubry, Dustin, Dave F., and Sandy for participating in the PODs this week!  We are so THRILLED that you took advantage of this and enjoyed it!  We LOVE collaboration!
• SUPER shout out to Dan for an awesome Winter Concert!
• SUPER shout out to those that helped during the music assembly with crowd control!
• SUPER shout out to Olvera, Love, Bates, Toll, Nitto, Booker, Kinder, Walton, Vargas, Russell, Wheeler, Schwarzbach, Morace, Robinson, Mansour, Diaz, Farley, Hafich, DeVries, Laffey, and Mimi/Rosa/Kristy for completing their Student of the Month for Most Dedicated!  "Control F" lets you know who has already been chosen.
• SUPER shout out to Booker, DeVries, Farley, Kinder, Marks, Matteson, Cherry, Nitto, Periera, Perriatt, Walton, Rice, Schwarzbach, and Vohs for writing Good News Referrals this month already!  I challenge EVERY staff member to write one in December!  It makes our kids' day and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside!!
• We have only had 27 for DECEMBER! Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS December is!!! **We have had 19 referrals in DECEMBER so far =(.  It's been a busy month =(
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*December 5-15- MAP Testing for Math
*December 13- December Department Meetings
*December 14- Band Performance at Solano Mall

*December 15- STAFF Holiday Celebration at Cast Iron AFTER SCHOOL!!

*December 16th- Hot Cocoa Bar and Holiday Breakfast from KC, CL, and PTC!

*January 3, 4- MAP Testing for English

*January 5- Makeups for English
*January 10- Faculty Meeting *NOTE DATE*

*February 6, 7, 8, 9- BLOCK Schedule for Writing Test

*February 10- Makeup Writing Test

*April 24-May 12- Block Schedule for CAASPP test!

December 2, 2016

The Friday before Thanksgiving Break (at 5:22 to be exact ;)), we were notified that we have been selected to apply for the CA Gold Ribbon Award (formerly known as California Distinguished School Award)!!  This is an AMAZING honor and a TESTAMENT to YOUR hard work!!  WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU ALL!!  And....the application is due Monday 12/5 😆.  True story. Though most of it was completed over the break, we have more to do.  We are applying in the area of Technology and the implementation we have at GVMS through Google Classroom, blogs, newsletters, emails, websites, Remind, social media and more.

Congrats to Kevin, who submitted his voluntary separation papers in order to RETIRE at the end of this year!  You have made a difference in some many people's lives and we apprecaite you!

It's always a challenge before major breaks and holidays to keep students focused and engaged.  Check out these 4 strategies to energize and focus our students in the classroom!  Our students need this even more today with all of the distractions of social media and more.  Easy to follow and makes your job MUCH easier!

During our recent PBIS Workshop, we realized that using the "check in-check out" idea was BRILLIANT to greet students at the door before starting class!  It makes them KNOW that you care, you are saying hi, noticing the look on their face and more.  Take ONE minute before class starts to just be by your door as our kids walk in to notice them.  Just notice and say WELCOME to class!  It's going to be a great day!! 

We are moving our Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance/Sports Assembly to Friday, January 6, 2017!  This will be to recognize grades, perfect attendance, cross country team, basketball teams, and our football team. Please note that award levels have changed slightly and will include prizes, certificates, and raffles!!  Schedule is coming soon!

3.0-3.4 Honorable Mention

3.5-3.9 Honor Roll

4.0 Principal's Honor Roll

While Hour of Code is coming December 5-11, MANY of our classes are already coding on a daily, if not weekly, basis!  This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn programming skills and more!  Sign your class up HERE and check out all of the different options for students!!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Jamie, Rosa, Mimi, Annette/Karen, Elizabeth, Ken Cristina, Alex Tamia, Dave F., Don, Alisa, Sue, Lynn, Kristy, Dalal, Katherine, Kevin, Dave M., Jason, Lorraine, Dan P., Lacey, Julie, Heather1, Christen, Sandy, Allison, Sarj, Carol, Rochelle, and Barb for writing Good News Referrals this month!  I challenge EVERY staff member to write one in December!  It makes our kids' day!!
• SUPER shout out to all for writing GOOD NEWS REFERRALS! We have had 159 for NOVEMBER! Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS December is!!! **We have had 16 referrals in NOVEMBER sent to the office mostly for disruption/defiance =) and see the graphs for more info!
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*December 5, 8, 9- PODs for English/History

