04.10.16 Staff Update
A Communication Tool for the Seven Hills Staff
Personalized Learning at Seven Hills: Finishing STRONG!
In our staff meeting on Thursday, I talked briefly about the important work still left to do this year. We have no choice but to finish STRONG, and I have a few challenges to help motivate us to keep up the momentum this week...it's all about pacing yourself, focusing on the end goals, celebrating small accomplishments along the way, and laughing...laughing is important!
Tomorrow is #LoveMySchoolDay:
"The hope of #LoveMySchoolDay is that educators across the world will unite to create a new and improved culture of education. We want to create a school culture where teachers are empowered to share on social media the reasons that they love to work in their school. We want teachers, principals and superintendents to share the great learning taking place. The ultimate goal is to change the perception that people have about school. If parents and community members can see evidence of great learning on a regular basis, then the school can generate stronger partnerships. #LoveMySchoolDay is a springboard to leverage the power of social media to inform as well as inspire our school community." - John Wink
My challenge to the Seven Hills staff is to post at least one thing on social media - Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook - that you love about our school and tag it with the hashtag #LoveMySchoolDay. We have so much to celebrate at The Hills...Let's share it with the world, and do our part to help shed a positive light on public education, NISD, and Seven Hills! A couple of tips:
- If you are tweeting, you might also tag the school @7HillsNISD!
- Not on Twitter? I can help you sign up!
- Facebook - if you are on the Seven Hills PTA FB page...you might even post there to see if parents catch on! I will be posting on the Seven Hills FB page as the campus.
- You might talk as a team and spread your posts out throughout the day!
- Need ideas for what to share? There are great ideas here... http://leadlearner2012.blogspot.com/2015/04/14-fun-ways-to-flood-twittersphere-on.html?m=1
What do you LOVE about Seven Hills?
Teacher Numbers...a Challenge to the Seven Hills Staff:
- Watch this short video clip about teacher bumper numbers from Principal Gerry Brooks : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vqvUUe9zms
- Think of a unique teacher number and explanation for the number...remember some of us have trouble with the math!
- Submit your teacher bumper number on this Google Form by Thursday, April 14th: http://goo.gl/forms/QOCNebshGm
- A committee will review all entries and prizes will be announced on the announcements on Friday, April 15th for the top 3 teacher numbers!
Next Steps for The Leader in Me:
- Book Study: Read chapters 4 - 7 (I know I said 6 last week, but working through chapter 7 makes more sense) before our Professional Learning Day on April 22.
- June PD for ALL Staff: June 6 -8 (This is the only scheduled opportunity for this training. Remember, The Leader in Me requires the adults in the school to work on themselves before they can implement with students.)
- Continue to record all of the wonderful brainstorming ideas in your Leader in Me notebooks! Great ideas are popping up everywhere!!!! We need to make sure we remember them all!
"Leadership is communicating a person's worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves"
Staff Member of the Week:
- a friend and I were nearly been taken into custody in the Mexico City airport
- I snorkeled down a jungle river with another friend, almost hyperventilating all the way (I don't do lizards and other creepy things)
- I've done the Jack The Ripper walking night tour in London
- I've stood where the Berlin Wall once stood
- I've been on a private tour of the FBI code breaker building at Quantico, VirginiaBrenda Franks: I dirty danced with Patrick Swayze!!! Well not actually DIRTY DANCED but I did dance with him....As a child growing up in Houston, I attended the Houston Music Theater for several years in acting/dancing classes. Patrick's mom was the choreographer for our productions. One class we took together Patrick and I acted and danced together. It was a memorable experience that I will always treasure. He went on to be a great actor, and he will be dearly missed. I went on to follow my dreams...teaching. I LOVE my calling.
Learn more about Dee and Brenda when you stop by the Star Staff board in the Teacher's Lounge this week!
What's Happening Next Week at The Hills?
