Bear Bulletin
April 20, 2020
Breaking Announcement: Congratulations to Kate Waldorf, SBMS Math Teacher, for Being Named One of Three SBISD Finalists for Secondary Teacher of the Year!
From Mrs. Spencer:
Good Afternoon, Bears,
Friday's news was hard for all of us. I think most of us suspected that the decision that was made would be made, but it is still hard to reconcile that we will not be operating school traditionally through the end of the school year. I think all of us, students included, are grieving that in some ways and processing all that was lost or changed in wake of the cancellation. The optimist in my refuses to give up thinking that there are moments to garner some reflection or learning from and while there are definitely days where Spencer home school is not successful and things get busy or even rocky as we support teachers, students and families do what we have never done, I think our responsibility as adults is to focus our children on honoring their sense of loss and allowing them process through it, but also focusing them on the work of heroes in an uncertain world and relying on a sense of gratitude for the things they can identify as blessings.
Recognizing that we have decisions to make related to end of year events, a few working groups comprised of PTA committee members and SBMS Faculty Members are meeting this week to make some decisions. Now that we have certainty related to at least the school year, we can make some plans to host our celebrations in some capacity. I hope that by next week's newsletter, I will have updates for you.
Within this edition of the newsletter are articles I have found that have resonated with me as a parent of an elementary school child and as a principal of a middle school because they offered me insight into how children or other adults might be feeling or tools that I have either chosen to utilize or have selected to modify to fit my needs in either capacity. Additionally, I have provided tools that you may use in managing the progress of your student at home that are specific to your SBMS Middle Schooler. I hope you find it helpful.
Lastly, these are unprecedented times. I recognize that the financial climate of the world is difficult, at best. Please know that we are here for you if need us. If you are in a position to help, there is an opportunity to do so below.
Much love, Bears. Hang in there.
Mrs. Spencer
De La Senora Spencer
Las noticias del viernes fueron difíciles para todos nosotros. Creo que la mayoría de nosotros sospechamos que se tomaría la decisión, pero aún es difícil conciliar que no operaremos la escuela tradicionalmente hasta el final del año escolar. Creo que todos nosotros, incluidos los estudiantes, lamentamos que de alguna manera y procesemos todo lo que se perdió o cambió a raíz de la cancelación. El optimista en mi se niega a renunciar a pensar que hay momentos para obtener un poco de reflexión o aprendizaje y, aunque definitivamente hay días en que la escuela de Spencer no tiene éxito y las cosas se ponen ocupadas o incluso difíciles a medida que apoyamos a los maestros, estudiantes y familias para que hagan lo que sea. nunca lo hemos hecho, creo que nuestra responsabilidad como adultos es enfocar a nuestros hijos en honrar su sentido de pérdida y permitirles procesar a través de él, pero también enfocarlos en el trabajo de los héroes en un mundo incierto y confiar en un sentido de gratitud por las cosas que pueden identificar como bendiciones.
Reconociendo que tenemos que tomar decisiones relacionadas con los eventos de fin de año, algunos grupos de trabajo compuestos por miembros del comité de la PTA y miembros de la facultad de SBMS se reunirán esta semana para tomar algunas decisiones. Ahora que tenemos certeza relacionada con al menos el año escolar, podemos hacer algunos planes para organizar nuestras celebraciones de alguna manera. Espero que para el boletín de la próxima semana, tenga actualizaciones para usted.
Dentro de esta edición del boletín hay artículos que he encontrado que me han resonado como padre de un niño de primaria y como director de una escuela intermedia porque me ofrecieron una idea de cómo los niños u otros adultos podrían sentirse o herramientas que yo he elegido utilizar o he seleccionado modificar para satisfacer mis necesidades en cualquier capacidad. Además, he proporcionado herramientas que puede usar para administrar el progreso de su estudiante en el hogar que son específicas para su estudiante de secundaria de SBMS.
Por último, estos son tiempos sin precedentes. Reconozco que el clima financiero del mundo es difícil, en el mejor de los casos. Por favor, sepa que estamos aquí para usted si nos necesita. Si está en condiciones de ayudar, hay una oportunidad para hacerlo a continuación.
Mucho amor, osos. Cuelga ahí.
La señora spencer
Parent Seminar on April 23rd at 9 a.m.: Navigating ItsLearning and SBMS Library Resources!
