Hoot Hoot Herald
August 21 - August 25
If parents and teachers want to give children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach the children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. -Carol Dweck
Hoot News
I have really enjoyed our time together this week! I am very excited about the potential of this school year and our work together. I am determined that together, we will make this the best year ever at Doss Elementary School. Seriously, let's make it happen!
I have felt your enthusiasm and excitement about the new school year. There's a very positive feeling in the air and I appreciate your enthusiasm! You can feel it! Together, we can do anything. I believe in you and am your biggest cheerleader. Let's MAKE it a great year!
I ask for patience with our SPED kids and schedules. The SPED team is working very hard to work out all of the details of the scheduling process but there are always unexpected surprises that put a kink in your plan! Don't hesitate to call us if you need support with a student. We will work to nail down our schedules of support for our SPED kids. Be patient with us. Provide feedback and guidance and let us know when something is or isn't working.
FYI: The bells will be off for few days. We are working to get this resolved. Let's be flexible.
I have asked to change our attendance time to 7:45-8:15. I do not know if this will be in effect on Monday or not. Thanks for your patience.
Remember, a paper copy is MEMBERSHIP. Membership means ====who is actually here. A student cannot be absent on Membership if they have never attended this year. Put an E for enter if a student is present on day 1.
You will also take online attendance. You can mark students Absent on the online system.
We have verified that our solar glasses are NASA approved. We will make an announcement about 12 - 15 minutes prior to the full eclipse. Please make sure that you and your team feel good about the solar eclipse watching plan. Train kids to not look directly at the sun without the solar glasses. At recess, you can allow the kids to keep the glasses or they must not look at the sun. Please monitor closely.
DAY 1- I will give a WELCOME at 7:45 am -but we will not do pledges. Please review those with your kids. Also, do not send birthdays on the first day. The rest of the week we will do pledges and birthdays.
We will have our first assembly on Friday. Please be there on time to assist with student management. We are working on making the assemblies more student centered in the future.
Dr. Cruz will visit Doss on Tuesday morning! We are so honored that he is visiting our campus and that we will be able to highlight some of the amazing things that are happening on our campus.
Monday -- JEANS AND DOSS SHIRT
Tuesday -- real clothes
Wednesday - Work out clothes (active in our active wear)
Thursday - real clothes
Friday - JEANS AND DOSS SHIRT
Join the PTA and we can wear jeans everyday! This week the PTA will put a form in your box for PTA membership. You can also join online. Let's get 100% membership as soon as possible so I can wear my new jeans!! GO DOSS SPIRIT!
KUDOS:
Pat Minford for getting those class lists ready so early! I know teachers appreciate that!
Adriana, Monique, Johanna, Sherrise, and Kristen for going the extra mile to make sure that teachers have what they need!
James Young for working non-stop to make sure that our teachers have what they need!
SPED team for pulling together and working tirelessly to have ARDS, schedule kids, and make sure that teachers have what they need for day one. You got this!
Mrs. Smith for getting those textbooks out!
Mr. Hardie for organizing our SOLAR ECLIPSE activities.
To teachers who got a new students at the last minute today(Hayes, Johnson, Singerman, Barrick, Hawkins, etc). Thank you for welcoming the new students gracefully! and for understanding!! I appreciate you!!
Thank you to Blake Bartosh for being our HOOTIE at the class postings!!
Thank you to Christina Tannert for developing the Pineapple Chart for us! (see below). I am very excited about this!!
Thank you Brandon Hall, James Young, and Christian Tannert for developing our Technology use contracts! THANK YOU!!
Look for Doss Elementary to be on the news soon! Chris Saldana K - EYE news interviewed me and the Doss PTA president - Karen Lunquist this morning. I will let you know when the piece will air.
GRADES 2-5: SAVE THE DATE SEPTEMBER 20TH.
NBC Nightly News will be flying to Austin to shoot a feature segment on Fun with Chemistry with Kate Biberdorf.
Kate Biberdorf-Lecturer- Director of Demonstrations and Outreach at
The University of Texas at Austin (fun with Chemistry lady) has been asked to select one of her favorite schools from the community to perform two presentations. SHE PICKED DOSS!!!
She will visit Doss Elementary on Wednesday September 20th, 2017. Here is her tentative itinerary.
1. Large presentation in the cafeteria for 2-5.
2. Post-presentation interviews with students, teachers, principals
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS will be here to film the event. HOW FUN!
Kudos to Diane Means for setting this up of us! Kate reached out to Diane and she said YES!
Science fun + Doss + Nightly News = WOW!
Doss Teacher PTA Rep:
We have asked for a PTA teacher representative in primary and in intermediate. Four teachers from primary entered their names into the drawing. Unfortunately, the intermediate bag was emptied accidentally so we didn't find out who wanted in the drawing. Let's try again. We will put a PTA TEACHER REP 3-5 bag in the teacher's lounge this week. This will be for teachers 3-5 who want to be the PTA rep. Please add your name if you want to be considered for this volunteer position.
