Cool Cat News
Principal Brief
February 5-9
Cool Cats,
It was a joy to be at Chase Oaks Church on Sunday - they are so proud of Hartman and all that you and our students have accomplished! As I was leaving, a man ran up to me and said - "Mrs. Ballast, I just want to tell you about your awesome PPCD team" My ears perked up as he continued to talk. He is a bus driver for Wylie ISD and picks up our PPCD students every day. With tears in his eyes, he said how much the PPCD team loves their students. The care and time they take with each student and the teachers smiling faces every day has made a real and significant impact on him. This story is not uncommon - I hear many parents say that about all of you. This week will be a busy one - Mapping Your Future Day, Valentine parties, Valentine Dance and more.. but always remember the impact you are making on your students and families. We don't have a lot of PTA help, you are the ones who help decorate the school for themes, you are ones who plan the parties, you organize the dance - all in hopes of putting a smile on a students face and a memory in their heart. Thanks for the many things you do to build relationships and connect with families and community members. You are the Wylie Way!
Your PROUD principal,
Shawna #hartmanpride #nbrs2017
Mapping Your Future Day/ Assembly at 8:00am - 2/7/18 The district theme for our Wylie Way Day is Candy Land - The Path to Your Future is Sweet! #mappingyourfutureWISD The lessons look great and cover a recipe for being a sweet friend, self control and grit, passions/careers and achievement. Lessons are completed and are available for you to review!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNgwAITNaEm2YetHEGYqJ9mNnhnBW8G3S-jojZaHa5c/edit
We designed a Mapping Your Future Candy Land shirt that you and students may purchase. We hope to get the shirt flyer to you with ordering information on Monday. If not ordering a shirt, please dress up in the Candy Land theme. (ex, super bright colors, pieces of candy, characters from the game, etc.) The Wylie Way Assembly will be at 8:00am in the cafeteria. The Morris Brothers will put on a character development program for us courtesy of PTA! Please look over the MYF lessons - if we need to purchase materials for your class that are not provided let us know! We also have a Cotton Candy stand coming for the day. We will have a separate time for your class to go. This will be a unique event for our students. Pre-K/PPCD we will bring the cotton candy puffs packaged to you. We will send home a flyer for $2.00 for the cotton candy, This will help to off set some of the cost. All students will get cotton candy whether they are able to pay or not. Erin will email your rotation time and cotton candy time.
2/9 - Class Parties - Last class party of the year! Please let parents know what they can bring and help with.
2/19 - Professional Development Day -
7:30 -8:00 Breakfast, 8-9:30 Library (all staff) PD - "Puttin' On the Ritz"
9:30-3:00 Individual Data Conferences with Hudgins and Ballast
TELPAS teachers may sign up for TELPAS Calibration sesssions after 12:00.
Upcoming Dates:
2/5 McDonald's Night 5-7pm - Counselors Week! We love you Mrs. Brown!, send out MAP parent letters this week!
2/6 Team Leader Meeting
2/7 MYF Day, Dress in Candy Land Theme, bright colors or MYF shirt, MYF Assembly at 8am, RTI Meeting grades 3/4
2/8 G4 Plano Symphony Field Trip, PTA Board Meeting 5:30pm
2/9 Valentine's Parties @1:45pm, G3/G4 rotation at 7:30am, Breakfast with Dads 6:45am, Loved Ones Dance 5-7pm
2/12 Sunshine Secret Admirers
2/14 K-2 RTI Meeting, Chuck E. Cheese PTA Spirit Night 3-9pm
2/15 PLC Leader Academy (1/2 day)
2/17 Boots & Barbecue Gala 6pm
2/19 Professional Development Day
2/20 Sunshine Committee Meeting 3pm, PTA Board Meeting 5:30pm
2/21 Staff Meeting, 3:00pm, Wylie Way Follow Up Day, Workplace Wellness Screenings in library 6:30-8:30am
2/23 Pay Day Hey Day Breakfast -Pre-k, PTA Carnival 6-8pm, 5:30-for PPCD, RTI District Team Meeting 7:45-10:45 @ESC
2/26 Wylie Way College Week, Chris Barton, Author;s Visit, McDonalds Night 5-7pm
2/27 3/4 District Reading Checkpoint
2/28 3/4 District Math Checkpoint, RTI Team meeting
3/1 "Get Your Game On" Kinder family game night 5:30-7:30pm
Great things to think about for PLC's - Take time to evaluate your PLC and renorm if you need to!
PLCs at Their Best and Worst
In this article in All Things PLC Magazine, Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Thomas Many, and Mike Mattos describe what happens in the most effective PLCs:
- Same-grade/same-subject teacher teams get frequent and timely information on their students’ learning on key standards from common assessments they developed.
- Teachers use the data to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their individual practice.
- The team identifies areas of the curriculum where students are struggling and names individual students for follow-up intervention and enrichment.
- Teachers compare their students’ results, pinpoint the most effective practices, identify team PD needs, and adopt ways to improve their collective capacity.
- Teachers measure progress toward team goals.
- The team compares its assessments with district, state, and national assessments.
DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, and Mattos then describe some weaknesses they have observed in some schools’ PLC work:
- Considerable lag time getting assessment results to teachers;
- Assessment data presented in ways that aren’t helpful;
- Teacher reluctance to share their individual results with colleagues, preferring to look at aggregate performance across groups;
- A desire to eliminate questions on which students did poorly;
- Data analysis seen as a bureaucratic task primarily to satisfy “downtown;”
- Assessments used primarily to report on student progress; teachers teach, test, and hope for the best as they move on to the next unit.
- Not using the analysis of results to improve professional practice;
Chase Oaks Honors Hartman!
TASA (Texas Association of School Administrators) Honors Hartman!!!
Keep sending your brag calls to the office! Parents love them!
Pre-K is working hard to improve their students oral language skills and build vocabulary! Just a few pics from their classrooms!
Hot Cocoa Center!
Retelling Center!
Ice Skating Fun after a Winter Read-Aloud!
Jack and the Beanstalk Station after reading the book!
Ice Hockey Fun!
Making Igloos!
Encourage your families to purchase tickets prior to the dance and save $1.00! Students and parents are encouraged to dress in their Ritzy best!
R- Time Every Wednesday!
Rtime for Better Relationships! 10 minutes every Wednesday!
- Show good manners and respect at all times.
- Care for everyone and everything.
- Follow instructions with thought and care.