Please join Ms. Silva, our Librarian, and Ms. Dizdar, our Technology Learning Specialist, for a parent seminar on April 23rd at 9 a.m. on how to navigate Itslearning courses your students are using and the resources our SBMS library can offer you and your children during this phase of at home learning. We will conduct our meeting virtually on a tool called, Zoom. Many of you are familiar with it as your children or you are using it for your own work or connecting to friends and family. These two ladies will present their content and questions will be able to be pitched to further your confidence and understanding of the tools for home use.
Please join us Thursday, April 23rd at 9 a.m. on Zoom for our seminar. To access, please click on the link below a little before 9 a.m.
Meeting ID: 940 7719 2023
Password: 6VqxxX
Seminario para padres el 23 de abril a las 9 a.m.: ¡Navegando por los recursos de su biblioteca de aprendizaje y SBMS!
Únase a nosotros el jueves 23 de abril a las 9 a.m.en Zoom para nuestro seminario. Para acceder, haga clic en el siguiente enlace un poco antes de las 9 a.m.
Meeting ID: 940 7719 2023
Password: 6VqxxX
Worried About A Fellow Bear? A Way to Help At This Time
SBMS is such a special community! Many thanks to the individuals who have checked in on their fellow Bear. We are hearing that some of our families are being impacted financially due to their inability to work at this time. If you would like to donate towards providing rent assistance, please donate to Community in Schools and denote where you would like the funds to go by giving attention: CIS Special Funds Account at SBMS and including the memo content. See below:
Here is the CIS website where parents can donate online
If they wish to make a check, they can mail the check to
Communities In School of Houston
1235 North Loop West, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77008
713-654-1515
Attention: CIS special funds account @ SBMS
Memo: SBM families rent assistance
Thank you, Bears!
Preocupado por un oso compañero? Una forma de ayudar en esto
Aquí está el sitio web de CIS donde los padres pueden donar en línea
https://www.cishouston.org.
Si desean hacer un cheque, pueden enviarlo por correo a
Comunidades en la escuela de Houston
1235 North Loop West, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77008
713-654-1515
Atención: cuenta de fondos especiales de la CEI @ SBMS
Nota: las familias SBM alquilan asistencia
¡Gracias osos!
Use Skyward to Monitor Grades and Missing Assignments
Now that we have shifted to administering numeric grades with the advent of the Adjusted Grading Guidelines, it will be important for students to monitor the submission of their assignments. Because we are giving grace in terms of submission time frames (within reason), teachers will not be entering zeroes into Skyward for missing assignments until a specified date. The first date this will occur this marking period is April 29th. Until that time, parents and students should monitor Skyward Family Access to ensure that students do not have outstanding assignments to turn in for their courses.
To access the missing assignment section of Family Access, you simply sign into Skyward Family Access and click on Gradebook on the left. Missing assignments will be listed in the top banner of the screen as you can see below in my rudimentary snippet of a Skyward Family Access screen. If you need help with Skyward Family Access, you are welcome to email me at Stefanie.Spencer@springbranchisd.com.
Para acceder a la sección de tareas perdidas de Family Access, simplemente inicie sesión en Skyward Family Access y haga clic en Gradebook a la izquierda. Las tareas que faltan se enumerarán en el banner superior de la pantalla como puede ver arriba en mi fragmento rudimentario de una pantalla de Skyward Family Access. Si necesita ayuda con Skyward Family Access, puede enviarme un correo electrónico a Stefanie.Spencer@springbranchisd.com.
SBISD ItsLearning Parent Portal for Middle and High School Families
The below is what you received in this week's communications related to the SBISD DIgital Backpack. It is very exciting news! Our Parent Seminar on the 23rd will help you better understand how to navigate both the parent portal and your child's portal. Please be patient with teachers as some of them have stored their content in Resources which only appear on the student portal. We are learning how to make those adjustments to allow you to see the content in Parent Portals, too. We appreciate the grace extended to our teachers! They are clearly working hard to support each and every Bear!
We are excited to officially launch the SBISD itslearning Parent Portal for all middle and high school families! You can expect the portal to be live and available by the middle of the week.
The itslearning Parent Portal is another tool to help deepen the home-school connection with information in four areas: Student Information, Course Overview, Events and Tasks.
