ARMS Legend
Excellence Without Boundaries
Excellence in Leading. Teaching.Learning
Improve Student Achievement
Improve the Quality of Instruction
Create a Positive & Supportive Campus Culutre
Principal's Message
A main message this week is making the most of our time and encouragement of our students!!
Students will leave on Friday, charged up, encouraged, and equipped to enter their test in the right frame of mind. Their mindset and belief about their own capabilities is key and we all know that. Urgency + Ability = Success! You have laid the foundation and they will take it to the finish line!!!
Please ensure that we are keeping ourselves healthy so that all hands are on deck next week for our STAAR week.
I would be remiss if I did not take a minute to share the overwhelming excitement and encouragement that I have experienced returning from Ron Clark Academy.
I return from the trip that was truly "mind set shifting" for me. The school, the students, the adults, the practices, the parents...everything influenced the most powerful perspectives to have at times and that is the ability to see possibility, the ability to see beyond what you thought was possible.
We are fortunate when we are inspired and more so allow ourselves to be inspired, as inspiration impacts our heart and our minds. The power comes in the practices/actions that follow that transform the lives of students, educators, and families. I look forward to more ARMS staff members visiting the school over the course of this year.
Thank you ARMS for allowing me the time to learn while each of you kept the ship moving in the right direction!! Teamwork Makes the Dream Work! I am truly grateful for each of you.
Have an incredible week with our young people!
Proudest Principal in DISD!
F. Taylor-Glenn
One Band. One Sound
Algebra I EOC
STAAR Round 2
8th Grade Retesters, Math and/or Science
6th & 7th Grade - Math & Reading
A few STAAR inspired videos, hope to make you smile!
Kipp Inspired Testing Strategies Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5lAigUcigc
Mayport CSMS Ju Ju on that Test
May 1, 2017 Week 3 of 6th Six Weeks
BY MAY 2017, AT LEAST 80% OF ALL STAAR EXAMS TAKEN BY ARMS STUDENTS WILL MEET THE PHASE II PASSING STANDARD.
TEAM
GRIT
GROWTH
National Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week
Several Appreciation activities are planned for the week...
- Staff Jean Monday - Enjoy Jeans tomorrow!
- Smiles Galore Tuesday - Ms. Taylor-Glenn wants to see you smile. During all three lunches there will be an ARMS Photo "booth" ready to have you make some memories. Pictures will be printed and given to teachers/staff.
- Friday - Lunch for staff
ARMS PTO will have appreciation activities/items throughout the week!
I ask that staff submit Ranger Kudos to show appreciation for your fellow Rangers! We want to read as many as we can, 3 per AM and 3 per PM announcements! Share the LOVE and brighten someone's day. Think of those that maybe don't here how they have impacted you in a positive way!
New Information
Legend Pictures
Visuals make the Legend, LEGENDARY!! I love the pictures that I do received. At the same time, I have repeatedly asked for pictures to be EMAILED to me, to lessen the process of assembling the Legend.
From this day forward, text pictures will no longer be accepted.
I appreciate everyone's help with this seemly small request, and it makes a major difference in the process.
8th Grade EOY Celebration Info Flyer
Our 8th graders are in the final days of their time with us and their is much planned in their honor. It is very exciting and so much to celebrate.
Another way to support our 8th graders is to check in with any of our 8th grade team members in regards to students who may benefit from financial support toward the cost of the EOY ticket.
ARMS Reminders
ARMS Reminders
Please remember that at key times throughout the day your students behaviors are a reflection of your leadership and consistency.
- Lunch Lines - Behind, not beside. They are to walk orderly, safely, and in a single file line.
- Classroom entry & exit - adult supervision/ awareness, communicate student movement that is calm with a sense of purposefulness, and caring overall presence.
- Hall way traffic- mind H.A.L.L., ensure the hallway transitions are what you want communicated about the culture of your floor / building area.
- Remember to smile throughout the day! We all love smiling faces!
Students outside during instructional time:
Removed from class:
- All students that are removed from a classroom are to be sent to a buddy classroom. Send students to another teachers' classroom with work or for a brief time out.
- If students are in the hallway it is because the teacher will be stepping out in a minute or is out addressing the student.
Bathroom
- We understand at ARMS that our expectation is students address their needs during passing periods.
- For those RARE occasions, Students are to have a PASS, with teacher name, student name, time, date, and destination on pass.
- Listen to the bells, after the warning bell, if you give them permission and allow them to go to the bathroom they will 98% of the time be in the hallway after the bell rings without a pass.
- Start class and if it is still a need for the student and you warrant it is legitimate, then you write a pass and let them go. That is understandable. (Especially if it is the 7th grade boys because they have to go to the main hallway at times)
- Continue to communicate this to students.
