April 1st Pony News
Building a Brighter Future!
2018-2019 Campus Mission and Vision
Nuzmerida (Meri) Medrano Bilingual Instructional Support
Hello, my name is Nuzmerida “Meri” Medrano, and I am grateful to be part of this wonderful Pony family. I am from Venezuela, a beautiful country located in South America, but now it is quite decimated by the enormous socio-economic and political crisis it is going through. In Venezuela, I graduated from the Venezuelan Red Cross Nursing School, and went to the Kairos Center for Cross-Cultural Missions, and worked in community church projects.
In 2004, I went to Mexico where I worked as a coordinator of a Child Development Center, through which the children of the community were helped to improve their academic performance. While in Mexico, I met my husband, Ivan Landa, who is from Bolivia, and he was already living in the United States. In 2006, we married and have since lived in the city of Lewisville. My husband is the Spanish speaking pastor of the Lewisville Bible Church. His ministry specializes in family counseling. Part of his work is to provide tools to couples to develop a healthy and happy marriage life.
I was the church secretary until the arrival of my first daughter, then I chose to stay at home and raise my three children, Hannah, Abdiel, and Shaina. During that stage of my life, I enjoyed helping my children with their school work and learn how to use strategies to make the learning fun. My goal was to help my children acquire the main learning facts, therefore I became passionate to become a teacher. For me, it was fascinating to watch how my daughter learned to read and write at the age of three. I really enjoyed teaching each of my children.
Another reason that got me more enthusiastic to go to school and become a teacher was the needs within our community. I observed a lot of young people that didn’t graduate from high school for different reasons. I could not understand how these young people with perfect English did not register for College. I said to myself, “I must be an inspiration for these young people.” So, without speaking perfect English, I have started a long journey to contextualize the academic culture of the United States. After taking ESL classes, I took a class to prepare for the GED exam. Once I earned my GED diploma, I registered at the college.
Currently, I am a student at North Central Texas College. I work every day to get my degree in education. I want to be an inspiration for the thousands of young people who graduate from high school every year, and for so many women who think that by getting married and having children their dreams are over. Dreams are powerful, and I’m working to make my dreams come true.
Why do you teach?
Do teachers need to love teaching to be effective?
To be effective in the deepest sense, yes. One can teach basic skills without love, but to truly make a difference in a student’s life, there needs to be love. Love sees teaching as an art where we explore different ways of connecting to subject matter and to students. Love brings patience and understanding, which are so important in teaching.
Do they need to love kids?
Here I would use the word compassion. Compassion allows us to see our students as individuals who are struggling and sometimes suffering. Compassion allows us to see ourselves in the student, even the student who we find is hard to relate to. Nel Noddings [Stanford emeritus professor] has written about the importance of care, and if our students feel that we care for them, this can be a strong motivation for learning.
This week let's remind ourselves WHY we absolutely love what we get to do everyday.
Why do you love teaching?
Let's Welcome April with Jeans :-)
Remember, we have 8 more weeks to make a difference.
RESTORATIVE PRACTICES
We are also looking forward to observing the implementation of Restorative Practices:
2 Minute Connections
90 Second Sparks
Grump Meter
Let's finish Strong!
REQUIRED STAAR Training for ALL Staff Members
All certified staff members (including tutors) will partake in the full training. Each person trained will be required to sign an oath stating that they understand and will abide by the expectations set forth by TEA.
Please email Ms. Lawson and let her know which time you will be present. Each training will begin promptly at the times listed.
APRIL STAFF RECOGNITION - I STATEMENT: BE POSITIVE AND ENCOURAGING EVERY DAY
Please click here to submit your nomination.
Please submit your nomination no later than 3:45 p.m. this Thursday, April 4th 7th.
CIP CONNECTION: GOAL 2 PO 2: We will promote and nurture collaborative relationships essential for a successful school by developing committees and staff recognition incentives.
STUDENT RECOGNITION -I STATEMENT: CREATE MEANINGFUL AND POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH ALL STUDENTS.
Who is your student of the month?
