April 18, 2019

Let's stay MOTIVATED!  

How do we do that you ask? GREAT question!  There are so many ways that we can stay focused, positive, and motivated to do the best for our students!  From trying a new teaching approach (Go visit some of our AWESOME colleagues around campus to steal ideas!), to making time for FUN, take a look at THESE easy ideas to get you started!

As we enter our last few weeks of school (I know you aren't COUNTING or anything!), it is absolutely critical that we continue to consistently reinforce our expectations, routines/procedures, and rules.  We are seeing ridiculous increases of negative student behavior.  Yes, we know, it's Spring. Yes, they are middle school students.  Yes, we know testing makes them antsy.  AND, as the adults on campus (yes, that's you all!!) it is necessary that we continue to reinforce what we do at GVMS, supervise all students at all times, and are visible to encourage students to follow the rules.  I mean, they aren't complicated or anything!  We truly appreciate your continued diligence and support to make the end of the school year super awesome and successful!!

How do we #finishstrong?!?!  I know we are tired.  I know we are stressed.  I know there is a lot of pressure.  I know we ALL have things going on outside of GVMS.  I also know that we are here, with each other (and awake usually), more than we are with our families. So, again, HOW do we FINISH STRONG and encourage others to do the same??  Well, I think the pic above nails it.  Mic drop.  Keep Moving.  Plan for success. COLLABORATE.  Grow as an educator. Evaluate your goals and ask for feedback.  

CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE!

Celebrate YOU!  Celebrate YOUR/OUR STUDENTS!  Celebrate PARTNERS at GVMS!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

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• SUPER awesome shout out to Ric for putting my chair together! ~Heather P.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Aubry, Jason, and Lorraine for letting our guest new teacher hang out in English today!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Peter for helping with the field trip to Cal!  And thanks to Megan and Liz for being a chaperone! ~Heather T.
• SUPER awesome shout out to Admin for trying to boost morale in creative ways, especially through our stomachs! ~Heather P.
• SUPER awesome shout out to History for their productive collab day!
• SUPER awesome shout out to our Dept Chairs for their leadership!
• SUPER awesome shout out to my Secret Pal for my birthday gift yesterday!  I felt very loved on my birthday yesterday! ~Larissa
• SUPER awesome shout out to Karen and Annette for covering for me when I need a break! ~Katherine
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for testing and retesting the students to go into Acc 7!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Heather and Honor Society for ALL of their donations for the Spring Fling!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for the cute sign in the garden!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sarj for the donations from Winters and Lorraine for the vino!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin for always making the time to check in and see how I am doing! ~Katherine
• SUPER awesome shout out to those BOOSTING MORALE!  We could always use more positive vibes on campus!!!

April 12, 2019

 

As we get to the end of the school year, it can be a HUGE task to keep our (any, for that matter) students engaged!  How do we do this??  How do we overcome the principle of least effort? Smile?  Beg?  Plead?  Let's ENGAGE!  Click HERE to learn 7 ways to integrate high-intensity in-class activities to keep YOU and YOUR students engaged as we get closer and closer to the end of the year!

I couldn't help but share this cute video about testing!  Please feel free to play it with your classes (BEFORE TESTING WEEKS!) so that we can continue to encourage our students to do their best!

How do we #finishstrong?!?!  I know we are tired.  I know we are stressed.  I know there is a lot of pressure.  I know we ALL have things going on outside of GVMS.  I also know that we are here, with each other (and awake usually), more than we are with our families. So, again, HOW do we FINISH STRONG and encourage others to do the same??  Well, I think the pic above nails it.  Mic drop.  Keep Moving.  Plan for success. COLLABORATE.  Grow as an educator. Evaluate your goals and ask for feedback.  

CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE!

