Conrad/Thomas Jefferson Tribune
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 3-7, 2020
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP/NORTHWEST GOALS & CORE VALUES
A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Illustrious Leaders,
You will have the opportunity to engage in Professional Development with your colleagues Wednesday at District-Wide Principals' meeting. I hope you are able to see how all the pieces of the Teaching Trust PD we have been provided since the summer has been instrumental in how to make instructional moves on your campuses daily. You now have the tools to be a successful team on each of your campuses. Take risks, look at where the gaps are and figure out a way to try a new or different approach to how you view or implement new learning with all the tools you have been given. The time is now to 'Be Brave!'
Principals and the leadership teams have a great opportunity on February 14 to get in front of teachers for Professional Development day. Be sure to structure this day around the HIGHEST leverage points that will assist in moving the instruction for each of your campuses. Exceeding targets should be everyone's focus and the goal can only be done if EVERYONE is focused on the HIGHEST leverage points of the individual campus. I will be providing you with feedback on your agendas to ensure that you do have your eye on the target: Student Achievement.
As always, I look forward to seeing academic changes in your instructional programs to ensure our scholars are being successful. Have an awesome week LEADING, COACHING, TEACHING, LEARNING AND MAKING ACADEMIC ADJUSTMENTS!
WE ARE IN IT TO WIN IT...GO FOR THE GOLD!!
Ms. Torres
Emmett Conrad/Thomas Jefferson Executive Director
DALLAS ISD INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT RESOURCES
PRINCIPALS OF LEARNING FOCUS
WEEKLY UPDATES
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3
ED and ILC campus coaching visit @ Joe May
Mr. Corrales-Special Ed. Mtg. w/Ms. Torres@ 10:30 a.m.-Joe May
ED and ILCs Campus visit @ Saldivar
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
- ED and ILC campus coaching visit @ Walnut Hill
- ED and ILC campus coaching visit @ McShan
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
- ILC's campus visit @ K.B. Polk
- ILC's campus visit @ Stephen Foster
- Elementary District-Wide Principal Meeting-NCX 2nd floor-8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.-ALL principals and ED
- ED & ILC planning-McShan
- ED Mtg. @ 9:30 p.m. United to Learn-Tracy Law Firm
- ED and ILC campus coaching visit @ Cigarroa
- TJ Principal Meeting (TJ Principals ONLY!) -NCX-5th floor Rm#555-3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
- PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDAS DUE TO MS. TORRES BY 9 AM.
- Deputy Chief/ED meeting @8:30 a.m.
Conrad & Jefferson ES Cluster
Red Carpet Acknowledgements
Congratulations & Happy Birthday All In One!
Sonia Loskot, Principal of David G. Burnet ES
Scholars Push for Just 1 More
Conrad and Jefferson ES Cluster Principals' Meeting @ Cigarroa ES
Polk ES Make the Grade in Academics & Extracurricular Activities
Foster ES Participates in Dallas ISD's STEM Day 2020
NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS & ADMINISTRATION
BILITERACY CAMP
The Bilingual ESL Department is excited to pilot Biliteracy Camp - an innovative feeder pattern tutoring program targeted at struggling English learners in grades 3 – 5. We will meet for four (4) intensive sessions in which students will experience hands-on, engaging activities and lessons to promote listening, speaking, reading, writing, and metalinguistic connections for TELPAS. All expenses and logistics, including the selection and confirmation of host campuses, have been provided for by the Bilingual ESL Department. Transportation will be available from home campus to host campus.
One thing we do need from individual campuses is assistance with reaching out to identified students and facilitating (online) registration. We ask that you identify a campus contact person to assist with parent communication and student registration by Thursday, December 19, 2019.
CONRAD/THOMAS JEFFERSON INITIATIVES
THE LEADER IN ME
Thinking Maps ~ FEBRUARY ~ The Brace Map
INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO RESOURCES
THE CORE 4
Dallas ISD is 20,000 staff members strong, and each one is vital to the work being accomplished in the district. Through the district’s commitment to exemplary customer service, each member is focused on serving 157,000 students and their families by delivering professional, high-quality service in everything we do.
At the heart of great customer service for each district employee are the four tenets of customer service--the Core 4: focused, fast, flexible, and friendly. These principles, also, are key to forging a positive culture within the organization as they are applied, internally, colleague to colleague, as well as to students, families, taxpayers, and the entire community.
It is a strong commitment that goes beyond the conversation about what exemplary customer service looks like becoming the norm for the way we operate in the district every day.
FUTURE IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
CIC Conference January 2020
2020 LEADER IN ME SYMPOSIUM
BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT SYSTEM (K-2)
SWAG NIGHTS (K-5) & Specials Teachers
SWAG SPECIALIST TEAM LEADS
COMMON ASSESSMENT TIMELINE
Reading ILC Corner - Focus of the Week - Open Ended Questioning for Comprehension
Want to improve a child’s comprehension and vocabulary? Ask them open ended questions while you read! Here is a list of 50 open ended questions for preschoolers and beyond that you can ask that will spark conversation, get kids talking, and improve their overall understanding. Read the full article from "Bilingual Kidspot” using the button below.
