CANNON LEGACY
A Newsletter For Cannon Staff 2017-2018
Principal Points - 4/16-4/20
Did you know that there are only 29 full days and 2 half days of school left in the 2017-2018 school year?? WHAT??!!??!?
Between now and the last day of school, in addition to some outstanding learning experiences that have been planned, there are MANY special events during the school days, such as field trips; guest speakers; Kindergarten Registration; EoY staff summatives; Career Day; more STAAR testing days; 5th Grade College Day; EoY student assessments; Hawaiian Falls Choir trip; AVID interviews; Field Day; Grade Level Awards Ceremonies; and MORE!
WHEW!! AND....on top of all of this, we will also begin to start packing up our school!
(INSERT TAKE A DEEP BREATH HERE!!)
While sometimes just reading about all of the special events that lie ahead can cause a bit of stress, it can actually help to relieve the stress by realizing how many special events have already been provided for our Cannon scholars (and that we have already survived!) throughout this school year!
CLICK HERE TO SEE 50+ SPECIAL MEMORIES WE HAVE
CREATED SO FAR FOR OUR CUBS THIS YEAR!
Now, for even more perspective, remember that these represent only special events, many of which may have interrupted learning time in some way. Yet, even with all of these opportunities for students, somehow, YOU have still managed to design some incredible LEARNING EXPERIENCES for your scholars!! Pretty amazing, huh?
So, while some busy times definitely lie ahead during these final days of school, just remember that:
Rich Learning Experiences + Special Events = High Levels of Student Engagement!
Click here to read about year mapping a powerful way to help your students review & realize all of the great learning they have accomplished in your class this year!
HANG IN THERE CANNON STAFF...YOU GOT THIS!!
Proud to be your principal,
Tona :)
P.S. :)
I couldn't be more proud or honored to work alongside each of you every day. Thank you for all you do to make our school such an amazing place for kids!
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Lisa's Coaching Corner
UCAN PRESENTATIONS
On Monday, April 16th, our UCAN focus will be on meeting with your UCAN teams to plan group presentations to showcase the journey of your learning. Presentations will take place on our last two UCAN dates: 4/30 and 5/7, see your group's assigned date below. The presentations need to be around 7 minutes but a maximum of 10 . They can be in any format you want, so please think outside the box. We all know that variety is the "spice of learning", especially at the end of the day! Make sure you include any visuals, student work, and any other evidence you have.
Please include the following elements in your presentation but know that you are not limited to them. Take this time to inspire your colleagues.
- Goals of the group
- What did you do to meet your goals?
- What were your biggest "ah-ha moments" and impact in your classrooms?
- What value did the peer observation bring to your discussions?
- Where will you go from here?
Presentation Dates:
April 30 - Student Goal-Setting; Digital Classroom 101; Math Workshop; Student Voice
May 7 - Questioning; Differentiation; STEM Technologies
It appears only FIVE people need to complete their observation and/or the UCAN Peer Observation Reflection Form. Several of you observed TWO colleagues which is AMAZING!!!
Your willingness and desire to learn from such a great staff makes my HEART HAPPY!
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SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING!
This week's SPOTLIGHT is on our AWESOME assistant principal, Anne Ricci! Among the MANY wonderful things Anne does for our campus, one of her important responsibilities is to be our Campus Test Coordinator. Last week's testing went off without a single hitch and this is NOT an easy task y'all!!
In the springtime, between TELPAS testing & STAAR, activities related to just these tests alone are extremely time-consuming. Receiving, preparing, organizing test materials in her favorite little hide-away (book room!) is very tedious on it's own...but additionally, Anne has spent many hours working on preparing & administering staff trainings; identifying student accommodations for testing; assigning test administrators & test sites; preparing STAAR snacks for students & staff; and organizing student test groups.
As you know, the state & district places many strict security measures on testing procedures, so there's more than just a little pressure to get ALL of this done...and get it done right!
So....please make sure you take a moment to give Anne a high five, hug, and hearty thanks for ALL that she does for our school. Even in the midst of testing "season", she manages to get all of this accomplished, along with all of her many OTHER tasks, and somehow keep that beautiful smile on her face! We appreciate you ANNE!!
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DATES TO REMEMBER
4/16 UCAN - 3:00-3:45
4/17 PLC Week A - Kindergarten - 2:15-3:45
4/18 Author Visit - Shelley Brown - 3rd - 5th only - 8:00-9:00
4/18 4th grade field trip to Parr Park - 9:20-12:30
4/18 PLC Week A - 1st grade - 2:15 - 3:45
4/19 Early Release - 11:45 am
4/20 5th grade field trip to Arboretum 9:00-2:00
4/20 PLC Week A - 2nd grade 2:15-3:45 (date change due to early release on 4/19)
4/21 Rachel's Challenge Rally - 8:00-11:00 - CHHS
4/21 Cannon Staff of the Past Celebration 10:00 am - cafeteria
4/23-27 Kindergarten Registration!
