This Week at GCMS

Cougar Staff:

We are winding down another busy week at GCMS, and believe it or not next week is the last week of the first quarter of the school year!  The school year is flying by, but I know that everyone is looking forward to fall break and having a few days to spend with your families and get a little rest.  Like many of you, I have been battling a head cold and cough for the past several days.  I know that there are several different maladies going around right now.  I actually had to excuse myself from two different classrooms this morning when I started coughing and didn’t want to disrupt the classes.  I hope that the bugs fly on out of here, and everyone gets feeling better soon.  I have just a few notes to share in this week’s Cougar Notes.

Personnel:

Please continue to remember Ellen Thomas and her family as they continue to deal with health concerns.  Please remember Dian Huffman, whose father passed away this week.  Also, please remember Mr. David Whitmore, who will have surgery coming up next Thursday. 

Time Marches On:

I didn’t quite know how I would feel about my little girl Tessa starting kindergarten this year.  Teresa and I have already raised one child, and he’s graduated from high school and going to college.  Tessa is our baby, and I have been quite happy with that for the past five years.  Sending her out into the big, bad world somehow didn’t feel just right.  The good news is that she is off to a great start!  She loves her teacher and her school, and she gets to walk over to Daddy’s office every day after school.  I have to admit that seeing a big smile on her little face is the highlight of my day each afternoon.  We all like the idea of our children being our little babies, but they grow up and we love them just as much then as when they are babies.  Time marches on.

Short Article:

Please take just a few minutes to read this short article:  http://www.teachingquality.org/content/how-facial-expressions-can-help-classroom-management.  This may seem like common sense, but then again, common sense can sometimes be an uncommon thing!

Thank You Team 9:

I appreciate Team 9 teachers hosting showcase lessons today!  I enjoyed spending a few minutes in each of the Team 9 classrooms this morning.  I observed high levels of student and teacher engagement in each class.  I also appreciate all of our other teachers visiting in Team 9 today.  We can pick up so many effective strategies during this process, and the classroom teacher who is hosting can get valuable feedback at the same time.  Showcase lesson day is a “win/win” for GCMS!

Walkathon:

Please continue to encourage the students to work hard in raising money for our annual GCMS walkathon.  All money which will be considered for earning prizes must be turned in by Wednesday.  Students may go ahead and turn in money on Thursday, but anything turned in after Wednesday will not be considered for prizes.  Remember, there will be no related arts or advanced math classes on Thursday since those teachers supervise the walkathon. 

Hansel and Gretel:

Thanks again to Melanie Manion and Cougar Zone for bringing the production of “Hansel and Gretel” to GCMS earlier this week!  The play was very well done.  If you will remember, this is the same company that put on “Tom Sawyer” for our students last year.  Our students were very respectful and well behaved during the performances, and I appreciate each of you supervising the students during this event.

Professional Growth Plans:

Most everyone has done your new professional growth plan for the new school year, but if you have not, please take care of this by September 30.

Quote of the Day:

"I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on and on through his students. Good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal." ~ Jesse Stuart

Coming Attractions:

Sept 27                 2013 School Report Cards available to the public (including K-PREP)

                             Departments will meet during CSI planning time.

Oct 3                     GCMS Walk-A-Thon

Oct 4-11               Fall Break

Oct 14-15             Open Enrollment at GCMS (for health insurance)

Oct 23                   Related Arts Showcase Lesson Day

Oct 28-31             Red Ribbon Week

Oct 30                   Picture Retake/Makeup Day

Nov 1                    PLC Day (no students)

What's Happening at Grayson County Middle School

Cougar Staff:

“Mamma said there’ll be days like this” goes the old Shirelles song, but I don’t remember anything about there being weeks like this.  It has been one of those weeks, and I am glad we are nearing the weekend.  The full moon has had everyone all wound up and rambunctious this week, and the students too!  I hope that everyone has a restful weekend and enjoys a couple of days away.

Personnel:

Please continue to remember Saundra Cariel.  Her cancer has worsened, and she and her family appreciate your thoughts and prayers. 

Lori Carroll’s husband John had surgery yesterday.  Please remember Lori and John as well.

Thank You:

Thank you to Team 2 for hosting showcase lessons this week.  I enjoyed spending a few minutes in each of the classrooms and studying everything from Columbus to hovercrafts!  Great job, Team 2!  Please remember that all teachers are expected to observe in a classroom on showcase lesson days.  This is a great way to pick up new strategies that may also work well with your students.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

We had a very good turnout for our first parent/teacher conferences of the year.  I heard many positive comments from parents, students, and staff about how conferences went.  Thank you again to Melanie Manion and her Cougar Zone staff for providing the books for students whose parents or guardians were in attendance. 

