CANNON LEGACY
A Newsletter For Cannon Staff 2017-2018
Principal Points - 2/05-2/09
The GCISD Personalized Programs EXPO was a BIG success, thanks to our outstanding Cannon team of staff & scholars that represented us so well at this event! We received SO much positive feedback for the great exhibits that were showcased at this event last week by Cannon scholars & staff! We are so grateful to ALL of our Cannon staff that helped out at this event - TEAMwork WORKS!!
Click here to see some great photos from this event!
This year, we will be hosting STEM Information meetings for families who are considering applying to the lottery for their child to attend Cannon next year. We will be offering these meetings on three separate dates/times and we will pair each meeting with a campus tour. While we will not be bringing guests into classrooms, we will be "walking the halls & walls" during their tours. Please work as a team to make sure your hallway displays are updated & spiffed up! These provide a window into your classroom, so take this opportunity to proudly show off the great work you and your scholars are doing at Cannon!
Please make sure you are aware of the dates/times below that we will be showing off our campus to prospective families and help us spread the word!
Proud to be your principal,
Tona :)
Lisa's Coaching Corner
KUDOS again to 1st, 5th, Kindergarten and 3rd grade for the great observations of your students and for sharing the strategies you use in class. EVERYONE learned from each other and I am positive that new things are being done in classrooms across our school because of this!!
Two quick things I want to share that came up during Achievement Data meetings.
1) Robin Griffin shared how she records herself so that her students that receive oral accommodations. "I just use the Voice Memos app on my phone, use Airdrop to load the file on my computer in iTunes, and then convert it to mp3 in iTunes. Then I share the file via Google Classroom, just with selected students." Thank you Robin for sharing this practice you use regularly in your classroom. Check out an example from Robin below.
2) Remember that iStation has many great lessons that you can teach in small groups to help students. These lessons are great forTier 2 and 3 students. The ones I shared with several groups are "Problem Solving without NUMBERS. Here are step for find the lesson for 3rd-5th grade:
Go to the Toolbox and then Teacher Resources. Be sure you have clicked on Math. Then in the top box - just type "Problem Solving without numbers" and the top two are:
Operations-Problem Solving without Numbers: Addition and Subtraction
Operations-Problem Solving without Numbers: Multiplication and Division
DATES TO REMEMBER
2/12 Staff Potluck lunch in the lounge!
2/12 PLC Week A - 1st grade 2:15-3:45
2/13 GCISD Employee Survey Date for Cannon
2/13 PLC Week A - Kindergarten 2:15-3:45
2/14 Class Valentine Parties - 2:00 pm
2/15 GCISD Kindness Day - Wear your Rachel's Challenge T-shirts!
2/15 PLC Week A - 2nd grade 2:15-3:45
2/19 Professional Learning Day - no school for students 7:30-3:30
2/20-2/23 - National Engineering Week!
2/20 2nd grade field trip to FWMSH 8:45-2:30
2/20 PLC Week B - 5th grade 2:15-3:45
2/21 PLC Week B - 4th grade 2:15-3:45
2/22 STEM parent Information meeting & campus tour 8:30-10:00
2/22 4th grade field trip to FWMSH 9:30-1:30
2/22 Middle School 5th grade Parent Information Night @ all middle schools 6:00-7:00
2/26 U.CAN 3:00-3:45
2/27 Class Picture Day!
2/27 PLC Week A - Kindergarten 2:15-3:45
2/27 Cannon Night @ Cici's Pizza!
2/28 PLC Week A - 1st grade 2:15-3:45
2/28 Baby Shower for Brittney Womack - 3:00-3:30 library
3/01STEM parent Information meeting & campus tour 12:30-2:00
3/01 PLC Week A - 2nd grade 2:15-3:45
3/01STEM parent Information meeting & campus tour 5:30-7:00 pm
CONGRATULATIONS MILLS FAMILY!!