4/23 STEM Leadership 3:00- pm in library
4/23 Kinder Meet & Greet - 4:00-6:00 0m
4/24 PLC Week B - 5th grade 2:15-3:45
4/24 Cubs Night Out @ Cici's Pizza
4/24 Cubs Night Out @ Spring Creek BBQ - 5:00-9:00pm
4/25 PLC Week B - 4th grade 2:15 - 3:45
4/26 Principal Panel Lunch 11:45-12:30
4/26 PLC Week B - 3rd grade 2:15-3:45
4/27 School Holiday - inclement weather make-up day
4/30 Teacher Appreciation Week!
4/30 U.CAN 3:05-3:45 - U.CAN Learning Teams presentations in the library!
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THIS WEEK'S EVENTS
EARLY DISMISSAL THIS WEEK
Please help remind parents that Thursday, April 19th is an early release date and all students will be dismissed @ 11:45. Below are reminders about specials/lunch schedules for this date.
SPECIALS:
8:00 - 8:30 4th grade
8:35 - 9:05 Kindergarten
9:10 - 9:40 1st grade
9:45 - 10:15 2nd grade
10:20 - 10:50 3rd grade
10:55 - 11:25 5th grade - Due to a guest speaker, they will NOT have specials
LUNCH:
10:30 Kindergarten
10:45 2nd grade
10:50 1st grade
11:00 3rd grade
11;10 4th grade
11:15 5th grade
This afternoon should be used for student-led conferences OR for conferences with any parents that you need some "face time" with, for example, scholars who are Tier 2 or 3 and who may not be making adequate progress OR are exhibiting behaviors in the classroom that you need to address with parents. These conferences could still have a student-led component, but they will also allow the teacher to have more direct interaction than a typical student-led conference.
Staff of the Past Event on Saturday!
A Facebook page has been created for this group that now has over 250 members!! It is a closed group, so let Michelle know if you would like to be invited to join this group. As the oldest elementary school in GCISD, there are many district employees who worked at Cannon at some point in their career, so it will be so fun to offer an opportunity for these folks to gather together for fellowship and a final walk, to reminisce in the halls of Cannon, before the demolition this summer.
We would love to invite current Cannon staff to join us for this fun event and to share this information with anyone you know that used to work at Cannon.
Rachel's Challenge Rally - Saturday, 4/21
Rachel's Challenge Rally and 5K - April 21st
The 2018 Theme for Rachel's Challenge Rally is Choose Kindness
Rachel's Challenge Rally and Community Fair is April 21, 2108, at Colleyville Heritage High School. Join us for a morning of fun, celebrations and healthy choices.
- 5K will begin at 7 a.m.
- Community Fair will be from 8-11 a.m.
- Students and GCISD employees may participate in the 5K for free!
Click here for more information and to register for the 5K.
PLEASE DONATE! Paper Towels & EARBUDS
As part of our support for Rachel's Challenge, Cannon been asked to collect donations of paper towels and earbuds. All donations will support the 2018-2019 GCISD Back To School Fair.
Please drop all donations in the office for Mrs. Coburn
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CAMPUS REMINDERS & UPDATES
FAMILY NIGHT AT FWMSH Since we are unable to host a spring family event at Cannon at this time, we are so excited to be able to partner with our friends at the Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History to offer our Cannon families an opportunity to attend a wonderful family event on May 1st! This is a FREE event for our Cannon families and we need your help to promote this event in all of your communications. Click here to see the flyer that will be sent home with families and included in the parent newsletter. Click here for this flyer in Spanish. We are even providing bus transportation for a limited number of families, who have already been contacted. As mentioned in PLC's, we several teachers to volunteer to help at this event as well. All staff volunteers can bring their families along as well! Please contact Julie Brenegan to let her know if you are available to help with this event. She is working to arrange a carpool, so that all staff volunteers can be at the museum by 5:30 pm. Thanks in advance for your help to support our "off-site" family night!!
SEVERE WEATHER REMINDERS As we enter this time of the school year, weather always becomes a potential concern. The weather here in North Texas can become hazardous very quickly, we must remember our preparedness and be ready to respond. Please take a few moments to review our weather shelter procedures and shelter locations. Thanks for helping to keep our kids safe!
APPLE DEVICE UPDATES Destinee sent a reminder to staff last week that the new iOS 11.3 update has been released and that it is time to update the student Apple devices. Also, Meraki has now added an option to update apps! However, the caveat is that the iPad has to have the most current iOS update, so be sure to update to the new iOS 11.3 asap!
