Next Best Place to Disney!

Cougar Staff:

I sometimes jokingly tell students that GCMS is the next best place to Disney World.  While some may disagree, we should all be very thankful to have such a great place to work each day. Working with young people and having the opportunity to make a positive difference is an awesome thing.  Let's always strive to take full advantage of that opportunity!

We are marching right into November as I write this week’s edition of Cougar Notes.  The school year is going so quickly!  If any of you want to slow down the clock, I’m sure that the Cheer Boosters and BETA Club would be glad to have some extra chaperones for the after school dance today!  Funny how slowly the clock ticks during certain events!  Either way, I hope that everyone has a great weekend.

Personnel:

Please keep your GCMS family in your thoughts and prayers.  We have lots of staff members dealing with health concerns and upcoming surgeries as well as family members with health issues.  Please remember Stacy Pierce, Laura Goff, Cassie Jarboe’s daughter, Tez Hawkins’ son, Karen Van Metre, David Whitmore, Rita Mullins’ daughter, Ellen Thomas’ husband, Pam Armstrong (no field goal kicking), everyone who is still coughing and hacking, and many more.  Also, we wish Kevin Butler a safe return from his mission trip to Africa.

Check out Mrs. Miller’s Blog:

Mrs. Miller has updated her blog!  Check it out at:  http://asstprinmiller.blogspot.com/2013/11/unexpected-shift-to-growth-mindset.html

Veterans Day Program:

We will be having our annual Veterans Day program on Monday, November 11 starting at 7:45 am in the gym.  We would like to honor GCMS parents, grandparents, and staff member who are veterans of the United States military with a brief patriotic program that morning.  We would like for our veterans to be seated in the honorary seating on the floor.  We would like for all staff members to come to the gym for the program and to help supervise our students in the bleachers that morning.  Thanks in advance.

Showcase Lessons:

I enjoyed visiting each of the Team 6 classrooms for showcase lesson day earlier this week.  There were a wide variety of highly engaging learning activities going on in the classrooms.  I heard many positive comments from the other teachers who visited as well.  It is a great feeling to know that with the “peer observation” component of PGES on the horizon, that our GCMS teachers have experience getting used to having colleagues in their classrooms on a regular basis.  We look forward to our Team 1 showcase lessons on Tuesday, Nov. 12. 

Taking Attendance:

Please be vigilant about taking attendance each period.  If you have a student who is counted absent and then comes in later, please make sure that Mrs. Venita is made aware with a phone call or an email, and she can make the necessary correction.  It is important that we always have an accurate accounting of our students, and it also avoids unnecessarily alarming parents when the attendance call goes out each day. 

Video Link from Mr. Belcher:

Josh Belcher shared an interesting video link with some of us this week.  It discusses divergent thinking and the need for school reform to improve in that area. 

Check it out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKEtm3h2qgo. 

Internet Usage Monitoring:

I want to remind you that school internet usage and school email is regularly monitored by the Grayson County School District and by KDE.  I receive an electronic report each week detailing the internet usage of GCMS staff members.  These reports include total time on the internet, number of website hits or visits, number of violations (inappropriate sites or attempts to log onto inappropriate sites), and specific sites visited.  This monitoring pertains to internet usage on the school’s network or while using school devices off the network.  Some staff member’s names appear on a top 5 list each week for these categories.  While I do not have the time, nor the desire for that matter, to talk to those who appear on the top 5 lists each week, I do want to remind you to always be professional in your school internet usage.  Please don’t email or get on any websites that you wouldn’t want your mother (or your principal or superintendent) to be aware of.  It is also important not to let students use your log-in and to not leave your workstation unattended when logged in.  Thanks.

Quote of the Day:

“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” ~Sir Josiah Stamp

Coming Attractions:

Nov. 8.. School Dance, 3:00-5:00, sponsored by Cheer and Beta Club

Nov. 11..Veterans Day Program, 7:45 am

Nov. 12..Team 1 Showcase Lessons

Nov. 13..Progress Reports go home

Nov. 13..High School Softball Meeting, 2:25 pm

Nov. 20..6th Grade Back to the Future Day

Nov. 20..GCMS Site Based Council Meeting, 3:00

Nov. 25-29..................No School, Thanksgiving Week

Dec. 10..GCMS Christmas Dinner, 6:00 pm at GCMS

Dec. 20..Last day before Christmas Break (that day, we will be using our Mon-Thurs schedule)