Week of August 31, 2020

WOW!  You made it through the second FULL week of VIRTUAL school.  We are so super proud of you for your creativity, collaboration and heart.  You have done a super job of supporting your learners and their parents.  Thank you for copying me on your weekly communication.  I am so impressed with the way some of you are using Bulb, S'more, and other ways to keep our FamiLEEs engaged. YOU make our school look SO GOOD in the community and I thank you so much for that.  Have a fabulous Friday and weekend.  

I think this video from the Holderness Family sums up that School IS Complicated.  Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW:

• you will want to upload your Zoom cloud videos to Google and post that link in Schoology because videos will only stay in the Zoom cloud for 3 days?  Check out the article in the "Stay In The Know" email from Coppell ISD this week.
• Apple Professional Learning has 30 Time-Saving Tips for Teachers?  There is also training if you want to sign up to help you with execution of these tips.
• there is a Kid President spin off called Kid Superintendent?  Would be great for your House Meetings.  Thanks for sharing, Leigh Ann!
• CPI courses are open in Strive on September 18 for those who are interested?  Please sign up here and let CK know if you are attending:
• initial
• refresher

RETURN TO SCHOOL

All staff will return to campus on September 2.  It is imperative that you arrive at school on time (contract time is 7:10-3:35).  This means you are ready to work at 7:10, not parking your car or walking in the door.  Starting September 8, all virtual staff will be on arrival and dismissal duty which will begin right at 7:10.  Buses let kids off at 7:10 in order to make their middle school and high school routes on time and safety and security of our learners is of the utmost importance.  We will work out the logistics and share the duty schedule in next week's blog.

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY

The first Wednesday of every month we celebrate higher education.  We encourage our learners and staff to wear a college shirt on these days.

CURRICULUM NIGHT

Thank you for working as a grade on your Curriculum Night presentations.  Please make sure you have the FAQ questions and answers approved by Chantel BEFORE sending home to parents.  It is SUPER IMPORTANT these answers are consistent.  Using the Return to School Guide is your best bet for questions related to our current teaching situation.

TECHNOLOGY

Please make sure that all classes have covered the overview of digital literacy in your Schoology lessons by September 4.  

Please make sure that learners log into ZOOM with their g.coppellisd.com accounts starting on Monday.  You can use this web link to communicate to your parents.  

INFO FOR PARENTS

Please send this information to your families in this week's newsletter:

ADMIN  VISITS

Leigh Ann, Angela, and I love visiting with each and every learner/class in the first weeks of school. Please refer to the sign up for ZOOM guests during Week 3 to make sure you don't miss the time you scheduled.  

PARENT CONTACT
Did you get a chance to reach out and make your happy calls?  If you didn't, remember it is an expectation to pick up the phone and call EVERY family.  Thank you for depositing in their emotional bank accounts!

COACH'S CORNER

Nobody wants to communicate with a parent and have nothing to say about their child. By being genuinely interested in your learners and planning activities to strengthen those relationships, phone calls home will be much easier and more enjoyable. Parents will appreciate that you know their children well, and they will be more likely to trust you and implement your feedback. Consider creating a system for documenting the positive traits and qualities of the learners in your class. Building authentic relationships with your learners and their parents will transform your class. I’m sharing a spreadsheet created by Layne Dennis to document communication.

[BUILD RELATIONSHIPS]

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

AWESOME ESL teachers know that building relationships is key to students’ success. They do more than examine a permanent record folder. They know their students’ strengths, hobbies, family life and their struggles. They connect with their students beyond the curriculum.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Sept 1- Virtual PTO Meeting (6:00 pm)

Sept 2- All Staff resumes teaching on Campus

     College Shirt Day

     Kona Ice from PTO (3:00-3:15)

     Virtual Staff Meeting (3:15-5:00)  All staff must attend for compliance training.

     Charlene's Birthday

     Nikki's Birthday

Sept 3- Virtual Curriculum Night (5:00)

Sept 7- NO SCHOOL!!!!

Week of August 24, 2020

WOW!  You made it through the first FULL week of VIRTUAL school.  It has brought our Admin Team much pride to check out your Schoology Courses, see the work you have designed for the children, and to read the specific feedback you are providing to your children.  Excellent work on starting those class respect agreements and firming up your virtual classroom routines. We have such INCREDIBLE learners and designers!!  We hope you are feeling strength in the togetherness, I know I am!  ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!

