Sunday, December 11, 2016

On Our Way to the Holidays!



We have made it all the way to the last week before the holidays!  Looking forward to an amazing fun filled, busy week and then a nice long break to get us all rejuvenated!    

Week of:  December 12th-16th, 2016

**Wear jeans/sweats all week as a special treat!

Monday- RTI/PST Meetings - Kristan's room
Renee's Wedding Shower - 3:15 - Library

Tuesday - RTI/PST Meetings - Kristan's room
5th Grade Program - 8:30am and 6:00pm

Wednesday - Holiday from the Heart - 3rd grade switch with 4th for specials
Brief staff meeting after school - Library - 3:15-3:45

Thursday -  Winter Parties 1:00pm - (3rd grade) 2:00pm - (K, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th)

Friday -  TCE Sing Along 
Early Release Schedule - 12:50




Important Reminders

Book Study - Innovator's Mindset
Scroll down to previous blog post to see the reminder about using padlet to record your ideas/resources by December 14th.  Also, remember to have the last part of the book read by the following:  Read pages 122-229 by our January TLC meeting - January 25th.


Early Release Schedule
Secret Santa

Don't forget about your secret santa gifts if you signed up to participate for this week!  



From the Desk of BS…
From the Desk of BS…Volume 14
Know Their Stories, Be a Trajectory Changer

Last Saturday, Ardra, Reagan, and I were enjoying a lazy afternoon of college football, half watching, half napping. The sound of water suddenly pierced the quietness of the room. “I hear running water, do you?” she asked.  I kicked down my recliner, to the feeling of wet socks as they hit the floor.  I rushed to the garage, and as suspected, our hot water heater had ruptured and water was running down the wall, under the base boards and into various parts of our home. Monday, 48 hours later, we realized we were going to have a total loss of our floors, Reagan’s first real Christmas celebration was ruined.  Ardra spent the next three hours, Monday night, taking down the tree and all decorations, in tears.  Now, hopefully no more than the next month or so, we have to live unstructured, maybe in a hotel for a couple of days here and there, because of construction.  


I’m not retelling this story for you to feel sorry for us at all.  This is just an example of a single story of someone you know that an unexpected event has had an impact on their personal life.  Earlier this week, I retweeted a fellow educator that said, “Over the next two weeks be intentional w/5 students who you know the holidays are challenging.  Take notice, speak hope! #edchat #kidsdeserveit.”  They do deserve it.  All of them. 




Our convocation speaker George Couros also tweeted this week, “The best teachers are trajectory changers.  You will never see the impact of your work, as it will last a lifetime #thankyou.”  And Coppell ISD tweeted this week, “@Coppellisd has the BEST teachers.  To prove it, CISD is ranked 3rd in the state for the Best Teachers.”  

Thank you TCE educators for truly being the best of the best.  You may never see the impact you have on your learners. Think about those stories in your classroom this week and take notice, be intentional with your kindness.  

My story doesn’t even compare to some of the learners we work with, it is merely an example of the events that happen to our lives that we have to deal with.  The first thing that I thought about was how this would impact Reagan Grace.  How can we continue to provide structure and stability for her with all of her world turned upside down (even though I hardly believe she will even notice).  Think about the impact you have with your classroom full of stories, enjoy every minute of it for the next five days. Then we rest. 

Thank goodness, like a good neighbor, State Farm was there, 


BS 


Shout Outs!
TCE staff, it's such a blessing to come to work each day and enjoy working with such incredible people. I always tell all of my friends how wonderful it is to share my day with such loving and talented coworkers. Thanks, Sherri

Lisa Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to set up my Notability ! You are the best! Casey

Candace, Thank you so much creating extensions for my GTi learners during our STEM planning day! Casey

Kristan, Thank you for always going above and beyond to help me with writing. I could not do it without all of your help and ideas. Casey

Marly, thanks for giving me a ride to school today and for always cheering me up and making me laugh!

Thank you to everyone who graciously invited me into their room to do Hour of Code activities with their learners! I loved being in the classrooms. Thank you!

Angie and Brett thank you for our special and fun Merry Christmas gifts in our boxes. I appreciate the thoughtfulness put in the planning.

Ashley, Thank you so much for being so thoughtful and thinking of my kiddo! You are the best!  Katy

Lorri, Thank you so much for helping put all of the materials together and cutting out all of the lamination for our class projects! You are so helpful! Katy

Specials Team - Thank you for throwing a wonderful retirement party. You made me feel very special.

