Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Week of October 4, 2021

THANK YOU ALL FOR ANOTHER AMAZING WEEK AT LEE!  Thank you to Social Spurs for the gift cards for our custodians. Please make time to thank our custodians when you see them.  WHAT A HARD JOB!  I have LOVED hearing how some of you took care of yourselves after school on Wednesday.  Time is the best gift on the planet!  CISD is starting "Fun Fridays" and tomorrow is the first one at Lee Elementary.  To kick this off...tomorrow is our homemade cookie exchange to celebrate #NationalHomeadeCookieDay.  Don't forget to bring two dozen and trade before 11:00 AM.  YUM!



DID YOU KNOW:
  • that Stephanie and Priscilla created an October Conjuring Curiosity activity for you to use with all learners?  THANK YOU, gals, for creating Keynote and PDF versions.  We are #luckyatlee to have your brains to create an activity that fosters curiosity and creativity in our kiddos. 
  • I found this great site for online safety for kids and parentsPlease share with your parents!  It is part of our campus goal and you can add to your Bulb.
  • starting October 12 we will be on a 7 day schedules rotation?  The staff calendar is updated with days through December 9.  Here is a copy of the 7 Day Specials rotation schedule (will be finalized by Monday). Thank you Specials for processing this with Admin and sharing directions about Day 7 with Red and Green classroom designers.
  • all classroom teachers should email your new rosters a welcome back to 2nd 9weeks message at 8:00 AM on 8th?  It is a great time to use Parent Square if you aren't using it, already!

EARLY RELEASE LUNCH ORDERS
Please send learners to pick up their lunches at these times:
  • Blue- 10:00
  • Yellow- 10:15
  • Green- 10:30
  • Red- 10:45
  • Purple- 11:00

WORLD DAY OF BULLYING PREVENTION
October is National Bullying Prevention Month and the first Monday of every October is World Day of Bullying Prevention.  On this day students, schools, and communities all over the world go BLUE together against bullying.  We want you and your learners to join us to stop bullying and cyberbullying by wearing a blue shirt on Monday.


COLLEGE SHIRT DAY
Encourage learners to participate the first Wednesday of each month.

 



SPIRIT RALLY
We will host our Fall Spirit Rally on Wednesday from 2:00-3:00.  Please have learners packed up in your spaces before we call you down over the intercom. 
 


STAFF MEETING WEDNESDAY
In place of Staff Meeting, please plan to enter report card grades and comments on Wednesday afternoon from 3:15-4:30.  A reminder that comments should be personalized and positive and that our struggling learners' grades should reflect their difficulties.  Remember to put your name in the comment for learners who will not be with you after this nine weeks.  Final grades/comments are due in the system by 8:00 AM on Tuesday, October 12.


EARLY RELEASE ON THURSDAY
Thursday is an early release for students.  Please remind parents!  Your duty free lunch and conference time are whatever time you need after 12:30, so you may need a snack when your children eat lunch (if you are like me and 12:30 is late for lunch).  In order to ensure all learners and teachers get their Team Times before the start of the next 9 weeks, there are the following adjustments on the Lee Calendar for next week:  
  • Tuesday changes from day A3 to day A5 so 5th grade has Team Time on this day
  • Wed is Day B0 (no Team Time) because we have Spirit Rally from 2:00-3:00
  • Thursday is 3rd (8:15-9:15), 4th (9:20-10:20), Kinder (10:25-11:25), Specials (11:30-12:30)Team Times


FALL CONFERENCES
Make sure you document when you personally reach out to parents who do not attend a Fall Conference.  If you don't document it, it didn't happen.  Please make sure to let your face to face parents know where to meet you for your conferences on Friday.  Remember...your space is a reflection of you and the learning that happens there.  While learning can get messy, Conference Day isn't the best day to showcase that!  Please make sure all spaces are on point.


RESPECT AGREEMENTS
Please build time in your lesson design, for the week of October 11, to include time to redesign your respect agreements with your classes.  New copies should be sent to Leigh Ann for our discipline binder.


