Pinkston Feeder Pattern
Week At A Glance -March 21, 2016
Core Beliefs
Core Beliefs
Our main purpose is to improve student academic achievement.
Effective instruction makes the most difference in student academic performance.
There is no excuse for poor quality instruction.
With our help, at risk students will achieve at the same rate as non-at risk students.
Staff members must have a commitment to children and a commitment to the pursuit of excellence.
Education is a Civil Right
March Principal Meeting
DESA's Parent Engagement
In The News...
Welcome Back! I hope everyone had a relaxing time away from the hustle and bustle. I can't wait to hear about all the fun you had.
Great News on The Hub
Did you see Carr's brave Diego on the hub?
http://thehub.dallasisd.org/2016/03/04/carr-elementary-student-overcomes-leukemia-and-inspires-fellow-students/
Best of luck to these four schools!
Staffing/Budget Meetings
Our scheduled spring staffing/budget meetings are Tuesday, March 22nd at the Haskell Building. Please refer to the email I sent over the week-end with the new meeting times. I have to attend a meeting at SMU in the morning, so I needed to schedule schools that didn't have staffing issues/concerns during the morning hours. I appreciate your flexibility.
March Feeder Pattern Meeting Evaluation
If you have not completed the evaluation with Lisa Almeida, please take a minute to complete the evaluation on the link.
http://tiny.cc/Valadez_LearFeeder3-9-16
Failure Reports
Campus failure reports are in the March 21st WAG Google Folder for your review. The forms for each level are in the Google folder as well. Please submit your intervention for content areas that surpassed the threshold by Monday, March 28th. Great job everyone on reducing the failure rate!!!! Way to go Pinkston Feeder!
PLC
Ted Talk with Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en
John Hattie's Direct Instruction:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBio0F-8VSY
STAAR Challenge:
Mr. Williams has grouped campuses to issue challenges among themselves. The purpose is to motivate teachers and students. Please engage in the following activities:
- Draft a letter to challenge another school on outperforming the other on the STAAR test
- A copy of the letter with the anticipated date for delivery is to be forwarded to Bernice Barron at BBarron@dallasisd.org by Friday, March 25, 2015
- The challenge letter is read to the student body over the PA systen
- A copy of the challenge letter is to be enlarged and posted in common areas and/or classrooms
- You may also create a video challenge, I have included a link a sample video that was sent to Carter
- Carter Challenge Video: https://youtu.be/hjlNl3rKvu0
- If you have any questions please contact Delma Martinez at demartinez@dallasisd.org or 972-925-3012
Challenge Schools:
Pinkston High School vs. Madison
Quintanilla vs. DESA
Carr vs. Carver
Martinez vs. Lanier
Earhart vs. Allen
Stevens Park vs. De Zavala vs. Arcadia Park
Assessment Calendar:
3 week interim assessment - Campuses should schedule 3rd six week assessment this week if you did not take them prior to spring break (1st round grade levels/depts./EOC courses do not need to give 3 week assessment).
If you have feedback for the 5th six week ISN assessments, the feedback window is March 25th - April 1st. A feedback link is included in the ISN assessment calendar which is in this week's Google folder. Please allow your coaches and/or department chairs provide the feedback.
Discipline Data
Feeder Pattern 4th six week discipline data is included in this week's Google Doc folder for your review..
Executive Ed Program for Teams
The application is now available on our recruitment website. The application deadline is Friday, April 1 @ 11:59 PM.
TEI Expert Meeting
TEI Expert Meeting has changed to Stevens Park on March 22nd at 4:45PM.
WAIP Summary in the Google folder - Important Action Items included. Please read and take action.
Congratulations Susan!!!! She made a beautiful bride.
Resources
ES Literacy Cohort II
Text-dependent Tasks
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-PlxyqThWQYGCfsWApSIt8VI7bG5Lz8XOmCmE0ynfgo/edit#slide=id.g34fe7fac3_019
Campus Visits
Monday - ELT; Early College Tour @ Garza
Tuesday - Spring Staffing/Budget Meetings
Wednesday - Carver, DESA; District-wide Principal Meeting
Thursday - Lanier, Carr, Earhart
Article of the Week - Avoiding Common Errors in Applying Carol Dweck’s Mindset Thinking
• Effort. Some educators think Dweck is saying they should reinforce effort, not outcomes. Not so! says Dweck: “Our work shows that you can praise the outcome as long as you also talk about the process that led to the outcome… Telling kids just to try hard is not helpful. It doesn’t tell them all the strategies, resources, and input they’ll need to get there.” British educator Chris Hildrew agrees, “If our students fail a test, it’s not helpful to say ‘at least you tried hard,’ because clearly it was the wrong kind of effort.” Better to ask, “What strategies did you use? What didn’t work? What can you do differently next time?” Another approach is giving students commentary on their classwork, saving grades for summative assessments, and working with students to see where they’re at, what they don’t understand, and what they should try next.
• False mindsets. Some teachers give lip service to the growth mindset but secretly hold fixed beliefs about some students’ ability to succeed. Or they might frown on mistakes rather than treating them as integral to learning, or make the work easier so students won’t have to struggle. Dweck talks about the confusion-clarity cycle: “You get confused when you face something new. Then it becomes clear, and then you are ready to face the next round of confusion and work through that… Often, when kids feel confused about something, they feel like they’re back to square one.” She suggests giving a pretest and using it later to show struggling students the progress they’ve made.
• Triggers. All of us, teachers and students, are a mix of fixed and growth mindsets, says Dweck. Acknowledge that. Fixed thinking is part of you but it’s not you! She and her Stanford colleagues are searching for what activates fixed thinking – for example, encountering frustration about not having the knowledge or skill to do something well. Washington, D.C. principal Dawn Clemens and her colleagues urge students to train their brains to take a logical rather than an emotional stance toward learning problems: “I need to study these things for the next test” versus “The test was unfair and my teacher doesn’t like me.” And here’s a strategy for working with a student with a negative mindset: give his or her “fixed side” a name (Dwayne) and then use it to convey a growth message: “Let’s see if we can get Dwayne to really listen to this feedback and plan what to do next.”
“Mindset 20/20” by Laura Varlas in Education Update, March 2016 (Vol. 58, #3, p. 1, 4-5),
Have an awesome learning week!
Week At A Glance:
Tuesday, March 22 , 2016:
- March 22nd: BUDGET MEETINGS
- TEI Expert Training - Stevens Park
Wednesday, March 23, 2016:
- Weekly Highlights due every Wednesday by 12:00PM
Thursday, March 24, 2016:
Friday, March 25, 2016:
- No School: Inclement Weather Day for Campuses
- STAAR Challenge: Copy of letter and date of challenge to Berenice Barron