Elementary Done Different "LEE": July 2016

Friday, July 29, 2016

Instructional Coaching and MORE

It has been a remarkable week of learning for some of our staff. We were lead by a great gentleman, from Canada, named Ainsley in the area of Instructional Coaching. This role was introduced last Spring and will be one that will seamlessly be embedded in the "way we do business" here at Lee.

WHY INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING? IC gives us a "full-time professional developer, on site, to help incorporate research-based instructional practices." (Knight, 2007) We will be able to work alongside our coaches in order to work individually to improve our craft as Designers. Jacque Johnson will serve as our Lead Instructional Coach, but here are additional coaching supports on campus. We will learn more, together, at our Back to School training and throughout the year, but for those of you that want to learn more, you can check out the CISD Instructional Coach Manual.

New Hire Technology and Badges
New hires will need to take their district technology with you on Tuesday, August 2. We will be on campus from 7:00-4:00 on Monday, August 1, for you to check out your devices. Please plan to come by because Ashley also has your design studio and storage room keys and badges ready for you. THANK YOU, Ashley!!!

New hires also need to go through the following Schoology Course before Tuesday.

Work Hours Update from the District

Please note that there are new work hours for the school year. We want you to know NOW so that those of you that need to arrange child care, have as much notice as possible. 7:20-3:35 are the Elementary contracted hours. Please remember that we request that you leave your Wednesday's open until 5:00pm for professional development.

FACULTY FAVORITES

Please take a chance to fill out this Google Form that includes information about you and your favorites. This is a tool the office, PTO, and staff uses to treat you and get to know you better.

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN IN #LEESUMMERSELFIECHALLENGE

DATES TO REMEMBER:

July 31: Wendy's Birthday

Aug. 2-5: New Hire Induction

Aug. 9: Leadership Meeting

Aug. 10-11: Kindergarten Assessment Days

Aug. 11: Residency Verification Day

Aug. 15-19: Back to School Professional Learning

Aug. 22: First Day of School

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Welcome Back for #RJLYEAR3

Welcome back for another incredible year at Lee. It has been a BUSY summer in the office as we have been hiring the best and most amazing additions to our school. A special thank you to our Leadership Team for screening applications in the Spring, and to Courtney, Samira, Nick, Layne, and Ashley for their MANY hours as we find candidates that match our RJL educator profile. To date we have hired 11 new famiLEE members and still need to find the perfect fourth grade teacher for Yellow House. We have our eyes set on a gal from Arkansas and are waiting for her to pass the ESL test so we can move forward with a complete famiLEE. We will keep you posted! Here is our latest staff roster. Lastly, please welcome Gabriella McCord when you meet her. She will be Taylor's long term sub as she stays home with baby Kasen.

NEW HIRE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Our new hires are required to attend Induction Week. Here is the schedule of events. I look forward to seeing you at the Chamber Breakfast. This is a FUN event, to kick of the week, where you get to win prizes from Coppell community business partners. Professional dress on this day.

CAMPUS BOOK STUDY

During this year's Convocation, CISD will host George Couros as our guest speaker. We will study his book Innovator's Mindset this year. For those of you that want a jump start on reading the book, we have copies in the front office. The book is yours to write in and make notes. It is a quick and enjoyable read!

APPLE/IBM APP UPDATE

Samira, Sam, Priscilla, and I had the privilege to be on the IBM campus, in Austin, last week. We not only got a preview of the app (A-MAZ-ING) but also gave input on future components of the app. It is going to be EXCITING being the only elementary campus putting this app into practice this school year. I truly believe it is going to make the day in the life of a teacher more streamlined and benefit the learners. Unfortunately, I got an email today that our August 8 and 9 training will be postponed. The district will, instead, offer a series of trainings during the school year. I apologize for the inconvenience this causes, and will keep you posted as information comes my way. This means the gift of time on August 8 and 9 now. ENJOY!! Leadership Team...we will see you on the 9th.

MASTER SCHEDULE

Thank you to Courtney for working on next year's master schedule as part of her Summer internship hours. She shared the schedule out for feedback at the beginning of summer and, for now, we will move forward with it. Please know that the goal of our master schedule is to always keep in mind:

Large teachable blocks of time
Avoiding Red and Green houses in their space during lunch periods (as much as possible)
Keeping recess before lunch

FACULTY WEBSITE

Our faculty website is updated (thank you Sam for helping me with this task!) and ready as a resource for ALL. It is meant to be a "one stop shop" for you, so if there is something we need to add, please email me and I will add it on there. For those of you that want to get ahead and start reading the Lee Campus Handbook, it is posted, and updated. It is required this is read and signed of by September 16. Updates after 7/19/16 are highlighted in yellow. The district is going to send me the LATEST Learning Framework. Once I have that, I will update the link.