March 2, 2018

Academic conversations are such a SIMPLE way to get students engaged and get the learning to "stick" and mean even more!  How do you structure those?  We have passed out so many different resources and tips and really want to see our levels of academic conversations increase 100%!  Think about it:  Do you learn more at a P.D. when they talk "AT" you or when you get to share with your peers or friends?  Seems like a no brainer!  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE for some background and ideas to help facilitate academic conversations with our students!

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SHOTS FROM TWITTER AND AROUND OUR CAMPUS THIS WEEK!   SEND US A TEXT TO COME VISIT AS WE LOVE IT!!

    

    

    

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

Click HERE to add! (178)

• SUPER awesome shout out to ALL STAFF who have checked on me, given me and my family cards, hugs, love, smiles, and kinds words.  It's been a hard week and I appreciate the kindness! ~Kristen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Christine and Elizabeth.  Thanks for being there to cover things, taking control when I couldn't and for holding me while I couldn't stand up =) ~Kristen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather T. for all her help with the sub and MAP Testing! ~Lorraine
• SUPER awesome shout out to SPED SQUAD for the open line of communication between them and myself!  Much more helpful for me! ~Don
• SUPER awesome shout out to my 6th period, Voz, Trevor, Doug, Barb, Kristy, Julie, Carol, Allison, Cristina, Dave F., yearbook staff, leadership, Sandy, Kristen, Christine and 74 participants for Academic Olympics! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Jason, Megan, Aubry, Allison, and Heather T for helping Shannon Balthazor increase her awareness of Academic Conversations! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin, Carol, Allison, Christine and Kristen for helping my sub while I was out on medical leave! F Wing ROCKS! ~Dave M.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Nate and Dave O. for covering my 1st period so that I could go and help Nikki! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia for bringing sunshine to my week ! ~Heather
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia again for the awesome bouquet of flower pencils! ~Heather P. 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Elizabeth, Brenita, Elizabeth, Ken, Cristina, Alex, Don, Sue, Lynn, Kristy, Megan, Jamie, Kimberly, Katherine, Josiah, Nate, Julie, Jacob, Heather P., Aubry, Allison, Heather T., Carol, Barb, Susan, Teesha, and Admin for writing 299 Good News Referrals for February!

February 23, 2018

I am going to step away from student engagement for a minute to reflect on our influence on our students.  Every day we are with our students to encourage them to create change, empower thought, challenge their minds, and help them to become the BEST and most successful people that they can be.  Imagine yourself as an artist that has a room full of works of art (our kids) and they are ready to be "painted" by you, the teacher.  Each one of our students is unique and we must work together to mold, foster, and help rise!

It is our obligation to teach each and every child.  It is our obligation to work with families (who also have a LOT going on) to help ensure that their child is successful when they are with us.

In looking at our "F" list, I am sad to think that our own "works of art" are considered a FAILURE.  Someone wise wrote, if you were to break a bone, you'd go to the doctor a=and get a cast.  The doctor doesn't just tell you, "Oh be more careful and don't fall."  They would provide support, relief and help in order to make you heal.  What can we do when students continue to struggle?  Continue to refuse to turn in work?

We are asking that each one of our staff members look at EVERY student individually and take some time with EVERY student to help them realize and reach their full potential.  Take some time to teach from the HEART and SUPPORT our students!  Let us find our PASSION of why we started in the field of education in the first place!  Let us find our ENERGY to do everything possible to support our students, encourage our students, and never give up.  Let us find our STRENGTH to support each other, be KIND to one another, SHARE ideas and strategies with one another and NEVER put another staff/team member down.   We ARE our greatest resource for our students and for each other!!

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SHOTS FROM TWITTER AND AROUND OUR CAMPUS THIS WEEK!   SEND US A TEXT TO COME VISIT AS WE LOVE IT!!

