Week of Nov 28

I don't even know WHERE to begin, because THANK YOU is not nearly enough...but THANK YOU for an incredible day of celebration.  I am humbled by the consideration, generosity, and kindness today.  I feel so surrounded by GOOD PEOPLE!  (I sense a reflective blog post about this over the break, so BEWARE!)

Please enjoy next week off.  You are such a talented and hardworking staff. ENJOY being away from school with your family, friends, and loved ones.  I am so very excited for our Brides to Be and wish you much happiness as you start this new chapter of your lives.   I can't wait to hear about Taylor and her first Thanksgiving as a momma and Jamie, Amanda, and Samira having their first Thanksgiving in their new homes.  MUCH LOVE FAMILEE!!!

DID YOU KNOW:

• that we have multiple houses and grades struggling to determine if we use the Lee Scope and Sequence, the District Splash Screens, or Heather and Mary's Scope and Sequence?  To clarify, you should be using the District Splash Screens as much as possible.  As soon as the Schoology Course is up and going, you will be the first to know.
• that some parents DO NOT REALIZE that we are off ALL of next week?  Please put a reminder in your weekly newsletter!
• that we have sent an invoice in for BrainPop, BrainPop Jr., and BrainPop ESL?  Stay tuned for our Lee login and password.  YAY!
• that we have received over $14,000 in funding for our ESL learners?  Claudia has done an amazing job of getting you some resources ordered!  We will be able to fund Science A-Z (online) for all, we will be getting math and science academic vocabulary cards,  and we will be adding some National Geographic leveled readers.  Ask her if you want to learn more or have ideas of other tools for our ESL friends! 
• there is a 360 degree view of our campus on our home webpage now?  Check it out! 

FAMILY FEAST

For every $10 donated online, you get 5 free jeans passes.  $10 equals 30 meals.  Donate here and your passes will be in your mailbox by the end of the day Friday.   Don't forget to scroll down to Richard J Lee Elementary and put your name in.  Congrats, so far, to Layne, Angela, and Rebekah!

CHOIR @ NORTHPARK

Our learners will be performing on Tuesday.  Please do not hold them responsible for the work they missed while they are gone. 

CIP

Please review the Campus Improvement Plan with your house before Wednesday's Leadership Meeting.  Write down any evidence of steps accomplished.

MATHURDAY
Don't forget to advertise this event to parents.  Your courses should be loaded in our Google Folder.  Thank you, Ashley for our flyer!

HUGS DRIVE
Please advertise our Community Action Club HUGS Drive with your parents.  Let's continue to share our good fortune with others.

WEEKLY WALKTHROUGH FOCUS
Ashley and I will continue with 2.4 Differentiation walkthroughs this week.  We have gotten behind with school business and our observations.  Please be aware that we are looking for choice in learner experiences and scaffolding to meet varied needs in your classroom.  Think about the Team Time question: How do you know they know it?  What do you do when they do?

THIS WEEK'S CURRICULUM COURIER

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Fairness- playing by the rules

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Whenever you are offered food, whether it be a birthday treat or snack, never take more than your fair share.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Fairness doesn't mean that everyone gets the same.  Fairness means that everyone gets what they need."  -Rick Riordan

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Nov 28- RtI Meetings
              CISD Board Meeting
Nov 29- Choir Performs at Northpark Mall (10:30-1:00)
               Stop, Collaborate and Listen (3rd and 5th- 3:30-5:00)
Nov 30- School Shirt w/ Jeans
              Lee Learner Luncheons (10:30-1:00)
              Leadership Team Meeting (3:30-5:00)
Dec 1- Spurs Savings (7:30-7:50 Cafe)
            Green House Field Trip (Perot)
Dec 2- National Intervention Services Day
Dec 3- Mathurday (9:00-10:30)

Week of Nov 14

One more week until your well-deserved week off.  Enjoy this week with our learners and take time to reflect about your many blessings- I JUST LOVE our life principle this week!  One of those blessings is being part of our school famiLEE and for the love you receive, each day, from our children and each other.  

