11-17-23

 Huge thank you to Michele Davis, Lauren Dunne, and Sherry for helping to Organize the Staff Turkey celebration!  The food was great, the conversations and comradery was better!

Friday Dr. Woell and I will be carving turkeys in the lunchroom for the kiddos and staff.   I appreciate Elise's and Evelyn's extra assistance getting this organized.  Kids will not be rung up in the lunchroom but we will still need the lunch supervisors help in checking the list.

10 teacher picks for the best classroom tech tools.  

https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-teacher-picks-best-tech-tools?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Fall+23&utm_id=Fall23&utm_term=fall+school+season&utm_content=tech+tools

Melissa L and Morgan took some of our 7th and 8th grade band and choir students to WCCHS for  great day of articulation with the music programs.  Our kids had a blast and learned a lot about high school opportunities.  

Don't forget about Sherry's tamale day email so you can get an order in for December 14th.  

Our teaching assistants were recognized at the school board meeting on Monday.  They are such an integral part of our success with students.  I want to thank Sue, Holly, Lori, Michelle S, Nicollette, Michele D, and Carrie for everything they do to help students and teachers.  

I appreciate that there is always a BEA rep at the school board meetings.  Keriann Moore had the honor this month (and it was a long one!)

At Tuesday's PTA meeting we were given a generous donation for Joe and Jen's hard work at the fun run.  I would love to see a  teacher rep at the PTA meetings and if you haven't signed up to be a PTA member yet (Benjamin is standing at 24) then you should! 

5 strategies for students who struggle with reading comprehension. 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-ways-support-students-who-struggle-reading-comprehension/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Fall+23&utm_id=Fall23&utm_term=fall+school+season&utm_content=reading+comprehension

I enjoyed going around to the different subject area meetings  Wednesday after school and talking timesheets, purchasing processes and  answering capital project questions.  Speaking of the capital projects, I appreciate Dr. Woell's leadership in getting these improvements approved and communicating his vision to different stakeholder groups.   

I know it seems far away but we have our Chess Tournament on Saturday December 2nd.  We will be setting up the building (gyms and classrooms) on Friday December 1st after school.  

The data meetings we had on Thursday were filled with meaningful conversations and ideas.  

Thanks to Kim for getting all of the grades imported correctly into the report cards and to Evelyn for getting the report cards in the envelopes.  We will come back to homerooms at the end of the day to hand them out to students.  

Jen H's 5th grade School Board appreciation presentations and Michelle F and Carrie L's book dedications were well received by the school board on Monday night.  I appreciate their effort on these projects.  

Please make sure that you check out the email Solly sent out and save the date for the Holiday Breakfast.  Friday, December 15th, 6:30am in the Benjamin Small Gym.  

It is great seeing Greg in the building and he gave a great presentation on the state of tech in our district at the school board meeting on Monday.  I would also like to welcome Ellen B back who will be helping us out from time to time with technology.  

I know we are all wishing Kerry K the best of luck with her maternity leave and the new addition to her family that will soon be arriving.  

As we wrap up American Education Week I hope each of you know how much I appreciate the individual talents you bring to our school and how strong we are together. I hope that all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and enjoy the week off.  You deserve it!

"Negative thoughts were treated by Cherokee healers with the same medicines as wounds, headaches, or physical illness. It was believed that unchecked negative thoughts can permeate the being and manifest themselves in negative actions." -- Wilma Mankiller

"Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Believing that you’re enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic." -- Brené B

"The minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion."

-- Soren Kierkegaardrown

11-10-2023

 I am looking forward to the Veterans Day Assembly on Friday.  For me it is one of the highlights of the year. I truly appreciate the amount of time and effort that Melissa puts into this event to make sure it is special for our Veterans and their families.

Danielle and Angela have been all over the building (and the district) giving lots of support to people in many different ways. I appreciate their flexibility in working with individual staff and meeting them where they are at (geographically and readiness)!

Thanks to Evelyn for getting out the newsletter. I appreciate her patience with someone who had not turned in his article after numerous reminders!

We now have grade level colored fish slips!  Please use these as a motivating factor in the classroom to reward students for giving their best or going out of the way to help other students.  Friday during study skills is when they can shop at the Fish closet and this Friday we will have a drawing for a $25 prize or two. 

Working with Nicole C's help I have sent about twenty letters to parents in regards to their child's attendance.  In addition I put something in my (late) newsletter article about the importance of on time daily attendance.  

Please sign up for our Thanksgiving Potluck on Wednesday November 15th.  Thanks to Lauren and Michelle D for helping to organize this fun bonding event!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we will be serving Turkey to the students and staff on Friday November 17th.  Any help that you can provide in making sure your homeroom students sign up for lunch each week (Thanksgiving or otherwise) would be appreciated!

