The Cannon Connection
Staff Information & Updates 4/7/14
From The Principal's Pen...
One of my all-time favorite professional reads is the book, The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction, by Sean Cain. This week, I spent some time reviewing chapter six in his book, titled "Recognize and Reinforce", which addresses the importance of providing recognition and reinforcement from two sides of the learning coin, academics and behavior. Sean states in this chapter:
"Among the most powerful tools that teachers possess are the words they choose to use. Those words can be used to motivate students and build self-confidence or destroy students' self-image. They can make it possible for students to exceed their own internal limits or eliminate forever the students' willingness to attempt something that they might view as difficult or impossible. This is why spectators at a race gather at the finish line and scream encouragement to the runners so that they do not falter short of the finish line."
Sean points out in this chapter that it is easy to confuse "Positive Talk" with actual "Recognition & Reinforcement." Though related, they are not the same. Positive Talk is the "Good job...Glad you're here...You're on fire..." type of comments. While this type of talk is important to use with our scholars, it doesn't reach the level of "talk" that truly recognizes & reinforces scholars in a meaningful way. Consider the following example from Sean's book about Academic Recognition, that is specific to the work require to achieve academic success or growth:
"Brandy, because you showed your work and didn't give up, you were able to find your mistake on problem #3. Getting that question correct raised your grade from a 70 to an 80. That's a 20-point improvement from the last test you took. You are really making some phenomenal strides!"
Sean states that "To not engage in the regular practice of providing positive and meaningful recognition and reinforcement to your scholars is to give away performance, increase your own stress level and rob your scholars of future opportunities."
This week I urge each of you to intentionally focus on providing positive and meaningful recognition and reinforcement to your scholars. Sometimes, we as adults, aren't always that good at this practice. It's easy to get stressed and frustrated, especially during this time of year, and we often express our frustrations when we are communicating with our scholars, especially those challenging ones! But, here's the deal, even if you don't think you are very good at this practice, it doesn't really matter....with practice you can improve! Quite honestly, some of our scholars may be so starved for anything remotely positive from adults in their lives that they will eat it up. Your scholars' response will reinforce you to keep it up!! It can become something like a recognition and reinforcement eco-system!! It just needs a catalyst to get it started and YOU can be that catalyst!
LAST WEEK- A PHOTO REVIEW
Cannon Family Movie Night = A Success!
Art - Clay Pottery Projects
5th Grade Science Safari - Dallas Aquarium
SUMMER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Below are some upcoming opportunities for professional development sessions that you will want to check out as you are completing your PLP's for your upcoming summative conferences with Anne & Tona. Check the staff newsletter each week for updated professional development offerings!!
GCISD Technology Summer Professional Development Opportunities
Dates to Remember
4/8 4th Grade to GHS Ecology Center
4/8 U.CAN 3:00
4/9 5th Grade to GHS Ecology Center
4/10 Design Club "Big Reveal" Reception 3:30 pm
4/11 PLC Week B 3rd;4th;1st
4/15 Reverse Evacuation Drill - 11:30
4/15 CEC 3:15
4/15 FLL Parent Information Night 6:00 pm
4/16 Special Olympics
4/18 PLC Week A- Kinder;5th;2nd
4/22 Earth Day
4/22 STAAR Math - 3rd & 4th grades
4/23 STAAR Reading - 3rd & 4th; STAAR Science - 5th
4/25 PLC Week B - 3rd; 4th;1st
4/29 UNT and Thailand guests to tour Cannon
4/29 STEM Leadership Team - 3:00
4/30 Lake Worth tours Cannon's 1:1 program
4/30 Fire Drill - 1:30
5/1 Dual Language Parent Information Night -CTMS 6:30
5/1 GCISD Employee Retirement Celebration - PDEC
5/2 PLC Week A - Kinder; 5th; 2nd
5/3 GCISD Rachel's Challenge Rally
5/5 - 5/9 Kindergarten Registration
5/6 U.CAN 3:00
5/6 STEM Parent Information Night 6:30 - cafeteria
5/7 Dan Yaccarino- K-2 8:30-9:30; 3-5 1:15-2:15
5/8 Cannon Family STEM Night 6:00
5/9 Field Day
5/12 EMT meeting - 3:00
5/13 CEC - 3:15
5/14 National Dance Like a Chicken Day! :-)
5/15 Fire Drill - 9:30
5/16 PLC Week B - 3rd, 4th, 1st
5/19 Cannon scholars present at School Board meeting
5/20 U.CAN 3:00
5/21 Early Release day K-5
5/22 Early Release day K-5
5/23 PLC Week A - Kinder;5th;2nd
5/23 GCISD Special Programs Lottery Day
5/23 Choir to NRH2O
5/26 Student Holiday
5/27 STEM Leadership meeting 3:00
CONGRATULATIONS TO STAFF S.T.E.M. CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS!
