Cobra Connect
Staff Newsletter - 4-22-2019
Home of the Cobras
Collins Intermediate is committed to academic success and general well-being of all students. Through collaboration and teamwork, we will provide meaningful strategies and interventions for all students to reach their learning goals.
Website: http://collins.conroeisd.net/
Location: 6020 Shadowbend Place, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Phone: 281-298-3800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Collins
Twitter: @CollinsCobras
the parent newsletter. Information due Monday - Noon. Targeted publication Monday PM or Tuesday AM.
Last August, Magnolia ISD had to do a Tax Rate Election. They wanted to move &.01 from the Bond side to the operations side of the budget. By doing so, this would have allowed the district to give employees a nice raise. The election was conducted and the result was:
Failed by 88 votes. Therefore, the raise and tax change did not occur. Approximately 350 eligible voters in the election that were also school employees did not vote.
Lesson: Your Vote matters. Make a difference and vote!!!
Two Plus Weeks at a Glance
Please check Parent Calendar, Collins Staff Forum, and your personal Outlook Calendar in the event an event was missed.
Tuesday, April 23rd
- Principal Panel 8 AM
- Load Button Goes On to upload Grades
- Principal Panel 4:15 PM - see email
Wednesday, April 24th
- Principal Panel 8 AM - see email
- Principal Panel 4:15 PM - see email
Thursday, April 25th
- RtI Meeting 7:45 AM - Front Conference Room - CANCELLED
- Lighthouse 8 AM - PLC room
- Karen out
- Progress Report Sent Home
- Principal Panel 4:15 PM - see email
Friday, April 26th
- Collins Volunteer Breakfast 8:30 - 10:00 AM
- Shelli Off campus CISD Education Foundation - Scholarship Breakfast 7:00 - 9:30 AM
- Karen out
Monday, April 29th
- 5th Grade STAAR Results Due
- Shelli Off Campus - CP Feeder Principal Meeting 9:00 - 10:30 AM
- Shelli Off Campus - Powell Elementary Visit 8:00 AM
- Shelli Off Campus - Meeting with Dr. Phillips 1:30 - 3:00 PM
- Colossal Cobras 6th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
Tuesday, April 30th
- Core Team Meeting 7:45 AM PLC Meeting Room
- Colossal Cobras 5th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
- Cavalier Music Festival - Collins Honor Band and Orchestra competition
- Incoming 5th Instrument Selection Night Band & Orchestra - College Park HS 5 - 8 PM
Wednesday, May 1st
- Shelli Off Campus - David Elementary Visit 8 AM
- Principal Panel 4:15 PM - See email
Thursday, May 2nd
- Shelli Off Campus - Ride Elementary Visit 8 AM
- STAAR Training Review - Through PLC
Friday, May 3rd
- CARE Team Meeting 8 AM PLC Room
- Orchestra Full Rehearsal 6th Grade 8:30 - 9:15 AM
- Shelli spend required Sub Day shadowing a student
Saturday, May 4th
- Election Day
********** Teacher Appreciation Week 5/6 - 5/10 **********
Monday, May 6th
- Incoming 5th Instrument Selection Night Band & Orchestra - Collins 4:45 - 7 PM (NO PERCUSSION OR SAXOPHONE)
Tuesday, May 7th
- Team Leader Meeting 8 AM PLC Room
- Orchestra Full Rehearsal 5th Grade 8:30 - 9:15 AM
Wednesday, May 8th
- Collins Orchestra Concert - College Park HS - 6:30 PM
Thursday, May 9th
- Cobra Focus Meeting 8 AM - PLC Room
- Incoming 5th Orchestra Only Parent Info/Vendor Night Collins 6:30 PM
- PTO Lunch
Monday, May 13th - 16th Closed Campus Due to STAAR Testing
Monday, May 13th
- 6th Math STAAR
- 5th Math STAAR Retest
Tuesday, May 14th
- 6th Reading STAAR
- 5th Reading STAAR Retest
Wednesday, May 15th
- 5th Science STAAR Test
Thursday, May 16th
- RtI Meeting 7:45 AM - Front Conference Room
- Lighthouse Meeting 8 AM - PLC Room
- Collins Choir Concert - Collins 5:30 PM
- STAAR Testing - Make up day
Friday, May 17th
- Principal/Assistant Principal for the day - March Madness Winners
- Daytime Orchestra Concert 9:30 AM
- Choir Daytime Performance 2 PM
Monday, May 20th
- PTO Meeting 1:15 PM
