CANNON LEGACY
A Newsletter For Cannon Staff 2017-2018
Principal Points - 11/27 - 12/1
Welcome Back!!
I hope everyone had an amazing holiday break and enjoyed having some time off for relaxation, restoration, and reflection. I certainly did!!
We will have 3.5ish full weeks with our scholars before our winter break and one of the projects we will begin working on is our annual school-wide community service project. For those who are new to our campus, each year, we involve ALL of our Cubs, Kindergarten-5th grade, in some sort of community service project during the holiday season. Last year, each class made fleece blankets that were presented to our local chapter of a charity called Project Linus. Their mission is to provide warm blankets to children in need, who are hospitalized or live in shelters. Our students LOVED this project and the blankets they made to donate were AMAZING! Click here to see photos from this effort!
This year, we have decided to serve those in our local community, in an unique way! Our community service project has been inspired by an artist from Oregon, who created small "robots", called Botjoy. These are robots painted on the backs of dominoes, which are "programmed" to help someone in need. There are many types of bots, including Brave Bots, Joy Bots, Love Bots, Inspiration Bots, and more! This artist, Gary Hirsch, paints these Bots and donates them to children's hospitals, to offer comfort or courage for sick or grieving children, OR he just leaves them in public locations for strangers to find. He encourages others to “steal” his idea and make their own....so that's EXACTLY what we have decided to do this year!
At our last STEM Leadership meeting, each grade level selected a specific recipient within our community that they would create a Bot for. These Bots will be created in their art classes with Mrs. Mattox over the next three weeks and then they will be collected and donated, along with a small card to explain the purpose of the Bot and how to "program" it to deliver the sentiment it was designed to inspire!
Below is the list of community groups each grade level will be designing Bots for, as well as a video of the artist Gary Hirsch, explaining how these Bots are made. Please take a few minutes to check out this blogpost, to better understand the goal of these precious Bots, as a community service project idea. Also, be sure to check out the Botjoy website to see some amazing examples of Bots, Bot art and learn all about the impact they have made around the world! Finally, we will be including the #botjoy on our creations, as well as our own hashtag, #canSTEMbot, so that we can follow the JOY that the Bots our Cubs inspire throughout the community.
Kindergarten - Fire/Police Dept - Brave Bots - help children who are scared/afraid during crisis
1st- Cannon school community - Kindness Bots
Cannon support staff (bus drivers, nutrition, custodial)
Students who are enrolling/leaving Cannon
2nd- Grapevine Library - Book Bots for children who go apply for library cards
3rd- Baylor hospital - Hug Bots - hugs for children who are facing surgery/ER
4th- School/Community partners- Grateful Bots - thank you for your support (surrounding neighbors during construction; Grapevine Church of Christ; First United Methodist Church)
5th- GRACE - Senior community - Joy Bots -bring joy to seniors
YOU can help emphasize the importance of this community service project by sharing what you have learned about these Bots with your scholars, showing them photos, discussing & encouraging random acts of kindness in your classrooms, making it part of your Circle Up discussions, having your scholars write about the difference they hope their Bot will make in the world, etc.... the ideas are endless!! Teaching our scholars about compassion, empathy, and service is so important to their social-emotional development!
I will be sharing a 12 Days Of Kindness Challenge for our scholars & staff in next week's staff newsletter. I hope that you will use some of the ideas in this challenge to make kindness & compassion a habit, during this holiday season & beyond!
Tona :)
Lisa's Coaching Corner
As I visited this past week with multiple generations from 16 months all the way up to 94 years old, I was reminded how people view the world around them and how they choose to think about it. Please read the following blog post I saw on Twitter by Ryan Sheehy who is currently writing a book called Be The One. @sheehyrw I really love his words near the end about educators showing perseverance and choosing to be either Eeyore or Tigger on a daily basis.
If you had to lump humanity into two groups what would those groups be? In an inspirational speech, the late Randy Pausch asked his audience “Do you want to live your life as a Tigger, or an Eeyore?”
It is a fun, yet intriguing question.
Tigger is positive, energetic, fun, cheerful and confident. He always is trying to do his best, is up to try new things, keeps going even when he falls, and always sees the glass as being half full. We all know Tiggers.
Eeyore on the other hand is the opposite. Eeyore is usually gloomy, pessimistic, sarcastic, and never looks on the bright side. His glass is half empty and lacks confident. We all know Eeyores.
