I know it’s only February, but we are beginning to make schedules for the students for next year!
The middle school counselors have sent emails to students and parents and spoken to the students on campus this week and last to explain their connections choices. These decisions are due back to the counselors soon.
Please check your email for that correspondence and reach out to your child’s counselor with any questions.
Enjoy the LONG Winter break!
Dr. Edwards
Welcome to second semester!
You may have set some goals for this semester. Perhaps you’d like to get more involved at school or make more friends.
There are lots of activities to get involved in at GOC. Student Leadership is one of our largest student organizations, and they are always busy! Watch the weekly GOC Owls for their next meeting.
The Gaming Tournament is Friday, Jan. 28. Check out the flier below and plan to come!
Have a great second semester!
Dr. Edwards
Wow! This first semester has flown by! Testing is over and we’re ready to start celebrating the holidays and a well-deserved break.
Our students had a blast at the Winter Social!
We hope you all have a restful and safe break and Wonderful Holiday season!
See you next year!
GOC’s 4th and 5th students participated in classroom meetings last week on campus. Fifth grade will meet with Dr. Edwards on Tuesdays, and 4th grade will have class meetings on Thursdays.
The purpose of classroom meetings is to build a sense of belonging and community among the students. They have three central components:
We took time to teach how to give and respond to compliments and appreciations and asked what students think of when they hear the word, “conflict.” We ended our time, trying to learn each other’s name. We’ll continue that last part because the bell rang. Students are never forced to talk in class meetings, but each student is given the opportunity to talk when he/she is passed the talking stick or ball.
If your child doesn’t typically come to campus, he/she will miss out on classroom meetings. We’d love for ALL our 4th and 5th grade students to spend this time together. Please consider having your student learn on campus on the days his or her class is having class meetings.
We also had a great turn-out for the food drive! Thank you for helping those in our community!
Dr. Edwards
It’s possible that you and your student have had quite enough of the computer screen! But if you’re looking for some resources for enrichment that can be done from the convenience of your kitchen table…
As things continue to open up, we hope you’ll also go places and see things and learn about our wonderful world.
Have a great summer!
Dr. Edwards
Today the 8th grade students and I talked about planning for high school and beyond. What a great group of kids! They asked so many GOOD questions.
We dicussed:
If your student was on campus, he/she received the 9th Grade Course form. This contains course recommendations from their current teachers. I want them to discuss this form with you, and I’ll need the form back by March 11. Students also received their Carnegie Forms. These must be returned by the end of the school year. Please ask your students about the important large white envelope I gave them today. If your student was not on campus, he/she can get it another time, or we will mail it home in the coming weeks.
Mrs. Bondeson and I will share this information with the 8th grade parents as well. Please join us on campus or via Zoom on Wednesday, 2/24, 9:00-10:00. All of this information is important if your student is remaining at GOC or attending another GCPS school for 9th grade.
Have a great day and I hope to see you Wednesday!
Dr. Edwards
Next Wednesday (Feb. 17) is Random Acts of Kindness Day and GOC’s Student Leadership Team is celebrating it in several ways all next week! We hope you and your student will join us in celebrating in these various ways:
1. Bring in canned goods or non-perishables for GOC Cares wagon.
2. Participate in the Kindness Rocks activity and bring your rocks to campus for our garden areas.
3. Send a note or email to your teacher, friend, and/or staff member at GOC to let them know you care.
Our 4th and 5th grades students have already started writing notes of gratitude to their teachers. Also, the 4th and 5th grade students and I talked about how to regulate our emotions this week. Please ask them about the lesson.
Lastly, this is a FOUR-DAY weekend! It’s a perfect time to get caught up and work ahead as there are no new lessons assigned on Friday or Monday.
Enjoy and be kind! We’re glad you’re here!
Dr. Edwards
We’re so excited that you’ve chosen to be part of our GOC family! It’s normal to feel a little scared (and maybe even overwhelmed) when trying something new. That’s true for parents as well. My goal is to partner with you to help your child be successful at GOC.