DID YOU KNOW

• that many strategies that are good for ALL learners really help your ELL's?  Check out this Edutopia blog with Do's and Don't for Teaching English-Languge Learners.  
• that IBM/Watson folks will be back on Monday to get more feedback.  Please take time to drop in and give them continued feedback.  This is part of our obligation being a pilot campus.  THANK YOU to those of you really trying to use the app!
• George (we should be on a first name basis) wrote ANOTHER GREAT BLOG this week.  Check it out here and remember a positive attitude changes everything!

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART
We will kick off JRFH on Monday with a pep rally in the gym at 8:15.  Please come down to the gym as soon as your house finishes watching morning broadcast.


DESIGN DAYS
We are excited to be able to work in Design Days without Title I Funds this year.  We are being a little creative and hoping that you recognize that we scheduled in a way that you also still get your conference time.  Please start on time, be ready to observe in some classrooms, and come with your ideas for increasing the sharing of learners in your vertical houses.

PTO MEETING
Don't forget to have your sweet kiddos ready to share house updates in regards to CBL and house business on Tuesday.


INNOVATORS MINDSET
Thank you all for participating in the slow chat! We will be reading the next section Chapters 4-7 over the next few weeks. As you learn about the 8 things to look for in today's classroom on page 111, please find two examples around the campus that relate to one of these "things to look for". In our Schoology course, please upload the pictures to the media album and in the caption, describe how these example inspire innovation. This will be due by December 9th. 

STAFF MEETING
We have two visitors coming to staff meeting on Wednesday.  First, we will have MP2 Energy coming to give us an update on our data dashboard.  (New friends- you may be asking what a data dashboard even is!)  They have been working on an update and also want to show you how it can enhance curriculum.  In addition, we will have the technology department visiting.  They will be training us in "threat assessment."


FAMILY FEAST DRIVE
Family Feast Drive will take place both physically and virtually this year. NO MORE TURKEYS. Lee will collect canned/boxed food all week.  We will put donations in our bin on Friday.  We will label our bin with our school name so we can weigh the poundage of food was collected from each school. Wouldn’t it be great if LEE collected the MOST food?  Lee will also collect virtual food.  Go to this link so you can donate funds to provide meals for the food bank!  For example:  $10 = 30 meals!  Please scroll down on the home page to click on Richard J Lee Elementary to make a donation!  It will track how many meals our school provides.  Designers who participate will receive a jeans pass for every $10 donated.


WEEKLY WALKTHROUGH FOCUS
Please be aware that we are looking for choice in learner experiences and scaffolding to meet varied needs in your classroom.  Think about the Team Time question: How do you know they know it?  What do you do when they do?  Here is a blog post about 100 Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media.

THIS WEEK'S CURRICULUM COURIER

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:
Gratitude- the act of being grateful; thankfulness

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:
Always say thank you when given something.  When given an assignment, there is no moaning or complaining.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“The ones you should try to get even with are the ones who have helped you.” -Unknown

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Nov 13- Samira's Birthday
Nov 14- Dec 9- Jump Rope For Heart
Nov 14- Yellow and Green Design 1/2 Days
               JRFH Assembly (8:15-9:30 Gym)
               IBM/Watson in Conference Room (12:30-4:00)
Nov 15-  Red and Purple Design 1/2 Days
               Fall Picture Retakes (Please remind parents)
               PTO Mtg. (6:30 Cafe) Please remind parents
Nov 16-  Convocation Tshirt and Jeans
               Blue Design 1/2 Day
               Staff Mtg. (3:30-5:00)
Nov 17- Chantel's Birthday
               Spurs Savings (7:30-7:50)
               Purple House Music Performance (8:30 and 6:30)
               Thanksgiving Lunch in Cafe (Lunchtimes)  Please remind Parents
               Buffalo Wild Wings Night
Nov 18-  Family Feast Drive
Nov 20-  Courtney's Birthday
Nov 21-  Jacque's Birthday
Nov 22-  Alex's Wedding- CONGRATULATIONS!
Nov 21- 25- NO SCHOOL- HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Nov 26-  Jess' Wedding- CONGRATULATIONS!

