Old Town Star Staff News
April 28- May 9
Our Next Week...
Monday, April 28
Mya’s Coaching Day
ARD Meeting (see separate schedule)
Walsh Brown Bag in Science Lab 12:00pm-1:00pm
Happy Birthday Vicki Arms!
Tuesday, April 29
Minor’s Coaching Day
Volunteer Appreciation Day (Science lab)
Blanton Art Museum Field Trip 9:00am
Kg Texan Tours 12:50pm
Wednesday, April 30
Mya’s Coaching Day
Computer Password Change Today!
Kg-2nd Character Ed Awards 7:45am
Popcorn Day
Thursday, May 1
ARD Mtgs (separate schedule)
3rd – 5th Character Ed Awards 7:45am
Fire Drill 9:15am
Park Ranger PBL Presentation 4th Café 1:15pm
Happy Birthday Kathryn Warner!
Friday, May 2
CAT Mtg 8:50am
3, 4 SST’s Academic Danger
2nd grade field trip to YMCA Twin Lakes 9:00am
Last day to sign your contract!
Happy Birthday Marie Schmidt!
Weekly Reminders...
- Character Ed Assemblies next week! Please get your certificates to Angela by the end of the day today!
- Get a head start on those Spring Conferences by beginning early! The official day for Spring Conferences is our Early Release Day, May 7th.
- Please take time to post an affirmation or two for your colleagues in the staff lounge!
- Check out our Professional Learning and Events Calendar regularly as revisions/additions are made often...http://goo.gl/u8peV
PBL Spotlight: Our Grade Level Driving Questions for Project 2
Kinder: 1) What is a happy habitat? 2) How can we teach others to recycle in the cafeteria?
1st: How do animals survive in their world?
2nd: How would the disappearance of honey bees affect me and the Round Rock community?
3rd: How is soil formed?
4th: How can we design bird feeders to help birds survive in their environment?
5th: How can we provide information about ways to reduce, recycle, or reuse resources in our community?
TaG Math: How can geometry be taught through the alphabet?
Music: How can we create an Orff Ostinati with a known song?
Check out https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/group-contracts-ntn for additional PBL ideas happening at similar schools!
Be better than you were yesterday. Jon Gordon, The Energy Bus
Star Gazing...
Congratulations to Shannon Ridley, star Old Town Secretary...our STAR Teacher of the Week having the most nominations! You are entitled to a week long jeans/shorts pass and designated parking!
Her colleagues write:
- Shannon is so helpful and talented. She always goes out of her way to answer questions and make our lives a little easier, even if it's not in her job description
She does so much "behind the scenes". She is wonderful at encouraging and supporting us, planning and organizing events and so much more. We have a great office environment because of her sweet and caring personality
She is willing to help no questions asked. She is such a caring and loyal person. I am honored to work with Shannon. She can't be praised enough!
She is always helpful. She stops what she is doing and cheerfully responds to my needs. She does a great job coordinating and managing special treats for staff. Thanks for spreading good cheer!
Shannon goes above and beyond to make sure the systems in the office run smoothly and with a smile! Thanks for all you do for our school, Shannon!
Aiming for the Stars...
Warmest appreciations from our office team to each of you who shared the love this week with flowers, treats, and gifts! HUGE thanks to Minor Baker, Kelly Dorman, STAAR Administrators, and Hall Monitors, for another smooth testing week for our Star Texans! Thank you also to K-2 teachers for you flexibility and patience this week! Thank you for your support and volunteerism with another amazing and successful PTA Spring Carnival!
What another fast paced, full and exciting week! Thank each you for your hard work in striving to deliver world class instruction to our STAR Texans! Remember to post an affirmation or two for your colleagues in the staff lounge and have an awesome weekend!
Starrrrific Websites!
Two Browser-based Noise Meters That Show Students How Loudly They Speak - need to have a microphone on the PC though! Or can use a netbook with built in microphone. There are a few microphones available for checkout in the library. http://goo.gl/k1QS90
Personal Google Extension you might be interested in.....
Quick HAC - the extension that will show you your child's grades, calculated GPA, no need to log into home access, sends you a pop up notification when grades are changed! Can set it up for however many kids you have enrolled in school. You must already have home access set up to use this.
In Chrome to go the 3 hotdog lines in the top right of the browser....settings, extensions, get more extensions, type Quick HAC into the search bar and add it. Then you can log in, adjust any settings. No need to log out of it - it will stay active on your chrome toolbar anytime you have chrome open.
There's also a Quick HAC app for the iphone (not sure about Android).The cool thing is....it was developed by a McNeil HS student!!!
Summer Professional Development Conference http://goo.gl/Hl7jCX
Summer PD Catalog http://rrisdpd2014.sched.org/
Looking for additional topics/ideas for future PBL Projects?http://www.fno.org/nov97/toolkit4.html#anchor228022
Eye on the Gifted...
Interested in some fundamentals of formative assessment? Take a look at the following article by Carol Ann Tomlinson, an American educator, author and speaker. She is best known for her innovative work with techniques of differentiation in education.
Professional Resource of the Week! Check out your copy today!
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." -JFK
The Week After...
Sunday, May 4
Spirit Event - Round Rock Express Game 1:00pm
Monday, May 5
Mya’s Coaching Day
Teacher Appreciation PTA Luncheon
Tuesday, May 6
Minor’s Coaching Day
National Nurse’s Day
Minor’s off campus AP mtg
Wednesday, May 7
Mya’s Coaching Day
Spring Parent Conferences
Class Placement w/ horizontal teams
Teacher Appreciation PTA Breakfast!
Early Release
Thursday, May 8
ARD Mtgs (separate schedule)
Friday, May 9
Principal’s Coffee 8:00am
CAT Mtg 9:00am
Teacher Appreciation PTA Luncheon!
SST’s Kg – 5th Academic Danger
3rd grade field trip to the Austin Zoo 9:15am
Old Town Elementary Mission
Email: mya_mercer@roundrockisd.org
Website: http://schools.roundrockisd.org/oldtown/
Location: 2200 Chaparral Dr, Round Rock, TX
Phone: (512) 428-7600
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/OldTownElementaryPTA
Twitter: @OTESchool