Head U Gator News
December 11, 2016
A grateful heart...
My heart is grateful for....
...Colleen and Linda, who both presented at TAGT when it was here in Dallas at the beginning of December. We're proud to have experts in their field who can share their learning with many other educators to help improve their practice.
...Johnna and Samantha, who had extra fifth graders on Friday when no one picked up Rion's absence, and just like many others of you didn't miss a beat while dealing with extra students.
...Leigh, who gave up a good chunk of her conference time Thursday to talk to a prospective ASPIRE parent. That is about the 20th time I've "invited" her to talk with a parent during her conference time because of the time we schedule the tours, and she is always gracious and informative.
...Cindy Felker, who not only is very good at what she does, but is also great fun to watch when her students do well on their weekly progress monitoring. She gets so excited, especially when it's a student who often struggles!
...Brittany Cohen, for being genuinely happy to welcome a student back. She even called and invited the family to Spring Creek knowing that it would help make the transition a little easier.
DI help
January 2nd
Having explained that, we have an opportunity to tap into some expertise that could be very valuable. On 1/2/17, Amy Phillips who formerly taught at OC Taylor, will be in our district and available to help work through issues that you may have encountered this year as you implemented the new Humanities curriculum. I haven't met Amy, but I know Julie Lee is a huge fan of hers and thinks she is incredibly talented and valuable.
Amy will be available the afternoon of the 2nd from 1-3:30, and you can bring your lesson plans, work with your team, but have Amy available as a resource if you have some questions or ideas that you want to try. There will be teachers from 3 other GCISD schools, so you could also do some sharing with them.
I'm envisioning you working in you room in the morning on whatever you need to complete, going to lunch with your team and then heading to (the PDEC I think) for the afternoon. In my mind the main difference would be the location, because most of you would probably have planned together in the afternoon on campus.
You can register for the session in Eduphoria. Unless you have some strong objection, I'd appreciate you doing so. I'm hoping this is an opportunity for us to cooperate without it being too much of a stretch for you. I've confirmed that no one is supposed to be talking or "instructing" that day...just available if needed.
Secret Santa Redux
Just wanted to give you a heads up so if you've thought about participating in the past but haven't, you could be looking for little gifts over the holidays.
Sherlock Visits
Calendar
Monday, December 12
Art Club 2:55-4:00
Tuesday, December 13
La Academia Spanish classes 2:55-4:00
5th grade choir to Wells Fargo Bank-3:30
Wednesday, December 14
Lunch with the Principal
Thursday, December 15
Classroom parties-
Kinder: 1:45-2:45
1st: 1-2:00
2nd: 12:00-1:00
3rd: 2-2:55
4th: 1:45-2:45
5th: 12:15-2:45
Friday, December 16
Sing A long
Early Dismissal- 11:45
5 days until the holiday....WE CAN DO THIS!