WMS Weekly Bulletin
September 2-8, 2018
Preface: Sometimes moments occur that are higher than what can be coordinated here on Earth. Today I experienced one of those moments. Maybe it's because I'm an English teacher. Maybe it's because I'm a sucker for a good book. Maybe it's because I'm searching for answers and when I feel lost, I turn to words.
Bear with me.
I just so happened to be taking a break from cleaning house (to prolong the inevitable of writing my thoughts for this week's bulletin) when I ran across a video on Facebook of a colleague in Navasota, Todd Nesloney, sharing an online chat for his book Stories from Webb: The Ideas, Passions, and Convictions of a Principal and His School Family. Remarkably, today's book chat was over Chapter 8 - It's Okay to Grieve.
In the chapter, several of the Webb Elementary staff share stories of loss and how they managed to overcome. I couldn't help but think of our school family at Wellborn Middle School. There are so many sentences throughout this chapter that capture what we are experiencing right now.
"One of our sisters...is gone from us. It is a time to be sad but also a time to talk and share--a time to let our feelings be felt..." (p. 73)
"We lean on each other and we band together. It helps us to strengthen our relationships and helps us to examine our hearts." (p. 76)
"I've learned it's okay to grieve and that everyone will do it at their own pace." (p. 78)
"I believe strength comes from the healing that occurs when you allow yourself to be fully crushed but then press on to be rebuilt." (p. 83)
"You have to let others lift you up when you need it most and when you get the chance, do the same for them." (p. 88)
Each of these quotes is powerful, but here's where this all came together for me: these people used words to express their emotions and find healing.
Months ago, we established that our school instructional goal this year is to see writing in every classroom. My challenge for you is to take a moment when you feel overwhelmed, sad, angry, confused, or any other emotion and write what you are feeling. Get it out. It doesn't have to be pretty or organized. It doesn't have to be complete sentences or full paragraphs. Just write. Put a pen to paper and express your emotions. Write to cherish our dear friend and colleague Nicki and what she meant to us and our school family.
Go Warhawks! And, remember, you belong here.
-Mishler
Week in Review
Goal-setting 2018-19
The instructions for how to submit your goals this year will be found in our WMS: Staffulty Schoology course. This is for all instructional staff only.
The Harbor Advocate Videos
This week on The Harbor TV, Watch Season 1: Episode 3 - Skate for Change. Search for the Keyword: Service and scroll all the way to the bottom.
Short version:
Username - juliamishler
Password - WarHawks (case sensitive)
Faculty Meeting This Week
The Wednesday meeting will be 4:15 PM - 4:45 PM.
The Thursday meeting will be 7:30 AM - 8:00 AM.
It is imperative that all faculty are on time for these meetings as we have much to cover and want to make sure we release on time.
*We will bump our regularly scheduled design team meetings to next month.
From WMS SPED
The school year is underway. Thank you to everyone who has been completing forms and paperwork sent to them. I know it takes time but the information you provide is necessary.
As the year progresses, you may be feeling that many of our scholars have accommodations/modifications they don’t need. First, if it is in the paperwork – you must/need to provide it. If you think your scholar doesn’t need an accommodation or modification, let them attempt the task without it but if they are not successful they need to be given the task again with the listed accommodation/modification and no penalty. If they are successful, without the accommodation/modification, document it. Each time they do a task, the documentation needs to occur.
-Eileen
Weekly Wednesday Meetings
1st Wednesday: Design Teams
2nd Wednesday: Leadership Team
3rd Wednesday: Staffulty Meeting
4th Wednesday: AVID Site Team
Meetings will begin at 4:15 PM and shall not last longer than 5:00 PM. As always, ending early gives the gift of time. And, meetings are for items that need to be addressed face-to-face.
EdCampCSTX - October 13
We'd love to have a full house of Warhawks to join in the conversations. If you have never attended an EdCamp, then we highly recommend you come. All attendees have the opportunity to build the learning conversations by providing input on what they want to learn about or feel comfortable facilitating a coversation.
The EdCampCSTX website --> https://edcampcstx.weebly.com/
Duty Stations & Personnel
Upcoming Events
9/12 - Leadership Team Meeting, 4:15 PM @ War Room
9/12 - WMS Open House, 6:00-7:30 PM
9/26 - 7th Grade Field Trip to OPAS Artrageous
10/17 - 8th Grade Career Fair, TBD