DID YOU KNOW:

• we want you to wear this year's Better Together shirts on Friday?  Take a picture, tweet out how you have experienced being better together, so far, this year to #rjlyear7 #BetterTogether. 
• we have outside digital access to famiLEEs that need WiFi?  If you have households that need a stronger signal, they can come up and work in our ecoPond area and access the free hot-spot WiFi for the community.
• we should not include full learner names in subject lines or emails? Please use initials due to open records.  
• Natalie has her library sign up ready to support you?  Please schedule a time.  Also our curbside service from the media center will start at Lee on September 23.
• Elementary Curriculum Night is scheduled for September 3, from 5:00-6:00?  We will work through what this will look like with Leadership on Wednesday.

SCHOOLOGY

Now that you have your Schoology Courses set up, labeled, and linked, please add Samira, Chantel, Leigh Ann as Admin to your courses. 

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND YEARBOOKS

Any school supplies that were not picked up were delivered to your space.  Please hold on to these for your learners.  Yearbooks that were not picked up were placed in your mailboxes.  Please email your parents that you are safely holding on to these for them.  We are not scheduling another school-wide pick up time for these items at this time.

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP EMAIL

Please make sure that you include the overview of digital literacy in your Schoology lessons, next week.  Also included in the email sent out on Tuesday from CISD were links to "HOW TO" videos and other resources.  Use these instead of having to create your own, when possible.

CLEANING SURFACES IN YOUR SPACE

You will be getting a spray bottle and 1 blue microfiber cloth to help sanitize your space.  So that the disinfectant can sit on the desk surface for at least one minute before being wiped dry, it is recommended that you first spray every surface in the room (without wiping dry between) and then go back and wipe each surface dry. So, instead of spray-wipe, spray-wipe, spray-wipe, etc., the recommended pattern is spray-spray-spray, then wipe-wipe-wipe.  To ensure you have clean cloths, each day, bring your soiled cloth to the office.  It will, then, be swapped for a clean one.  Every morning, between 8am and 9am, our cafeteria staff will launder them for us.  THANK YOU, Charlene and team!

COMMITMENT FORMS

Here is a link to what our famiLEEs have committed for during the first nine weeks (now in email as copy only) as of 8/18/20.  We will start opening the conversation with Leadership about what this will look like for our campus.  If a parent wants to change their child's modality of learning, please direct them to Chantel.  We really want them to honor their commitment, but each case is unique.  If a learner is not on this list, you are to assume they are coming to school for face to face instruction.  Please use the COMMAND F function to search the list for each child on your roster.  Leadership, please bring your grade level numbers to Wednesday's Leadership Meeting.

COMPLIANCE COURSE EMAIL FROM DR. HUNT AND BROOKE SIMS

Please complete the Return To School Compliance tasks by September 18.

PARENT CONTACT
Please, by August 28, pick up the phone and call EVERY family. Tell them/leave a message sharing something special about their child from these first two weeks.  A great way to end the conversation is by inviting them to Curriculum Night.  It will pay huge dividends to take the time to do this!  It is also a TTESS Domain 4 descriptor.  Specials and specialists, please reach out to 20 learners, as well.   

INFO FOR PARENTS

Please send information about Curbside Pick-Up, the letter about room parents, and our upcoming  Spirit Night to your families in this week's newsletter.

ADMIN  VISITS

Leigh Ann, Angela, and I like to visit with each and every learner/class in the first weeks of school. Please sign up for us to be the ZOOM guests during Weeks 2 and 3.

COACH'S CORNER

Educators often try to prepare children for what to expect, but during these uncertain times, we often don’t know what to expect.  It’s important to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers, and that things may change.  Especially during times of uncertainty, flexibility is an important aspect of resilience.  As educators, we can nurture flexibility in our children by sharing examples of times we (or they) dealt with unexpected changes in the past.  We can also focus on aspects of the situation that we can control such as establishing academic routines, engaging in self-care, and learning more about our options.  Helping our kids focus on what they can control, whether it’s setting up a place to study, finishing a Lego project, mastering homemade pancakes, or learning to write their name, can also cultivate flexibility, as well as reduce stress and boost mood.