It's going to be a great week at Doss Elementary !
NEWS AND REMINDERS
FROM ADRIANA:
*Please make sure a purchase request has been filled out and approved before purchasing.
*Please do not hold money in your classroom- bring your money envelope for deposit.
*Money sponsors - we need to meet before Aug 31 to balance
*There will be a 1.5% pay increase for both Professional & Classified employees. This increase should be reflected on the August paycheck.
COUNSELOR CORNER
MINDFULNESS:
AISD has a Mindfulness Coach for the entire district. If you would like to receive his newsletter, here is the link: https://www.smore.com/4tsfp. The newsletter has ways to incorporate mindfulness in the classroom and ways to practice Self-Care.Communicating information about Mindfulness with Parents/Families:
Communicating with parents & families is incredibly important to start the year off right, especially when it comes mindfulness. Here's a letter about mindfulness you can share with families. It provides a brief description of mindfulness and a message from Dr. Cruz supporting mindfulness in schools. The letter is available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi/Dari & Burmese. (Shout out to our amazing refugee support team for the translations!)
LIBRARY NEWS
Coming soon... orientation, mini maker, stories, and checkout!!! We will being with 5th grade on Friday and will work our way down. Bonnie will be in touch via email to get you on the schedule. Stay tuned!
COMPUTER LAB
The first draft of the Computer Lab schedule is available at the Google Docs link below. I also have it posted outside the lab. Please let me know if if you want to add or change a time. I will publish a final version of the schedule next week.
Please let me know when you plan to bring your class to the lab for the first time. I would like about 5 minutes to review the basic computer lab procedures and expectations. - James
MUSIC NOTES
PINEAPPLE CHART:
Soon you will find a Pineapple Chart in the teacher's lounge by the office! This is a way for us to communicate with each other about the awesome things going on in our classrooms. We can learn a lot from each other! Some of the most valuable skills I have picked up as a teacher came from informally observing my colleagues in their classrooms. When you have a fun, innovative lesson planned and would be willing to let other teachers come watch, put it up on the chart with your name, a time, and a brief description of what you will be doing.
This is not for official observations! There will be no feedback unless you specifically ask for it from whomever shows up. When you visit other rooms, nothing will be required of you except an open mind and respectful observation. Maybe you visit a room because you want to see another teacher try a new strategy before you do. Maybe it's because you want to learn from their classroom management. Maybe you also want to know more about the topic they are teaching! Whatever your reason for visiting, we can learn all kinds of things from the amazing teachers around us.
Go here for more information on Pineapple Charts.
JANNA'S WEEKLY CALENDAR
Monday, August 21, 2017
7:30 – 7:45 Kindergarten Kleenex, Doss ES
8:30 – 9:30 Assistant Principal Meeting, Doss ES
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
7:00 – 8:00 Dr. Cruz visits Doss!
8:00 – 9:00 SPED Meeting, Doss ES, Conference Room
10:30 – 11:00 SPED Meeting, Doss ES
1:25 – 2:00 ARD, Doss ES, Conference Room
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
8:00 – 8:45 Meeting – PTA/Yearbook, Doss ES
10:00 – 10:30 Parent Meeting, Doss ES
Thursday, August 24, 2017
1:00 – 2:30 Admin Team Meeting, Doss ES
5:30 – 6:30 Kindergarten 101 Curriculum Night, Doss ES, Library
Friday, August, 25, 2017
9:00 – 10:00 Meeting – PTA President, Doss ES
FROM THE PTA
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SOLAR ECLIPSE
Check out the following web resources:
NASA Website with Solar Eclipse information:
https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html
Websites with resources:
https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/educational-materials
https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/activities
Videos:
https://www.brainpop.com/science/space/eclipse/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK7zieTA5Sk
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/us/solar-eclipse-2017/index.html
STAFF NEWS
WOW ! Check out Linda Haurwitz daughter! SUPERSTAR.
https://www.technologyreview.com/lists/innovators-under-35/2017/entrepreneur/rachel-haurwitz/
Computer Lab Schedule Coming Soon!
Calendar
MONDAY, AUGUST 21ST
First Day of School! Yay!
Kindergarten Kleenex, 7:30-8:00, Cafeteria
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22ND
Campus Visit from Dr. Cruz, 7:00-8:00
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23RD
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24TH
Kindergarten 101 Curriculum Night, 5:30-6:30, Library
FRIDAY, AUGUST 25TH
MONDAY, AUGUST 28TH
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29TH
Vision and Hearing Screening, P11
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30TH
Vision and Hearing Screening, P11
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31ST
Room Parent Volunteer Training, 7:30-8:45, Cafeteria
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST
Parent Principal Coffee, 7:45-8:45, Library