We are so fortunate to have Sarah Brillhart join the 2nd grade team as Mindi's long-term sub. Please help welcome Sarah and make her feel right at home on our Cannon staff!
STAFF ASSIGNMENTS 2018-2019
If you haven't completed this yet, please note it is due by Friday 2/16 - thank YOU!
It's that time of year when we start planning for staffing needs for next year. ALL STAFF is asked to complete the following staff assignment form. Please submit this by Friday, February 16th at 4:00 pm.
CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE STAFF ASSIGNMENT - 2018-2019 FORM.
February Book of the Month!!
We are SO excited about this month's book and challenge!! Please make sure that everyone on your team has had the opportunity to share this month's book, Awesome Dawson, with their scholars!
Please share Kristi's BoM video below with your class and discuss this month's Inventor's Challenge. This is an awesome opportunity for our Cannon Cubs! All of the details can be found in the February BoM Smore linked below.
AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR CANNON TEACHERS!
Remember that HUGE grant that was given to GCISD's STEM programs by Boeing earlier this year? It's finally time to share information about how Cannon teachers can earn up to $6,000-$7,000+ by getting involved in some of the awesome opportunities this grant is targeted to fund!
This job description will be posted by GCISD Human Resources during the next several days. Please read the job description and below for more details about this exciting opportunity! All Cannon teachers are eligible to apply for these opportunities! Questions? Contact tony.zahn@gcisd.net or Julie Brenegan for more details!
Primary Purpose:
The Aviation Industry Motivating Student Success (AIMSS) has been funded by a grant from Boeing. The program supports underrepresented students in the GCISD K-8 STEM pipeline. The goal is to fully prepare all elementary students for the advanced coursework of the middle school program and in kind, fully prepare all middle school students for the advanced coursework of the high school program; ultimately preparing students for college and careers.
Through an extended day, Saturday and Summer Camp, this position will provide instruction, support, mentoring, data collection as well as championing the success of the up to 15 students targeted and assigned to the teacher.
Tuition-Based Pre-K Program Savings For GCISD Employees!
In the 2018-2019 school year, GCISD will offer a tuition-based Pre-K program at Bransford Elementary, Colleyville Elementary, O.C. Taylor Elementary, Grapevine Elementary, Heritage Elementary and Bear Creek Elementary. There will be limited availability at Timberline and Silver Lake Elementary for a blended program that includes English and Spanish (an option if you are considering Dual Language in Kindergarten).
The district will offer a 10% discount to current employees for the campus based pre-k program. Before and after school care will also be available in our KidzU program for employees with children enrolled in pre-k at no additional cost. The total cost of the program will be $5,650 including a $100 registration fee and $150 supply fee both due in the spring to reserve the seat. The first monthly payment of $540 will be due July 30th.
GCISD employees will have priority placement on the requested campus for their pre-k student. Simply fill out this Google Form to provide us with information we need at this time. Forms must be complete by March 9th. Additional registration information will be collected once the class placement is confirmed.
We are very excited about this opportunity! We will be located in the lecture hall at the Special Programs Expo on Thursday, February 8th from 5:00-7:00 at Cross Timbers Middle School. District and campus staff will be available to share more information about the program and answer questions.
REMINDERS AND UPDATES
CANNON EMPLOYEE SURVEY DAY IS RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY! It's that time of year when GCISD rolls out the employee survey! Cannon has been re-assigned Tuesday, 2/13, as our campus survey day. Watch for am email from Tona on Tuesday with the link to this survey. It will need to be completed on that date.
BUS DRILLS THIS WEEK Please note that the GCISD transportation department will be doing required bus drills with students as the buses arrive to school during this week. This process will cause a delay in student arrival time to school and require additional time before unloading. Thank you for your patience!
