Hilcher Herald
GES Staff Update-Week of 1/4/16
Holiday Fun!
I can't tell you how much fun it was to be a part of our Twelve Days of Christmas calendar in December! Your enthusiasm and participation filled our campus with such smiles and holiday cheer. It was amazing to see what fun things you all would do for a jingle bell! We are quite the cheery and slightly competitive group! Thank you for playing along and for earning so many bells. We will begin delivering your "coupons" on Monday. If you still need to cash in your bells for fabulous prizes, please stop by and see Liz or Kim!
I also want to thank you for your participation in our annual Sing Along. It was such a wonderful experience to have all of us in one room laughing and singing together. Your willingness to be a little silly in front of our students during the Jingle Jollies made it such a memorable time for all! Special "shout outs" go to the following people:
- Thanks to Gayle for working on the set up & slideshow
- Thanks to Michelle & Julie for helping run the event
- Thanks to Joy for sharing such beautiful music with us
- Thanks to Angela for arranging a visit from Santa & Mrs. Clause
- Thanks to Nancy for sharing our fun on Twitter
- Thanks to Kim for being my partner as we led the fun
Lastly, I want to thank the entire GES staff for the LOFT gift card! I cannot wait to go shopping and really appreciate the thoughtful gift. I hope your holidays were full of family, friends, good food and some much needed relaxation!
Choosing Positivity!
You’ve probably been asked a time or two already...What’s your New Year’s resolution? Personally, I’m not a huge fan of putting this sentiment on the work we do at school. As educators, we typically set goals for ourselves and our students in August. We have started great work with the 2015-2016 school year, and now is the time to keep pressing forward and recommitting to the important things, not start something new. So over the next few days, review your PLP and document the work you've done. As you note student progress on report cards, own your commitment to their education. Think about what you'll do this semester and how you'll guide your students to set goals for the third nine weeks. Focus on the progress you've made and the gains your students have made!
Something I believe we all benefit from is a reminder of the importance of staying positive. If you were like me, you saw these types of posts all over Facebook and Twitter this past week. A few thoughts worth sharing came from one of my favorites, Jon Gordon, on Twitter: 2015 is over. Let the past go. The new year represents a fresh start to imagine and create your future today. As positive leaders, we should keep running to our challenges, stay positive, and never give up! Our positive energy must be greater than all the doubt. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch his video on staying positive and read over the 20 tips he wrote for a new year. Choose to stay positive and make an effort to encourage or validate your co-workers with our Popcorn Praise board. Together we can make 2016 an amazing year for ourselves and our students!
20 Tips for a Positive New Year
1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.
2. Take a morning walk of gratitude. I call it a "Thank You Walk." It will create a fertile mind ready for success.
3. Make your first meal the biggest and your last meal the smallest. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge car. :)
4. Remember that outside circumstances and events have no power over you. You create your world from the inside-out.
5. Talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself. Instead of listening to your complaints, fears and doubts, talk to yourself and feed your mind with words of truth and encouragement you need to keep moving forward.
6. Post a sign that says "No Energy Vampires Allowed." Gandhi said, "I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."
7. Don't chase dollars or success. Decide to make a difference and build meaningful relationships and success will find you.
8. Get more sleep. You can't replace sleep with a double latte.
9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in your purpose, people and the positive present moment.
10. You don’t have to be great to serve but you have to serve to be great. Look for opportunities to Love, Serve and Care.
11. Live your purpose. Remember why you do what you do. We don't get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it.
12. There's no such thing as an overnight success. Anything worthwhile takes time to build.
13. Trust that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.
14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. If you are complaining, you're not leading.
15. Read more books than you did in 2015.
16. Don't seek happiness. Instead decide to live with passion and purpose and happiness will find you.
17. Focus on "Get to" vs "Have to." Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.
18. The next time you "fail" remember that you aren’t failing, you are becoming. You aren’t failing, you are growing.
19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one
Friendly Reminders
- Report Card grades should be entered into Skyward before 10pm on 1/4.
- RtI meetings are scheduled for this week. Be watching for an email from Kim with details. PLCs will be held this week as well!
- All student and teacher iPads can now be updated to iOS 9. Many of the glitches that you might be experiencing with Google Drive, Google Classroom, or various apps will be corrected with the update. It is recommended to do a few iPads at a time, rather than the whole class at once. Students who take home can do the update as a homework assignment.
Mystery Skypes
Upcoming Dates
Monday, 1/4 Teacher Work day (8-4)
Tuesday, 1/5 Welcome students back with free jeans day!
Tuesday, 1/5 Faculty meeting
Wednesday, 1/6 RtI meetings; Report Cards posted to Skyward & Google Drive
Wednesday, 1/6 Running Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/7 Grade level PLCs; Choir (2:45-3:45pm)
Monday, 1/11 Choir (2:45-3:45pm)
Tuesday, 1/12 Team Leader meeting
Wednesday, 1/13 Sunshine Committee meeting (3:00pm)
Wednesday, 1/13 Running Club, Student Council & KC Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/14 1:1 PLCs (conference times); Choir (2:45-3:45pm)
Monday, 1/18 MLK Day-Student & teacher holiday
Wednesday, 1/20 NEHS meeting & Running Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/21 Grade level PLCs; Choir long rehearsal (1:45-3:45pm)
Monday, 1/25 Choir long rehearsal (1:45-3:45pm)
Tuesday, 1/26 Choir performance (9:30am)
Tuesday, 1/26 Campus Excellence Committee meeting (3:10pm)
Wednesday, 1/27 Running Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/28 Choir Performance (6:30pm)
Where We Will Be...
- Monday, 1/4 - Angela will be off campus until 1; Gina & Heather will be out all day; Josh will be out all day
- Tuesday, 1/5 - Josh at Technology meeting
- Wednesday, 1/6 - Liz at principal's meeting
Monday Message to Parents
Disclaimer: IT WILL BE A WORK IN PROGRESS UNTIL NOON ON MONDAY!!
GCISD Information
Forth Worth Zoo Run
Podcasts
The following message was shared with parents last week...but has implications for us as a staff, too! Are you interested in learning more about LEAD 2021, GCISD's long range plan? You should subscribe to the new LEAD GCISD podcast at: https://goo.gl/z3rdsp It's a new way for GCISD to communicate information and successes with the community. A new podcast will be released every Tuesday until Christmas break.
Google Links
- Lesson plans, or links to your plans, should be saved to our Google drive folder in the GES Faculty and Staff folder:http://bit.ly/1LqQ4sg
- Newsletters, or links to newsletters, should be saved to the Google drive folder in GES Faculty and Staff: http://bit.ly/1MAJbWP
- 1:1 work-all resources can be found in the GES 1:1 folder for teachers on Google Drive: http://bit.ly/1YsPIqd
- Digital Citizenship document: http://bit.ly/1YsPIqd