Week of May 4, 2020

What another terrific week at Lee.  It is so hard to believe it is MAY!  ENJOY Cinco de Mayo, this week, as you social distance and enjoy some bottomless bowls of chips and salsa at a restaurant, maybe?!  THANK YOU for your committee work and ideation.  In a weird way it is taking me back to #rjlyear1.  Getting to design and create new ways of doing things, it's EXCITING.  I cannot wait to hear what you all have come up with, on Wednesday.

DID YOU KNOW:

• sweet Beth is going to head back to Wilson next year?  She has the opportunity to teach departmentalized 5th grade with a good friend.  We are going to miss her greatly and know that we have been blessed to have this year in our lives.  Best wishes, Beth!  Once a Spur, always a Spur.  
• that Kourtney Waggoner is approved by the Board to work at Lee next year?  Please feel free to reach out to her at kourtneyfaldyn@gmail.com to welcome her to our FamiLEE.  She will be joining either or Kindergarten or First grade team.  

I am Kourtney Waggoner, and I am so excited to be joining the FamiLee for the upcoming school year! I grew up in Katy, Texas with parents who are both educators. I graduated from Texas A&M University, Class of 2014, with my undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. I began my journey as an educator in Katy ISD where I taught kindergarten and first grade. After getting married in 2015, my husband and I relocated to San Antonio. I taught kindergarten and special education in Northside ISD. During my time in San Antonio, I completed my M. Ed in Special Education and Behavior Analysis through Texas A&M University. Currently, I serve as a Behavior Specialist for Comal ISD in New Braunfels. Serving in a district-wide role has been extremely rewarding, but I am truly looking forward to being back in the classroom with little, smiling faces greeting me every morning and colleagues to collaborate with on a daily basis! On a personal note, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, shopping, running outdoors, traveling, playing with our two energetic dogs, and volunteering in programs for kids with various abilities. I cannot wait to meet you all and learn alongside you! 

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!  One way to show you how much we love you is to give you the gift of time.  The ONLY virtual meeting for Lee Staff next week will be our Leadership Meeting, on Wednesday, at 11:00, and we will try and keep it BREIF.  Of course, if you need us, PLEASE reach out, but enjoy the extra time this week!  YOU DESERVE IT!

PTO MEETING

There will be a virtual PTO meeting on Tuesday night.  If you serve on PTO, please plan to attend.  Once we get the ZOOM Meeting info from PTO, we will share it. 

TALENT SHOW

3-5 Teachers, please plan on sharing the RJL Talent Show flyer and information with your families.  Thank you to the Talent Show committee for making this event happen for our children and famiLEEs.  The flyer is also posted on PeachJar.  GREAT WORK, ladies!

SCATTERGORIES LISTS

If you want to play Scattergories with your kids or family, here are the lists we used during Wednesday's Social Hour.

HAPPY CALLS

I know you are in full swing of distance learning, but it is the perfect time to end the year on a good note.  Yes, you are seeing them on ZOOM, but why not take some time and make a happy call to each of your learners in the next couple of weeks?  It will pay off for you as much as it will them, trust me!

ESL THIS WEEK

Assess Formatively- GREAT ESL teachers are always assessing their students.  They are listening to their conversations both in social settings and in academic contexts.  These teachers use multiple forms of assessment throughout the day to gauge their instruction and student learning.  They are gathering data to help inform their next steps with their students.

TO DO

• Final check- make sure ALL of your documents are signed in Strive
• Take the staff Panorama Survey
• Complete Panorama Professional Learning 
• ENJOY being celebrated next week!

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Humility- being humble, not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

If you win or excel at something, do not brag.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"The reward of a thing well done is to have done it." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

DATES TO REMEMBER:
Teacher Appreciation Week
ISIP Testing this week
May 5- Leigh Ann's Birthday
     PTO Mtg. 6:30

Week of April 27, 2020

Thank you for being patient as I get the blog out this week.  The weather was gorgeous, so I enjoyed planting 10 flats of flowers in our flowerbeds and containers and we cleaned out and organized the garage.  It is safe to say the Kastrounis' are making the MOST of this time.  I hope you found time to do things you enjoy with the one you are quarantined with at home.

DID YOU KNOW:

• that we need help planning end of year activities?  Please sign up, as soon as you read this, for at least one EOY committee.  Why not be BRAVE, and head one up?  If you are leading the group, please add zoom meeting link to the table.   We really need everyone to pitch in to make this end of year, spectacular.

• Next week is teacher appreciation week?  Look at the adorable plans that PTO has prepared for you.  Watch your inbox so you don't miss anything from your parents or PTO.

SCAVENGER HUNT
Here is a link to the Scavenger Hunt Boards that we used for this week's games.  ENJOY!

WEDNESDAY SOCIAL HOUR

In place of Staff Meeting, why not join us for HAPPY HOUR at 3:00 on Wednesday?  The Zoom meeting link is on our faculty calendar.  Bring your iPad/pencil or paper/pen was we get together for 30 minutes of FUN!  

SCHOOL LUNCH HERO DAY
I think you can agree, we have the most incredible cafeteria staff on the planet.  Please work some kind of thank you into Wednesday's lesson, if possible, or give a shout out on social media to our amazing ladies. 