*December 5-15- MAP Testing for Math

*Decemeber 6- Faculty Meeting in Library

*December 7- Evaluat'd Training for Probs in library

*December 7- Winter Concert (day and night)

*December 8- Basketball here versus BGW

*December 15- STAFF Holiday Celebration at Cast Iron AFTER SCHOOL!!
*December 16th- Hot Cocoa Bar and Holiday Breakfast from KC, CL, and PTC!
*January 3, 4- MAP Testing for English
*January 5- Makeups for English
*February 6, 7, 8, 9- BLOCK Schedule for Writing Test
*February 10- Makeup Writing Test

November 18, 2016

PLEASE take advantage of this and PROMOTE it to all of your families!!!  
ONE DAY ONLY!  Check out the official rules for what to do but here's the deal:  All day on November 29th, every time donors support a classroom on this site, they'll be entered to receive one of fifty $5,000 DonordChoose.org gift card to support classroom projects!  THAT'S NOT ALL!!  The teachers that donors support will ALSO be entered in a separate drawing to receive one of fifty DonorChoose.org gift cards!!
C'mon and get out there are PROMOTE #GivingTuesday and get those project funded!!!

During our recent PBIS Workshop, we realized that using the "check in-check out" idea was BRILLIANT to greet students at the door before starting class!  It makes them KNOW that you care, you are saying hi, noticing the look on their face and more.  Take ONE minute before class starts to just be by your door as our kids walk in to notice them.  Just notice and say WELCOME to class!  It's going to be a great day!! 

We will have a rally schedule on December 15th (more coming) to recognize grades and attendance.  Please note that awards are as follows and will include prizes, certificates, and raffles!!

3.0-3.4 Honorable Mention

3.5-3.9 Honor Roll

4.0 Principal's Honor Roll

We still continue to struggle with after school yard duty.  Please program this into your phone or ensure that you have coverage if you need it.  We really need the eyes and ears up front, in the amphitheater, and at the bike rack area when students are dismissed.

While Hour of Code is coming December 5-11, MANY of our classes are already coding on a daily, if not weekly, basis!  This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn programming skills and more!  Sign your class up HERE and check out all of the different options for students!!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Dalal for arranging the MAP Chrome Book sharing schedule for December testing!
• SUPER shout out to Jason, Dave F., and Carol for jumping to share Chrome Books with Sue, Paula and Allison!  Love the love!
• SUPER shout out to our PBIS Team (Lynn, Sue, Josiah, Carla, Dalal, Elizabeth, and Sandy) for coming up with more ways and ideas to support our students!
• SUPER shout out to Jamie (5th/6th period PE Team Member) for ALREADY writing Good News Referrals!  YAY!
• SUPER shout out to ROSA, MIMI, TRACY, ALISA, DALAL, JAMIE, KAREN/ANNETTE, KEN, ELIZABETH, CRISTINA, ALEX, TAMIA, DAVE F., DON, LYNN, KATHERINE, JASON, LORRAINE, PECKHAM, JULIE, HEATHER P., CHRISTEN, SANDY, ALLISON, CAROL, ROCHELLE, BARB AND ME =) for writing GOOD NEWS REFERRALS! We have had 135for NOVEMBER! Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS December is!!! **We have had 16 referrals in NOVEMBER sent to the office mostly for disruption/defiance =) and see the graphs for more info!
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*November 21-25- EMAIL FREE Thanksgiving Break!

