Happy Holidays are on the way. . .'cause we only have 5 more days!

I really can't believe we are already here on our last week of December!  This first half of the year has been truly incredible as I have worked alongside the best group of educators in the world!  

It was so much fun celebrating with everyone that could make the Christmas party and needless to say lots of laughter with friends and family was truly a part of the evening!  :)

I am looking forward to our fun activities this week and can't wait to see what you all have been coming up with for our Sing Along on Friday!  There will be more fun-filled treats for you as well for our final 5 days of "Who Do We Think of at Christmas Time"!  

  
Upcoming Weekly Events

December 15th-19th, 2014

Don't forget Giving Tree Donations! Final day 17th!

Monday- Jeans Day!
Kelly Spears and Mary Kennington out (training)
 
Tuesday-  Jeans Day!
Angie out (morning) Principal Meeting
5th Grade Music Program 8:30am
5th Grade Music Program Evening Performance 6:00pm

Wednesday- Sweats or Jeans Day!
PLC - Brief Meeting 3:15-4:15 - Library
 
Thursday-  Jeans Day!  (see special schedule)
Brett out all day (Region 10)
North Middle School Holiday Performance 1:00pm - Gym
Winter Parties 2:00pm
     
Friday- Sweats day or Jeans Day! (see special schedule)
Sing Along - 9:00am
Early release 12:50pm

Announcement Weekly Info  

Life Principle:  Humanitarianism 

Cowboy Courtesy:  When you cough or sneeze, turn your head away from others and cover your mouth.
 

ABC of Etiquette: Stack trays orderly.

Important Reminders and Updates
 Here are the schedules for Thursday and Friday of this week.
Conference times will need to be shortened due to our events each day.  Our lunch schedules for both days will remain the same except for 5th grade which will need to eat at 12:00pm instead of their usual 12:30 time.  (5th grade you will also want to arrange your recess time earlier on both days)

Please remember that no more than two grade levels at a time should ever be out on the playground together, so please make sure you watch this as you schedule your recess times on these two days and check with grade levels that share your playground areas!  
 

Book Study - Choice Words   
We will be doing a few more activities with our 1st book study at the beginning of January!  So, please have the rest of Choice Words finished by January 7th!

December Birthdays

Marly Natherson - 26th

Candace Coffee - 28th 

Shout Outs! 

A huge THANK YOU to Kristan and Dale Hruby for opening up their house for our TCE Christmas Party!  We truly appreciate you!

Marly Natherson for organizing the fun notes for the party (wish lists) and for our photo booth set up!  And for finding the pickle on the tree!

Cathy Wilson, Lisa Hansen and Kasey Kemp for being our winners to get to leave early one day (1:30pm) either this week or in January!  

All of TCE for the amazing job you did showing the fabulous educational experiences in our school during the parent/community tours!

4th Grade for helping our kiddos to have a wonderful field trip at the Fort Worth Museum!

Kristan Hruby and Marly Natherson for helping to continue our study with Write From the Beginning and Beyond!

Kelly Burks for attending our Science Vocabulary training for the district!

Everyone for showing their holiday spirit on our Holiday from the Heart night!  The kiddos and parents loved it!

Ashley Martin, Laci Garza and Becky Garrett for another successful run with our Jingle Bell Jog!

Marnie Cranmer (or should we say Jingle) for always bringing a smile to our faces with our runs and our Holiday from the Heart event!

Tommy Yates for being our "Santa" for Holiday from the Heart!

Lisa Hansen and Kelly Spears for helping me dig into some 3rd, 4th and 5th grade data this week!

Brad Cook for sharing some cool coding tools and Renee Rohani for sharing her Blendspace!

Engineer of the Week

We will start back up with more celebrations in January! 

 

 Coding Resources

Thank you to all of those teams so far who have given their kiddos a chance to explore with coding!  This is a great tool for following directions, problem solving and creating!  

Here are the resources again that Brad shared as well as Renee's link to the Blendspace she created! 

http://code.org 
http://hourofcode.com/us/resources/how-to 
https://www.madewithcode.com/ 
http://studio.code.org/s/frozen/reset
https://code.org/educate/k5
http://studio.code.org/s/course1 
http://studio.code.org
http://csedweek.org/learn 
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/hour-of-code/hour-of-code-tutorial/v/welcome-hour-of-code
http://www.tynker.com/hour-of-code/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/an-hour-of-code-for-every-student 

Blendspace link:  http://blnds.co/1x709Ew​ 

I am also attaching a few other resources I have found you might also be interested in! Just click on the pics below!

