November 12th Pony News
Building a Brighter Future!
Knowing our new Crew
Joshua Houston- Primary BIC Instructional Support
Hello Pony family! I’m excited to be spending my first year in education with LVES. I’m currently an aide for little BIC. I am in the process of getting certified as a teacher and looking to continue teaching in elementary.
I’m the son of the Mr. & Mrs. Houston that volunteer here at the school. They, along with the rest of my family, are from Tennessee. That is why you will see me wearing Tennessee orange around the school (Go Vols!). I was born in Dallas and have spent most of my life here. I graduated from Dallas Christian College in Farmers Branch and that is where I met my wife. We got married in 2015 and in 2016 we had our little boy, Cayson. Being a dad is the hardest, yet most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life. Next month he will be two and a half, and he is loads of fun and energy right now! We are loving every minute because we know the time goes quickly.
A couple of fun facts are that I’ve been to all 50 states in the US and have been to 10 different countries. I’m also related to Sam Houston.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester.
We are Thankful for all of you
We are thankful for having the opportunity to work with such an amazing group of people. When we call you Pony Family, it is because we truly feel that we are a family. Take some time this week and reflect on all of your blessings.
Enjoy a week of jeans passes for the week of November 12th. :-)
We are also going to have a Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday at 3:20 in the Library. We will be providing all staff with a Thanksgiving meal. Please inform your parents that tutoring will be canceled.
The admin. team values all that you do for our Ponies each and every single day. Thank you for making a difference. :-)
How are your circles going?
While we are charged with keeping the buildings safe, making sure teaching, learning, and evaluation are taking place, and following standards and expectations, this time of year serves as a reminder that students live and come to school carrying burdens over which they have no control. They interfere with the child's well-being and their readiness to learn. Children can only learn when they can bring themselves to the learning environment ready to learn. Behaviors escalate this time of year, so let it be a reminder that students not only need understanding, they need help. We cannot ask them to ignore how they are feeling. And, we must not ignore how they are feeling.
High levels of warmth and nurturance from each one of us will help our Ponies develop qualities like perseverance and focus.
Let's ensure our lessons are relevant and engaging for the students. Integrate green and yellow circles into your week to help relieve some of these stressors. Reflect on how you can teach emotions or traits to our students.
To start, consider these ideas to teach children how to show gratitude. They can be integrated into 90 second sparks, 2 minute connections, or circles.
- Make a Gratitude List
- Give Compliments
- Saying Please and Thank you
- Volunteer to help others
- Write Thank You Notes
- Celebrate the small wins
- Make a Gratitude Jar
- Show them by example
GTKY: Get to know you
Green Circles
Yellow Circles
Look! We are on the website
Istation Check ins - Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grades
You will need to bring:
- Your guided reading binder/notebook or any other tool that you use to organize your guided reading information.
- Guided Reading groups (Ask Alicia Rowland if you need help.)
During the meeting:
- Share 3 things that you can CELEBRATE based on your November Istation data and running records for your class.
- Share 2 things that you have been doing, or will be doing in RESPONSE to your November Istation data and running records for your class.
- Create a goal for your Tier I, Tier II and Tier III students for your December Istation check-in using the Description of Instructional Tiers. (see pictures below)
- We will Identify strategies and resources to use to accomplish these goals, and the skills on which to focus.
Staff Learning
We will have our Staff Learning on Wednesday, November 14th from 3:20 to 4:30.
Please click here to see the agenda.
What is our data telling us?
Veterans Day Ceremony (Monday, Nov. 12, 2018)
Monday, November 12th we will celebrate Veterans Day 2018 here at LVES. We have an amazing program lined up for you, our students and special guests. Please start lining your classes up to go to the Veterans Day Ceremony, Friday morning at 7:55 AM.
Students (Kinder & 1st) may not be finished with their breakfast at this time but they can finish eating when they return (at teacher’s discretion). Breakfasts for all other grades will be delivered to classrooms upon the students return. The ceremony will begin promptly at 8:00 AM and we should all be back in the classrooms no later than 8:30 AM.
Please look at the attached map (1st slide) to see the approximate area your class will be standing during the ceremony. There will be cones in place to help you find your location. Each grade level has an assigned exit door (2nd slide) to reduce congestion. Please use the same doors when re-entering the building after the ceremony.
