Week of November 29, 2021

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am reflecting about they many blessings at our school.  Every one of you are a blessing to me in your own unique ways.  You are not taken for granted and are appreciated beyond measure.  Each of you choose to come to Lee and work so hard, daily, to bring our school building to life for our learners.  Your passion for learning, your flexibility and your heart shines in all you do.  This year, I have learned how to grow and lead with additional grace and patience. I see that demonstrated in so many of you, too!  Please REST over the break.  DO NOT WORK OR THINK ABOUT SCHOOL!!  Take time for yourself and reflect on how incredible you are.  I cannot wait to show you how much we care during December to Remember.  When you return it will be here!  

DID YOU KNOW:

• we want you to take care of your self and also help meet our campus SEL goal? Why not wear warm ups on Friday and "trot the track" during your break? We can call this our Lee Turkey Trot! Please only wear warm ups if you plan to take part in this self-care activity.
• that we were charged $175 for color copies for the month of October?? We cannot sustain this as a campus. PLEASE only print color copies for items being displayed on bulletin boards.
• today is Substitute Appreciation Day? Please be intentional in thanking any subs in our building today!
• we will clean the lounge fridge out at 2:00, tomorrow. Please take your personal items and food home.
• some classrooms still need to have their learners vote on their movie preference for our school-wide field trip?
• the district will Go Red for staff wellness the month of February? Click here for a link to order your Go Red t-shirt (credit card only) and show your support during the Month of Mondays in February - American Heart Month - text DHCCOPPELL to 41444. 

NEW PRACTICE IN PLACE

Please let parents know that when learners are absent, parents need to send in a note with the student's firs and last name, what class their learner is in, and the date(s) and reason for the absence.  For the first time, we can accept emails with this information.  Parents can send emails to vtan@coppellisd.com. 

WEDNESDAY IS COLLEGE SHIRT DAY

FLEX LEARNING WEDNESDAY

Please plan to attend one of these incredible sessions on Wednesday.  We will start at 3:30 so that we can enjoy Natalie's Bridal Shower beforehand.  Thank you, Social Spurs, for planning the shower and to our presenters for growing our minds. 

SPECIAL EDUCATION DAY

Thursday is National Special Education Day.  In addition to our general education special education learners and staff, we are blessed to have two specialized special education programs here at Lee: Active Learning and Practical Academics.  Please take time to celebrate the accomplishments of our special needs learners, their designers, our paraprofessionals and their parents for the incredible jobs they do!!!  If you want to learn more about special education, our two programs, or your class would benefit from a lesson on inclusivity and learners in these programs at Lee, our teachers are awesome resources!

CHS MADRIGAL TOUR 

The Madrigal group will be caroling through Lee on Friday.  I still do not know what time they will arrive.  Due to the last minute communication and timing, they will ease through the downstairs of the building and conclude in the Media Center.  Learners upstairs can gather at the glass walls when they hear them and we will make sure they go through the cafeteria, as well.

SUPER TEACHERS

The nomination window to nominate a Super Teacher closes Friday, December 3.  Here is a link to the nomination form.  We had two Super Teachers in the first round.  Let's see how many we can get for the second round!

RED AND BLACK SUPERSTAR NOMINATIONS

(Please share with parents) The nomination deadline for the 2nd round of the Coppell Education Foundation's Super Star Program is Friday, December 6.  As you know, the Program is designed to give parents and CISD staff an opportunity to recognize the dedicated and hardworking students, teachers, administrators, and support staff within Coppell ISD.  Parents and CISD Staff Members can nominate any CISD Staff Member at their campus.  Student nominations can be submitted by CISD staff only.  Awards will be given out at the end of every nine weeks.

Here is the link to the nomination form: https://forms.gle/y7YkbriHJyZvm82H6.