Week of Nov 7

It has been another incredible week at Lee.  We are looking forward to the Designing Time you have scheduled for next week as we approach the halfway mark the second nine weeks.  Can you believe it is already here!?  Please head out as soon as all learners are safely dismissed on Friday.  

DID YOU KNOW

• CISD has a Parent University next Saturday?  Please share this information with parents and let them know they need to register online.
• that CISD is hosting Tour 360 on January 25 and 26?  I will be asking for some of you to help present on CBL and join me in presenting about vertical scheduling.  If you are interested in this leadership opportunity, please email me or drop by.  
• Tracie has daily offerings to keep your lunch options open?  Request through email by 10:00 to tthomas@coppellisd.com

LEEDERSHIP COUNCIL
Please submit the name and t-shirt size of your class LEEder by 1:00 pm on Tuesday.  We will announce these over the intercom at the end of the day.


STAFF MEETING
Wednesday's Staff Meeting time will be used to meet and design for Mathurday.  We are giving you this job embedded time to collaborate, create the catalog description, and any other preparations for December 3.  We will start in A120 and break out into groups from there.


TOURS
We have two tours coming through on Thursday.  Please make sure your digital signage is updated and your latest CBL is posted.

VETERAN'S DAY CEREMONY
Please make sure you share this link with your famiLEEs so that they can RSVP to Friday's Veteran's Day Ceremony.  They should plan to arrive at 7:50 and expect to stay until approximately 8:45.  We will be called down by grade to the cafe at 8:00.  Please remember to wear red, white, and blue this day!


FLEX CREDIT
Please remember to request flex and SBEC time in Euphoria if you have attended Stop, Collaborate, Listen; Science Training; completed Apple Teacher coursework; Night at the Arboretum, etc.  We want to make sure that you get your hours recorded in your Euphoria portfolio.

INNOVATORS MINDSET BOOK STUDY
Thank you to those of you that made sure to participate in our Slow Chat this week.  I also appreciate that you are discussing the chapter questions in your Team Time both as a house and grade.


WEEKLY WALKTHROUGH FOCUS
Please be aware that we are looking for choice in learner experiences and scaffolding to meet varied needs in your classroom.  Think about the Team Time question: How do you know they know it?  What do you do when they do?  Here is a blog post about 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners.

THIS WEEK'S CURRICULUM COURIER

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Effort- doing your best in an endeavor.

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

It is rude to ask if you are getting something for good behavior. You should be good and try your best because you are trying to better yourself, not because you are anticipating a reward.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Don’t be content with being average.  It is as close to the bottom as it is to the top.” -Anonymous

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Nov 6-  Daylight Savings
Nov 7- Welcome Back Mrs. Holcomb
             Salvation Army picks up canned goods
             LEEdership Town Hall
             Allaso Ranch Chaperone Meeting (6:30-Cafe)
Nov 8-  Election Day
             LEEdership Council Elections (announcing winners at 3:00)
Nov 9-  House Shirt and Jeans
             5th Grade at Allaso Ranch
             Staff Mtg. (3:30-?)
Nov 10- Balanced Literacy Academy
              5th Grade at Allaso Ranch
              Tours (9:00 and 1:00)
Nov 11- 5th Grade at Allaso Ranch
              Grades Due (8:30)
              Veteran's Day Ceremony (8:00-8:45ish)  Wear Red, White, and Blue
Nov 13- Samira's Birthday

*Please be getting a learner ready for next week's PTO meeting on Nov 15