Ram Nation News
Week of September 25, 2017
Vision
#AlltheWayUp
Common Assessments, IStation, and DOLs are great data sources to help us determine student academic strengths and deficiencies. I know that we are taking these assessments seriously; let's make sure that our students and parents know the importance of any formative assessment so that each stakeholder knows what needs to be done for each one of our scholars to be successful. If we are preparing our lessons with the end in mind, then we are planning rigorous lessons addressing high leverage TEKS preparing our students for the next grade level, end of the year assessment, ACPs, and common assessments. Remember, district-wide there is a strong correlation between the ACPs and STAAR; DOLs and Common Assessments are a great gauge to ensure adjustments are made to our instruction and set goals with our students.
Let’s make sure that we are addressing our student deficiencies as we recruit support from our parents. I know we are making of this year the best for our students!!!
This week's planning review by the leadership team will focus on the alignment of the objective throughout the lesson cycle. In classroom visits, we will be looking for teachers and staff members actively monitoring during common assessments. Also, teachers will be using the exemplar generated at the beginning of the six weeks to compare with the work produced by the students. Also, during transitions, we will be looking for 100% of staff members present in the hallway having positive interactions with students. .
THANK YOU
- Ms. Molla for the quality of instruction displayed as she works and conferences with students. Our ACE coordinator has requested for Ms. Molla and her students to be recorded as an exemplar for reading conferences. This is a great example of acceleration and student support!!!
- Ms. Baker for her leadership and enthusiasm as she is working deliberately working in making sure that our campus is ready for our AVID National Demonstration visit. The implementation of Cornell Notes, other WICOR strategies, student work posted, and other evidence of college going culture will provide us with favorable points in these visits.
- 6th Graders for the great feedback received from the holocaust museum. It speaks highly of the expectations and support provided by the team as they chaperoned and discussed this experience prior to going. Our kids did awesome!!!
- 6th Grade RLA Team for having a great observation feedback from our ACE coordinator; she scored the team at 100 % for engagement and 80% - 90% for students knowing their Lexile and areas of growth. We received 100% for use of the Cafe Menu for conferencing. Awesome job team!!!
- 7th Grade team for having the most student attendance in the after school program. This is a great opportunity for our students to get more one-on-one support and to participate in enrichment activities. I look forward to seeing more kids coming to these sessions as the extra time will help us to support closing the gap for our students.
- Ms. Bush-Wells for her leadership and support as she volunteered to open the building over the weekend to allow teachers work in their classrooms and catch up with things in which they are behind or not organized as they would like. Hope this time was beneficial for you.
Home Visit Project
Mr. Geiger
Ms. Akin
Mr. Patel
Education Go Get It Week
It was such a pleasure to have had the opportunity to see the eagerness and joy our students and staff displayed during Education Go Get it Week (EGGW). This event was a success thanks to the great team effort and collaboration under Ms. Shelby and Ms. Calderon's leadership. The purpose of EGGW is for our students to learn more about going to college and its importance. Let's continue to have college-going and career conversations with our students and make going to college a reality for our students. I know we are impacting the lives of our Rusk Rams and making sure that our instruction is focused on helping students to get ready for college and the workforce. See picture below of our college informational booth created by our counselors. They will be sharing more pictures of student participation to upload to our website.
Inspiring Relationships that Build Climate and Culture
Thank you so much to Ms. Bickford, Ms. Lewis, Ms. Ingram, Ms. Rendon, Ms. Iberosi, Ms. Miller, Ms. Perez, Ms. Addison, Mr. Thornton, and Mr. Willis for a great time together.
REMINDERS FOR THIS WEEK
- Plan, align, and write our LO and DOL in student friendly terms
- Work on making sure that there is clear evidence of Alignment (learning objective) as it related to TEI, focus students at the beginning and throughout the lesson, by clearly stating
- What they are learning
- Why it is important
- What mastery looks like
- How to connect it to prior knowledge and their own lives and explaining to students
- Let’s keep including more Student to Student Engagement, tied to the LO. Based on my observations, we need to ensure that we have taught, modeled, and practiced MRSs in order for effective implementation.
- Conduct conferences with each student so that they know what they need to achieve while recruiting support & assistance from their home.
- Continue to greet students with a smile and support their development by being consistent in everything that you do; by doing so, you will be able to provide a positive climate and culture for our students.
DAILY EVENTS
- Hispanic Heritage Month continues through October 15
- Weekly PLCs - Room 103.
- Common Assessment Week - Follow the schedule sent via e-mail.
- 4:45 Weekly PD- Library. The following groups will meet - Fast Track Teachers, Instructional Leadership Team (ILT), RP and SEL team.
- 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. - Volleyball games at Thomas Jefferson HS.
- 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. - Football games at Loos Field House.
Tuesday, September 26-
- CIC/AP Planning and preparation with 7th grade
- 4:25 p.m. After school continues - please follow the procedures discussed.
Wednesday, September 27-
- CIC/AP Planning and preparation with 6th grade
- 12:00 Corporate Advisory Board Meeting at Library - Cordoba
- 4:25 p.m. After school
Thursday, September 28-
- CIC/AP Planning and preparation with 8th grade
- 9:00 - 11:30 AVID State Visit - Ms. Baker. See e-mail sent by Ms. Baker with various recommendation made to ensure that we are ready for our National Demonstration Validation Visit. Continue to ensure the implementation of Cornell notes and WICOR strategies.
- 4:25 p.m. After school
- 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. - JazBiz Town Meeting at Library - Mr. Thornton and Ms. Ingram.
- 5:00 Lesson Plans Due
Friday, September 29-
- All scanning for common assessments must be completed by 4:30 p.m.
- Compliance Videos Due - See email sent by Mr. Cordoba with more details. Once you have completed all videos, please turn the certificates either in the main office or via e-mail to Ms. Miranda.
Saturday, September 30 -
- Crisis Prevention Intervention Training - Ms. Woods, Crisis Prevention Intervention Team, and other team members who need restrain training.
- Writing Training at Hernandez ES - 7th grade RLA, Ms. Wells and Ms. Davis.
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, October 10
- Parent Conference Night 4:30 - 8:00.
Friday, October 13
- Professional Development Day.
Friday, October 20
- Fair Day - NO SCHOOL
Day of Discovery
In partnership with Garland Independent School District, Discovery is hosting a Day of Discovery on October 7, 2017! This is a fantastic opportunity for you to network with educators across Texas to share best practices and to learn about how Discovery Education is impacting 21st century learning!
Please find details below and REGISTER HERE!
Location: Rowlett High School (4700 President George Bush, Rowlett, TX 75088)
Date: October 7, 2017
Time: 9am-3pm (registration opens at 8:30am)
Rusk Middle School
Email: jcordoba@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/rusk
Location: 2929 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-925-2000
Twitter: @RuskAllTheWayUp