PARENT SQUARE
Please share this information letter with parents regarding Parent Square.  KUDOS to those of you that are already using this resource!!  You may have remembered Chip saying during his training that he survived a coma.  If you want a "feel good moment" and a reminder of the power of prayer, feel free to watch his story, here. (totally optional) He is a walking miracle!


SAVE THE DATE


  
OCTOBER IS DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH
Each week, this month, Melissa will share videos and information to build our Each week, this month, Melissa will share videos and information to build our awareness of dyslexia.  You can also follow her on Twitter to see what learners do in their MLI class.  This short clip information on dyslexia.  Also, did you know...Apple has several helpful assistive technology tools for your learners with dyslexia to use on their iPad? Click here for Apple's guide to Accessibility.  Below is a list of options in accessibility that could be helpful:

  • Speech- speak selections and Speak Screens
  • Highlight content
  • Dictation (Click microphone and enable)
  • Reader view on Safari
  • Color Filter / Invert colors
  • Predictive Keyboard


DLC UPDATE
🙈 Stuck in a lag when airplaying on your Vivitek board?🙈 Double check to make sure you have updated your board's software.  Just like updating your phone or iPad's iOS, keeping your board updated is the first line of defense in fixing bugs, running smoothly and gaining access to new features. The newest update is rumored to help cut down on Airplay lag! ✅ Learn more about updating your board in the Coppell DLC Bulb collection! Your DLC can also provide helpful tips and ideas to get the most out of this tool, including instructional strategies like these!


COACH'S CORNER

Rehearsal and Practice

 

Learning requires rehearsal and practice. The more the teacher varies the practice, the more likely kids are to engage in learning. Rehearsal and practice that allows for collaborative work also help learners self-correct misconceptions. Each week for the month of October, I will share an instructional strategy that you can use to rehearse learning. 


Instructional Strategy | Rehearsal and Practice | Fact or Fib Showdown


Instructions:

  1. ​​Assign each student a thinking partner.

  2. Students create a FACT card and a FIB card and hold one in each hand.

  3. Present students with a statement (fact or fib) relating to the content of the lesson.

  4. Allow students 5-8 seconds to infer if the statement is a FACT or a FIB.

  5. Say, “One! Two! Three! Showdown!” and students slap down their response card.

  6. Students then take turns justifying their response to their thinking partner.Students pick up their FACT or FIB card and put it back in their hand.

  7. Students pick up their FACT or FIB card and put it back in their hand.

  8. Teacher clarifies/verifies the appropriate answer.

  9. Repeat steps 3 – 8 with each statement.


Helpful Hints:

  • Hand sanitize before and after participating.

  • Role play how to slap answer cards down in an appropriate way.

  • Provide response stem, “I slapped down fact because”; pair with a supportive peer. 


Materials:

  • 4-6 FACT or FIB statements (may include visuals)

  • post-its or paper for FACT/FIB cards


Let me know how it goes. Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.



ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Value and encourage native language


Honoring a child’s native language has many benefits both for a child’s self-esteem and academically. Language is part of who we are. Encouraging their native language sends a message that their identity is valued and respected in our classroom and world. If a student has a language other than English that they can tap into and refer back to, we should let them! This is big. Literacy is literacy in any language. Bridging the languages helps to build the target language.




DATES TO REMEMBER:
Oct 4- Wear blue with your blue jeans
Oct 5- Ed Foundation t-shirt with jeans
Oct 6- College shirt with jeans
     Spirit Rally (2:00 Gym)
     Staff Meeting (3:15-4:30 Work on Report Cards)
Oct 7- Spirit Shirt and Jeans
     CMSW Football Players greet in the morning
     Early Release (12:30)
Oct 8-  Fall Conference Day
     Professional Dress
Oct 11- NO SCHOOL
RED RIBBON WEEK IS THREE WEEKS AWAY!

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