91 Days and Counting!!

I'm sitting on my couch while I am working and enjoying hearing the roar of thunder outside.  See, even though rainy days and MONDAYS always get me down.... Rainy days and SUNDAYS are simply fabulous moments to relax- even when working.

I realize we JUST got out of school and some of you may want to throw something at me but it's 91 days until the first day of school-- our NEW school!  I can hardly stand it.  I am so excited.  I know there is so much to be done in these short 91 days but what an exciting journey this has been and will continue to be.

********************************UPDATES***********************************

• As you know voting has been going on to name our school.  The final name will be taken to the board on June 20th.   I. CAN'T. WAIT!
• Welcome Jennifer Kiowski as our nurse.  She is coming to us from Travis/6th Grade center
• Welcome to Christine Gasca as our receptionist.  She is coming to us from Crockett.
• I am completing interviews to fill our final 4 openings and hope to have those completed this week so we will be fully staffed.
• We have 229 students who were accepted to our school for our first year.  (264) is full capacity.  All letters acceptance & wait list letters have been sent to applicants.  I am getting transfer requests in each day. 

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Let's jump back into our book study:  STEM-Infusing the Elementary Classroom.  I want to recap just a little bit since we had a brief break. 

Chapter 1:  STEM-Infusing All Content Areas:  You provided your favorite quotes from chapter 1 and by far your comments were about how STEM is good for the brain or like "CrossFit" for the brain.  STEM helps make connections.  Many of you were already using Padlet and sharing your experiences.  I guess I'm a little late to the game, but I love learning from each of you.  We'll have some Padlet experience in our June 1-2 meetings.

Chapter 2:  Why STEM in Elementary?  I believe everyone is in 100% agreement that the earlier students are exposed to STEM the better not only will they be, but our nation as well.  Vickie's thought of "Why not?" sticks with me as well.  There are some people in our community very skeptical of this program.  We WILL show them how beneficial this is to our students and our future.

Chapter 3:  Rigor Meets Relevance:  AWWWW.... this probably is one of my favorite chapters.  It doesn't matter if we are a brand new teacher or a veteran teacher, we all agree that we have fallen into the trap of developing lesson with a high level of relevance and less rigor.  It's a balance and something that MUST be in the forefront of our minds at ALL times.  I love the reflections that each of you made and how many of you went back and gave your students an opportunity for the higher rigor in your lesson.

Now here we are at chapter 4:  The Cross-Cutting Concepts Approach to STEM-Infusion.  

WOW!  What an ambitious approach to curriculum.  BREATHE - team --- I'm not going to take this on in year one!  :)  Remember that year 1 is about laying a firm foundation as we STEM Infuse our lives.

As a teacher, integration came naturally to me as it does to many of you.  Yet, I never worked intentionally Cross-Cutting Concepts as they are listed on page 31.  During our GT training we will be working on integration of our current pacing guides. Using our current pacing guides, let's think about how we can have more of a cross-cutting conceptual approach to our lesson planning.

Look at "Your Next Step" on pg 35.  Use your pacing guides for the 1st 9 Weeks.  The assignment says to use 2 content areas that would fit under one umbrella (listed on page 31).  Of course, math/science is where we should start.  If you are feeling ambitious, look at ELAR/SS as well. Brainstorm a design challenge in which your students connect the information in those 2 (or more) disciplines to the cross-cutting concept.  Pinterest is your friend for many design challenges!

Comment about your thoughts from this chapter by Thursday evening, June 1st.
Bring your ideas from "The Next Step" to our Engineering Design PD on July 17-18.

I will see you on Thursday at 8:30 - Wesley United Methodist Church!

SK loves Rockets!

Endings, Beginnings, and Everything in Between

I know you all are wrapping up another successful year.  Knowing the people that you are, I know you have touched many lives in the past 9 months.  I couldn't be more excited and proud to get to work with each of you.  I know to move forward, I have to leave what I know and love behind.  I am just like each of you.  It's all so bittersweet.  Today, was my final awards ceremonies at Carver.  Even though I've only been there 3 years, the time that has been invested into me and me into Carver seems timeless.  As I was reflecting, I thought about a quote from one of my favorite movies, HOPE FLOATS (I love all things Sandra Bullock).

Let's all be real.  I'm beyond excited about this new adventure, but there is a fear factor.  Endings are sad and it's normal to feel a loss of some sort.  Let yourself feel it and don't feel guilty.  You can be sad and happy all at the same time for different reasons.  With all of that know that the middle is going to be amazing- not without bumps and bruises, but that will be part of the beauty.  Hope will float up, my friends.  Just believe in what we are doing even when it's hard.  Make the last 1 1/2 days matter.  I will get back on track with a post on Friday to continue our book study.

We will meet on June 1st & 2nd at Wesley United Methodist Church.  Please bring your electronic device if you want, a pen, and something to take notes on.   I thought I would get sub sandwiches on Thursday and we could divide up chips, dessert, drinks and paper goods.  On Friday, I will get breakfast for everyone and I thought we could all go out for lunch together.

Don't forget to vote for our school name.  I love all 3 choices.  We can't go wrong with any of these names - although secretly I have a favorite.  :)

BE AWESOME TODAY!!

SK loves Rockets!

Was last week only 5 days long?

Good Sunday evening!

First, I want to wish all of the moms on our Rocket Staff a Happy Mother's Day.  You serve double duty to being moms of your own kids and being mamas to all the students in your schools.  Our students are going to be so blessed to have you surrounded them.

Y'all ----- was last week the LONGEST week ever?  Testing week is never fun, but seriously I was BEAT!

Tomorrow is the due date for our student applications.  We have about 225 applications right now. That doesn't mean all will be approved, but we have a great start.  Dr. Liggins did say that with the high interest, he feels comfortable with everyone that is on staff now will STAY!!  YEAH!  On Tuesday, I will meet with him and work on the lottery.  Once that is done, we will know what additional staff we will need.

On June 1st and 2nd we will meet at Wesley United Methodist Church here in Greenville.   We will meet from 8:30-3 each day.  If we finish early, then GREAT!

As this school year is coming to an end that just means that our campus is becoming even more of a reality.  I want to plan for our needs and would like you to answer a few questions to help me get started in the Google Form link below.

https://goo.gl/forms/mNifrFC4Anf9zIs82

We will get back on our book study next week.  Dr. Liggins has an admin retreat planned for July 19-20.  How is July 17-18 for our Engineer Design planning?  I think 2 days will give us all a great start and we can meet during Staff Development in August.

Please respond to the blog if the July 17-18 will work for your schedule.

I also want to plan a staff family cook out or something during August but I know it is SO hot so any ideas would be great.  This will be a great time for our families to get to know one another and have a relaxed time together.

I truly cannot thank you enough for choosing to be a part of this incredible journey.  It will not come without some bumps and bruises, but it will be worthwhile!

Have a fabulous week and BE AWESOME!

Stacey