Anchor Weekly
A newsletter for Alta Vista Staff~Week of February 24, 2020
Don't Forget! Next Week's Calendar
- Math Coaching with Region 12/Mr A (Select Teachers) on Monday, February 24
- Transformation Waco Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 25 at 5:30 pm at Zone Office
- ONLINE Mock STAAR Practice (Gr 4 Writing, Gr 5 Math/ELAR) on Tuesday, February 25-Wednesday, 26 **Lab Closed**
- CNS A-Z Salad Bar in Cafeteria on Wednesday, February 26 at lunch time
- YMCA "My Book Adventure" Delivery to K-2 Students on Wednesday, February 26 at 1:00 pm
- Tribe Pow Wow on Friday, February 28 (8:30-Australia; 9:30-Africa; 1:15-Asia; 2:00-South America)
- Wear western/cowboy/patriotic outfit for Texas Independence Day on Monday, March 2
- TELPAS Online Testing Practice (Gr 2-5) in Lab on Monday, March 2-Wednesday, March 4
- Faculty Meeting (Only for staff that are doing tutoring) on Wednesday, March 4
- PLC (Region 12/Judy York) on Thursday, March 5
- Dr. Seuss Day/Tribe Buddy Day on Friday, March 6
Coming Up Soon: Spring Break-March 9-13; Multicultural Children's Book Week during Week of March 16
Captain's Log
Positive intent-it's something we used to talk about frequently with Conscious Discipline. Positive intent is giving people the benefit of the doubt and assuming their intentions are good. This is important for 2 reasons. One, you don't know what the other person has gone through. We all bring baggage to work, whether we want to or not. Sometimes it shows out and we need to afford people some grace when that happens because it happens to us all. Secondly, research shows that having compassion boosts your own happiness. And who doesn't want to be happier? So, the next time you feel like someone isn't meeting your expectations or has slighted or offended you, try to reframe the situation with positive intent.
Speaking of positive intent, the behavior team continues to work tremendously hard to proactively address behavior challenges. They are currently serving 2 high need students in PASS/RESET right now and may not have the flexibility or availability that you are used to. Please do not text them for restroom breaks as this keeps them from being able to respond to behavior emergencies. Remember that some behaviors should be managed by the teacher, like refusal to do work. If you are having this problem, I encourage you to call parents to set up a time when students can stay after school to complete missing assignments. We have staff here until 4:30 to supervise these students.
The leadership team will be meeting with all students in grades 3-5 over the course of the next week to check on their progress towards math/reading/science achievement goals. We will do our best to minimize interruptions, and will meet very quickly with each student so as to maximize their instruction time. Please have their data folders available for quick access so we don't interrupt your lesson.
Mrs. Helton's Week At A Glance
- Monday-TW Principal Meeting off campus (morning)
- Tuesday-5th Gr Data Meetings; ARDs
- Wednesday-Meetings on campus (morning)
- Thursday-Reading PLC
- Friday-Tribe Pow Wows
Teacher To-Do List
- Prepare for PLCs (2/27)
- Complete grade level supply list (2/28)
- Bring the SPIRIT for Tribe Pow Wow (2/28)
- Week #3 TELPAS Essays due (2/28)
- District Culture & Climate Survey (staff, students, parents) (3/3)
- Plan next Tribe Buddy Day for Dr. Seuss Day (3/6) **Email Helton with materials requests**
- Update your TTESS and SLO goals in Eduphoria with evidence and progress monitoring (ongoing)
- Plan a time for your students to practice NWEA Map with an aide (it's only 5-6 questions!) (ongoing)
PLCs
Don't forget to prepare the following for PLCs on February 27:
- PK-Analyze CLI Data and identify classroom trends
- K-2: As a team, create a Know-Show document for the first unit of the 5th six weeks; write a formative assessment task (independent activity) aligned to the objective for each day of the unit (or at least first 10 days). As a PLC, we will review alignment of the tasks and discuss teacher exemplars.
- Grade 3 ELAR/Math & Gr 4 Math: Review Six Weeks Assessments and identify the highest leverage Readiness Standard that need reteach; bring student tests sorted low/medium/high) based on the performance on that particular standard.
- Gr 5 ELAR/Math and Gr 4 Writing: Review Mock STAAR data and identify the highest leverage Readiness Standard that need reteach; bring student tests sorted low/medium/high) based on the performance on that particular standard.
Upcoming PLC Schedule:
- 2/27-Reading (Gr 3-5 Math/Reading) (PK-CLI Data)
- 3/5-Region 12/Judy York
Resources: PLC Notes Template
District Culture & Climate Survey
The surveys will be done online at www.wacoisd.org/safety and they are DUE MARCH 3
Staff Survey
- REQUIRED FOR ALL STAFF (Including all aides, office staff, custodians, CNS team, etc)
- When 70 surveys are done, staff will receive 2 "Out of Dresscode" days.