      

    

    

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

Click HERE to add! (168)

• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy, Ken and Barb for administering the CA Healthy Kids Survey to our 7th graders!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave F., Dustin, and Sandy for distributing the college surveys to our 8th graders!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for making the Academic Olympics happen AGAIN for our students!! ~KC and CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave F., Barb, Carol, Allison, Cristina, Julie, and Kristy for helping with Academic Olympics! 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather T. for always checking in on me and making sure I have everything I need! ~Megan
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin, Christen, Sue, Dave F., Sandy, Allison, and Barb for allowing our student teacher to come in and observe! ~Carol
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy M. and Jason for helping with cross walk when needed!
• SUPER awesome shout out to 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa for making the left turn time out of campus 3:30 instead of 4:30 =)! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out Heather T. for being so patient during MAP testing and dropping everything to come and help me! ~Aubry
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia for the flowers as they made my day brighter!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy and Aubry for coming at 7:30 to work with our kids in ELA boot camp!  ~Josiah
• SUPER awesome shout out to Katherine, Heather P., and Lynn for adding another boot camp session EACH!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Brenda, Michele S., Susan, and Michele R. for working together to ensure that our office runs smooth, especially when someone in the front office is out!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Elizabeth, Brenita, Elizabeth, Ken, Cristina, Alex, Don, Sue, Lynn, Kristy, Megan, Jamie, Kimberly, Katherine, Josiah, Nate, Julie, Jacob, Heather P., Aubry, Allison, Heather T., Carol, Barb, Susan, Teesha, and Admin for writing 299 Good News Referrals for February!

February 16, 2018

I am going to take a break from student engagement and simply focus on KINDNESS.  Seriously.  We just celebrated Random Act of Kindness week and it is more critical now than ever.  We MUST model this to our students, to one another, to our families that we work with.  It can be hard.  It can be a challenge.  And, yet, it is a MUST.  Again, we spend most of our awake time with EACH OTHER.  Make it a kind time with one another.

How do we foster that in our students too?  Take a look at THIS EASY article for things to HELP you promote teaching kindness in our classrooms.  Not rocket science and super easy to take 5 minutes to do at the beginning of each period.

Have you heard of this?  BE ON THE LOOK OUT!!  

Do you know what a JUUL is?  I certainly didn't.  And I still wish I didn't, however, JUULs are becoming more and more popular, especially among teenagers.  They are also SUPER easy to purchase.  While you are supposed to be 18, there are MANY places near us (7-11, Power Mart, and more) that have no problem selling to our Vikings.  What is a JUUL you ask?  Take a look at THIS SHORT VIDEO and informational piece about what they are, how addicting they can be, and why our kids may have their hands on them.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SHOTS FROM TWITTER AND AROUND OUR CAMPUS THIS WEEK!   SEND US A TEXT TO COME VISIT AS WE LOVE IT!!

    

    

    

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

Click HERE to add! (162)

• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather T for all of her HARD WORK and support with testing and English! ~Aubry and Megan 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for the intra-mural donations, bubbles, ensuring MAP Math was done,and ALL that you do.  DAILY!!! ~ALL OF US!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to our staff for being so kind to let students make up Math MAP Test! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina and Julie for continuously checking in with Nikki! ~KC and CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to all of the amazing teachers I work with!  I appreciate all of you! ~Tiffany
• SUPER awesome shout out to Alisa and Nate for taking the idea of intra-murals and RUNNING with it! ~KC and CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to Carol for the interactive History maps! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Alex and Jason for being on top of a new student who needs our support! ~KC, CL and EB
• SUPER awesome shout out to Susan for working with Brenda to get a task completed by the deadline! ~Michele R.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Carol for the work she has done with our two students from France!  Way to go! ~Dave M.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Elizabeth, Brenita, Ken, Cristina, Alex, Don, Sue, Lynn, Kristy, Megan, Jamie, Kimberly, Katherine, Nate, Julie, Aubry, Jacob, Heather P., Allison, Heather T., Carol, Barb, and Admin for writing 212 Good News Referrals for February!

February 9, 2018

Continuing our discussion on student engagement (one of THE MOST important things in teaching), building relationships with our students is CRITICAL to how effective we are as educators.  We cannot simply close the door, turn our back, ignore the signs, or pretend that our kids DO NOT need us.  They do.  Plain and simple.  So how can you build these relationships with 30+ students in your class?  Some ways can be simple.  Check out THIS ARTICLE on some of the "golden rules" of easy peasy ways to make SIMPLE connections.  C'mon people.  Don't they deserve it?  Don't YOU?

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??

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SHOTS FROM TWITTER AND AROUND OUR CAMPUS THIS WEEK!   SEND US A TEXT TO COME VISIT AS WE LOVE IT!!