[EMPATHIZE]

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

The GREATEST ESL teachers are able to put themselves in their students’ shoes. They believe in their students and the students know it. They model a growth mindset so students understand that learning takes time and patience. These teachers love their students.

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Respect- showing consideration for others

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

We will often have visitors in our school. When a visitor arrives, look them in the eyes, shake hands, tell them who you are, and welcome the person to our school.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Consideration for others is the basis of a good life, a good society” -Confucius

DATES TO REMEMBER:

August 24- Day 1 starts on our calendar

     Team Time from 2:00-2:55 for First Grade

August 25- Team Time from 2:00-2:55 for Second Grade

August 26- House Shirt with Jeans

     Team Time from 2:00-2:55 for Third Grade

     Leadership Meeting (instead of Flex Learning 3:00)

August 27- Sam's Birthday

     Team Time from 2:00-2:55 for Fourth Grade

August 28- Stephanie's Birthday

     Team Time from 2:00-2:55 for Fifth Grade

Week of August 17, 2020

Thank you for a wonderful week supporting one another and making sure we are ready to go with our virtual learning on Monday.   I am so super proud of what I am seeing in your digital planning documents and the way you continue to "roll" with the hiccups that have presented themselves along the way on these design days.  Please make an effort to come up to school some time on Monday so that we can take your "FIRST DAY" picture of you and present you with a "little something" from Leigh Ann and I. 

DID YOU KNOW:

• there is a cool resource with 33 ways to build virtual learning relationships?  There are some great ideas here!
• we have 3 Khans, 2 Howards, and 2 Hamams on staff?  Please make sure you are careful to email the correct one.
• you will be getting a bag with PPE supplies from Nurse Ameira?  Please read her attached note.  Let us know if there is anything you need that is not provided for you, so we can keep everybody safe.
• when we move to face to face on September 8, upholstered furniture will be "closed" to learners?  We cannot sanitize fabric, so we will have the office make laminated signs to attach to furniture for you.
• Julie's dad passed away this week?  Please lift her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

MEET THE DESIGNER NIGHT

THANK YOU for making Meet the Teacher Night memorable for our FamiLEEs.  You only get one chance to make a first impression, and I am certain you all WOW'd your audiences.  Great job including me on your communication.  One suggestion would be to also blind copy yourself so that you ensure that your message went out and you can view what your parents view.  Reminder:  ALWAYS proofread what you send home!  

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND YEARBOOKS

School staff will be delivering pre-ordered school supplies, that were not picked up by 3:00, to your spaces.  Supply packs will have names attached to them so you know who they belong to.  Please store them for the learners until they return to school.  Do you want to help?  Feel free to join our paraprofessionals in the cafe from 12:00-3:00.

SPECIALS UPDATE

Thank you to our Specials Team and Stephanie for getting everything organized and ready for communication for the first two weeks (and beyond).  Here is a screencast from Stephanie (our Design Teacher) and her presentation (you will be forced to make a copy) to help with documents and copies of the schedules to add to your Schoology courses. 

ZOOM CONSENT

Here is the Lee Spreadsheet to check and make sure your learners have completed the ZOOM permission form emailed out to them.  (I have the settings so only CISD staff can view this private information).  If you have learners who do not show permission, here is the link to resend the form out individually.  All learners need to have the form completed. 

Don't forget that YOU have to fill out the 2020-2021 CISD Staff Video Chat Consent, too.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

The first week is about building SOLID and TRUSTING relationships with the children and their famiLEEs.  My expectation for you, this first week, is to ensure that time spent together is SO FUN and EXCITING, that the learners do not want to leave leave your ZOOM rooms. 

Please, by August 28, pick up the phone and call EVERY family. Tell them/leave a message sharing something special about their child.  It will pay huge dividends to take the time to do this!  It is also a TTESS Domain 4 descriptor.  

