Cobra Connect
Staff Newsletter - 5-13-2019
Home of the Cobras
Collins Intermediate is committed to academic success and general well-being of all students. Through collaboration and teamwork, we will provide meaningful strategies and interventions for all students to reach their learning goals.
Website: http://collins.conroeisd.net/
Location: 6020 Shadowbend Place, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Phone: 281-298-3800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollinsCISD/
Twitter: @CollinsCobras
Two Plus Weeks at a Glance
Please check Parent Calendar, Collins Staff Forum, and your personal Outlook Calendar in the event an event was missed.
Monday, May 13th - 16th Closed Campus Due to STAAR Testing
Spirit Week - Marble Slab - information below.
Monday, May 13th
- 6th Math STAAR
- 5th Math STAAR Retest
Tuesday, May 14th
- 6th Reading STAAR
- 5th Reading STAAR Retest
Wednesday, May 15th
- 5th Science STAAR Test
Thursday, May 16th
- Team Leader Meeting 7:45 AM (extra meeting to finalize end of year procedures)
- Lighthouse Meeting 8 AM - PLC Room
- Collins Choir Concert - Collins 5:30 PM
- STAAR Testing - Make up day
Friday, May 17th
- Cobra Focus Meeting 8:00 AM (extra meeting to finalize new parent survey - staff survey about committees and clubs)
- Principal/Assistant Principal for the day - March Madness Winners
- Daytime Orchestra Concert 9:30 AM
- Choir Daytime Performance 2 PM
Monday, May 20th
- Care / Foundations Team Meeting - Rescheduled 8 AM
- Emily off campus 1/2 day in AM
- Sabrina available to meet for team meetings to discuss LPAC
- PTO Meeting 1:15 PM
- Colossal Cobras 6th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
- Shelter In Place Drill 3:30
Tuesday, May 21st
- Core Leader Meeting 7:45 AM - PLC Room
- Sabrina off campus in AM
- 5th Social Studies Benchmark #1
- 11:15 AM KCOL Special Broadcast / Seniors Last Walk
- Collins Band Concert College Park High School - Times TBA
Wednesday, May 22nd
- Principal Meeting - Shelli Out 8 AM - 12:30 PM
- Principal/Assistant Principal for the day - Fall Frenzy Winners
- Collins Band Daytime Concert - 9:30 AM
- College Park Feeder String Fling Concert - College Park HS Gym 6PM
Thursday, May 23rd
- Faculty Meeting 8 AM - Library
- 6th Science Benchmark #2
- Shelli Off Campus - District meeting with all District Instructional Departments - Jett Center 12:30 - 4:40 pm
- College Park High School Graduation
Friday, May 24th
- 6th Social Studies Benchmark #1
- N.E.A.T. Attendance Celebration - Kona Ice
- Incoming 5th Grade Instrument Selection Page Due to Child's Elementary School
- PTO delivers Yearbook to classroom for distribution on Tuesday 5/28/19
- Load Button Goes On
Monday, May 27th
- School Holiday
Tuesday, May 28th
- Collins Yearbook Distribution during school day
- VERY Limited Quantity Yearbook Purchase - (First Come First Serve) $50 cash only - exact amount - not change given.
- LPAC End of the Year Meetings 1/2 Day
- Colossal Cobras 5th grade Ceremony 3 PM - Library
- Report Card - Grade Pull
Wednesday, May 29th
- 5th Field Day
- 6th Field Day
- Report Card Verification Printed
Thursday, May 30th
- Required School Attendance Day
- Early Dismissal 12:45 PM
- Report Card Verification Due to Doreen by Noon
- Teacher Work Day 4:10 PM
Friday, May 31st
- Staff Breakfast - Time TBA
- Teacher Workday
- Report Cards Printed
Welcome Olive Posey Osborn
Kelbye, Olive, and family are home and doing very well!
Please make sure to close all outside doors!
Awaiting News @ Workday
This does not translate to contracted employees. The district will communicate their decision regarding moving the teacher workday to Saturday in the coming days. As soon as a decision has been made either the district will share directly with all staff or I will send out the update when the principals are told.
Clinic Need
We are in desperate need of girls or boys athletic shorts in the clinic, especially sizes 12 -20. We have given out a large number of pants/shorts this year and haven't received many back. If anyone has any gently used bottoms, we will gladly take them.
Thank you!
Nell and Debbie
LEP student EOY review
See Sabrina's Email Dates Wed 4/24, 11:16 AM for TWO important attachments!
Teacher of Year, Humanitarian of Year, Rising Star, Friend of Education
We are so proud and thankful for all you do for our students, fellow staff members, parents, and community.
Brooke Bruns - Teacher of the Year
Sabrina Pomales - Humanitarian of the Year
Melanie Cockshott - Rising Star
Toni Leys - Friend of Education
Spirit Week
Did you know?
Studies show green environments reduce aggressive acts and improve attention, impulse control, and academic performance.
Greenery draws the eye but lowers the heart rate and blood pressure which restores focus and our ability to tolerate stress.
- Victoria Dunkley, MD & Author of Reset your Child's Brain
If you were to poll your students, how much time would they say they spend outdoors? Some students I talk to say that their lives are so busy that the only time spent outdoors is walking in and out of buildings on their way to vehicles. The more I study about the brain the more amazed I am at the ability we possess to improve our own mental health. Some of the things that are most beneficial are pretty easy to implement. Will going outside fix everything? No, but everything little improvement adds up over time and will result in positive benefits.
Please note - the studies referenced above looked at kids with "aggressive acts" which means these kids go into "fight" mode when stressed. "Flight" and "Freeze" responses to stress will also benefit from green time. The real take away should be that green time lowers anyone's heart rate and blood pressure which increase during times of stress.
How can schools bring more green time into the daily activities of our students?
- For each campus that answer will be different. Here are some ideas.
- Windows
- While it isn't as powerful as being outside looking at pictures of greenery or out windows does help.
- Outdoor classrooms or simply outdoor lessons
- Challenges
- A BINGO board of activities to do outside
- A scavenger hunt
Why should we get the word out to parents?
- Sharing this information with parents is powerful.
- All students in our district need time to be outside each day, but most parents aren't aware of the science behind it.
- The activities will differ depending on the age of the child, but the benefits of being outside are the same.
- Time outdoors can easily become "unstructured time".
- Our brains need "unstructured time" to create the necessary pathways to move us from the emotion-driven part of our brain to the thinking part of our brain.
- Without "unstructured time" we get stuck in an emotional brain (aka a teenage brain! 😱)
Another benefit of being outdoors is that, for most people, this will give them time away from screens!
- Students grades 7-12 who spend over 2h/day on social media reported higher depression, anxiety & suicidal thoughts. - The Canadian Association of Mental Health
- Anxiety reduction is experienced after only 20 minutes of exercise
- Resulting in decreased muscle tension for 1 ½ hours and reduced anxiety for 4 to 6 hours
May is here and busier than ever. Be sure to take care of yourself so you can take care of your students.
GT Update Trainings
Teachers, here are some opportunities for GT hours for NEXT year. July would count for the next school year.
Tech Time
Summer CISD Connects Academy
Here are flyers describing tech trainings available through the summer. I would LOVE to have a good showing at the CISD Connects Academy, July 25th-26th, which is going to feature a really interesting, motivating, and challenging speaker and Tech leader named Alan November. He is really engaging and very approachable, and really interested in helping teachers engage today's students.
Sign up for all in Eduphoria....I could not find the classes from the Canvas flyer in Eduphoria, so I emailed the district to see if there is a glitch.
:)Kellie
Assistant Principal Prose
The updated 6 hours must be completed by beginning of May.
Please turn in certificate of completion as early as possible to Sabrina Pomales.
504 & ARD Compliance
Please be aware of the email sent last week about online signatures.
If you received a letter in your box today, it will have the names of the students that you have yet to sign for their accommodations, and the date it was sent to you.
*Please note these accommodations need to be printed out and in a folder in your room
*The most recent documents sent to you are what should be printed
*Even if you receive two shares (one usually is an update/change) - BOTH shares need to be signed.
***Printing in the copier room - Please secure print any 504 Teacher Bundles or IEP documents.
Too many confidential documents are being left on the printer or the counter.
If you have trouble setting this up, please let me know and I can help.
Thank you for your time and understanding the importance of keeping our School Compliant.
RtI Tier II Progress Reports
Just a friendly reminder that RTI Tier II Progress Reports are due tomorrow. Please place them in my mailbox once your forms are complete.
Should you have any questions or need any help please let me know.
Thank you for all you do,
Doreen
Sign In - Sign Out
Every staff member - no matter the reason that leaves campus should go to Eduphoria and electronically sign out and then sign back in when they return. Even for a quick McDonald's lunch run!
Click on Image for Steps in Eduphoria for Sign Out/In
Attendance - Taking it on Time
We still working on 100% attendance taken at 10:00 AM each day by teachers. We will be moving the reminder bell to 9:45 AM so that attendance is in the computer by 10 AM. I completely understand that it is not always easy to stop in the middle of teaching to take attendance, however it is required by the state. The district is really cracking down, on this issue, this year. Please read the email below that was sent to all PEIMS clerks.
We have been hearing for some time that TEA is very concerned about the actual time that attendance is taken for ADA. At the beginning of this year, the principals were reminded that we would be looking into this issue.
