Anchor Weekly
A newsletter for Alta Vista Staff~Week of May 11, 2020
Don't Forget! Next Week's Calendar
- Monday, May 11 at 9:30 am: Staff Google Meet meet.google.com/vmf-vvmz-zev
- Monday, May 11: Usage report due to Helton
- REQUIRED Wednesday, May 13: "We Care Wednesday" Phone Call to All Families
- Wednesday, May 13 at 9:30 am: NO STAFF GOOGLE MEETING
- Friday, May 15 at 9:30 am: Leadership Team Meeting
UPCOMING: Final Grades due Friday, May 22
Captain's Log
The best part of my week was seeing so many of you in person this past Wednesday. I can't wait to hug you all! If you didn't get a chance to pick up your goody bag, we will have it waiting for you at school when you do report back.
Many of you are asking about plans for end of year. We are still waiting for some final decisions/considerations from district leadership teams. However, here are some TENTATIVE plans.
- Week of 5/18: Teachers will bag up student materials and prepare end of year awards. Materials will be placed in cafeteria table by classroom.
- Week of 5/25: Teachers and aides will pack up classroom/school. Teachers will conduct a virtual award ceremony for their class. Students will be scheduled throughout the week to pick up their belongings, awards, and & Field Day kits
- Month of June: 32 hours of vertical planning with focus on Know-Show documents and 6-week assessments (EDRs will be provided)
- June 16-17: TransformED Virtual Conference by Region 12 (email me ASAP if you want to attend)
There are lots of different ways you can do End of Year Awards. The easiest method would be to pre-record you describing awards for each student (don't use last names) and uploading the recording to YouTube as unlisted video. This will provide you with an easy link to share with families and you won't have to worry about file size. By publishing it as "Unlisted," random people won't be able to search/stumble onto it on the internet. Please remember that everyone student should receive some type of award. If you need award templates, we have quite a few in a box in the lower right-hand cabinets in the teacher's lounge.
Mrs. Helton's Week At A Glance
- Monday-Staff Meeting & ARDs
- Tuesday-ARDs
- Wednesday-Coaching Training
- Thursday-
- Friday-Leadership Meeting
Staff To-Do List
- Teachers-Complete Usage Report for the Week of 5/4-5/8 (5/11)
- ALL STAFF-We Care Wednesday Phone Calls (5/13)
- Push out assignments in HMH & Envision (5/15)
- Log Google Hangouts Meetings with students (Ongoing)
- Prepare End of Year Awards
- Recognize student effort by adding their story on our Anchored in Excellence Sheet (Ongoing)
We Care Wednesdays
We Care Wednesday #9-keep encouraging families to complete assignments so we can wrap up grades. Remember this is REQUIRED FOR ALL STAFF. If you are a non-homeroom teacher, leave your name in the comments column.
In the column for who you contact, please mark just the code (IE: A for Adult, S for Student). If you are texting actively with parents, use A. If you text but don't get a response, then indicate LM.
Weekly Facebook Challenges
Here are the Facebook Challenges for next week. We hope you will post your own pictures in the comments!
Monday-
Tuesday-
Wednesday-Unicorn craft (Gray)
Thursday-
Friday-
Please sign up HERE for the week of May 18 (LAST WEEK!) which will be planned around "Dinosaurs." We encourage ALL STAFF (not just teachers) to have fun with the idea and sign up for a video activity.
If you are volunteering, please send your video to Mrs. Helton the day before it's going to post so she can get it uploaded to YouTube and scheduled to post.
Tech Support & At Home Learning Assignments
Resources for Online Learning & Assignments for Teacher (including Phase 3 Assignments)
Grading Policy
Technology Support & Resources
- Resources for technology support & troubleshooting
- Parents can connects with Ms. Boggess during virtual office hours by calling 254-710-9134
- If you have Spanish-speaking parents that need technical support, they can call Ms. Lopez at 254-412-8168 or they can email Nelissa Davalos (one of our parents) at nelissa@wacohispanicchamber.com
Waco ISD Policies Regarding Instructional Continuity and Remote Working Expectations
See the document below regarding the WISD At-Home Learning Continuity Plan.
Region 12 Professional Development
NEW PHONICS PROGRAM
Mrs. Logan and the ELAR team will sponsor a Zoom meeting open to teachers to participate in. They will go over expectations of phonics by HB3, overview of process to review 2 programs, go over survey results from staff on phonics. Q and A from teachers by ELAR staff.
*We will record and will be including a survey to be completed by Wednesday at 4:00 so that we can use these results to make a plan to be approved by the school board and have quotes ready for the programs.
Zoom Phonics Overview
Tuesday, May 12⋅2:00 – 3:30pm
Zoom ID
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/78080986529?pwd=SnRDV1NrYWJudERuODN0MEpUWnFKQT09
Behavior Training
Self-Care for You!
Let’s just continue the trend of teacher appreciation into this newsletter! We never want to pass up an opportunity to commend teachers! Y’all do so much work and have truly stepped up for students during this unprecedented time. I found this poem that I wanted to pass along.
Teachers by Kevin William Huff
Teachers
Paint their minds and guide their thoughts
Share the achievements and advise their faults
Inspire a love of knowledge and truth
As you light the path which leads our youth
For our future brightens with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen, each goal you help reach
For the dawn of each poet, each philosopher and king
Begins with a teacher and the wisdom they bring
The line that stood out to me is “as you light the path which leads our youth” because of all the efforts y’all have made to continue connecting with students even though they are home has not gone unnoticed and this will truly be a memory to them that showcases how much their teachers care for them. I hope that you can read this and be reminded of how much you are contributing to today’s youth and feel appreciated for your hard work!