- Colossal Cobras 6th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
- Shelter In Place Drill 3:30
Tuesday, May 21st
- Core Leader Meeting 7:45 AM - PLC Room
- 5th Social Studies Benchmark #1
- Collins Band Concert College Park High School - Times TBA
Wednesday, May 22nd
- Principal Meeting - Shelli Out 8 AM - 12:30 PM
- Principal/Assistant Principal for the day - Fall Frenzy Winners
- Collins Band Daytime Concert - 9:30 AM
- College Park Feeder String Fling Concert - College Park HS Gym 6PM
Thursday, May 23rd
- Faculty Meeting 8 AM - Library
- 6th Science Benchmark #2
- College Park High School Graduation
Friday, May 24th
- 6th Social Studies Benchmark #1
- N.E.A.T. Attendance Celebration - Kona Ice
- Incoming 5th Grade Instrument Selection Page Due to Child's Elementary School
- PTO delivers Yearbook to classroom for distribution on Tuesday 5/28/19
- Load Button Goes On
Monday, May 27th
- School Holiday
Tuesday, May 28th
- Collins Yearbook Distribution during school day
- VERY Limited Quantity Yearbook Purchase - (First Come First Serve) $50 cash only - exact amount - not change given.
- Colossal Cobras 5th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
Wednesday, May 29th
- 5th Field Day
- 6th Field Day
Thursday, May 30th
- Required School Attendance Day
- Early Dismissal 12:45 PM
- Teacher Work Day 4:10 PM
Friday, May 31st
- Teacher Workday
Volunteer Breakfast
Please see the list below to see what your LC or Group has volunteered to bring for this event. Currently we have 25 volunteers scheduled to attend the breakfast.
5-1 Breakfast Tacos
5-2 Breakfast Casserole
5-3 Juices
5-4 Breakfast Parfaits
5-5 Bagels and Cream Cheese
6-1 Clear Plates and a Breakfast Casserole
6-2 Coffee and Coffee Cups
6-3 Fruit
6-4/6-5 Donuts/ Muffins/Breakfast Pastries
Fine Arts Clear Silverware, Clear Cups and Flavored Creamers
Wilingham/Mills/Lahey/Cronce (2) Breakfast Casseroles
Front Office Invitation and Volunteer Gift will help Terri with decorating
Terri Milam Decorations, napkins
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your help,
Doreen
If interested in Student Teacher in Fall - Let Shelli know ASAP!
TTESS END-OF-YEAR CONFERENCES
Preparing for the Conference
All teachers must participate in EOY Conferences, even if they are Less Than Annual Appraisals. Those that are LTAA will NOT have a summative document, but you will have a conference with them.
What will be discussed?
- Final, cumulative observation data for domains 1, 2, and 3.
- Share and discuss data pertaining to domain 4.
- Professional goals: progress toward this year’s goal(s) and determination on next year’s goal(s).
- Student Learning Objectives: progress toward this year’s SLO and determination on next year’s SLO.
What should teachers bring?
- Before the conference, teachers should upload their student growth tracker and any assessments used as evidence at the EOY SLO interval. They can attach these documents in the SLO portion of Strive.
- To the conference, teachers should bring any evidence they want to discuss regarding domain 4, professional development, and progress toward their professional goal.
Most importantly:
The purpose of the T-TESS instrument is to help teachers grow. The EOY conference should be collaborative and reflective and should serve to address the following questions:
- What went well this year?
- What can be done differently for next year?
- What can the appraiser and administrative team do to help support the teachers in their professional growth?
PROFESSIONAL GOALS
Discussion on professional goals should include the following:
- How are you progressing toward attaining your professional goal?
- What have you done throughout the year to help move toward goal attainment?
- How has your instruction changed as a result?
- Do you want to keep the same goal with some adjustments for next year, or do you want to shift your focus to a new goal?
- What support do you need from your appraiser and administrative team?
