March 18, 2019
A Communication Tool for the Seven Hills Staff
Please join me in congratulating Whitney! We are proud to announce that she is advancing as a finalist in the district Exemplar Educator process. We know she will represent 7 Hills well! Way to go, Whitney!
Review and Reconnect With Your Team and Your Students:
- Review/revise Respect Agreements with grade level teams...this could be the start of your PLC this week.
- Review/revise Respect Agreements with students.
- Review and practice all campus Leader Expectations.
On your own, you highly encourage you to spend a few minutes reviewing the levels of trust that exist in your classroom and between yourself and your students. The time spent reflecting on this now can have a significant impact on how you and your students end the school year...both academically and socially. To refresh your memory:
"Trust between you and your students and between your students and their peers sets the stage for empowerment. Trust is created by a deliberate focus on our credibility and the 13 Behaviors of High Trust, both of which have been proven to be predictive of trust in an organization. Trust affects our ability to do everything else in the classroom."
- Empowering Instruction Field Guide page 22 -
This year we have focused on the 13 trust behaviors. In October, I asked each of you to reflect on the levels of trust in your classrooms. Remember, in order to truly empower students to be leaders of their own learning, you have to know where you stand with trust in your classroom and with your students. In January, I asked that you complete this again. Coming back from Spring Break is another GREAT opportunity to reflect on the levels of trust in your classroom. This will require straight talk...with yourself...List each student in your classroom. On a scale from 1-10 , with 1 being "a little" to 10 being "a lot", ask yourself:
- How much do I trust this student?
- How much does this student trust me?
- How much does this student trust peers?
- How much do peers trust this student?
Total each question, and divide each by the total number of students for an average trust level.
Reflect:
- How does this compare to the results I had in October? January?
- How will you build trust where there is low trust?
- Which of the 13 Trust Behaviors might help you most right now? Which has the greatest leverage with the students you have the lowest levels of trust?
If you would like to organize your reflection, make a copy of the Google Doc linked here:
Student Screen Time:
Recently, Dr. Warren addressed the community regarding screen time. Around the same time, I also shared a reminder in the S'more about screen time. What you read below is an expectation...not a suggestion, as it supports student engagement, promotes achievement, reduces the potential of misuse, and aligns with the message our Superintendent sent to parents.
Additionally, students are frequently accessing personal devices during the school day for non-instructional purposes. Because we have district devices available, there should not be a need for students to access their personal devices during the school day.
It is my expectation that you take time to reflect on student technology usage in your classroom.
- How much screen time is afforded students? I
- s this screen time limited to instructional use such as Imagine Math, Lexia, research?
- Do you allow for device usage during "free" time? If so, do you pre-determine what students are allowed to access? What are your practices to ensure student appropriate usage of devices? With almost half of our students identified as At-Risk and/or receiving Tier 2 or 3 intervention, I seriously question any time seen as "free time." Please know that parents have reported students indicate they use technology for non-instructional activities during "free time."
- How do you monitor usage?
- Do you need to have a conversation with students about appropriate usage? Do you need an administrator to support this conversation?
- Is technology being used during inside recess? We have a plethora of board games in the building, Lego sets in the Library, and the STEM Carts that can all be used for inside recess. Go Noodle is also a great way to get some physical activity in during inside recess. Coach Grounds has hula hoops. Students can hula hoop in the hall, etc. What can be done to engage students beyond the device?
- Lunch is an opportunity for students to engage in social interaction with their peers. We need to set students up for success with engaging in appropriate conversation and interaction with other students. When devices are brought to the table, we send the message that the social interaction is not valued. Not to mention, we increase the liklihood that a device will be damaged. I understand that some students work during recess and the devices are simply brought to the table before or after recess, I hope you will consider where you can set devices so they are not brought to the table.(I do also struggle with Lexia and Imagine Math being punitive...but value logical consequences...think about this...if the same students work on Lexia at recess everyday, yet still do not complete units, is this effective? How can Tanya and I partner with you on these situations?)
Technology is not a babysitter. Students should be engaged in an instructional task when on any device during the school day. Thank you for your careful attention to this expectation.
GREATNESS....Defined at Seven Hills
From January:
Take note that identifying areas that are “Ok” is done in an effort to help us all get better…this is absolutely not an opportunity for pettiness or to point fingers."
March Update:
Each person was asked to reflect on greatness...for specific evidence that supports that we are in fact achieving GREATNESS. Each team was then asked to complete a plus/delta chart to organize the evidence and examples in a meaningful and usable way. These were due after the February 15 and 18 PD. I received this information from four out of approximately ten teams. The feedback is organized in the image below. Thank you to the teams that completed this task in order to make sure we are on track to achieve campus WIGs, are ready for the Lighthouse Review in April, and can begin planning for future success.
Lighthouse Review Evidence Binder:
As part of the Lighthouse Review Process, we have to submit an evidence binder to share how our work to date meets sustainable levels. Our binder is due next week. I have shared the work so far on this binder. At this point, most staff are view only in this document. We do need help finishing this. If you are able and interested, please let me know. ALL HELP GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
- Lighthouse Review Evidence Binder: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BqsOKzPdpsFrodl__mc71fZ-R8Pd-1OqZCRFAsCha2I/edit?usp=sharing
Extended Day Tutorial Support...Is Proving to be Beneficial!
Star Leaders...the Friday Night Lights extended day tutorial is working! We are seeing results in student attitude, student engagement, and absolutely in student achievement data. For example, in 5th grade, we have seen students consistently "meeting standard" on CBAs and short cycle assessments where before they were consistently inconsistent...meets, approaches, and does not meet! Two students rocked out a 100%! 100%!!!! A huge shout out to Rachel Markham for her work on this initiative, all of the staff who have helped prep materials and those who are leading tutorial groups on Fridays! Your efforts are making a positive impact on students...Together we ARE achieving GREATNESS!
Extended day tutorials have not been the norm at 7 Hills over the last few years. There are a variety of reasons why we have chosen NOT to offer after school tutorials, and one of the primary reason has been lack of compensation for teacher time. We have not had funds to pay teachers for tutorials in the past. The funds have been used to hire tutors during the school day. As mentioned several times this year, the level of support has significantly increased this year with regard to Title I and Comp Ed funds. We have added a full time intervention teacher and 2 intervention teacher's assistants. This has made supporting extended day tutorials probable and possible. We simply cannot turn away from this opportunity to promote student achievement...grade level achievement...and campus achievement.
Some have asked why the push for extended day tutorials....Students benefit from more time with the content, skills, and review. All students benefit from extended time to build the trust and relationships necessary to increase confidence. And, all students benefit from extra support from the teachers who know the content and the students best. At Seven Hills, aren't we willing to do whatever it takes to ensure high levels of student growth and achievement?
As you are considering tutorials for your grade level, keep in mind that small groups with Rachel, Kelly and Goosey and inclusion support with Caroline and Jeanne will look different after 5th grade scores from first administration are in. Also, the support from the intervention team has been largely focused on literacy. Does your team need to consider math tutorials? For those teams with new benchmark data, how does this data impact the need for tutorials?
Thank you to those teams who completed the tutorial planning before the break. If your team has not, please consider the information above and discuss with your teams this week.
There are paraprofessionals, specials teachers, and administrators who want to support your grade level teams. Let me know if you are needing some additional support.
This has the potential for continued GREATNESS!
Repeat From Before the Break in Case Your Team Needs to Reflect:
You will remember that back in the fall and again in early January, we discussed the incredible opportunity we have to offer extended day tutorials for students. We know that often, what students need to secure skills they are missing is more time. We started Friday Night Lights for grades 3-5 in February, and are experiencing success with this initiative. Students are excited to work in their groups, and the energy from staff supporting the tutorials is contagious!
GREAT NEWS….There are additional funds available to provide extended day tutorials in grades K-5. The vision for these funds is to offer tutorials one day a week after school for an hour to an hour and a half for at-risk students. At this time, the funds are limited to one teacher per grade level, but we might have the ability to add a teacher. If your team would like to have 2 teachers, let me know soon. Your teams need to develop a plan for these tutorials.
A couple of things to consider as you are creating your plan:
- Tutorials will run approximately 7 – 8 weeks, beginning the week after Spring Break and ending the week before May STAAR.
- Who will offer tutorials? This can be one teacher or it can rotate. Teachers are paid $25 per hour for tutorials. Time sheets have to be completed with Wilma.
- Tuesdays there are typically not any after school meetings, and could be a great day for your team to offer tutorials. Your team does not have to tutor on Tuesdays. Please keep Thursdays free for our staff meetings.
- Which students will benefit from extended day learning opportunities? You don’t want groups to be too big, and you want to make sure you are offering the time to the students that time will be the greatest leverage for closing gaps and moving the scoreboard? The group of students can be flexible.
- The students selected to be offered tutorials will need a permission slip. A basic letter and permission slip are attached.
- Invitations need to go out and
- Lexia has a plethora of resources in the Resources Hub, not to mention, the direct teach lessons. Low prep, but high yield for literacy! Fast Focus for 3-5 ELA and math would provide short, TEK based practice in testing format.
- Math resources- Origo, Math GPS, Motivational Math, or Engaging Mathematics
- How will you determine the skill or TEK focus for the sessions? The tutorials need to be skill focused, not random. The goal is to close gaps. You may consider looking at Lead4ward resources to determine where the majority of questions that are tested on STAAR come from to determine your highest leverage points for grades 3-5. See Tanya if you need help with this resource.
By Tuesday, March 5, please submit the Google planning sheet for your team, communicating the plan for extended day tutorials for your team. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thank you for your work to provide the support and time our students need. What an incredible opportunity…to be paid for tutorials in order to ensure higher levels of student achievement and growth!
Tutorial Planning Sheet Folder:
ALSO: K-2 teachers, there are funds for 2 teachers per team.
Habit Focus of the Week: Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit Huddle Connection:
Reminder...these connections are intended to refresh your memory with the habit focus for the week, and challenge you a little bit personally to check and see of you are applying the habit in your own life. My hope is that each week you grow and that you be inspired to share greatness with your students.
Covey argues, Habits 1 and 2 are about personal leadership — figuring out where you want to go and what you want to do in life — while Habit #3 is about personal management. It’s about taking the big picture, the abstract, the idealistic, and turning them into the day-to-day, the concrete, the practical. It’s about taking external actions that match your internal convictions.
As Covey puts it, “While leadership decides what ‘first things’ are, it is management that puts them first.”
Remember the whole big rocks and small rocks analogy? If not, I hope you will take a few minutes to watch the video below. It is a little more updated than the Covey video...:) The gist is that Big Rocks are the most important things in your life. Small rocks are the urgent but unimportant things.
- Habit 3: Put First Things First Video: https://youtu.be/0VNmIxkyHd8
When you tackle life’s Big Rocks first, you end up having time for everyday life maintenance tasks, as well as for relaxation and fun. But when you put the Small Rocks — the merely urgent or meaningless — first, the more important things in life get crowded out. Your life can simultaneously feel both super busy and frustratingly stagnant; your days feel crammed, but you don’t seem to be making any progress on your goals, and in becoming the leader you want to be.
How do you actually take action and put first things first? What are the best “management” practices to help us properly order our priorities? Covey recommends:
- Sort your priorities into the 4 Quadrant Matrix (pictured below)
- Planning your week
I also recommend asking yourself the following question as you plan your weeks and days:
- “Which of my priorities, if I complete them first, will facilitate the completion of the others?” If your day-to-day tasks are like a line of dominoes, then you want to carefully choose your very top priority — the domino that will sit at the front of the line — as one which will successfully kick start the energy that’ll send one domino into another...leading to a more productive day and week.
Campus and District Announcements and Updates:
- Make Sure Grade Level Student Achievement Google Document is Updated with Benchmark Data and 5th Grading Period Data by the End of the Week. Remember, this data is used for a variety of reasons, and it is important that it is updated consistently.
- Stop Leaving "Free" Items in the Lounge: If you have things that are free for the taking, please send out an email to staff and invite them to YOUR classroom to come and "shop." The lounge is not a place for leaving items you no longer want or need. 95% of the time no one takes them, and the person who leaves them doesn't come back to clean up the mess.
- Please remember to check ride changes every day in the google folder. We add changes until 2:45 when the bell rings.
- Reminder About Volunteer Etiquette and a Proactive Plan: We value our volunteers. We know that so many things would not get accomplished if it weren't for our volunteers. Please remind your volunteers that they must be respectful of grade level teams needing to make copies during their planning period. If your volunteer needs to be trained on how to interrupt a big job, please talk to Lacy. In an effort to promote synergy and proactive respect of all parties, when volunteers are here to copy big jobs, they need to use the copier in the lounge. I understand this is not the fastest machine and that bulk paper is in the back. When you know a volunteer is coming, your team needs to prepare the materials needed...paperclips, colored paper, reams of white paper, etc. on a cart and have it ready for the volunteer. Please also make sure you ask/remind your volunteers to complete their volunteer logs. :)
- Copy Paper in the Front Office and Lounge: Every effort is made to stock paper in the front office. If you use the last of the paper in a printer, the copier, or in the cabinet in the lounge or behind Marina's desk, be a leader and tell someone.