         

     

    

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

Click HERE to add! (157)

• SUPER awesome shout out to all the teachers who helped me with my request for clipboards!  SO AWESOME to have such a supportive staff! ~Kristy
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn, Heather P., and Katherine who immediately jump on new ideas to support students! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue and Lorraine for being so supportive of a student having an emotional day!  A little kindness goes a LONG way! ~Christen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Carla for being a well skilled juggler who supports students and staff!  She's always helping someone! ~Christen
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina for her awesome mandala project and sending all of her plans to everyone! ~Don (and KC!)
• SUPER awesome shout out to Ms. Terry for all the help she provides our RSP kids in class!   She keeps them on task to finish their work! ~Cristina
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave F. for offering to team teach 6th grade History with Nikki! ~KC and CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to our ELA Department and Heather T. for sending out the group text to exercise and share! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn for handling a situation that happened when I had a sub! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina, Alex, Josiah, and Julie for helping Nikki (sub for Lacey's position) with lesson plans since there weren't many! MUCH APPRECIATED!!  ~KC and CL
• SUPER awesome shout out to our English Department for collaboration, open communication and walking adventure! ~Heather T.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dave F., Sue, Tamia and Jason for taking the conversation of tutorial even further! ~All staff
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for taking make up MAP testers! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue, Heather T., Megan, Katherine, Christen, Lynn for opening their classroom to a teacher at Dover! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin and Lorraine for letting me observe students in your classrooms! ~Heather T.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Rosa, Mimi, Brenita, Ken, Cristina, Alex, Don, Sue, Lynn, Megan, Jamie, Kimberly, Kristy, Katherine, Nate, Aubry, Jacob, Allison, Heather T., Carol, Barb, And Admin for writing 94 Good News Referrals for February!

February 2, 2018

This week, partially due to the full moon and it's effects, I decided that I would write 5 post cards to students daily about their progress, their positive attitude, etc.  My goal is to send to the entire 980 population by the end of the year. =)  I know a few others that do the same and they were my inspiration!

I am determined to make this happen!  Care to join me?!?!  We have them in the front office so just let me know and we can do it together!  It truly has made me feel good to send these out!!

Tell me and I forget.

Teach me and I remember.

Involve me and I learn.

~Ben Franklin

Sound familiar?  We have all heard this quote and MUST truly drill it into our teaching.  Seriously.  We STILL have so many teachers that are spending all 52 minutes talking AT our students.  AT THEM!  Why aren't you making them work harder?  How can we be MORE intentional with our teaching??  How can you incorporate movement since NO ONE loves to sit for close to an hour?  Please take a moment to read THIS ARTICLE about ways to make it a natural thing in your classroom!!

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??

HERE ARE SOME OF THE SHOTS FROM TWITTER AND AROUND OUR CAMPUS THIS WEEK!   SEND US A TEXT TO COME VISIT AS WE LOVE IT!!

       

       

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

Click HERE to add! (146)

• SUPER awesome shout out to MANY TEACHERS and STAFF for checking on each other during block schedule to give a break! ~Don and Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Jason for attending a meeting regarding tutorial and taking it even further! ~Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to Carol for taking time to guide me on supporting my EL students! ~Barb
• SUPER awesome shout out to Ken for really being a great listener for one of our students who just received devastating news in her family =( ~KC and EB
• SUPER shout out to Christen for helping us with a super struggling student! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kristy for ALWAYS being there when I have questions!! ~Barb
• SUPER awesome shout out to Jason for constantly helping me after school with that cross walk!  I appreciate it! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather T for her work in our English Department!  She is facilitating conversation, exemplifying best practices, and being inviting, positive colleague! Maddie Bauer was right about you! ~Jason
• SUPER awesome shout out to Josiah for continuing to come to GVMS with a smile on his face in spite of the hard loss in his family.  He remains strong and positive with our students, putting them first! ~Aubry
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather T for organizing an informal collab that helped organize all of our grade level writing and resources in one area! ~Julie 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Don for already writing 11 Good News Referrals for February already!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Annette, Karen, Ken, Alex, Tamia, Alisa, Sue, Lynn, Ryan, Kristy, Megan, Jamie, Kimberly, Katherine, Josiah, Lacey, Julie, Christen, Sandy, Aubry, Allison, Heather T., Paula, Carol, Barb, Susan, Michele S., Michele L-R, KC and CL for writing 223 Good News Referrals for January!