The Weekly Armadillo
Monday, April 3, 2017
"The Best School in Town"
Vision
To create an exceptional learning environment that produces remarkable students who are prepared to be successful and equipped to compete in a global society.
Mission
To prepare all students to achieve the highest standard of intellectual, physical and social growth.
W. T. White Feeder Mission
We will cultivate a premier learning community to foster globally responsive citizens.
Therefore, we are committed to:
Providing access to an equitable and high quality education
Promoting citizens who contribute to the common good
Supporting our students academically, socially, and emotionally
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Wilt or Grow
There is no such thing as status quo.
You either wilt or grow.
Read and grow from the information below.
Action Item
Copy and paste the link to your browser to watch a video about the information presented below.
Excerpt I: A Compass for Self-directed Learning by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
Educational Leadership
March 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 6
Getting Personalization Right Pages 83-84
Teaching students how to control the path and pace of their learning.
A Clear Purposes for Learning
Effective learning begins with establishing the purpose of the lesson (Fisher & Frey, 2011). Terms like learning intentions, targets, purposes, and objectives all boil down to making sure that both the teacher and the student understand the what, how, and why of learning.
In the video that accompanies this column, teacher Néstor Espinoza-Agraz fosters self-regulation skills in his 3rd-grade dual-immersion class by ensuring that his students know the purpose of their reading. Maestro Espinoza, as his students call him, draws the class's attention repeatedly to the purpose statement posted on the wall, which he calls their learning map, to help students remember that their goal is to find the main idea in a text about Christopher Columbus leaving Cuba.
To emphasize the importance of knowing one's purpose before setting out on a journey, Maestro Espinoza begins by telling his students that one day he set off to walk to the store to purchase food, even though he had no map or GPS to navigate his path. As his students predicted, the story ends with their teacher losing his way, wasting time, and never getting the food he wanted. Maestro Espinoza tells them that readers sometimes wander without a map in the same way, getting lost in the process. Their learning map will tell them where they need to go and provide a purpose for their reading.
Success Criteria
Closely linked to purpose are the criteria for success. Anyone who goes on a journey needs to have a way to know when they've reached their destination. The problem is that novices don't necessarily possess much more than a superficial understanding of what success looks like, and therefore they often confuse it with task completion. They need exemplars, rubrics, checklists, and other concrete models of success.
Moss and Brookhart (2009) assert that such success criteria are effective motivators, noting that "students who have clear pictures of the learning target and of the criteria for success are likely to also have a sense of what they can and should do to make their work measure up to those criteria and that goal" (p. 28). Motivation comes not just from a student's interest and investment in a topic of investigation, but also from having a clear sense of what she is striving for.
In the video, Maestro Espinoza makes it clear to his students that their success criteria include not only being able to answer the question but also being able to cite supportive evidence from the text.
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Hey! Look us over, we are the BEST!!
Nathan Adams Armadillos always beat the rest.
We're spectacular people with wonderful spirit
Who never let you down!
Nathan Adams, best in town!
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We Love Our Volunteers!
Social Emotional Learning
More Than Words!
Ms. Stinnett's students greatly benefit from her math and science word wall. Stop by her classroom to see it.
Thanks to all of you for showing out the Armadillo way!
Kudos to Mrs. Ma for teaching and rehearsing Chinese songs with our kiddos! We are so lucky to have her!
Kudos to Ms. Watkins for being so great to her little clients! She really brings out their good side!
Kudos to Ms. Johnson for a smooth testing week!
Kudos to: Ms. James for working so hard with my kids during STAAR prep.
Kudos to Ms. Tutson for working with our small group students
Kudos to Mrs. Mullaley for being SO incredibly on it with her kids during 5th grade STAAR
Kudos to Mrs. Mullaley for her sweet cards for my 5th grade babies.
Kudos to Mrs. Nabors for her sweet cards for my 5th grade babies.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson for her EXTREMELY inspirational speech to the 4th and 5th graders on Monday.
Kudos to the Nathan Adams staff for our 4th/5th parade- the kids felt very loved that day <3.