DRESS EXPECTATIONS

We got an email this week that everyone can wear jeans and sneakers every day through December.  WOW!  We have been told that we can wear this year's CISD Ed Foundation shirt on Tuesdays and our school spirit shirts on Fridays.  In addition to what the district emailed, at Lee, we also wear certain spirit shirts on Wednesdays such as your convocation shirt, your college shirt, your house shirt, your grade shirt.  Please watch the staff calendar and weekly blog for our "Wednesday wear." I request that you be mindful and follow expectations so that we do not have to have an uncomfortable conversation.  I request that your jeans not have rips or holes in them and shirts on Mondays and Thursdays match the district email.

ADMIN  VISITS
Leigh Ann, Angela, and I like to visit with each and every learner/class in the first weeks of school. Please watch your email for a sign up for us to be the ZOOM guests during Weeks 2 and 3.


FIND YOUR MARIGOLDS
Our work is HARD work, but we are surrounded by such AWESOME people here at Lee.  Take a minute to read (or reread for some of you) this passage adapted form Cult of Pedagogy.  Find your "marigolds" at Lee, better yet...be someone's "marigold!"

COACH'S CORNER

(A weekly submission from our talented IC)

Create a Welcoming Environment

The journey through the school year is not a sprint—it's a long walk. I remember my first year of teaching clearly. I was constantly rushing, trying to plan too much, too soon. I ended up doing twice the work I needed to because for every one thing I did, I'd miss two important things and have to start again.

Don't rush into anything too complicated or challenging. Keep everything within your comfort zone. Go slowly that first week of school so you can set up the standards that will guide the rest of the year. Practice them over and over. Let kids get to know each other and, most importantly, get to know you! And find out what makes you comfortable.

(LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL CONNECTIONS!!)

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

(A weekly submission from our talented ESL Facilitators)

Create a Welcoming Environment

“The BEST ESL teachers know how to make their students feel safe and valued. They are able to break down the walls of anxiety and fear so students feel ready and eager to learn. These teachers do this by using verbal and nonverbal cues. The way they speak with their students tells them that they are wanted, valued, and loved. These teachers make room for all students.”

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Excellence- to stand out with valuable quality

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Quickly learn the names of other designers and learners in the school and greet them by name.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Excellence is never an accident.  It is always the result of High Intention, Sincere Effort, and Skillful Execution" -Aristotle

DATES TO REMEMBER:

August 17- FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

August 19- Convocation Shirt w/ Jeans

Week of August 10, 2020

It has been the BEST week ever having all of us together again.  If you have five minutes, watch this video.  You didn't come to this profession by accident.  IT IS A CALLING! The work you do MATTERS!  As we prepare for next week, use your weekend to rest up and enjoy doing things that bring you happiness!  I am so proud of each of you and how resilient each of you are in our FamiLEE and in turn helping me be!  

DID YOU KNOW:

• there is a link to responses to our Faculty Favorites in case you want to know your famiLEE members better?  
• there is a link to the 2020-2021 TTESS Appraisal Calendar?  Dates have been added to the Lee Staff Calendar for you.
• you can order you CISD Education Foundation t-shirt now?  If you purchase this year's shirt, Dr. Hunt has given permission to wear it with jeans EVERY TUESDAY.
• Peg is a notary?  How cool is that?  She can save you a trip when you need something notarized.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR FRIDAY

Please use today to complete any items in the MUST DO column that you have not completed.   

• Be Safe Training
• Panorama Training
• Schoology Expectations and Support

Then... (this is a good order)

• Get Your School Song Video posted here
• Log into Archive Social (see info below)
• Update Your Personal Email Signature
• If you would like to make changes to your name, title and phone extension (last four digits) or to add approved prefixes or suffixes (e.g. Dr., Ph.D.) to your name, submit this request form (www.coppellisd.com/emailsignature). This link can also be found under Staff tab on the website.
• Update Your Lee Staff Website
• minimum requirements: name, subject/grade you teach, professional headshot (no family photos), phone number, email, class schedule and tutoring/conference schedule. External websites cannot be linked directly to their name. If you wish they can add the link to their external website on the landing page.  You can also choose to link your Twitter and Bulb if you like.
• Update our key inventory (see directions below)
• Read Staff Handbook and Take Quiz in Schoology
• Complete all CISD Compliance Courses
• Read the 4 attachments for Elementary from Dr. Applegate's email on 4.5.20
• Review the Return to School Page and links
• Complete any District Choice Board May Do's (I would highly suggest the TBRI training)

If you get ALL of this done, use this time as you need to do start designing your virtual lessons. Please ask for help from Ayesha, Samira, Claudia, Alex, Shari, Natalie, and Rikki if you need it!