TYPING CLUB-DISTRICT TRIAL We are participating in a district trial program for a keyboarding resource called TypingClub. During the trial period, all students K-12 have access to TypingClub via Classlink. The trial period begins now and ends July 15 at which time we will evaluate TypingClub and determine the need for purchasing a keyboarding resource for specific grade levels in 2018-2019.
TEXTBOOK INVENTORY Please make sure you carefully read Anne's recent email to staff about textbook inventory and complete the inventory spreadsheet using the link she provided. Thanks!
SHARE WEBSITE INFORMATION THROUGHOUT APRIL The district has asked all school staff for their help in continuing to communicate about the new website! Please share this information in your newsletters/communication with parents through the month of April. Note that the URL has changed for all websites and if a parent or community member bookmarked the page on the old site, it no longer works.. Please help us communicate this change to our families!
GCISD - http://www.gcisd.net/
Cannon - http://can.gcisd.net/
VOYA TEACHERS GRANT: VOYA is offering teacher grants for projects that are innovative creative and positively influence students. Each year, 100 finalists receive a $2,000 grant and three are selected for additional grants. Check out the information here and apply today! You will notice that a LARGE percentage of the projects that have received grants are STEM related!!
Kindergarten Registration Information
It's that time of year when we communicate to all of our Cannon families about registration for their Kindergarten students that will be enrolling in our school for the 2018-19 school year! Please help by including this information in all of your parent communications!
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION WILL BE HELD AT CANNON APRIL 23-26 DURING SCHOOL HOURS. ON APRIL 23rd, WE WILL HAVE EXTENDED HOURS , UNTIL 6:00 PM, FOR INCOMING KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS AND PARENTS TO ATTEND OUR KINDERGARTEN MEET & GREET. COME MEET KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS, VISIT A CLASSROOM & DO SOME FUN STEM ACTIVITIES!
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NEWS FROM THE LEARNING COMMONS
Reminders From Mrs. Wagner
GCISD Reading Challenge
The 2017-2018 GCISD Reading Challenge is drawing to a close. We hope all our scholars have been working on the challenge and enjoying fabulous books along the way. Finishers’ names are due to the district no later than May 1st to allow time for certificates to be printed. Please make sure you have given your record sheet to Mrs. Wagner by Friday, April 27th so she can turn your name in.
Library Books Due
All library books need to be turned in by May 1st so Mrs. Wagner can start the BIG task of packing the library for our move to the NEW SCHOOL. Please start looking around your house and in your cars for any Cannon library books. The first class to have all their books turned in will win a prize!
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WORTH A READ...OR A LISTEN!
EXACTLY WHY ARE YOU USING TECH? This great post from Alice Keeler offers some great reminders that technology does not create engagement, your lesson design does! She has some great tech suggestions on how to make sure your tech choices support great lesson ideas!
CANNON FEATURED IN TEXAS MONTHLY IN 1998 as part of a "soda controversy". Did you know that Cannon had a large Dr. Pepper logo painted on the roof of our school as part of a contracted deal GCISD had with Dr. Pepper? Both Cannon & GMS (old location) are in the flight path for DFW, so it was considered a great place to advertise! Click here to read this story in the December 1998 issue of Texas Monthly!
LIFE IS SHORT, PLAY HOPSCOTCH! In the video below, a secret camera captures random people on the street playing hopscotch. Take a minute to watch. It's delightful and will make you smile! Better yet, play hopscotch at recess with your Cubs this week and watch THEM smile! :)
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CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION CORNER
GCISD LEARNING INSTITUTE -CALL FOR PROPOSALS
SUMMER LEARNING!
As the end of our school year rapidly approaches, it's time to begin thinking about how you'll spend your lazy days of resting and reflection. The C&I team has compiled many opportunities that will help to grow and challenge the "teacher side" of your brain during the summer weeks. Please browse through the options and select the ones that meet your personal learning goals.
If reading by the pool (or inside in the air conditioning) is your preference, be sure to stock up on titles that meet your learning needs before you leave. GCISD has two new options for accessing books, so please check these out as well!
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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!
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About This Background Image...
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TO-DO LIST
- Set a timer and complete daily attendance ON TIME!
- Don't forget to show daily KCAN announcements every Monday-Thursday!!
- Meet with UCAN teams on Monday to prepare upcoming presentations.
- Review all emergency drill procedures with scholars & be prepared!
- Complete textbook inventory form sent out by Anne.
- Share information about Cannon Staff of the Past event and plan to attend if interested!
- Remind parents about early release day on 4/18 & schedule conferences.
- Help us communicate to families about upcoming Kindergarten registration!
- Share information with your families about FWMSH Family Night event on May 1st.
- Let Julie Brenegan know if you are available to volunteer at FWMSH on 5/1.
- Check out the summer learning opportunities in the C & I Summer Learning news.
- Communicate to parents about our new campus/district websites.
- Take your scholars out to the back of the school to see the construction progress!
- 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.