Two Names Have Been Submitted!
ARMS Rangers, take a moment to nominate a Ranger for this very deserving and service oriented position. Cultivating Student Leadership is a focus at ARMS for 2017-18, YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED.
2017-18 ARMS Ambassador Committee
Current 6th Grade & 7th Grade Teachers please take a moment to consider the criteria when nominating a student:
- Evidence of a collaborative nature,
- commitment to learning / growing oneself,
- appropriate/sound decision making, leadership qualities,
- and overall student behaviors indicate being an ARMS Ambassador would be seen as a welcomed opportunity and position would be respected.
Please complete the survey link to submit your nomination. Once initial list is reviewed, second round would be interviews with myself and other Rangers staff members.
https://goo.gl/forms/LWxhbwxB4mQwkIii2
I thank you in advance for your time. This group of young people can not be assembled without you.
2017 -2018 Committee Ideas
UPDATE on STAFF Committee Survey
- Staff Band
- Staff Step Team
1 or more staff members:
Fun- 2
STEAM - 4
Social / Emotional - 4
Staff Appreciation - 1
Hispanic Heritage - 1
African American History Month - 1
Women's National Month- 1
ARMS Ambassador - 4
College / Career - 1
0 Staff members:
Character Counts / Red Ribbon
Breast Cancer Awareness
National Anti Bullying Week
Winter Celebrations
Autism Awareness
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO REVIEW AND SELECT A WAY IN WHICH THEY WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT ARMS BEYOND THEIR CURRENT ROLE
In addition to teachers....Administrators, Counselors, Support Staff, Teacher Assistants, AND Instructional Coaches - sign up for a committee
The goal is 100% of all staff will be connected to a committee.
Please take a moment and complete the survey on committees that you may want to contribute to next year.
Next year the areas one can connect to have been broadened in a hope that the investment can be spread throughout many people. Find what you are passionate about and what brings joy to you and jump right in!!
https://goo.gl/forms/Rb3bat85aqexP7Lh2
May 15th, Monday - Unplugged Teacher Team Work Session
Please make sure your review the follow up email sent to the team and bring your laptops. Work session will kick off in the library @ 4:30pm. Outlook invite has already been sent.
DISD Board Approves 2017-18 Schedule
Operation Excellence: TG2 Spotlight
Spotlight on Ms. Jefferson: Operation Excelence - Team!!
Thank you Ms. Jefferson for going above and beyond to help me submit very important information to counseling services. Ms. Jefferson used her Math expertise and helped me gather data and create graphs so that we can accurately report information for our department. Thanks Ms. Jefferson!!! You Rock!!!!
Spotlight on Ms. Ballard & Ms. Reddy: Operation Excellence- Team & Learning
I would like to send a special Spotlight to two teacher leaders who led Whole Team PLC's on Monday: Ms. Reddy (Social Studies) and Ms. Ballard (Math).
Both teachers engaged fellow educators in meaningful conversation about important topics:
- understanding the purpose of Checks for Understandings and Response strategies and how they connect effectively (Ballard)
- how to build effective peer to peer student interactions (Reddy)
Sometimes being a facilitator of learning among your peers can be uncomfortable.
Both of our teachers stepped up to the task with professionalism, preparedness, relevancy, and heart.
I truly appreciate their commitment to our students by strengthening the pedagogical conversations that influence practices, we have as educators.
Spotlight on 6th Grade & Sped Team: Operation Excellence - Teamwork & Grit!!
ARMS students are receiving every opportunity to grow academically! This Saturday the 6th Grade ELAR Instructional Team and the SPED Inclusion Team had a full house. Students were provided the extra push to prepare them for success on the STAAR test and beyond.
Thank you for your commitment to excellence Ms. Lewis, Ms. Gill, Ms. Mc Intyre, Ms. Masters, Ms. Bills, Ms. Woods, Ms. Harris, Ms. Harrison, Ms. Cardenas, PTO Parent Volunteers, Ms. Nix, Ms. de La Rosa, Mr. Davis, and Mr. Babeu!!
Spotlight on 8th Grade Team: Operation Excellence - Teamwork & Grit!!
Proper preparation is preventing poor performance for the Class of 2021!
Thanks to the continued consistent TEAMWORK on the 8th Grade hallway, all 8th graders' minds are being challenged to grow and expand daily in every class.
Ms. Leake, Ms. A. Lewis, Ms. Harris, Mr. George, and Ms. Remieke are providing high quality SSI Interventions and motivation to 8th graders to help close their academic gaps. Students are receiving prescriptive preparation to master the STAAR in preparation for high school.