Town Center Staff - Thank you for your support over the last 2 and 1/2 years. TCE is a wonderful place to work and I am a better person because of my time here.

Shout to all of TCE!  Sometimes life happens and you have your hot water heater burst and you have to replace all of your floors. Thank you for all of your advice, help, and concerns! I have come to the conclusion that this is a passage into full time home ownership because it seems as though the most common thing I heard this week when sharing my disaster was, "well when that happened to us...." Just a tidbit of advice if it hasn't happened to you yet, it's nice to have your old college baseball teammate as your insurance adjuster! Thank you!

GYEP members, Thank you for sharing your great lessons and giving feedback to others! It's great to read and great to see all of the continuous learning and support going on with our young educators!   Brett
Beth - thank you again for taking my Kindergarten classes so I could have rehearsals for the 5th grade Christmas program. You're an amazing team member! Love – Becky

Ashley - thank you for giving up your entire morning to run sound for the 5th grade rehearsal. You're the best! And, you are so sweet! Love – Becky

5th grade teachers - Again, thank you for your flexibility in allowing me rehearsal time with your learners. I know you've been encouraging the fifth graders to work hard and to be well behaved in rehearsals. Thank you for all of your help! – Becky

Lisa, Thank you for holding the door for me! I love you so much!  Kate

Lisa! You are the BEST!! You do so much!! LOVE YOU!! –court

Logan! You are the best!! So proud of you!!

Kate and Candace, Thank you so much for leading our 1st Lego League robotics team in the competition on Saturday!  Your dedication to learning, challenging our kiddos and providing many lengthy hours to get ready for the competition do not go unnoticed!  Thank you for all you have done for TCE and getting this team together!  - Angie

Kristan,  Thank you so much for hosting our TCE Christmas party!  We truly appreciate you opening up your home (again and again) for our family and friends to come together and celebrate the holidays! - Angie 



December Birthdays
Marly Natherson - 26th
Candace Coffee - 28th


Curriculum Ideas
I have seen several people already implementing a few of the strategies modeled for our class meetings.  This is a great week to take some time to breathe, work on your structure of your class meetings and give your kids some time to share their thoughts!















Final Quotes for the Week


Sunday, December 4, 2016

Getting Into the Holiday Season!


It's starting to feel a little more like the holiday season with this rainy, cold weather.  Hopefully, you will all get to stay cozy and warm and maybe cook up some soup to make your weekend even better!  Only two more weeks until our next holiday break and we will have some special treats to keep you all in the Christmas spirit!

I wanted to thank you all so much for helping to make our Art for the Sky event such a success!  I am going to be sending the video out on Monday as well as we will have our special memory cards for each kiddo and staff member to have from our experience!  Huge thank you to Laura for hosting Daniel this week and for putting up with a little humor from our TCE family!   

If you would like to wear jeans/sweats all this week, please bring in at least one toy to donate to our toy drive!  Thank you for helping to support our Lion's Club and families in need during the holidays!

Week of:  December 5th-9th, 2016

**Hour of Code all Week
**Bring in a one or more toys for our toy drive and wear jeans/sweats all week!

Monday- STEM Planning Day Kinder and 1st
Fire Drill - unless it is raining
Spelling Bee - 5th Grade

Tuesday - STEM Planning 4th and 5th
KaTrina's Retirement Party - 3:15 - Library

Wednesday - STEM Planning 2nd and 3rd 
Faculty Meeting - 3:15 - Library


Thursday -  Possible AM/PM Tours (will know more soon)
Brett out (PM)  

Friday -  Jingle Bell Run
CISD Open House (all day)
TCE Christmas Party - Kristan's House


Important Reminders
Red and Black Superstar Awards
It is Super Star award time again!  The next nomination deadline is Friday, December 9th.  
As a reminder, they are looking to award the following:
Elementary: 1 student per grade plus 1 -2 teachers
Nominations can be made at: 


CISD Open House
The CISD annual open house is this Friday.  Please make sure that you take the time to go over and visit with everyone for a few minutes during your conference time! The district puts a lot of time into getting everything ready, so please make sure TCE is well represented!  

Book Study - Innovator's Mindset
Scroll down to last week's blog post to see the reminder about using padlet to record your ideas/resources by December 14th.  Also, remember to have the last part of the book read by the following:  Read pages 122-229 by our January TLC meeting - January 25th.