People and systems are going to let you down. Things and situations are not always going to go your way. We have no control over the actions of people that are in our lives. We have no control over the universe. But we do have control over who we are. I know that being a Tigger 100% of the time sounds daunting but being an Eeyore sounds unproductive and no fun.
In education we are constantly faced with students, parents, and other educators. I have had my fare share of run ins with Eeyores, but that is when my Tigger personality bounces into full effect. We must stay positive, cheerful, and confident. We need to show perseverance and bounce back from our failures.
Every educator has the choice when that alarm clock goes off each morning, are you getting out of bed as an Eeyore or a Tigger?
Be The One that who tries your best, is up to try new things, keeps going even when you fall, and always sees the glass as being half full.
DATES TO REMEMBER
11/27 U.CAN 3:15-4:00
11/28 PLC Week A - Kindergarten 2:15-3:45
11/29-12/1 JPS Dental will do screenings & treatments- Kendra will send schedule
11/29 Principal Instructional Rounds @ Cannon 9:00-10:45
11/29 PLC Week A - 1st grade 2:15-3:45
11/30 Dr. Ryan hosts Community Champions meeting in library 8:00-9:30 - library closed
11/30 2nd grade walking field trip to downtown Grapevine 8:00-11:00 am
11/30 PLC Week A - 2nd grade 2:15-3:45
12/01 Staff Potluck Lunch!
12/04 CEC 3:15-4:00 library
12/5 Cannon Choirs Field Trip to Main Street 8:40-10:40 am
12/5 PLC Week B - 5th grade 2:15-3:45
12/6-12/9 Santa Shop @ Cannon
12/6 PLC Week B - 4th grade 2:15-3:45
12/7 PLC Week B - 3rd grade 2:15-3:45
12/7 Grapevine Holiday Parade of Lights
12/8 GMS Holiday Performance @ Cannon - 9:45-10:45 gym (K-5)
12/9 Pancake Breakfast/Pictures with Santa/ Santa Shop - 9:00-11:00 - cafeteria
12/12 PLC Week A - Kindergarten 2:15-3:45
12/13 6-week Progress Report Day
12/13 PLC Week A - 1st grade 2:15-3:45
12/14 PLC Week A - 2nd grade 2:15-3:45
12/15 Candy Houses with Kindergarten Dads - 8:00-10:00 am- cafeteria
12/16 FLL Tournament - HMS - Good Luck Mission Impossibots!
12/18 Staff Holiday Party 3:15-4:15 - library
12/21 Campus-wide Holiday Singalong 8:30-9:30; Holiday parties; 10:15-11:15; Early Release 11:45 am
12/22-1/7 Holiday Break for students & staff
1/08 - Staff returns to work - Teacher Work Day
1/09 - Students return to school
JPS Dental Schedule for Wednesday - 11/29
As a reminder, this is the week that JPS comes to our school to provide school-based oral health screenings to K-3 students, who returned the parent permission forms before the holiday break.
The screenings will be done on Wednesday, 11/29 and for those students who qualify for sealants, they will be pulled on Thursday, 11/30. Note that JPS is on the calendar through Friday, 12/1, but it will likely not be necessary for any students to be pulled on Friday.
SCHEDULE FOR SCREENINGS - 11/29 (only students who returned permission forms)- Note: be prepared to come earlier than your scheduled time!
8:30-Jackson
8:45- Balbaugh
9:00- McKellar
9:15- Smith
9:30 - Pettit
9:45- Luepnitz
10:00- Catch-up
10:30-Wohlfred
10:45-Hall
11:00-12:00- lunch
12:00- Heard
12:15- Norwood
12:30-Moore
12:45-Boynton
1:00-Mills
1:15-Dinh
1:30-Ganus
1:45- Hicks/Donaldson
2:00- Kim
2:15-Hinzman
2:30-Griffin
SEALANTS FOR QUALIFIED STUDENTS - THURSDAY 11/30 - no specific schedule
SPOTLIGHT ON LEARNING!
Grandparents/Grandfriend's Day was another HUGELY successful event, with around 300 in attendance! It was so incredible to see our senior guests interacting with students and staff throughout the morning! The recipes, memories, and stories shared by our guests were a BIG hit! They also loved learning more about how their grandchildren and other students learn at Cannon every day.