Kudos to Ms. Manwani and Mrs. Arana for all their assistance during the STAAR testing.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson for being so organized which allowed the STAAR testing to run so smoothly.
Kudos to Mrs. Morales, Mrs. Salazar, Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. McAdams and Mr. Luna for aiding in the upcoming Pre-K roundup. I know that it will be a success.
Kudos to Ms. Agbebaku for letting 2nd grade partner with them as Reading Buddies. #buildthatconfidence
Kudos Mrs. Silvio for lending me test prep materials.
Kudos Mrs. Johnson for organized testing days.
Kudos to Mrs. Raya for doing an astonishing job translating for Pre- Kinder parent.
Kudos to Ms. Johnson for a very smooth STAAR testing week.
Kudos to Jane Hoskins for getting the Literacy Bag donation to us.
Kudos to Reading Buddy, Betsy Garner, for showing up for car pool to tell a student's dad what a great child he has and what a great job he is doing at home to help her.
Kudos to Ms. Jones for giving a heads up email on new students. So helpful to be prepared for new armadillos when they arrive!
Kudos to Ms. Copeland for getting the blue “Book Share” boxes ready for students.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson and everyone involved in organizing the STAAR. It was a job well done!!! Thank you!!!
Kudos to Mrs. Morales for addressing an important issue with 2nd grade students so quickly upon teacher request.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson for her amazing assistance with behavior issues.
Kudos to Mrs. Moore for making flash cards for several of my students each week and working so hard with them on their spelling.
Kudos to all teachers, subs, and TA's for making the STAAR testing successful.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Morales for their organization of testing days.
Kudos to all other teachers who had to keep children quiet all day! That is no small task!
Kudos to Mr. Luna for rewarding my class for 100% making a 100 on their spelling test.
Kudos to Mrs. Copeland and Mrs. James for organizing all the literacy bags and working on so many strategies to provide us with additional resources.
Kudos to Mrs. Rhoads for often waiting with the Star bus students.
Kudos to Mrs. Salazar for helping me make sure I got a student home correctly who had lost a key.
Kudos to our RM teachers for doing a great job with our students.
Kudos to Ms. Holguin for allowing Ms. Arana to use your classroom to do makeup testing.
Kudos to the Kinder and First grade teachers for eating with your students during testing.
Kudos to Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Goudarzi for providing lunch during testing.
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4/3 Prek Enrollment Begins
4/3 Preschool Story Time (library @ 10:00)
4/3 Faculty Meeting (library 3:15-4:30)
4/4 PTA General Meeting/ Student of the Month/ PreK Performance (6:00)
4/5 PTA Casual Dress Day $1.00
4/5 Hall Party (sponsored by 5th grade)
4/5 SST/RtI Progress Monitoring Meetings (grade level)
4/7 Luna - CNA Training @ 1:30 Buckner Bldg.
4/11 Parent University (auditorium @ 8:30-10:00 with counselor)
4/12 Luna - Feeder Principal Meeting 11:30-6:00
4/13 Monthly Fire Drill
4/14 NO SCHOOL (inclement weather day holiday for all students and staff)
4/17 NO SCHOOL (inclement weather day holiday for all students and staff)
4/17 TEI Student Experience Survey Begins
4/18 CIC Monthly Meeting @ Bush 8:00-2:00
4/19 Luna - District-wide Principal Meeting 1:00-5:00
4/19 SST/ RtI Progress Monitoring Meetings (grade level)
4/20 Family Reading Night 5:30-7:30
4/21 Coffee with the Principal (library @ 8:15)
4/24 Feeder Job-a-like
4/26 GLL Meeting (132 @ 3:15)
4/27 Two-way Dual Language PLC (Solar Prep 2:00-5:00)
4/28 Volunteer Breakfast (library 9:00-10:30)
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Created by Adrian Luna, Principal
Nathan Adams Elementary School
Dallas Independent School District
Email: aluna@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org/nathanadams
Location: 12600 Welch Road, Dallas, TX 75244
Phone: 972-794-2600