ADA attendance is a point in time, not a period. The time for your campus must be set before school starts and should be in the 2nd or 5th hour of instruction. Our campuses almost all use the 2nd hour. Having said that, it is a POINT IN TIME and not the entire 2nd period for the correct attendance taking time by teachers. For instance, if your campus ADA time is 10:00 and attendance is taken at 10:45, that is not correct. During an audit, funding would be lost for that class. As it was explained to us by TEA, if TEA audits your campus or your district, and finds that the attendance time is not being met, they will take away funding. The example we were given is that they could take away $30 per student per class of all classes with the time outside of the actual time. If you have a class of 30 students and the teacher is not taking attendance promptly, you would loose $900 per day per class, multiplied by the number of days that the time was incorrect, potentially a staggering amount of funding to be lost on each class.
I am receiving emails from the PEIMS office reminding us of the attendance rules , and also reminders at audits. We have been asked to send letters to the teachers explaining the consequences, that the school will face, if their attendance is not taken exactly at the attendance time. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Breakfast
We look forward to your feedback during the trial of this new timeline.
Warm Up Wednesday
Pants
Black warm up pants of your of your choice (either solid or a stripe down the sides)
Shirt
Current PTO Collins school shirt "Work Hard, Be Kind, Dream Big, Collins Cobras"
An LC created team shirt (that the entire team is wearing)
A PLC created team shirt (that the entire team is wearing)
IF we were to create a Collins Staff shirt - it could be worn in the future.
To conclude - four shirt options and one warm up pant option.
If jeans are worn on Wednesday - staff member must use a "Jeans Pass".
Please remember for our staff picture we are are wearing the Gray "Work Hard, Be Kind, Dream Big, Collins Cobras".
CARE Team - Foundations
Heather Ramsey: LC 5-1, 5-2, 5-3
Paige Kirbo: LC 5-4, 5-5
Melanie Cockshott & Julie Berg: LC 6-1 & support staff
Shawna Yates: LC 6-2, 6-3
Lisa Lackey: LC 6-4, 6-5
Collin Henry: PE and Fine Arts
One-liners
★ Check your Feet
★ Third Tile - Single File
★ Check your Hands
★ Check your Voice
★ Right Side, Safe Side
★ Hats/Hoods off
****** Next Meeting Thursday, March 7th********
Copy Machine Important Update - Dark Print
Teachers & Staff.... regarding item #4 below....in addition to dark borders creating issues with printing and possible jamming problems, it also sucks up toner. Sooo, when printing items with a dark border, please erase those edges.
Something new regarding cardstock copying...
Not only do you have to:
- load the card stock in the side (tray 5)
- select the appropriate paper weight (heavy)
- select the correct paper size
- ensure orientation of the inserted paper matches the selection of the paper size
But, you also should NOT use the duplex function. If you need your card stock to be 2-sided, you should run 1 side...collect your copies and turn them over to run the second side.
Ugh...I know...it's a pain in the tail to have so many rules and processes and procedures, but know they are for the good of us all so our beloved copy machine stays in tip-top shape. Thanks for being rule-followers!
Copy Machine - Please review #5
- When loading paper in his trays, be patient...wait for the tray to completely lower before dropping in a ream of paper. He looks like a strong, tough guy...but he doesn't like surprises and his tray cables are more delicate than we think. They can't handle the force of a ream of paper being dropped in unexpectedly.
- Before loading a ream of paper, it may even be helpful to slightly thumb through/fan the paper to help separate those sheets of paper.
- Mr. Copy Machine is smart. Follow his instructions - in order. In the event of a paper jam, he will tell you how to locate the jam in great detail....be sure to follow the steps listed on his display monitor. Don't automatically assume that the jam initiated in the paper tray. Following his steps in the order listed will reduce the potential for ripped paper pieces getting stuck in unreachable areas of the machine. If it states to turn knob 3, then open tray 1, then remove the paper from slot C...that's what you should do (even if you see the paper in slot C sticking up and waving at you). I can't stress it enough....please FOLLOW the sequence of instructions listed on the display screen.
- Please ensure that all of his levers & lids are shut, lowered and/or replaced properly before pushing the guts back in the machine after clearing a mis-feed/jam.
When things aren't closed properly, it throws off the alignments and sensors to allow paper to flow freely and correctly.
- If you are printing something with a dark border, please make sure the margins are set to at least .4 - anything smaller/narrower than that confuses our otherwise brilliant copy machine and will create problems when printing.
Cardstock...this is a biggie and requires it's own set of bullets
cardstock should always be loaded in the side bypass tray 5 (never in the main trays)
- always identify the paper as heavy weight
- always verify the correct size & orientation of the paper
- If staples need to be replaced, please check with me or Karen Kline to obtain staple cartridge & instructions on the replacement process.