May 25, 2017

Anyone need a pep talk?  We do!  We needed to watch this and remind ourselves of our "WHY"?  Why we show up each day to make a better place for our kids to be, why we smile when we may not feel like it, why we are an "ear" for our kids to bend when they need us, why we are a shoulder to cry on when they need us, and why we are here at GVMS.  WE NEEDED IT!  Our "WHY" is our STUDENTS and we needed to reminder as our patience is certainly being tested!!  It'll make you smile, I promise!!

Now is a great time to spring clean and purge!  Please start going through your cabinets and getting rid of items that are not being used.  For all staff who do not have energy efficient items in their classroom, please take them home and dispose of them in the correct manner.  We cannot have these on campus any longer, so please replace them before coming back in August!  If you need something picked up by Warehouse, please let me know and I can help!

*ONE TIME OFFER- anything that you want delivered to Good Will, please bring it to downstairs table outside mail room and it will be taken for you- no questions asked=)  Offer good until Friday, June 9th!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Sue for making sure that ALL of her students have received a Good News Referral during their time at GVMS!
• SUPER shout out to Dalal, Julie, Anita, Lacey, and Cristina for a productive collab day!
• SUPER shout out to Dan for another awesome musical performance!
• SUPER shout out to Dalal for the novel inventory!
• SUPER shout out to Mimi, Rosa, Teesha, Ms. Kristy, Bates, Booker, Cloud, Diaz, Farley, Hafich, Kinder, Laffey, Love, Marks, McKenna, Morace, Patterson, Pereira, Rice, Robinson, Russell, Schwarzbach, Toll, Walton, Wheeler, Cherry and Lucero for writing Good News Referrals for MAY!!
• SUPER shout out to US as we are only 181 Chrome Books shy of being a 1:1 device school!!  Yay!  THANK YOU PTC!!!
• We have had 268 Good News Referrals for May!!  We have had OVER 2,200 TOTAL FOR THE YEAR!! KEEP THEM COMING!! Yes.  We have had multiple referrals.  Deep breath.  Take a moment.  I know everyone is stressed- kids and adults.  We are the adults and we have to be the bigger person =)  Patience, guys! We've got this!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
*May 24- June 2- MAP Testing

*May 26/29- No School for Memorial Day

*May 31- Career Day

*June 2- 8th grade dance

*June 6- 3:30 End of Year Faculty Meeting/Retirement Celebration at CAST IRON!

*June 7- Promotion Practice/8th grade Field Day

*June 8- Promotion!!

May 19, 2017

THANK YOU for the flowers, the gift cards and most importantly the sweet SUPER HERO card with the sweet messages!  WE are so incredibly blessed and spoiled and APPRECIATE YOU ALL!!!

Now is a great time to spring clean and purge!  Please start going through your cabinets and getting rid of items that are not being used.  For all staff who do not have energy efficient items in their classroom, please take them home and dispose of them in the correct manner.  We cannot have these on campus any longer, so please replace them before coming back in August!  If you need something picked up by Warehouse, please let me know and I can help!

*ONE TIME OFFER- anything that you want delivered to Good Will, please bring it to downstairs table outside mail room and it will be taken for you- no questions asked=)  Offer good until Friday, June 9th!

C'mon!  We know the end of the year and this is the time to TRY NEW strategies to keep our kids engaged!  How can you avoid burn out?  How can you put an end to kids "resting" in your classroom?  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE about easy hacks to incorporate in your classroom including small groups, moving, learning stations and more!  There are even classrooms on our campus that are already ROCKIN' with this so go SEE THEM IN ACTION!!  Our kids deserve it!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to all for the gifts and the love for Cherry and Lucero!  We love you back!!
• SUPER shout out to Mimi, Rosa, Teesha, Ms. Kristy, Bates, Booker, Cloud, Diaz, Farley, Hafich, Kinder, Laffey, Love, Marks, McKenna, Morace, Patterson, Pereira, Rice, Robinson, Russell, Schwarzbach, Toll, Walton, Wheeler, Cherry and Lucero for writing Good News Referrals for MAY!!
• SUPER shout out to Katherine for leading the SeeSaw PD and to Carol, Montz, Josiah, Sue, Allison, Paula, Tom and Lacey for attending!
• SUPER shout out to Sarj for the delicious breakfast and to Mr. Laffey for coming early to help!
• SUPER shout out to US as we are only 293 Chrome Books shy of being a 1:1 device school!!  Yay!  We also ordered 17 more and we are working with PTC to purchase some as we speak!!
• We have had 199 Good News Referrals for 10 days in May!!  We have had OVER 2,000 TOTAL FOR THE YEAR!! KEEP THEM COMING!! 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*May 1-19- SPCA Drive
*May 23- Nightmare on Puberty Street Assembly- Assembly schedule!