Article highlighting great ways to group students for Cooperative Learning.

Cooperative Learning Strategies

Thanks to the Specials Team for their Fabulous Thanksgiving theme student of the month bulletin board.  I'm honored to be "driving the truck"! 

Thanks to all of the Game Day supervisors for the work they do at each game to supervise the students and families attending our sporting events.  Special thanks to Megan D and Jessica who each had to handle a situation last week as a supervisor.  This message was sent out to all parents tonight.

Student attendance at Basketball Games

Students are allowed to go to the JV (4pm) and Varsity (5pm) basketball games.  We have adult supervisors for these games.  Students need to be picked up promptly at the finish of these games which is usually one hour after start time.  

Students are only allowed to go to 6th grade games (6pm and later) as a spectator if they are accompanied by their parent.  We do not have supervisors after 6pm.  After the varsity game supervisors will bring all unaccompanied students out of the gym to call home for a ride.  All students are expected to follow all school rules while in attendance at the games and listen to the game day supervisors directions at all times. Any students not following the rules or not listening to the supervisor will be asked to leave and call home for a ride.  Thank you for your support in reinforcing these guidelines with your children. 

Congrats to Melissa Falkos for getting her GoFund Me  microscope project funded in just one week.  This project adds to the growing list of GoFund Me successes for our teachers that benefit our students.  Special thanks to Janice and Lisa for all of their hard work and effort to make these projects successful.  

Please take a look at the April's theater needs list and see where you might be able to help.  

I appreciate Greg, Vanessa and Michelle F's hard work to make the Gamers Club Minecraft Education edition up and running for our students.  The students were engaged and having a great time this week.  

"People didn't believe me when I told them I practiced harder than I played, but it was true. That's where my comfort zone was created. By the time the game came, all I had to do was react to what my body was already accustomed to doing." —Michael Jordan

"You can't have an up without a down. You can't have a left without a right. This is duality. If you have a problem, you must already have the solution. The question is, do you really want the solution, or do you want to perpetuate the problem?" -- Byron Katie

"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us." — Marcel Proust

11-3-2023

 Huge thank you to Danielle and Angela for putting a lot of time and effort into the presentations for Friday.  Your hard work and professionalism are appreciated.  

Thanks to Solly for getting a good breakfast for us to start our day with on Friday.  I am looking forward to Dr. Woell's presentation and hearing your feedback.  We have a busy day so make sure your computer is charged!  I sent out the evaluation to your email tonight.  

Also thanks to Tim and our custodial staff for getting everything set-up for our great day of learning tomorrow.  

Halloween week ended in a blast with costumes for both students and adults.  Thanks for participating in spirit week and thanks to Colleen and Alex for guiding the student council kids in coming up with the ideas!

The fish store is replenished with desirable goods!  I will be stopping by teams to hand out new fish slips.

Thanks again to everyone for responding quickly and following directions/procedures to ensure student safety during our Halloween Kitchen Situation.  Students followed your lead and we were able to quickly get back to learning.  

strategies for guiding the learning process  (click the link for bigger image)

I know it came out last week but I just got done reading the latest edition of the Tiger Times.  Very impressed with the scope of articles from a through history of the Premier Soccer League to sage advice from an experienced student on the ill effects of homework.  Outstanding work as usual.  

Thanks to everyone for making valuable use of your team and plan time everyday.  I am always amazed at what you can get accomplished in that short amount of time.  

9 good classroom uses for AI    (These are pretty cool!)

Parent teacher conferences went off very well today.  I will talk with Dr. Woell and Mrs. Smith to relay that the level of participation with Zoom meetings significantly dropped this year.  In person parents I spoke with talked highly of the time spent with teachers and the timeliness of schedule.  Great job everyone.

Special thanks to Kim for getting all zoom and in-person conferences scheduled through our online platforms.  I am very grateful that  I can count on her to get the job done. 

The fascinating history of Cemeteries

https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-fascinating-history-of-cemeteries-keith-eggener/think

Don't forget your health clinic appointments if you made them for tomorrow AM.  Thanks to Dr. Filas for organizing this event.  

I enjoyed getting to see Michael Miles in music class and Sherry's day of the dead activity celebrations.  Our students are so lucky to have these opportunities/experiences to learn from.  

"If there is knowledge, it lies in the fusion of the book and the street." -- Studs Terkel

“You can’t get much done in life if you only work hard on the days you feel good.” -- Jerry West

"In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." -- Paul Harvey