December 20, 2017

Happy holidays from the two of us to all of our GVMS Super Heroes!  We truly wish you the best for the holidays and hope they are filled with love, laughter, and light.  We all have "stuff" going on outside of GVMS and, yet, you all come here to be here for our kids.

Surround yourself with people who make you happy.  People who make you laugh, who help you when you're in need.  People who genuinely care about you this holiday season!

We know it's been a stressful time and there may be more along the way. We encourage you to take a break, enjoy family, don't check email =), take care of yourself, and come back ready to focus on all things positive and about our kids.  

Much love,

Kristen and Christine

December 15, 2017

I know many of us go home and wonder why we are working so hard.  You probably ask yourself- am I even making a difference?  YES YOU ARE!!! Check out our Green Valley MS dashboard link HERE, as we are green in ALL categories!  This, of course, DID NOT happen over night!  It's hard work, collaboration, communication, support, making changes with our instruction, building relationships with staff and students, working as a POSITIVE team, and FOCUSING ON OUR STUDENTS!!!  Our students continue to grow because of your love of them and what you do, as well as, your dedication to our students and our school!  We can't wait to celebrate and see where this year takes us!!

Sometimes, we, as educators, can be the ONE person in a child's life that can make a difference.  

MORE ON ENGAGEMENT!  Until we are at 100%, we will CONTINUE this conversation as high levels of engagement directly link to higher achievement, lower off task behavior, and all around happier students!  How do we get students to make class discussions more engaging so that they are focused on the learning AND master content?  Check out THIS LINK to try 5 easy ways to make your class discussions more engaging!

WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???

IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??

I put this in family blog and I seriously think it needs to be in our staff one too...

Kindness.  Such an easy word to say and yet such a struggle to encourage kids and each other to practice.  Every single day, we remind our students to be nice, kind and caring.  To follow our school rules.  And every day we struggle with some of our students being mean, cruel and downright disrespectful to their peers and the adults.  Please help us encourage our Vikings and encourage each other ON STAFF to PRACTICE KINDNESS DAILY.  Here is an article about the Power of Kindness.  It makes SUCH a difference in everyone's life.

Check out some of the UPDATED Tweets that are ALWAYS going on around campus!  Stop by and see what's happening in your colleague's classrooms!  These pics below are updated WEEKLY! Aren't following everyone yet?  Follow US @GVMSVIKINGS and we have everyone's Twitter handle! =) 

SHOUT OUT to Kimberly, Tamia, Amy, Christen, Josiah, Dave F., Sue, Pozzesi, Jamie, Alisa, Liz, Heather P., Ryan, Lacey, Katherine, Anita, Cristina, Lynn, Heather T., Lorraine, Kristy, Alex, Dustin, Carol, Elizabeth and K & C for posting as many great things about GVMS as we can!  WE LOVE to brag about what's going on at GVMS!  

      

      

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!  KEEP THEM COMING!  We love the "I Noticed..." and will add as many as we can!

Click HERE to add! (123)

• SUPER awesome shout out to Jason and their newest addition! ~ALL STAFF!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave F. for writing the most GNRs in November!  We will award his prize in January!  Julie is nailing it for December so far! YAY!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather P., Tom, Lynn and Ken for exciting kinds and parents during STEAM Night!  So exciting!  ~Kristy
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sarj and Dustin for checking on G104! ~K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Peter for assisting in Admin Boot camp!! ~Christine
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa for the adorable personalized Santa hats that made our office cheery! ~Michele R.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather P and Kristy for making STEAM night so engaging and exciting!  You worked really hard! ~Lynn
• SUPER awesome shout out to Admin for a great December faculty meeting!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for building the confidence in so many students in math that they did great on the last math test! ~Carol
• SUPER awesome shout out to Anita, Julie and Lacey for the great collaboration in ELA/History! ~Cristina
• SUPER awesome shout out to our teachers for helping us out when we can't get subs! ~Brenda
• SUPER awesome shout out to SPED SQUAD for email help with our students! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue, Dave O., and Dustin for offering to take cross walk while we are VERY short handed right now! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa/Mimi, Elizabeth, Ken, Cristina, Alex, Sue, Lynn, Ryan, Megan, Jamie, Katherine, Dave M., Jason, Lorraine, Lacey, Julie, Christen, Amy, Aubry, Allison, Sarj, Heather T., Tom, Carol, Barb, Michele S., and Admin for already writing Good News Referrals for December!  We have had  194 Good News Referrals TO DATE!  KEEP THEM COMING!!