MACY'S BELIEVE LETTERS TO SANTA

Want an authentic writing experience for your learners?  For every letter Santa receives through Christmas Eve, Macy's will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish, up to $1 million. Need inspiration for your letter to Santa? Let Violet's video explain how your letters make a difference.  If you'd like to participate, please have your kids bring their finished letters in the red mailbox in the office by 3:05 Friday, December 11th. You can also have learners send letters digitally by clicking here.  Feel free to use the hashtag #MacysBelieve to promote this event.

DLC UPDATE

Hour of Code is upon us! The week of December 6th through 12th is in recognition of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a computer science pioneer. Each year we honor her through the Hour of Code. This is a great opportunity for students to be introduced to the idea of coding, where they can use their critical thinking and creativity skills, in about a 45 minute to an hour lesson. The DLCs have created this website for you to use for HOC. Click on the page for your grade level and you will have vocabulary, and a variety of activities that can be used for HOC. The HOC activities will only need student's Ipads, no additional materials needed. As we get closer to the week of HOC, the website will be finalized on December 1st, but we wanted to give a preview before then! Happy coding!!!

COACH'S CORNER

Sharing a few Math resources that you could use for your Number Talks. If you need MATH Mashups or Which One Doesn’t Belong, please let me know. 

• You Cubed-You can filter by grade and topics. They are just short activities that can deepen mathematical understanding.

• Visual Patterns-A lot of you are working on number patterns. This site gives you images that you can incorporate in your Number Talks. 

• Estimation by Dane Ehlert-Lots of fun estimation activities. You can also get inspired and create your own images. Maybe in upper grades, learners can create one to share with their class.

• NRICH-Another great resource to build mathematical thinking. If you click on Primary and EY teachers and the manipulatives, it gives you ideas for how to use various tools for mathematical activities. 

Can’t wait to see some of these activities in your spaces :) Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Intentionally plan for writing

Keeping in mind that writing is not just something students do in writing class or language arts, we must intentionally plan for writing in all content areas. Why? Students need to be able to use the language of science, math, history in their writing and their speaking. One way to plan for writing in content areas is to first begin with open ended speaking activities. Having students hold academic conversations over hot topics using domain specific vocabulary can prepare them for writing. When we let them talk with several partners, they begin to hear multiple responses and can use their peers’ ideas when they begin writing. Some students will need sentence starters to help them begin their writing. Beginner ELs may need paragraph frames, picture supports and a vocabulary word bank. The point is, don’t skip the writing in content area classrooms!

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Nov 22-26- THANKSGIVING BREAK

Nov 29- Nov 30- Ed Foundation Shirt and Jeans

     Reading Academy

Dec 1- College Shirt Day

     Reading Academy

     Natalie's Shower 3:15

     Flex Learning (3:30-4:30)

Dec 2- Amy's Birthday

     Special Education Day

     Reading Academy

Dec 3-  Reading Academy

     LEEdership Council Meeting (8:00)

     CGA Writing Submissions Due

     Super Teacher Nominations Due

     CHS Madrigal Performance

Week of November 15, 2021

YOU MADE IT!  One more week and Thanksgiving break is ALL YOURS!  Your Admin Team acknowledges the many blessings of being at Lee Elementary, and one of our most important blessings is EACH OF YOU!!   Enjoy this week with our children and each other.  We heard how much you enjoyed lunch from Politano's today.  We have great news- there is plenty of food left over if you would like some more tomorrow! 

DID YOU KNOW:

• Friday is CISD FUN FRIDAY at Lee Elementary?  A surprise has been dropped off in each of your mailboxes.  Please shout them out on social media.
• tomorrow is World Kindness Day?  Don't forget to wear your Kind shirts. 
• our school will watch the Green House Veteran's Day performance in the gym and cafeteria tomorrow at 2:00?  Designers, please have your phones on in case the office needs to text you.  We have quite a few learners leaving early due to vaccination appointments. 
• CIP documentation is due to Leigh Ann tomorrow?  Leaders, please send this her way.
• some of us have not completed all of the required compliance courses that were due?  Camille will be sending out emails to those of you that are missing some.  Please get these completed as soon as possible!

