Ram Nation News
Week of October 21, 2019
Vision
#EXCELLENCE, Back At It Again
As we approach our common assessment, CA2, window, let's be very intentional to provide a great learning environment for our kids. Let's be very purposeful and have a laser focus as we work on having double digit gains across all subjects in all buckets and ensure our students are reaching their goals.
A great deal of student achievement lays on the level of motivation students have. A discouraged or unmotivated student will not put forth the effort required to perform above the average. Motivation is key in the success of students. Teachers play a very important role in encouraging and motivating students, but since every student is motivated differently, it takes time and effort to get to know how to motivate and encourage each student.
- Leverage the relationships you have built with students for the last 11 weeks. MOTIVATE our students to do their very best so that they would not miss the opportunity to be and feel successful.
- Be familiar with and implement the accommodations that our Special Education, 504, ESL, and Sheltered students have during testing; if you don't know, please ask!!!
- Let's track the quality of our student's work as we aggressively monitor and hold our students to the level of expectation; let's ask ourselves, how many of our students' work match the level of expectation set forth in our exemplar?
- Be very intentional in the type of work and tasks that you are putting in front of our students. Let's have a laser-focus on the learning that is critical for each grade level and focus on the "must knows".
Attendance
- 6th Grade - 96.46% - an improvement of 0.17%
- 7th Grade - 95.42% -
- 8th Grade - 95.82% -
Way to go 6th grade team taking the lead!!
Let's continue to encourage our students to be present and on time on a daily basis. It really makes a huge difference when our students are present learning
Thank You
- Coach Bey for her leadership with the athletic coaching staff and coordinating along with Mr. Salazar, Ms. Winton, Mr. Alarcon, Coach Clark and Mr. Thornton the Athletics Parent Meeting for ALL winter sports.
- Congratulations are in order for Ms. Brunson. One of her students, Ingrid Buenrostro won 3rd place in the 2019 Veterans Day Art Contest. We are very excited about this recognition and proud of their hard work and creativity.
- Ms. Brown for her leadership and determination as she brought us together to celebrate the end of Hispanic Heritage Month in our unity luncheon. Thank you to everyone who participated! Let's continue to make every effort to connect with our colleagues, build trust, and be a part of an effective team.
Instructional Practices
In the examples below, we are able to see teachers combining classes to hold workshops where students are able to collaborate and learn across the grade level and from other teachers. Also, teachers provide students with exciting hands-on activities and relevant experiences to bring learning to life.
PLC and Collaboration
CILT
Exemplar Preparation
Model Lesson
Climate and Culture
Cheerleaders
North Dallas MS Night
Cross Country
REMINDERS FOR THE UPCOMING WEEK
- Engage learners throughout your lessons and ensure we incorporate bell-to-bell instruction (see below for more details). It will support the increase in student achievement and reduce disruptions. While students are more familiar with engagement strategies such as Think Pair Share, we need to ensure that we have taught, modeled, and practiced these skills in order for effective implementation (TEI 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, and 3.3).
- During transitions, let's make sure to have 100% participation and hold each other accountable to be present in the hallway supporting students. Our goal is to narrate the positive and have at least 10 positive interactions each transition. APs, CICs, and counselors will be working with each one of you to provide individual support. (TEI 3.3 and 3R Positive Attitude/Enthusiasm).
- Be very consistent in the effective implementation of various practices discussed during our TEI orientation and lesson alignment conversations. With regards to Alignment (learning objective), the proficient rating states: Focuses students at the beginning and throughout the lesson, by clearly stating (TEI 2.1)
- What they are learning
- Why it is important
- What mastery looks like
- How to connect it to prior knowledge and their own lives and explaining to students
- Submit lesson plans by Thursday at 8:00 a.m. (TEI 4.2)
DAILY EVENTS
Red Ribbon Week -Week of October 21, 2019 - Refer to email and flyer from our counselors for details about activities.
- A Day
- 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - 8th Grade PSAT Testing
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 4:45 - 6:00 p.m. - AFC Meeting - Library.
- 4:35 - 6:00 p.m. - Soccer and Girls Basketball Begin
- B Day.
- Progress Reports go home - Ms. Reyes
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 3:40 p.m. Pep Rally
- 4:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - As part of our efforts to improve school pride and spirit as well as to recognize our students who are staying for tutoring, we will have our Homecoming Tailgate Celebration.
- Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- Football Game Vs. Marsh @ LOOS - Time TBA
- A Day
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Meet with your grade level teams to align your Lesson Plans, continue the analysis of the common assessment, and analyze data profiles for your students.
- 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. School Leadership visit - Mr. Kastl
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Let's make the best out of this time being very purposeful in the material covered with students and the students who must attend your sessions. We need to work on the recruitment of students for our after school program since it impacts student growth, our school performance, progress, and, ultimately, part of our stipends are tied to the attendance of our students to our tutoring/enrichment sessions. As a reminder, students do not have the option to opt out; if you need assistance with parents, please let anyone from the leadership team know.
- Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 4:35 - 6:00 p.m. Boys Basketball Begins
Thursday, October 24-
- B Day
- 8:00 a.m. - Lesson Plans Due
- We will be walking classrooms checking for alignment, exemplars, and aggressively monitoring.
- Department Collaboration PLC - Testing Meeting CA 2 logistics and expectations.
- 4:30 p.m. After School Program Continues. Remember to clock out at or after 6:00 p.m. during the 2 days that you will stay after school.
- 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. SWAG Network Collaboration at Rusk MS. All STAAR Tested subjects will need to make plans to attend including Special Education teachers who support these subjects.
- 6:00/7:00 Volleyball Game at Conrad Vs. Tasby MS. (Pink Out)
Friday, October 25-
- A Day
- Students may be able to wear jeans for $1 to support our CAB.
Saturday, October 26 -
- Chess Tournament at Edison Learning Center
Upcoming Events
October 28 - November 1-
- 2nd Common Assessment Testing Window
October 29 -
- 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. - Dallas ISD Flu Clinic available. See Passport website for dates, locations and more https://www.passageware.com/ClinicSignUp/DISD/
October 30 -
- Fall Festival - Games, music playing, photo booth and outside playing - Ms. Eddy and Student Council.
November 6-
- 8th grade field trip to Townview
November 7-
- 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. Fall Preview Night - Hispanic Heritage celebration. Club, After School Programs, and Sports highlights
November 13 -
- 8th Grade Field Trip to North Dallas HS
November 22 -
- High School Fair - 8th Grade
District Standards when Sending Email
Please, use the guidelines below to make adjustments to your Outlook picture and your signature line.
Email signature lines should include name, title, department, phone, and email address. Email signatures for corresponding outside the district also should include the employee’s mailing address. Use common, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman in a black or dark text color. Do not use logos and graphics as they do not translate well across email clients.
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Happy Birthday -
We want to wish you the best and many blessings for the years to come.
- Ms. Herrera - 10/1
- Ms. Alanis - 10/2
- Ms. Vasquez - 10/8
Rusk Middle School
Email: jcordoba@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/rusk
Location: 2929 Inwood Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972-925-2000
Twitter: @RuskAllTheWayUp