Hilcher Herald
GES Staff Update-Week of 1/11/16
Words to Live By
As we approach next Monday's holiday, I hope you will take a few minutes to remember the impact Martin Luther King, Jr. had on our country. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for faith, equality, and nonviolence throughout his life. Please take some time this week to discuss his influence with your students. Quotes from his speeches are incredibly thought provoking and would be a great discussion starter with your students. MLK quotes to ponder with your students: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html
My all time favorite, Kid President, has some words that apply to us as educators. He asks, “Isn’t it cool that we can change things?” Think about what you can change or what you think is going well and what you would like to continue...
Student Goal Setting
Goal setting will be an important step as you begin to plan for student led conferences in February. Student led conferences will be implemented for all grade 3-5 students and at least 10 students per classroom in grades K-2. We will begin discussing expectations and protocols for these special conferences at Team Leader meeting on Tuesday. GES Student Led Conferences folder on Google drive: http://bit.ly/1Rh6HdF
The GCISD Personalized Learning web page gives specific guidelines for student led conferences and goal setting: https://sites.google.com/a/gcisd.net/personalized-learning-in-gcisd/personalized-learning/student-led-conferences
*If you need assistance with goal setting with your students, please contact Nancy Hale.
Friendly Reminders
- Team Leader Meeting is Tuesday. Please discuss any topics for our agenda and share them with your team leader so they can share at our meeting. Team Leaders, please email Liz with your agenda items before 10am on Tuesday. Thanks!
- Recess weather reminder: Please make sure your children have coats, hats, gloves for outdoor recess. GCISD district guidelines allow children to play outside for recess and PE as long as the temperature, including wind chill factor, is 36*F or above. Anything below that requires the children to stay indoors. Please remind parents of younger students to send backup clothing for mud or bathroom accidents.
- Grade level meetings with Rebekah Boone should happen monthly. Please be sure you are maintaining these meetings to get her input on how to serve GT students during Shine Time with extensions. RtI meetings were just completed and many students who are excelling were identified. We need to be sure to help them 'stretch their brains' during Shine Time. As a reminder, our Shine Time Expectations are outlined in the following Google Doc: http://bit.ly/1RBnBCn
- Data Days: Tuesday, Feb.2 - 3rd AM & 4th PM; Wednesday, Feb. 3 - Kinder AM & 5th PM; Thursday, Feb. 4 - 2nd AM & 1st PM
- The next Elementary Science 3-5 Intervention Planning date is January 11th at 3:30 PM at the PDEC. Please register for this event in Eduphoria. http://eduphoria.gcisd.net/wshop/default.aspx?cid=3647
- Our next CORE visits will be on Thursday, 1/21. Check out the schedule: http://bit.ly/1TOuRtG
Updates
- Staffing update: After another round of interviews, we have recommended Tamara Bailey for our SBIP para position. Tamara is a certified teacher and is currently working as an inclusion aide in Keller. We are anxiously awaiting her joining our team and will let you know as soon as we are notified of her start date.
- Looking for a reliable sub? Our own GES 4th grade parent, TJ Bangs, is now on the approved sub list. We are her preferred campus to sub, so please call her when you are in need! 214-908-7773
- Ice, Ice Baby! Hopefully you noticed our new ice maker has arrived and was installed in the lounge! We are so excited to have access to ice throughout the day and for ice packs for small injuries. Please remember to use the ice scoop when removing ice and to remove it from the ice tray after use. We will store the scoop on top of the ice machine. Due to the small capacity of this ice maker, please use this ice solely for your own use. When you need ice for projects, experiments and class parties, please continue to make arrangements with Anna in the cafeteria for large quantities. Thanks!
- AHA Jump Rope for Heart starts Monday, Jan 25th and runs through Friday, Feb 5th. An AHA representative will be here on Friday, Jan 22 to speak with the kids in PE to kick it off. More emails and forms will be sent soon. See Johanna if you have questions.
- Summer Enrichment - 2016 Choose Your Own Adventure: Please consider teaching a session in the 2016 Summer Enrichment program. For more information, and/or to apply to teach a session, please contact Cindy Pearson.
