BESTeam Tidbits
August 6, 2017
Setting the Stage
Celebrations!
- Welcome to BES April Kirkenbauer! April will be working with our special education team. We are so glad to have April join the Texan cast!
- Thank you Shelly, Denise, and Rebecca for working with our newest Texan families last week! We are excited to meet our newest Texans!
To do...
- Online Textbooks: Take a few minutes to access textbooks in the same way you had last year, mainly through ARMS or the individual publisher's platform. C&I is in the process of working toward implementing an even smoother access point for all online resources, Classlink, but this transition will take place gradually after the school year has begun with more information forthcoming. With newly hired teachers, C&I is hopeful that their online access is activated immediately upon their being entered into our Skyward system. This means that newly hired teachers *ought* to have resources to access next week upon returning. As hiccups with this arise, please be in communication with Laila Mohmand using the "Digital Textbook" form found in Eduphoria under Helpdesk. Please see Tonya if you have any questions regarding textbooks.
Learning Institutes #GCLI17
Goals of the Learning Institute
Differentiated learning opportunity for instructional staff
Teachers to reflect on their own learning needs (related to LEAD 2021) and seek a variety of opportunities to personalize their learning
Varied opportunities for workshops of different lengths, collegial and informal collaboration, vendor interaction, quiet reflection, access to our Free Bookstore (thought provoking professional books on current topics)
Offer opportunities for instructors to learn from/with peers across the district
August 9
Transportation - Buses will pick staff up at BES at 7:30 a.m. to receive name tags and hear any final reminders from their principals. Buses will depart campuses by 7:45 a.m. to arrive at CHHS between 8-8:15 a.m. Staff should go directly to their first session using the schedule they have saved on their phones/computers (no printed schedules will be provided). Buses will pick staff up at the CHHS drop off location at 4:15 p.m. to return to home campuses by 4:30 p.m.
Food - Five food trucks will be available at CHHS throughout the day at the times designated on the flyer. Note that the food truck items will be for purchase and lines may exist. Staff may also bring their own lunch. Snacks provided at CHHS courtesy of Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union.
The Go Center at CHHS (located near the cafeteria and gym entrances) will be the information “hub” for the day. Emergency transportation, special needs for participants, etc… can be accessed from this location which will be staffed throughout the day.
Cell phone coverage at CHHS can be challenging. Connecting to the wi-fi network can help with this.
August 10 at CES
Transportation - Carpool from home campus to CES. Be sure to plan for a very full parking lot and the necessary walking time into campus for sessions.
Food - Lunch will be off campus.
The front office will be the “hub” for the day. This area will be staffed throughout the day for presenter packet pick up, emergency issues, etc…
All Learning Institute Days
Wait listed participants DO NOT have seats in sessions unless they receive notification that their status has changed. If they’d like to wait outside the door until 5 minutes past the start of the session, they may then take any unclaimed seats.
Presenters need to pick up their packets from the Go Center/Office Hub at least 30 minutes prior to the beginning of their sessions. Presenters must bring their own dongles/adapter if needed.
Sign-in/attendance will be expected at each session. Presenters will return sign-in sheets to the Go Center/Office Hub by the end of the day.
In the rare case of a presenter who doesn’t arrive or a session that needs to cancel, participants should select another open option or enjoy the unstructured time to collaborate, shop the bookstore, visit with a vendor, etc...
Bransford PTA Spirit Shop
PTA has designed four different shirts for their spirit shop. If interested in purchasing a shirt from PTA, staff is invited to come by the Spirit Shop during the day on Monday, August 14th anytime between 1:30 - 3:00.
Three Terrific Texan Tweets
FLEX Learning
Thank you for working on FLEX Learning over the summer. Visiting the following link from the district website (http://www.gcisd-k12.org/Domain/3804), you will see the requirements, understand why Flex is important to our profession, and get access to the site. Once you get to the actual Flex site, find the tab that represents your job so you know which modules to complete.
If you begin working on the Flex requirements right away you may run into a couple of "coming soon" notes on certain modules. Those are currently being updated and will be ready to go very soon. The due date for completing Flex requirements is October 9, 2017.
Technology Fee Update
When looking at the overall program and fee structure, Technology was able to find a solution that hopefully will be a great fit for our families as well as campus staff. By structuring the program with a built-in funding mechanism based off the resale of older technology, GCISD will be able to expand on the original investments in technology while reducing the upfront student tech fee to ZERO (* unless intentional damage then cost of repair based on damage).
Effective the 2017-2018 school year, the below matrix will be applied for student 1:1 device repair fees. Please note the grandfather clause for students already paid into the prior $50 student fee.
- $0 up front cost - (incident numbers are per year), An incident is some form of physical breakage associated to the device
- 1st incident - no cost for repair, notification sent to parents and student, cc to assistant principal
- 2nd incident - $15 fee assessed, notification sent to parents and student, cc to assistant principal and campus bookkeeper
- 3rd incident - Full cost of device repair, notification sent to parents and student cc to assistant principal and campus bookkeeper
Grandfathered students (those that paid the $50 fee in 2016-2017); The following applies, unless intentional damage, then cost of the repair will be based on damage.
- 1st incident - no cost for repair, notification sent to parents and student, cc to assistant principal
- 2nd incident - no cost for repair, notification sent to parents and student, cc to assistant principal and campus bookkeeper
- 3rd incident - Full cost of device repair, notification sent to parents and student, cc to assistant principal and campus bookkeeper
The overall program will be managed with the help of Skyward.
Training will be provided for campus staff that will have a much smaller level of involvement with the program. The current student handbook is being updated as well as translations. The new information is also updated in online registration.
Technology will be working with the Communications department to get the appropriate information out to parents.
Week at a Glance
Monday
Special Education Paras at Safety Care Training
Building open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday
Welcome back everyone!
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the learning commons
Wednesday
GCISD Learning Institute at CHHS
Meet at 7:30 a.m. in the bus lane, bus departs at 7:45 a.m.
Thursday
GCISD Elementary Learning Institue CES
Carpool to CES
Friday
Building open
Jamie Halliburton
Email: jamie.halliburton@gcisd.net
Phone: 806-441-6518
Twitter: @BESHalliburton