*November 29- Department Meetings
*November 30- Site Council in library
*December 1- Basketball @ Grange
*December 5, 8, 9- PODs for English/History
*Decemeber 6- Faculty Meeting in Library
*December 7- Evaluat'd Training for Probs in library
*December 7- Winter Concert (day and night)
*December 8- Basketball here versus BGW

*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE (coming soon) for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!
*December 15- STAFF Holiday Celebration at Cast Iron AFTER SCHOOL!!

November 10, 2016

Has anyone perfected this?  If so, can you share with us please?  I, personally, am terrible at this.  Teachers, or anyone in education for that matter, struggle to balance work and everything else and YOU MATTER! Check out THIS ARTICLE for some interesting insight and ideas on how to make this happen...

So, there is a lot of discussion around teacher talk!  Let's work on being DONE with all of the teacher talk!  Do we have your attention?  The research is startling:  teachers ask between 200-300 questions a day (are you tired yet??), whereas most students as 2. OMG. TWO?  And those questions are typically for clarification purposes.

Most teachers, in general, dominate the classroom talk speaking anywhere between 60-70% of the time!  That's a LOT of work for all teachers!

Take a minute to read THIS ARTICLE (and sign up for her blog posts as they are awesome) to evaluate where you are and what you can do to get kids talking MORE academically and you talking less!

As an educator and a parent myself, having parent meetings can lead to better understanding between both parties.  All parents want their kids to feel safe, be happy and learn when they come to GVMS.  This is SO important and why we want to make them feel welcome and a part of our team when making decisions, especially when it comes to their kids.  While I know we don't have parent/student conferences again until February, take a moment to reach out to them to ask if there are any changes at home that may be affecting their student at school, or something positive that you have noticed about them when they are at GVMS.  This can be life changing!  

We have had a few people ask for subs for half or full day to visit others or collaborate (yay!) and we are HAPPY to help make this happen!  Just let us know that you are interested so we can ensure that a sub will be reserved! We currently have 1 more reserved for November 17th so FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

Thank you for already completing the nomination form for Student of the Month for Trustworthiness for December!  It's due next Friday so there is a fast turn around!  Please remember not to pick more than the current month and please do not choose a student that has already been chosen from another staff member.  Thank you to Dalal, Kevin, Allison, Julie, Sue, Heather, Carol, Elizabeth, Annette/Karen for already submitting your name!

While Hour of Code is coming December 5-11, MANY of our classes are already coding on a daily, if not weekly, basis!  This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn programming skills and more!  Sign your class up HERE and check out all of the different options for students!!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to those that have already reached out OR sent up GOOD NEWS REFERRALS, especially to those that have NEVER written them before!! We have already had 44 for NOVEMBER (some are from the end of October that just got awarded!)!!  Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS this month IS!!! **We have only had 16 referrals in NOVEMBER sent to the office mostly for disruption/defiance =)
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*November 15, 16- DOK/Academic Training in our library!
*November 16- PBIS Training at SCOE!
*November 18- PTC Meeting in Library!
*November 21-25- EMAIL FREE Thanksgiving Break!
*November 29- Department Meetings
*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE (coming soon) for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!

November 4, 2016

#thirtydaysofthankfulness and #thirtydaysofthankful is something that we are doing daily on our Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook page, as well as, sending to our parents and families!  I truly encourage you to JUMP ON BOARD and post, Tweet, say, share, shout, or write something you are thankful for each day.  Help take a moment to stop and give thanks.  It truly puts things into perspective!

In addition to participating in #thirydaysofthankfulness, check out THIS ARTICLE about trying something new in your classroom for 30 days and what that means for your students!

We have had a few people ask for subs for half or full day to visit others or collaborate (yay!) and we are HAPPY to help make this happen!  Just let us know that you are interested so we can ensure that a sub will be reserved! We currently have 2 more reserved for November 17th so FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED!

Thank you for those who are remembering to show up for your assigned yard duty.  We are having MANY issues and many areas are being left unsupervised, especially after school. PLEASE show up so that students are supervised and we don't have to search for you!  Thank you!

