I hope that each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday break. Fortunately, I was able to rest and relax while spending time with family as well as doing things that I enjoy during the last few days. I know that may not be the case for each of you and especially for some of of our students either.

Sadly, the holiday season my not be the happiest time of year for everyone. There are many reasons for people to struggle emotionally during the holidays, I think we all know this and can think about some of our own struggles we have had over the years during holiday seasons. Today, I want to you think about how you are going to welcome everyone back to AMCMS tomorrow morning.

Its really simple. Greet everyone you see with any of the following you and they feel comfortable with:

• a warm smile
  
• a fist bump
• a high five
• a handshake
• a side hug

Regardless of which of the above you choose to utilize as your welcome back tool of choice, the most important part of tomorrow is to let everyone know that you missed them and you are glad to have them back.

How will you greet your kids and peers tomorrow?

Think. Achieve. Succeed.

Jeff

Today's message was inspired by a friend of mine that is a elementary school principal in Plano ISD. Being connected with him via twitter has helped me to continuously grow and develop my craft as an educator and school administration.

Who are those people in your life that do that for you? How do you stay connected with them?

One of the issues when integrating technology into the classroom is making sure that we use the technology to improve the work our students are doing not just change the work for the sake of integrating technology. Integrating technology is an important part of our work but it is not the reason for the work. We must think about the work we are having our students doing and how to integrate the technology in ways that challenge our students to think deeply. This is not easy.

When we collaborate as teachers it helps us to do this effectively. One phrase I heard two weeks ago at the Campus Tech Specialist Academy was, "It's about the task, not the tool!"

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I created the graphic above using Adobe Spark. If you would like to try out Adobe Spark click here and watch the video below.

ARD season is in full swing! You have probably received requests to complete paperwork about students in your class. Please make every effort to complete the forms by the requested date, as there is a lot of prep time required by our sped teachers before the ARD.

While filling out forms is not necessarily fun, the more detailed you are with your responses, the better, more clear picture we have of the student as a whole at school and we can then make the best-informed decisions about the student’s future services.

​Please keep in mind that when you are completing forms, whether on paper or digitally, that once you have written it, your responses become open record, meaning that a parent can request to view it.

Please make sure that what you are writing is objective and measurable. For example, do not say "student is lazy," instead say "student does not turn in work" or even better, "student turns in work without prompts in 4 out of 5 classes per week."

Why is sleep so important? Have you ever thought about that? Perhaps you should.

While Amanda and I made the trip back and forth from my father's place we listened to the two podcasts below. It is a great reminder of the power and importance of sleep.

Part 1 is interesting but part 2 is the most informing on the importance of enough sleep.

Why am I sharing this?

I love podcasts. What is a podcast you ask? A podcast is like a radio show or interview. The difference is they are about specific topics or ideas. You should check out the world of podcasts. You will be surprised at what you can learn.

Monday November 27

• Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
• Be at your duty station-- 7:50
• Second Round AP Interviews
• Be at your duty station-- 3:50
• Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30

Tuesday November 28

• Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
• Be at your duty station-- 7:50
• Principal Mishler on Campus -- Feel Free to visit her in the Lecture Hall during your Conference Period
• Middle School Re-Branding Meeting -- Mann Attend 1:30pm
• Be at your duty station-- 3:50
• Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
• #CSISDChat on Twitter -- 8pm

Wednesday November 29

• Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
• Be at your duty station-- 7:50
• Be at your duty station-- 3:50
• Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:20
• Mann in Houston at Principals' Institute

Thursday November 30

• Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
• Be at your duty station-- 7:50
• Be at your duty station-- 3:50
• Afternoon Tutorials 3:55 - 4:30
• Mann in Houston at Principals' Institute

Friday December 1

• Morning Tutorials 7:50-8:20
• Be at your duty station-- 7:50
• Mann and Ryon present at TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators) ALI (Administrative Leadership Institute) about personalized student and adult learning in public schools. 8:45am - 10:15am -- Texas A&M University
• Be at your duty station-- 3:50

AMCMS is a 7th & 8th grade campus in College Station ISD, College Station, TX, USA

Email: jmann@csisd.org
Website: http://amcms.csisd.org/
Location: 105 Holik Street, College Station, TX, United States
Phone: 979-764-5575
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AMCMS.Home.of.the.Cats
Twitter: @AMCMSCatPRIDE