Hilcher Herald
GES Staff Update-Week of 9/28/15
Friday's Kick Off
Office Team
CHHS Drumline
CHHS PALS
Words to Live By...
Input Needed
http://goo.gl/forms/YsV0nedVPd Please complete the survey by Wednesday, September 30th.
Friendly Reminders
- Learning objectives/I Can statements should be clearly posted for students and visitors to see
- Color copies should be printed sparingly. Individual printers should NOT be used to print class sets. Please use the Ricoh copier for class sets.
- 1:1 checklists are due to Nancy Hale prior to Thursday, October 1st
- October Lounge duty team is 3rd grade
Important Updates
Our FABULOUS PTA is only 1 teacher membership short of earning the Golden Apple Award! If you haven't joined the PTA, please consider joining this week so we can earn this prestigious honor! Our PTA does so much to support us, our school and our students. Hopefully you saw the PTA shout out we received on Twitter! We were one of the campuses who earned the "Head Start" Award from Texas PTA for early membership. GES, CES & GHS have already recruited 75% of last year's total PTA membership. Way to go GES!
Garden tasting update: Due to current GCISD Health regulations, students are not allowed to taste any items grown in our World of Wonder garden. They are working on a permission form at the district level. Any old permission forms should be tossed out. Until this district-wide form is completed, and signed/returned by a parent, please refrain from allowing any tasting of our harvests.
Data Days
Tuesday, 9/29-Kinder & 5th grade
Wednesday, 9/30-2nd grade & 4th grade
Thursday, 10/1-1st grade & 3rd grade
We look forward to a productive half day with each of you!!
Giving Campaign
Email from Monday, 9/21: Did you know that GES has received 48 grants totaling OVER $42,000 from the GC Education Foundation? To continue receiving these wonderful funds, please consider a donation, no amount is too small or too large! GES had 100% participation in donations for the last two school years! Let's continue that wonderful tradition with our giving this year. I will be placing an Education Foundation pledge form in each of your mailboxes. Please complete the form and return it to Robin Robbins on/before October 7th. **You can specifically designate your donation to go to the GES endowment if you'd like. Simply check the box on the right side of your form and write GES.
If we have 100% participation by Friday, October 2, then we get to wear jeans and shirt of your choice each day for the following week, October 5-October 9. What a WIN-WIN! You receive a whole week of jeans and helps our campus through a donation to the Ed Foundation!
Thank you in advance for considering a gift to the Education Foundation and playing a LARGE role in building excellent schools together!!
I'll be compiling my list of those who donated prior to 9/25 and working on prizes this week!! Thanks for your generous giving.
October 7th & 8th
Sign Up Genius is an easy way for parents to sign up for a time that is convenient for them and is less of a hassle for you! If you need assistance with the program, see Nancy Hale! ***Please keep a record of your conference notes. I don't mind if you hand write your conference notes, or if you create a google document. In the Google drive GES Faculty and Staff folder, you will find the digital conference note form: http://bit.ly/1VhyLjx
Please make me a copy of your conference notes, or share your google folder with Kim and me.
MAPS Schedule for those two days:
- Tuesday, Oct. 7 Grades 3-5 MAPS (Third-7:55-8:45; Fourth-8:55-9:45 & Fifth-9:55-10:45)
- Wednesday, Oct. 8 Kindergarten-2nd grade MAPS (Second-7:55-8:45; First-8:55-9:45 & Kindergarten-9:55-10:45)
iOS 9 Update
Here is the information we received Friday regarding the iOS 9 update:
With the release of the iPad iOS 9, it has caused a few possible problems for us in the district. At the moment, there is no one size fits all. iOS 9 requires 1.3GB of free space on the iPad to update. If students are needing iMovie, you will need to update the iOS before installing iMovie. If teachers are wanting to use the Mirroring 360 app, you cannot upgrade to iOS 9. There is an update in the works, but it has not been released yet. If teachers are wanting the students to use the Math Toolkit app, it requires iOS 8.6 or greater.
You may update, as needed, to iOS 9 on the student iPads. Please do not update your entire campus at the same time.
