Cool Cat News
Principal Brief
January 16-19
Cool Cats,
This is testing month! Vanessa and I plan to have individual data conferences in February to review data, discuss intervention/extension plans and set new goals for the second semester. I can't wait to see and hear about how you are growing your students! Please come with copies of MAP, DRA, Unit Assessment data as well as any other data you would like to share.
One of my favorite education leaders is Baruti Kafele. I stalk him at Educational conferences, Twitter and Facebook and have watched every feed and read every book he has written. He often says " Are your students better off because you are their principal, teacher, mentor, etc.? Is there something advantageous for the students as a result of you being their teacher?
At Hartman YES they are! Our Cool Cats are better off because of YOU! Let's shine our light proudly upon each and every student in 2018!
We have many BIG events planned over the next few weeks... I have highlighted important things for you to know! Please read carefully - I have revised a few from last week.
Famous Athletes Pep Rally 1/19 - 1:00pm in the Gym- MavsMan and Champ will be at Hartman courtesy of PTA! This is a wonderful motivational program! We have had to change the pep-rally time to 1:00 due to scheduling. If it is your planning time, the rotation team can watch your kids. The theme for the Pep Rally is Famous Athletes. Please dress like a famous athlete and encourage your students to dress up as well! The program and pep-rally be from 1-2:30.
Family/Title 1 Engagement Night - 5-7pm. All professional staff need to attend. The theme is Puttin' On the Ritz. Please wear your ritzy accessories! You may wear jeans/pants with your red, grey school shirt. We will focus on the I - Inspire and Engage! From 5-6:15pm students/parents will be able to come to your room. Please have a few writing samples and student work available for parents to see. Have a technology connection (similar to what you did last year). Brandy can give you some suggestions for tech activities as well! This part is as an open house for parents to see what their students are learning. Halls need to have student work displayed. In the Gym we will have science, tech and activity booths for students to rotate through. At 6:15 we will have a Mad Science Program in the Cafeteria. The kids will love all the STEM connections! Please communicate to your parents that if they are wanting to see student work they need to come between 5-6:15 pm. Teachers may leave at 6:15pm.
Mapping Your Future Day/ Assembly at 8:00am - 2/7/18 The district theme for our Wylie Way Day is Candy Land - The Path to Your Future is Sweet! #mappingyourfutureWISD The lessons look great and cover a recipe for being a sweet friend, self control and grit, passions/careers and achievement. Lessons are completed and are available for you to review!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNgwAITNaEm2YetHEGYqJ9mNnhnBW8G3S-jojZaHa5c/edit
We designed a Mapping Your Future Candy Land shirt that you and students may purchase. We hope to get the shirt flyer to you with ordering information on Monday. If not ordering a shirt, please dress up in the Candy Land theme. (ex, super bright colors, pieces of candy, characters from the game, etc.) The Wylie Way Assembly will be at 8:00am in the cafeteria. The Morris Brothers will put on a character development program for us courtesy of PTA! Please look over the MYF lessons - if we need to purchase materials for your class that are not provided let us know! We also have a Cotton Candy stand coming for the day. We will have a separate time for your class to go. This will be a unique event for our students. Pre-K/PPCD we will bring the cotton candy puffs packaged to you. We will send home a flyer for $2.00 for the cotton candy, This will help to off set some of the cost. All students will get cotton candy whether they are able to pay or not.
Hartman Carnival - 2/23/18 5-8 Teachers - games will be in your rooms (similar to last year) Please start getting volunteers to run your booths/games. If you do not have enough parent volunteers, let me know and we will see if we can get some organizations from the high school to cover. Professional staff is expected to attend for 1 hour.
Please sign up for a game: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ER2iQBrtk8AGgV0MsKXtZz2GrBufHfx9hhVe6Ch8jS4/edit#gid=0
Carnival time 5:30-8:00 pm PPCD
6:00-8:00 pm K-4
Carnival will begin at 5:30!
Thanks for all your hard work - 2018 here we come!