TCE Christmas Party

From the Desk of BS…
From the Desk of BS…Volume 13

With the conclusion of most college football seasons comes the ever-fun coaching carousal that takes place. Coaches that didn’t perform well usually end up looking for new jobs, hence, Charlie Strong is no longer the head coach at UT. His 10 million dollar buyout does not make me feel much sympathy, but he did have a foundation started that leaves the new coach, Tom Herman with something special to start with. 

Tom Herman was the head coach of the Houston Cougars, and it took him many years of hard work, grit, determination, and goal setting to land his dream job, head football coach at the University of Texas. Please see the link below to read more about his road: Click here!


As we get into the days closer to a break, it is more important than ever to continue to set goals, not only for yourself, but also for your learners. We have middle of the year assessments coming up soon, be sure to celebrate success with your learners as you talk about current goals and set new ones. Below you will find another article about grit and determination. This time of year can be tough, but just know there is a break just around the corner!


It’s going to be a busy two weeks here in December, thanks again for all you do each and every day for your learners and we are almost there! 
BS

Shout Outs!
Lauren, Thank you for lending me your adorable sweater during canned food drive collection. It was the perfect cure to an extra chilly morning! -Ashlin

TCE Staff,
Thank you to everyone who donated cans to our service learning project! We really appreciate all you did with your kids to help promote the canned food drive. We couldn't have done it without all of you.
Love,
Heather, Catherine, Ashlin, & Megan

Patti, Thank you for hanging with 5C while I was down in KTEX this week! I love having you in my room every morning. -Marly

Angie, Thank you so much for the donuts! It's always such a fun surprise when you do nice things like that for us!

Laura,
Thank you for hosting Daniel Dancer in your home this week. That was such a hospitable gesture and very kind of you!

Tina & Kelly, Thank you for organizing the 12 Days of Kindness Challenge for us! The kids are loving it. -Marly

Lisa H & Kristan, Thanks for tolerating my neuroticism so well! Ya'll make me laugh!
Love, Mary

Kasey, Renee, and Rachel, thank you so much for taking care of everything while we were out at TAGT! We know how stressful it can be when teammates are out, so thank you for everything that you do! Love, Meredith and Casey

Thank you Kristan and Kelly Spears for watching my class so I could run up to the high school!  You made my day less stressful!!!  Lori V.

Shout out to my first grade teammates!!!  I love being part of a team that ALWAYS does what's right for kids AND makes each day so much fun!!  Love you Kelly, Marie, and Julie!!!  Lori

HUGE shout out to Becky and ALL that you are doing for the 5th grade program! I am continually impressed with what you are getting 100+ students to do on a daily basis- sing, act, dance! It is truly a production that I know you've spent hours on with a lot of hard work! You are AMAZING! - Ashley 

Shout out to 5th grade teachers for your flexibility with rehearsals for our Christmas show!

Beth - thank you for helping with Kinder while I rehearse the 5th graders!

Sky Captains:  Kelly, Kristan, Leigh Ann, Tina, Brett, Sherri and Laura Thank you all for helping with the Art for the Sky project and making it such a memorable experience! 

Congrats to Kasey Kemp our 2016 Teacher of the Year!  Excited to have you represent us this year!

Kelly and Brett, Thank you for providing the dance moves during our Karaoke party since I was feeling sick!  You both are rock stars. . .literally. . .you should have heard them sing!  - Angie

Angie, thank you so much for the yummy breakfast this week! You are so thoughtful to always think of us! 💗
Sherri

Sherri and Sue - thank you for always being lovely, funny and helpful in the office.  I am so lucky to work with you.



December Birthdays
Marly Natherson - 26th
Candace Coffee - 28th

Curriculum Ideas (Coding)
Leigh Ann has sent out some amazing resources for coding, so please make sure and go back in your emails and check out some of the ideas to incorporate with your curriculum!  Remember coding is a wonderful way in which to integrate problem solving and technology skills for your learners.  Here are a few articles discussing "the why" behind coding in learning as well as one providing a few more resources as well!  Can't wait to see how you all might be tying coding into your lessons this week as well as throughout the year!





Final Quotes for the Week
As we go through these two weeks and move into the holidays, think about the importance of joy and encouraging the act of showing kindness to others. . .you may not realize it, but simple little actions can make such a difference.