TEACHER AND PARAPROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR-COMING SOON! GCISD is in the process of refining the Teacher of the Year process, so the timeline has been adjusted slightly. The nomination window for campus candidates for ToY & PoY will begin during the week of February 19th this year, with voting taking place during the week of March 5th-9th. Campus announcements for ToY & PoY will take place AFTER Spring Break! This is always such a special time for us as we recognize outstanding representatives from our school! We have MANY wonderful staff members that deserve recognition! Please participate in the nomination process when it begins!
METROPLEX SCIENCE MINICAST Each year, we have a number of Canon staff who LOVE attending this local conference. It truly has some outstanding sessions!! The science department will cover registration for teachers who would like to attend this professional learning opportunity on Saturday, February 17. Details about the event and registration can be found here.
FINAL CALL TO COMPLETE THIS PTA SURVEY If you have NOT completed this yet, please do so ASAP! PTA needs your T-shirt size and other info on this survey to plan an amazing staff appreciation week for YOU! . Click here to access this survey.
GCISD KINDNESS DAY - FEBRUARY 15th Kindness Day is the day we promote kindness and compassion across the district. GCISD is encouraging everyone: students, staff, parents, board members and community members to wear a Rachel's Challenge Shirt (or a green shirt) on this day.
KINDERGARTEN: Kindergarten scholars will explore the various strands of engineering throughout the week. Students have been divided into groups, and they will rotate through each classroom. We will be studying aerospace engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, and robotics. There will be a specific design challenge aligned to each strand in every rotation.
1st GRADE: First grade will be designing paper airplanes under the direction of a Lockheed Martin engineer. They will also be learning how the Engineering Design Process is applied to the creation of stained glass mosaics from a local glass studio owner. Students will follow the EDP to create their own stained glass piece. Additionally, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History will be sending out their Mobile Magnet Discovery Lab to introduce the 'magic' of magnets.
2nd GRADE: During Engineering Week, second graders will be going to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to enjoy the STEM exhibits as well as the regular exhibits. Presenters from Lockheed will come Thursday to give a brief presentation about aviation engineering. Students will be building and testing paper airplanes.
3rd GRADE: Third grade scholars will have several exciting experiences to celebrate National Engineers Week! Scholars will be receiving a visit from an industrial engineer, Isaac Hicks, Klein Tools, as well as exploring how airplanes flight with professionals from Lockheed Martin. Scholars will also get to participate in a geometry design challenge in which they will create a piece of playground equipment using only quadrilaterals!
4th GRADE: During Engineer's Week, 4th grade will have multiple opportunities to discover different aspects of engineering. Early in the week, scholars will be making stomp rockets with Aerospace engineers from Lockheed Martin. Next we will be traveling to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History where they will experience hands on and mind challenging activities throughout the Museum while they collaborate with engineers and experience the world of engineering. Finally, in honor of Engineering Week, BEP Quality Engineer Mr. Ron Tobb will present some pretty cool facts and video on the different machines and tools engineers use to help design the currency production process during a Nepris Industry Video Call.
5th GRADE: 5th grade will be hosting our very first Cannon STEM University for this year's Engineering Week. We will be hosting 5 to 8 engineering professionals who will speak at staggering times about their profession and what it is like to be an engineer in their field. Students will create their own schedule for the event based off of availability and their engineering interest. On February 20th, students will travel around our “University” and get hands on experience from the professionals themselves! Additionally, scholars will learn from engineers with Lockheed Martin on February 20th, and will even create stomp rockets to explore the types of work done at this great company.
VALOR APPLICATIONS COMING SOON!