 **SEE BLOG AS IT HAS WAY MORE DATES**

*Wednesdays are College Days

*Mondays/Fridays are GVMS Spirit Days!

December 8, 2017

This is worth a second time to post:  We STILL see objectives that are written but they are truly just activities.

Goals: The broad statement about what you are covering (standard).  It's long term....

Objective: The expected achievement that is well-defined, specific, measurable, and comes from the goal (standard)

Activity: Efforts or "things" done to achieve the objective (take notes, outline, complete graphic organizer)

Activities are NOT objectives.  They are exactly that: activities.  Check your whiteboard and revise your objective if you discover that you have an activity posted!

Annnnddddd we are BACK to engagement....Have YOU asked your students how they learn best?  Have you asked them how they stayed focused and engaged in your classes?  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE from a student's perspective as to how they learn best.  Take a look around your class.  Are they focused?  Are they engaged?  Is there anything that you can change in YOUR class to keep them engaged?

WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???

IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??

Check out some of the UPDATED Tweets that are ALWAYS going on around campus!  Stop by and see what's happening in your colleague's classrooms!  These pics below are updated WEEKLY! Aren't following everyone yet?  Follow US @GVMSVIKINGS and we have everyone's Twitter handle! =) 

SHOUT OUT to Kimberly, Tamia, Amy, Christen, Josiah, Dave F., Sue, Pozzesi, Jamie, Alisa, Liz, Heather P., Ryan, Lacey, Katherine, Anita, Cristina, Lynn, Dalal, Heather T., Lorraine, Kristy, Alex, Dustin, Carol, Elizabeth and K & C for posting as many great things about GVMS as we can!  WE LOVE to brag about what's going on at GVMS!  

      

    

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!  KEEP THEM COMING!  We love the "I Noticed..." and will add as many as we can!

Click HERE to add! (114)

• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for helping me with crossing guard duty while we are VERY short handed! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn, Kristy, Heather P., Tom, Tamia, and Ken for MAKING STEAM Night happen! ~K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue and Jacob for coming up with a plan to help support ELA co-teach!  LOVE the collaboration! ~SPED Squad
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue and Dave F. for working on numbers and plan for a possible tutorial period within the school day! ~K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina for beating me out to yard duty each time! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Science and PE Dept's for having 100% attendance at our FUN December Faculty Meeting! We LOVED the camaraderie ~ K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Elizabeth for supporting one of my students who really needed it.  It made her day! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Elizabeth and her WEB kids for reaching out to one of our DHH students that was alone.  Coolest thing I have seen all year! ~Alex
• SUPER awesome shout out to Science for helping me push to be DOK 3 or higher! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to Ryan for having his students learn more about music in his Wheel Class with music appreciation!  SO awesome! ~Josiah
• SUPER awesome shout out to Paula for helping in the library whenever we need it! ~Rosa
• SUPER awesome shout out to OUR STAFF for the attendance, input, involvement in our IEPs!  YOU guys ROCK!  Thank you! ~Christen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa/Mimi, Ken, Cristina, Sue, Lynn, Ryan, Jamie, Jason, Lacey, Julie, Amy, Allison, Sarj, Heather T., Carol, Michele S., and Admin for already writing Good News Referrals for December!  We have had  193 Good News Referrals TO DATE!  KEEP THEM COMING!!

 **SEE BLOG AS IT HAS WAY MORE DATES**

*Wednesdays are College Days

*Mondays/Fridays are GVMS Spirit Days!

December 1, 2017

Over Thanksgiving Break, I started to reflect on ways that we, at GVMS, could help our students get inspired to be grateful.  How could we, as adults, teach and MODEL this to our students?  How could we inspire the next generation to CARE about one another as we see this less and less?  How do WE train them to be the good int he world and to "be the  change that we want to see in the world?  Check out THIS ARTICLE for some inspiration and the video above.  