*May 24- Spring Concert- Assembly Schedule
*May 24- Site Council

*May 26/29- No School for Memorial Day

*May 31- Career Day

*June 2- 8th grade dance

*June 6- End of Year Faculty Meeting/Retirement Celebration at CAST IRON!

*June 8- Promotion!!

May 12, 2017

THREE productive, positive weeks DONE and I can't wait to get the results!!! We so appreciate your patience, smiles, caring, concern and willingness to help one another.  It has been a rough three weeks in some aspects and our apologies if our patience has been thin. =)

THANK YOU for helping to make this Friday a success (FINGERS CROSSED!!) for all of our GVMS staff and students!  We hope that you had a great time celebrating this awesome award and having fun with our students!  Please thank a parent who volunteered to help if you see one!

I just signed up to receive the "tool box" from AJ Juliani and I could not be MORE excited!  We are always searching for new ways and ideas to reach students and what better way than THIS ARTICLE that give you 10 easy ways to make innovation real in our school and in your classroom! 

Hope you have had a great Teacher Appreciation Week and you were spoiled, even just a little =)  You know we LOVE Kid President so make yourself spend less than 4 minutes watching.  Betcha it will make you smile =)

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Dalal for letting us use her Chrome books!
• SUPER shout out to Diaz for helping Allison on first day of testing and for everyone sharing Chrome Books!  Sharing is caring!
• SUPER shout out to Fulton for taking more kids to finish their math test!
• SUPER shout out to Karen and Annette for the help in the library with testing!
• SUPER shout out to Olvera, Kinder, and Diaz for taking kids on Wednesday when we were super crowded in the library!!
• SUPER shout out to Sue for the awesome Gold Ribbon pen/stylus!
• SUPER shout out to US as we are only 293 Chrome Books shy of being a 1:1 device school!!  Yay!  We also ordered 17 more and we are working with PTC to purchase some as we speak!!
• We have had 172 Good News Referrals for 10 days in May!!  We have had 1,986 TOTAL FOR THE YEAR!! KEEP THEM COMING!! We have had 8 referrals in the 10 days....

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

*May 12- GOLD RIBBON CELEBRATION- schedule in email
*May 1-19- SPCA Drive
*May 17- Guitar Night
*May 19- Sport O Rama

*May 23- Nightmare on Puberty Street Assembly- Assembly schedule!

*May 24- Site Council

*May 24- Spring Concert

*May 25- 8th grade Dance

*May 26/29- No School for Memorial Day

*May 31- Career Day

*June 6- End of Year Faculty Meeting/Retirement Celebration at CAST IRON!

*June 8- Promotion!!

May 5, 2017

Two productive, positive weeks down and one to go!  Math is up next and we SO appreciate how you are supporting one another, encouraging our kids, relieving each other and more!  We LOVE to see this and it makes our hearts happy!

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

 Take a look at this one page handout that lays it out and this:

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)

Argh matey!  I am happy to share a little bit of what we will focus on during our team building and inspiring hands on retreat!  You all will become teaching pirates and we are SO EXCITED!  Are you ready to TEACH LIKE A PIRATE?!?

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

• SUPER shout out to Heather and Dalal for Honor Society clean up yesterday in our garden!  We WILL get that moving even more forward next year!
• SUPER shout out to Dave O. and Pozzesi for working with McKenna on the garden!
• SUPER shout out to Dalal for the retreat ideas!  Already submitted!
• SUPER shout out to Carol and Dave for letting me steal the Chrome Books so much!
• SUPER shout out to Mimi and Rosa and Aida and Kristy for checking on everyone during testing!
• SUPER shout out to Sue, Heather, and Dalal for keeping kids and continuing to test!!
• SUPER shout out to all who continue to check on everyone during block schedule!
• SUPER shout out to Karen for the help in the library with testing!
• SUPER shout out to US as we are only 293 Chrome Books shy of being a 1:1 device school!!  Yay!  We also ordered 17 more and we are working with PTC to purchase some as we speak!!
• We have had 66 Good News Referrals for 5 days in May!!  We have had 1,986 TOTAL FOR THE YEAR!! KEEP THEM COMING!! 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR!

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

*April 29- Spring Fling- Please join us!
*May 8-12 Teacher Appreciation Week!
*May 10- Teacher Appreciation Luncheon

*May 12- GOLD RIBBON CELEBRATION- schedule in email
*May 1-19- SPCA Drive

*May 23- Nightmare on Puberty Street Assembly- Assembly schedule!