- Someone that is respectful
- Someone that is helpful
- Someone that shows perseverance
- Someone that shows determination
- Someone that is kind to others
- A leader
NEU Rallies
- Monday AM at 7:50 for 3-5,
- Monday PM at 2:00 for K-2.
Please refer to Mrs. Zamora's reminder email with all of the logistics.
Friday Luncheon
This Friday, the second grade team and Para’s are hosting the luncheon in the lounge! Below is the link to the sign up sheet.
I hope you can all join us for some yummy “picnic” style foods!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zGYlbDsilHTRdzwAjxCgwl_6a_GMge7z8bynnEtvmms/edit?usp=sharing
Pennies for Patients Update
Here is the leaderboard after Week 1
- Mr.Anderson’s Class
- Ms.Frederick’s Class
- Ms.Paris’s Class
Ms.Davis and Ms.Sammon are right behind the 3rd place spot!!
Most of the money brought in by these classes was coins! It really does add up quickly!
Laura Norton, M. Ed.
EOY LEAD Conference
We are looking forward to our END OF YEAR CONFERENCE!
You will receive information from your appraiser about signing up for a date.
EOY LEAD CONFERENCE GENERAL INFORMATION
The conference is a time for the teacher and appraiser to:
Review the information collected throughout the year,
Present any artifacts supporting the goal progress or attainment.
APRIL'S I STATION ASSESSMENT
- Monitor your students and redirect them as needed.
- Talk to students about their March data, and encourage them for their April data.
- Celebrate their growth.
I STATION DATA
- What are some celebrations we have as a grade level?
- What are some areas of growth?
- How can we help each other?
- How are we using this data to restructure Pony Groups?
- What should the focus on our reading mini-lessons?
- How can we use our instructional resources?
Note: The kinder and 1st grade data includes the dual language classes who are just beginning to transition into their L2. Pay attention to the Skill Growth by Tier report to celebrate how all grade levels are showing growth.
Kinder data by skill
1st grade data by skill
2nd grade data by skill
3rd grade data by skill
4th grade data by skill
5th 1st grade data by skill
Spanish Kinder grade data by skill
Spanish 1st grade data by skill
Spanish 2nd grade data by skill
Spanish 3rd grade data by skill
Spanish 4th grade data by skill
Spanish 5th grade data by skill
Literacy English Data Shout Outs!
Kindergarten - Frazier
Kindergarten - Silvia
1st Grade - Crawley
Literacy Spanish Data Shout Outs!
Kindergarten - Bernal
Kindergarten - O'donnell
1st Grade - Diaz
1st Grade - Butler/ Rodriguez
2nd Grade - Wier/ Sammon
2nd Grade - Heim/ Oporto
2nd Grade - Oporto/ Heim
2nd Grade - Sammon/ Wier
3rd Grade - Boston/ Hernandez
3rd Grade - Hernandez/ Boston
3rd Grade - Lopez
4th Grade - Varona/ Gray
Master Calendar
Our Pony Week
- April Fool's Day
- NEU Rally 7:50-8:15 for 3rd-5th; 2:00-2:20 for K-2nd
- 3rd Grade Benchmark data analysis 7:15 to 8:15 (Counselors will cover.)
- Rachael Myers BD
- Benchmark Makeup Testing - Day 1 (All teachers affected have been notified.)
Tuesday, April 2nd:
- TEKS & ELPS Collaboration 2nd, 5th, 1st (Check emails from Miss Lawson for details.)
- Tutoring
- Dress for Success
- GT Campus Selection Mtg. 3:15 p.m.
- Lacey Troyer BD
- Benchmark Makeup Testing - Day 2 (All teachers affected have been notified.)
- Signed Testing Rosters due to Lawson from 4th and 5th Grade Teachers
- Rotary Reads
- 4th Grade Benchmark Data Analysis 7:15 to 8:15 (Counselors will cover.)
- Multilingual Coordinator on campus
- TELPAS window closes
- Teachers need to have reflection & artifacts uploaded to STRIVE
- Staff Luncheon - 2nd Gr. & Paras Host
- Robert Reed BD
- STAAR Classroom and Hallways will be checked beginning at 4:00 p.m.
