PONY NEWS JANUARY 9th
Keep Doing What You're Doing!
The Texas Education Agency has released the school ratings using a new A to F rating scale with A being the highest rating and F the lowest. These ratings are now available to the public and ours is shown in the picture.
Our Superintendent, Dr. Kevin Rogers has made it very clear that we will not chastise schools that receive an 'F' nor will we celebrate any schools that receive an 'A'. Our district feels so strongly about the incredible education students receive in LISD, that Dr. Rogers has written a public letter to reject TEA's ratings. As he says in the letter, "Any system that grades schools based on one standardized test taken on one day of the school year disregards the important work of our teachers and students happening each and every day."
Please take a moment to read Dr. Rogers' letter LISD Editorial, and then take another moment to celebrate the accomplishments that our students are making everyday. I have also attached another article "LEV NEXT GEN ASSESSMENTS Tanner" that was shared with us which gives some great talking points and food for thought. So 'keep doing what you are doing' by adding value to the students everyday.
Lakshmi VN
A Minute with the LASes...
It's a new year and setting goals is usually around this time. Comprehensible input, making sure the objective and the content of a lesson are understood by the students, is required for language development and academic progress. Thus, let's make one of our goals as educators this year that comprehensible input happens for our students. Remember, it is about our students' understanding, not about what we do; although we will have to use many tools and strategies to make it possible. Here are some questions for self-reflection:
- Are the content concepts repeated in a variety of ways?
- Is the pace appropriate?
- Are the oral directions few in number and accompanied by written and symbolic/pictorial representations?
- Does the teacher model and demonstrate instructions before the students perform the task?
- For beginning speakers, are the sentences delivered using simple structures such as subject-verb-object and reducing embedded clauses?
January 17th - District Professional Learning Day
January 17 is a District Professional Learning day for elementary school staff. Staff will be collaborating in like groups with each group assigned to a specific location. Please see THIS ATTACHMENT for details on where each group will meet.
Here are some frequently asked questions that the Learning and Teaching Department has been receiving about January 17th:
Is Page Keeley really coming?! - Yes! She has a maximum capacity of 100 and it is first come, first serve. She will only be at Harmon and FM 9.
What if I already signed up in Eduphoria, do I sign up again? No, if you have registered for the Eduphoria course, then you are ready to go. The Eduphoria links were sent in yesterday's email on the Save the Date flyer and are also linked on the website. It looks like this in Eduphoria and there are 3 courses depending on the grade you teach.
Elementary: Kinder and 1st Grade Elementary Winter Conference
How do I sign up for the sessions? You simply register for the K/1, 2/3 or 4/5 day in Eduphoria, pre-plan your day on the teacher planning document for the sessions you want to attend and then go to those sessions upon arrival. There is no additional sign up for the specific sessions. Just one registration by grade level for the entire day.
Where do I look for session choices? Session programs were attached to the email from Elementary Curriculum on January 4th and are also available for viewing on the Google site at https://sites.google.com/a/staff.lisd.net/2017-elementary-winter-conference
What if the session I want is full when I arrive? Sessions are first come, first serve. Once a session hits capacity, you will need to head to your next choice on your planning document.
What if I don’t teach one of these grade levels? See the Save the Date flyer, it lists all locations for those other than classroom teachers. If you are still unsure, visit with your principal.
Why do I keep receiving calendar invites and cancellations? Is it cancelled? It is not cancelled, however some folks have inadvertently sent calendar invites and responded "all" causing this to happen. They can ignore these and move forward as planned.
There are more FAQs listed on the website in case you get other questions not addressed here
PLCs
Calendar for the next 3 Weeks
Early Release Day Friday January 13th
- End 2nd 9 wks
- Student Early Release
- Work Day for teachers
The early release schedule has been adjusted due to an earlier release time. For lunch, kinder and 1st will each go through a serving line at the same time mirroring their breakfast routine. Kinder and 1st will each receive 30 minutes in the cafeteria and will be eating at the cafeteria tables. In order to complete lunch before the dismissal time and to allow students enough time to eat, the other grade levels will pair up and be given 15 minutes to go through a line to get a bag lunch (Grades 2 and 3 & Grades 4 and 5). The bag lunch will be taken back to their classrooms to eat.
We want to thank the cafeteria staff for working with us on the schedule as well as the early release menu. They were very receptive to the feedback you provided. The menu will include something like a corndog and other items more popular with students, so please encourage students to eat their lunch.
Report Card Lockdown will be Wednesday, January 18th at 4:00p.m.
Report Cards will be printed Thursday, January 19 and will go home, Friday, January 20. Report Card Lockdown will be Wednesday, January 18th at 4:00p.m. Please have all grades and comments entered by that time.
Here are a few reminders as you enter grades:
1. Assignments - All assignments should be dated January 13 or before. So, if you are entering grades after Friday, please make sure the date of the "assignment" and "due date" is January 13 or before.
2. Language Arts Combined- After you have entered all of your Spelling, Writing, and Reading grades, please open your Language Arts Combined Class. You don’t need to do anything with it, just open it! Make sure you do this “after” you have entered all of your grades for Spelling, Writing, and Reading before Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 4pm.
3. Remember to enter your "Life Skills".
4. Comments will be done in Skyward before Wednesday, January 18th at 4pm.
To enter comments in Skyward…
- Open your Life Skills, and click on comments. You will see 1st Nine Weeks, Post Comments.
5. Also, for teachers marking modified classes….
Submitting 9 Weeks Modifications (Elementary Only)
In order to mark a class as modified for each nine weeks, you will need to go to each Modified Class and mark that. You have to mark it for that student in that class EVERY nine weeks.
- Open each class that is modified and Choose the path: Posting >> Post Comments.
- In the column for the comment type in an “M” for any student Modified in this class.
- Click Save to apply the changes.
STAFF SHOUT-OUTS
Thanks for the Shout-Outs!
- Mrs. Samia Rutherford for helping to put together the LEP students' data.
- Mrs. Kilam for sharing fantastic math station ideas during our PLC!
- Mrs. Sayers for amazing reading plans!
- Mrs. Sammon for upbeat attitude and fantastically creative social studies lessons that engage our students!
- Mrs. Arocha for going above in beyond to help translate components for our students!
- Mrs. Wier for making our science lessons so engaging for our 2nd grade learners!
Spring Benchmarking
4th Writing and 5th Math
January 25 -
5th Reading
February 13 -
3rd and 4th Math
February 14 -
3rd and 4th Reading and 5th Science
3rd through 5th Strategic After-school Tutoring
Begin thinking about who will benefit the most during tutoring. What should the focus be? Reading? Math? Both? What resources should we use?
3rd through 5th Pony Camp (Saturdays)
JANUARY 9TH
JANUARY 9TH
JANUARY 18th
CONGRATULATIONS TO MS. JURCA'S CLASS
COMING SOON!
- More about the teacher of the year finalists!
- Specials Showcase