Your PROUD principal,
Shawna #hartmanpride #nbrs2017
Upcoming Dates:
1/12 WISD Heart Challenge Sign Up/BB Check deadline, dessert party for Principals & WW Award kids 2pm
1/17 K-2 RTI Meeting
1/18 "Wing It" Kinder Musical 9am & 7pm, PTA Board Meeting at 5:30 (Mr. Seitz is the teacher representative, if you have a nee/request for PTA please email him)
1/19 Famous Athletes Day- Dress Like a Famous Athlete! Pep Rally at 1:00pm
1/22 McDonald's Night (Rotation) 5-7pm
1/23 Sunshine Committee Meeting 3pm
1/24 Staff Meeting at 3:10 in the Cafeteria
1/25 Title 1 Family Engagement Night, 5-7pm
1/26 Pay Day Hey Day Breakfast! (PPCD)
1/29 Skipwith, Cline, Broyles and Ballast attend TEA Luncheon in Austin 1/20/18 - The Texas Education Agency is hosting a luncheon to honor Blue Ribbon Schools in Texas at their midwinter conference. Teachers were selected based on the votes given during the D.C. selection process. Jennifer Cline, Vicki Skipwith, Kara Broyles and myself will be representing Hartman.
1/30 4th Grade Writing Checkpoint
1/31 RTI Team Meeting, IHOP Spirit Night - Dress Backwards! Zero the Hero with Kindergarten at 8am in the Library.
Children’s Lying - by Alex Stone - We all experience this with children - I thought this was a good article!
In this New York Times article, author Alex Stone reports on the surprising outcomes of a study of young people’s dishonesty. Researchers told children not to look at a hidden toy and then made an excuse to leave the room. Within seconds of being left alone, the vast majority of children peeked at the toy. When the researcher returned, a significant number who had looked said they hadn’t. “At least a third of 2-year-olds, half of 3-year-olds, and 80 percent or more of children 4 and older will deny their transgression,” says Stone, “regardless of their gender, race, or family’s religion.” What’s more, none of the adults who spoke with children afterward, even their parents, were able to consistently tell who was lying and who was telling the truth.
A number of studies conducted by developmental psychologist Michael Lewis and others have reached these conclusions:
- Toddlers who lie have higher verbal I.Q.s than those who tell the truth (as much as 10 points higher).
- Children who don’t peek at the toy have the highest I.Q.s of all – but there are very few of them.
- Children who lie have better executive functioning skills (the ability to control impulses and stay focused on a task) and theory of mind (the ability to see the world through other people’s eyes) than those who don’t.
- Children with autism and ADHD have trouble lying.
Interestingly, teaching children executive functioning skills and theory of mind makes them more likely to lie.
All this is intriguing, but parents and teachers want children to be honest – which can be crucial in cases involving maltreatment or abuse – and to grow up to be reliable and decent people. What makes children more likely to tell the truth? Here’s what researchers have found:
• Carrots work better than sticks. Harsh punishments like spanking do little to deter lying and may be counterproductive. In one study in Africa, children in a school practicing corporal punishment were more likely to lie and were far better at it than those attending a school that used gentler methods.
• Witnessing other children being praised for honesty tends to produce more honest behavior. So do non-punitive appeals – “If you tell the truth, I will be really pleased with you.”
• Eliciting an up-front promise to tell the truth has been shown to work. Getting children to make a verbal commitment not to lie was even effective in the toy-peeking experiment.
• Positive stories work better than negative and scary ones. Reading about George Washington telling the truth about cutting down the cherry tree is more effective than reading “Pinocchio” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” It’s about positive messaging – emphasizing the benefits of honesty rather than the problems caused by dishonesty.
• Bribery can work – as long as the financial reward for honesty is considerably bigger than the perceived benefit of lying. Psychologist Kang Lee, who conducted an experiment in which children got different rewards for each kind of behavior, found there was a sharp increase in honest behavior when the reward reached a certain point. “Their decision to lie is very tactical,” he said. “Children are thinking in terms of the ratio.”
“Is Your Child Lying to You? That’s Good” by Alex Stone in The New York Times, January 7, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/opinion/sunday/children-lying-intelligence.html
Encourage your families to purchase tickets prior to the dance and save $1.00!
R- Time Every Wednesday!
Rtime for Better Relationships! 10 minutes every Wednesday!
- Show good manners and respect at all times.
- Care for everyone and everything.
- Follow instructions with thought and care.