The agenda will be as follows:
• LHS Navy JROTC Color Guard will present and raise the Colors
• The Pony Choir will sing our National Anthem…“The Star Spangled Banner”
• Special recognition for our honored Veterans guests in attendance
• Introduction of Guest Speaker : Mr. Dennis Berg (USAF)
• Students will be dismissed to get ready for the indoor Veterans Day Parade
• Indoor Veterans Day Parade: Teachers, please line up your students along the entrance hallway, first grade and fourth grade hallways (first floor only). Our guest Veterans will walk and greet students & staff (The Armed Forces songs for each Branch (Army, Navy, US Air Force, Marines & Coast Guard) will be playing during the parade. Students may bring US flags, banners, posters, etc. to cheer on the guests.
Let's all wear our patriotic colors (Red, White & Blue). In the event that we get rained out, the ceremony will be aired during morning announcements.
Please let us know if you have any questions…Thanks for your awesome support!
Wanda Echevarria, M.Ed.
Master Calendar
Our Pony Week
- Veteran's Day
- Wear patriotic colors
- Multilingual Coordinator on campus
- TEKS & ELPS Collaboration for 3rd, 4th, Kindergarten
- 5th gr.- CBA Data Analysis during conference time
- Tutoring
- Deresia Scott BD
- 3rd-4th Science CBA - 12 wk. Benchmark
- IT Facilitator on campus
- Staff Learning
- Teresa Sayers BD
- K-2nd Istation Check ins
- Staff Thanksgiving Meal 3:20
- 6:30 PM - Parent Education Night: Love & Logic
- McDonald's Night
- Field Day
Important Information
- November 14: Staff Learning (Snacks will be provided.)
- November 14: 3rd-4th Science CBA - 12 wk. Benchmark
- November 15: K - 2nd Istation Check ins
- November 15: Parent Education Night: Love and Logic @6:30 p.m.
- November 19 - 23: Thanksgiving Break
- November 26: GT - Depth & Complexity Training
- November 30: Movie Night
Shout-Outs!
- Mr.Anderson for always inspiring greatness in your students. Your students always participate, are respectful and are just a pleasure to teach! Thank you for all you do!
- Mrs. Valdes--thank you for all your support!!!
- Mrs. Varona for her dedication to her students and for sharing her knowledge with the 4th grade dual language partners.
- Mrs. Norton for taking time from her busy schedule to come teach the HaHaSo lesson to my two classes. The students were totally engaged in your lesson. We truly appreciate you!
- Mrs. Hayes, Thank you for making the pieces of our multicultural puzzle!
- Shout out to Mrs. Rowland for having the parents so engaged during Family Night.
- Thank you Mrs. Rutherford for covering Mrs. Boston's class.
- Shout out to Mrs. Veronica Hernandez for working so hard on the announcements.
- Shout out to Mrs. Crawley for staying late ensuring her students are safe.
- Shout out to Jessica Gibbs for celebrating her students Istation progress with ice cream.
- Shout out to Mrs. Villegas for celebrating her students positive behaviors with PJ day. :-)
- Shout out to Mrs. Paris and Mrs. O'Donnell for being team players. Thank you for all of your support with our special Ponies.
- Shout out to Mrs. Sayers for going above and beyond to support the students and the staff.
- Shout out to Ms. Brinegar for ensuring our parents are involved in the ARD process.
- Shout out to Ms. Rubio, Mrs. Stolinsky. Mrs. Ramage, Mrs. Vando and Mrs. Guerrero for always being available.
- Thank you PTA for donating hot dogs for our Language Learners Family Night!
- Thank you Kindergarten Team, you ROCK! The baskets you donated for the Lang. Learners Family Night were greatly appreciated by our parents.
- Thank you to Ms. Sammon, Wier, Oporto, Paris, Rodriguez, Salazar, Vando, and Guerrero for supporting the organization and success of our Language Learners Family Night!
- Thank you Admin. Team for always being supportive of initiatives that benefit our Pony Families!
Thank you Mrs. Vando for helping me navigate the book fair finances! You are amazing!
Thank you Mrs. Salazar for being a great partner in this Spelling Bee journey!
Ms. Kilam! Thank you for demonstrating kindness! Your willingness to take over on the spot is appreciated! I owe you one!
Mrs. Arocha! Thank you for extending a listening ear during this time. I appreciate your concern and kindness.
November Birthdays
Garrett Frosch -November 1st
Beth Hayes -November 7th
Marcine Simpson -November 10th
Deresia Scott- November 13th
Teresa Sayers- November 14th
Ernestina Wier- November 24th
Elizabeth Varona- November 27th