Monday K-PREP Meeting:

Many of you have already stopped by my office to get a “sneak peek” at this year’s scores, but we do still plan to meet after school on Monday afternoon to look at our school-wide data.  I look forward to sharing our good news with all of our faculty Monday afternoon.  Remember, we do have to keep our scores confidential until the reports become public next Friday, September 27.

Walkathon:

Please review the information that Mr. Parker emailed to you this morning about this year’s GCMS walkathon.  The walkathon kickoff will be on Monday.  I will speak to the students in the gym on Monday morning, so they may be a little late getting to first period on Monday.  Our related arts teachers have volunteered to hand out the walkathon packets to students during related arts on Monday and go over the materials with the students.  This will save our team teachers quite a bit of time and effort, so please thank a related arts teacher when you see them!

Hansel and Gretel are coming!

On Wednesday, we are fortunate to have a Broadway Drama troupe visiting GCMS to present the play “Hansel and Gretel”.  This is the same company that visited last year and did a great job presenting “Tom Sawyer” for our students.  We will have three performances, one for each grade level. 

(7^th grade at 9:00, 8^th grade at 10:45, and 6^th grade at 1:00)

Tech Lessons:

Many of you have already given me your “teacher verification document” after teaching the technology curriculum lessons.  If you are teaching the lessons for your team, please get me your signed verification sheet by September 30.

Professional Growth Plans:

If you have not already done so, please arrange to meet with the administrator in charge of your evaluation to develop your new professional growth plan.  These need to be taken care of by September 30 as well.

Bully Reporting Form:

From time to time, a teacher will email the administrators about a bullying issue that is reported to you.  This is fine, but also we would like for you to encourage the reporting student to fill out a bully report form.  This way, we have documentation of the report, and can investigate more thoroughly.  Also, when emailing about a discipline issue, it is good to email all three administrators, because sometimes one out of the three of us can get free to deal with a discipline issue more quickly than if you only contact one of us.

Quote of the Day:

“The young do not follow our preachings…they follow us.” ~Robert Brault

Coming Attractions:

Sept 21                 8th Grade Parent Involvement trip to WKU

Sept 25                 Hansel and Gretel Play, see calendar for times

                             See You At The Pole (prayer gathering), 7:30 am in front of GCMS

Sept 26                 Team 9 Showcase Lessons

                             Flu Vaccines at GCMS (8:30-10:30)

Oct 3                     GCMS Walk-A-Thon

Oct 4-11               Fall Break

Oct 30                   Picture Retake/Makeup Day

Nov 1                    PLC Day (no students)

Grayson County Middle School

Cougar Staff:

The days and weeks are flying by at GCMS!  Our school year is off to a great start, and I know that everyone is working very hard to make sure that our students are learning and achieving at the highest levels possible.  I want to thank you for your continuous efforts to provide the very best learning opportunities for our GCMS students.  Thanks for all that you do!

Sept. 11 Observance:

I was very proud of the way that our students responded during our September 11 observance and moment of silence yesterday morning.  .  It is amazing to think about it, but our 8th graders were only about a year old or so and our 6th graders were not even born yet when this tragedy took place in 2001.  My main point to the students on Wednesday morning was reminding them to be thankful for the great country we live in and especially thankful to our armed forces and emergency responders who put their lives on the line for us each and every day.  It is important for our students to have some experience with solemn occasions, and they did well this week.  In November, we will plan to have an observance for Veterans Day again this year.

Parent/Teacher Conferences:

Our first parent/teacher conferences of the year are planned for Tuesday of next week, September 17 from 4:00-6:00 pm.  Teams 1 and 4 had their conferences this past week because of the need to share more information with parents about the standards based grading pilot program.  Please make it your priority to share some positive information with every parent who walks through your door.  There may be some areas for improvement with many or most of your students, but the teacher bragging about someone’s child on at least one area makes the parent feel much better about you as their child’s teacher and eases the way for some of those tougher conversations that might be necessary as well. 

Walk-Throughs:

I enjoyed visiting all of the 7^th grade classrooms this week.  As we continue to visit classrooms, we are continuing to look for high levels of student and teacher engagement.  I got a chance to go to Clarkson School with the other principals from around the district and some of our central office staff to participate in engagement walk-throughs there.  I saw a lot of great learning activities with the elementary students there.  Authentic engagement, as we have discussed, is more than just having busy students.  It is having intellectually busy students.  In other words, it is not just “hands on”, it is “minds on” when our students are really engaged.  I am inviting the other principals and CO staff to conduct engagement walk-throughs at GCMS in the near future as well. 

