Thomas Jefferson Tribune
WEEK OF APRIL 16-20, 2018
MISSION, VISION & CORE VALUES
MISSION:
The TJ Feeder schools embrace high quality learning opportunities which honor the unique strengths and diverse needs of all Scholars.
VISION:
The TJ feeder schools will be the premier feeder to attract and educate all Scholars to positively impact our community and world.
CORE VALUES:
Innovation, Collaboration, Excellence and Integrity
THOMAS JEFFERSON FEEDER PRIORITY GOALS
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION
CLIMATE AND CULTURE
A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR..........
Leaders,
Many people wonder how they can become highly successful, not realizing that they hold within them everything they need to achieve all of the success they desire. Successful people are where they are today because of their habits. Habits determine 95% of a person’s behavior. Everything that you are today, and everything that you will ever accomplish, is determined by the quality of the habits that you form. By creating good habits and adopting a positive behavior, you too can become successful and live a prosperous life.
Successful People Maintain 6 Good Habits
For thousands of years, success in human life has been studied by great thinkers and philosophers. Brian Tracey studied the subject for more than 30 years. What he has found is that the very best people have developed good habits.
He has identified seven valuable habits that you need to develop if you want to perform at the highest level in everything you do.
1) Goal oriented
The first habit is to become goal oriented.
You need to be a habitual goal setter, and dedicate yourself to working from clear, written goals every day of your life, forming daily habits. All highly successful people are intensely goal oriented. They know exactly what they want, they have it written down, they have written plans to accomplish it, and they both review and work on their plans as a daily routine.
2) Results Driven
The second habit of highly successful people is being results driven.
This is made up of two practices.
- The first is the practice of continuously learning so that you become better at what you do.
- The second practice is that of time management. This means setting very clear priorities on what you do and then concentrating single-mindedly on the most valuable use of your time.
All really successful people are intensely result-oriented.
3) Action Oriented
The third major habit you need to develop is that of continually taking action.
This is really the most important habit for material success. It is the ability to get on with the job and get it done fast. It is your ability to develop and maintain a sense of urgency, and a bias for action. Fast tempo in whatever you do is essential to your success.
You need to overcome procrastination, push aside your fears and launch 100% toward the achievement of your most important goals. The combination of goal orientation, result orientation and action orientation, in themselves, will virtually assure great success.
4) People Oriented
The fourth habit you need is people orientation.
This is where you put relationships in the center of your life. This is your decision to cultivate within yourself the habits of patience, kindness, compassion, and understanding. Virtually all of your happiness in life will come from your ability to get along well with other people.
The good news is that you can become a wonderful human being in your relationships with others when you decide to.
As Aristotle said, the only way that you can learn any habit is by practicing it on a regular basis. The more you practice being a truly excellent person in your relationships with others, the more you will internalize those qualities and actually become that person.
Focusing on being more pleasant with the people in your life is a great technique to promote a positive thinking lifestyle.
5) Honest
The fifth habit is that of honesty and integrity.
In the final analysis, the character you develop as you go through life is more important than virtually anything else.
Honesty means that you practice the “reality principle” in everything you do. You are completely objective with yourself and with the world around you. You set very clear values for yourself and you organize yourself around your values. You develop a vision for yourself and then you live your life consistent with your highest ideals. You never compromise your integrity or peace of mind for anyone or anything.
This attitude of honesty is critical to your enjoying all of the other good habits that you are developing.
6) Self-Disciplined
The sixth habit, and the one habit that guarantees all the others, is that of self-discipline.
Your ability to discipline yourself, to master yourself, to control yourself, is the most important single quality that you can develop as a person. The habit of self-discipline goes hand in hand with success in every area of life.
Every one of these habits, being goal oriented, results driven, action orientated, people orientated, honest and self-disciplined can be developed. You are where you are and what you are today because of your habits. Your habits have been developing, mostly accidentally, from the time you were an infant.
Today you can take complete control over the shaping of your character and personality, and everything that happens to you in the future, by making the decision, right now, to find the definition of the habits that will lead you to great success.
And when you develop the same good habits possessed by other successful people, you will enjoy having success in common.
As you begin to finalize your Action Plans for the 2nd round of testing, think about the 6 Good Habits. How many of them do you currently utilize on a day to day basis? What will you do today to change your habits? Remember, our scholars are counting on your leadership because LEADERSHIP MATTERS!
As always, have an awesome week LEADING, COACHING, TEACHING, LEARNING AND MAKING ACADEMIC ADJUSTMENTS FOR SCHOLAR SUCCESS !
THE TJ FEEDER IS IN IT TO WIN IT!
