Cool Cat News
Principal Brief
May 14-May 18
This is it - STAAR week! Testing weeks are hard on us all. Our kids are ready! Lunch will be provided for staff on Monday and Tuesday. Vanessa has done an outstanding job coordinating testing so I know it run smoothly!
Our new Pep Rally name is Hartman Huddle! Thank you for all of your suggestions! Hartman Huddle was the winner with 53% of the vote- I do love the other suggestions and hope to work them in with our student council group and other events we have planned for next year.
Two former Cool Cats will receive scholarships from the Education Foundation (provided by Hartman in honor of M Tetrault) on May 15th. Vicki Skipwith will be participating in the ceremony and giving scholarships on our behalf.
Thank you for working so diligently on EOY processes. Determining class lists, reviewing data, sharing reflections and keeping kids engaged up until the very end is no easy job! At risk letters should go home next week. Please put interventions students should work on over the summer. Think Through Math, Education Galaxy, Quill, Smith Public Library, etc.
Some much needed extra planning time for teachers will be on Thursday as we do the hula and other activities with the Cool Cats. You may wear shorts if you are dressing in a Hawaiian theme. Please take time to complete data cards and share latest testing information with your parents.
Don't forget to wear your favorite fascinator or hat on Friday as we celebrate the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry! We will have a headware competition for staff. The winner will receive the Wylie Way and STARR shirt for next year for free! Yummy cake will provided in the lounge! You might show your students a few of these clips- to get them in the wedding spirit!
Royal Wedding compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIJDSqm7-_Q
Crazy Royal Wedding Hats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOzThZR_0ag
We are purchasing two shirts for the Hartman staff next year. We also have a Wylie Way, STAAR and Hartman shirt you may purchase if you would like to. Please see Brandy Allen if you interested in purchasing additional shirts.
We have had an amazing year and have accomplished so much. You are the pride in in #hartmanpride.
Shawna #hartmanpride
Upcoming Dates
5/14 Nothin' Bundt Spirit Week for PTA, STAAR Math testing Grades 3 &4, Potato Bar for Staff provided by office team
5/15 STAAR Reading Testing Grades 3 & 4, K-2 RTI meeting, Lunch provided by Horace Mann (Rothermel's) for staff, Education Foundation gives scholarships to former Cool Cats- Vicki Skipwith will present scholarships.
5/16 3-4 RTI Meeting
5/17 Grades/Awards due (for EOY Awards), Book/Movie Party with extended teacher planning 8:30-10:30am Hawaiian Theme! , PTA Council Luncheon @ ESC @12pm, Senior Reception @ 3:30, Talent Show Rehearsal @2:45-5pm, PK Family Celebration Picnic 5-6:30pm
5/18 Wylie Way Day of Celebration, G4 WISD Track Meet, Royal Wedding Party (fancy hat day), G3 Market Day
5/21 KInder Promotion Breakfast at 8:30am, KInder Promotion 9:30am, Science Garden Celebration 1:30pm, PK/PPCD Promotion 6pm, (AM) 7:15 (PM) @ WEHS,
5/22 G4 Promotion Ceremony 8:30am, Term 4 1st-3rd Awards 1:30pm, Senior Walk 10am, Talent Show Rehearsal 2:45-5pm, Data cards due to Shawna - please sort cards into classes for 2018-2019 school year.
5/23 K-4 Field Day
5/24 Early Release Day for Students at 12:40, Wylie East FFA delivers books to 2-4th grade students, 8-8:15 in the library, Hartman's Got Talent Show @8:30am, Cafeteria will serve sack lunches, Last Day of School for paras, turn in your keys to Rita and EOY checklist to Shawna. Staff good-bye for summer meeting at 1:00 in the LIbrary.
5/25 Teacher work day 8-3:00pm, EOY checklist completed to Shawna at 2:30pm.
7/30 Team Leader Meeting - 9-11:30am
7/11 Literacy Summer Camp 9-11am
7/18 Literacy Summer Camp 9-11am
7/25 Literacy Summer Camp 9-11am
8/1 Literacy Summer Camp 9-11am
8/6 Team Building, Data Day, Compliance Training
8/7 Convocation
8/8 Wylie Way Day (AM), Team PLC's (PM)
8/9 C&I Day 1
8/10 C&I Day 2
8/13 Home Visits, PK/PPCD Orientation 9am & 6pm
8/14 Nuts and Bolts, Team Time, Meet the Teacher 4-6pm
8/15 Teacher Preparation/Planning
8/16 First Day of School
8/23 Curriculum Night 6-6:30 & 6:30-7:00
Aloha! Wear a lei and bring your Hawaiian best!
Have some fun with your kids! Come by the lounge in the afternoon for some cake!