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Resiliency- recovering from or adjusting easily to misfortune or change

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Accept that you are going to make mistakes.  Learn from them and move on.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit." -Napoleon

DATES TO REMEMBER:
April 27- Board Meeting (6:00)
April 29- Social Hour (3:00)
April 30- Kathy's Birthday
May 1- Hannah B's Birthday

Week of April 20, 2020

WOW!  It is hard to believe we are halfway through the last nine weeks of the school year.  Thank you for playing along with FamiLEE Feud in your meetings this week and for those that were able to participate in Bingo.  We are so sad that we didn't get to host another PEEP War (remember that last year??).  Having FUN is important and well...FUN!

We have enjoyed our Summative meetings and having the chance to have dedicated time with each and every staff member.  We will be able to have MOST of these done by the end of the week. We enjoy the opportunity to brag on you and celebrate the growth we have seen in ALL.  I'm feeling VERY #luckyatlee for each of you!

A huge thank you to the team of designers who have helped with interviewing this hiring season.  It has been an absolute joy to share in the decision making.  We have found another excellent famiLEE member to bring on board for the next school year, and it wouldn't be possible without the help of each of them!  I will keep you posted as we put in her recommendation, soon.

Lastly, can we just say WHOOT WHOOT to Taylor for continuing to lead and publish Lee Live with our broadcast crew.  I look forward to each edition and the clever ideas the children are coming up with.  Thanks, Taylor!

DID YOU KNOW:

• the yearbook is complete and sent off to the printer?  Thank you for getting images to Bhargavi and in the Google Drive.  The window to purchase is now closed.  Thanks for talking it up!  I can't wait for you to see it!
• Ruby will be hosting Yoga at 3:00 on Wednesday?  Join in the Zoom session on our staff calendar.

ESL THIS WEEK

Build a culturally responsive environment:  Building an environment that is culturally responsive means taking a look at the students you serve and assuring that the walls and resources reflect the students.  Include books in other languages.  Pull in resources that represent your student population.  your students will appreciate seeing people that resemble their families on charts, posters, books, etc.  This sends a clear message that all students are welcome and valued.  Including diverse materials allows each child a window and a mirror to both empathize with others and feel valued. 

DATES TO REMEMBER:
April 19- National Devil's Food Cake Day
April 22- National Jelly Been Day
April 23- Shelby's Birthday
     National Taffy Day

Week of April 13, 2020

You all are such a resilient and incredible group!  You have made it through week 3 of distance learning and we are so proud of you for ALL that you have done.  Thank you for meeting your learners in Zoom meetings and for creating meaningful time together.  I know how much you want to be WITH your kids and IN your rooms.  Being an educator is WHO you were designed to be, and during this time, I am reminding myself that being an educator is the BEST profession in the world and Lee Elementary is the BEST place to be!  Keep up that attitude of gratitude ladies.

DID YOU KNOW:

• it is not too late to order yearbooks?  Please share with parents in your weekly communication that they can order here: ybpay.lifetouch.com using our school’s Yearbook ID Code 13015820
• we have recommended an applicant for hire, already?  Kourtney Waggoner has been recommended to HR.  Once she is official, I will share her information with you all so that you can welcome her to our FamiLEE.  
• if you have a birthday in March or April you will get an egift card from Target from PTO.  Please watch your inbox- it is NOT SPAM!
• we have FamiLEE Bingo planned for 3:00 on Wednesday?  Watch the staff calendar for the Zoom link and be ready with your iPad and Apple Pencil.   
• we have scheduled the rest of your summatives for the remainder of the year?  Check out the schedule here.  You will get a Zoom link the morning of your summative from Leigh Ann.
• agenda we will follow for non-hourly employees
• agenda we will follow for hourly employees

CONTACT WITH PARENTS

At the beginning of distance learning (the first two weeks) we asked you to reach out if you had learners who were not participating.  You all have made good faith efforts to reach out and engage them and their children.  Thank you for that.  Now that we are in the fourth week, PLEASE DO NOT email parents about completed work, effort, or participation.  We are not always sure of the whole picture and some parents are losing their jobs/trying to keep their jobs while this is all going on.  We MUST show them what is MOST important at our school and the graphic below sums up what I expect from our team.  I understand if you have a special case where you may want to reach out.  If you do, PLEASE consult me.  I will help you navigate with an approach that will balance concern and accountability.  

Please know, I recognize the district wants learners on iStation and Dreambox a certain amount of minutes.  We can encourage parents in your weekly newsletters and remind learners in your daily video greetings.  What I do not want is emails to parents letting them know that their learner has only been on iStation for -- minutes this week or that their learner has not logged on to Dreambox.  We will continue to encourage and motivate, but again, we must consider that there is MORE that may be happening.

APRIL SOCIAL CALENDAR
These events happen at 3:00 on Wednesdays.

FLEX TIME
I have gone in and approved any requests for credit in Strive.  If you have any further requests, please make sure they are posted, now, so that you can receive credit.  Whether you did/did not participate in our campus Book Study, please fill out this form to get the appropriate credit ASAP.  Thank you.

TO DO:

• fill out this google form for Angie Applegate for learners not participating in distance learning.  DUE TODAY!
• fill out this google form for when your Zoom meetings are scheduled so that specialists and Admin can attend.
• attend the 2 weekly content meetings for your grade
• approve photo proof page for yearbook (email from Ravali a month ago).  Make sure you include your PA and AL learners if they are in your room!
• make sure all of your evidence is uploaded in Strive for SLOs and your goals
• make sure you have singed off on all Strive documents after your conference with CK and LAH

DATES TO REMEMBER:
April 12- Meredith's Birthday
April 14- Suzanne's Birthday