Ms. Torres
Thomas Jefferson Executive Director
THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE
Monday, April 16, 2018
- ED Think Tank @ Haskell 3rd floor-8:00 a.m.
- ED/AF Campus visit @ Sudie Williams
- Ms. Torres/Mrs. Crowder-Davis/Mr. Jackson/Ms. Rothermund-OTI Meeting @ Sudie @10:30 p.m.
- UNCF Donation Period Ends'
- ED/AF Campus visit @ Cary MS
- ED/AF Campus visit @ Joe May ES
- ED/AF Campus visit @ Medrano MS
- ED/AF AF Campus planning
- AIA Leadership Team Meeting @ NCX-1:30 p.m.w/Mr. Cordero-Ms. Torres
- Feeder-Wide Principal's Meeting-9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.@ Burnet Elementary (bring 4 copies of your CIP-Checkpoint #1 to the meeting, and your DDI completed document.) NEW DATE
- Jiv Daya Mandatory Elementary Principal Meeting @ Burnet Elementary-1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
- Superintendent Scholarship Reception @ Conrad HS-6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.-Ms. Torres/Mrs. Massey
- Julian T. Saldivar Community Panel Interviews @ Haskell-3rd floor Conference room 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.-Ms. Torres
- AF Campus visit @ Cigarroa ES
- AF Campus visit @ Tom Field ES
- Pre--Kindergarten Collaborative Planning Night @ Cigarroa- Reading AF Support
- Medrano Family Learning Night- Math AF Support
- Home Visit Project Dinner @ United Way -6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.-Ms. Torres
- Author Screening w/United 2 Learn-Perot Museum @ 8:00 a.m.-Ms. Torres/AF's/ALL Thomas Jefferson Principals
- OTI Interdepartmental Meeting-Haskell 1st floor-Ms. Torres & Mr. Jackson@ 9:00 a.m.
- KINDER CAMP campus celebrations
- CHECKPOINT #1 FOR CIP DUE TO MS. TORRES BY COB
- Final Graduation Lists & Diploma Requests Due
- Potential Student Transfer Revocations Due to Ms. Torres for Review
LARGE SCALE JOB FAIR
STUDENT SUCCESS INITIATIVE (SSI)
The Student Success Initiative grade advancement requirements apply to grade 5 and 8 students who take the STAAR reading and mathematics assessments. It is a good practice to begin preparation for the second administration of STAAR testing to ensure that all of our 5th and 8th grade students are prepared and promoted to the next grade level.
With April 30, 2018 as the scheduled score report date, there is a limited amount of time between this date and the date that students are administered the STAAR re-test on May 14-15, 2017. Although we will not have the data for some time, intervention needs to continue for those students who are still not scoring at the Approaches level.
Please begin the work of creating your SSI Intervention Plan.
Plans should include, but are not limited to:
· Individual Parent Meetings (discuss score reports and intervention)
· Parent Letters
· Student Tiers by raw score or scale score
· Mapped Out SEs
· Schedules with assigned teachers
· Scripted instructional blocks
· Progress Monitoring
An updated copy of the SSI Manual is attached. Samples of intervention plans and schedules are attached. A number of materials have been developed to help schools implement the SSI grade advancement requirements. These materials are available at https://tea.texas.gov/student.assessment/ssi/.
Mr. Durham Serves with a Smile at Thomas Jefferson HS
CUSTOMER SERVICE SHOULD BE A PRIORITY!
Have you ever arrived to an establishment and not been greeted? Has the level of engagement left you feeling like you didn't matter? We certainly do not want any of our stakeholders to feel that way. For that reason, please take time over the next two weeks to review the Customer Service Expectation Sheet with your entire staff using the link below.
ALL stakeholders should receive the same consideration and it starts with each of us! Please ensure that your campus teams are keeping customer service a priority.
SECONDARY MASTER SCHEDULE REVIEW
Secondary master schedule planning and development will look different this year as we move into PowerScheduler (PowerSchool’s master schedule building program).
Please work with your teams to ensure the proper steps are being taken to reduce complications and errors as the master schedule is built. The deadline to complete the first Build Function in PowerScheduler is Friday, April 27th. Please see the WAIP memo below for additional details and deadlines.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kwoVYSmp_bwGlltFo6yDu5ouR_wdODhb/view?usp=sharings
CAMPUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN CHECKPOINTS
As discussed at our March feeder meeting, we will institute checkpoints for your campus improvement plans leading up to June. The first checkpoint deadline IS Monday, April 20 by 5:00 PM.
