What's Happening at the Ranch!
Week of September 28th - It's Candy Corn Season!!
Shout Outs
I would like to shout out the 8th grade team. Thank you for keeping your standards high and making those 8th graders uncomfortable enough to WANT to work hard! This is great prep for high school and they need it! You guys are doing great and I appreciate you! J---Janet Jordan
Shout out to Anika and Valerie for being amazing team teachers.
Shout out to the counselors and Patty for being patient with me and working with me to get ESL records ready for the LPAC meeting.
To Sarah B. and Lisa S. for being great ESL team members. Shout out to administrators for responding to our emails, questions, and concerns quickly and efficiently. - Ms. Bata
Shout out to Paula Taylor for putting together the Texas Welcome basket for our special guest on the 23rd. To Kim Gregorash-Thank you for moving kids around per their request...and sometimes ours! Also for Ashley Ogal. Rock Star! Thank you for creating an awesome re-take self reflection form for students to use before re-taking an assessment. - Ms. Waterman
Shout out to Pat and Craig who are doing a great job so far!
Angelia Holland for always being the awesomest techie eva! - Mr. deLarios
Shout out to Shunn Newborn for being a great support for our cowboys and cowgirls. - Ms. Campbell
The 6th grade team is ALL IN and collaborating and supporting each other! Go 6th grade team!
Thank you to all staff who created a giant bookmark for International Literacy Day. The bookmarks turned out great and are on display in the library.
To Barb Lye & Amy Rhoads for answering all my questions and helping me to navigate my new position! Thanks for your mentoring! - Ms. Blasius
Shout out to the teachers who have been spending extra time monitoring the 6th grade bathrooms! We appreciate it! - Admin team
The Chili Cook-Off was a hit! Thanks to all the staff who came out to support our Carpenter Dads and students!
Ranch Keeping
- As of now, we're having to table our SpI classes. Email Janet if you'd like to take on a Special Interest group so we can revive this for our kiddos.
- Please be actively present out in the halls. We could use everyone's help between classes.
- If you have a failing student, please be sure that the parents have been contacted. No surprises.
- Please be sure that someone from your department is available for the morning and afternoon of your designated tutorial day.
- If you have a meeting or will be out, please trade duties. We've been shorthanded - especially in the mornings.
What's on Deck This Week
8th gr volleyball at CMS
1st Cowboy edchat at 6:00! Be there or be offline...
Tuesday, Sept 29 - End of 1st six weeks
8th gr football at Kimbrough
Wednesday, Sept 30 - National Mud Pack Day AND National Chewing Gum Day
Even better if you combine them!
Thursday, Oct 1 - 7:40 Leadership Production Meeting in Courtney's 6th gr office
Friday, Oct 2 - 1st Friday of the month...College shirt day (let's tweet some pictures with all our college shirts!)
FNR - please contact parents, send Sam the names, and send work to the office
8th gr band to PSHS football game
Coming up...October 13th will be our next 30 minute tech time. We'll be working on websites!
Joy's Literacy Corner
Each month, we will be celebrating literacy with a special activity. October will be a month of creepy fun. Please stay tuned for more info and we hope you will participate!
Unsure of the library schedule? Unsure of how Lindsay is running things? Think you want some help from Lindsay? Please see the shared drive for an updated version of the library schedule. If you have questions, as always, please ask! It’s imperative that students get the opportunity to go to the library…they are not being given the opportunity to visit the public library! Our library is it! Content area teachers are encouraged to utilize Lindsay’s expertise and visit the library too!
I am an avid reader. I read YA books, I love chapter books and am always trying to find the next best one, and I also read professional books. I am currently reading a book by Eric Jensen, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind. It’s a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. I bring it up because it makes me think of our Carpenter library. Jensen says that there are five actions we must take to get our students engaged. One of those actions is establishing rituals (Jensen, pg. 133). We MUST take students to the library regularly. We MUST model the excitement we have in browsing the shelves and talking to the librarian about books and literacy. The ritual of visiting the school library is helping to create engagement. So, take your students to the library!
Substitute Folders
Your sub folder needs to be updated and refreshed with the following items:
1) Emergency lesson plans in case you can't make it in with your current plans.
2) A seating chart through Pinnacle with student pictures on them.
3) A schedule of your day, room numbers, times, and phone numbers of who to contact in an emergency. It's best to put the front office if they need an administrator for discipline since the admins aren't always in their office.
Double check and make sure your sub folder is updated and in the front office ready to go. If your emergency plans are used from a day you were out, please restock!
Remember your buddy from the Emergency Safety plan? That buddy is the one you are responsible for when a sub is here - please make sure you open their door, leave the door locked and propped, and help that sub with keyed access throughout the day. Let's be sure this doesn't happen to one of our subs so they'll keep coming back! :)