The Tiger Times
Week of September 5 through September 8
Hello Tiger Family!
Happy Monday everyone,
There is something a little magical about a 3 day weekend, isn't there? I hope you're setting aside some of this extra time on yourselves, even if it's just an hour of YOU time.
Several of you asked about our "I can...." statement ponders from this past week. As a leadership team, we decided to hold off until next week to resume the reflections on these with you. There will be a session this Thursday after dismissal in the Learning Commons specifically to answer questions and even write some statements together if you want! If you feel good about your understanding of "I can...." statements -why we write them, how to use them, etc. - no need to attend. If you've come on board since this high-leverage instructional practice was brought to GCISD, or just want to gain a better understanding, join us in the Commons as we learn together!
A mighty celebration I want to share with you is about tardies. Last Monday we had more than 30 students arriving in the office after 7:40. Friday we had SEVEN!! We know this didn't mean the other 692 Tigers were in seats ready to learn at 7:40 because we still have some challenges with breakfast. We've worked to put structures in place to address this and will continue working until we DO have students in classes at 7:40, fed and ready to learn. In the meantime, it is an absolutely reasonable expectation for students to learn while they eat breakfast.
As we enter Week 3, fast forward a month and envision how you see your classroom to "working" - what do you see you doing? Your students doing? Beginning with this end in mind, identify the things students need to know how to do for that vision to be your reality. What do they need to be explicitly taught and coached on this week so they have the skills to work in this way? For example, because I pulled a lot of small groups, something I had to teach kids was what to do "when they got stuck". We created an anchor chart with possibilities for students to use so my small group instruction interruptions were minimal. Know I support you 100% in using time to do this! It is a critical foundation for a successful year of learning.
Blessed and blissed to be your principal,
Shelley
Looking Back on Week 2
The iPads Have Landed!
Reader's Workshop in Action
What are PLCs emoji-style!
Important Dates
9/4 Labor Day Student & Staff Holiday
9/5 Happy birthday, Ronda!!
2nd Grade PLC
Nicole & Baby Luke's Shower in the Learning Commons 3:30
9/6 Shelley at Principal PLC
1st Grade PLC
9/7 Kinder PLC
LifeStage classes Week 1 3:15-4:15
Learning Session - "I can...." statements 3:30 in Learning Commons
GT LEAD Information Night 5:00-5:30 in Learning Commons
2nd & 3rd Grade Information Night 5:30-6:30
9/8 LifeStage Classes Week 1 3:15-4:15
UPCOMING
9/11 Tiger U! 3:30 in Learning Commons
Personalized Learning & Universal Screening Reminder
Timberline Tiger Expectations
NEW INFORMATION: Morning and Dismissal Duties
Making Our Day Work for Learning
- New morning procedures are in place beginning Tuesday, September 5th. The information that was sent home to parents is below. Please look over it so parents hear the same message from all staff. These procedures are aligned to those of all GCISD elementary campuses.
- Taking attendance between 9:45 and 10:00 is required. I was one of the teachers that struggled mightily with this...just ask Maria. Setting an alarm solved it for me. It's true taking accurate and timely attendance impacts the funding we receive but more importantly, we would use attendance documents in the event of an emergency to make sure we know the students we should have safely with us.
- Reminder that GCISD and TES policy schedules celebrations of birthdays at the end of the day. This protects instructional time and provides consistency for all of our families.
- We are continuing to work on ways to make dismissal more efficient and on the challenge in the church parking. Know that these are both puzzles that require slow thinking and we welcome any suggestions you have!
- We are looking at ways to also solve the "Lunch Puzzle". We want to honor our parents' wish to spend time with their kiddos while at the same time keeping the office functioning. Last week, the office staff did little else between 10:45 and 12:15 except non-stop parent check ins. This large number of parents also causes additional workload to LaLa. We've thought about having only 1 designated day for parents to come or perhaps a day assigned to a specific grade level. Again, ideas and suggestions are welcome!
REMINDER! Tiger U is coming soon!
- Why?
- What if?
- How?
Please read the article, "Collective Teacher Efficacy: The Effect Size Research and Six Enabling Conditions", before our first Tiger U on September 11th. By reading the article ahead of time -by flipping a part of Tiger U- we will be able to honor our hard end time of 4:30.
T-TESS for Classroom Teachers
You will be receiving an email from Jade, Nicole or myself about your 17-18 T-TESS. The email provides all the details but, in a nutshell, you will schedule - not complete...just schedule- your 20 minute Goal-Setting conference before you leave Wednesday. When your T-TESS window opens, you'll schedule three things: your pre-conference, lesson observation and post-conference. We're looking forward to learning through and with you!
Eye of the Tiger!
Stuart - For working so hard to get our Tigers their new devices this week!!! You rock! - Daniela
Thank you, Britt for creating our wooden Lighthouse as it lights the way for us! - Maggie
Thank you Sunshine and Claudia for the delicious breakfast! ~ Second Grade Team
Congratulations to PPCD and RISE teachers and Paras for executing an exceptional lock down drill! I was so impressed with how smoothly you were able to get All of the students into a safe quiet spot without a single peep during the drill! - Shannon and Shelley
A huge thank you to Kristi Sawyer to helping us get to know our students these past two weeks. You are a blessing to us every day! You will be missed. -Shannon
Thank you, Carmen and Belinda, for your strong teamwork Wednesday helping our injured Tiger. You provided calm for him and his family. Thank you!! - Shelley
Thank you Lisa, Kim, Ariel and Laura for putting kids first to help us create a room for our 3rd graders!! You're awesome!! -Shelley
Thank you, Melissa Johnson!! You are making our dismissal staging area look FABULOUS!! -Shelley
Kinder and First Grade, saaaaaaaalllUTE! for making Information NIght a success for our families who attended Thursday :) -Shelley
Ways and Where the Tigers Tell Our Timberline Story
Email: firstname.lastname@gcisd.net
Website: http://www.gcisd-k12.org/Domain/2032
Location: 3220 Timberline Drive, Grapevine, TX, United States
Phone: 817-251-5770
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TESleads/
Twitter: @TimberlineNews