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! 

 

Gratitude All Around!

While sitting here working on my blog today, (after finishing making some yummy goodies for our luncheon tomorrow) I began thinking about Thanksgiving and gratitude. . .

I found a video that I liked on the Science of Happiness. . .

Check it out here!

Think about ways that you may want to create some gratitude challenges or reflections for your class this week!

Upcoming Weekly Events  
November 17-21st, 2014

Monday- Thanksgiving Feast for Staff (wear sweats to have room for all of the food you will eat!!)
Team Leader 3:15 - C106

Tuesday- 4th Grade Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room
Wear jeans if you bring in 2 canned/boxed food items

Wednesday- 5th grade Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room
 PLC Meeting -3:15pm-Library
Wear jeans if you bring in 2 canned/boxed food items  

Thursday- RTI/PST Meeting - C106
Design Team Meeting 3:15 - Library
Wear jeans if you bring in 2 canned/boxed food items 
 
Friday- Turkey Drive
Texan Town
Turkey Trot
Wear sweats if you go out and cheer/run with the runners!

 

Announcement Weekly Info  

  Life Principle:  Gratitude
  

Cowboy Courtesy:  Always say, “Thank you” when given something.

ABC of Etiquette: If you have to go to the restroom, raise your hand.

Important Reminders and Updates

Book Study - Choice Words

Don't forget that we will be doing a quick activity at our PLC this week with our campus book study, Choice Words.  You need to make sure that you have read chapters 1-4.  The meeting will be a quick one finished by 4:00!

Reflex Math and I-station
Math/Science teachers 1st-5th grade, please make sure that you are running reports to make sure ALL of our kiddos are using Reflex math at least three times a week. (this can be homework for some or in class for those on Tiers) This is very important as we try to build on math fluency!

  LA/SS teachers, 3rd-5th (for anyone) and K-2 (only ESL kiddos on Tiers). Please make sure that you are getting your kiddos on iStation either at home or in class if needed.  This is critical for those learners who are struggling with reading/spelling and who are on Tier 2 or 3. 

November Birthdays

Katie Tonemah - 3rd

Marie Sork - 7th

Kristan Hruby - 24th 

Renee Rohani - 25th

Kelly McShan- 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:  Meredith Garnier

 

 Shout Outs!

3rd grade and 1st grade for your great STEM Lesson Design days!

Ashley Minton and Brad Cook for all of your help on the Lesson Design days!

Becky and the 3rd grade teachers for your help in our kiddos performing for the Veteran's Day Ceremony!

Kelly Spears for her help in getting our Student Council ready to go for the Veteran's Day Ceremony and Brett Shelby for getting the lounge and breakfast ready to go!

Estrella (Star) Primera for always being willing to lend a hand with making coffee, tea or other goodies for our staff and visitors!

To all of our Spring Creek BBQ helpers for helping to support TCE:  Brett Shelby, Kelly Spears, Kristan Hruby, Jennifer Martin, Marly Natherson, Katie Tonemah, Jenna Taylor, Kasey Kemp, Renee Rohani, Becky Garrett, Kelly Burks, Sue Kane, Lorri Brehm, Courtney Rice, and Kim Becker

Sudeshna Ghose for all of her help getting our author visit ready to go!  It was a huge success!  

Our RTI/PST team and all of our educators that came last week for doing such a wonderful job sharing data collected and for having such fabulous interventions put in place for learners!

Renee Rohani for working on the Kindness Challenge and getting our kiddos excited about doing kind things for others!

4th Grade Teachers and Sue Kane for helping to celebrate National Diabetes Month!

Resources
Check out this resource that can help you with organizing and sharing info in the classroom with technology!
www.symbaloo.com

 If the video doesn't show above, click here to watch a demo!

Check out this resource that I know many of you have used before, but remember that it can help you when you or your learners need to record and make a quick tutorial or for other presentations, etc!  
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/

  If the video doesn't show above, click here to watch a demo!

Final Quote
When choosing my quotes today, I thought about how thankful I am for each day I have had in my life.  Also, for all of those individuals who have been a part of my life so far. . .

Looking like it might get cold. . .

Loving this cool weather and can't believe we have two weeks until Thanksgiving Break!  It looks like it might get cold this week, so get out those winter jackets!

I wanted to send a huge thank you to Katy McKinney for hosting our TCE social this last week at her house!  It was such a nice treat to get to visit with everyone and your house is precious! 

Upcoming Weekly Events 

November 10th-14th 

Monday- 3rd Grade Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room

Tuesday- Veteran's Day Ceremony 8:30am

Wednesday- 1st Grade Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room
Vertical Team -3:15pm (Start in library and then will move from there)

Thursday- Brett out (all day)
Writing Training for 4th and 5th grade LA teachers  
 
Friday- Texan Town
4th and 5th grade Author Visit

Announcement Weekly Info  

 
Life Principle:  Common Sense
  

Cowboy Courtesy: When you receive something, do not insult the gift or the giver.

