WHB Weekly Wonderings
Volume 1 * Issue 9 * September 16, 2019
Formal Assessments . . . Here they come!
You all have been teaching routines & procedures, introducing target skills, supporting social & emotional growth, and loving your kiddos!
Now we need to gather some formal data for our "beginning of year" (BOY) baselines so as we continue to progress monitor we can see each student's growth.
Breathe first. Now, let's talk about schedules . . . (and yes, as you keep reading, how.)
BOY DRA: I'm not issuing you a specific schedule regarding when to get this done; you have the deadline of Wednesday, October 9th to test all of your four-year-olds. Here is the data file you'll need to update with your students' info at BOY, MOY and EOY assessment times.
- Open the file and find YOUR tab along the bottom
- In the header section, replace the line with your last name
- Enter your students in alpha order by last name
- As you assess, enter each student's BOY DRA level.
- Be done by Oct. 9th with all students' assessments.
CLI CIRCLE: After visiting with several other early childhood campus leaders and how they are able to assess all students in all areas and not lose instructional time (and I've asked several of you for your professional and personal insight as well) . . . we'll be hosting CAMP CIRCLE.
Head Start: Week of Sept. 23rd
PK 4 & PK3: Week of Sept. 30th
*PK3 we may need to visit to verify it will work as planned, or if we need to tweak.
CAMP CIRCLE is designed to allow teachers five 45-minute periods to assess students in their rooms with all other students in different "camp stations" around the building. This will allow a teacher to keep 3 or 4 students in the room (working in stations) while assessing one of the students at the teacher table. You will have 5 days of this specialized schedule to complete your CIRCLE assessments. (At one near-by campus, each teacher is able to complete all of their 20ish students in 3 days. Since this structure is new to us, and you also need to complete BOY DRA, I'm scheduling for 5 days.)
**When looking at the schedule, be sure you are looking at the correct tab at the bottom.
Celebrations:
Staff Shout Outs from the Drops in the Bucket Last Week:
Amanda Calder (from Ms. Byrd)
Her heart and love for "everyone" shows! She is a very compassionate person who will celebrate with you and cry with you. She is doing an excellent job with the students.
Dr. Thomas (from Ms. McCoy)
Thank you for helping serve my students during lunch.
Cafeteria Staff (from Ms. Helm)
The cafeteria staff has been so patient and helpful during this transition to family-style eating! Thank you!
Mrs. Estrada (from Mrs. Alvarado)
She is always willing to help, she is proactive and has been helping my students to improve in their name recognition at interventions. And she always does it with a smile. Thank you for all you do Mrs. Estrada
Drops in the Bucket
Complete the form below as often as you desire to fill someone's bucket. The entries, or drops, made will be featured in the following week's bulletin each week.
WHB Attendance
Weekly attendance by clusters:
PK 3 AM: 93.7% (4th place)
PK 3 PM: 95.5% (2nd place)
PK 4: 94.3% (3rd place-tie)
HS (front): 96.4% (1st place) Went from last place to first! Congratulations!
HS (back): 94.3% (3rd place-tie)
The Space Race is underway!
Remember to use the daily attendance class poster to track each perfect attendance day with your class.
When transitioning in the hallway, be sure you and your class talk about where your space ship is, what your goal is, and how you can get there.
New Information:
Friday . . . 9/20
- Parent conferences need to be over and all visitors out of the building by 4:30pm; we do not want you up here without staff alone with parents due to safety concerns.
- Parent conference example documents were shared with you previously. Click the link to access the folder should you need it again.
- Signupgenius.com was a resource shared by another campus that I sent out to you last week. Just a suggestion; not mandatory.
Paras:
- We are going to use this time to equip you with specialized information. Please see the schedule below and follow accordingly on Friday. Thanks!
- 1:15 - 2:00pm: Mrs. Dye will review the refocus supports and how to utilize the stations.
- 2:00 - 2:45pm: Mrs. Nichols will explain how to take anecdotal notes from observations for student progress data
- 2:45 - 3:00pm BREAK
- 3:00 - 3:30pm Ms. Qualls will review Smarty Ants for classroom and lab use
- 3:30 - 4:00pm Dr. Barbee will discuss absences and the process to secure a substitute
Technology
Thanks!
Chromebook Google Form
(Link posted below as well.)
Thanks a million!
