Anchor Weekly
A newsletter for Alta Vista Staff~Week of January 27, 2020
Don't Forget! Next Week's Calendar
- Region 12 ELAR Full Day Coaching (Gr 4) on Monday, January 27
- Nurse Leathers out for CPR Training on Monday, January 27
- K-5 ELAR Curriculum Support on Tuesday, January 28 at 4 pm at North Waco Elementary
- Transformation Waco Board Meeting on Tuesday, January 28 at 5:30 pm at Transformation Zone office
- Faculty Meeting (ESL/Bilingual Team Teachers Only) on Wednesday, January 29 **Bring laptop**
- Coaching Classroom Management Training on Wednesday, January 29 (Helton, Malcom, Rawles, Haskett, Gray)
- Foundations Day 4 Leadership Team Training on Thursday, January 30 (Helton, Malcom, 1 Behavior Aide)
- Career Day on Thursday, January 30
- Reading PLC on Thursday, January 30
- K-5 ELAR Curriculum Support on Thursday, January 30 at 4 pm at North Waco Elementary
- BAS and Achieve Level Set due on Friday, January 31
- Region 12 Digital Innovation Team Meeting Hosted at Alta Vista on Friday, January 31 at 1-4 pm in Library (Library closed)
- Waco ISD UIL Meet on Saturday, February 1 at UHS
- CTCTM Spring Math Conference on Saturday, February 1 at Midway Middle School
- Student-Led Conferences during the week of February 3-7
- Student-Led Conference LATE NIGHT on Tuesday, February 4 until 7:30 pm (Food provided for teachers)
- AUSL Training at Alta Vista Library on Wednesday, February 5 (Library closed)
- Spring Break Academy Parent Meeting on Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 pm
- Class & Individual Pictures on Friday, February 7
Coming Up Soon: Student-Led Conferences during Week of 2/3/2020
College & Career Week Schedule
Captain's Log
We are excited to be hosting the Region 12 Digital Innovation Meeting at Alta Vista for January this Friday the 31st. Several of our teachers will be showcasing Makerspace lessons in their classroom during this time. Please let your students know we will have special guests on campus that day.
As you are analyzing your MAP and SmartyAnts/Achieve data, remember the focus on growth. Regardless of the program or assessment, our goal is to grow every student by at least one year. This can be challenging for higher achieving students, but they need and deserve differentiation as much as anyone else. Use your data to determine what skills these students need to work on, and use your small group instruction time with them to focus on the higher skills that they need. If you need assistance with this, please let me know.
Starting next week each day there will be postcards placed in your box to give to your students who were absent. When that student returns to school, please give them the card letting them know we missed them and wished them well! If you have any questions, please see Mr. Ward.
Mrs. Helton's Week At A Glance
- Monday-Principal Meeting off campus (morning)
- Tuesday-ARDs
- Wednesday-Coaching Classroom Management Training off campus (all day)
- Thursday-CHAMPS Leadership Team Training off campus (all day)
- Friday-Campus Leadership meeting on campus (morning) & Region 12 Digital Innovation Meeting on campus (afternoon)
Teacher To-Do List
- Send Helton dates for tentative unit assessments (rest of year) for grades 1-5 ELAR/Math (PAST DUE)
- BAS Testing (1/31)
- Practice with your UIL Teams (2/1)
- Schedule and have students prepare for student-led conferences (2/3)
- Complete intent to apply for Education Foundation grant (2/3)
- Record next lesson, share with friend, write reflection (2/21)
Conscious Discipline & CHAMPS
Have all your students received an Anchored in Excellence Note this semester? Keep working towards this goal! Remember it doesn't have to be just you writing those notes-students can write them too.
January/February Morning Meeting Suggestions for Growth Mindset
PLCs
Make sure you check the PLC Notes Template to review "To-Do" items prior to PLCs each week. Bring your laptop, planning calendar and materials, assessment data, and student work samples each week.