Math ILC Corner
Grade 3-5 Math Focus
Properties of Multiplication to Generate Strategies
Expiration Rules in Division
Science ILC Corner
FALL 2019 TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Oracle Finance Systems and Payroll classes are also available. ATS is now offering a new Open Lab for iExpense. The attached schedule of classes is on our website at: https://www.dallasisd.org/ATS.
See the WAIP 7/18/2019 for more information
IMPORTANT LINKS & INFORMATION TO READ
FEBRUARY
10-TJ Principals and CRC's -Master scheduling overview w/Michelle Thompson for 6th grade @ 9:45 a.m.-2:00 p.m.@Burnet Elementary-CRC's only stay for Master Scheduling piece.
19-Budget meeting timeline with Talent Partner & ED-5th floor Rm. 583
20-Instructional rounds @ Joe May-9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
21-State of the District Address @ Omni Hotel-@10:00
27-Check on camps Extracurricular Activities on your campuses-goal 100%
27-Network Day
MARCH
27-1st Snapshot date for Extracurricular Activities
28-United 2 Learn-Community day
APRIL
16-Network Day
MAY
4-Sheltered Instruction Training w/Region 10-@ 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.-McShan Elementary
15-2nd Snapshot date for Extracurricular Activities
JUNE
4-Network Day
10-Principal Luncheon
MARSHALL MEMO #821
Phonics Is Only Part of Good Literacy Instruction
In this Education Week article, Heidi Anne Mesmer (Virginia Tech University) says there’s strong research support for teaching four foundational reading skills in the early grades:
- Print concepts – for example, print runs left to right, words are groups of letters separated by a space;
- Phonological awareness – being able to orally identify and manipulate the sound units of language, including the alphabetic principle: that symbols represent speech sounds (cat equals three symbols, three sounds);
- Phonics and word recognition – the correspondence between visual symbols (graphemes made up of letters) and speech sounds (phonemes); this includes analyzing multisyllabic words, which means teaching morphology through fifth grade;
- Fluency – being able to read connected text accurately, and with proper expression (volume, phrasing, smoothness, and pace), with little conscious effort, conveying and being able to focus on the meaning.
The bad news, says Mesmer, is that many schools aren’t teaching all four in a thorough and balanced way, often putting too much emphasis on phonics. That prevents students from becoming proficient at automatically recognizing words and being able to devote most of their mental bandwidth to understanding complex ideas and vocabulary.
“No one can concentrate on Newton’s laws, plot development, or electrical circuits if they are struggling to decode every fifth word,” says Mesmer. “We are putting the cart before the horse if we drill letter/sounds without also teaching print concepts and the alphabetic principle… Can you imagine going to a job where you learn all about the different types of buttons, threads, fabrics, and zippers but no one tells you that you are manufacturing jeans? Yet that’s often how reading instruction can feel for children.”
“Simply put,” says Mesmer, “foundational skills cannot be separated. Print concepts and phonological awareness support phonics instruction, morphological instruction extends students’ word recognition, and fluency automatizes word reading.” She believes the schools that get the best (and the most equitable) results are following these precepts:
• Teaching the foundational skills systematically – This means a curriculum and materials that specify what is taught and in what sequence.
• Balancing the four skills – “These skills are complementary and need to be consistently taught, in response to development, through grade 5,” she says.
• Being explicit about key concepts – Mesmer recently tested more than 100 kindergarten students who knew about 90 percent of their letter/sounds but could not decode simple words. What was lacking was direct teaching of grapheme/phoneme relationships, word roots, and syllable patterns.
• Using assessment information to differentiate – Students entering kindergarten may know all their letter names or none. “Teachers must use simple diagnostic assessments that inform cumulative review and instruction, and often must use small-group instruction,” says Mesmer.
• Using high-quality, aligned materials – A recent RAND study found that only seven percent of elementary teachers were using at least one well-vetted set of ELA materials. EdReports.org has a tool that can zero in on the best materials.
• Seeing the bigger picture – Full literacy instruction includes vocabulary, world knowledge, comprehension, writing, and other Common Core standards.
EMMETT J. CONRAD/THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
- Jack Lowe Elementary: Principal, Sandra Barrios
- Jill Stone : Principals, Rosalinda Pratt & Selena Deboskie
- Highland Meadows: Principal, JoAnna Bahena
- David G. Burnet Elementary: Principal, Sonia Loskot
- Leonides Cigarroa Elementary : Principal, Douglas Burak
- Stephen C. Foster Elementary: Principal, Irma De La Guardia
- Joe May Elementary: Principal, Rosseven Nava
- K.B. Polk Elementary: Principal, Kourtnei Billups
- Julian T. Saldivar: Principal, Edgar Jaramillo
- Walnut Hill Elementary: Principal, Phillip Potter
- McShan Elementary: Principal, Joseph Medaris