2018 TEA PRINCIPAL SURVEY
The 2018 TEA Principal Survey to evaluate new teacher programs opened April 4 and will run through June 13. Principals are to access the survey through TEAL.
Please go ahead and take the survey so that you can complete this requirement early. See the WAIP for additional details.
PEI CHECKPOINT #4
The Key Outcome for PEI Checkpoint 4 will be for the principal and ED to use data as a way to check progress towards CIP implementation. Particular attention will be placed on the data outcomes for the year.
Timeframe: May 21st – June 21st
DETAILS:
Only one meeting will be held. The Principal will submit the self-evaluation in advance in cornerstone. Data that are available to use for this final checkpoint are:
- Student Discipline Data
- Attendance Data
- TEI Spot Data
- Common Assessment Data
- ACP Data
- STAAR Data
- Climate Survey Data
- Student Survey Data
- Parent Survey Data
- Principal Performance Data
While not required, the Principal has the option to share artifacts during the check point conference.
PEI METRICS
EVALUATION DEADLINES FOR ALL EMPLOYEES BELOW
ELL TESTING FOR CAMPUSES
Pursuant to §89.1225. Within 20 school days of their initial enrollment in the school district, students shall be identified as English language learners and enrolled into the required bilingual education or English as a second language program. Attached is a graphic presentation that shows several of our campuses who have MISSED the deadline to have students tested. It is expected that your campus review your system to have these students tested. I should not be seeing any campuses with missed opportunities to test our scholars.
*****PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES*****
T.J. Feeder & United to Learn Present: a Teacher Showcase: Text Sets in Action! Mark Your Calendars! Attendance is Expected!
*Teachers and CICs MUST Register by April 20th to Receive Dinner!*
T.J. feeder Pre-Kindergarten Collaborative Planning Night!
Medrano Middle School Family Learning Night
*****THOMAS JEFFERSON FEEDER PATTERN KUDOS*****
CONGRATULATIONS WALNUT HILL & JOE MAY ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Dear Learning Partner Site Coordinator,
Thank you so much for the support. We have almost 400 quality surveys from schools who took 5 minutes out to share about their program experience. www.surveymonkey.com/r/2017-18LearningPartners
The Learning Partners with BIG THOUGHT sent out information to schools to take 5 minutes of their time to share their program experiences through a survey. The quality surveys provided important feedback from schools to the Learning Partners providers as well as to inform the Dallas ISD Fine Arts and Teaching and Learning Departments on what campus staff felt are important learning experiences for their students. It also gave valuable data to share with schools on how the programs shape up with TEKS, student satisfaction and curriculum connections.
Congratulations to these schools that earned extra funds this week:
Walnut Hill Elementary and Jose May!
We are so proud of you for giving your feedback! Our scholars will certainly benefit from your feedback.
DE LA GUARDIA SETS THE TONE FOR STAAR SUCCESS @ FOSTER ES
'UNITED TO LEARN' FULL NETWORK MEETINGS FOR TJ ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS
IMPORTANT NEWS REGARDING THE TEACHER EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE (TEI)
Summatives may be completed after a minimum number of spot observations and the extended observation are conducted May 21st - June 4th.
READ THE WEEKLY WAIP!
2017-2018 DALLAS ISD DISTRICT-WIDE TESTING CALENDAR
DISTRICT COMMON ASSESSMENT DATES
Instructional Days Until Testing Calendar
UPCOMING DATES & REMINDERS
APRIL
- April 23- TJ Feeder & United to Learn Teacher Showcase Event at Joe May
- April 23-Walnut Hill Dual Language GT Informational Night @ 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
- April 25- CIC Chat and Chew @ Walnut Hil w/ AF's (STAAR Round 2)-2:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.-(Mandatory Jiv Daya meeting w/CIC's @ Walnut Hill 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
- April 25-Walnut Hill Dual Language GT Informational Night @ 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
- April 27-Secondary Campus Mater Schedule Review deadline for First Build Function in Power School (refer to WAIP)
- April 30-Scheduled report date for STAAR first round testing
MAY
- May 4-CHECKPOINT #2 FOR CIP DUE TO MS. TORRES BY COB
- May 14-15-STAAR Resting Round #2
- May 18-CHECKPOINT #3 FOR CIP DUE TO MS. TORRES BY COB
- May 21-ALL CIP'S DUE TO MS. TORRES
- May 21-June 21--PEI Checkpoint 4
JUNE
- June 1-ALL CIP'S DUE TO MS. STEPHENS FROM ED
- June 18-Jiv Daya Meeting w/ED & AF's
August
- August16- Mandatory 3rd-5th grade teacher training from TJ Feeder @ Joe May for Jiv Daya from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.-Kindle distribution will be handled on this day for ALL teachers.
