MM Week of 1-3-17

Monday Memo Week of Jan. 3, 2017

Welcome Back to 2nd semester

Glad to have everyone back at Hixson.  I hope you enjoyed the break and are having a wonderful start to the new year.

8 am-3 pm today is a records work day.  Lunch hour can be taken anytime it is convenient to you.  Please meet at 9:45 in the auditorium to kick off the first day back.  You will not need to bring anything with you.

Morning Announcement and Pledge Schedule this week:

1-4 Mr. Rachal
1-5 Mr. Downey
1-6 Ms. Burton

Reminder: paper allocation begins January 3rd
We need to allocate copies for the remainder of the school year.  We went over the numbers Jason pulled from after Thanksgiving break and calculated that we will run out of paper if we continue our current rate of copying.
SOLUTION:  beginning on January 3rd, each teacher will be allocated 2,000 paper prints/copies per month through the end of the school year.  We will reevaluate and recalculate our usage in the spring and seek feedback as we make plans for paper for 17-18.
STRATEGIES: The data tell us that copy usage varies greatly.  Since some of you will have instances when you need more paper and at times will require less, you can share and borrow from others.  Teacher A needs 3500 copies one month, he/she can go to teacher B who only needs 500 copies and use their remaining 1,500 copies.  Our 7 day numbers ranged from individuals needing 2 copies and individuals needing 2,000 in the 7 days. There should be plenty of allocation for those who need it.
FAQs: Paper allocations will not carry over to the next month.  One "month" will be defined in terms of copying or printing taking place in say, January instead of 30 day periods or calendar dates. Copies made in January count against your 2,000 for January, regardless of how many days we are in school for January. There are no prorated copy amounts.  We will make sure there is ample paper in the copiers.
Please reach out with any questions!

ASA
Teachers, please remember to continue to walk your after school activity students out to the main entrance after ASA has ended.  Thank you for keeping up with this, it is having a huge impact on student supervision. 

Please remind students they should be off campus by 3:45 on Mondays and Fridays and by 4:15 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays


Please remind students to dress appropriately for the cold weather and bring coats if they want to go outside

With the colder temps arriving, please remind students that if they are allowed to come to your room at lunch, they need to come immediately after getting their lunch in the cafeteria. To prevent roaming, students will be not be able to leave the cafeteria during the middle of lunch. They should eat lunch and remain in your room until lunch is over.  Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Tuesday, 1/3

9:45 meet in auditorium
(8-3:00 is a work day with an hour lunch)
8:45- WW
9:00- TH
9:15- NH
9:45 auditorium
12:50- RR
1:00- JH
1:30- TM

Wednesday, 1/4
9-10 am Staffing meeting with Dr. Wiley @ Hixson
12:35 SN
1:30-3:00 classrooms

Thursday, 1/5
Dr. Smith- observations
12:30- 1:15- Parent and student meeting                        HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANA!!!

Friday, 1/6
Dr. Smith- observations

                                             

MM December 19th and 20th, 2016

Innovation Hour Launch Day...

Many thanks and congratulations to all of our staff for making our innovation hour launch a success!  A huge shout out to the IH committee for your work to make this initiative effective and manageable for teachers and provide meaningful creative opportunities for kids.  As I went from room to room I could see the excitement and investment on the faces of our students!  Starting strong and getting better as we go.

Morning Announcement and Pledge Schedule this week:

12-19 Jessica Warneke's class
12-20 Tim McGinnis's class

Reminder that there are no ASA on Tuesday 12-20, students will be dismissed at regular times

PAPER CAPER

We need to allocate copies for the remainder of the school year.  We ordered slightly less paper at the end of last year for 16-17 because we are in our second year of 1:1 and utilized the savings for technology.  As Dr. Retzlaff and I transitioned back last week, we went over the numbers Jason pulled from after Thanksgiving break.  We calculated that we will run out of paper if we continue our current rate of copying.
SOLUTION:  beginning on January 3rd, each teacher will be allocated 2,000 paper prints/copies per month through the end of the school year.  We will reevaluate and recalculate our usage in the spring and seek feedback as we make plans for paper for 17-18.
STRATEGIES: The data tells us that copy usage varies greatly.  Since some of you will have instances when you need more paper and at times will require less, you can share and borrow from others.  Teacher A needs 3500 copies one month, he/she can go to teacher B who only needs 500 copies and use their remaining 1,500 copies.  Our 7 day numbers ranged from individuals needing 2 copies and individuals needing 2,000 in the 7 days.  There should be plenty of allocation for those who need it
FAQs: Paper allocations will not carry over to the next month.  One "month" will be defined in terms of copying or printing taking place in say, January instead of 30 day periods or calendar dates. Copies made in January count against your 2,000 for January, regardless of how many days we are in school for January. There are no prorated copy amounts. 
Please reach out with any questions!

Monday December 19th is our Hixson Holiday Buffet!

STAFF BREAKFAST & CHAT TUESDAY 12-20 in FACS  
To celebrate the semester and thank you for everything you do for kids, I will be providing breakfast on our last morning together before break.  Breakfast will be ready to go by 7:45, please come hungry and enjoy the company of our staff. 