While Hour of Code is coming December 5-11, MANY of our classes are already coding on a daily, if not weekly, basis!  This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn programming skills and more!  Sign your class up HERE and check out all of the different options for students!!

We will be updated all ARs (Administrative Regulations) and BPs (Board Policies) in the Google Drive that was shared with all at the beginning of the year.  HERE it is again (link or cut and paste): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B80v0QmB4OPhR0wtN3U3Ry1RRzA 

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Alisa for working with kids to teach and then performing Thriller!  It was awesome!
• SUPER shout out to Kristy for taking on the new Family Life training for our district!
• SUPER shout out to Mimi, Rosa, Heather, Alex, Tamia, Dave F., Lynn, Sandy, Allison, Carol, Rochelle, Karen and Annette for writing Good News Referrals already to count for the month of November!
• SUPER shout out to Ric for keeping up with all of the messes around here!
• SUPER shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Aida and Kristy for the organizing, the clothing orders taken care of, the safety of our students taken care of and more!!
• SUPER shout out to our office organizers for always having the answer and for our meeting today!
• SUPER shout out Sue for sending an email invite to come into her class and for Lynn, Katherine, Allison, Paula, and Tamia for going to watch what was being taught!  Would LOVE to see everyone do this!
• SUPER shout out to Kevin and Sarj for helping us clean up after the last day of Challenge Day!
• SUPER shout out to Dalal, Heather, and Alex for creating a slide show to share their learning from CUE and then being willing to share with everyone!
• SUPER shout out to those that have already reached out OR sent up GOOD NEWS REFERRALS, especially to those that have NEVER written them before!! We have already had written 38 for NOVEMBER (some are from the end of October that just got awarded!)!!  Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS this month IS!!! **We have only had 66 referrals to date sent to the office for a variety of reasons =)
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*November 7- Kris Corey here in morning! 
*November 8- Leadership Meeting!
*November 8- High School Fair at FHS!
*November 9- Chipotle Dine and Donate 4-9 PM!
*November 11- No school for Veteran's Day!
*November 15, 16- DOK/Academic Training in our library!
*November 16- PBIS Training at SCOE!
*November 18- PTC Meeting in Library!
*November 21-25- Thanksgiving Break!
*November 29- Department Meetings
*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE (coming soon) for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!

October 28, 2016

October is now (for the most part) over....We say it every year: we dread October.  In the last few busy weeks, we have noticed adults not being as nice to each other (we are specifically speaking about comments to us) as they had been in the past or being mean to each another. We are all in this together and, while we may want to lash out at the nearest adult due to frustrations with our students, personal lives or something else, we ALL come to Green Valley with a common purpose of supporting our students to the best of our ability.  EVERYONE who works in middle school has a tough job.  EVERYONE in every capacity.  We have such caring adults who get to know our students, care how they do here and in life, and want to make their lives better.  We both know that everyone comes with different backgrounds and experiences when it comes to supporting our students AND, while we all may not completely agree with each other, we MUST support each other here at Green Valley.  We are with each other MORE than we are with our own families during waking hours.  If you have no idea what I am talking about, then please disregard.  And if this messages hits home for you, please know that we are on the same team and WE LOVE YOU ALL!

We had an amazing week we have had with all of the students coming together for our three Challenge Days.  I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing it was to see our students share, care, cry, hug, and more.  We had some amazing moments of tears, laughter, caring, and smiles. We are ALL truly grateful for those that participated and those that really helped with the flexibility of the schedule.  We truly want this feeling our students have to continue and appreciate YOU helping to continue that!