- Deena Crawford
- Brenda Milum
- Isa Greuling
- Wendy Flem
- Anne Pyron
Keep up the great work and good luck to all S.T.E.M. participants! Click here to get a healthy weight loss tip from Wendy Flem! :-)
REMINDERS FROM NUTRITIONAL SERVICES
- Nutritional Services is conducting a review of the Breakfast in the Classroom program and they are finding that teachers are not marking the students off on the rosters and they are allowing the students to do this in some classrooms. Please remember federal guidelines for this program require that the teacher check off the students name and ensure that all items are taken each day. Students may help the teachers pass out the food, but not be responsible for the accuracy of the count. Please review and follow these attached BIC procedures.
- Please communicate the following information in all parent communications about GCISD's No Charging Policy:
No charging will be allowed starting May 1. Students must have a positive balance in order to purchase items in the school cafeteria. Any student without a positive balance will receive an alternative meal at lunch. Please visit myschoolbucks.com to monitor account balances and set up low-balance email alerts. We appreciate your prompt attention in maintaining a positive meal balance. Additional information may also be found on the district's website www.gcisd-k12.org and Child Nutrition Facebook page. For questions, please contact the Wendy Flem, our cafeteria manager or call the Nutrition Services office 817-251-5618.
REMINDERS & UPDATES
- FERPA REVIEW - At the beginning of the school year, all staff participated in required FERPA training. As a reminder, it is critical that all staff understands the restrictions and requirements of the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act. Please take a moment to review this brief refresher about working with confidential student information.
- STUDENT PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR FORMS- Thanks to all staff for helping make sure all of these student forms are returned quickly! They are very important to help us determine staffing needs and returning student enrollment numbers for the 2014-2015 school year. Kudos to Michelle Hall, Gail Marin, and Heather Nelson for being the first to get ALL class forms returned already! Due to STAAR testing last week, several scholars did not bring their backpacks on testing days, so the due date has been extended to April 9th, in order for teachers to receive Jeans passes for having all forms returned.
- THE BIG REVEAL - APRIL 10th - Huge thanks to Karen Davidenko and her student designers for all of their hard work in Design Club this year! They will be hosting a reception on Thursday, April 10th @ 3:30 for their "Big Reveal" of the masterpiece they have created for our school! This art will be permanently displayed in the Cannon hallway for years to come! Click here for an invitation to this event. Hope to see you there!!
- CELEBRATE TEXAS PUBLIC SCHOOLS - April is a big month for Texas Public Schools! There are several events scheduled for the month of April to celebrate Texas Public Schools, including Autism Awareness Month, Global Child Nutrition Month, National Library Week, Earth Day & Arbor Day. Click here for information about each of these events and for some suggested activities that you can use in your classrooms to celebrate. Be sure to let us know about any special activities your class/grade level is doing in conjunction with these events, so that we can communicate them to the district communication department to be highlighted on the district website!
- RACHEL'S CHALLENGE INFO - Please help us promote the upcoming Rachel's Challenge Rally in all of your parent communications. Click here to access a flyer to use on your blogs & websites!
THE BIG PICTURE: Rethinking Dyslexia
Tuesday, Apr 8, 2014, 06:30 PM
Colleyville Heritage High School, 5401 Heritage Avenue, Colleyville, TX, United States
TWEETS FROM THE WEEK
No time to follow tweets from staff this week? Check them out here! Great job tweeting about the great things going on at Cannon! Keep up the good work!
