Week 9

Great Things I Noticed:

• FALL FESTIVAL!  Thank you for Participating!
• Instructional Design/Shared Leadership Team
• Gallup Faculty Participation - THANK YOU!  (I don't have results... yet.)
• Student of the Month Assemblies - What a great reminder of the AWESOME students we have!
• Character Counts committee returning from a great conference and getting to work!
• Red Ribbon Week! 
• Shadows in Mrs. McVey's Class 

 
 

 

Nuts and Bolts:

• Gallup Student survey for 5th and 6th graders - Please complete with all students
• Halloween Parade on Tuesday at 2:00 - You will have the students back for time to hold a small celebration if you choose
• Remember to send your "Common Commitments" plan to me by Wednesday
• We will start TRRFCC Tuesday announcements on Tuesday morning
• To follow up on your Data Meetings we will be scheduling Brandi Neal (Staff Developer) to meet with grade levels on specific planning days to discuss MAP results and using MAP to make instructional decisions .  
• Let me know when your PL goal setting/planning days are scheduled
• Instructional Rounds - We have room in our Instrucitonal Rounds Sessions for 3-4 more teachers.  During Instructional Rounds Session #1 we will be visiting each others classrooms and looking for evidence of student learning like structured collaborative conversations, precise academic language and feedback.  This is an exciting opportunity to see how students learn and how your colleagues facilitate this learning in their classrooms.  Send me an email if you are interested.

Friday Focus:

The October Blues

This is the time of year when we start to feel a bit tired, a bit run down.  When repeatedly having to remind students to be safe, respectful, responsible and ready to learn gets tiresome and tedious.  

Why? What is it about October?

• The excitement and enthusiasm for the beginning of the school year has faded
• You are BUSY and the Holiday vacation is a LOOOONG time way
• You know your students... the little things that are difficult will be difficult for the next 7 months

How can you beat the October Blues?  

• Be bold and daring!  Don't be afraid to try that strategy you never got to in September.  It's not too late!  You can reset and restart, just be consistent and enthusiastic.
• Don't think too far ahead... Be focused on today, and remind yourself that focusing on the future, is not productive or helpful for your students TODAY.
• Stop comparing your present reality to what you had hoped for in August. Every teacher gets thrown a BUNCH of curve balls over a school year.  Flexibility and resilience are needed every day in our profession.
• Actively search for the GOOD STUFF!  We have wonderful students and families and a fantastic staff, don't let one or two blind you to the 800+ that are AWESOME! (This one is for me) - How about making 2 or 3 POSITIVE parent phone calls to end the month?

You’ll feel a lot better if you spend your evenings celebrating the good stuff and looking for new ways to make the next day better instead of rehashing problems.

As we move towards the craziness of November and December, let us all remember to be strong and dig deep.  Behavior has spiked this week, let's reset our students and take the time to return to the lessons and conversations we had the first weeks of school.  Reteach and remind your students the procedures for proper line behavior, proper cafeteria behavior, proper classroom behavior.  The October Blues can become the November/December Slide... Let's be mindful of our energy, mindful of our goals and relentless in our desire to have a school filled with students of excellence.   

Upcoming Events

10/30 - Data Meetings K-3

10/31 - Halloween Parade 2:00

11/1   - Data Meetings 4-6

11/2   - 3rd Grade Field Trip 

11/4   - Family Engagement Summit North High School

11/6   - School Board Meeting

11/8   - AVID School Walk Through with Sarah Zuetel

11/9   - Minimum Day Students Dismissed at 12:05

11/10 - Veterans Day (Observed) No School

11/13 - Instructional Rounds Session #1