Wilson Weekly
Week of January 20th, 2020
Welcome Nurse April!
While she is leaving behind some big shoes to fill, we are excited to welcome April Garcia as our new school nurse! Most recently, Nurse April has been working as a NICU Nurse in the hospital setting. She's excited to transition to the role of School Nurse and become a part of our Wilson team.
Nurse April's first day will be Thursday. Please join me in welcoming her and helping her get settled into our school home.
Action Items
- PTO Grants - The Grant window is open! Use the link below to apply. If you have an idea or question you'd like to talk through, please let me know!
- Feb 14th - Sessions are filling up fast! Be sure to use the Sched link in your email from Brooke Sims to sign up for sessions on Feb. 14th.
- Calendar Adoptions - Be sure to see the next 2 years calendars that were adopted this week.
- Required Cybersecurity Training - Yes, they're legit. No, they're not phishing attempts. :) A law was passed during the last legislative session requiring each of us to participate in this training. They are due April 3rd for all CISD employees.
Upcoming Great Expectations Coaching
Earlier in the Fall, she came and worked with PreK-2nd grade educators that are new to Wilson. This round, she will work with new 3rd-5th educators as well as with teams for some team coaching. Please see the table below for a Coaching Schedule.
Wednesday, January 29th
Thursday, January 30th
Supporting Language Learners
So many of you have meaningful instructional supports embedded throughout your daily routines to enrich the language development of your language learners. Keeping in mind that all learners, regardless of EL status, are learning academic language, here are seven steps to a language-rich, interactive classroom which are essential for English learners (ELs) and Spanish learners (SLs) but great for all.
Think about the first two steps:
Every time we ask students to respond to a question or perform a task and fail to hold them accountable for their response or performance, we send them a message: You are not expected to achieve. By teaching students how to help themselves, we enable them to overcome learned helplessness and really become independent learners.
Step 1: Teach Students What to Say When They Don't Know What to Say
With your class, create an "Instead of I don't know..." anchor chart. Teach learners that when they don't know something, there are things they can do to find that answer. Refer to the chart any time a learner says "I don't know". Help them chose a response and model how to use it.
Have the student respond; opting out of an academic conversation is not an option.
The goal of this step is to empower students with specific sentences and questions to independently seek help when they need it.
Click below for examples of anchor charts and email Jennifer if you'd like to see more.
It is very hard for students to write in a way they cannot speak. By providing students with opportunities to communicate, we give them the gift of academic language and a passport to communicate in the professional world. One way to support students as they learn to respond with complete sentences is to provide them with a sentence stem. A sentence stem is a short phrase that gives students the beginning of a sentence and helps them structure a response. They help students explain their thinking, expose them to vocabulary often found in the process standards, provide language support for ELs, and increase oral language proficiency.
Step 2: Have Students Speak in Complete Sentences
As you plan your lessons, choose some sentence stems to incorporate in class. Model how to use the stem with your class. Give learners time to use them with a partner or group.
Choose one or more learners to share out their response. As learners become more independent, allow them to come up or choose an appropriate stem.
Click below for great stems in English & Spanish!
-Jennifer
Week At A Glance
Tuesday - PTO or Ed Foundation Shirt & Jeans
- 3rd Team Time
- Cooper @ Principal Meeting
Wednesday
- 4th Team Time
- Vertical Team Meetings - 3:30
Thursday
- 5th Team Time
- Welcome Nurse April!
- 4th Grade Field Trip to Austin
Friday
- Rise & Shine
- January Fire Drill
- Nurse Jill's Last Day #GoodLuck!