Megan Pettit @MeganPettit22 Apr 3
Researching earthworms with @tinaberumen. We are trying to find out how they can help our school garden. @cancubs pic.twitter.com/Ky3t7uf4GO
Megan Pettit @MeganPettit22 Apr 3
Thank you @ireneb2011 for making digital books about earthworms! They are helping us with our research. @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/pQSkjPynM8
Kamala Anderson @Kaminash Apr 3
1st grade doing worm research in the library with Mrs. Berumen.@Tonataylor @Cannonreads @cancubs pic.twitter.com/LuGTkSLwSb
Kamala Anderson @Kaminash Apr 2
Using a hand lens, real worms and direct observation helped scholars make meaning of worm facts!@Tonataylor @cancubs @CannonPTA
What a great night despite the storms! A big thanks to Grapevine Church of Christ for loaning us the screen and... http://fb.me/24VNDkD5F
Students are researching about earthworms in @Cannonreads using @ThingLink @MackinVIA @worldbookinc with @tinaberumen @Tonataylor
DenSkiFisher @DeniseSki Protected Tweets Apr 1
What happens when First Grade has a problem to solve around the Cannon Gardens? They create SteppingStones! @cancubs pic.twitter.com/vSu0bDEbBp
Judy Hockenbrough @JHockenbrough Apr 3
Using Story Creator to create our own Fables! #genres #cancubs @tonataylor pic.twitter.com/8ACCcT6gT5
Michelle Hall @Michelleh340 Apr 2
Collaboration in math! Young Mathematicians Rock! #cancubs http://pic-collage.com/_lUdvbK2l pic.twitter.com/M54kJO52ur
Michelle Hall @Michelleh340 Apr 2
Collaborating on our Tshirt Co commercial. @cancubs #gcisdtech http://pic-collage.com/_cQY5mnUj pic.twitter.com/6G94uSpUyc
Sarah ganus @SarahGanus Apr 4
Three Little Pigs Engineering Challenge pic.twitter.com/QwrzVQKyzi
Melanie Place @melanie_place Apr 4
3rd graders planning and designing robotic arms. @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/FIra4h7uee
Favorite scholar question of the week-What if there was no friction? Pondered and discussed in 4th grade. @cancubs @Tonataylor @Jvorachard
Tina Berumen @tinaberumen Apr 3
"Mrs. Berumen you should love worms! Isn't the library filled with book worms?" HA! Love it! @jamdjones @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/msyCc89DrJ
Anna Weston @AnnaRWeston Apr 2
Excited to motivate a scholar with a timer! Totally changed into positive behavior! @cancubs pic.twitter.com/mRDliiwpNa
Hopscotch Math outside with @LauraGreen2014 and @SubiaLuvina today. What a fun way to learn! @cancubs @Tonataylor
Anna Weston @AnnaRWeston Apr 4
Learning how dinnerware is made for upcoming project-clay in Art! Hands will get messy! #cancubs #MrsHighfillArt
KDavidenko @KarenDavidenko Apr 3
Design Club ready for the Big Reveal of their mural! A design process success! @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/a1i3hvdT51
KDavidenko @KarenDavidenko Mar 31
4th grade discussing Covey's 7 Habits; prioritizing tasks. Great reminders for everyone! @cancubs @Tonataylor
Anne Pyron @pyron_anne Mar 31
Poignant reminder of the importance of creating a loving and accepting environment and the power of connections. http://lessonplans.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/student-in-a-strange-land/ …
Luvina Subia @SubiaLuvina Apr 4
Numbers Bingo with Mrs Aguilera. Practicing their numbers and having a great time @cancubs pic.twitter.com/yLxmr2YGGz
Laura Green @LauraGreen2014 Apr 1
@pyron_anne Thank you for sharing this @pyrone_anne! This was an AMAZING read and an important reminder!
