Thursday Thriller January 23, 2025

 Thursday Thriller
January 23, 2025

Celebrations of Boomer Flying by Herself!

1. I made it through security without being searched

2. I thought my flight left at 4:22 but it really left at 5:57

3. I was NOT the oldest passenger.  However, my previous actions as noted in 1 and 2 put me in the VERY elderly category

4. I made a parent phone call while waiting for my flight.  This parent LIT ME UP in a Parent Square.  On the phone this parent was very nice and surprisingly so was I!

5. I was able to let my youngest know before boarding that, "Yes, we do have a couple of tomatoes in the frig" so she didn't have to go to the store. 

6. You are going to have a wonderful day tomorrow! :D

Nuts-n-Bolts

1 Following the Math and ELA diagnostic, we are going to begin counting math lessons again! However, if a student has still not completed the Diagnostic for Reading (or Math), please be sure that they do that FIRST.

This video is going to explain all of the information in this email, but will also visually show you as well, so watch this video if you wish to stop reading at this point. Sorry my internet was a bit spotty, and the video seems to cut out at some points.

I have attached a few resources that you will need in this email and both are linked on the HUB as well. 

i-Ready Semester 1 Tracker

• Note your spreadsheet tab along the bottom.
• Rosters are up to date as of yesterday (01/03/2025). If you have changes in your roster, please update the students.
• Lessons will be counted from the first day of the new year, January 1st, to May 28th, as noted on the spreadsheet. 
• The actual date for Activity Day is TBD as we made changes last year.
• There is a yellow highlight at the 12 lesson mark-- this indicates that students have passed the necessary amount to attend activity day.
• In order to attend activity day, students will also need to pass 12 lessons in ELA. This will be tracked by ELA teachers. 
• There are also checkboxes for each of the points in which students can receive an incentive ticket(see below).

i-Ready Lesson Incentives

• Tickets will be delivered as soon as the TA's finish counting them for each class. 
• When you hand out tickets, please make sure you write the students first and last name on them. We do not want students giving them to friends to redeem.
• Jolly Ranchers will be ordered and delivered as well. We apologize for not having them yet! 

2.  HIGHLY CAPABLE REFERRAL TIMELINE

    

Communication with families: 

This Friday the Teaching and Learning team will share information with families through the Week in Review about the timeline for this year’s highly capable referral process. The district web page has already been updated with the most current parent referral packets. Posters announcing the referral will be posted around the school early next week.

Guidance for referring students: 

Here are some guidelines for elementary school and middle school to help you when thinking about your students for possible referral.  Conferences are a good time to talk to the families/guardians of students about highly capable referral.

Timeline for referring and testing students: 

To provide an equitable screening opportunity for all students referred, we must receive completed teacher inventory forms by February 18. Teacher inventory forms are attached. Please include detailed descriptions of student characteristics. 

Students referred for highly capable testing will take the NGAT during the week of February 24-28.  

If you have any questions about the attached information or the timeline, please feel free to contact me. Your building Assessment Specialist(s) will be your contacts to communicate specific building level plans.  They will also gather teacher referral forms and parent referral packets. 

3.    Mark Higgins sent out an email with a survey for your input on the superintendent search.  Please take a few minutes to answer it.

4.    January is National School Board month.  Each school has been assigned a School Board Member (last year we were not assigned a member as were other schools). Our Board Member is Alyana Briton.  She will be here on Thursday, January 30th from 10:30-11:45 to tour Garrison.  If you has something specific, you would like her to see please email me.  I will be showing Director Briton our Behavior and RISE programs since they are District Middle School Programs.

5. Our Garrison Scheduling Committee will be meeting Wednesday, January 29th in the AM in room 115. You are able to see the notes from this meeting by going to the HUB, Meeting Schedule and Agendas then click on the Master Schedule Committee tab.  In addition, Jen, Brian C, Caleb and myself are a part of the District MS scheduling committee. Our next meeting is Monday, Jan. 27th.  Keith Swanson may have sent an update. 

Our Garrison team members are listed on the agenda. If you have questions, please talk with them.  Jen, Caleb adn Brian I'm sure are open to conversations, questions and/or suggestions to bring back to their respective committees. There is nothing secret going on :D Nicole does a great job of taking notes and sharing with you via the HUB.  Jen, Brian and Caleb are your reps for the District committee.

6. Next week, iReady make-ups will be taking place. Agnes and Yaz will be sharing additional details. It’s essential that students are sent to complete their assessments so we can ensure everything is taken care of. Your support is greatly appreciated!

7.  After this week, as mentioned on GNN, tokens will not be used anymore at the Student Store.  We are just not getting them back even when 'prices' have been marked down.  Nicole M and Yaneth, ASB Advisors, have come up with a ticket system.  They will communicate further details.  Tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 25th is the LAST day students may use their coins.

Something to Ponder

As I was sitting in the airport—quiet, no one talking, which never happens in middle school—I was scrolling through iReady progress, thinking about my school-aged grandkids and reflecting on some lunchtime interactions with students that almost made me want to pull my hair out (or theirs!). It hit me: no kid wakes up in the morning saying, “I think I’ll be a jerk today” or “I hope I completely bomb my classes.” Parents are sending us the best they have. They do not have the 'good ones' locked in the closet at home.

Truthfully, I believe every student—no matter their age, abilities, or ADHD-levels (my own grandkids😆)—wants to do well. They want us to do well, and deep down, they want to learn. But let’s be real: this time of year is hard. The sun barely shows up, it’s dark when we get up, and sometimes it’s dark when we leave. It’s like Mother Nature is testing us.

This is just a season. Seasons change. They pass. How they pass, though—that’s on us. I’ll be the first to admit, I need an attitude adjustment. Like, maybe I shouldn’t call the 7th graders feral (even when they kind of act like it), or dread calling certain parents who’ve already decided I’m “J**** C****!” before I even say hello.

We all have our moments, but none of us wake up each day aiming to do less than our best. So let’s be kind—to ourselves, to each other, and to the kids. Try to find one good thing about that one class or that one student who tests your patience every time. I’ll do the same. Because at the end of the day, I truly believe that 90% of our kids (and all of us!) want to do well.

Let’s keep showing up for each other. We’ve got this!

To Be Versus to Seem

90% of Our Students