Failure and Perseverance

We have reached the end of the first nine week period. Think about that for a moment. The school year is 1/4 of the way over. If you are like me, you are thrilled that the school year is progressing but anxious that there is so much yet to cover! Regardless, make sure you continue to persevere. Michael Jordan is widely known one of the best basketball players of all time. Look over his list of "failures" above. He credits those failures as the reason why he became so successful. Teachers are a lot like athletes. We have to constantly fine tune our skills and persevere through the difficult times in order to find success. We are in this together and great things are happening at PVES. Don't lose sight of that!


Relay for Life:
For those of you are who are new to PVES, one of our major areas of focus when it comes to supporting our community is Relay for Life. The event is usually held in May at Wren High School. We raise thousands of dollars and donate the money to help fight cancer. Jill Kallin has done a remarkable job as our team captain through the years and we want this year to be our best ever! To help us get started, join our team by clicking here. Then, support our many fundraising efforts throughout the year and spread the word to collect more donations. Finally, make sure you plan to attend the actual Relay for Life event this Spring. We had the BEST crowd and tailgate area last year and will need your help to pull this off again. Thanks for your support!

Transform Sessions:
Our next Transform sessions are scheduled for next Tuesday, November 3rd during planning. We will meet in the PD Room as usual. Jessica Preisig continues to support all of us as our instructional technologist. Please use her as a resource. We are asking that everyone plan to attend these sessions as they are a priority to support our district's technology initiatives. Don't forget to sign up in PD Express to receive credit.

AdvancED Accreditation:
November is the month where we will get a large portion of our AdvancED accreditation work done. Our first few committees (1 and 5) are actually meeting next Wednesday, November 4th. Thank you in advance for attending and being a positive and active participant in this process. It is crucial that we work hard to define the direction of our school for the future. Mrs. Tollison will secure subs for teachers who need to have classes covered when our various committees meet. Continue to stay tuned for more information.

Let's get to the good stuff...

Last week, Mrs. Tollison met with our "New Best" group to discuss end of nine week procedures and conference day information. We will meet with teachers new to our building several more times throughout the year to provide support for them and a forum in which they can ask questions. Thanks to Mrs. Tollison for orchestrating this opportunity. I must say, we have quite an impressive group of teachers who make up our "New Best" group. We again welcome you to PVES and are so glad to have you as part of our family!

Our Early Act First Knight (EAFK) "knighting ceremony"  was a huge success last Friday. A huge "thank you" to Coach Thompson, Stacey Turner, Lindsay Nix and Michelle Young for always being willing to set up our stage and MP room for the event. Thanks to Lindsay Nix for creating a superb and professional tri-fold program for parents and to Stacey Turner for providing music for the event. The ceremonies are so touching and mean so much to all the teachers, parents and students involved. Many of our students may never win an athletic award or even make the honor roll, but being recognized for citizenship and being a good person is equally, if not more, important. Teachers, thank you for your continued support of this program and for finding ways to integrate our "virtues" in your classroom.

Speaking of our EAFK program, Tammy Lee, her daughter Olivia, and I had an opportunity to speak to the Rotary Club of Greenville at the Commerce Club on Tuesday evening. Olivia and I talked about the program to the members of the club. We are thankful for the Rotary Club of Greenville for providing financial support so we can provide this program for our students. Tammy Lee visited each classroom during the first nine weeks to discuss the program and virtues. I am so thankful for her willingness to make this program worthwhile and meaningful for our students. 

On Wednesday this week, we hosted Jennifer Brown from the state department of education and our ASD1 reading coaches. Thanks to Kelle Martin for planning and organizing their visit! The reading coaches split up and visited two reading classrooms to observe guided reading to improve on their abilities to provide feedback as reading coaches. Ms. Wilcox and Ms. Wilkie were chosen for "visits" and did an incredible job. Brenna and Melissa then had to engage in a "debriefing" in the PD Room with all the reading coaches. Jennifer Brown actually said she was pleased that she now had two model classrooms that she could send teachers to visit who needed to see guided reading in action. The entire group of reading coaches heaped so much praise in the direction of our two teachers. Mrs. Tollison and I are proud of their hard work and leadership. I could go on, but I will simply suggest that you stop by their classrooms and ask them about their experience being observed and then meeting with the group of reading coaches. Both teachers had taken suggestions given to them by Kelle Martin that were noticed by the observers. Don't forget to invite Kelle to your room to assist you with your guided reading needs!

Integrating iPads in the classroom as a tool to better instruction is still a priority in our school. Some fourth grade teachers are using the app SeeSaw to gather student work and information in an online portfolio. Parents can easily be invited to view student work as well. It's so easy to use and very student-friendly. Mrs. Fulbright and Mrs. Moore have received a great deal of positive feedback from parents who enjoy seeing and hearing what goes on in the classroom. In my opinion, this is an app I can see us all using in the future. Take the time to give it a try this year! 

It's been rainy this week. Let me thank the duty teams who have embraced the cold and rainy weather to get our students in their cars and loaded safely. It's not an easy job, but I was proud that while other schools experienced delays in their car lines, we just kept right on doing what we do. Thank you!

Moore's Musings:

• Veteran's Day is coming up on November 11th. Let us not forget the brave men and women who have served our country and defended our freedoms. If you are doing something special for veterans or if you have any ideas, don't hesitate to let us know! 
• Students needs to download the latest version of iOS as soon as possible. I sent an email to third grade asking for them to provide an opportunity for their students to do so this week. 4th and 5th grade teachers, please make time next week for your students to download the latest version of iOS on their iPads. This can be done at home, but sometimes doing so at school will mean that it gets done sooner. 
• I will not be at school on Friday. I am flying to Houston, Texas Friday morning to visit my brother and his family for the weekend. Mrs. Tollison and Mrs. Lee will be at school on Friday and can assist you with any parent concerns or questions. I will be working on Monday next week. Please do not come to school on Monday. Enjoy your well-deserved time off! 

Mark Your Calendar:

• SLO paperwork (Final Template and Growth Spreadsheets) and GBEs are due by Friday, October 30th. Most of you will turn these in on Thursday when we meet during the first few minutes of planning. However, some of you who will be out of the building can turn these in to Mrs. Tollison on Friday. Please share them via Drive with me and have a hard copy of the Final Template ready for us to sign. 
• Friday, October 30th - No Students. Conference Day. 
• Monday, November 2nd - No School. Fall Break. 
• Tuesday, November 3rd - Transform sessions with Preisig in PD Room during planning. 
• Wednesday, November 4th - AdvancED Committee 1 meets in PD Room from 8:15-11:15 A.M. Committee 5 meets in the PD Room from 11:30 A.M. - 2:30 P.M. Bring your laptop if you have one. 
• Friday, November 6th - Reading Your Way to the Big Game forms are due!

Video of the Week: