Raylander
September 29, 2023
Rays Relate Spotlight
This week's theme was all about FALL Y'ALL! Our Rays Relate Spotlight is shinning on Mrs. Shauna Allen this week. Mrs. Allen shared that she is most excited about football this fall season. Her favorite team is the Fighting Texas A&M Aggies...WHOOP! Get to know our First Grade Magic Maker a little more by checking out her BOY Get to Know You slide
Pennington Post
Rays,
It has been a great 4 day week. Thank you for letting me come read to your classrooms. I am hoping we can make this happen more frequently throughout the year. Getting into classes these last few weeks have been so rewarding; you are all doing such amazing things in your rooms and I love that you are pushing your students further in their learning. Please remember Chelsea and I are here to provide you support in any way you need. Feel free to ask.
I want to do something fun, because we all know my Orange loves a good dress up day. Next Thursday is romper/jumper/overall day. Get your students involved and wear your favorite romper/jumper/overalls.
Friendly reminder to fill out the absence request form prior to taking a personal day. This is to help Ana and I know who is going out and have plans for backup support if needed. Also, if you are going to be out please let your team know.
I hope you have a well deserved, especially after the full moon, weekend.
Alison
Murphy's Magic
Murphy's Magic
Hey Rays!
Extended Planning is happening on 10/3 (for 5th, 3rd, 2nd) and 10/5 (for 4th, 1st, K) during FLEX, wahoo! We will be talking with the students about being Compassionate Community Contributors and will also be providing the required bullying prevention training. The students will be making a kindness chain and thank you cards for our firefighters who will be visiting the following week. We have arranged for support staff members to transition your students to/from extended planning so you can soak up every last minute of your time with your team. The full plan for extended planning can be found here.
RTI meetings will take place during planning time on Friday 10/6. Please have any RTI changes that you need entered into the RTI Form prior to Friday so that I can have your kiddos on our agenda. Did you know that RTI ranks in the top five practices for improving student achievement? When implemented well, RTI has an exceptional average yearly impact rate of 1.29 standard deviation (Hattie, 2017). To put that in perspective, a 1.0 standard deviation increase is associated with advancing student achievement 2-3 years! Thank you for doing this important work.
Student Leadership is off to a great start. Student leaders' proposal forms are due in the office today. I will be meeting with student leaders to give them feedback and approve their proposals over the next few days. Once approved, they can start their work with their committees. All work should be done before school, after school, or during recess. If there are ever exceptions, I will let teachers know directly.
Doherty's Drop Spot
Hey Rays Hey!
I really enjoyed meeting with grade level teams to reflect on BOY ISIP and MAP data this week. There were lots of great conversations around student celebrations and wonderings. I hope that you all are able to continue analyzing the data and use it as a starting point for your small groups.
During our PLCs I demonstrated how to use the cooperative learning strategy, Fan and Pick. I have shared the links below for different sets of cards as well as the mats that give instructions of the different jobs. Make your own personal copy so that you can edit them and make then your own.
Extended planning will happen on Tuesday and Thursday next week. Please come to the HUB prepared to plan with your teams. There is not a set agenda for this as it is your time to plan effectively. I will be there to support you with whatever you need.
I will be off campus Tuesday afternoon at district office and all day on Friday. If you need me, just shoot me a text or email.
Have a great week!
Fan and Pick Cooperative Learning:
Attention Pre-K Teachers:
- PreK 3 & 4 RSK! assessment window is open now until Friday Oct. 13th when scores are due in Eduphoria Aware.
- PreK 4 Student Interview packets should have arrived on Friday. Please let Sarah Walker know if they are not on campus today Monday Oct. 2nd.
- PreK 4 RSK! Data scoring training for new PreK 4 teachers: EITHER Thursday Oct. 5 at 1:15 or 3:05 or Tuesday Oct. 10th at 1:15 or 3:05. You choose!
- PreK 3 Parent Progress reports will go home the same day as PK4-5th Report Cards; ask your registrar for this date.
Reading Academy:
- Each Reading Academy participant will get an email this week (Oct 2-6) informing you of where you should be on Oct 9.
Report Card Tips:
- Instruction for how to add free text comments in TAC
- End of the 1st 9 weeks is October 13th
Math:
- Did you know that you can assign specific assignments to students in Dreambox? The curriculum team has been tracking students and teacher usage by campuses and Reagan did not make the celebration list. Students should be logging in and completing 5 lessons each week.
- Many 2nd grade teachers gave feedback that some Concept Quests can be challenging for striving readers. Our math curriculum team is working to get these tasks uploaded in Seesaw so that students can listen to the tasks. Within Seesaw, students also have access to tools to write on the screen. Our team started with Unit 3 and 4 since many campuses are already planning ahead. We will continue this work until each one is in Seesaw. We hope this helps and we welcome and value any feedback we get from our teachers.
- The curriculum team has updated the Stage 2: Evidence section of the 3rd-5th grade units of study to include a reminder by the Additional Assessment Opportunities that CBAs are available. When the link is clicked, you end up on the assessment site that has the testing dates, which units are covered, and a PDF of what the assessment looks like in Eduphoria.
Science:
- Attention 2nd grade teachers: You should be receiving butterfly larvae and milkweed plants for 2nd grade Operation Pollination the week of October 2nd. Butterflies will be left with your front office staff. Please coordinate with them as to who they should contact to come get the plants and caterpillars so they can be set up in their habitats the same day we deliver them. Your habitats and the materials to help care for the plant and caterpillar will arrive via intercampus mail the week of September 25th. Instructions for butterfly habitat setup and care.
- Are you interested in utilizing 3-D printing as part of your grade 3-5 science curriculum? We are looking for a small group of people to pilot some 3-D printing activities (learn more and see the included units here). This work would be in conjunction with your librarian. If you are interested please complete this interest form.
- 4th and 5th grade science CBA windows open Monday, October 2nd. All 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade CBA windows closes on Friday October 13th.
- Next Trainers of Trainers meeting is October 9th for our campus reps
Tech Tip of the Week
Magic Makers....Take a look at the Magic
Flex Centers utilizing Math Workplaces
Student-to-Student Inspiration
Student Ownership Baskets
Week at a Glance
Monday: 4th & 5th Grade science CBA window opens; Emergency Response Team Meeting in the Library @ 3:15pm
Tuesday: Extended Planning for 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grades
Wednesday: Mr. Espinoza's Baby Shower @ 3:00pm
Thursday: Extended Planning K, 1st, and 4th grade
Friday: RTI Meetings during Planning