Thank you for those who are remembering to show up for your assigned yard duty.  We are having MANY issues and many areas are being left unsupervised, especially after school. PLEASE show up so that students are supervised and we don't have to search for you!  Thank you!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Elizabeth for making Challenge Day happen for our kids!
• SUPER shout out to Katherine, Tom, Tamia, Carla, Kristy, Josiah, Brenda, Teesha, Alex, Pozzesi, Kevin, Tiffany, Christen and Aurea for coming to Challenge Day!
• SUPER shout out to Heather, Lorraine, Dalal, Pozzesi, Alex, Montz, and Anita for going to CUE today and tomorrow!  Can't WAIT for you to share with us and learn what you learned!!!
• SUPER shout out to Rosa, Mimi, and Kristy for delivering the spirit wear!
• SUPER shout out Jason, Dalal, Dave M., and Allison for completing the request for assistance forms so well!  It's in the Google Folder :)  
• SUPER shout out to our PE Department for working outside three days in a row to support Challenge Day!  THANK YOU!
• SUPER shout out to Sue for taking the proposal for Honors 7 and 8 to Committee!
• SUPER shout out to those that have already reached out OR sent up GOOD NEWS REFERRALS, especially to those that have NEVER written them before!! We have already had written 218for OCTOBER!!  Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS NOVEMBER IS!!!
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*October 28, 29- CUE Conference for 7!
*November 1- Faculty Meeting in Library!
*November 7- Kris Corey here! *Date Change*
*November 8- Leadership Meeting!
*November 8- High School Fair at FHS!
*November 9- Chipotle Dine and Donate!
*November 11- No school for Veteran's Day!
*November 15, 16- DOK/Academic Training in our library!
*November 16- PBIS Training at SCOE!
*November 18- PTC Meeting in Library!
*November 21-25- Thanksgiving Break!
*November 29- Department Meetings
*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!

October 21, 2016

Thank you to Dalal, Sue, Cristina, Julie, Lynn, Dustin, Aubry, Barb, Allison, Dustin, Josiah, Katherine, Paula, and Tamia for coming to our IPR and adding your thoughts, feedback, input, and ideas!  We truly appreciate all of your different ideas and perspective!  We truly have remarkable teachers, staff, and students and we love to see each of you grow in your profession and practice.  We are so incredibly encouraged to see more and more of the sharing, "stealing", collaborating, modeling, visiting others, and more!  Make our heart so happy!  We will discuss and creating a plan for moving forward at November's Faculty Meeting!

It's become more and more clear that we need to review our agreements again with regards to hats indoors, gum on campus, and students wearing IDs. Please remind students that hats come off in class, gum is not allowed on our campus, and all students need to be wearing their IDs.  We can also discuss more at the November faculty meeting if there are more that need to be reviewed! Thanks!

With conferences two weeks ago and progress reports coming out again in the next two week, NOW is a GREAT time to follow up with families to follow up with them.  Super fast email to families to say a) this is improving.... b) this is still a concern..... c) this is now a new concern.....

Heading off potential issues before parents get the formal progress report gets mailed home will SAVE you in the long run!

Thank you for those who are remembering to show up for your assigned yard duty.  We are having MANY issues and many areas are being left unsupervised, especially after school. PLEASE show up so that students are supervised and we don't have to search for you!  Thank you!

Thank you to those for submitting Student of the Month names on time so I don't have to hunt you down for them!  Much Appreciated!  Please note that we really don't want people to fill out months in advance.  Please just do one month at a time!  Thanks to LAFFEY, PECKHAM, GARZA, KEFFER, MONTZ, MORACE, SCHWARZBACH, MANSOUR, FULTON, KINDER, RUSSELL, CLOUD, WALTON, POZZESI, OLVERA, WHEELER, NITTO, PHILLIPS, RICE, LUCERO and TOLL for completing this!   Click THIS LINK for October as names are due October 21 for "Caring"!