Luvina Subia @SubiaLuvina Apr 2
@cancubs we recognized Austism Awareness Day! Thanks @cancubduncan for organizing and ordering the shirts for us! pic.twitter.com/asJWzNZmD2
juliebrenegan @molliemae57 Apr 5
Cannon 5th Science Safari petting the stingrays at the aquarium. @cancubs @Tonataylor @GCISDEdFound pic.twitter.com/1gKLQQSM8R
Heather Hagar @Stemscience4u Apr 3
Get ready! @Wolter_Sarah @Tonataylor "@FahyScience: CoTeaching science and math with refraction and translation. pic.twitter.com/5bN88CAiU3"
Heather Hagar @Stemscience4u Apr 3
A4: I might be partial but STEM activities definitely promote creativity and innovation through Engineering Design Process #gcdcchat
Sarah Wolter @Wolter_Sarah Apr 3
5th grade is "buying" cars today. They are calculating what their monthly payments would be. @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/7o0gcYNNGK
Deena Crawford @MrsCrawfordSSS Apr 4
We FINALLY won the Math Challenge Stick!! Woohoo!! @cancubs #STEM #FINALLY pic.twitter.com/0oebenEV0b
Could NASCAR really be a science experiment on wheels? YES! Talk to your child about the engineering design... http://fb.me/2AAYg1vuC
I posted 29 photos on Facebook in the album "Greuling/Vorachard - Engineering Scholars!" http://fb.me/16mjrBnmR
I posted 5 photos on Facebook in the album "Lambert/Colebrook photos" http://fb.me/36khrTT23
Mandy Jackson @MrsMandyJackson Apr 1
Building mazes! @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/JFmlb5Wrm4
Tina Berumen @tinaberumen Apr 3
This is what 21st century research looks like in 1st grade! @MeganPettit22 @cancubs @Tonataylor #gcisdlib #earthworms pic.twitter.com/Y2CxXkajac
Riqui Villarreal @CannonCoachV Apr 2
5th GRADE POST STAAR CONGA LINE!!! #cancubs #PhysEd pic.twitter.com/y4CcQfVCjf
Riqui Villarreal @CannonCoachV Apr 1
sporting the state championship ring today for all the #cancubs who are gonna OWN the STAAR today. like champs. pic.twitter.com/Sz2tI3F7Eu
Riqui Villarreal @CannonCoachV Mar 31
Kalil, 5th grade red cub, moments after becoming this year's first Cannon Cub to reach 100 laps on PACER!!! pic.twitter.com/9fmHEKn8in
The Land of Lollis @cannonelemmusic Apr 5
What Music Means To Me @cancubs @Tonataylor http://cannonelemmusic.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-music-means-to-me.html?m=1 …
Patrick R. Lollis @canmaestro Apr 1
Dip and Dive! @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/BbyFnsyh5S
Denisa Marshall @denisamarshall Apr 4
Tunnels and friends go together perfectly. @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/p2WIeRN4qm
Denisa Marshall @denisamarshall Apr 1
Cutest monkey ever!! And the mask isn't bad, either. @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/HFl5TDEn6u
Denisa Marshall @denisamarshall Apr 1
This is us! @cancubs @Tonataylor pic.twitter.com/ATXjtutd3a
“@shannonmmiller: Thinking About Our New #Makerspace.Bringing It Online With The Digital #Makerspace http://ow.ly/va3b3 @tinaberumen
Tina Berumen @tinaberumen Apr 3
GCISD Librarians learning all about Google Drive today thanks to @msbearce #gcisdlib
Tina Berumen @tinaberumen Apr 3
Never seen a kiddo so excited to learn that there are blue and green earthworms! @cancubs @Tonataylor @MeganPettit22 pic.twitter.com/l4H5IALitW
TO DO LIST
- Set a timer and turn in attendance by 9:45-10:15 daily.
- Remind scholars to bring back Student Plans for Next Year forms. Collect all by 4/9 for Jeans Passes!
- Review FERPA overview & guidelines.
- Make plans to attend the district's screening of The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia on 4/8. Encourage parents to attend this informative event!
- Communicate Nutrition's Charging Policy to parents.
- Plan to attend the Design Club's "Big Reveal" @ 3:30 on 4/10.
- Help promote Rachel's Challenge information & t-shirt sales in your communications!
- Weigh-in for the staff S.T.E.M. Challenge with Nurse Kendra!
- Tweet throughout the week to share the great work going on @ Cannon!