ARMS Legend
Excellence Without Boundaries
BE LEGENDARY. Every Minute of Every Moment Counts!
April 20, 2015 6th Six Weeks, Week 1
BY MAY 2015, AT LEAST 80% OF ALL STAAR EXAMS TAKEN BY ARMS STUDENTS WILL MEET THE PHASE II PASSING STANDARD.
Improve Student Achievement
Improve the Quality of Instruction
Create a Positive and Supportive Campus Culutre
TEACHER AND SUPPORT STAFF OF THE MONTH
Teacher of the Month
Support Staff of the Month
SPOTLIGHT ON OUR LEGENDS!
Mr. McDonald
Extended Day Staff
& Students
Ms. Rivera
Ms. Nix & Ms. Baker
Ms. Baker - Thank you for your leadership and positivity with the staff Greeks as we learned our routine in 2 days. You practiced with us of your own time and were so encouraging to all of us. Hopefully we made you proud!
Ms. Irwin
ARMS COMMUNITY MESSAGE
To our ARMS Teachers
They will also remember your positive words. All the times you told them that they CAN and this is HOW when they thought that they CAN'T and did not know where to start. They will reach deep and make connections largely because of how you spent your time, day in and day out, reaching deep,making connections, and having an unrelenting belief in their success.
THE POWER OF TEAM
Please ensure that in the last 7 weeks of school that we are on time, present, planned, and mindful of our impact on the larger community of ARMS Rangers.
Thank you for your committment to our students!! Finishing Strong!
Instructional Focus
All Hands on Deck
- Your frame of mind influences their testing environment and experience. Get rest, eat, and Smile (it's contagious)
- Review all Testing emails and documents before MONDAY.
- Know your roles & responsibilities for STAAR Testing.
- Use instructional time you have on testing days to further support your students.
- Be on Time, Be Fully Present, Know and Execute your Role
After STAAR on Wednesday breathe deep, breathe deep again :-) and be proud of your students. Before quickly moving on to the next...remember to take a moment to reflect on all the positive impact you have made!
On Thursday and Friday, thank you in advance for maximizing your instructional time and ensuring relevant, engaging, learning is occurring.
REMINDERS
Read ALL STAAR Emails Carefully
STAAR Material Pick up 7:30 AM - 8:15 AM
New Tardy Policy
Keep Up the Great Work!!
Students being excluded from their time with friends, freedom they have during their 45 minute lunch, and having to be quiet,work, and clean is not where they want to be.
Way to go all ARMS Administrators for creating the optimal Lunch Detention Environment.
Summer PD Calendar (August)
ARMS Calendar will be shared in May.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
LAYING THE FOUNDATION (LTF) PRE - AP SUMMER TRAINING
ADVANCE PLACEMENT SUMMER INSTITUTE
Grants for Innovative Teaching
Ensure you have Reviewed: TEI ROSTER VERIFICATION PROCESS
Superintendents Scholarship 5K Fun Run!
WEEKLY EVENTS (4/20 - 4/24)
8TH GRADE STAAR SOCIAL STUDIES, TUESDAY, APRIL 21ST
6TH & 7TH GRADE STAAR MATH, TUESDAY, APRIL 21ST
8TH GRADE STAAR SCIENCE, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22ND
6TH & 7TH GRADE STAAR READING, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22ND
Free Dress Day - Cohort with the Lowest Number of Tardies, FRIDAY, APRIL 24TH
SATURDAY SCHOOL, SATURDAY, APRIL 18TH, ALGEBRA 1 AND 8TH READING RETESTERS
APRIL ON THE HORIZON
ADVISORY - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29TH
STAFF BREAKFAST - TUESDAY, APRIL 28TH, Sponsored by 8th grade PODS
2015 - 2016 REGISTRATION PLANNING MEETING - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29TH, 4:20 - 5:30 pm. (PARTICIPANTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN NOTIFIED)
2015-2016 PLANNING MEETING - THURSDAY, APRIL 30TH, 4:30 - 6:30 PM. Pizza will be provided. Calling all staff members who would like to take an active role in shaping ARMS for the upcoming year, PLEASE ATTEND!!! Even if you are not sure what that might look like and where you want to focus your attention, come anyway!! We will be discussing the future, our direction, sharing ideas, and laying the critical ground work. I would love to see you there! Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!
Fun & Frolic
April Birthdays
- B. Burns 21st
- C. Lloyd 21st
- S. Seales 22nd
- L. Quintana 24th
- P. Tovar 25th
April Staff Breakfast
Hosted by 8th grade PODs
STUDENT REWARDS / INCENTIVES
ARMS SUPER Salad Competition
WINNER: MS. HARRISON'S PENNE PASTA
ARMS Good News / Smiles
Never a dull moment...