Celebrate YOU!  Celebrate YOUR/OUR STUDENTS!  Celebrate PARTNERS at GVMS!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

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• SUPER awesome shout out to Sandy for taking on the basketball tournament and supervising!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for the awesome garden sign! ~Katherine
• SUPER awesome shout out Rosa, Larissa, Julie, Nate, Aubry, and Alex for covering for me when I had to leave for health reasons! ~Lynn
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kimberly for the awesome GVMS Vikings sign for the auction!!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Cristina for the cup that says "tears of my students"! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to KC for the ice cream root beer floats! ~Julie
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sue for ALWAYS taking notes at ALL of the meetings that we have!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Ric for putting together a chair SO FAST!! 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tom for helping me out after the faculty meeting on Tuesday! ~Heather P
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn and her team for the serenity garden! ~TAP Class
• SUPER awesome shout out to Kevin Rogers, our new swing shift custodian! 
• SUPER awesome shout out to Sandy and her awesome Leadership crew for their help at RHS on Thursday! ~TAP Team
• SUPER awesome shout out to Marlys and Lilia for help with the CAASPP at the DO!~ Uma
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia and Carol for spearheading the Tutorial Vote!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Doug and Voz who always check on me after hours! ~Uma
• SUPER awesome shout out to Brenda for arranging subs for RSP and TAP!
• SUPER awesome shout out to 6th grade for coming together to plan for math!
• SUPER awesome shout out to Gwynn and Sandy for all they did to support at the RHS event on Thursday! ~Uma
• SUPER awesome shout out to Shirley, APE Teacher, for organizing the Special Olympics for all of middle school!  Everyone had fun! ~Uma

April 5, 2019

One of our VERY favorite things to do each day is be in classrooms.  Quite frankly, when we aren't, we get a little depressed.  We love a classroom where students are sharing what they are learning (not what their weekend plans are or what they just saw on SnapChat), we love them demonstrating their learning, and we love when our staff is engaged with them.  Going into a quiet classroom, with the teacher behind a desk and no interaction going on is not our thing.  Why is engagement so important?  We have also said is MULTIPLE times: high engagement yields high learning and low behavior issues.  Don't believe us?  Check out THIS ARTICLE on ways to increase engagement and the research behind it.  Yes, another article proving it =)

YEP.  We are here.  The time when motivation for students (and adults!) can be a STRUGGLE.  What can we do?  The struggle IS real....Do we sit back and "just get through it"?  NOPE!
We help students motivate themselves through choice, independence, constantly ask thinking questions, and make it a mystery/controversy to show what they know.  Take a look at THIS ARTICLE to spark engagement, get students (and yourself!) motivated and finish STRONG!

How do we #finishstrong?!?!  I know we are tired.  I know we are stressed.  I know there is a lot of pressure.  I know we ALL have things going on outside of GVMS.  I also know that we are here, with each other (and awake usually), more than we are with our families. So, again, HOW do we FINISH STRONG and encourage others to do the same??  Well, I think the pic above nails it.  Mic drop.  Keep Moving.  Plan for success. COLLABORATE.  Grow as an educator. Evaluate your goals and ask for feedback.  

CELEBRATE CELEBRATE CELEBRATE!

Celebrate YOU!  Celebrate YOUR/OUR STUDENTS!  Celebrate PARTNERS at GVMS!

SUPER HERO SHOUT OUTS!

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• SUPER awesome shout out to Angie for all of her work with our students and parents!  Thank you for being here while Christine was on maternity leave! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Elizabeth for the great effort and work sh puts forth with our students! ~Peter
• SUPER awesome shout out to HISTORY for taking on Naviance, registration, Soul Shoppe....anything else? =) ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Julie for always meeting with me with parents and taking over when I need her to! ~Lynn
• SUPER awesome shout out to Lynn and Sue for saving me and helping with Ryan's grades and such! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Tamia for getting projections done super duper fast and submitting them!! ~KC
• SUPER awesome shout out to Julie for helping me make sense of the testing schedule!~ Karron
• SUPER awesome shout out to Dustin for always keeping the line of communication open! ~Tara
• SUPER awesome shout out to Larissa, Kevin, Julie, Megan, Lynn Cristina, Kristen and Sandy for helping with Academic Olympics....much appreciated or the activity does not happen!~ Sue
• SUPER awesome shout out to ALL staff for filling out the SST and 504 feedback forms!  It helps the process go a lot smoother and you all have ROCKED it! ~Heather