Week at a Glance October 30-November 3, 2017

Bulldog Squad-

What a week! It was one of those weeks for me where everything hits you at once. Kids are sick, two days off campus for training that I didn't think I needed, a surprise visitor, and a very COLD Fall Carnival. I think we are given those types of weeks for a reason. It's like a "knock back to reality" type of week.

A "you better be thankful for the little things" type of week.
A "your pride needed a little shove" type of week.
A "you still need to GROW big time" type of week.
A "you need to lean on others" type of week.

And at the end of it, I am thankful. I am thankful that I went to a training that I didn't think I needed because in reality, I learned so much more about instructional coaching than I thought I could. I am thankful that I was able to hold my sweet kiddo a little longer than usual one day. I am thankful that our visitor was able to see all the great things happening at our school and he even had a little fun doing it! I am VERY thankful that we had the carnival- it was so fun to see the kids AND adults having a GREAT time. (I know my hot dog team had a lot of good laughs together that are too far in between.)

This week taught me that I need to  lean on others, open my mind even more, and laugh through it all. I don't know everything that I think I know. Sometimes, we  just have to say "HEY! I thought I knew this, but I don't. Can you help me?"

Someone close by will be more than happy to help you grow.

Thank you all for making this a great place to learn AND work,

~Sanders

1. BIG Shout out to FaLessha, Sarah, and PTA friends for putting on a GREAT Fall Carnival! Families left smiling-and that's what its all about!
2. Shout out to Suzanne for helping me get all of our RTI letters out on Friday while I was being pulled in and out of the office. Thank you all for being flexible in getting those done too!
3. Shout out to EVERYONE for attending the Goals PLC Meeting on Monday and discussing goals and what is best for kids!
4. WHOOP WHOOP goes to Marie, Blanca A, and Nancy for helping me with kiddos in the office on Friday!
5. Shout out Sandra Plascensia, Lila Velasquez, and Melinda Rios for being this week's TWITTER FAIRY winners! A special treat is coming your way!
6.Thank you Dr. Quintanilla-Shelton for helping us stay on top of our attendance and being the BEST in the DISTRICT!

• Walk-through focus this week will continue to be guided reading, running records, and how you are using ELL strategies to ensure your classroom is LANGUAGE RICH! (Think 7 Steps!)
• Tweet something awesome you do in class this week! Use @JHaleybullogs  #kidsdeserveit #myIrvingisd 

Monday October 30
>Kline out
>8:00 Admin meeting
>10:00 SSP
>10:00 Staffing (Harnest/Porter)
>1:30-3:00 Sanders in meeting (on campus)
>2:30 Para Meeting

Tuesday October 31
> Happy Halloween!
>Sanders @ Principal Meeting
>Socktober LAST DAY!- CRAZY SOCK DAY!
>ELAR planning day
>8:00 ARD (Ojeda/Admin)

Wednesday November 1
>Math Planning
>Kinder and 3rd Full Day planning
>Mark out in AM @ Professional Development meeting
>2nd Grade Field Trip

Thursday November 2
>1st and 4th Grade Full Day planning
>8:30 ARD (Chavez/Admin)
>9:00 ARD (Smith/Admin)
>10:00 ARD (Pargas/Admin)
>1:00 ARD (Lucero/Admin)
>4-5:30 K-2 Writing Checkpoint w/ Jennifer B- café A

Friday November 3
>Picture Day (See schedule!)
>4th Grade Field Trip
>8:30 Admin and Kline meet
>9:00 Core meeting

Upcoming Dates:
~November 5-Daylight Savings (Fall Back)
~November 6- Attendance Glow Stick Party- info coming your way!
~November 7-2nd and 5th Full Day Purposeful Planning
~November 17-Field Day
~November 18-26 Thanksgiving Break!

Growing Greatness in Every Student Every Day! 

Week at a Glance Oct 23-27, 2017

Bulldog Squad!

We've almost made it out of October! YAY!  Looking forward to a fun week Saying No to Drugs with you all and the kids and our big carnival party!

If you participate in Red Ribbon activities and you can tell me the answer to this joke, you can wear jeans all week... What tops off a ghost's ice cream sundae?