PLANS FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR NEXT WEEK

     MONDAY- You will get calendar invitations to review your 504s, IEPs, and RTI Learners and work on instructional design and virtual Meet the Teacher.

     TUESDAY- There will be NO CAMPUS OR DISTRICT meetings.  This is a work day for you to use as you see fit and best suits what you want to accomplish.   

     WEDNESDAY- Counselor, Media Center, and Safety Updates via ZOOM in the morning.  The rest of the time you can work on instructional design.

     THURSDAY- Work on instructional design.

     FRIDAY- Work on instructional design.

50 IDEAS FOR THE REMOTE LEARNING CLASSROOM

Have you seen this resource on Twitter?  As you design for the first week of school, perhaps there are some ideas for you to consider?  Remember the first week of school is about team building.  If you want to do some house team building that first week, too, I support that in your lesson creation.

KEYS
Leigh Ann is in the process of updating the "Keys" spreadsheet.  Please complete this google form to share what keys you have.  If you have extra keys or keys for a space that you are no longer in or need, please turn those keys back into Leigh Ann as soon as possible.  If you are in need of a new key for a new space, please let Leigh Ann know and she will work on getting you a key for that space.

CLASS LISTS

Class lists are starting to be populated in eSchool Plus. All grade level designers will email parents on Thursday morning at 8:00.   Please work together, as a grade, to comprise a welcoming email to send out.  Other elementaries are including a SHORT video that will accompany their welcome email with a greeting from the teacher and a glimpse into their actual learning environment.  Clips would be an awesome tool to help with this. 

Because we also have houses at Lee, I would like to see an additional welcome video (again, SHORT) that lets the children and parents see who the designers are in your house.  

MEET THE DESIGNER NIGHT

(You will get more information about what this will look like next week.) 

SENATE BILL 944

Senate Bill 944 has changed the way that all employees must archive and retain public information. This includes emails, text messages, social media posts, etc. Any information created or received while acting in official capacity or while doing school business is considered part of open records and must be archived and retained in accordance with state laws.

 

The district has systems in place for emails but in order to meet the law, we must put a protocol in place for social media that is used for school business. In order to be in compliance with SB 944, all professional social media accounts must be archived through Archive Social. If you use social media for school business including communicating with families or staff, then the information shared must be archived and retained using the state retention schedule. The legal definition of what constitutes what needs to be archived and retained is -  “information created or received while acting in an official capacity” and this includes any social media posts. Archive Social meets these requirements. Staff can connect the social media account one time and it is archived automatically thus meeting the legal requirements. 

 

This link has the instructions for linking your CISD/Lee Twitter account with Archive Social.  You should have received an email this week titled ArchiveSocial Action Required.  Your unique link to connect is at the bottom.

SB 944 introduced the new concept of a “temporary custodian” and makes it clear that a temporary custodian who retains a governmental record on a personal device is responsible for the retention of that information until it is transferred to the school district.  The new law applies to any information that would meet the definition of a record regardless of the application or format of the record. Therefore, communication conducted by text messages, social media, tweets, instant messaging, emails, or other third party applications where government information is stored are all subject to open records. This includes records stored in text, pictures, or voice recordings. Again, if the information meets the definition of a record, regardless of the device or application on which that record resides, it is now the responsibility of both the district and the temporary custodian to retain it.  For this reason, I recommend that school communication and texts go through Teams using the messaging and chat feature.  This takes your personal device out of play if there is an open records request.  Please move to this platform starting next week.

Lastly, I know I keep saying it, and it is truly from my heart... THANK YOU!  Thank you for your excitement, enthusiasm, and support of our school.  The "BEST IS YET TO COME" this year!!!  You are loved!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

August 9- Shari H's Birthday

August 13- Send out welcome email to your famiLEEs (8:00)

     Virtual Meet the Designer Night (6:00-6:30)

August 17- First Day of School!