Austin ISD PK4 Newsletter
June 2016
From the Director
Happy Summer!
The newsletter this month contains items about summer training and things you need to know for next year. So if you want to read it later in June, it will be fine.
I want to say THANK YOU for all of the things, large and small, that you have done for our district, your campus, your class and your parents this year. When I think about the impact that you are making, one child at a time, I am so proud to work with you! Thanks for allowing us to support you.
We will send you another newsletter to mark the beginning of the year in August, but until then, be safe, take great care of yourself and have a great summer!
News & Information
House Bill 4
If we receive funding:
1. All prekindergarten teachers would be required to take 30 additional professional development hours during 2016-2017. This is very exciting. We are looking forward to 4 separate trainings that will be done during school time. (You will have choices of dates.) The training will help us to solidify best practice within AISD and will count for your 30 professional development hours.
2. We will also be doing some work around engaging families. This will change the way your family visits will look during staggered start. It will be important that all prekindergarten families get a separate family visit and not just an open house event.
3. Want to know more about HB4? You can go online to the TEA website to read their FAQ. http://tea.texas.gov/Curriculum_and_Instructional_Programs/Special_Student_Populations/Early_Childhood_Education/House_Bill_4_High-Quality_Prekindergarten_Grant_Program/
Summer Professional Development
Summer Institute Information
CIRCLE Progress Monitoring System CHANGES!!
See below for the list of assessments that are required for next year.
ATTN: Team Leaders! Team List
If you've had changes to your team since May, go ahead and fill out a new form.
Click the button to fill out the form.
New Teachers
Teacher Induction Program (TIP)
If you know of a teacher moving from another grade level to PK4, please let us know. We would like to invite them to our TIP cohort days.
Send new teacher information to sylina.valdez@austinisd.org.
Teachers of the Year!
Teacher Wellbeing: How to mentally prepare for a new school year
Becky Flynn, AISD SEL Specialist
To help you get ready for a new school year, psychologist Gail Kinman, offers advice on how to prepare and how to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Gail writes for The Gaurdian.
A couple of weeks before a new school year:
- Ask yourself how you feel - Some people dread going back to work, while others are excited. Asking yourself how you feel about the job will help you decide whether you need to take action and, if so, what that action should be. If you feel dread, what stresses you out and what can you do about it?
- Reflect on the way you work -If you usually do lesson preparation late at night and miss out on social life or sleep, think about whether there are ways of managing your workload. Perhaps, take the opportunity to talk to your administrator about it.
- Listen to your body - Recover before the school year starts by spending time listening to your body and what it needs. Go and see friends and family, exercise, eat your favorite foods or read - whatever activities work for you.
- Try mindfulness techniques - A great way to relax and prepare for the next school year is through mindfulness techniques.
- Build up your emotional resilience - Resilience is essential for teachers. Teaching can be stressful. One of the best ways to build resilience and avoid stress is to get support from other people. Spend time with friends and family.
- Get your work-life balance right - Start thinking about ways that you can divide your work life and home life because teachers commonly work a lot at home. Make sure that you allow yourself time to relax after work as this is essential to maintain long-term physical and psychological health. There is evidence that if teachers go straight to bed after working at night, they don’t sleep as well, which impacts on their health and job performance.
- Do a bit of work (yes, really) - Doing some preparation can help you feel in control and less panicky.
- Rehearse saying no - Rehearsing what you would do in challenging situations can be helpful. If you go over how a situation could pan out in your mind then you are more likely to feel in control when it arises.
- Get to know yourself and how you feel - If you are not sure about how you feel about your job then write down some specific “emotion words” that come to mind when you think about work. If they are stress-related, then how can you make things better? Feeling very negative about returning to work after the summer rather than rejuvenated may indicate that you need a job change.
Enjoy your summer off!
Summer Reading
THE POWER OF GUIDANCE: TEACHING SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD CLASSROOM BY DAN GARTRELL
Looking Ahead!
Field Trips
Shared by Gilberto Ferrer, Bilingual PK Teacher at Winn Elementary
About Us
Jacquie Porter, Director
Debra Caldwell, Administrative Assistant
Diane Smith, Data Processing Assistant
Marlene Beldin, Clerk
Irene Campos, EC TLI Specialist
Brian Mowry, EC Specialist
Robbie Polan, Childcare Liaison
Melinda Servantez, EC Specialist
Sylina Valdez, Administrative Supervisor
Liana Young, EC TLI Specialist
Email: sylina.valdez@austinisd.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/austinisd.org/earlychildhood/
Location: 1111 W 6th St, Austin, TX, United States
Phone: 512-414-4790
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AustinISDEarlyChildhood
Twitter: @AISDECRocks