Here’s how to access your itslearning parent account:
- Go to http://sbisd.itslearning.com
- Click “Log in with itslearning”
- Enter your Skyward Family Access username and password to log in.
In the itslearning Parent Portal, you’ll be able to:
- View learning plans shared by teachers
- Check student task list with due dates
- Check progress as your student works through the coursework
This short video will help you learn how to navigate the SBISD Parent Portal. Once it opens, click on the download symbol at the top (arrow with a underscore under it).
Here are links to two additional resources:
If you have any questions about the Parent Portal, including how to reset your password, please contact your campus principal or the SBISD Help Desk.
SBISD ItsLearning Portal para padres para familias de escuelas intermedias y secundarias
¡Estamos emocionados de lanzar oficialmente el SBISD itslearning Parent Portal para todas las familias de escuelas intermedias y secundarias! Puede esperar que el portal esté en vivo y disponible a mediados de la semana. El Portal de Padres de itslearning es otra herramienta para ayudar a profundizar la conexión entre el hogar y la escuela con información en cuatro áreas: información del estudiante, descripción general del curso, eventos y tareas.
A continuación, le indicamos cómo acceder a su cuenta principal de itslearning:
- Vaya a http://sbisd.itslearning.com
- Haga clic en "Iniciar sesión con itslearning"
- Ingrese su nombre de usuario y contraseña de Skyward Family Access para iniciar sesión.
En el Portal para Padres de itslearning, podrá:Ver planes de aprendizaje compartidos por profesores
- Verifique la lista de tareas del alumno con las fechas de vencimiento
- Verifique el progreso a medida que su estudiante trabaja en los cursos
Este breve video lo ayudará a aprender cómo navegar por el Portal para Padres de SBISD. Una vez que se abre, haga clic en el símbolo de descarga en la parte superior (flecha con un guión bajo). Aquí hay enlaces a dos recursos adicionales:
Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre el Portal para Padres, incluido cómo restablecer su contraseña, comuníquese con el director de su campus o con la Mesa de Ayuda de SBISD.
At Home Learning Articles and Resources
Here are a few articles that I found helpful.
New Parent Training Resources!
Character Strong Family Discussion Activities
Middle School Reading Challenge This Week
Fine Arts Challenge: Thank Our Community Health Workers!
Who Can I Ask? Find Help Here!
Have a Question and Not Sure Where to Go For Answers?
Grade Level Questions: (General Grade Level Questions, Tech Needs, Etc)
- 6th Grade: Mayerling Franchi, Assistant Principal, or Marco Garcia, Counselor.
- 7th Grade: Steve Barry, Assistant Principal, or Jerry Roberts, Interim Counselor.
- 8th Grade: Kristie Avalos, Assistant Principal, or Meagan Hudek, Dean of Instruction.
Grading Guidelines Question or General Questions: Stefanie Spencer, Principal
Need Assistance or Resources: CIS Case Manager, Nelda Zuniga
Need Help With Reading Materials or Online Resources: Aaryn Silva, Librarian
Instructional, Grading, or Assignment Issues: Contact your child's grade level teacher or ask your child to email using their mysbisd.org email account and cc you. Encourage your child to build ownership in that work as it will prepare them for high school and plans beyond.
¿A quién puedo preguntar? Encuentra ayuda aquí!
Preguntas de nivel de grado: (Preguntas generales de nivel de grado, necesidades tecnológicas, etc.)
- 6to Grado: Mayerling Franchi, Subdirectora, o Marco García, Consejero.
- Séptimo grado: Steve Barry, subdirector, o Jerry Roberts, consejero interino.
- 8vo Grado: Kristie Avalos, Subdirectora, o Meagan Hudek, Decana de Instrucción.
Preguntas de pautas de calificación o preguntas generales: Stefanie Spencer, directora
Necesita asistencia o recursos: CIS Case Manager, Nelda Zuniga
Necesita ayuda con materiales de lectura o recursos en línea: Aaryn Silva, Bibliotecaria
Problemas de instrucción, calificación o asignación: comuníquese con el maestro de nivel de grado de su hijo o pídale a su hijo que envíe un correo electrónico utilizando su cuenta de correo electrónico mysbisd.org y cc usted. Aliente a su hijo a desarrollar la propiedad de ese trabajo, ya que lo preparará para la escuela secundaria y los planes posteriores.