Every Kid Needs A Champion

Tuesday we begin a journey that we'll walk together over the next 10 months. I love this time of year because it truly is a time to start over.  To be a better version of ourselves and bring all that we have to our students.  Nothing happens by accident and the students on your roster are exactly in the right place, at the right time...assigned to the right educator.

I am already proud of the attention and conversations we have had over the past two weeks.  You have come to work and you're dedicated to "getting over yourself" and focusing on the teaching and learning of our students.  

Please take a few minutes to listen to one of my heroes, Rita Pierson, as she talks about teaching and the relationship building that must take place.  I share this on a yearly basis but my new folks...please take a listen. She passed away 5 years ago but her words are still tried and true.

I hope you've had an amazing weekend and see all of you Tuesday (if not tomorrow)! - Angela

Prepare for first day

• Review lesson plans for the week and make sure you drop into the Google Drive.
• Review schedule and duty stations (AM, Lunch, PM)
• Send Dojo to parents welcoming them to the first day and any reminders (arts schedule, how students are getting home, etc.)
• Make sure all students know their numbers for dismissal.
• Rest up!

Week of Monday, August 27- Friday, August 31

Monday, August 27:Optional Teacher Workday

• Prayer for School at 1:30 PM in the Lobby (optional)

Tuesday, August 28: 1st Day of School

• Please make sure you arrive ready to roll by 7:20 AM
• PBIS Pep Rally in Theater
• 8:30-9:00 1st and 2nd Grade
• 11:30-12:00 Middle School
• 1:30-2:00 3rd, 4th, 5th
• 1:00-1:30 Kindergarten

Wednesday, August 29:2nd Day of School

“If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important.” —Barbara Colorose

Thursday, August 30: 3rd Day of School

“I’m not sayin’ I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will.” —Tupac Shakur

• Pay Day!!!💰💰💰

Friday, August 31: 4th Day of School

• Spirit Day for students and staff (please review expectations before this date)

Weekend Things to Do (9/1-9/3)

• Make sure you have updated your bio
• Complete your training for Mrs. Trojan
• Link to the videos and quizzes
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=qWFUqpugr6g
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=dqaTuv8P1rE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=_55YmblG9YM
• Diabetes Quiz  -  https://goo.gl/forms/U6HCbtGg4oWwwIlJ2 
• Concussion Quiz -  https://goo.gl/forms/hPlp5lvgopa9FrVD3

🦎👏 Chameleon Claps🦎👏

From Ms. Caudle:
Mrs. Ward- Thank you for drawing flowers for me! they were beautiful

Mrs. Akers- Thank you for assisting my early parent at open house!

The entire TCEA- for another successful open house!!!

From Mrs. Hill:

Thank you to ALL of the staff for your work during the workdays.

Thank you to our team of volunteers and all TCEA staff that worked on the display windows.

Thank you to Ms. Lanham, Mrs. Samuelson, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Covington for presenting during our workdays.

Thank you to Mrs. Strimel for the many IEP Meetings held last week.

A parent said our Open House reminded them of Disney. They felt welcomed and wanted to be there and it was the Happiest Place in Fayetteville Friday Night....Thanks TEAM TCEA!!!

Why Your WHY Is So Important

I am just getting to this blog and all I can think about is ALL the things I have left to do. I feel the weight of everything on my shoulders and I feel weighed down. The reason I am just getting to this...my daughter's 11th birthday is today and she wanted a laser tag party at our house!

The reasons why I should not have done this party today:

1. It is HOT!!
2. I have to clean my house and yard.
3. It is a bit expensive and this time of year money is for back to school stuff.
4. It is a Sunday and had to fit it in after church and before all the things families with kids must do before Monday mornings!
5. Did I mention is HOT??

So why did I do it?

Zora at 1 week old!

Because it is Zora's birthday. My tall, loving and amazing daughter was born 11 years ago just 28 weeks into my pregnancy.  Y'all...she weighed 2 lbs and 10.6 oz.  She had multiple surgeries and blood transfusions and stayed in the hospital for 7 weeks.  She had a hole in her heart and was labeled as developmentally delayed until age 3.

That's why I did all I did today.  I prayed for this little girl and would go to the hospital each evening after her birth to read to her and encourage her to keep breathing and eating and growing.