ABC of Etiquette: Always look a server in the eye when you are ordering, asking a question, or saying, “Thank you.”

Important Reminders and Updates

Spring Creek BBQ

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered and looking forward to the evening on Wednesday!

Kindness Club 

Don't forget that this week we have the Kindness challenge!  

November Birthdays

Katie Tonemah - 3rd

Marie Sork - 7th

Kristan Hruby - 24th 

Renee Rohani - 25th

Kelly McShan- 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:  Heather Judd

Shout Outs!

Becky, Laci and Ashley for the great planning day last week!  Loved hearing the ideas you all had to share!

Everyone's participation during faculty meeting and how all of you share your ideas and beliefs!

Kinder and 2nd grade team for the ideas share during your planning day for future lessons and campus goals!

Candace Coffee, Kristan Hruby, Casey Wagner, Katy McKinney, Kelly Burks, and Becky Garrett for their awesome participation during Crucial Conversations training!  

Linda Cook for wrapping up our Crucial Conversations training and for her constant support for our campus!

 

Final Quote 

Can't believe it is already November!

I don't know if anyone else feels like me, but I can't believe it is already November!  Craziness!  I am ready for another wonderful month and excited that we will get a chance to have a week off for Thanksgiving!  So, let's buckle down and get some more amazing learning happening each day for our kiddos so we can be ready to relax at the end of the month!  :)

I did want to let all of you know that I am so proud of all of you for the hard work you have put into this year so far!  I know we have had a lot of training and we will continue to have hurdles to jump this year with trying to get everything accomplished that we need/want to, but I could not be more proud of the way each of you supports one another professionally and personally!!  We truly are a family at TCE and I feel blessed to work with each and every one of you each day!

Upcoming Weekly Events 

November 3rd-7th 

Monday- Specials Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room

Tuesday- Kinder Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room
Election site for the city - Gym all day (gym classes will meet outside of in the library if there is rain)

Wednesday- Crucial Conversations Training - Candace's room
Faculty Meeting 3:15
1st Grade Field Trip

Thursday- Crucial Conversations Training - Candace's room

2nd Grade Lesson Design Day - Literacy Room 

 
Friday- Texan Town
Therapy Dogs - Library
TCE Annual Pansy Planting - K-5 during recess times
TCE Social at Katy McKinney's House

Announcement Weekly Info  

 
Life Principle:  Flexibility
  

Cowboy Courtesy:  Do not talk in a movie theater during a movie.
 
ABC of Etiquette: Never start eating off your tray until you are at your seat. 

Important Reminders and Updates

TCE Election Site

Please remember that since our campus is an election site, make sure that if we happen to have anyone walking down the classroom hallways without a nametag that you ask them to please go to the office to check in.  We will try our best to make sure we keep people not going into our main hall, but I always like for you to be aware anytime we have people in the building!  

Fire/Lock Down/Tornado Drills or Emergencies

Since the weather, schedules, etc. makes it difficult at times to schedule our monthly drills, we are going to start having unscheduled drills.  This will also help us to truly be prepared at all times in case of an emergency.  Please make sure that your sub folder/info has very clear procedures for emergencies.  We will talk more about this at our faculty meeting this week.  

Faculty Meeting

If everyone could please bring their favorite read aloud book to our faculty meeting that you have used or would like to use, that helps kiddos to appreciate differences in others and/or focuses on creating a sense of empathy.

TCE Design Team

I talked a little bit about this earlier this year.  We are going to have the opportunity to work on some redesigns for our campus with our learning environments for classrooms and hallways.  If you are interested in being a part of this campus committee, please shoot me an email by tomorrow afternoon, Monday, November 3rd!  We will be meeting after I know who all is interested, so we can plan which day works best!  

Then we will meet a few times during the this month in order to get our ideas ready to go!

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:  Lori Vincenzo

Shout Outs!

Kelly Spears for getting our Student Council to help plan a fun Red Ribbon Week!

Brett Shelby for representing for TCE at our School Board meeting last week while I was out sick and for being our "pumpkin" for the Jack-o-Lantern Jog!

Ashlin Bowman, Morgan Peccarelli, Megan McGraw, Kate Seifert, Marie Sork, Katie Tonemah, Jenna Taylor, Delaine Jordan, and Renee Rohani for being a part of the Sally Ride Training for the district!

Casey Wagner, Candace Coffee, Kasey Kemp and Kelly Burks for being a part of the Project Wild training for the district!

Ashley Martin, Becky Garrett and Laci Garza for all of their help with the Jack-o-Lantern Jog!

 

Ideas for Motivating Learners

As it gets to go further into our fall semester, you may have some kiddos who need help in the area of motivation.  

Here are a few things might be something to reflect on with motivational factors. . .

those Poker Chips. . .

And if you want to feel motivated as an educator, don't forget about this incredible TED Talk video. . .

Final Quote

As I was reflecting on where we started and where we are currently in the school year, I wanted to make sure that each of you are doing the following. . . (as we sometimes don't take the time to celebrate those little things that make such a big difference each day in the lives of our kiddos)