"Super" Spruce Scoop
Volume 1 Edition 12
December 8, 2014
Looking Ahead...
As you begin planning for the second semester and student achievement success, consider what systems and structures will be installed to further academic progress of your students. Specifically, January 5 is a campus-based professional development day. Teachers would benefit from having time to develop instructional calendars and lesson plans facilitated by the leadership team. We all recognize the demands placed on teachers. Providing them with dedicated time to plan and a structured way will allow them to have a good start to the second semester.
Also, good instruction is the key to student success. However, we know that in class intervention, after school tutoring and Saturday School have the potential to impact student achievement. Please collaborate with your CILT and leadership teams to determine what after school tutoring will look like, how your team will get the students to attend who most need it and the days to be held. The same consideration applies to possible Saturday School opportunities for our students.
Just food for thought...
Coming Soon to a School Near You! Spruce E. C. H. S.
Good Things are Happening!:
We have much to celebrate this week with the successes in the Spruce Feeder Pattern! The continual focus on making our schools the best places for our students is paying off as we see good things happening. Here are a few Kudos for our crew:
- Burleson Elementary School - Marco and his team continue to ramp up the instruction provided to our students. He and his team have been laser-like in their efforts to ensure Guided Reading is happening in all reading classes. This past week, two groups of us walked classrooms to calibrate the quality of instruction with the intention to observed Guided Reading. That's exactly what we got! Good work to all the Burleson team and thank you for continuing to raise the quality of instruction for our students.
- Dorsey Elementary School - Antonio is doing good work with his leadership team in calibrating their collective lens. On Monday and Tuesday, he and his coaches conducted calibrated Spot Observations and he facilitated a meaningful administrative meeting discussing instructional priorities.
- Spruce High School - Irene and her team continue to work on strengthening their systems because they recognize the impact it can have on the entire organization. Also, the collaborative counseling team did a great job in organizing and hosting an Open House. The Open House allowed the community and future students to get acquainted with the their pathways; which included Early College High School. See pictures below.
- Macon Elementary School - A student from Macon Elementary School will be spot lighted for her zeal of reading. She a checked-out and read over180 books this school year. We are proud of her desire and success in reading and the environment Gerald has created for students to have the opportunity.
- Cuellar Elementary School - The students from Cuellar participating in the Geography Bowl won first place! Way to go... They are pictured below with Dr. Blackburn, Board Trustee.
Gonzalez and Comstock - Book and Toy Drive
Books and more books ....Toys and more toys to put a smile on the faces of needy children in our community.
Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary School and E. B. Comstock Middle School have joined forces to help those in need. They are conducting a book and toy drive to collect new or gently used children’s books (for infants and children through 8th grade). Dallas ISD children served by the Henry B. Gonzalez Library and E. B. Comstock Middle School are donating books and toys to help the community. At this point, over 500 books have been donated. The donations will go to children at Homeless Shelters. This initiative is to promote literacy and giving back to the community.
Thank you to our principals for allowing this worthy cause to take place and to Ms. Kennard, Henry B. Gonzalez Media Specialist, for making this hope become a reality!
Reading Department Newsletter - Good PD Opportunities and Information
Professional Development
January 5 Professional Development
We will be holding district-wide professional development on the January 5 Staff Development day. The topics are as follows:
Elementary Schools
A virtual training will be conducted for elementary schools on Evidence-based Writing. During the session, participants will develop an understanding of evidence-based writing and the positive impact it has on both writing proficiency and reading comprehension. Teachers will learn how to guide students to write a strong response through the utilization of several research-based strategies. Participants will also gain an understanding of how to use an evidence-based writing rubric to score student work. Schools can register via this link. For more information, please contact Kelly Brennion in the Reading Language Arts department.
Middle Schools
We will be conducting make-up sessions for the classroom library training, in addition to a new training on how teachers can use the online Classroom Library Organizer feature to set up their library for student check-outs. Additional information and registration information can be found below. For more information, please contact Jennifer Doss in the Reading Language Arts department.
Session Title Make-up Classroom Library Training AM
(required to receive a library)
Time 9:00am–11:00am
SchoolNet Activity Code 1000001104
Session Title Make-up Classroom Library Training PM
(required to receive a library)
Time 1:00pm–3:00pm
SchoolNet Activity Code 1000001105
Session Title Classroom Organizer for Classroom Libraries: AM Session (book and student accountability)
Time 9:00am–11:00am
SchoolNet Activity Code 1000001106
Session Title Classroom Organizer for Classroom Libraries: PM Session
(book and student accountability)
Time 1:00pm–3:00pm
SchoolNet Activity Code1000001107
Just in Time Training
The Reading Language Arts department will be holding a training to prepare teachers for the 4th six weeks on Tuesday, December 9 at the H.B. Bell Building. Teachers will preview the upcoming standards and curricular documents. During the training, teachers will have an opportunity to create an instructional calendar for the upcoming six weeks. For more information, please contact Kelly Brennion in the Reading Language Arts department.
Session Title Just in Time Training: 4th Six Weeks
Audience Elementary
Date December 9
Time 4:30pm–6:30pm
SchoolNet Activity Code 1000000693
Session Title Just in Time Training: 4th Six Weeks
Audience Secondary
Date December 9
Time 5:00pm–7:00pm
SchoolNet Activity Code 1000000658