- Staff ID: STAFF_AVE
- Staff Passcode: H2A8G6K5
Student Survey
- REQUIRED for all students in grades 3-5
- Have students complete at the beginning of your small group math teacher station (or as a class first thing in the morning if you have enough devices)
- Student ID: STUDENT_AVE
- Passcode: L7N6M5R5
**Email Helton when your students have completed the survey!**
Parent Survey
- Encourage parents to complete the survey! We will have an Ipad in the office for them to use
- We will be putting it online and in newsletters; please include in your 5th Six Weeks Grade Level Newsletter also
- Parent ID: PARENT_AVE
- Passcode: G3W2L4T5
Conscious Discipline & CHAMPS
The Coaching Classroom Management Team will be doing walk throughs and leaving treats in your classroom during February. Just keep on teaching!
Ms. Sharp's class showed perseverance this week as they worked to write their own math word problems. The 2nd grade team has worked tremendously hard to lay a strong foundation for 3-digit addition and subtraction.
January/February Morning Meeting Suggestions for Growth Mindset
School Supply Lists
Budget permitting, I would like the campus to be able to buy school supplies for every students this year. To do this, I need each grade level to send me a list of what supplies you would need to start the year per student. We will use these lists to purchase start-up supplies during the summer. Please put your preferred school supply list HERE. This document has the old list, so start changing quantities, adding, or taking off what you don't want. Please be realistic about your grade level needs. For example, if you rarely use notebook paper, then does each student need a package? Please have your list done by Friday, February 28.
TELPAS/LPAC Reminders & Deadlines
- February 24-28: Writing Collection #3 (Familiar Topic & Math)
- February 26: Ellevation STAAR Accommodations & Instructional Accommodations Due
- Week of March 2: TELPAS Online Training for students
- Week of March 16: MOY LPAC
- March 16-27: Holistic Ratings Window (in Orchard's office)
- March 16-27: TELPAS Online Testing in lab
**REMINDER that TELPAS Essays are secure documents; they must be turned into Orchard's hands and locked immediately. You may NOT make a copy of the essays because they are secure testing materials.
T-TESS Updates
Also, continue to update your SLO goal with student achievement data on your SLO Growth Tracker form. You will share this form during your summative conference. You should have progress monitoring twice during the school year and once at the end of the year (total of 3 progress monitoring points). Please see Mrs. Helton if you need assistance.
February Attendance Contests
The grade level with the best attendance each week in February will receive extra recess. The recess will come immediately before or after lunch so teachers will have an extra 30 minutes for lunch! Your grade level will work with Mr. Ward to schedule this time.
The grade level with the best attendance for the month will receive a week of “Out of Dress Code.” This will include staff on this grade level!
Self-Care for You!
There are a few terms that can either strengthen or limit our ability to think positively. Our brain has the power to wire our thinking to have a positive outlook – by actively searching for positive stimuli, we increase the probability of finding that stimuli!
Confirmation bias: is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or strengthens one's prior personal beliefs or hypotheses. This type of cognitive bias can lead positively or negatively. Negative example - A co-worker was rude to you the first day on the job, therefore one will assume the co-worker is always rude and find instances that will strengthen that belief. Positive example – You noticed that a student is great at giving hugs, so you begin to notice how kindly they interact with other students due to the association of great hugs.
The Tetris Effect: You might be familiar with the popular game Tetris. Hopefully, that will make this concept more memorable! There was a study done at Harvard that involved college students playing Tetris and then sleeping in a lab and observed how consistently playing the game reactivated different circuits that the brain needed to use to play the game. Over time, these connections became more durable and easier to engage. Same can be applied to positive thinking! Training our brain to practice a positive thinking pattern may feel uncomfortable and challenging at first, but we are allowing our brain to make synaptic connections that will make positive thinking our go-to.
While not every day will be a walk in the park, these concepts give scientific backing that positive thinking is a muscle that can be worked and grown over time!
*Challenge* Try to mindfully think one positive thought before walking into work next week!
NWEA MAP Practice
The practice test website is: https://practice.mapnwea.org/
Username: grow
Password: grow
Alta Vista Wish List
Elementary ELAR Curriculum Feedback Meeting
Wednesday, Mar 18, 2020, 04:30 PM
Waco ISD Conference Center, 115 South 5th Street, Waco, TX, USA
Staff of the Week
Congratulations to Mrs. Santoy for being our STAFF OF THE WEEK. She did a great job stepping up when Ms. Williams was out, and she has been a tremendous help in the office in the afternoons.
Classroom Spotlight
District Employee of the Month Nominations
Completed nomination forms should be sent to Keri White in Human Resources: keri.white@wacoisd.org.
Attached below are the procedures we will follow for Employee of the Month along with the nomination form.
Vertical Planning & Coaching Days
- ELAR Coaching Days: March 23 (3rd Grade)
- ELAR Planning Dates: April 22 (3rd-5th Grade Full Day)
For reading in grades 3-5, planning will be a full day; you will need to create a full day school business in TEAMS for that day if you plan reading in grades 3-5. Please work with Ms. Bonnie to secure subs for these days (grades 3-5 only).