- Why is the Closet in the Back Locked? No, it isn't to keep staff from supplies. This is a text book room and must be keyed with a different lock than the master. If you need anything that is kept in this closet, simply ask.
- Air Fresheners: Dr. Warren reminded all campus leaders a while back about the district directive established several years ago regarding air fresheners, including diffusers, plug ins, etc., in our classrooms. I sent communication to our campus about this. This directive is in place because of allergies students and staff suffer from. Please be aware that this directive is still in place. Understand that this means we cannot use any type of air freshener, diffuser, plug in, etc. in the classroom. If you were not aware of this directive, had forgotten, or thought it had been lifted, etc. and have anything of this nature in your classroom, please remove it immediately. Dr. Warren continues to receive communication from concerned parents regarding air fresheners. He should not receive a call concerning Seven Hills. Thank you so much for your attention to this directive.
Adventure Dash Update from PTA:
Coach DC here with Adventure Dash Fun Run. First off I want to thank you again for choosing us to create another successful fundraising experience for you this year. We look forward to bring a fun filled week to your campus.The key for the success of this years fundraiser is making sure parents have the information they need to register their children and begin sharing their link. Register, Donate, Share.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to have a teacher meeting this morning for me to relay this information personally, however this year we would love for 100% teacher participation of simply signing up online. We really want to drive the point with the teachers this year that they are going to be the leaders in their class and be the difference makers in a successful fundraiser. It is crucial that we can get them involved early. I’ve included the link to this e-mail to please be sent out to teachers this morning with a friendly reminder to sign up online and to send their students home with the rally flyers that they will receive today:
https://adventuredash.pledgebrite.org/fund/SH19/addme
I also ask you to please send the rally flyer out to parents via e-mail and school social media. Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing everyone after Spring Break! If you have any questions feel free to e-mail, text, or give me a call.
From the CIT:
I have been out of the office for a few weeks due to medical leave, so I’m ready to see all of you again on Monday! Let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with in your classroom.
Assessments this week:
Kinder-4th Grade:
None
5th Grade:
March 20-22 5.Math.5.Module 10
Save the Date:
Notes:
- STAAR Training - required for ALL staff - Tuesday, March 26 at 3:30
- JA in a Day is March 29
- Lighthouse Review Date April 16
Monday, March 18:
- ILT Meeting, 3:30
- Symposium speech leaders recognized at NISD Board Meeting, 6:30 pm
- Grade Level PLCs
- 5th Grade Middle School Visits
- Lighthouse Action Team Meetings
Wednesday, March 20:
- Instructional Rounds, writing 8 -11, we will focus on volume of student writing, opportunity to write in all content areas, and meaningful feedback using the rubrics shared in February PD. The walk-thru form/tool we use will be shared after it is revised in ILT on Monday.
- Staff may wear jeans and school shirt as part of fall campus fundraising incentive
- Math planning with Meredith
Thursday, March 21:
- Kim off campus at Principal PLC
- Campus Professional Learning, 3:30 - 4:30
- World Down Syndrome Day, staff and students wear crazy socks
Friday, March 22:
- Adventure Dash during specials rotations
- No Sharpen the Saw Clubs - round 4 will begin on Friday, March 29
Happy Birthday to You:
LaWanda Henry 3/24
Parent Communication:
Please Make Sure All Parents Have Received This Information:
This is a critical time to reach out to parents and make sure they are aware of their child's progress this year and ways they can help support their child in meeting their individual goals (and ultimately our campus goal!). If you haven't done so already, the DRA letters need to be sent to parents. It would also be a great idea to share benchmark assessment data, Imagine Math progress, and Lexia progress to date. If you have questions about the Imagine Math progress report or the Lexia parent report, please let Kim know. We will be happy to help you.
I have shared a letter with everyone in Google Drive "Spring Parent Letter." Teachers should use this as a base letter to communicate MOY assessment data and ways to support at home with parents. I think parents might also like to see their child's WIG for the 5th grading period. One idea might be to make a copy to send home with this letter.
Please work with your teams to determine a timeline for these updates to be sent. Once you have the timeline established, ILT members need to let me know.
NOTE: You will need to make a copy before editing the original letter. And, there is a blank copy of the campus letter for you to use as well. Please send the letter in an envelope marked, "To the Parents of ____" as it contains confidential student information.
Spring Parent Letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l5EVeK4vDBqTWNygj5PQsGAPexHnxQrRDeVttQaMs3o/edit?usp=sharing