Cat Tracks
Spring Shadows Elementary Wildcats Staff Newsletter
October 13-19, 2019
Focused on Literacy
Writing in Ms. Mendoza's Class!
Pair Share in Dortch's Class
The Bilingual Reader in 3rd!
Our Vision
Our Mission
Core Beliefs
- Each student has unique intellectual, emotional, social, and physical qualities.
- We embrace a child’s individual values, interests, and personalities.
- Parents are confident in their child’s social and intellectual educational growth.
- Educators lead their craft by preparing learners in our fast changing world
"Clarity precedes Competence." (Learning by Doing)
Visible Learning in Mathematics
How do we have rigorous authentic tasks for children to learn? Rigor has two parts: difficulty and complexity. Difficulty equates to the amount of work you have to do. Complexity is likened to the amount of thinking a person has to do. We don't want rigor to be thought of simply more work for kids (i.e. more problems to accomplish). Rigor is the balance of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and meaningful application. Rigor in the Classroom
In what ways are you scaffolding rigorous opportunities to your students in the math class? What are example you will share during your next collaborative meeting?
Principal's Message
We have a short week with scholars again this week and have quite a bit of preparation at hand for what's coming up. By now, you should have scheduled all of your parent conferences for the month of October. If you have not, then do so by the end of this week. The district allows us 2 early dismissals so that you have sufficient time to meet with each child's parent in your classroom. Please read this article: "Making the Most of Parent Conferences" by ASCD.
This week you should already be prepping for priority standard assessments that are coming up next week. At this time you should be analyzing the test's blueprints and ensuring you are backwards designing for the assessment. We want to ensure our students are on track. Many of you should be responding to your common assessment and should have given another assessment to see if the children are mastering the TEKs with reteach.
Finally, we want to make sure everyone is ready for the fall carnival! It is our biggest fundraiser of the year and we are excited to see everyone's outfits for Friday. Make sure to wear your outfit all day long to promote the fall carnival. Let's have some fun!
With love, respect, and admiration,
Rachel Martinez
P.S. It's not too late to join for the water challenge! Sign up your name and just log in how much water you are drinking. Remember I'm giving away $50 Amazon to the top water drinker just for filling in the google sheet!
Calendar
Monday, October 14
- School Holiday
Tuesday, October 15
5th Grade Extended Planning
Announcements: Hill
- SPIRAL Day
- National School Lunch Week
- Cindy Off Campus 7:30-11:30
- Afterschool Tutoring 3:00-4:00
Wednesday, October 16
PLC Day
Announcements: Hill
- 6:00 am First Run Report Card 1
- No Faculty PLC today: Parent Conferences @ 2:45-4:00
Thursday, October 17
Early Dismissal Day (11:30)
Announcements: Hill
- Early Dismissal (11:30)
- Parent Conferences 12:15 - 3:00
Friday, October 18
Early Dismissal Day (11:30)
Announcements: Hill
- Happy Birthday Paris Grant-Bush!
- Early Dismissal (11:30)
- Parent Conferences 12:15-3-00
- Fall Carnival 4:00-7:00
Shout Outs
From 2nd Grade Field Trip to Taking a Dive into Student Writing! It's evident Wildcat Teachers love their Wildcat Students!
We appreciate our Custodians!
Water Challenge!
SBISD and SSE Water Challenge!
4 week Challenge: September 30, 2019 – October 27, 2019
During the four week Water You Up To? Challenge, you will receive tips, tricks and education that you can use to swap out sugary beverages and drink more water throughout the day.
You may sign up at anytime during the challenge at SBISD Water Challenge (you may need to copy and paste this link into google chrome for it to work – it wants to default to Internet Explorer). Log the amount of water you drink each day in ounces. Please find your department or campus tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet and add your name to the list (Most departments are listed under the building that you work in).
- Each Monday, SSE staff members may win the following: 5 raffled leave early passes for those joining the Water Challenge. 1- $50 Amazon Requisition for your classroom/office for the TOP WATER GUZZLER of the Week.
Join today and discover the benefits of improved hydration!
Spring Shadows Elementary
Email: rachel.martinez@springbranchisd.com
Website: https://cms.springbranchisd.com/sse2/
Location: 9725 Kempwood Drive, Houston, TX, United States
Phone: (713) 251-7100
Twitter: @twitter_rachelmartinez4