- LEAD EOY information due.
Upcoming events
- Lang. Arts 3-5 LF on campus
Tuesday, April 9th:
- 4th Writing STAAR
- 5th Math STAAR
- Librarian Day
- NO TEKS & ELPS Collaboration (STAAR Week)
- 1st Grade to LISDOLA
- Tutoring K-2nd Only
- 5th Reading STAAR
- Dress for Success
- K-2nd Istation Check-Ins
- Advisory Mtg. w/ Principal 3:15 to 4:15
- Taryn Hackworth BD
- Student of the Month Breakfast
- Sharica Jones BD
Friday, April 12th
- Spirit Day
Shout-Outs!
Ms. Crawley for always being positive and having a smile on your face.
- Mrs. Crawley for always finding the bright side of things.
- Mrs. Diaz for always making copies and revising IPS for me.
- Ms. Lawson for taking ALL the time to organize STAAR benchmark materials for us. You are appreciated!
- Ms. Helbig for facilitating our Science Collaborative Planning meeting. Are you sure you're a first year teacher?? ;-)
- Ms. Lawson for investing the time to create the thorough videos for Science collaborative planning and benchmark testing.
- The mastermind behind the self-guided collaborative science meeting. My team found it to be very beneficial.
- Mr. Fitzgerald for being patient and thorough. You rock!
- The admin team. You ladies do SO MUCH for our students, teachers, and campus. I appreciated the assistance that each of you have provided to myself and team!
- Mrs. Guerrero for helping me be prepared to welcome a student into my classroom. Thank you Betty for your response time to make sure that I have the resources needed. You are awesome!
- Ms. Frazier for her great thinking with scheduling.
- Ms. Diaz and Ms. Wier for being willing to take a risk and challenge themselves. You will do great!
- Mrs. Boston for having conversations with her students about their benchmark data.
- Mrs. Cichy for already having analyzed her benchmark data and asking for ideas.
- Mr. Colon and Mr. Anderson for problem-solving how to support their students without being asked.
- Mr. Anderson for setting his CIS student of the year up for success. I love his shoes, Mr. Anderson. Thank you for providing them. :-)
- Ms. Green because your voice was breaking when you were talking about Angel. It shows how much you love and care and are invested in each of the Ponies. You are a blessing for the Pony Family.
- Ms. Y. Bernal for taking the time to make that extra phone call to the parent to celebrate student success.
- Ms. Helbig for helping during ARD meetings.
- Ms. Snell for always saying I am on my way. I appreciate you.
- Mrs.. Brinegar for helping me with a parent situation after school.
- Mr. Reed for making his small group laugh with his kindness.
- All 3rd-5th grade teachers for your patience and flexibility with me during this round of benchmark testing.
- Mrs. Vando for making sure all of the signs were up in the hallways.
- Mrs. Ratzlaff, Mr. Reed, Ms. Dickinson, Mrs. Bigham, Mrs. Callahan, Mrs. Medrano, Mrs. Morales, and Mrs. S. Hernandez for serving as hall monitors and bathroom monitors and for jumping in wherever needed. (THANK YOU!)
- ALL staff members who pulled a student or a group for testing! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
- Mrs. Kilam for the yummy drink...it was right on time and it hit the spot!
- Mrs. Boston for staying late and helping sort envelopes AND for the Red Bulls!
- Ms. Musser, Mrs. Morales, and Mrs. Blake for stepping in and covering my duties.
- All of the teachers who lead the Science Collaborative Planning this past week...thank you, thank you, thank you!
- Everyone who helped set up and clean up following our STAAR training this week.
- Mrs. Betty and Mrs. Vando for listening to all of my ideas and helping me get what is needed to make them happen.
Happy April Birthdays
- Rachael Myers - April 1st
- Lacey Troyer- April 3rd
- Robert Reed - April 5th
- Taryn Hackworth - April 10th
- Sharica Jones - April 11th
- Marla Rodriguez - April 22nd
- Antoinette Boston - April 24