1/23: Reading PLC with Achieve/Smarty Ants Training
1/30: Reading PLC
Resources:
Student-Led Conferences during Week of February 3
Week of 2/3/2020 (Late Night on 2/4/2020 until 7:30 pm)
- Form Letter
- Schedule-you will need to turn this in to Mr. Ward to document who you met with and attempts to schedule meetings with parents that don't attend
EXPECTATIONS: Students should be leading the data meetings. That means they need to be graphing their own data and practicing what they are going to say. It is highly recommended that each grade level develops a short script that coaches students on how to describe their goals and progress towards meeting them. Here's a great clip of a kindergarten student leading a conference.
Tribe Buddy Day: Valentine's Day Party
Education Foundation Grants-APPLY NOW!!
The 2019-2020 cycle funded 26 grants at 16 Waco ISD campuses, totaling nearly $114,000, and we look forward to another great year of exciting and innovative project proposals! A list of projects funded for this current school year can be found here.
The Foundation's funding focuses on the 4 areas of: early childhood development, extended education for staff, enhanced programming for advanced students, and emphasis on student performance, with additional interest in projects that focus on the fine arts, STEM, literacy, and enrichment. Grant readers and scorers are looking for creative projects that fall outside of what would normally be funded with standard campus or department budgets.
If you have any questions along the way, please don't hesitate to ask Lara Roberson, Jo Spark, or Lindsey Helton. They would all love to help you earn a grant for an innovative classroom project or idea!
Spring Break Academy Applications
As a selected Spring Break Academy teacher, you would have the opportunity to:
* Share your passion for math
* Drive meaningful student growth
* Share with and learn from other great educators in a highly-collaborative environment
* Help those who need you
AND earn $3,000.00 in compensation!
Please apply at: https://forms.gle/7kdUqfqha4wchRidA
Self-Care for You!
Knowledge is power! Putting a name to a sensation that teachers are often exposed to can be very powerful in the healing process and can also be a protective factor. As teachers, there is a high likelihood of educating a child who has experienced trauma. Exposure to this trauma can become apparent in our own lives through compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue is the negative aspect of helping those who experience traumatic stress and suffering. Caring for these students can lead to secondary trauma due to hearing what our students have gone through. Compassion fatigue considers that educators care for their students so hard to the point that it can be heavy on your hearts and affect our own well-being.
This is where the importance of self-care comes in!
There is good news though! Compassion satisfaction is also a real thing and means that we also feel pleasure and happiness from the work we are doing with these kids. This is that feeling you might get when a student gives you a smile and a hug or finally understands that concept, we have been trying for so long to teach them. Y’all are doing great work, keep it up!
Staff of the Week
Congratulations to Mr. Ward for being our STAFF OF THE WEEK. He works relentlessly to improve attendance, including picking up students at home and working with families to meet needs.
District Employee of the Month Nominations
To provide recognition for employees in Waco ISD who are going above and beyond and are truly making a positive difference in the lives of our students, starting February 01, 2020, Waco ISD will begin a monthly Professional and Support Employee of the Month (EOM) initiative. The first Employees of the Month will be announced for the month of March.
EOM nominations will be accepted via email or handwritten form in Human Resources from the 1st to the 15th of each month. February 1, 2020 will be the start of the nominating process for March’s EOM. Completed nomination forms should be sent to Keri White in Human Resources: keri.white@wacoisd.org.
Attached below are the procedures we will follow for Employee of the Month along with the nomination form.
Vertical Planning & Coaching Days
- Math Planning Dates (Grades K-5): February 18
- Science Planning Date (Grades K-5): February 19
- ELAR Coaching Days: anuary 27 (4th Grade); March 23 (3rd Grade)
- ELAR Planning Dates: February 11 (3rd-5th Grade Full Day); April 22 (3rd-5th Grade Full Day)
For math and science, planning will be 1/2 day each from 12-4 pm. You will need to create a 1/2 day school business absence in TEAMS for the afternoon if you plan that specific subject (1 per grade level).
For reading in grades 3-5, planning will be a full day; you will need to create a full day school business in TEAMS for that day if you plan reading in grades 3-5. Please work with Ms. Bonnie to secure subs for these days (grades 3-5 only). Grades K-2 will use the aides assigned to their grade level.