Planning Dimension
THIS WEEK we are still looking for
- posted objectives that are aligned to the guidelines (1.1 & 2.2),
- activities that are relevant to students and their learning (1.1 & 2.5),
- a check for mastery with feedback provided (1.2 & 2.1),
- connections to students' prior knowledge (1.3 & 2.4), and
- questioning that encourages higher thinking (1.4 & 2.3).
We're not "still" looking for them as we have not yet seen them, but because these are the top five areas that impact student achievement. These are also areas that we discuss via our PLC time.
I must also remind everyone that the rubric calls for us to look at what students are doing. Even though they are young, it does not mean they cannot work or demonstrate their learning independently . . . that's what the super seven are--independent practice! Consider how you are layering skills in these vitally important areas of your classroom. Bring your ideas and questions to PLC regarding any of these areas or centers in order to collaborate.
Curriculum Supports
This week's weekly song:
This week include this poem/song in your message to parents. Encourage students to read or sing this text every night this week. They can find the high frequency words "if" and "it" throughout the text.
**This week the letters Cc, Ff, and Tt are part of the lesson focus...hence the HFWs "if" and "it".
Suggested ideas:
Monday, parent and student read the words like a poem together (choral reading).
Tuesday, family members sing the song together (choral singing).
Wednesday, student echo reads after the parent.
Thursday, student reads aloud while parent whisper reads.
Friday, student reads and claps when stating a high frequency word (we | see).
Saturday, parent asks student to identify the color word.
Sunday, student draws a picture of what the text means to them.
If you are happy, and you know it clap your hands
If you are happy, and you know it clap your hands
If you are happy, and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you are happy, and you know it clap your hands.
Now replace happy with different emotions:
Mad – cross your arms.
Frustrated – stomp your feet.
Excited – jump up and down.
Sad – make a frown
Scared – hide your face.
Literacy Focus: M, W, F mornings (7:30 - 8:00am)
Repeating last week's same videos . . .
Math and Science Focus: T & Th Mornings (7:30-8:00am)
You have editing rights so that you may add other videos/supports for Tuesday and Thursday morning features.
Updated Information:
Family Style Eating
Thank you all for your support and participation in family-style eating!
Systems are well underway. I think most issues have been resolved; again, communication is key. If you have needs or concerns, please let Dr. Thomas, Mrs. Kim, or myself know.
This week, please be sure as the adult at the table you are interacting with the students and having students communication in return. This is one of the key benefits of family-style eating! It is intended to help overcome the 30 million word gap . . .
Here are some suggested conversation starters:
- What did you do last night?
- What is your favorite food? Why?
- What is the best thing about today?
- How do you feel today?
- What is something that makes you happy?
- Would you rather play inside or play outside all day?
- If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
You can also talk about the different attributes of the foods being served: color, texture, amount, type of food, etc.
If you have any needs regarding not enough food/milk, timeliness of carts being ready, etc. please contact our cafeteria manager, Kim Crouch (Kim.crouch@terrellisd.org).
REPEATED INFORMATION:
Walkthroughs in Strive
Your electronic signature does not indicate that you agree/disagree with the evaluator's scoring or evidence, but that you have received the feedback. If you have questions regarding any information in a walkthrough, please reach out to the administrator that input the information to set up a follow up conference, if the administrator did not already do so.
Remind
Teachers are to send one weekly Remind message to parents. This may be your weekly newsletter sent on Mondays with a quick note about the week's main activities.
The WHB parent Remind code is @whburnett if parents are asking how to get Remind messages from the office.
If you need assistance with Remind, please read the info in this link.
Thanks.
Upcoming Events
Jot this down:
Lounge duty this week: Bell-Warren and Sline
Announcements will be done in Ms. McCoy's classroom this week.
- PK3 AM 7:30am - 11:15am; early release 11:15am
- PK3 PM 11:30am - 3:15pm; **AM & PM alternate early release dates (specific dates TBD)
- PK4 & HS: 8:14am - 3:45pm; early release 12:30pm
9/3 - 9/17: PTO Fundraiser
9/16: Excellence Foundation Appreciation Shirt with Jeans (if you donated this year)
9/18: Faculty Meeting
9/19: Head Start Policy Council Meeting
9/20: Early Release @ 12:30pm
9/24: SALT Meeting @ 4:15pm
9/26: BOY SBDM @ 4:30pm
9/27: Parent contact documentation due. *recall during BOY staff development everyone committed to contacting parents 2 times by the end of the first six weeks