Have FUN with your kids this week,

~Sanders

1. Shout out to Melanie Gary for finding awesome ways to motivate her Tier 3 students to WANT to read!
2. Shout out to Lisa Porter, Violeta Ojeda, and Heloisa Pinto for presenting at iLearn this weekend!
3. Shout out to Ana Cortez for attending a field trip for 1st graders in place of another teacher!
4. WHOOP WHOOP goes to LaDawn Gomez, Lila Velasquez, Tiffany Conorino, and Valerie Bates for creating an AWESOME way to kick off their DRAMA unit by performing The Real Story of the Three Little Pigs in costume and with props! The kids were pumped to start learning and stayed excited throughout the week! So awesome to see!
5. Thank you EVERYONE  for continuing the hard work on hallway expectations!
6. Thank YOU ALL so much for all you did for the admin team this week. It felt like Christmas every day!

• Do not forget your COMPLIANCE COURSES!
• Walk-through focus this week will continue to be guided reading, levels of engagement, and how students are using structured ways to communicate (sentence stems, speaking in complete sentences, etc)
• Tweet something awesome you do in class this week! (The Twitter Fairy is REALLY FOR REAL visiting MONDAY and FRIDAY!) Use @JHaleybullogs  #kidsdeserveit #myIrvingisd 

Monday October 23
>Socktober Drive BEGINS!
>Red Ribbon Day: Dress for Success Day-wear your cap and gown if you can!
>1st-5th PLC meetings in math lab
> Fountain out in AM @ LPAC Meeting 
>Counselors off campus AM 
>1:00 ARD (Harnest/Admin)

Tuesday October 24
> ELAR planning day
> Sanders and Kline out @ Jim Knight Training
>Red Ribbon Day-Wear college gear
>8:00 LPAC Campus meeting
>8:30 ARD (Ashley and Admin)
>9:30 ARD (Ashley and Admin)

Wednesday October 25
>Math Planning
>Red Ribbon Day-Superhero wear
>Sanders and Kline out @ Jim Knight Training
>2:00 Counselors and Admin meet 

Thursday October 26
>Red Ribbon Day-Wear hats
>Gorena, Fountain,and Rice out @ Jim Knight Training
>Counselors out @ training
>8:00 Admin and Rosa meeting
>8:30 ARD (Wolf/Sanders)
>10:00 Admin meets with Patrick
>3:30 Kids Deserve It Book Club meeting

Friday October 27
>Red Ribbon Day-Dress Up like a book character
>Gorena,Fountain, and Rice out @ Jim Knight training
>Core meeting TBD
>10:00 SSP (counselors/Sanders)
>Fall Reading Carnival 5-7 PM (Book fair starts!)
>Snapshot day for accountability 

Upcoming Dates:
~October 30-November 3 Book Fair is in town!
~October 23-October 31: Socktober 
~November 2- Attendance Glow Stick Party- info coming your way!

Growing Greatness in Every Student Every Day! 

Week at a Glance October 16-20, 2017

Bulldog Squad!

Happy 3rd week of October! Enjoy some of my favorite teacher memes!

Enjoy the week at the best school in Texas!

~Sanders

1. Shout out to Valerie Bates for facilitating AWESOME student to student conversations in her classroom!
2. Shout out to the Kristen Mitchell for listening to her students suggestions for how they wanted to learn-and doing it! (I was in there and it was so cool to see how students felt so valued!)
3. Shout out to Jose Pargas for how he ensures students are using complete sentences in class. He promotes "professional talk" with his students-and it shows!
3. Thank you SECOND GRADE utilizing the sight word wall during hallway time!
4. Thank you EVERYONE  for working on hallway behavior this week. We see and hear a big difference!

