Cobra Connect
Staff Newsletter - 2-11-2019
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.
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.
Monday, February 11th
- Shelli Off Campus 8:45 - 10:30 Feeder Principal Meeting
- Fire Drill 10:30 AM
- PTO Meeting 1:15 PM
Tuesday, February 12th
- Core Leader Meeting - 7:45 AM PLC Room
- Baker House Lunch Available
Wednesday, February 13th
- Last GT Book Study
- Shelli off campus for Principal Meeting 7:30 - 12 Noon
- LC 6-1 Mission To Mars
Thursday, February 14th
- Faculty Meeting 8:00 AM - MUSIC ROOM - CHANGE IN LOCATION
- LC 6-2 Mission To Mars
Friday, February 15th
- PTO Lunch
- Book Fair Ends
- BUNCO at Paige's House
Saturday, February 16th
- DI Regional Contest
Monday, February 18th
- Staff Development Day - 7:45 Start At College Park H S
Tuesday, February 19th
- LC 6-3 Mission To Mars
- First Round CBE exam 8:30 - 12:00 Noon
Wednesday, February 20th
- LC 6-4 Mission To Mars
- Second Round CBE exam 8:30 - 12:00 Noon
- Shelli Out - District Site Base meeting 3:30 - 6:00 PM
Thursday, February 21st
- Cobra Focus 8 AM - PLC Room
- LC 6-5 Mission to Mars
Monday, February 25th
- Colossal Cobras 6th Grade 3 PM - Library
Tuesday, February 26th
- 5th Math Benchmark
- Shelli Out Curriculum Meeting 8:00 - 10:30
- Knox Data Entry at Collins
Wednesday, February 27th
- Colossal Cobras 5th Grade 3 PM - Library
Thursday, February 28th
- 7:45 AM RtI - Front Conference Room
- 8 AM Lighthouse meeting
- TELPAS 5th Grade
- 6th Writing Benchmark
Friday, March 1st
- March Madness Day
- Baker House Lunch Avaliable
- Sabrina Off campus for training 8 - 12 PM
- 4th Grade info packets due to Shelli
Congratulations
Brook Bruns
Melanie Cockshott
Sabrina Pomales
Something To Ponder
Have you ever heard of "brain hacking"? Well, I hadn't either until I stumbled across this video from 60 minutes with Anderson Cooper. According to researchers, tech companies have essentially discovered an "addiction code" to make people want to use their product more often. It is described as a race to the bottom of the brain stem. Meaning, if tech companies can incite fear and anxiety about not using their product then you will come back to the product to calm yourself. A few examples are the "streaks" in Snap Chat or the "likes" on Facebook or Instagram that have no real value, but make us feel so good. What does this mean for our students? When I am in the junior highs and high schools the kids tell me that the teachers put more pressure on them now then they did with previous generations. In my experience I see teachers putting the least amount of pressure on the students. So why are they more stressed than any other generation before? I created the picture below to help explain this. The problem is that the kids are filling the space needed for normal everyday life stress with stress coming from technology or social media so when they are faced with challenges at school they don't have enough space left in their stress jar to handle it. For some students it is more and for some it is less.
So how do we help? A great way is by sharing the knowledge we have with students and parents. You are welcome to share this video with parents as you see fit. Another way is to not just have students put phones in "cell phone jail" during class, but to actually have the students turn their phone off whether they keep their phones or they still put them in "jail". Studies show that an unanswered text can be the catalyst for anxiety. Kids in a state of anxiety cannot learn because heightened emotion and rational thinking can not occur in the brain at the same time. Have open conversations with the students about what happens in their body and why you are asking them to turn their phones off during class. And lastly, encourage parents to create technology agreements with their entire family. Students are watching what their parents are doing and if the parents can't get off their device then how do we expect the student to?
Thanks for reading!
Kelly Locke, LPC, NCC, CSC, CCTP
Prof LPC/Mental Health Specialist
Counseling
Conroe Independent School District
Five Apps You May Not Know Teens Are Using -
Yubo (formerly Yellow)– It has been called: “Tinder for Teens”
The video chat app, Yubo, known as “Tinder for Teens” allows users to create video group chats with friends and strangers. Teens can swipe “left” on a video to talk to any user they find and share whatever video content they want. An adolescent brain can quickly spot the potential benefits of this app, but they do not see the likely consequences.
Calculator% – Fake calculator and secret storage app
This app looks like a calculator on the phone screen but actually it’s a secret vault for users to store private content. Parents—if you’re monitoring your teen’s browser history you should be aware of this app-in-disguise. The calculator icon appears to be a utility on a smartphone, but once a user types a password combination into the app, it opens up a location for secret photos and a private Internet browser.
Marco Polo – Video instant messaging app “walkie talkie”
Marco Polo markets itself as “a face-to-face messaging app for bringing family and friends closer than ever.” My family uses it. However, many teens use this app to send videos—while they are under the impression the video content will be erased after it is viewed. Like Snapchat, what users don’t know is how long the server is holding onto the private content and capturing personal data once teens use it.
Wishbone – A survey app to compare anything and everything
This app can allow teen users to compare and rate each other side-by-side on a scale. Where most posts might concern pop culture, locations or preferences—Wishbone can be a harmful tool to encourage cyber-bullying amongst teens. It simply invites an adolescent (who’s brain is still forming) into all kinds of unhealthy comparisons.
Whisper – An anonymous photo and video messenger app
Teens are using this app to share photo and video messages or “whispers” anonymously. Though users have no personal identity or contact information in the app, they do have a username and can be messaged privately by anyone within the app. Since the app is anonymous, teen users are at risk to being contacted by predators.
This Friday, Feb. 15 is our first Bunco of 2019! We have to have at least 12 players so if you are planning to attend please RSVP no later than Thursday at noon. (If we don’t have 12 confirm we will be forced to cancel again).
When: Friday, February 15 @ 6:00pm
Where: Kirbo House
What to bring: $10 to play and an appetizer to share (BYOB)
We usually eat and mingle for 30ish min then we will get started playing no later than 7!
Hope to see as many as are able! Don’t forget to RSVP and let me know if you have questions.
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.
Technology
Did you see who is being recognized for their work using technology w/students?
Did you see the new Tech Tidbits link (to help you fix some situations) on the bottom of my web site?
I have all of this info, and more, on my web page! Book mark it!
Reminder: When you check out a cart, please return it at the end of the day...if you think you may need it for another day, go ahead and check it out for that day, too! We had a teacher today who could not find one of the extra carts, so there had to be a change in plans! That's a hard start for a Monday.
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
SLO - Progress Check In Number 1 and 2
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, February 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.
Yearbook
When taking group shots make sure you know the students that are not allowed to have pictures taken. Mrs. Glaser will share those names with teachers that have the student in their LC's.
Yearbook on sale now!
$45.00 Now