 

Final Quotes 

Ho, ho, ho. . .Two More Weeks to Go!

It is so hard to believe that we only have two weeks left before Christmas Break!  It is going to be a fun, busy time and I am looking forward to laughing and smiling with all of you as we head into this wonderful holiday season!  

To start off our holiday season and our "days of treats" 

(from Brett and I) for all of you. . .

Check the weekly dates below to see which days you can wear jeans and sweats!  

Upcoming Weekly Events
December 8th-12th, 2014

Don't forget about Giving Tree Donations!

Monday- Jeans Day!
4th Grade Field Trip
Team Leader Meeting - 3:15
 
Tuesday-  Jeans Day!
TCE Parent/Community Tours 8:30-10:00 and 1:00-2:30
Brett - Out covering Austin Elementary

Wednesday-  Sweats or PJ's (holiday colors if possible!)
Vertical Meeting 3:15-5:15 (Write From the Beginning and Beyond Training - Narrative)
Holiday From the Heart Night - 6:00-7:00pm
 
Thursday-  Jeans Day!
Have a terrific Thursday! 
   
Friday- Sweats day or Jeans Day!
Jingle Bell Run
TCE Staff Christmas Party - 6:00pm (Kristan's House)

Announcement Weekly Info  

Life Principle:  Empathy

 

Cowboy Courtesy:  On a field trip, compliment the place you are visiting.

ABC of Etiquette: Be sure you have everything you need before you sit down.

Important Reminders and Updates

Book Study - Choice Words  We will be doing a few more activities with our 1st book study at the beginning of January!  So, please have the rest of Choice Words finished by January 7th!

Holiday from the Heart 

Here is our schedule and room locations for the evening! 

TCE Sing-A-Long

We will be having our annual fun-filled Sing-A-Long on the last day of school before the holidays!  Here are the songs I need your help in leading this year!  As you know, I will always throw in a few extra songs/activities for fun, so I just need your help with these!  

Remember no kiddos helping out (or coming down) this year except for singing along!  

Remember, signs, props, a dance or anything funny you can think of always makes the kiddos smile!  

(I know some of you are grimacing right now. . .

but it will be fun!  Especially for me!) 

(this is not an event for our parents, so no need to put it in your weekly newsletters!)

Kinder - Jingle Bells

1st - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

2nd - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

3rd - Frosty the Snowman

4th - Run, Run Rudolph

5th - Jingle Bell Rock

Specials - Feliz Navidad

I am working on a video for each of your teams with the version we will be using!  Will have it for you tomorrow!  (you know I like my own versions of the songs!)

December Birthdays

Marly Natherson - 26th

Candace Coffee - 28th 

Engineer of the Week 

Please remember that Brett or I will cover a morning/afternoon or lunch/recess duty for you during the week!  Just email us to let us know what might work out!  Also, you may leave early one day once your kiddos are dismissed!

This week we are celebrating:  Kim Becker

Shout Outs! 

Lori Vincenzo our TCE Teacher of the Year!  We are so excited to have her represent our campus this year!

First grade for getting the Giving Tree Service Learning Project up and ready to go!

Cathy Wilson for always going above and beyond by having her Dyslexia Parent Meetings!

Great to have Cathy Wilson, KaTrina Brown and Sue Kane back with us at school!

Kristan Hruby and Marly Natherson for presenting our Writing Training to the staff!

Katie Tonemah and Marly Natherson for running the Spelling Bee for our 5th graders!  

Candace Coffee, Casey Wagner, Beth Parker, Meredith Garnier and Kate Seifert for attending the TAGT conference to gather more idea for how to help support our GT learners!

Helpful Tips in Researching w/Google

Since it is the time of year, when you might be using Google to do some holiday shopping. . .

As well as, since we know our kiddos use Google quite a bit for basic searching. . .

Check out these tips for how you and your kiddos can do a better job using this easy search tool! 

Writing Tips and Strategies
As we have our writing training, remember to focus on ways that you are getting your learners to brainstorm detailed sentences.  Also think about how you are helping them to expand their thinking by the words they are choosing to use in their sentences!

 

 

 

Final Quote 

 I thought I would end up today with a few holiday quotes!  Remember. . .

So, knowing the quote from above REALLY remember. . .

Happy Thanksgiving TCE!

