Monday Minutes
March 7, 2016
We, the Bethany Community, are dedicated to provide an excellent education and to instill a life-long love of learning that will maximize each student’s success in a competitive 21st Century World
Welcome Back
As I mentioned this morning, I am very excited to introduce Roy Joyce as the newest Bethany staff member. He joins us from Armstrong Middle School with some great experiences previously working in structured classrooms and with the general special education students. Typically, it is very difficult to find great staff members at this point in the school year, but it looks like we have struck gold a second time (with Melissa Tapia being the first) by finding an incredible person to join our team mid-year. The rest of you also should know you are cream of the crop and were selected when there were lots more options available (in other words, we are blessed with great staff all around and feel fortunate to find quality people to work with the kids and us). Please take a moment to introduce yourself to Mr. Joyce and provide him with a warm Bethany welcome.
Over the break I had the opportunity to review the great walkthrough data that you provided for the month of February. Some interesting facts came out of reviewing the work you did. First, it was wonderful to see the comments that some staff members made with the walkthroughs they completed. They were specific and uplifting. Thanks to those who took some time to write extra little notes of positive feedback. While I track who has completed the three walkthroughs each month, I am also looking at which staff members have the most people doing walkthroughs in their classes. This month, the teachers who had the fewest walkthroughs completed in their classes were (alphabetically by last name): Brooke Gibson, Wendy Mullins, Johnny Rodriguez, and Erica Tusant. The teachers who had the most completed walkthroughs by peers were (again in alphabetical order by last name): Kelly Cross, Cindy Graham, Krysta Kiggins, Paula Kleeburg, Becky Lindquist, Chamonix Morejon, Val Timofeyev. That information is not good, bad, or otherwise, but is just something to put in your "gee whiz" file. While I don't think this made a difference on who had the most walkthroughs completed in their classrooms, please remember that if another staff member comes into your room to do a walkthrough you should let them unless there is an EMERGENCY situation occurring at that time. This is not a formal evaluation and it is very beneficial to see how we all teach, especially when a lesson may not be going as well as we would hope. Thanks for being welcoming as you share time in each other's classes with these walkthroughs.
Finally, with the weather warming up, please include a little note in your weekly newsletters about proper fitting close. Something to the effect of "as a reminder some students grow between the fall and spring and have outgrown some of the clothes that fit perfectly in the fall. Please continue to help your child select clothes that are appropriate for school." Your wording will be much better than mine, but hopefully you got the gist of the message.
Thanks for all you do and who you are!! Have a great week!!
Upcoming Events
· March 16th Plano Symphony Orchestra Concert – 4th Grade
· March 17th PTA Teacher Appreciation Day
· March 18th Kindergarten Round-Up
· March 18th PTA Drop and Shop Event -- 5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
· March 23rd Kindergarten to Outdoor Learning Center
· March 23rd PLC Meeting
· March 24th Spring Individual and Group Pictures
· March 24th GT Spring Training -- 3:00 p.m.
· March 25th Student Teacher Holiday
· March 29th STAAR -- Fourth Grade Writing, Fifth Grade Mathematics
· March 30th STAAR -- Fifth Grade Reading
· April 4th Monday Morning Assembly
· April 6th Team Leader Meeting (moved from April 13th)
· April 15th PTA Color Run -- 5:30 p.m.
· April 20th Staff Meeting
Thought For The Week
"On your very best day at work — the day you come home and think you have the best job in the world — what did you do that day?"
~ Unknown