DECA Video:

Some of our high school DECA students have participated in a Carrie Underwood fan contest in which they produced a video against texting and driving.  They won the Carrie Underwood contest!  I feel like the video is very well done, and I encourage all staff members to watch it.  It is fine to show it to the students as well.  Cynthia Smith shared the link with us:  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bobKmVeZPzQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbobKmVeZPzQ

High Attendance Day:

The annual state-wide “high attendance day” is scheduled for next Wednesday, September 18.  Please encourage all of your students be here each and every day…but especially on high attendance day!  The school in the region with the highest attendance (elementary, middle, and high) receives a nice plaque recognizing their efforts.

Finding Your Strengths:

I read a short article today that I want to share with you.  It talks about what our strengths and weaknesses really are.  Sometimes we think that our strengths and weaknesses are just what we are good at and what we are bad at.  This short article takes a different angle that I think is worth thinking about.  Here’s the link:  http://www.ziglar.com/business/how-find-your-strengths.

Quote of the Day:

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they’ve never failed to imitate them.” ~James Baldwin

Coming Attractions:

Sept 17                 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-6:00 pm

Sept 17-18           EXPLORE Testing

Sept 19                 Team 2 Showcase Lesson

Sept 21                 8th Grade Parent Involvement trip to WKU

Sept 25                 Hansel and Gretel Play, see calendar for times

                             See You At The Pole (prayer gathering), 7:30 am in front of GCMS

Sept 26                 Team 9 Showcase Lessons

                             Flu Vaccines at GCMS (8:30-10:30)

Oct 3                    GCMS Walk-A-Thon

Oct 4-11               Fall Break

Oct 30                   Picture Retake/Makeup Day

Nov 1                    PLC Day (no students)

More Good Stuff from Ziglar!

Character

It's been around for years, but the statement that you can eat an elephant one bite at a time is as true as ever.  It's also true that you can benefit mankind and change the lives of countless others a little bit at a time.

One of the most heartwarming stories I've heard in years is that of Oseola McCarty from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  She spent a lifetime washing, ironing and mending dirty clothes. These clothes were worn at parties she never attended, weddings to which she was never invited, and graduations which she was not privileged to see.  Her needs in life were extremely simple.  She didn't mind living in a small house and economizing in every possible way - including cutting the toes out of shoes if they did not fit right.  Her pay over the decades was small and mostly in dollar bills and change, but she saved consistently and was able to donate $150,000 to finance scholarships for black students at the University of Southern Mississippi.  The impact of her gift has been incredible.  She has been identified as the most unselfish person anyone knows.  The business leaders of Hattiesburg matched the $150,000 and the $300,000 is being used for those scholarships.  

Ms. McCarty was stunned at the amount of attention she recieved from the media and the number of people who came by to see her.  She had only one request and hope, that she will be privileged to attend the graduation of at least one of the students who received his or her college education as a result of her generosity.  She wished she had been able to get a college education herself, but said she was always "too busy."  Her hope is that her "busyness" will enable others to get the education she never had.

Fact: It's not how much you have but how well you use what you have that counts.  I encourage you to follow the Oseola McCarty example and you will help others get to the top!   

Zig Ziglar is known as America’s Motivator.  He authored 32 books and produced numerous training programs.  He will be remembered as a man who lived out his faith daily.

Grayson County Middle School

Cougar Staff:

It has been a busy week at GCMS since returning from the Labor Day weekend.  I have just a few notes to share as we wrap this week up, and I wish everyone an enjoyable and restful weekend. 

Welcome:

I would like to welcome our newest employees to Grayson County Middle School.  Charlene Noblett has joined our custodial staff, and Kevin Whobrey has joined our staff as a one-on-one aide with a student in the MMD unit.  We are very happy to have both Charlene and Kevin joining our staff at GCMS.

Personnel:

Please remember the Hack family in your thoughts and prayers.  Gwen Franich’s Papaw Hack (Mary Ann’s father-in-law) has passed away.  I know that Gwen and Mary Ann appreciate your prayers.

Also, please remember our Communicare therapist, Amy Scott, whose grandmother passed away last night.

Thanks!

Thank you to the anonymous individual who bought flowers for the whole staff!  They wanted to remain anonymous, but this was certainly a very nice gesture!  We also appreciate Whoop-de-doo Design for providing the flowers!

