Cabell Chargers
Week of January 11- January 15 Vol.1 Edition 19
Principal's Note
Hello Staff,
We could not have started the second semester in a better way if you ask me! We spent our first week in professional development around our instructional priorities (Advisory, Station Rotation Model, Project-based Learning and Response to Intervention) and Data Analysis (Data Driven Instruction). We left these sessions with a road-map that, if implemented with fidelity, will certainly increase student academic achievement. Thank you for the dedication and commitment to student academic and personal achievement. Brandon, consultant from Buck Institute, had this to say about you in regards to the training in PBL:"The support visits went splendidly. The teachers really are exceptional and will become champions of PBL with your and the administrations' support. They are a fun group that I am thrilled to be a small part of".
For your convenience, I am adding a link for the PD PowerPoint for our Instructional Priorities for the second semester and a Trend Analysis for ACP data up to this point. Let these two pieces of document inform your lesson planning that will result in effective instruction for our students.
Parent conferences is on Thursday 14th from 4:30 - 7pm. Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen your working relationship with parents. As you highlight their child's strengths, discuss academic or social concerns, and share information about child development, parents come to see you as an ally and themselves as true partners in their child's education. A little thinking and planning will help you make the most of these great opportunities.
Tips for Success
1. Make an outline and gather materials. A plan for how you'll divide up the time will help you stay on track. However, you may need to put your plan aside if a parent raises an urgent issue that you weren't expecting. Remember that you can always schedule another conference!
2. Offer conversation starters. Put parents (and yourself) at ease with a question or two: "What did Sam like about school last year?," "What does Tina like to do at home?," or "What are some things you'd like her to accomplish this year?"
3. Invite parents to share their thoughts. As experts on their children, parents can share valuable insights. And they'll appreciate your respectful recognition of their role in helping their children.
4. Highlight the positives. Recognize a child's strengths before discussing her struggles. You'll give parents some perspective while encouraging them to work productively with you.
5. Address just one or two concerns. Listing too many problems can make parents (and their children) feel defeated. Mention that you'd like to help the student with several things, but for now you'd like to concentrate on just one or two.
6. Let parents know if you need thinking time. It's perfectly OK to tell parents you want to think through what they've said, observe their children for a bit, consult others, or read up on an issue they've raised.
Why Is Breakfast Important?
Research confirms that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for children’s health, academic achievement, cognitive development and mental health. Unfortunately, many children regularly skip breakfast each morning, depriving them of the important benefits associated with the morning meal.
In the school setting, children who struggle with hunger face:
- Lack of concentration
- Slower recall
- Difficulty paying attention
- Diminished academic performance
- Emotional and behavioral difficulties
- Issues with aggression and anxiousness
- Difficulty getting along with other kids
- Hyperactivity
- Increased illness, with a longer recovery time, leading to increased absence and tardiness
Action Required
- PD, Jan. 11, 3:15-4:15 pm
- Lesson Plans uploaded to Drive for viewing, Thursday 1/14
- Parent Conferences, Jan.14, 4:30-7:00 pm
- BIC E-learning, Due Jan. 20.
- PBIS Party, Grade level Date Selection, Due Tuesday 1/12
- Make sure class schedules on the drive are up to date.
Upcoming Events
MAP Testing Window, Jan. 6-26
CAR Program, 1/12-1/13
PTA Board Meeting, Tuesday 1/12, 5:30-6:30p
Parent Conferences, Thursday 1/14, 4:30-7:00p
Junior Achievement, Friday 3/11
Why Are MAP Assessments Important And Why Do We Use Them At Cabell?
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in Cabell Elementary and is committed to identifying, strengthening, and refining promising personalized learning practices. Schools that receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to implement personalized learning will be involved in research studies to determine the progress of personalized learning models and its effect on student achievement. Student learning growth in this research is measured using the Northwest Education Association (NWEA)’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments.
MAP assessments offer teachers an efficient and accurate estimate of student achievement status within a subject and help to better understand the learning needs of every student. 2015 RIT Scale Norms allow teachers to compare achievement status and changes in achievement status and growth between tests throughout the year (fall, winter, and spring).
MAP assessments use the RIT scale to create a grade-independent RIT score, which indicates the level of question difficulty a given student is capable of answering correctly about 50% of the time.
Well constructed test score norms can inform many education-related activities. Teachers find RIT Scale Norms especially useful in four key areas:
1. Individualizing instruction
2. Setting achievement goals for students or entire schools
3. Understanding achievement patterns
4. Evaluating student performance
Teachers can access timely and detailed reports that can help to simplify data analysis. For detailed information on reports please refer to the MAP Reports Portfolio https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2014/07/WB-MAP-Reports-Portfolio-D01.pdf
Below are the Student Status Norms for Reading, Math, and Language Usage MAP Assessments
Habits of Mind: Be respectful of others
Mission Statement
our mission is to promote student success through a high quality education. For every child to succeed, we must hold students and ourselves to high expectations. Only the courageous pursuit of excellence will lead to success.
Email: fhypolite@dallasisd.org
Website: http://www.dallasisd.org/Page/2240
Location: William L Cabell Elementary School, Templeton Trail, Dallas, TX, United States
Phone: (972) 794-2400
Twitter: @cabellpl