Don't worry, it's quick =)

How do we keep them engaged, even with the craziness of the holidays coming up??? We know it can be a crazy time of year, so just HOW do we keep our Vikings engaged?  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE on some easy ideas to keep em' engaged even with the holiday craze!  Again, would YOU want to be in YOUR class??

WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???

IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??

Check out some of the UPDATED Tweets that are ALWAYS going on around campus!  Stop by and see what's happening in your colleague's classrooms!  These pics below are updated WEEKLY! Aren't following everyone yet?  Follow US @GVMSVIKINGS and we have everyone's Twitter handle! =) 

SHOUT OUT to Kimberly, Tamia, Amy, Christen, Josiah, Dave F., Sue, Pozzesi, Jamie, Alisa, Liz, Heather P., Ryan, Lacey, Katherine, Anita, Cristina, Lynn, Dalal, Heather T., Lorraine, Kristy, Alex, Dustin, Carol, Elizabeth and K & C for posting as many great things about GVMS as we can!  WE LOVE to brag about what's going on at GVMS!  

    

    

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!  KEEP THEM COMING!  We love the "I Noticed..." and will add as many as we can!

Click HERE to add! (107)

• SUPER awesome shout out to 6th grade team for the collab day!  Special thanks to Katherine for the yummy cake! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cloud for his amazing history stories!  Wish he was my history teacher! ~Alex
• SUPER awesome shout out to Margret for being our nurse!  We love having you here and it makes life so much better for our office! ~Michele R.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Annette and Karen for helping with Math Boot Camp when I am double booked! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to History for participating in PODS! ~KC/CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to MY KIDS for being awesome! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to Diaz for showing me how to flip my classroom and I am going to try it! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to Admin for reminding AND our community us to focus on family and friends during Thanksgiving! ~Jason
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy, Heather P., and Lynn for making STEAM Night even possible! ~K&C
• SUPER shout out Heather T. for helping with Aeries! ~Ryan and KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue and Jacob for letting all of us come to watch you in action! ~Aubry, Lacey, KC, Josiah
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa for making all of the Santa hats for the front office!  ADORBS! ~front office
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Michele S., Karen A., Elizabeth, Ken, Cristina, Tamia, Dave F., Don, Sue, Lynn, Ryan, Kristy, Jamie, Katherine, Jason, Lorraine, Peckham, Lacey, Julie, Heather P., Christen , Aubry, Amy, Allison, Carol, Heather T., Barb and Admin for already writing 326 Good News Referrals for NOVEMBER!  KEEP THEM COMING!!

FIRST THREE PEOPLE TO EMAIL ME WITH THE LOCATION OF OUR FACULTY MEETING ON TUESDAY 12/5, WIN A PRIZE!!

 **SEE BLOG AS IT HAS WAY MORE DATES**

*Wednesdays are College Days

*Mondays/Fridays are GVMS Spirit Days!

November 9, 2017

Ahhhh MORE on grades and grading.  During your department meetings, please have a respectful and productive conversation regarding your beliefs and policies regarding grading.  Then, please take a look and see the trends on what is going on in your classroom.  Do the grades coming out of your class truly reflect how they are learning?  Does it truly reflect on your teaching?  What does a zero truly say about our students AND our staff?  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE in what our grades can say about possible harm.  Yes, it's not the only article and not the only side.  Just something to continue the discussion as a TEAM!

Have you ever considered sending a Google Survey to your students to get feedback from them on how THEY feel about your class?  Have you ever considered getting their input as to how they best learn?  Think about it.  If you created a survey that was anonymous and couldn't be mean, what would they say?  Would they share how they learn?  Take a minute to read THIS ARTICLE on how kids feel about engagement and how we can make it MEANINGFUL for our students!!

LET'S LIGHT A FIRE UNDER IT!  

WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???

IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??

Check out some of the NEW Tweets that are ALWAYS going on around campus!  Stop by and see what's happening in your colleague's classrooms!  These pics below are updated WEEKLY! Aren't following everyone yet?  Follow US @GVMSVIKINGS and we have everyone's Twitter handle! =) 

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!  KEEP THEM COMING!  We love the "I Noticed..." and will add as many as we can!