I hope that each of you is having an absolutely amazing Thanksgiving and holiday week!  As I sit here in East Texas (full from all of the yummy food cooked up earlier today and after helping my mom get the Christmas tree decorated), I can't help but to be so thankful for my wonderful family, friends and for all you!  I hope each of you had the opportunity to tell someone how much you appreciate them during this special time of the year and that you are all suffering from a very full belly like me!!

I am looking forward to our next three weeks of learning and fun as we enter into the final few weeks of 2014!!   

Upcoming Weekly Events
December 1st-5th, 2014

Giving Tree Donations Start!

Monday- Welcome Back!  Have a Marvelous Monday!

Tuesday- Angie Out Principal Meeting (all day)
Dyslexia Parent Meeting 5:30pm

Wednesday-  Faculty Meeting 3:15-5:15 (Write From the Beginning and Beyond Training - Narrative) 
TAGT conference

Thursday- 5th grade Spelling Bee 1:30pm - Cafeteria
TAGT conference
 
Friday- Cancelled PST/RTI meeting (see Brett and me for any concerns with kiddos)

Announcement Weekly Info  

Life Principle:  Caring
  

Cowboy Courtesy:  Hold the door for people rather than letting it close on them.

ABC of Etiquette: Never talk to anyone as if they are servants. Treat them with respect and kindness.

Important Reminders and Updates

Write From the Beginning and Beyond Training

We will be having our next phase of writing training for the whole staff during December and following up training in January.  It will take place during our Faculty meetings and Vertical Meeting times, so we won't have to have any other after school special training days!  
Just know that on December 3rd and 10th to plan on staying after school from 3:15-5:15! 

Holiday from the Heart

 We will have our annual Holiday from the Heart evening of fun for our families on Wednesday, December 10th from 6:00-7:00pm!  This will be a day when we are already staying late for our training, so we won't have an additional late day!  I will put our sign-up on the board by the elevator on Monday!  We generated a few ideas during team leader, so there should be plenty of choices in where you might help out!  
Remember that you do not have to sign up as a team and we really need to have as many stations as we can, so we can spread out the love all around the school!  So, try for no more than three people per station! 
 

TCE Parent/Community Tours

 We will be having our 1st round of parent/community tours on December 9th!  The morning tour will be from 9:00-10:30am and will go to K, 1st, 2nd and Specials.  Then the afternoon tour will be from 1:00-2:30pm and will go to 3rd, 4th, 5th and Specials.  I will be sending out a sign-up link for parents this week through my parent blog!  

Book Study - Choice Words 
We will be doing a few more activities with our 1st book study at the beginning of January!  So, please have the rest of Choice Words finished by January 7th!

December Birthdays

Marly Natherson - 26th

Candace Coffee - 28th 

Engineer of the Week 

Please remember that Brett or I will cover a morning/afternoon or lunch/recess duty for you during the week!  Just email us to let us know what might work out!  Also, you may leave early one day once your kiddos are dismissed!

This week we are celebrating:  Marie Sork

 Shout Outs! 

• Lorri Brehm and her new beautiful granddaughter!  Her name is Laedyn Kay! She weighed 6lbs. 5 oz. and is 19-1/2 inches long!

• Office staff and Cafeteria Staff for helping to host a wonderful TCE Thanksgiving Feast!

• 4th and 5th grade for all of their hard work on their STEM lesson design days!

• Everyone for taking part in our book study and for the great discussion and ideas during PLC!

• 2nd grade teachers for the wonderful job they did getting our food drive and turkey drive wrapped up for the year!  

• Ashley, Becky and Laci for all of their help with our Turkey Trot and Marnie and Brett for "running it out" again throughout the day!  

•  A big shout out to our design team who stayed after school on Thursday to start planning for how we can help to transform our learning environments!  Thank you to:  Meredith Garnier, Lori Vincenzo, Candace Coffee, Kelly Burks, Kasey Kemp, Laci Garza, Ashlin Bowman, Casey Wagner, Kate Seifert, Jennifer Martin, Lorri Brehm, Courtney Rice, Lisa Hansen, Marly Natherson, Kelly McShan, Brett Shelby and Kelly Spears! 
  
  

Resources for Questioning
I was thinking about some ways that we could not only get our learners to justify their thinking, but also ways that would tie into our writing/reading strategies when using formative/summative assessments.  Here are a few tips on questioning  that might be beneficial for you!

Final Quote 

 I thought this first quote had some good pointers for us to remember during this time of Thanksgiving. . . 

And this quote was appropriate 

as we get ready for our next  holiday season!