PTO 

Remind your parents that Wednesday night is Andy's Frozen Custard fundraising day for PTO.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

Thank you to our fabulous PTO for providing Chick-fil-a for breakfast, on Thursday, after morning arrival.  We will make an announcement when it is ready.  

SUBSTITUTE APPRECIATION DAY
Please take time to thank any subs in the building on Friday.  Friday is Substitute Appreciation Day!

DLC UPDATE

Did you know that you can use Apple Classroom as a quick formative assessment? Airdrop the keynote (linked below) to your class, and you have a variety of ways to create a quick check for your students. You can choose between multiple choice, drawing and true or false. Using Apple Classroom, share the keynote in one click, and use the classroom view to see all the student's answers on one screen. Reach out to your DLC today, to learn more about how to implement Apple Classroom in your own room! Click here to go the DLC Bulb page to grab the resource! It is titled: Apple Classroom Whiteboard near the bottom of the page.

COACH'S CORNER

We see great examples of Math Workshop throughout our building.  Please review this graphic created by Samira when helping to design your math block or to affirm what you are already doing.

 

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Set academic goals together

Meet frequently with ELs (especially in middle grades and higher) to discuss where they are and next steps. All students need to know their target. If they don’t know where they are headed, then they may be wandering aimlessly. ELs have a lot on their plates, managing both academics and language, setting goals with them helps them to narrow the focus. The important thing is that you confer frequently with your students, letting them know that you care about them, their success, and that you are their biggest cheerleader. This is a great time for ELs to ask you questions. If they aren’t, you can invite them to do so. Once they become comfortable enough, they will.

BOOK CLUB OPPORTUNITY

LEEDERSHIP TIP AND QUOTE OF THE WEEK

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Nov 15- Guest Administrator

Nov 16- Ed Foundation t-shirt and jeans

     Progress Report Grades Due (8:00)

Nov 17- Chantel's Birthday

     Grade level t-shirt and jeans

     NO STAFF MEETING AFTER SCHOOL

Nov 18- PTO Thankful Thursday Breakfast from PTO

     Thanksgiving Feast for Lunch in cafe

Nov 19- Progress Reports Go Home

     LEEdership Council Meeting (8:00)

Nov 22-26- NO SCHOOL

Week of November 8, 2021

We hope you enjoyed your Thirsty Thursday Sonic drinks today.  It is November and we are going to host Thankful Thursdays for you this month.  I wonder what we will do next Thursday?  Thank you so much for the beautiful ways you have told our Lee story on Twitter this week.  Being home sick and having FOMO Twitter is my lifeline to school.  I have been so proud of the things I have seen with your design days, your house collaboration, celebrating holidays, recognizing our learners and acknowledging each other.  It is clear that our staff goes ALL IN in every campus initiative (can we talk about all of your work with digital citizenship?!). THANK YOU for the extra effort you put in and for sharing glimpses into your days.  You are a remarkable group!!!  

I hope you see the intentionality in our staff meetings this year to help support you with the "extras" that are put on your plates and also being mindful of your time.  You are in for a real treat at our next staff meeting!    

Welcome back to Meghan and Kristina this week.  We missed you!  Chandana will be sliding into Hannah's class to finish out Hannah's absence and Aparna will be back in her office paraprofessional role (helping Julie, for now).  Thank you to Aparna, Omi, and Chandana for the incredible job each of them have done in your classes and in our building.  You three teachers are true rock stars and valued and LOVED at Lee Elementary!

DID YOU KNOW:

• that we are seeing an uptick in behavior issues when we have subs in the building?  Please put reviewing your Respect Agreement in your sub plans if it is not already there.  Also leave behavior reflection sheets for your subs.
• Hour of Code is coming up next month?  Please sign up if you plan to participate and start reaching out to our DLC for coding assistance for the week of December 6-12.  I'm sure our DLCs would love to design with you! 
• each year our Campus Improvement Plan is based off the District Improvement Plan?  You will notice that all of our campus initiatives are required improvements from the DIP or repeats of our CIP from last year with the exception of our campus goal of digital citizenship.
• CISD has been responsive to our continued concern about substitute shortages on Reading Academy days?  The adjustment to dates should ensure we have ample coverage for this next round!
• your next set of House Design Days are January 25-Jan 27?