Ms. Mathis's Classes
Totem Poles
Ms. Jones
Fire Drill Success
Way to go 6th Grade during our Fire Drill.
6th Grade Basketball Team
In the Gym....
The Magic Happens!
Marshall Memo - Weekly Round-UP of Educational Ideas, K-12
Creating a “Trauma-Sensitive” Learning Environment for Students
In this article in Principal, Pete Hall and Kristin Souers say that many students walk into school feeling the effects of trauma. This can affect their own ability to learn, the climate of their classrooms, and the orderliness of the whole school. Trauma, in the words of Daniel Siegel of the UCLA School of Medicine, is “an experience that overwhelms our ability to cope” – perhaps including the death of a loved one, mental illness in the home, witnessing a crime, parental fighting or divorce, an incarcerated family member, homelessness, bullying.
“When children lose the ability to cope with the traumatic events in their lives,” say Hall and Souers, “they seek ways to regulate. They access whatever resources they have – healthy or unhealthy – to manage the intensity associated with the stress of these events.” Their school work and behavior often suffer. One study found that traumatized children are three times more likely to fail academically, five times more likely to have problems with attendance, and six times more likely to have behavior problems than peers who haven’t experienced trauma.
“We can’t always know what students have experienced, or even all the details about it,” continue Hall and Souers, who worked together in an elementary school in Spokane, Washington where half the students had a trauma history. “Neither can we erase traumatic experiences from students’ memories or stop trauma from happening again. But we can work diligently to create an atmosphere that is inviting, welcoming, peaceful, and safe for all our students” – one that is “trauma-sensitive.” Hall, who was principal of the school, brought in Souers, a local mental health therapist, to work with teachers, custodians, and other staff on understanding and supporting needy students. “Souers’s lessons,” they write, “centered on the one element of the equation that educators and school personnel can control: ourselves.” Here is what they worked on:
• Understanding motives – When students who have experienced trauma feel threatened, unsafe, or ill-at-ease, they often react by fleeing, fighting, or freezing. In the past, these actions often resulted in students being scolded or punished, but adults in the school began to see what was behind the actions, understood them as “normal reactions to not OK things,” and became more strategic in planning how to react when there were problems.
• Building positive relationships – Staff members were prompted to reach out to students, especially those with the most challenges, and get to know them better.
• Reacting strategically – Teachers and other staff worked on remaining calm, consistent, and caring in the face of provocative behaviors. Traumatized children sometimes create chaos – screaming, cursing, throwing papers, upending desks, tantruming, tormenting others. “Just because a child has chosen a disruptive regulation strategy doesn’t mean we need to hop on board,” say Hall and Souers. “Educators should ask: What problem is this child attempting to solve?” Was there a trigger? “The key is to avoid reacting to these infringements with frustration, anger, or irritability because a trusted adult’s response to off-kilter behaviors can either escalate or mitigate the surrounding environment… When we analyze the motivation, we can empathize with the student’s plight, talk the student down off the proverbial ledge, offer alternative strategies for self-regulation, and maintain order in the classroom… Our calmness serves as a model to students of how to self-regulate, reducing the need to remove students from our classrooms.” The teachers in Hall’s school adopted the mantra, Stay out of Oz, meaning don’t get swept away by the tornado.
• Keeping your footing – Educators have numerous demands and stresses themselves, say Hall and Souers, and it’s easy to slip. They advocate using affirmations of core values and professional purpose and aspirations – I believe… I love… I will always… I can… – to stay rooted in the most effective posture and strategies for helping all children thrive.
“Address Trauma with Calm, Consistent Care” by Pete Hall and Kristin Souers in Principal, March/April 2015 (Vol. 94, #4, p. 14-17), http://bit.ly/1GDsF55
ARMS Rangers April Birthdays!
- C. Dreyer 1st
- S. Pounders 1st
- S. Burks 8th
- T. Lee 9th
- B. Burns 21st
- C. Lloyd 21st
- S. Seales 22nd
- L. Quintana 24th
- P. Tovar 25th
- M. Reddy 29th
We serve a critical time in our students lives! Always remember how valuable you are!
TEACHER T'S THAT ROCK!!
Ann Richards Middle School
At Ann Richards MS, our vision is to be a flagship middle school at the hub of the community, nurturing diverse leaders, and empowering intelligent trailblazers.
Email: frataylor@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/annrichards
Location: Ann Richards Middle School, North Prairie Creek Road, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: 972 -892-5400