• Walk-through focus this week will be guided reading, levels of engagement, and how students are using structured ways to communicate (sentence stems, speaking in complete sentences, etc)
• Tweet something awesome you do in class this week! (The Twitter Fairy is REALLY FOR REAL visiting this week!) Use @JHaleybullogs  #kidsdeserveit #myIrvingisd 

Monday October 16
>4th Grade MAP testing this week
>Continue kinder MAP testing
>8:30 ARD (Sanders/Harnest)
>9:00 Drug Awareness class in parent center

Tuesday October 17
> ELAR planning day
>11:30-1:00 Sanders & D. Castro off campus
>3:30-5 Running Records Training in cafe
>4:00 Sanders in meeting @ admin building
>Solve this math riddle and you can wear jeans on Wednesday! (email me the answer):
How do you make 7 even?

Wednesday October 18
>Math Planning
>Running Records PLC for all ELAR teachers
>8:00 PASS meeting in conference room
>10:00 Sanders in meeting @ admin building
>1:00 ARD (Sanders/Harnest)

Thursday October 19
>8:00 Admin and Rosa meeting
>8:30 ARD (Wolf/Fountain)
>10:00 Admin meets with Patrick
>1:30 4th grade police program in cafeteria
>2:00 Admin meets with counselors

Friday October 20
>GRADES due for progress reports
>1 positive parent phone call documentation due in PM
>3rd grade on field trip
>1st Grade on field trip
>8:30 Admin meets with Kline
>9:00-11 Core Team meeting

Saturday October 21
>IrvingISD iLearn Digital Learning Day @ Singley Academy! Some GREAT PD happening! Our very own-Susan Rice and Carrie Patrick will both be presenting there!

Upcoming Dates:
~October 23 Goals PLC for all
~October 23-27 Red Ribbon Week
~October 27 Reading Carnival 5-7 PM
~October 27 Dress up as a book character day
~October 30-November 3 Book Fair is in town!
~October 23-October 31: Socktober 
~November 2- Attendance Glow Stick Party- info coming your way!

Growing Greatness in Every Student Every Day! 

Week at a Glance October 10-13, 2017

Bulldog Squad!

Lots of hard stuff has hit our bulldog family in the last couple of weeks. And I mean TOUGH STUFF-sick or hurt kiddos,worried parents, lost love ones, and devastation to a home. Whew!

But you know what is cool? I saw our team come together to make sure we didn't fall apart.

That's one of the neatest things about my job. I am able to see all the little things that people do to help each other. People have been staying late, helping with jobs outside of their duties, organizing collections, driving to spend time and pray with our teammates, and many other awesome acts of service-all with a smile on their faces.

You are all a different caliber of staff-I am humbled by your empathy and willingness to give. It reminded me of the perfect quote from Harry Potter (NERD ALERT) below...

Thanks for going above and beyond,

~Sanders

1. Shout out to Yadira Vargas for staying late to work in a teammates classroom to help her out!
2. Shout out to the THIRD GRADE team for coming together with a plan for lesson plans, prep, and helping those out that have been teaching in Ms. Harnest's classroom.
3. Thank you to EVERYONE who has donated anything-whether it be time, snacks, money, clothes-it means so much!
3. Thank you FaLessha Esslinger  for organizing an awesome walk and bike to school day!
4. Thank you Anika Horgan (principal of DZ) for coming and cheering our students on with your cheerleaders and mascot! It says so much that you are willing to spend time on our campus!

• Walk-through focus this week will  be TEKS alignment and structured academic conversations (use of sentence stems, complete sentences, etc) Also, we will occasionally talk to students about their goals during walkthroughs.
• Don't wait until the last minute to do your compliance courses!
• Tweet something awesome you do in class this week! (The Twitter Fairy is visiting this week!) Use @JHaleybullogs  #kidsdeserveit #myIrvingisd 

Monday October 9 
>off!

Tuesday October 10
> Report card and college shirt day!
>MAP for kinder and 5th grade this week
>ELAR Planning
>10:00 ARD (Pargas)
>11:00 ARD (Conorino)
>3:30 PASS training

Wednesday October 11
>Math Planning
>3:30-5 Faculty Meeting

Thursday October 12
>Fountain out @ Region 10 meeting
>8:30 ARD (Harnest/Porter)
>9-11 5th Grade @ Symphony
>10:00 Admin meet with Patrick
>2:00 Admin and Counselor meeting

Friday October 13
>8:30 Admin meets with Kline
>9:00-11 Core Team meeting
>NeTassha Rendon author visit in library! (more information to come-primary grades)

Upcoming Dates:
~October 17 Running Record training
~October 18 PLC for ELAR teachers
~October 21 iLearn Day
~October 23 Goals PLC for all
~October 23-27 Red Ribbon Week
~October 27 Reading Carnival 5-7 PM
~October 27 Dress up as a book character day
~October 30-November 3 Book Fair is in town!
~October 30-November 3 Socktober (more info to come!)

