Friday, February 1, 2019

Friday, February 1, 2019

Welcome to February 1st

I am hoping this cute little fella does not see his shadow tomorrow... 

spring will arrive early.

Report cards go home on Wednesday. Feb. 6th.

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Thanks to everyone for...

• your support as we complete the NCEES mid-year work. 
• showing collaboration and care with our Brunson work in Jeff's absence.  It is a great feeling to know we have leaders that continue work as usual...and are willing to take on additional responsibilities.  Way to go teacher leaders!

Lots of Crew excitement in the building as we create "In My Habits" videos.  I can't wait to see them during our assembly on Feb 14th.  

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

• All staff at 3:30 for Culture presentation in the Media Center
• BELT meeting at 3:45 in the Media Center...all other staff work in their rooms or meet as a team until 4:30

Thinking about...

Albert Mehrabian’s work on verbal and non-verbal communication in the 1960s and early 1970s is still considered a valid model today. He posed that the non-verbal aspects of communication such as tone of voice and non-verbal gestures communicate a great deal more than the words that are spoken. He also found that people are more likely to believe your non-verbal communication than your verbal communication if the two are contradictory. In other words, you are most believable and most effectively communicating when all three elements of face-to-face communication are aligned with each other. Over half of the information we send to others is through non-verbal methods.According to Mehrabian, the tone of voice we use is responsible for about 35-40 percent of the message we are sending. Tone involves the volume you use, the level and type of emotion that you communicate and the emphasis that you place on the words that you choose.

...how tone affects the Brunson culture?

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

We will have a fire drill this morning...if it is not raining.  Have your students keep their coats at their seats and grab them on the way out of the classroom.  

For Wednesday's meeting:

• 3:30-3:40  All staff will meet in the media center for 10 minutes allowing the "Culture Team" to present their processes (all other teams will present the following Wednesday)
• 3:45-4:30  BELT will remain in the media center for our meeting.  All other teachers will work in the building until 4:30 (work in their rooms or to meet with their grade level).

Stay tuned to the the weather for information regarding Wednesday morning.  

Monday, January 28, 2019

Monday, January 28, 2019

Happy Monday!  Hope you all had a great weekend.

Welcome Leslie Hill to the Brunson crew. Leslie will be on staff as a part-time sub. Teachers will continue entering their absence through the system in a timely fashion, BUT when a sub doesn't pick up, Leslie will teach.  This will alleviate pulling our incredible instructional assistants from their jobs. On days when a sub is not required, Leslie will assist students and teachers in other grade levels.  

Friday, January 25th

PTA Winter Reading Challenge will host the readers for Hot chocolate and a story this afternoon in the cafeteria.  Invitations for eligible students were placed in your mailbox with details.

Continue the work to recoup instructional time through efficiency at transitions.  Taking a "Crew" approach with your class will empower our community to improve SA/3D with a sense of urgency.

Enjoy the weekend!

Thursday, January 24th

• forgiveness 
• patience 
• understanding 
• empathy
• grateful
• gentle 
• kindness 
• generosity 
• love
• children
• adults
• relationships
• connections
• resolutions 
• selfless
• compassion

• Relationship 
• Building 
• Talk 
• Collaborate 
• Marriage 
• Bond 
• Intertwine 
• Adhere 
• Associate 
• Symbiotic 
• Magnetic 
• Link 
• Synergy 
• Meld 
• Bridge 
• Mingle

• Magenta 
• Chartreuse 
• Purple 
• Vermilion 
• Lilac 
• Orange/Anaranjado 
• Fuchsia 
• Crimson 
• Bleautiful 
• Periwinkle 
• Ruby 
• Green 
• Azure 
• Aquamarine 
• Carmine 
• Teal

• tip-toe 
• meander 
• wander 
• trudge 
• roam 
• saunter 
• strut 
• plodded 
• bolted 
• staggered 
• stumbled 
• ambled 
• sashay 
• slithered 
• pranced 
• sulked

Wednesday, January 23rd

IF we are on a 2-hour delay, we WILL begin NC Check-Ins after announcements. The specials schedule will be reduced to periods six and seven.

STAFF CREW @ 3:30

We will start our session in vertical crews to discuss our transition data. PLEASE come prepared with your data sheet and thoughts about how to increase instructional time.

Then we will hear plans from our “Team Time” in the following order

• Crew Writing Team 
• Afternoon Dismissal 
• HAG Vertical Alignment 
• Student Discipline 
• School Culture in Room 
• BELT 

Tuesday, January 22nd

We have a FANTASTIC week ahead!

Tuesday ~ Crew Sessions 

Wednesday ~ NC Check-Ins following this schedule.