While it is exhausting to prepare for and host such large events, these types of opportunities are very important to our school. Thank you for your tireless work and dedication to make Cannon Elementary: A GCISD STEM School the BEST school around!!
Student & Staff Calendars-2018-2019
On Monday, November 13, GCISD Trustees approved the Student and Staff Instructional Calendars for the 2018-2019 school year.
A few highlights from the 2018-2019 student instructional calendar:
- Students will begin classes on Monday, August 20.
- Students will have a four-day weekend in October for Columbus Day weekend; staff will have a three-day weekend.
- Students and staff will have a four-day weekend in April (dependent on the need to makeup one or both inclement weather days).
- Students are finished on May 30 with graduation following that afternoon and evening.
To view the 2018-2019 student instructional calendar, click here.
To view the 2018-2019 staff instructional calendar, click here.
To learn more about how the district develops the instructional calendars, please watch the video shared below.
REMINDERS & UPDATES
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: On December 16, GCISD will host a First Lego League Regional Qualifier at HMS. In addition to our amazing Cannon FLL team, Mission Impossibots, we have GCISD teams competing from GMS and CTMS. There are a total of 36 teams from the North Texas area in the competition.
In order for this event to be successful, we need many judges, referees, and volunteers. Judges hear presentations from each group and score those according to a rubric with a panel of judges. Referees watch field competitions in the gym on the competition table and score each maneuver as successful or unsuccessful. Each table is scored by a team of referees.
Click here to judge or referee (training on December 1).
Click here to volunteer for 2-hour shift(s).
Judges and referees will attend a training on December 1st at 4 p.m. at Cannon Elementary. The event will begin at 8 am and judging is generally finished around 2 or 3 p.m. Please consider volunteering as a judge or referee. Ask your spouse, significant other, neighbor or friend to join you. Shortly after you register as a judge or referee you will receive an email to complete a background check along with details regarding the training event on December 1. Thanks for helping to make this event great!!
TIME FOR UPDATE TO HALLWAY DISPLAYS/BULLETIN BOARDS There are several displays in the hallways and on bulletin boards that need to be updated asap! We will have many guests in our building over the next few weeks with Family Engineering Night, Grandparent's/Grandfriend's Day; Principal Instructional Rounds, etc... and there are several displays that are falling off the wall, are from the beginning of the school year, or that do not reflect quality student work. Please update these displays as soon as possible. Remember that these displays provide a "window" into your classrooms! Be proud & show off the great learning that is happening in your room!
COLOR PRINTER IN LIBRARY-PLEASE READ We need your help!! The color printer in the library is being used to print VOLUMES of paper, IN COLOR!! To make matters worse, the majority of the items printing to this printer are NEVER PICKED UP!! There have been lots of Pinterest-y type of items being printed, as well as full page color alphabet sheets, etc... Printing in color should only be done selectively, as our full year's budget for color cartridge replacements has almost been depleted already. If necessary, this printer will have to be disabled, if we are unable to get the printing under control. Please use good professional judgement when printing in color on school printers!
IDEAS FOR USING BIO CARDS!
Worth A Read...or a Listen!!
REST!! Hopefully everyone was able to get some much-needed rest during the holiday break, but just like eating right and exercising, there is immense value in getting appropriate rest EVERY day. Check out this interesting blogpost about how sleep actually helps us achieve MORE!
FOUR TEACHING MOVES THAT PROMOTE A GROWTH MINDSET IN ALL READERS is definitely worth a read!! Great article and videos that coach teachers to think of themselves in four very different roles as Miner, Mirror, Model, and Mentor in order to offer some excellent strategies for teaching struggling readers!
MY PHILOSOPHY FOR A HAPPY LIFE is a great video that provides some solid advice and excellent reminders about the power of positivity, hope, and gratitude!
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
- Update your hallway and bulletin board displays!
- Take a few minutes to read over the information shared in the Principal Points section of this newsletter, to understand and help promote our annual community service project!
- Be prepared for Instructional Rounds with campus & district administrators on Wednesday.
- Check the schedule for K-3 oral health screenings on Wednesday.
- Remember that the library will be closed from 8:00-10:00 on Thursday morning during Dr. Ryan's Community Champions meeting at Cannon.
- Enjoy the staff pot luck lunch, provided by our awesome Special Ed & Instructional Support teams, in the lounge on Friday!
- 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.