Using Behavioral Science to “Nudge” Students in the Right Direction
This article also reminds me of how our class facebook pages help to let the parents inside our classrooms - a window to what is going on at school - SB
In this interview with John J-H Kim and Dani Dichter in District Management Journal, Todd Rogers (Student Social Support Lab and In Class Today) talks about how families and students can be influenced by thoughtful, low-cost interventions. Rogers started working on this when he learned how little the parents of high-school students know about their kids’ school lives. “It’s not that there’s anyone trying to exclude families from schools,” he says, “but… there’s a natural feedback process where schools think parents don’t want to know and don’t want to be involved. Parents get the impression that schools don’t want them involved, and at the same time kids want autonomy and they’re pushing parents away anyway.”
One important area is student attendance. “There are multiplying externalities and growing consequences of chronic absenteeism,” says Rogers. Students fall behind, teachers have to get them back up to speed, students’ level of engagement suffers, and so does the culture of the class. What makes things more difficult is that there’s a story behind each absence. Maybe the kid doesn’t want to go to school, or the parent works at night, or there’s an illness in the family, or the family lost its home. How to address multiple possible causes in an effective way?
For starters, Rogers and his colleagues found that parents tend to underestimate how often their kids have been absent, and believe that their own children’s attendance is better than that of other students in the school. So the researchers sent postcards to parents updating them on their kids’ attendance record up to that point and comparing it to that of other students. In several school districts, this simple process brought about a 10-15 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism, with very little investment of time and resources. “We’re just drawing parents’ attention to the issue and we’re also correcting their false beliefs,” says Rogers. “They don’t realize how many days their kid has missed in total or how their kid’s absences compare to those of their classmates. But when all of a sudden they realize it, it alarms them.”
Interestingly, the researchers found that e-mailing or texting these attendance updates had no impact at all. Why? Because the hard-copy postcards “become social artifacts in the home,” says Rogers. “People report putting them on the fridge or putting them on the kitchen counter, and they end up being talked-about objects. They have a social life in the home – a shelf life. Digital communications are great for immediate action, but absenteeism is a behavior that unfolds over time.”
That’s why texting parents with the news that their child hasn’t turned in a homework assignment or is in jeopardy of failing a subject is highly effective. This is immediate, actionable information and parents follow up, in many cases turning around problematic student behaviors and improving achievement. If all teachers are using the same electronic grading systems and the school has up-to-date cell phone numbers for parents, the process is quite easy to implement. “If we give parents more useful information,” says Rogers, “they’ll use it, they’ll improve student achievement, and they’ll want more of it.”
Another approach is asking students, “Who in your world cares about you and cares if you finish school?” Students come up with a wide range of responses: My Mom. My grandmother. My manager at Home Depot. My girlfriend. My coach. My pastor. The researchers launched a project getting students to nominate the person who cared most about their academic success and designated those people as the student’s “study supporter.” In the case of the Home Depot manager, they sent a text saying, “Hey, John, you see Todd at work every day. This week he has a midterm. Ask him what his study plan is and what he’s worried about.” And the following week, another text: “Hey, John, ask Todd what his plan is for getting his homework and reading done for the rest of this semester. Ask him what his plan is for making sure he has enough to study.”
The study supporter idea is getting promising results in several settings, says Rogers, and his group is following up with programs in a variety of schools. “We give these supporters hard-copy activities to talk to the kid about,” he says. “We send report cards to the pastor or coach; we send the class schedule, etc. The idea is to turn the social system that cares about the kid into an academic support system. These are all pre-existing resources that are just unleveraged. It’s investing in the community around kids and leveraging social capital – and also building social capital.” (He notes that FERPA – the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act – needs to be addressed when sending student records to someone other than the student’s parent or guardian.)
“Improving Academic Outcomes with a Nudge from Behavioral Science: An Interview with Todd Rogers” by John J-H Kim and Dani Dichter in District Management Journal, Spring 2018 (Vol. 23, p. 4-11), no e-link
All incoming K-4 students are welcome to attend. We will send home letters of interest to get an idea of how many students to prepare for.
Popsicles on the playground! Students can play on our new playground equipment while we meet and mingle!
Third and fourth grade students who took the STAAR test will have a short celebration in the GYM before the Hartman social!
We will provide the Hartman staff with two t-shirts for 2018-2019. We hope you like them! Please make sure we have your size.
Planning for 2018-2019 - The Cool Cats are Traveling to New Heights! This is your designated continent! Lunch will be provided for the winning hall!
Each student will receive at Hartman shirt. Each grade level will be a different color. If you are wanting a shirt they are $5.00. Please let Brandy know your size. #hartmanpride
Wylie Way Shirt - Let the Games Begin! $10.00
R- Time Every Wednesday!
Rtime for Better Relationships! 10 minutes every Wednesday!
- Show good manners and respect at all times.
- Care for everyone and everything.
- Follow instructions with thought and care.