STAR Staff Newsletter
Week of January 6 - 10, 2014
20 Tips for a Positive New Year by Jon Gordon
1. Stay Positive. You can listen to the cynics and doubters and believe that success is impossible or you can trust that with faith and an optimistic attitude all things are possible.
2. Take a morning walk of gratitude. I call it a "Thank You Walk." It will create a fertile mind ready for success.
3. Make your first meal the biggest and your last meal the smallest. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
4. Zoom - Focus. Each day when you wake up in the morning ask: "What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me create the success I desire?" Then tune out all the distractions and focus on these actions.
5. Talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself. Instead of listening to your complaints, fears and doubts, talk to yourself and feed your mind with the words and encouragement you need to keep moving forward.
6. Remember that adversity is not a dead-end but a detour to a better outcome.
7. Don't chase dollars or success. Decide to make a difference and build meaningful relationships and success will find you. {Tweet This}
8. Get more sleep. You can't replace sleep with a double latte.
9. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in your purpose, people and the positive present moment.
10. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.
11. Live with the 3 E’s. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.
12. Remember there’s no such thing as an overnight success. There's no substitute for hard work.
13. Believe that everything happens for a reason and expect good things to come out of challenging experiences.
14. Implement the No Complaining Rule. Remember that if you are complaining, you're not leading.
15. Read more books than you did in 2013. I happen to know of a few good ones. : )
16. Don't seek happiness. Instead decide to live with passion and purpose and happiness will find you. www.Seed11.com
17. Focus on "Get to" vs "Have to." Each day focus on what you get to do, not what you have to do. Life is a gift not an obligation.
18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished____________.
19. Smile and laugh more. They are natural anti-depressants.
20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.
KISD Staff Development - this week
You've Got Heart
Make giving a You've Got Heart one of your new years goals!
Check out the board in the front office.
A few changes for the new year.....
Non-Negotiable:
-Be on time! Emergencies happen, understood. Make a commitment to yourself and your teammates that you will be IN YOUR room by 7:30 a.m. arriving on time shows respect to those around you...your teammates, your administrators, etc.
If, for any reason, you are late (1 minute, 15 minutes, etc.) you MUST enter through the front door and sign in!
-Tutoring will begin at the first of the second semester. We are a Title school and must provide some opportunities for remediation, acceleration, or homework help.
By Friday, turn in a tutoring time schedule that we can post to our WRES home page.
-Be READY for data talks! Because I extended the date for data talks, there are a few things that I would like for you to prepare and have ready. You will be bringing your running records, progress monitoring documents, guided reading level chart, Fast Math reports, Success Maker reports (etc.)....any data that you have collected on students in your class. You will need to know where your students are individually, where they started and where you predict they will end up when they leave your class in June.
-Parents are not allowed to stay for morning assemblies. We will organize a small "cookies and drink banquet" to recognize the students (one banquet per semester). GE Core Team - Please begin organizing this event - seek help from Gillie. Ask members of the leadership team if you have any questions.
-Teachers should be walking/monitoring around the playground during recess. Do not stand in the same area and have a conversation with another adult. This is not free time for the adults.
-The expectation that you are AT your door at 7:50 greeting every student who enters your room.
-Spirit Day/Jeans Day happens only on Friday. During STAR Showcase - teachers and students where your CURRENT year school t-shirt, plus jeans. Please make every effort to wear this shirt. We want to share the sense of community (in our campus improvement plan), which is why we purchased every student a t-shirt.
You CANNOT use jeans passes from LAST YEAR, nor use current year passes more than once. If you choose to use one of the passes that you got for Christmas that were (placed in y our box), you may do so any other day - with any spirit shirt. Write your name on your pass. At the end of the day, you will turn in the pass to Michelle.
There is a way to earn a special jeans pass....but it will say "SPECIAL" - "SPECIAL" means nice jeans, nice shirt (no spirit shirt required)
-BE AN ACTIVE participant in the assemblies. Please resist bringing in coffee and drinks as they are a distractor when trying to engage students in morning fun. Walk around - dance to kids - let them see a different side of you.....let them have fun - and sing loudly.
GE TEAM on board should have music on at 7:50, allowing kids to dance and sing until 8. We will begin right away from there.
this week's info...
~Be sure that all your grades are updated by 10:00 on Monday. Progress reports will be available on HAC on Tuesday.
Questions? See your campus Gradebook Rep.....who is it? First one to email me who it is will get a SPECIAL jeans pass.
~Spelling Bee - Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.
-Check WRES Site for Upcoming Events this week
-Faculty Meeting
-Number Talks training - Saturday