Those who have met the standards on STAAR have seamlessly continued to receive engaging learning opportunities from Ms. Santos, Ms. Reddy, Ms. Burks, Ms. Perez, Ms. Husband, Ms. Harrison, Ms. Burns, Mr. Alexander, Ms. Roach, Ms. Calvin, Ms. Roseborough, Ms. Ray, Mr. Davis, and Ms. Walsh.
Next Year Contract Dissemination Memo
Resignation Guidelines
Last day is July 14th. This is over the summer months and I am always accessible. Please call or email me if there is a change in your plans during the summer months. Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Summer PD Opportunity!! - Pre - AP training
As a reminder DISD teacher are to have 14 hours of PD completed prior to the start of school. Please consider this as an option to expand your learning.
2017-18 Learning Theraphy Cohort- PD Opportunity
This opportunity would allow us to develop stronger knowledge of how to best serve and teach students that have dyslexia.
Click here for more information.
TEI Roster Verification Inforamtion
Dallas Holocaust Museum, DISD Night
2017-2018 Calendar Start and End Dates
It’s Not How Much Screen Time Students Have, But How It’s Used
“What if, instead of asking our students to put their devices away, we instead ask them to consider how they might be using those devices to improve themselves and their community?” asks Beth Holland in this Edutopia article. She draws on a book by Daniel Goleman and Peter Senge, The Triple Focus: A New Approach to Education (More Than Sound, 2014) to suggest three desiderata for digital devices: Focusing on ourselves; tuning in to others; and understanding the larger world:
• Inner focus – Devices give students access to an infinite amount of information and unlimited distraction, so the challenge is how to learn self-awareness and self-management. “Do our students know how to control their devices instead of the other way around?” asks Holland. “Do they know what they need to do to maintain their focus and allow their brains to process the context around them?” Students need explicit instruction on techniques like restricting their devices to a single app and silencing calls, alerts, and notifications to support self-regulation. “By leveraging both the technology and active reflection,” says Holland, “we can help students recognize what they need to do to be successful learners and realize when to put devices away.”
• Outer focus – Tablets and smartphones may not be the primary problem, says Holland. After all, students can be supremely self-absorbed reading hard-copy books. And it’s possible they may see restrictions on screen time as signaling that when they’re grown up, they’ll be able to spend as much time as they like self-absorbed in the digital world. “Ultimately,” says Holland, “students need the ability to tune in to others in both the physical and digital worlds.” Young people need to see adults modeling positive use – interacting with each other face to face, on the phone, and on their devices.
• Other focus – “Screen time discussions often focus on just that: the screen,” says Holland. This may prevent young people from grasping how their actions fit within a broader system. In the classroom, teachers might ask students to consider how their use of devices affects classroom culture: “What norms might the class decide to establish? Can the students identify different contexts where they may or may not want screens involved? What actions might the students take if they feel as though the norms of the class have been violated? How can they collaborate to seek out solutions to new problems that may present themselves?... By learning to recognize a larger system, students build a greater understanding of the implications and consequences of their actions in both the physical and digital worlds.”
“How Much Screen Time? That’s the Wrong Question” by Beth Holland in Edutopia, January 30, 2017, https://www.edutopia.org/article/reframing-debate-screen-time-beth-holland
Week of May 1st - 5th
Testing Meeting @ 4:30 pm
5th Six Weeks Failure Intervention Plans Due to Ms. Hunt
Tuesday, 5/2
Teacher Appreciation Day
STAAR Extended Tutoring 4:30 - 6:30 pm
EOC Alg. I
Wednesday, 5/3
Unidos Parent Event, 5pm - 7pm
STAAR Extended Tutoring 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Thursday, 5/4
STAAR Extended Tutoring 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Friday, 5/5
STAAR Pep Rally
May 8th - 31st Review Calendar
National Assistant Staff Appreciation Day!!
6th Grade Teachers, Ms. Coley, and Ms. Hunt - Celebrate National Assistant Day!!
ARMS Represents @ UIL Pentatholon Competition!!
ARMS Pentatholon Rangers!
Ms. Macon's 7th Grade Team - 2nd Place - Super Quiz
Majoy Jackson, 8th Grade, 2nd Place - Literature
Leodan Villages, 8th Grade, 3rd Place - Math
Jesus Martinez, 8th Grade, 3rd Place - Science
Thank you Ms. Tesfai & Ms. Macon for your Committment & Leadership!
Dance Showcase- Way to go Students Choreographers!
ARMS Teachers Leads Vertical PLC's ~ Way to Go!!
Ms. Reddy
Ms. Ballard
ARMS Facility Request Google Doc
This is how all facility requests are to be made moving forward.
ARMS Safety Drill Staff One Pager
The Most Important Work of our Time! Always remember YOUR IMPACT!
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