Growing Greatness in Every Student Every Day! 

Week at a Glance October 2-6, 2017

Bulldog Squad!

Here it comes-October.  The month that bring on educator blues. Why? I recently read a blog post by a fellow principal and it really struck a cord. Here are some highlights and my own connections:

Why do we find ourselves feeling this way in October?
1. The optimism of the beginning of year might start to fade.
2. There is A LOT to do between now and the holidays.
3. The end of the year feels FAR away and you are tired.

How can we all work together to get through this and stay positive? 
1. Stop thinking so far ahead. (STAAR who?) Think about how you can make TODAY the best day ever and the lessons the best you can provide! 
2.  Stop comparing your dream classroom to reality. You get what you get-make the best of it. You will NEVER have a perfect classroom or year. But you CAN make the best out of what you have. 
3. Actively look for ways to find the good and celebrate it! 

I know what you are thinking...cliche! But you HAVE to stay positive or you will never be happy. Are your conversations positive? Are you steering clear of negative talk? Are you bringing solutions instead of problems? Re-train that wonderful brain of yours- I promise you will feel so much better. I have to work daily on this too!

You have accomplished so much with our kids already! Think about it...some of the toughest weeks of school are behind us. You are an awesome staff with so much to offer-don't burn that out with the blues.

1. Shout out to second grade for signing up for a Nepris session to have an expert talk to the kids about how magnets are used everyday!
2. I heard about so many GREAT conversations in purposeful planning! I hope you are all seeing the amazing benefits of how we are planning! I know it will continue to grow our thinking!
3. Thank you Dr.Shelton for helping us put together a Popsicle Party for great attendance!

• Walk-through focus this week will  be TEKS alignment and structured academic conversations (use of sentence stems, complete sentences, etc) Also, we will occasionally talk to students about their goals during walkthroughs.
• Tweet something awesome you do in class this week! (We heard the Twitter Fairy is visiting this week!) Use @JHaleybullogs  #kidsdeserveit #myIrvingisd 

VERY IMPORTANT: 

• PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE understand that we will be giving a glow and grow to everyone when we do walk-throughs. Growth is essential for ALL of us. #nooneisperfect That is why I ask for candid feedback from you as well.  We are on the SAME team as you. I hope that we have created an environment where you trust that at this point. I have worked very hard for three years to have that climate of trust. If you do not feel this way I need you to come talk to me. And please know, if there are major concerns we will let you know another way-not through our cute notepad. :)  

Your FELLOW learner and GROWER,
    ~Sanders

Monday October 2 
>Have a great 1st week of the 2nd Six Weeks!

Tuesday October 3
> ELAR Planning
>3rd grade goes to planetarium
>Rice and Kline out for the next 3 days (curriculum writing)
>National "Look at the Leaves Day"!

Wednesday October 4
>Walk and Bike to School Day! You can wear comfortable clothes if you participate! (without compromising duties)
>Math Planning
>3:30 Reading Carnival Planning meeting in cafeteria (ELAR teachers/ PTA/Parent center) 

Thursday October 5
>AP Meeting (Fountain AM/Gorena PM)
>No LPDAS Observations
>1st Six Week Assemblies during specials
>WORLD Teacher's Day! Wear JEANS!

Friday October 6
>Parent Conference Day!
>LLI Training for paras @ Lee (will talk to those that are attending)

Saturday October 7
>iRun-more information coming from Fulton

Upcoming Dates:
~Oct 9 Holiday
~October 23-37 Red Ribbon Week
~October 27 Reading Carnival 5-7 PM
~October 27 Dress up as a book character day
~October 30-November 3 Book Fair is in town!

Growing Greatness in Every Student Every Day!