Applications for VALOR (Vanguard Association of Learning, Observation, and Reflection) will be coming out in February. VALOR is a group of innovative teachers that commit to reading, learning, observing, and reflecting together. If accepted you will have the opportunity to visit classrooms all over the district as well as be observed by your peers based on group and personal goals and receive individualized feedback from an instructional coach. Following is specific information on the application process:
Applications (google form) will go out February 12 in an email from Dr. Newell and due by Feb. 26 at 5 pm. The VALOR team will score based on a rubric and on input from campus principals
A group will be selected to move on to the interview portion and if you make it, you will be contacted by a VALOR team member to set up a time for the interview at your campus either during your conference or after school
You will be contacted by Dr. Newell with the final decision
We hope to invite about 24-28 people to our next class of VALOR
For more information, please visit our web page, ask a former VALOR teacher, or contact Melanie Gonzales (melanie.gonzales@gcisd.net).
GT UPDATE CREDIT OPPORTUNITY!
It has been confirmed attendance at the Escape the Bus event on February 17th will equal 2 clock hours of GT Update/CTE hours.
Those participating should print their registration to upload into Eduphoria when requesting "Out of District" credit as described on the previous attachment. SAGE will forward a copy of a sign-in sheet to our department for attendance verification.
If any participants wish to extend these 2 earned hours to 6, they may do so via GT Independent Study. Please access the link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScO80injzyZB4JFiTz9o6-6bM8T5gBvCPVtrA6R5meDXnJLAA/viewform
Celebrating Black History!
Worth A Read...or a Listen!!
FIVE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES THAT HELP WITH CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT was the topic on my #1 favorite podcast The 10-Minute Teacher this week! Read the transcript OR listen to learn some ideas that are fresh, innovative, and that work! You can see #1 in action at Cannon in P.E. by our very own, Coach Sutherlin. Check out how SHE does this!
EMPATHY & VALENTINE'S DAY! What better time of the year to engage in some meaningful social & emotional learning opportunities with your scholars! This resource is excellent for some great ideas on how to use this holiday as a great time to teach about compassion and caring!
THE AMAZING DRONE SHOW AT OPENING CEREMONIES FOR OLYMPICS 2018 was awe-inspiring! The interesting video below show how Intel used this technology to create this artistic show! Also, click here to read about some other innovative technologies that are making their debut at this year's Olympics! Your scholars would LOVE to learn about these connections to tech and this world event!
TWITTER REMINDERS FOR @canSTEM
Please help us reach our campus goal for all staff to participate in a 5-minute a day communication plan, as stated in George Couros's quote shown here. It's truly a simple way to SHARE & LEARN from the best minds in GCISD! I am going to be highlighting our school twitter account HEAVILY with parents & our school community, to help create our own "outward culture of celebration"!!
As a reminder, please include our school's handle, @canSTEM, in all of your tweets, so that they can be automatically retweeted on our school account. At the end of the day, simply go to @canSTEM and scroll through our school's tweets for 5 minutes and see what your colleagues are sharing! If you want to learn more from them about an idea they shared....you will only have to walk across the building to get more information firsthand!
Please click here to see our staff list of social media accounts. Please add/update any information so that we can make sure we follow each other!
About This Background Image...
TO-DO LIST
- Set a timer and complete daily attendance ON TIME!
- Don't forget to show daily KCAN announcements every Monday-Thursday!! #KidsDeserveIt
- Enjoy a baked potato with yummy toppings & salad at the staff pot luck on Monday!
- Make sure to communicate with parents about Valentine's Day parties, Student Holiday on 2/19, & GCISD Kindness Day!
- Share the LOVE with your class & colleagues on Valentine's Day!
- Wear your Rachel's Challenge shirt AND jeans on Kindness Day - 2/15!
- Complete and return the Staff Assignments for 2018-2019 form & submit by 2/16.
- Complete the quick PTA survey in this newsletter. - They need your t-shirt size!
- Watch for an email from Tona about the Employee Survey on Friday, 2/13.
- Make sure you are communicating about student holiday on 2/19!
- Attend Tech Talks with Julee on Friday 2/17 to learn more about Greenscreens!
- Review the information in this newsletter about the 5-minute a day communication plan. Tweet & blog about all of the great things you are doing in your classroom/grade!
- Update teacher website, blog and other social media.