Tannahill Times
September 2015
Summerhill Scoop
Welcome to our first monthly newsletter of the 2015-2016 school year. I want to begin my portion of the newsletter with a thank you for the tremendous amount of effort each staff member poured into our students the first week of school. Your heart for our students and each other was a fantastic motivator. It was contagious and kids and parents caught onto it quickly. It could be seen in their faces and body language, as well as heard in their voices. Great job Tannahill!
Before school started, I met with many of you individually and in groups. Like I shared in our staff development, discipline and communication were the two most evident areas of concern I took away from our meetings. We are moving in the right direction in both areas. I was so impressed with everyone’s willingness to open up in both large and small groups as we met this summer and during professional development.
Specific areas of improved discipline in our school are the hallways, restrooms, cafeteria, and classrooms. It was so obvious every team took the time to teach expectations, rules, and procedures the first week. Moreover, individual teachers are taking the time to teach the same expectations for our campus inside the classroom. This schedule lends itself to smoother transitions than the previous year, but it was each one of you that made it happen so successfully.
Communication is the other area of concern that I took from our meetings and professional development. My door is always open; I will strive to improve my communication skills this year. Communication is only as good as the trust between the people involved. I am committed to gaining your trust this year.
Thank you for a great start this year! Have a great Labor Day Weekend with your families. Put work down for the long weekend and remind yourselves of the three most important areas of life: Faith, Family, and Friends.
Growth Mindset
Check out these links for Growth Mindset inspiration!
- You Can Learn Anything - https://youtu.be/JC82Il2cjqA?list=PL4111402B45D10AFC
- A Pep Talk From Kid President - https://youtu.be/l-gQLqv9f4o?list=PLgXsolshMsvpyOIlJU2gRQdrqCoiHk-X1
Dates to Know
September 7 - Labor Day Holiday (No School)
September 8 - Fall Pictures in PE
September 10 - Fire Drill @ 9:00 am
September 11 - Teacher Self Report I & PDAS Training Certificate Due
September 16 - Cookie Dough Sales End
September 17 - Athletic Wear Fundraiser
September 18 - Staff Development Day (No School for Students)
September 23 - College Blitz & Jeans
September 25 - Tail Gate Luncheon
September 29 - Cookie Dough Pick Up & Party Bus to CiCis
October 2 - Cookie Dough Party
October 5 - Mad Scientist Night 6:00-7:30
October 9 - 6th Grade Band Trip to High School
October 9 - First Six Weeks Ends
October 12 - Holiday (No school)
October 13 - Staff Development Day (No School for Students)
October 14 - 2nd SW begins
October 22 - Picture Retakes & Group Pictures
Selfie?
We are all a little wired on caffeine!
Attempted 6th Grade Wefie
From the desk of Mr. Brown...
Lacy's Ledger
“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”
Og Mandino
Concerning Discipline...
In my first year of teaching, an older mentor told me that it is always easier to start off hard and ease up than to start off easy and try to toughen up. That was proven to be true. What I did initially, grew into a classroom expectation not easily changed.
As you approach discipline over the next few weeks, think on how you want your classroom to look in a few months. As Mandino said, what you do now, you will reap later.
The Referral System:
Be sure to “insert notes” in order to provide details
Be sure to type last name first, first name last
Be sure to remind your students that the RFF event is for student who have no office referrals
Star Student of the Week:
Each team should recognize their Star Students within their own hall
All Star Students will be recognized on a bulletin display outside of the cafeteria
Paw Wall:
I saw some wonderful moments this week in the hallways and in the classrooms such as: staff giving high fives with smiles, the correct thinking map terminology being used, creative inferencing activities, journaling, and so much more. It is refreshing to see these strong relationships being established with our students both academic and interpersonal alike. Our Paw Wall will be up by next week, and we cannot wait to begin recognizing these moments. Make sure you get your photo uploaded into the google folder soon! Thank you for a great first week at TIS!
Message from Mielinski
After analyzing your input on the Campus Problem of Practice, we have decided to focus our efforts on improving the implementation of the workshop model. According to your feedback, improvement of this instructional strategy will lead to greater student engagement, student ownership of classwork, and valuable time to conference with individual students. The admin team will be working on an action plan to aid our campus in working on the problem of practice. More info to come!