The Falcon Monday Message
Week of February 1, 2016
2015-2016 Campus Big Goals
- Enhance quality instruction
- Create a positive, college centered, campus culture
- Support strong academic delivery through effective coaching and feedback
Character Trait of the Month: FAIRNESS
STAFF OF THE WEEK!!!!
KUDOS
Ms. Usher, Ms. Balfour and Ms. Adriana Martinez did an incredible job of following through with their re-teach plans and closing the gap for their students on objective 4.2B. They surpassed the grade level goal they set for themselves by almost 20 points!! That is amazing progress.
Ms. Berkins for incorporating writing in complete sentences in her Math class with her 1st Grade babies! Way to push that written component. (See picture)
Mr. Perfecto is doing an outstanding job with student engagement as students learn how to recreate certain rhythms in his classroom. No one is left out.
Ms. Hernandez is helping students take charge of their learning, as she sits back and lets students run the show. They are responsible for certain parts of the daily routines. It is awesome to see the kids teaching and learning from each other. (See picture)
Ms. Whitlow does not hesitate to immediately pull a small group based on DOL data. She said, "Let's get this misconception cleared up right now!" Great job using your everyday data to drive your instruction.
Guiding Coalition (see picture): Thank you to all of our grade level and department chairs for your feedback, collaboration, and commitment to help lead our campus to 85%/+10 advanced.
Ms. Finley, Ms. Jernigan and Ms. Williams (see picture), SPED TAs, and SPED Teachers: Thank you to all who serve our most vulnerable students -- ensuring they are provided with the highest quality instructional support -- all the time!
Ms. Scully (see picture): Shout out to Ms. Maria Scully who collaborated with the Dallas ISD Chief of Police to bring a K-9 dog to Foster students last week! Thank you for all that you do to go above and beyond to make learning magical for students!
The Kinder Team (see picture): Shout out to the Kinder team for the awesome car show last week! Your students were SO PROUD of their hard work -- and it was so great to see parents so engaged in support of their little scholars. Thank you, team, for your hard work in making learning come alive!
Ms. Dennis, Ms. Kruzel, and others: Thank you to all that led the way in supporting a 4th Grader, Sean Hicks (see picture), apply to St. Marks last week! Your support of this student and transformational educational opportunities is truly AWESOME!
Ms. Short, Ms. Claudia Hernandez and Mr. Alcala for their help with ITBS Testing 5th Grade!
5th Grade Perot Museum Field Trip
5th Grade Perot Museum Field Trip
5th Grade Perot Museum Field Trip
Ms. Berkins 1st Grade Math
Guiding Coalition Calibration Day
Ms. Hernandez's 1st Grade Math
Sean Hicks at St. Marks Interview
Ms. Jernigan's AU K-2 Class
K-9 Unit in Ms. Maria Scully's Classroom
Kinder Transportation Unit Celebration
Kinder Transportation Unit Celebration
Kinder Transportation Unit Celebration
UPCOMING CALENDAR EVENTS
- 2B will make announcements all week (3 students report to Mr. Hall's Office by 7:40am)
- Spots/Feedback: Group C
- Progress Reports go home with the students Monday
- February Calendars will be in your boxes by COB Monday
- 4th Grade Field Trip to the DMA Tuesday from 9:00am-2:00pm
- New Master Schedules, reflecting a 20 minute recess, due by COB Wednesday
ADMIN CORNER
Please read these important announcements/action items. These announcements save us from having a "Faculty Meeting"-- honoring your time as professionals. Please read these notes in their entirety.
- ACTION ITEM: Master Schedules & Recess: All Teachers: By this Wednesday (2/3) at COB-- your master schedule needs to be:
(1) Posted outside of your classroom (thank you as this is pretty much universal across campus!);
(2) Updated to reflect your actual minute-by-minute schedule this semester (and adhered to!); and,
(3) Reflective of a 20-minute recess block (per the district policy approved by the Board of Trustees on Thursday).
Thank you for your cooperation with this new policy. Please reach out if you have any questions.
- ACTION ITEM: Tutoring Procedure Update: Effective immediately, any individuals conducting tutoring are required to do the following for each tutoring session (for funding documentation purposes):
(1) Sign in/sign out using your finger/code at the BioClock;
(2) Physically sign-in AND sign-out with a pen on a "Tutoring Sign In Form" that will be located next to the clock;
(3) Turn in (to a folder on Ms. Contreras' desk) the "Tutoring Lesson Plan/Student Sign In Sheet Form" with one copy of student work stapled for EACH tutoring session.
**Both the sign in sheet and the lesson plan forms will be located next to the BioClock.
**Important: Please note that any individuals who do not sign in and/or turn in the appropriate documentation will not be compensated. We are not authorized to approve your tutoring compensation retroactively (so be sure to clock in/clock out). Thank you for being proactive in helping us meet these funding requirements-- this ensures these tutoring funds will be available to our campus next year-- and beyond.
- IMPORTANT Notes on Recess Policy at Foster: Please note that ALL grade levels are required to take students to recess-- for a minimum of 20 minutes-- every day. It is good for kids, good for teachers, and good for growing brains/student achievement-- to be outside and active!
A few important notes:
- A minimum of three teachers on each team should be present to actively monitor students from a particular grade level during the recess block. Please be active in monitoring all angles of the playground to ensure students are safe and accounted for AT ALL TIMES.
- When the weather does not permit recess outdoors, we will make an announcement AND indoor recess may take place. "Indoor recess" should be engaging, supervised, and active. It should NOT include movies or "hanging out". A great resource for indoor recess is: gonoodle.com. Please note: So long as the 20 minute recess block is reflected on your master schedule outside of your classroom, we will know not to conduct an official spot during this time.
- Per the new policy, recess should not be taken from a student for a disciplinary reason (those students probably need recess the most). At Foster, a disciplinary alternative to removing recess (for students in need of additional social-emotional support) will be the "Think Track"-- where students who may need to miss time with friends can walk around the red fire lane stripe on the black top to reflect upon their poor choices-- under teacher supervision. Students should not be sitting out or against the wall. Entire classes should not receive this "Think Track" disciplinary tool-it should be used for individual students on a rare occasion.
- Please reach out with any questions.
CIC CORNER
- Remember Common Assessments are just around the corner (the week of February 15th). Make sure that you are using data to drive your instruction and to thoughtfully plan out your review week. We will be discussing best practices in PLCs this week.
OFFICE CORNER
- Progress Reports should be sent home with students on Monday!