- Monday, April 11:
Book Fair Week
-Leslie off campus AP PLC,
- Tuesday, April 12:
-Grade Level PLCs
- Wednesday, April 13:
-Susan Padget, TEA, Campus Visit 1-3 pm
-NISD Math Curriculum Preview, K-5
-Tanya out at training
- Thursday,April 14:
-Vertical Team Meeting, 3:15 - 4:30 pm
-Leslie out at training
- Friday, April 15:
-PTA Carnival, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
-Kim out at training
Save The Date: (please add these dates to your calendars)
- Thursday, April 14: Vertical Team Meeting (rescheduled from 3/24)
- Friday, April 15: PTA Carnival (please consider supporting this carnival by working a shift at your class/grade level booth, helping set up, or helping donate to silent auction baskets.)
- Friday, April 22: Student Holiday/Professional Learning Day
- Teacher and Para of the Year Campus Celebration: May 5th at 3:15
- May 17th: JA in a Day K-5 Grades
- Million Word Challenge Zoo Field Trip: May 25th
Happy Birthday To:
Updates and Information
Campus and District Updates:
- Laps for Learning: Wow! What a beautiful and fun day on Friday at our first annual Laps for Learning fun run! A BIG thank you to Coach Wood and Coach Bryant for organizing the fun run and preparing the kids for the big race! And, Coach Bryant did a great job of warming students up, making sure students were safe, and transitioning groups! Everything ran so smoothly! The preliminary counts are in, and the fun run raised approximately $2,800!
- You Tube: on April 6, staff received an email from Northwest ISD regarding student access to YouTube. Please make sure you have carefully reviewed this email and take a moment to watch this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0pOgckz804
- There's No Place Like Seven Hills: Please take a minute to "spruce up" the halls. There are pot holes in the yellow brick road, SBBB border is coming undone, poppies are drooping, other border is hanging off the walls, etc. The standard we have for the way our building looks promotes pride and respect, having a positive impact on student and staff attitude. Thank you.
- Summer School: Tanya Ledger is the point of contact for Summer School. If any parents have questions regarding Summer School, please direct them to Tanya.
The link below will direct you to all of the programs that will be offered this summer. A flier will also be placed in teacher boxes this week. If you have any questions, Tanya is your girl! http://www.nisdtx.org/summer
- April Focus Walks: Focus walks with feedback will be a focus for our leadership team this month. We will focus on K-5 Shine Time and Guided Reading aligned with Dr. Rue's Early Literacy Goals this week. These are not "gotcha" walk thrus. Rather, they are intended to provide meaningful feedback to support improvement with campus and district initiatives.
SST/RtI Meetings: With the time remaining in the school year, we are going to try a new approach to SST Meetings/RtI Updates. We have discussed as a campus group that the RtI/SST system needs reorganizing. Should this approach yield positive results, we will consider continuing next year. Meetings will be scheduled on Fridays and a few Thursdays for the remainder of the year. This schedule will allow us to meet with teachers two more times prior to the end of the year. The format will be, the teacher listed will bring all SST and progress monitoring data to the meeting. We will begin with students that are in RTI. We will focus on students that are in the homeroom only. If teachers are departmentalized and your partner teacher has concerns as well, then both will need to come to the homeroom teacher's assigned time. We will focus on four questions: What interventions are you using? How often are you using them? What is their effectiveness? Next steps? The schedule is outlined below. Please let Leslie know if you have a scheduling conflict or questions.
Friday April 8 - Harris, Tucker, Hall, Blanchard, Vann, Wolf
Friday April 15 - Brittain, Sammons, Franks, Dial, Davis, Stewart
Thursday April 21 - Hladky, Tindel, Moron, Reyes, Goosey, Heady
Friday April 29 - Twa, Brister, Gill, Rusin, Pate, Mitchell
Friday May 6 - Zeigler, Willis, Any one else who needed more time
Friday May 13 - Harris, Tucker, Hall, Blanchard, Vann, Wolf
Wednesday May 18 -Brittain, Sammons, Franks, Dial, Davis, Stewart
Thursday May 19 - Hladky, Tindel, Moron, Reyes, Goosey, Heady
Thursday May 27 - Twa, Brister, Gill, Rusin, Pate, Mitchell
Friday May 28 - Zeigler, Willis, Any one else who needed more time
- PDAS Teacher Self-Report Section 2 and 3: Mark your calendars...PDAS Teacher Self Reports are Due in Eduphoria by April 26, 2016.