Week of February 8, 2021

Happy Thursday!  We are so grateful for each and every one of you and how you take care of one another.  We hope you enjoyed your nachos today and can't wait to show you some love tomorrow.  Watch your boxes!!  We have a FUN note and challenge for you.  Please have a lovely weekend and take time to take care of YOU!  Thank you, Linda and Social Spurs for the Valentine craft in the lounge this week.  What a GREAT activity!

DID YOU KNOW:

• we need you to avoid the front office area for the time being? The blue microfiber cloths and return area are under the white board by teacher mailboxes, now.  We pulled the clean ones that were in the office and rewashed them so you can feel confident you are getting clean cloths. 
• Natalie has an updated Library S'more?  
• We need pictures of our married staff members in their wedding dresses?  Please email them to CK so we can use them for a game on Feb. 26.  There will be a "surprise" for the first five pictures that come in!

TO DO

• Please check in Strive and make sure that you have viewed all of your walkthroughs and electronically signed your 3 T-TESS documents.
• Please get your yearbook photos to Samira.  The deadline is past!  2020-2021 YEARBOOK PICTURES FOLDER

BOOK FAIR

Did you know that all profits earned through the Book Fair go back to our campus library fund?  Please talk up this event to learners and parents so we can have the most successful Spring Virtual Book Fair!  

VALENTINES DAY

Thank you for your patience for directions for Valentine's Day Parties.  A message was sent in teams this morning.  We can't wait to see what your houses design.  If you create virtual media albums for your learners to get valentines, here is a valentine from their Principal that I would love for you to share with learners.

FEBRUARY 12

This day is another scheduled work day for you!!!  Please be on campus from 7:10-3:35 and work on what YOU need to work on.  Remember to be socially distanced on this day and wear your masks.  You may dress comfortably and you may leave for a one hour lunch since there is no lunch or recess duty for students.

DLC UPDATE

Would you like to add a special connection to your Valentine's Day Party? Virtual Valentines may be just the thing for you! We have created a set of Digital Valentine's Day cards this year in lieu of handing out paper cards. Our workflow includes students using card templates in Keynote and then "delivering" the cards to individual student "mailboxes" (media albums) in Schoology. If you are interested, you can find the file (in both English and Spanish) as well as an educator overview video on this Bulb page.

If  Keynote is not your thing, your DLCs would be happy to partner with you to think of another workflow using these cards in Google slides.

  

Want to break down the walls even further? Join this Global Virtual Valentine's Project. You can participate on one of two levels. Level 1 will give your students the ability to create a Virtual Valentine, share with others, and see work from students around the world. Level 2 is for teachers who want to give a more in-depth cultural connection to their students and will involve a Skype call with a partner class where students will get to meet friends in a different part of the world.

TELPAS 

To complete the TELPAS online basic course please go to the following site:

TELPAS Online Training Center

Here are the Security training modules:

Module 1: Active Monitoring

Module 2: Distribution of Materials

Module 3: Proper Handling of Secure Test Materials

If you are new to the district you must complete all 3.  If you were in CISD last year you only have to complete Module 1. ALL are due February 12 in order to be able to calibrate that afternoon.  

YEARBOOK
Please share this yearbook information with your FamiLEEs so that they don't miss out on this memory book.  Order deadline is March 22.

COACH'S CORNER

GIVE YOURSELF A LITTLE GRACE

Making a commitment to teaching is not an easy task. You are already a hero for doing that. If you think about it, teachers actually have two jobs: teaching and everything else that goes with the job. This year has been exceptionally hard with F2F and virtual teaching. Please know you are appreciated by kids, their parents, your peers and your administrative team. 

Girls, give yourself some GRACE:

• Sometimes you don’t have time for yourself. But make a plan to take time for yourself. Work can wait. And don’t feel guilty about it.  Your self care is vital to your success.

• Surround yourself with people that lift you up, rather than bring you down.

• When a parent or volunteer or IC :) asks you if you need something, tell them what you need.

• Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Take ideas from your team.

• Turn the lights off and lock the door while you are on your prep.  And don’t feel guilty about it.

• Skip the dishes every once in a while, and spend time with those that you love.

• Don’t feel like you need to have a Pinterest-worthy classroom.  Your kids won’t remember that part.

• Get to know your tough students on a level you never thought you could.

• Remember why you became a teacher in the first place.

• What you are doing is making a bigger difference than you think.  And you are enough.

• Take a mental health day.

• Take your work email off your phone.

• And always remember “No,” is a complete sentence.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

When you read to newcomers, look for ways to help support their comprehension of new vocabulary and the story.

• Read sentences at a slow-to-normal speed, using an expressive tone.

• Allow time after each sentence or paragraph for students to assimilate the material.

• Point to the corresponding pictures as you read the text.

• Act out the story as you read, and ask students to act along with you.

• Use visuals and manipulatives such as flannel board pieces, props, puppets, and "realia." ELL learners especially benefit from any three dimensional objects you bring in to enhance the reading experience.

• Verify comprehension of the story by asking students to point to items in the illustrations.

Check comprehension with yes/no and either/or questions at first, and then move to fill-in-the-blank

or who/what/when/where/why questions when students are more comfortable.

• Read the same story on successive days. Pause at strategic points and invite students to supply the words or phrases they know.

DATES TO REMEMBER:
February 8-12- Virtual Book Fair Week
Feb 8- AHA T-shirt Day
Feb 9- Education Foundation T-shirt Day
     4-5 Progress Report Grades Due (8:00)
Feb 10- Grade T-shirt Day
     TELPAS Calibration during Staff Meeting (3:15 Yellow House)
Feb 11- Progress Reports Go Home
     House Valentine Parties (2:00)

Feb 12- WORK Day (NO LEARNERS)

Feb 15- NO SCHOOL (Bad Weather Day)