We’ve found that organization is the key to getting work done on time. You may already have a schedule and plan for helping your student. If not, these two tools, the Daily Checklist and the Week at a Glance, can help you teach organization and time management skills to your child. Both tools are explained below.
Ideally, you’ll sit with your child and help him/her use both tools, and gradually allow your child to be more independent and fill them out without any help from you. You may want to print both and use them each week. If you’d like a laminated copy, I am happy to give them to your child when they are able to come to campus.
The DailyChecklist
Students can use this tool each day to stay on track and avoid skipping around in their courses. This tool will direct students to complete each necessary task within each course before moving on to another one.
Students should start with their hardest subject either first or second in the morning. It’s important to work all the way through each course before moving on to another. Take notes as necessary in each course. Remember that each lesson should take about an hour to complete; that means you are reading EVERY WORD, watching video clips, following links, and taking notes to learn the material being presented. Take a short 15-20 minute break after completing two courses.
The week-at-a-glance
To use this tool properly, you’ll need to sit down Sunday evening or Monday morning and look in each of your 6 courses for the entire week. Open up a course, then click on Content, then Course Schedule, then click on the Full Schedule tab.
Now you can see the schedule for each day. It may be that you only need to read the lesson. Often, there is also an assignment (Dropbox, Student Workroom, etc.) required.
Use the key below to indicate what’s due each day.
LL – Learning Lab
DB – dropbox assignment due
SW – student workroom assignment due
Q – quiz
T- test
If a box is empty that means there’s a lesson to read, but nothing to turn in that particular day. Never skip a lesson!
Your Week at a Glance might look like this:
Here’s a short video on how to use the tools if you want more information.
Lastly, our school website has VERY helpful Hos-To videos. You can check them out here.https://www.gcpsk12.org/Page/25100
Have a great weekend!
Dr. Edwards
Whew! Final exams are this week, signaling the end to the year. We’ve never had a semester quite like this one. Congratulations on making it to the end!
Take some time to decompress – play, read for enjoyment, doodle, etc. Hopefully, things will continue to open up and we can go places, see people, and do things that we enjoy.
This summer is also a good time to prepare for the next grade. (You can’t take the entire summer off!)
Read, read, read! Make a goal of reading at least two novels this summer. If the libraries are slow to open up, try their ebooks and audiobooks. Here is a list of GCPS Approved Middle School Novels. Ask a friend or parent to read the same book so you have someone to talk it over with.
Do math at least three times a week! This is specially true for our rising 8th graders who 
will take Algebra I in August. All our students will continue to have access to Dreambox throughout the summer, so that is a great site to use to hone math skills.
Dr. Griffin has suggested several websites for our current 7th (rising 8th) graders to use to help prepare them for Algebra I.
Have a great summer!
Whew! We made it to Spring Break!
And now you get to…stay home some more.
It’s disappointing when you have to cancel plans to go somewhere, to do fun things, or to visit family and friends. But just because every exciting place is Closed Until Further Notice and you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t go places. You can still see exciting sites, animals, and sea life from home. Take a look at these virtual field trips and live cams.
The Monterrey Bay Live Cams from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. OH my goodness! 
They have otters live!!
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Panda Cam at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in D.C.
Below are some other ways to stay busy and have fun.
Arts and Crafts – 50 ideas for kids of all ages, using simple things you have at home.
Books – Give your eyes a break and read with your ears. You can listen to audible books from Gwinnett County Public libraries using their apps Overdrive and Libby (available in other states, too.) Younger kids will enjoy watching and listening to tons of picture books, using Tummblebooks. You’ll need a library card, but if you don’t have one, you can apply online here. Audible also have some free books during quarantine. And the creator of Pete the Cat has virtual storytime everyday at noon on Instagram.
Make some noise (I mean music) with these free apps. Always ask your parents’ permission before downloading an app.
If you’re craving some sports action, MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA have free games from past and most current seasons that you can watch. Thank you, Mr. Lollis, for the Audible, music and sports ideas!
Go make it a great spring break and tell me all about it when we return!
Dr. Edwards
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