Thank you to Kimberly, Rosa, Annette/Karen, Mimi, Ken, Dalal, Lorraine, Allison, Anita, Carol, Alisa, Shawna (noon duty), Don, Sandy, Josiah, Christen, Kristy, Lynn, and Montz for writing Good News Referrals!!  LOVE THEM and please KEEP THEM COMING!  I challenge those that have NEVER written one to do so....Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside =-)

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Mimi, Rosa, Kristy, Teesha, and Aida for the tag team efforts all over campus during our drill this week!  SUPER AWESOME!
• SUPER shout out to Rochelle for working with our classes getting them used to Naviance!
• SUPER shout out to Wheeler, Olvera, Pozzesi, and Diaz for helping out on the blacktop during the drill during their prep 1st period!
• SUPER shout out to ALL of our staff for handling the traffic and coverage at school on Wednesday!  It was awesome to be a part of it!
• SUPER shout out to those that have already reached out OR sent up GOOD NEWS REFERRALS, especially to those that have NEVER written them before!! We have already had written 158for OCTOBER!!  Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS the rest of this month is!!
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*October 25, 26, 27- Challenge Days!  Sign up to come!
*October 28- Halloween Dance
*October 28, 29- CUE Conference for 7!
*November 7- Kris Corey here! *Date Change*
*November 11- No school for Veteran's Day!
*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!

October 14, 2016

As if October isn't crazy enough, let's add the teenage changes that are happening AS WE SPEAK and a full moon.  Here are some facts (as "stolen" from Kristen Witt's blog!):

• The teen brain is going through massive changes
• Youth perceive, process, and respond MUCH differently than adults
• Youth don't see, hear, understand or act like adults consistently
• The brain finishes growing at 25
• Adolescence is a period through which youth pass (hopefully unscathed!)

So, keeping this ALL in mind, please remember that what you see is only the surface.  When we are dealing with our kids (and EACH OTHER) keep in mind ALL that lies under the surface.  Behaviors are just the surface, there is always something more going on, and life experiences are underneath...

Sometimes, we must adjust our style, not everyone is coming to us with the same background experiences, and we MUST have patience (which mine has been tested lately too!).

With conferences two weeks ago and progress reports coming out again in the next two week, NOW is a GREAT time to follow up with families to follow up with them.  Super fast email to families to say a) this is improving.... b) this is still a concern..... c) this is now a new concern.....

Heading off potential issues before parents get the formal progress report gets mailed home will SAVE you in the long run!

Thank you for those who are remembering to show up for your assigned yard duty.  We are having issues and many areas are being left unsupervised. Please show up so that students are supervised and we don't have to search for you!  Thank you!

Thank you to those for submitting Student of the Month names on time so I don't have to hunt you down for them!  Much Appreciated!  Please note that we really don't want people to fill out months in advance.  Please just do one month at a time!  Thanks to LAFFEY, PECKHAM, MANSOUR, FULTON, KINDER, RUSSELL, CLOUD, WALTON, PHILLIPS, RICE and TOLL for completing this!   Click THIS LINK for October as names are due October 21 for "Caring"!

Thank you to Kimberly, Rosa, Mimi, Ken, Dalal, Lorraine, Allison, Anita, Carol, Alisa, Shawna, Kristy, Lynn, and Montz for writing Good News Referrals!!  LOVE THEM and please KEEP THEM COMING!  I challenge those that have NEVER written one to do so....Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside =-)

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Dalal making STEAM interaction assembly happen and Sue for her work on the schedule!
• SUPER shout out to Sarj, Alisa, Kevin, Liz and Jamie for helping to make the STEAM Assembly work!
• SUPER shout out to those that have already reached out OR sent up GOOD NEWS REFERRALS, especially to those that have NEVER written them before!! We have already had written 90 for OCTOBER!!  Keep them coming!  Can't wait to see how POSITIVE and FABULOUS the rest of this month is!!
• What to nominate a fellow SUPER HERO to be recognized at our next faculty meeting?  Click HERE!!  PLEASE!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*October 18- Department Meetings after school
*October 18- Cross country/Volleyball at GVMS
*October 19- GATE visit in the AM
*October 19- Football at GVMS
*October 20- Volleyball at GVMS
*October 20- IPR after school in library!
*October 21- PBIS Site Visit
*October 25, 26, 27- Challenge Days!  Sign up to come!
*October 28- Superintendent here!
*October 28- Halloween Dance
*October 28, 29- CUE Conference for 7!
*December 15- RALLY SCHEDULE for Honor Roll/Perfect Attendance!