RESOURCES AND TOOLS
MARSHALL MEMO #731
Teachers’ On-the-Spot Adaptations During Lessons
“Classrooms are messy, unpredictable contexts,” say Seth Parsons (George Mason University) and seven colleagues in this Review of Educational Research article. “Daily, educators teach students who come from different backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences; who have diverse interests and motivations; and who have varying levels of language proficiency, skills, and abilities… To effectively navigate these contexts and provide all students with a quality education, teachers must be flexible and creative in their approach as they adapt their instruction to support the various learners under their care.” Parsons et al. present their synthesis of 64 studies of teachers’ in-the-moment adaptations.
Adaptability is widely believed to be a cornerstone of effective teaching. Here are some of the ways it has been described:
- Demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness (Danielson Framework item 3e);
- Continuously monitors student learning… (Council of Chief State School Officers);
- Responsive teaching (Dozier, Garnett, and Tabatabai);
- The teachable moment (Muir, Beswick, and Williamson);
- Improvisation (Sawyer);
- Innovative behavior (Thurlings, Evers, and Vermeulen);
- Decision-making (Clark and Peterson);
- Reflective teaching (Souto-Manning and Dice);
- Adaptive metacognition (Lin et al.);
- Adaptive expertise (Darling-Hammond and Bransford);
- Dialogic teaching (Boyd).
[There are also the related areas of individualization, differentiation, and personalization, which are more focused on unit and lesson planning than on-the-spot adaptability.]
What did the researchers find? First, that on-the-spot adaptability is linked to teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, training, experience, and thinking. “Reflective and metacognitive teachers constantly monitor classroom proceedings,” say Parsons et al., “observing student learning, motivation, and behavior, which serve as stimuli or antecedents for teachers to adapt their instruction.”
Second, that teachers use a variety of cues to pick up on student confusion, misconceptions, or errors, including on-the-spot checks for understanding and noticing a perplexed expression on a student’s face.
Third, that effective teachers respond in appropriate and effective ways (or decide when it’s best not to respond), choosing among various follow-ups:
- Questioning;
- Encouraging;
- Managing;
- Giving feedback;
- Making connections;
- Assessing;
- Modeling;
- Explaining;
- Challenging.
Fourth, the researchers say that skillfully adapting teaching often leads to “enhanced student learning, motivation, and behavior”.
Finally, they note that some schools and districts prevent this kind of teacher adaptability by imposing rigid pacing guides, mandated lesson plans, and other prescriptive structures seemingly aimed at “teacher-proofing” instruction.
THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
- Thomas Jefferson High School: Principal, Sandi Massey
- Francisco Medrano Middle School : Principal, Theresa Sigurdson
- Edward Cary Middle School: Principal, Ben Dickerson
- David G. Burnet Elementary: Principal, Sonia Loskot
- Leonides Cigarroa Elementary : Principal, Douglas Burak
- Tom W. Field Elementary: Principal, Shondula Whitfield
- Stephen C. Foster Elementary: Principal, Irma De La Guardia
- Joe May Elementary: Principal, Israel Rivera
- K.B. Polk Elementary: Principal, Misty Rathermund
- Julian T. Saldivar: Principal, Chaundra Macklin
- Walnut Hill Elementary: Principal, Robert 'Chase'McLaurin
- Sudie Williams Elementary: Principal, Michael Jackson
LEADERS OF THE FEEDER
Thomas Jefferson High School
Franscisco Medrano Middle School
Edward Cary Middle School
David G. Burnet Elementary
Leonides Cigarroa Elementary
Tom W. Field Elementary
Stephen C. Foster Elementary
Joe May Elementary
K. B. Polk Elementary
Julian T. Saldivar Elementary
Walnut Hill Elementary
Sudie L. Williams Elementary
Tamieka Porter
Lisa Maia
Erica Rosas
Trustee Edwin Flores District 1
Trustee Dustin Marshall District 2
Trustee Miguel Solis District 8
DISD GOALS
- All students will exhibit Satisfactory or above performance on State assessments. Students below Satisfactory performance will demonstrate more than one year of academic growth
- Dallas ISD schools will be the primary choice for families in the district
- The achievement gap by race, ethnicity and social economic status will be no greater than 10 percentage points on all academic measures
- 95% of students will graduate. Of the graduates, 90% have qualifying scores for community college, college, military, or industry certification
- 95% of entering kindergarten students are school-ready on a multidimensional assessment
- All students will participate in at least one extracurricular or co-curricular activity each year.