Thought Exchange
The following information was sent out to survey participants:
Follow Up Thought Exchange: Thank you for joining the conversation about Grapevine-Colleyville schools this fall. We had over 3340 stakeholders contribute thoughts and priorities for the future of our schools, and we are excited to share the results with you. Please visit gcisd-k12.thoughtexchange.com to see what we’ve learned from our community.Upcoming Dates
Monday, 1/11 Choir (2:45-3:45pm)
Tuesday, 1/12 Team Leader meeting (3:00-4:30pm)
Wednesday, 1/13 Sunshine Committee meeting (3:00pm)
Wednesday, 1/13 Running Club, Student Council & KC Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/14 1:1 PLCs (conference times); Choir (2:45-3:45pm)
Monday, 1/18 MLK Day-Student & teacher holiday
Tuesday, 1/19 Learning Teams @3:00
Wednesday, 1/20 NEHS meeting & Running Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/21 CORE visits with PLCs; Choir long rehearsal (1:45-3:45pm)
Friday, 1/22 Jump Rope for Heart kick off during PE
Monday, 1/25 Jump Rope for Heart begins; Choir long rehearsal (1:45-3:45pm)
Tuesday, 1/26 Choir performance (9:30am)
Tuesday, 1/26 Campus Excellence Committee meeting (3:10pm)
Wednesday, 1/27 Running Club (2:45-3:30pm)
Thursday, 1/28 Choir Performance (6:30pm)
Where We Will Be...
- Monday, 1/11 - Hale off campus at 1:30
- Wednesday, 1/13 - Liz at campus Instructional Rounds
- Friday, 1/15 - Hale at Liaison/Coaches meeting
Mini CAST
DFW Science Mini-CAST Saturday, February 20th in Frisco ISD
Mini-CAST is a mini-conference which takes place during the course of one day in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is a one-day version of the Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching. This year, the conference is being held in Frisco on Saturday, February 20, 2016. Presentations are related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and is attended by science teachers, administrators, supervisors, and vendors.
In order to register TWO forms must be completed online:
Form to request payment from GCISD: http://bit.ly/1JC2zC8
Form to register with event organizers - Select the $25 option and the pay with check option: http://bit.ly/1Oblu5O
BOTH forms must be completed by the end of the day, Friday January 29th in order to have time to process a check and payment by the registration deadline.
Monday Message to Parents
Disclaimer: It will be a work in progress until late Sunday night!!
GCISD Information
Summer Enrichment - 2016 Choose Your Own Adventure
The following cover design information was included in the Monday Message. Please announce the following information to your students:
GCISD students of all ages are invited to create artwork illustrating the fun learning opportunities available through GCISD’s Summer Enrichment Program. This year’s theme is “Choose Your Own Adventure.” The winning artwork will serve as the cover design for the GCISD Summer Enrichment brochure, which is distributed throughout the district and on the website and provides information about registration and summer learning opportunities for students completing K-6th grades. The student who creates the winning entry will be recognized in the printed brochure and during a regular meeting of the GCISD Board of Trustees.
Art must be original and can be hand-drawn, painted, computer-designed or in any other medium. Judges will be looking for a design that is creative, appropriate, and uses the “Choose Your Own Adventure” theme. Art should be on 8 ½” x 11” paper and submitted in color, but be able to be reproduced in black and white. Please do not frame or mat entry to any size larger than 8 ½” x 11”. Our contest opens January 11, 2016, and the deadline for submitting the art is Wednesday, February 10th. Students may submit contest entries to their school office or to Cindy Pearson at Colleyville Elementary.
Take Note Opportunity
Take Note is Now taking orders!
Order now for Valentines Day!
Valentines will be here before you know it so be prepared by ordering you sweetheart a personalized Note Pad made by your GCISD students! We will have them printed, packaged and delivered to you before that special day!
To order go to www.gcisd-k12.org/page/38020 or the online order form: https://docs.google.com/a/gcisd.net/forms/d/1P6VqgM0it7gpkJsj-1hcWt3gxwtPOgEazXw2HPqUvjg/viewform?c=0&w=1
Don’t wait!! Order now!!
Take Note is a business run by the GCISD Transition Class and the CHHS/GHS Special Education Departments. We create personalized Note pads and sell them for $2.50 each. Each pad contains 50 sheets and are made when you order them. Go to our website and see an example of our work or create your own design! It’s a great gift for any occasion-Valentines, birthdays, graduation and end of the year gifts.
If you have any questions, please contact Debra Tridico @ 817.251.5246 or at debra.tridico@gcisd.net
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
- 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