I don't spoil her but her birthdays truly are a reason to celebrate. She did what many babies that were born around August 19, 2007 in the Cape Fear Valley NICU could not do...survive and thrive.

How does this connect to the idea of knowing your why in schools? 

It connects because your why is what makes you go the extra mile for your kids.  It's what makes you reassure a student that all will work out when they get a bad test score or friends exclude them.

Your why should drive you past the difficulties that come with the job and stay focused on your ultimate goal for students.

Take 4 minutes to see a clear example of how knowing and recognizing your why can make any task 100 times better.

I hope you have had an amazing weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.

Week of Monday, August 20- Friday, August 24, 2018

August 20, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

Please consider wearing a TCEA shirt for Home Visits (new staff, I will have your shirts before noon)

8:00-8:30 Culture Building (Bad Day Balloon)

8:30-9:30 Lesson Planner Training

9:30-10:30 Work on Own Plans

10:30-11:00 Musical Chair Feedback

11:00-11:30 Revision of Lesson Plans

11:30-3:00 Home Visits/ Lunch

5:15 PM TCEA Board Mtg (Optional)

August 21, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00- 9:00 Walkthrough Duties and Expectations

9:00-10:30 Data Analysis PD

11:00-12:00 Team Meetings

12-1:00 Lunch

1-3 Arts Vocabulary, Arts 101, Expectations

August 22, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00-8:30: Culture Building (Agents of Transformation Display)

8:30-9:00: PBIS Intro

9-12:30: Sessions 1-3

12:30-1:30: Lunch

1:30-2:30: Session 4

2:30- 3:00 Final Closing Activity

August 23,2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00-8:30: Student Handbook

8:30-10:00 TLaC Culture & Behavior

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-12:00 TLaC Continued

12-1 Lunch on our own

1:00 - 2:00 Beginning Teacher Orientation (only for teachers considered first year teachers-you know because you have been assigned a mentor)

2:00 - 3:00 Happiness Advantage

August 24, 2018

8:00-8:30 Commitment Ceremony

8:30-10:00 EC Training

10:00-10:30 Staff Picture- please wear purple and/orange (school colors)

10:30-11:00   MTSS Update

11:00-12:00   504 Training/ Social Worker

12:00-1:00 Lunch

Be back at school by 4:45 PM

Open House 5:30 PM-7:30 PM

August 27, 2018

Optional Workday

August 28, 2018

First Day of School

👏🦎Chameleon Clap👏🦎

• Thank you to all who stepped in and helped with training for new staff members. Thanks Mr. Salisbury, Mrs. Trojan, Mrs. Cane, Mr. Thomas and Ms. Covington.
• Thanks to Mr. Salisbury for getting all the rooms ready for staff.
• Thank you to Ms. Akers and Mrs. Trojan for helping get all our new students in the system and on lists.
• Thank you to Ms. Lanham and Mrs. Samuelson for attending the MTSS training last week.
• Thank you to Mr. Thomas for creating the routes for home visits!
• Thank you to Mrs. Strimel for her leadership in the EC arena!
• Thanks to Mr. Kline for hosting us all week and for cleaning up after us on Friday!
• Thank you to each of you for being "all in" during training!

If you ever want to give a Chameleon Clap, please send via email to Mrs. Hill by noon each Sunday!

Mission Possible 2018-2019

"Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible." 

- Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune's quote is one that speaks volumes to me.  If you do not know about Mary McLeod Bethune, please do a Google Search on this amazing woman.  In a nutshell, this amazing lady was born to parents who were slaves and ended up founding a private university that is still educating students more than 63 years after her passing.  This lady had to have faith when the country was telling her she was "less than" because she was a woman and an African American.

But it takes more than FAITH...

And that is where our theme comes in...

Our theme for this school year is Mission Possible! I settled on this theme for a few reasons.

1.  This is our 5th year in existence.  The days when we could base student performance, student growth, what our school offers students, etc. can not be traced back to the familiar statement of "We are a new school".  No, we are not considered toddlers anymore and it's time we grow up. 
2. It definitely aligns with our Growth Mindset.  All things are possible with time, persistence, and hard work.
3. We have all the right components to make our school a place where ALL students can grow and succeed. We just all need to be FOCUSED ON THE SAME MISSION.