Please remind students to dress appropriately for the cold weather and bring coats if they want to go outside

With the colder temps arriving, please remind students that if they are allowed to come to your room at lunch, they need to come immediately after getting their lunch in the cafeteria. To prevent roaming, students will be not be able to leave the cafeteria during the middle of lunch. They should eat lunch and remain in your room until lunch is over.  Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Thank you for your diligence this semester, we are almost to winter break! Let's work together and push through.  Just two more days and they will involve eating- food will be plentiful here next week!!

Monday, 12/19                  

8:00 VR
8:00 JS
8:45 Meeting with student group
10:22 TM
12:00 Appointment
1:45 JR
2:25 LP
2:40 AP
3:00 KK

Tuesday, 12/20- end of 1st semester

AM 7th grade hour of code (Core time)
1:00 JH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! 
December 25 Damon Cetro

                                             

MM Week of December 12th

MM Week of December 12, 2016

NOTES:   

I am thrilled to be back with you all and appreciative of your accomplishments this semester. Thank you for the warm welcome back!

As I have been on leave for several months, I will be meeting with each teacher for about 10 minutes to re-connect and simply connect if you are new to us this year.  Please schedule a 10 minute time with Kathy Edwards in the office as soon as possible, I have openings on Monday and Tuesday of next week (see below).

Morning Announcement and Pledge Schedule this week:

12-12 Jenny Hannel's class

12-13 Eric Hayes' class

12-14 Kendra Day's class

12-15 Andrew Black's class

12-16 Jessica Warneke's class

Reminder that there are no ASA on Tuesday 12-20, students will be dismissed at regular times

Monday December 19th is our Hixson Holiday Buffet, look for more info to come

Please remind students to dress appropriately for the cold weather and bring coats if they want to go outside

With the colder temps arriving, please remind students that if they are allowed to come to your room at lunch, they need to come immediately after getting their lunch in the cafeteria. To prevent roaming, students will be not be able to leave the cafeteria during the middle of lunch. They should eat lunch and remain in your room until lunch is over.  Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Thank you for your diligence this semester, we are almost to winter break! Let's work together and push through just a few days more!!

STAFF BREAKFAST TUESDAY 12-20 in FACS

To celebrate the semester and thank you for everything you do for kids, I will be providing breakfast on our last morning together before break.  Breakfast will be ready to go by 7:45, please come hungry and enjoy the company of our staff.

Monday, 12/12                    HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SMITH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Dr. Retzlaff!

8:45 HxMS Administrative team meeting

12:30 meet with Mrs. Edwards

1:30-3:00 open for meetings with individual teachers

3:30 Faculty Meeting in the Cafeteria.  Please bring something to take notes and a device.

Tuesday, 12/13

8:00-10:20- open for meetings with individual teachers                    

10:30- appointment

Wednesday, 12/14

2:00 meet with Jill R.

6:30 Sounds of Hixson

Thursday, 12/15

8:00-noon District leadership team meeting (DLT)

1:30 Hixson Principals meeting

Friday, 12/16

INNOVATION HOUR SCHEDULE (see link below)

Innovation Hour Schedule (12-16)

Saturday, 12/17                           HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM McGINNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             

MM 12-5 Just saw that it didn't copy-paste

MM Week of December 5, 2016

Monday, 12/5                    HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZANNE GOLDSTEIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Department chair meeting - cancelled

3:00 Earth quake drill – listen for the announcement

3:45 iDea meeting w/Dr. Denbow

 

Tuesday, 12/6                    HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY SMITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6:00 7^TH Grade Winter Band Concert

7:45 Parent meeting - MW

3:45 Calendar committee meeting w/Dr. Wiley

 

Wednesday, 12/7

Welcome back Dr. Smith

11:15 Pam meets with Electives

6:30 8^TH Grade Winter Band Concert

 

Thursday, 12/8

8:45 Hixson Principals meeting

 

Friday, 12/9

Pam’s last day

8^th grade Choir tour of the District

6:30 School Play

 

Saturday, 12/10

6:30 School Play

 

NOTES:                                                

From the Student advisory to the Principal meeting – here are the highlights…

·         Hallway behavior has not changed as much as they would like.  There are still groups walking down the hall together or blocking everyone’s way – they suggest some kind of incentive system (collecting tickets) and accumulating a certain amount of tickets would get you a PAWSitive reward

·         Speaking of PAWSitive rewards – students said teachers are not giving them out and if they are, the teachers are not recognizing the students that are consistently “doing the right thing”.    I told them I would make the teachers aware of this.  Students suggested that teachers remind students that they are looking for individuals to refer for a PAWSitive reward. 

·         Some students are confused as to why they can’t use certain bathrooms that are in their hallways – I had no answer to that.

·         GFA – some comments regarding the time it is taught, what classes students lose when its taught – I referred them to Mrs. Stewart

·         Passing time is not long enough – students want 5 minutes.  All I can do is bring this to your attention.

·         PE – students want less stretching and more playing time – I’m glad they want to play the sports and activities and I encouraged them to share their thoughts with the pe teachers

·         Students like the first hour announcements. Concern that all teachers don’t realize there are no other announcements during day.  2^nd hour announcements have been eliminated. 

·         Students want more time to complete projects.

·         Students seemed concerned with instruction by substitutes.  They seem to think that the subs give instructions and don’t get involved in teaching.  They want the subs to assist students. Please be aware of what you are asking of your substitutes.

It’s been a privilege working with these students.  I’ll hand over their meeting notes to Dr. Smith, including the teacher survey they created.

 

Thanks for the memories!

 

 

MM Week of December 5th

Enjoy the week ahead!