2. Thank you again for your flexibility and for both the 8th grade activity day this afternoon and for tomorrow's activity day. :D
3. Please complete the Computer EOY Checklist and tape to to your computer monitor by Monday the 20th.
4. THANK YOU to YANETH, STEPHANIE P, RUBI, STEPHANIE B, STEVE and everyone else who helped plan the the YMCA and Activity Day! Kids had a GREAT time at the dance!!! They also loved the Bump Ball and Sumo Wrestling!!
5. By Monday the 20th, you will have an idea of what you are teaching next year, who your tentative PLC team will be and what the outline for the August training dates are (August 29-Setp 1).
6. Monday the 20th's schedule:
Something to Ponder
A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who helped plan and execute the 8th grade Recognition last night. Garrison has received numerous compliments and "Good job!" from families. Standing on the stage and looking out at 200+ 8th grade students and 500+ people made me reflect on what an AWESOME school Garrison is!!!! You are an incredible team of educators that I am so proud to be a part of! THANK YOU!!!!
Have a wonderful summer break!!! After you have cleaned up your room, completed the computer checklist and checked out with Armida- LEAVE!!!!!
Our Step-Up Day was a huge success! Thank you, Angie and Stephanie for your planning and prep! Our 8th graders were amazing! You should ask them if after today they would want to go into teaching. They have some funny stories for you. :D
****JAZZ Band is playing in the gym tomorrow morning at 8:15. STUDENTS CAN SIT IN THE BLEACHERS or go to the small gym. No equipment in large gym tomorrow from 8:15-8:45
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. As the year draws to an end please, please, please keep in mind that showing movies is not necessarily the right way to go. Movies MUST follow these guidelines.Guidelines for Use of Videos
2. Next week is our 8th grade recognition on Wednesday. 8th grade students will head to first period, teachers take attendance and then walk students over to the Pepsi stage. If you teach another grade second period, please head back to the building. There will be enough adults at the Pepsi stage to watch over your students. We will be at least 2 hours. Encourage 8th graders to bring water. More communication will be sent as we get closer. I just wanted to give you a heads up first.
Wednesday, June 15th
8:55 after attendance is taken, walk to Pepsi Stage 10:50 walk back (this may be closer to 11:30) Students attend their classes for the remainder of the day
11:30 7th grade Band/Choir Members walk to Pepsi stage. They will eat first lunch 12:45 Walk back and attend class
3. Armida will hand out the room check out check list on Monday the 13th. Remember, do not stack chairs, desks this makes more work for the custodians. Clear your counters, clear the walls and lock up private, personal items.
4. Classified staff-you will turn in your keys at the end of the year. Certs you can keep yours.
5. Something to think about. For some of our students, Garrison is their safe place. While we are counting down the days to the end of the school year, some students are counting down the days until their safe space, their consistency and the adults are not going to be around for a few months; that's a lot for some students.
Please, if you have the number of days until school is out on a white board, think about taking it down. What you may not know is that one student came back to school at night and hid for awhile because home wasn't good. This student said this was their safe place. Another student just today had some thoughts of harming themselves and said, "When I'm here (Garrison) I feel safe."
What you do matters. :D
Something to Ponder
"Middle schoolers are undergoing an incredibly important and significant developmental phase meaning...they're going to make mistakes from time to time." This is a 26 minute podcast that had me shaking my head, "Yes! Okay, that makes sense." More than anything it gave me more words to describe middle school students.
I so badly wanted to yell TEQUILA but I reframed. :D Great concert last night, Roger!
Nuts-n-Bolts
1. Here is the LINK to the school supply list from last year. This reflects both grade level and individual teacher orders because we did not give each teacher the $125.00 last school year. This year each certificated staff member will receive $125.00 to purchase those special sharpies, special pens, etc.
Each DEPARTMENT needs to look at the list from last year and decide what you need. Last year we did it by grade level and it was a cluster when we handed out the supplies. For 22.23 it will be by DEPARTMENT and we will have each department come get their supplies. PE, 6th grade Shop and Art we need to discuss the cap on the amount that you will get for the 22.23 school year. CTE classes come out of the CTE budget.
If your department could have this completed by Friday, June 10th that would be AWESOME! Please ask clarifying questions.
2. As we begin to wind down the school year, there is a need, for some, to clean and purge. If you plan to clean and purge, the 20th is a good day to do this. If you plan to get rid of items here are the protocols to follow:
A. If it is District purchased, out of date and no longer used please request boxes from Brent. Box up the items; please make sure the lid of the box can be closed and place a RED DOT on it. Brent will give you the red dots with the boxes. Let Brent know and one of the night custodians will remove it for you.
B. Items that are not District purchased but are in your classroom and you don't want them, either dump them yourself OR email to staff what the item is, anyone interested, come by your room to get it.
C. DO NOT put items outside your classroom door OR in the staff lounge and say FREE. We are not a yard sale. :D Help our custodians out and pack what you can to the dumpster and ask for assistance when you need it.
D. If you are unsure of some items, please ask Carina or myself. We will find out for you.
E. If you are moving classrooms, please don't leave behind the sh*t that was left for you -paint, extra coffee cups -you know what I'm talking about. :D PURGE and feel good that you are leaving your space better than when you found it. :D
3. SAFETY - Buildings will be working with custodial staff and Mike Kay this summer to take inventory of what we are doing well and what we need to tighten up for everyone's safety. You have ALL done a GREAT job of being visible in the hallways during passing times, keeping doors shut and locked and overall more vigilant. Many of you sent suggestions and ideas. These will be shared when we walk the building this summer.
Identified staff are checking the bathrooms regularly. This has cut down the graffiti in the bathrooms; not 100% but a small amount.
4. Please mark your calendars for August 29-September 1st -these are days that will be designated Building Directed and First Contract Day. Before you leave on June 20th, the days will be outlined for you.
5. Room Check Out -Armida will be placing the Room Check-Out Check List in your mailbox the week of June 13th. In talking with Brent, this is how your classroom should be left:
Leave furniture where it is. When teachers stack furniture, we unstack it to clean it.
If you want the walls washed behind posters and pictures. Please remove them from the walls.
Put things away on counters and desks so we can wash the surfaces easier.
Send me an email of requests for repairs, we will either fix them or do a work/order if we are unable to do the repair.
6. THANK YOU to the PE Department! They have been extremely flexible with many people using their classrooms-large and small gyms even when the weather has not been so good they made it work! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Something to Ponder
Have you ever given your students a survey at the end of the year to gain feedback on how you did? It can be very scary and intimidating as well as insightful; speaking from experience. If you have, what questions did you ask? What information did you gain? Surveying students can be powerful if the right questions are asked. What if you started with "What went well this school year?" and "What didn't go so well?" "What should I keep for next year?" "What is one thing I should change and why?"
Data give us the numbers, percentages, etc. of knowledge based learning. Asking for honest feedback gives insight to what your clients felt, learned and gained throughout the school year.
I would love to hear from you if you have given your students a survey for feedback.
Something to ponder. Hope you find a gold nugget in the article.