• Period ONE from 10:25 - 11:00 Kinder specials 
• Period TWO from 11:05 - 11:40 2nd specials 
• Period THREE from 11:45 - 12:20 4th specials 
• Period FOUR from 12:20 - 12:50 Lunch 
• Period FIVE from 12:50 - 1:25 1st specials 
• Period SIX from 1:30 - 2:05 5th Specials 
• Period SEVEN from 2:10 - 2:45 3rd specials
• Staff Crew session @ 3:30 Look for an e-mail from Sarah for details on format and team time presentations.

Thursday ~ Make-up NC Check-Ins

 Friday ~ End Of Quarter & PTA Winter Reading Challenge Hot Chocolate Party

Friday, January 18th

Best wishes on the NC Check-ins today.  

Welcome to our Salem College students here on their "Day of Service"

Please stop by the office and pick up a Engineering Design Process laminate as designed by our very own Megan Surbeck.  Every classroom shall post this in a prominent location before the start of the 3rd quarter.

Yesterday we focused on the 'Movement Norms."  Keep it flowing today and teach until you get the desired outcome.

The Purpose Of Education

by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
Morehouse College Student Paper, The Maroon Tiger, in 1947

As I engage in the so-called "bull sessions" around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the "brethren" think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.
It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the ligitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one's self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr. Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, "brethren!" Be careful, teachers!

Thursday, January 17th

NC check-ins on Friday.  Please follow the schedule and provide a school-wide academic environment for success.

Salem College will provide 10 students on Friday for their "Day of Service."  We look forward to having these students serve our K-2 classrooms between 9-12 to build our students voice.

Please Review after the announcements

• We walk with purpose
• We walk safely by monitoring our body movements
• We use an appropriate voice volume
• We greet and respond to others appropriate

Wednesday, January 16th

Enjoy your team time this afternoon!

Friday's Specials are adjusted due to the NC check-ins

• Period ONE 10:25 - 11:00 Kinder specials 

• Period TWO 11:05 - 11:40 2nd specials 

• Period THREE 11:45 - 12:20 4th specials 

• Period FOUR 12:20 - 12:50 Lunch 

• Period FIVE 12:50 - 1:25 3rd specials 

• Period SIX 1:30 - 2:05 5th specials 

• Period SEVEN 2:10 - 2:45 1st specials 

Tuesday, January 15th

Wednesday we will convene in Teams to hone our action steps.  Please document your conversations and decisions and send that to Mrs Huddleston before the end of Thursday!

Thanks for getting clipboards and timers back to the office as we want to return them to their original classroom settings. 

Monday, January 14, 2019

We are on a 2 hour delay this morning.

We will begin a new cycle of Lesson Plan monitoring and support.  Please read the schedule below

· Kindergarten & 3^rd grade (10 teachers)

* Submit plans on Friday, January 18^th for the week of January 22^nd-25^th
* PQS feedback via e-mail immediately following observation

· 4^th grade & 5^th grade (10 teachers)

* Submit plans on Friday January 25^th for the week of January 28^nd-February 1^st
* PQS feedback via e-mail immediately following observation

· 1^st grade & specialists (10 teachers)

* Submit plans on Friday February 1^st for the week of February 4^th-8^th
* PQS feedback via e-mail immediately following observation

· 2^nd grade, ESL, EC, AG & RI (10 teachers)

* Submit plans on Friday February 8^th for the week of February 11^th-15^th
* PQS feedback via e-mail immediately following observation

Friday, January 11th

Our December Fire Drill was postponed until yesterday as we chose the cold rather than the rain.  If you recall we were "swamped" after the snow storm with soggy ground and seemingly continuous rain.  We will have our January Drill on the best day of the final week of this month.  Thanks for understanding.

The WatchDOGS breakfast is a great time to "refresh" your class procedures for our volunteers.  Just as we change the batteries on Smoke detectors to ensure they work when needed, We need to update our plans for the DOGS when they arrive in our classrooms.  Be intentional and create meaningful tasks that benefit SA/3D. 

We are not turning in our 5x5 transition data.  HOLD ON to it and bring it to the next Staff Crew on January 23rd.  However, you may deliver the clipboards and timers to my office upon completion of data collection.  If you were out sick or missed a day of data, please collect into next week to get all 5 days complete.  28 precise sets of data will provide a full picture of our practice.

Enjoy the weekend! 

Thursday, January 10th

Vision Screening this morning in the cafe'

• 8:30 - Sorrenti
• 8:40 - Hicks
• 8:50 - Hollomon
• 9:00 - Say
• 9:05 - Jordan
• 9:10 - Marzullo
• 9:15 - Fedel
• 9:20 - McIntyre
• 9:25 - Williams
• 9:30 - Surbeck
• 9:35 - Patrick
• 9:40 - Pollard
• 9:45 - Weber
• 9:50 - Robertson
• 9:55 - Walters

5 x 5 transition data
Continue to collect five transitions for all five days of the week.  We will see a broad picture with a stout data set, and thus make adjustments that will be helpful to all.

Congratulations and Thanks to our new BELT members

• Laura Sorrenti
• Michelle Jordan
• Kelly Gunzenhauser
• Dominica Barrett