Click HERE to add! (90)

• SUPER awesome shout out to our staff for coming together for the staff-student volleyball game! ~Cristina
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina for organizing that! ~Staff
• SUPER awesome shout out to the positive staff around campus, helping one another and supporting one another, and participating in the volleyball game! ~Paula
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin for the continued coffee socials and making it a POSITIVE way to start out our day and get to know each other! ~Lynn, Aubry, and KC!
• SUPER awesome shout out to students coming into the office and being so polite, as well as, TAs coming in and using the copiers! ~Michele R.
• SUPER awesome shout out to our SPED SQUAD for going to IEP after IEP after IEP for all of our students! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia for helping a student in math, even when it wasn't her kid! ~Lorraine
• SUPER awesome shout out to Science for their collaborative work in their PODs this last week! ~K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave O. for his leadership with the Science PODs! ~K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out for the POSITIVE Twitter posts and messages in the morning! ~Anonymous
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Michele S., Karen, Elizabeth, Ken, Tamia,Don, Lynn, Ryan, Katherine, Lorraine, Heather P., Aubry Amy, Heather T., and Admin for already writing 65 Good News Referrals for NOVEMBER!  KEEP THEM COMING!!
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 **SEE BLOG AS IT HAS WAY MORE DATES**

*Wednesdays are College Days

*Mondays/Fridays are GVMS Spirit Days!

November 3, 2017

Ahhhh grades.  This can be a FUN subject to discuss and we WILL be looking at it during our IPR on November 28 (along with three other goals) and looking at the data. While we know that some students do not try at all...ANNNNDDDDD what does our grading TRULY say about us as educators?  Have we examined the ways we provide support to prevent a student from failing? Have we connected with the parents, AHEAD of time? 

What do the amount of Ds and Fs in your classes say about you, as an educator?  Did you know there are teachers on our campus who have a 30% failure rate for their students? THIRTY PERCENT!!!  That is unacceptable.  What are we going to do about it?  Are we reaching out to students and parents and working WITH them?  Have we documented all that we are doing to support the student?  Cause we document EVERYTHING!!  Are we grading for growth or are we just "checking a box"?  Check out THIS ARTICLE to look at some information regarding grading for growth...

ENGAGEMENT is a topic that we will ALWAYS be addressing.  

We started thinking of even easier ways to engage our students so that those that struggle with this, could start TODAY!  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE that shows some EASY PEASY ways to incorporate engagement ideas and techniques, including one word splash, response cards, and secret answers, to make being in your class waaayyyyy more fun!

LIGHT A FIRE UNDER IT!  

  

WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A STUDENT IN YOUR CLASS???

IF YOUR STUDENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE IN YOUR CLASS, WOULD THEY SHOW UP ANYWAY??

Check out some of the NEW Tweets that are ALWAYS going on around campus!  Stop by and see what's happening in your colleague's classrooms!  These pics below are updated WEEKLY! Aren't following everyone yet?  Follow US @GVMSVIKINGS and we have everyone's Twitter handle! =) 

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!  KEEP THEM COMING!  We love the "I Noticed..." and will add as many as we can!

Click HERE to add! (83)

• SUPER awesome shout out to Allison, Dave M., Lorraine, and Barb for helping me with an emergency IS and SARB issue! ~Kristen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Julie for helping me with Springboard pacing! ~Anonymous
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn for sharing the Stikbot supplies last minute! ~Kristy
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia for checking in to see how she can support students when they are in Directed Studies! ~Kristy
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin for opening his classroom for morning coffee and team building! ~Lorraine and Carol and Aubry and K&C
• SUPER awesome shout out to Annette for having a flipgrid lesson ready when I needed to oversee garden stuff! ~Katherine
• SUPER awesome shout out to Mimi for helping with the delivery of the garden supplies! ~Katherine
• SUPER awesome shout out to Christen for running a make up meeting for 6th grade! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy for working to get ELA Boot Camp up and running for our students! ~Anonymous
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for always being there for me (and EVERYONE on campus!) ~Kimberly
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Don, Katherine, Lorraine, Heather P., Aubry and Admin for already writing Good News Referrals for NOVEMBER!
• SUPER awesome shout out to ALL for the 218 GOOD NEWS REFERRALS for OCTOBER !! 

 **SEE BLOG AS IT HAS WAY MORE DATES**

*Wednesdays are College Days

*Mondays/Fridays are GVMS Spirit Days!