Remember that goals can still be adjusted next school year if needed. What you decide during the EOY conference does not have to be set in stone.
It’s more effective and efficient if the professional goal can tie in to the SLO. Even though you might have an SLO that matches that of the whole team, what you may want to focus on professionally to help inform instruction will be tailored to your needs.
The whole purpose of T-TESS is to help all teachers grow. With that in mind, the most important part of the process is the professional goal setting. It should in-form every other step of the process.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES - SLO's
Discussion on Student Learning Objectives should include the following:
- Student Growth—students who grew as expected and why; students who did not progress as expected and why.
- What would you do differently next year in the SLO process?
- What support do you need to help you in this area?
- Do you want to keep the same SLO with some adjustments for next year, or do you want to shift your focus to a new SLO? *If SLOs were done as a team, en-courage teachers to meet with their team to have these discussions before their EOY conference.
- What support do you need from your appraiser and administrative team?
Remember that SLOs can still be adjusted next school year if needed. What you decide during the EOY conference does not have to be set in stone.
See the SLO rubric below to help you prior to the EOY conference.
GT Update Trainings
Teachers, here are some opportunities for GT hours for NEXT year. July would count for the next school year.
Tired Teacher Bingo
Tech Time
Summer CISD Connects Academy
Here are flyers describing tech trainings available through the summer. I would LOVE to have a good showing at the CISD Connects Academy, July 25th-26th, which is going to feature a really interesting, motivating, and challenging speaker and Tech leader named Alan November. He is really engaging and very approachable, and really interested in helping teachers engage today's students.
Sign up for all in Eduphoria....I could not find the classes from the Canvas flyer in Eduphoria, so I emailed the district to see if there is a glitch.
:)Kellie
Assistant Principal Prose
The updated 6 hours must be completed by beginning of May.
Please turn in certificate of completion as early as possible to Sabrina Pomales.
Bond Reminders
Avengers Assemble - Whatever it takes!
504 & ARD Compliance
Please be aware of the email sent last week about online signatures.
If you received a letter in your box today, it will have the names of the students that you have yet to sign for their accommodations, and the date it was sent to you.
*Please note these accommodations need to be printed out and in a folder in your room
*The most recent documents sent to you are what should be printed
*Even if you receive two shares (one usually is an update/change) - BOTH shares need to be signed.
***Printing in the copier room - Please secure print any 504 Teacher Bundles or IEP documents.
Too many confidential documents are being left on the printer or the counter.
If you have trouble setting this up, please let me know and I can help.
Thank you for your time and understanding the importance of keeping our School Compliant.
RtI Tier II Progress Reports
Just a friendly reminder that RTI Tier II Progress Reports are due tomorrow. Please place them in my mailbox once your forms are complete.
Should you have any questions or need any help please let me know.
Thank you for all you do,
Doreen
Sign In - Sign Out
Every staff member - no matter the reason that leaves campus should go to Eduphoria and electronically sign out and then sign back in when they return. Even for a quick McDonald's lunch run!
Click on Image for Steps in Eduphoria for Sign Out/In
Attendance - Taking it on Time
We still working on 100% attendance taken at 10:00 AM each day by teachers. We will be moving the reminder bell to 9:45 AM so that attendance is in the computer by 10 AM. I completely understand that it is not always easy to stop in the middle of teaching to take attendance, however it is required by the state. The district is really cracking down, on this issue, this year. Please read the email below that was sent to all PEIMS clerks.
We have been hearing for some time that TEA is very concerned about the actual time that attendance is taken for ADA. At the beginning of this year, the principals were reminded that we would be looking into this issue.
ADA attendance is a point in time, not a period. The time for your campus must be set before school starts and should be in the 2nd or 5th hour of instruction. Our campuses almost all use the 2nd hour. Having said that, it is a POINT IN TIME and not the entire 2nd period for the correct attendance taking time by teachers. For instance, if your campus ADA time is 10:00 and attendance is taken at 10:45, that is not correct. During an audit, funding would be lost for that class. As it was explained to us by TEA, if TEA audits your campus or your district, and finds that the attendance time is not being met, they will take away funding. The example we were given is that they could take away $30 per student per class of all classes with the time outside of the actual time. If you have a class of 30 students and the teacher is not taking attendance promptly, you would loose $900 per day per class, multiplied by the number of days that the time was incorrect, potentially a staggering amount of funding to be lost on each class.