PICTURE DAY

We will start school pictures immediately following morning broadcast tomorrow at 8:00 AM.  We will follow the Specials schedule so we will start with Kinder Purple, followed by 1st Purple, 2nd Purple, etc. Once Purple House is done we will go to Yellow-> Red -> Green -> Blue.  Pictures will take place on the stage and teachers can take their pictures with their classes. Specials and support staff, please get your pictures made between 7:40 and 8:00.  Thank you for your flexibility on this day and for excusing the interruption to your teaching and lunch routines.  We will have 2 PTO moms helping to facilitate.

TOY

FINAL REMINDER!!!  NOMINATIONS DUE TODAY!!!  Please take time to nominate someone in our building for this incredible honor.   If you need admin to cover your class so you can observe your nominee, to help you better answer the questions, please arrange that with us.  We are happy to help.  The nomination form can be found here.

In order to be nominated for Teacher of the Year, the teacher must:

• Be certified to teach in Texas public schools
• Have been employed in Coppell schools for a minimum of three years (that means he/she must have completed three years in CISD)
• Be a classroom teacher (including PE, art, music, special education, literacy, etc.)
• Plan to continue teaching in Coppell ISD through the 2020-2021 school year

PTO MEETING

I will send you an email to send to parents with a Zoom Link on Tuesday morning.

PANORAMA SURVEYS

Thank you for making sure you filled out the staff survey.  Right now 53 of our 65 employees have completed it and 84 of our 3-5 grade learners have taken the survey.  This is required and I kindly request you make time to complete this as soon as possible.  Thank you! 

VETERANS DAY

Please showcase any creative ways you are recognizing Veterans on Thursday and Friday, on Twitter.  We will have a school-wide performance in the gym on Friday at 2:00.

WORLD KINDNESS DAY

Friday is World Kindness Day.  We can't wait to see how our learners spread kindness.  If you have a KIND shirt, join in on wearing it on Friday.

SAVE THE DATE

CIP

The 2021-2022 Campus Improvement Plan can be found here. Each quarter this document should be reviewed and updated.  Leadership, please download the PDF into Noteability, review it, and annotate it with your house in a Thursday Meeting.  Please forward your annotated copy to Leigh Ann by Friday.

Mark Your Calendars: National Go Red Day is Feb. 4, 2022

SHIRT DETAILS: 
$25 – soft, unisex,
unfitted crewneck

CISD is once again partnering with the American Heart Association and participating in National Go Red Day on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, to raise awareness about heart disease. 

• DEADLINE: T-Shirts must be ordered by Thursday, Jan. 13, to receive them in time for National Go Red Red Day.
• HOW TO ORDER: To make your $25 donation, simply text DHCCOPPELL to 41444.  You will immediately receive a link to a quick donation form or click HERE to order online. 

CISD will offer jeans’ days for every Monday in February with the donation for a Go Red shirt.  We have set a district goal of 200 shirts, so order soon! 

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Allow time for free reading

Free reading is the best way for our students to become better readers. Read more. Read, read, read. When we assign students what they must read, they usually don’t want to read it and many of them don’t read it. But if we give them choice in their reading and the time to read, it becomes less constraining. We can’t rely on letting students read at home. That won’t always happen and we can’t control what happens at home. But what we can control is creating an environment where reading is pleasurable and inviting.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Nov 8- 4th Grade NNAT

     Annah’s Birthday

Nov 9- 1st Grade NNAT

     Ed Foundation t-shirt and jeans

     Virtual PTO Meeting (6:00)

Nov 10- Pink Cancer shirt and jeans

     Leadership Meeting (3:15)

Nov 11- Veteran's Day

     Green House Music Program (6:30)

Nov 12- Megan W's Birthday

     Green House Music Performance (2:00)

     CIP Data Due to Leigh Ann

Nov 13- World Kindness Day

     Samira's Birthday