Thank you to everyone who helped with last night’s tailgate cookout!  I think everyone in attendance enjoyed the meal and some good conversations together…and the Cougars swept two games from Breck County!

Thank you to Melanie Manion for donating the new Keurig Coffee machine to the staff!  If you like Keurig, just bring your “K-Cups” and enjoy!  The new machine is located in the office kitchenette.

Check out Mrs. Miller’s Blog:

Becky Miller has started a new blog!  Check it out at http://asstprinmiller.blogspot.com/.

Meeting Reflections:

I enjoyed meeting with both our math department and our special education co-teachers PLC groups this morning.  I appreciate the commitment of both of these groups (and all of our staff) to go above and beyond to make learning better for our students!  You all are the best!

Discipline Report:

I hope that you have had a chance to review the discipline report that Mr. Whitmore sent out a few days ago.  Discipline referrals at GCMS are at the lowest levels for the month of August that we have seen in the past six years.  Both total referrals and daily averages are at all-time lows.  This is a credit to the hard work and dedication of our GCMS faculty and staff.  You have taught our expectations, and the students have responded in a very positive way.  Focusing on Positive Behavior Support continues to improve teaching and learning at GCMS.  The students are in class and learning, instead of in the office or the detention room getting out of class and avoiding learning.  Keep up the great work!

Faculty Meeting on Monday:

Our September faculty meeting will be after school on Monday.  Since we have a guest speaker, we will go ahead and start the meeting at 3:00 in the library.  Those who have late duty should do your duty and then come on to the library as soon as you can.  Mr. James Hardin, from Fayette County Schools, will be with us to share information about effective use of the ILP.  We have been completing ILP’s for several years now, but we need to better utilize this tool.  After hearing Mr. Hardin speak here this summer, I am convinced that the ILP can and should be a powerful tool to improve college and career readiness for each of our students at GCMS.

Quote of the Day:

“Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.” ~C.W. Ceram

Coming Attractions:

Sept 6                   GCMS Dance, sponsored by football and girls basketaball, 3:00-5:00

Sept 9                   Teacher’s Meeting,  ILP Presentation by James Hardin from Fayette Co. Schools

Sept 10                 Meet the Lady Cougars Night,

Sept 17                 Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-6:00 pm

Sept 17-18           EXPLORE Testing

Sept 19                 Team 2 Showcase Lesson

Sept 21                 8th Grade Parent Involvement trip to WKU

Sept 25                 Hansel and Gretel Play, see calendar for times

Sept 26                 Team 9 Showcase Lessons

Oct 3                     GCMS Walk-A-Thon

Oct 4-11               Fall Break

Oct 30                   Picture Retake/Makeup Day

Nov 1                    PLC Day (no students)

Good Stuff from Ziglar!

This comes from the Ziglar Newsletter.  If any of you are interested in subscribing, let me know and I will send you the details.

Jim Blain

Motivation

Surely all of us have heard the honking of a Canada goose overhead and looked up to see them flying in V-formation.  Scientists in wind-tunnel tests have discovered that geese actually fly 72% farther in a V-formation than they could on their own.  The goose off the trailing wing of another is flying in a partial vacuum and, consequently, is able to fly farther.  You have probably wondered why one leg of the V is always longer than the other.  The explanation for that is quite simple: The longer one has more geese in it.

From time to time the formation appears to break, but what's happening is the lead goose is being replaced by another who is more rested because he's not been fighting the same amount of headwind the lead goose has been fighting.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were as considerate of those around us as are the geese of their leader?  Perhaps we, too, would get more done.

The goose is also wise in another department.  If some of the geese start to lag behind, there are a large number of honks that come forth from the rest of the geese. Psychologists believe those goose honks are more than just noise-makers, they are honks of encouragement.  They're really saying, "Come one, Partner, pick up the pace! Farmer Brown's pond's only four miles ahead.  You can do it!"  So, in essence, they're motivators giving encouragement to their lagging companion.  In addition, if a goose gets sick or is wounded, two other geese will drop out of formation to follow and protect it until it either dies or is able to move on.  

There's quite a lesson in that message, too.  If we were more supportive and encouraging to our associates and family members, surely there would be more unity and accomplishment.  

I believe if we will follow the examples of the goose we will get more done individually as well as collectively.  And if we do, I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!  

 Zig Ziglar is known as America’s Motivator.  He authored 32 books and produced numerous training programs.  He will be remembered as a man who lived out his faith daily.