After reading the email, please use your discretion on whether to update right away, or if you can wait. If some of our iPads can wait, it sounds like it might be best to wait until they work out all of the glitches. Thanks for your patience!
Formative Assessment Ideas
GES Website
Please be sure that your personal pages are updated prior to October 1st. Please update your personal & contact information, remove old links and deactivate pages that aren't relevant to your class this year. See Nancy if you have any questions.
All grade level pages should include:
- daily schedule
- newsletter link
- teacher contact information
Suggested information to include:
- Homework assignments
- STAR Behavior/classroom expectations
- Pictures of grade level events
Personal pages can include:
- Information about your education, teaching experience, etc...
- Your Twitter feed or links to your blog
- Photo galleries of classroom activities
Thank you for keeping our parents informed and sharing the wonderful things you are doing each day with their students!
Monday Message to Parents
Be sure to check out the following information on the Monday Message S'more:
- I've corrected the scholastic news typo that included Kinder families in the Scholastic money collection. Sorry for the confusion!
Where We Will Be...
Tuesday, 9/29-Heather out 10:30 - 12:30pm
Data Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (Liz, Kim & Nancy will be in Nancy's Room)
- Thursday, 10/1 - Johanna out at Nurse's meeting 7:30 - 10:00am
Flu Shot Reminder
Please consider getting a flu shot this year. We want to keep all of our GES faculty, staff and students as healthy as possible. Flu shots will be offered at GES on Friday, 10/9, 7am-10am. Please register for a time slot if you plan to get a shot!
Information sheets can be found within our Faculty & Staff Google Folder~Health & Safety folder. http://bit.ly/1WcAnYM
Upcoming Dates
Monday, Sept. 28 ePortfolio teacher meeting @ 3:00 in Nancy's room
Tuesday, 9/29 Campus Excellence Committee (3:00pm)
Wednesday, 9/30 PTA fundraiser at Freddy's (5:00-8:00pm) SEE flyer
Monday, 10/5 Stomp Out Bullying-wear blue & your favorite pair of boots
Monday, 10/5 Volunteer Orientation (8:15am & 6:30pm) GES Learning Commons
Wednesday & Thursday 10/7-10/8 Early dismissal @11:45(Parent/Teacher Conferences)
Friday, 10/9 Flu shots offered at GES (7am-10am in the Science Lab)
Monday, 10/12 Student Holiday; Campus Professional Learning Day at GES
Wednesday, 10/14 Social Studies Materials training (3:15-5:30pm) at GES!
Wednesday, 10/14 Running Club starts
Thursday, 10/15 Choir beginsFriday, 10/16 Retrieve all certificates from the Texas Training Center (done on Data Day)
Friday, 10/16 PTA's GLOW DANCE! (6:30-8:30pm)
Wednesday, 10/21 Unity Day-wear orange
Monday, 10/26-Friday, 10/30 Red Ribbon Week & Book Fair
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
- Restorative Practices: Circle Up topics for six weeks http://bit.ly/1KvtV6S
- 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
Information from Ms. Ray
Progress Monitoring
Safety & Security Reminders:
- Classroom doors should remain locked with a magnet in place at all times
- Lights should be turned off when you are not in your classroom
- Classroom doors should not be propped open, unless a student is working outside your door in the hallway
- Blinds should be left in the closed position each night to reduce temperatures
Assessment Updates
Information from Mrs. Horn
Counseling Updates:
Monday, Oct. 5 Stomp Out Bullying-Wear Blue & Your Favorite Pair of Boots. Circle Up Topic for today: Identify ways to stand up to stomp out bullying.
- Wednesday, Oct. 21 Unity Day-Wear Orange. Together against bullying — united for kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Circle Up Topic for today: Define the word "Unity". One idea is to reflect on the statement, “when we stand together, no one stands alone.”
Presenting...Princess Punctuation
PTA Information
GCISD Information
Literacy Symposium
IF you are going to the Literacy Symposium, please register in Eduphoria for credit. http://eduphoria.gcisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=3578