So this year, all of you are Agents of Transformation! Welcome to the team.  What secret agent skills are you going to bring to the team? What are you committed to doing to ensure that our mission of providing a high quality arts integrated curriculum that pushes all our students to grow at least one year is accomplished?  Come prepared to discuss your secret agent skills on Thursday during our Back to School Meeting! You'll also find out your Spy Name...you'll be official then.

We'll talk more Mission Possible soon but for now enjoy this clip. This clip should reassure everyone that you are more than capable to take on this title of an Agent of Transformation.  

I will be attending  leadership Retreat hosted by The Romine Group f with you on this week but I will be back and ready to kick the year off with you on Thursday! See you soon.

Angela

Week of August 13-17, 2018

August 13, 2018

Optional Workday- No PD Planned

August 14, 2018

• Mandatory for New Staff (anyone new to TCEA)
• New staff orientation:
• Work in Room 8:00- 9:00
• Meeting with Mr. Salisbury 9:00- 10:00
• Training with Mrs. Trojan 10:00-11:00
• Meet our Instructional Coach Ms. Covington 11:00-12:00
• Intro to TLAC
• Accessing Resources
• Lunch and work in your rooms from 12:00-3:00

August 15, 2018

Mandatory for New Staff

• What is TCEA all about? 9:00-10:30
• Beginning Teachers Introduction to the NCEES Standards 10:30-12:00
• Lunch and work in your rooms from 12:00-3:00 

August 16, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

• Work in your room 8:00-9:00
• Welcome Back Meeting 9:00-11:30
• Welcome
• Data Review
• Goals for 18-19
• Curriculum Overview
• Health Update by Mrs. Trojan 11:30-12:00
• Lunch with team 12:00-12:30
• Concurrent Sessions
• 12:30-2:00 PM: Math
• K-2
• 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Math Teachers
• Middle Grades Math
• EC Staff (K-8)
• MTSS Team
• Any Arts Staff interested in attending
• 12:30-2:00 PM: Arts Staff
• Work in your rooms
• 2:00 PM-3:00 PM: ELA
• K-2
• 3rd,4th, 5th ELA Teachers
• Middle Grades ELA
• MTSS Team
• EC Staff
• Any Arts Staff interested in attending
• 2:00 PM-3:00 PM: Arts Staff
• Work in the office/display window

August 17, 2018

Mandatory for all staff

8:00-8:30 Staff Handbook

8:30-11:30: iReady Training

• Group 1: K, 1, 2, 3rd ELA and Math, 4th, 5th, Middle School ELA and Math, EC, MTSS  

8:30-11:30: Unit Plans for Pre/Post Assessments

• Group 2 : 3rd Grade SS/Science, Middle School SS and Science

8:30-11:30:Elective Planning (Course Descriptions and Preview Times)

• Group 2: Arts

11:30-12:30 Lunch on your own

12:30-3:00: iReady Training Group 2 + Arts

12:30-3:00: mClass Training for K-3, EC (EC Teachers K-5), MTSS

12:30-3:00: Vertical Planning for 4th, 5th, Middle School ELA and Math

🦎👏 Chameleon Clap🦎👏

• Thank you to all of the staff members that attended A+ Training! It was some of the best PD I have participated in and I am looking forward to working with this program and all of you this year.
• Congrats to ALL of our staff members that presented at workshops this summer. Here are the staff that I know of (or remember) presenting.
• Ms. Strimel, Mrs. Ezell, Ms. Hughes, Mrs. Samuelson, Mrs. Majka and Mr. Haslem
• Thanks to the staff members that represented our school at trainings held this summer. We look forward to learning from you this year.
• Ms. Lanham, Mrs. Fleming, Mrs. Cane, Ms. Clough, Mrs. Ezell, Ms. McLaughlin
• Thanks to my admin team for working so hard to prepare for Back to School!
• Thanks to Mr. Falls for offering Math tutoring to students in need this summer.
• Thanks to my department chairs and SIT members for helping our school have successful summer retreats. I have been "fired up" since.
• Thanks to Ms. Akers for helping us out in the office these past weeks.
• Thanks to all staff members that helped us interview over the summer.

If I am forgetting anyone, please just send me an email and I will include next week.

CHECK OUT THIS EXCITING OPPORTUNITY SHARED BY MR. HASLEM:

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https://www.facebook.com/events/657155781331854/