I am receiving emails from the PEIMS office reminding us of the attendance rules , and also reminders at audits. We have been asked to send letters to the teachers explaining the consequences, that the school will face, if their attendance is not taken exactly at the attendance time. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Breakfast
We look forward to your feedback during the trial of this new timeline.
Warm Up Wednesday
Pants
Black warm up pants of your of your choice (either solid or a stripe down the sides)
Shirt
Current PTO Collins school shirt "Work Hard, Be Kind, Dream Big, Collins Cobras"
An LC created team shirt (that the entire team is wearing)
A PLC created team shirt (that the entire team is wearing)
IF we were to create a Collins Staff shirt - it could be worn in the future.
To conclude - four shirt options and one warm up pant option.
If jeans are worn on Wednesday - staff member must use a "Jeans Pass".
Please remember for our staff picture we are are wearing the Gray "Work Hard, Be Kind, Dream Big, Collins Cobras".
CARE Team - Foundations
Heather Ramsey: LC 5-1, 5-2, 5-3
Paige Kirbo: LC 5-4, 5-5
Melanie Cockshott & Julie Berg: LC 6-1 & support staff
Shawna Yates: LC 6-2, 6-3
Lisa Lackey: LC 6-4, 6-5
Collin Henry: PE and Fine Arts
One-liners
★ Check your Feet
★ Third Tile - Single File
★ Check your Hands
★ Check your Voice
★ Right Side, Safe Side
★ Hats/Hoods off
****** Next Meeting Thursday, March 7th********
Copy Machine Important Update - Dark Print
Teachers & Staff.... regarding item #4 below....in addition to dark borders creating issues with printing and possible jamming problems, it also sucks up toner. Sooo, when printing items with a dark border, please erase those edges.
Something new regarding cardstock copying...
Not only do you have to:
- load the card stock in the side (tray 5)
- select the appropriate paper weight (heavy)
- select the correct paper size
- ensure orientation of the inserted paper matches the selection of the paper size
But, you also should NOT use the duplex function. If you need your card stock to be 2-sided, you should run 1 side...collect your copies and turn them over to run the second side.
Ugh...I know...it's a pain in the tail to have so many rules and processes and procedures, but know they are for the good of us all so our beloved copy machine stays in tip-top shape. Thanks for being rule-followers!
Copy Machine - Please review #5
- When loading paper in his trays, be patient...wait for the tray to completely lower before dropping in a ream of paper. He looks like a strong, tough guy...but he doesn't like surprises and his tray cables are more delicate than we think. They can't handle the force of a ream of paper being dropped in unexpectedly.
- Before loading a ream of paper, it may even be helpful to slightly thumb through/fan the paper to help separate those sheets of paper.
- Mr. Copy Machine is smart. Follow his instructions - in order. In the event of a paper jam, he will tell you how to locate the jam in great detail....be sure to follow the steps listed on his display monitor. Don't automatically assume that the jam initiated in the paper tray. Following his steps in the order listed will reduce the potential for ripped paper pieces getting stuck in unreachable areas of the machine. If it states to turn knob 3, then open tray 1, then remove the paper from slot C...that's what you should do (even if you see the paper in slot C sticking up and waving at you). I can't stress it enough....please FOLLOW the sequence of instructions listed on the display screen.
- Please ensure that all of his levers & lids are shut, lowered and/or replaced properly before pushing the guts back in the machine after clearing a mis-feed/jam.
When things aren't closed properly, it throws off the alignments and sensors to allow paper to flow freely and correctly.
- If you are printing something with a dark border, please make sure the margins are set to at least .4 - anything smaller/narrower than that confuses our otherwise brilliant copy machine and will create problems when printing.
Cardstock...this is a biggie and requires it's own set of bullets
cardstock should always be loaded in the side bypass tray 5 (never in the main trays)
- always identify the paper as heavy weight
- always verify the correct size & orientation of the paper
- If staples need to be replaced, please check with me or Karen Kline to obtain staple cartridge & instructions on the replacement process.