Week of Aprili 25, 2022

This short week has flown by.  Thank you for bringing the fun and competition to our Hide and Peep Game.  We KNOW which house(s) are most competitive, for sure!  May you each have a restful and relaxing weekend.

DID YOU KNOW:

• that you can create a Canva Education account?  Use this link to learn more!
  https://www.canva.com/education/
• Murphy Grace Wible was born on Tuesday?  Look how beautiful she is!

• that Anthony Hill will be coming to help open car doors on the morning of 4/25?  This is part of their "Board Gives Back" week.  Please make sure you arrive to your duty on time and greet our Board member.  We are #luckyatlee to have such an involved and supportive School Board.
• Keiko has an updated newsletter?  Here it is.  Please share it with parents in your weekly newsletter.

FAMILEE MOVIE NIGHT

We will see you at Friday Night's FamiLEE Movie Night.  It is a wonderful way for our staff to connect with the community.  We will have popcorn and shaved ice for purchase.  Feel free to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy your spot on the lawn.  For entry, we will accept a box of cereal and donate all boxes to Metrocrest Services.  Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring the event.

CISD NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK

This district-wide event will take place on Friday, April 29 as the Texas Rangers take on the Atlanta Braves.  You can purchase tickets in the CISD section at go.coppellisd.com/22BallparkNight 

SPRING CONFERENCES

If your house is hosting Spring learner-led conferences together at the same time during the school day (great idea by the way) please gather the following data so that the office can have guest tags pre-printed for the event: First and Last Name, Grade, and House. This will ensure they get to your spaces as quickly as possible.  Don't forget to share your form with Vanessa and Shanna.

EARTHFEST

Want to join Lee Elementary and other Coppell ISD schools and businesses next Saturday?  The annual Coppell EarthFest will be at the Biodiversity Center.  Thank you to Priscilla, Keiko, and Stephanie for all of their efforts to help Lee prepare for participation at this event!

COPPELL EDUCATION FOUNDATION

There is an opportunity to participate in the CISD Education Foundation's 20th Annual Run to Fund on May 7.  Register here!  $2 for each registration go back to the Lee PE program.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR 2022-2023

You can pre order next year's school supplies NOW.  They will be delivered straight to your home.  Click here to order and use School code: LEE008 (three letters and 3 numbers).

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK COMING SOON

Our incredible Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) has planned some great activities to celebrate all of you in two weeks. Check out the flyer below.

COACHES CORNER

When you see growth in your learners this week, know that it is because of their hard work and your belief in their potential. 

Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

One way to support emergent readers is to label your classroom together. When labeling the room, we can allow their input and even use their native languages while identifying and naming objects. This practice builds self-esteem and shows value for other languages. You can even make it fun, like turning it into a scavenger hunt!

DLC UPDATE

As we begin looking towards the end of the year, it is a great opportunity to review past standards. Here are some resources that you can use to help "gamify" reviewing past concepts.  Click the links to explore the sites! If you want to try out any of these ideas and would like some support, please reach out to your DLCs. We are happy to help!

Goosechase- scavenger hunt app, have students use text, photos, or videos to support their answers.

Blooket- website with a variety of game options, create your own question set to make a game fit your needs.

Gimkit- students answer questions to gain "money" and can purchase power ups.

Quizizz-ask different types of questions , students get points for questions they get correct. The best part is the teacher gets a report of the game for feedback.

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Friendship- caring for; trusting one another

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Do not save seats in the lunchroom.  If someone wants to sit down, let him or her.  Do not try to exclude anyone.  We are a family , and we must treat one another with respect and kindness.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"The reason dogs have so many friends is because they wag their tails and not their tongues" -Anonymous

DATES TO REMEMBER:

April 26- Brittany's Birthday

     Progress Report Grades Due (8:00AM)

April 27- Leadership Meeting (3:15-4:45 Yellow House)

April 28- Red House Music Performance (2:00 & 6:30)

April 29- 3rd Grade Zoo Field Trip

     CISD Night at the Ballpark

     Progress Reports sent home

     24 Flex Hours Due

April 30- Kathy's Birthday

     EarthFest (11:00-1:00)

May 2-6- Teacher Appreciation Week

Week of April 18, 2022

WOW!  It is hard to believe we are almost halfway through the last nine weeks of the school year.  We have enjoyed our Summative meetings and having the chance to have dedicated time with each and every staff member.  We should be able to have ALL 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.  Enjoy the long weekend!

DID YOU KNOW:

• that Corrine is going to be our 2nd Language Acquisition Specialist (LAS) next year? While we are sad to lose Claudia, what a treat to have a designer from within to support our emergent bilinguals.  Please help me in congratulating her on her new role next year.  
• Cynthia will be wrapping up her subbing at Lee for Melissa as Melissa will return on Tuesday?  Thank you to Cynthia, and welcome back Melissa.
• We have recommended a PE Designer, two classroom teachers, and a SPED Instructional Aide to HR this week?  We couldn't do this without the help of our Interview Team and will let you know when they are Board approved!  We are still looking for a few more candidates.  For those unaware, our sweet Shanna will finish this year when she returns from Egypt, but she will move on to new adventures next year.  If you know a smart, joyful, loving, and fun person like Shanna that would make a great Principal's secretary, please have them apply.  We will start interviews soon.

FAMILEE MOVIE NIGHT

We hope you can join us at Friday Night's FamiLEE Movie Night.  It is a wonderful way for our staff to connect with the community.  We will have popcorn and shaved ice for purchase.  Feel free to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy your spot on the lawn.  For entry, we will accept a box of cereal and donate all boxes to Metrocrest Services.   Thank you to our PTO for sponsoring the event.

REMINDER:  SPRING CONFERENCES

You should be planning for your Spring Conferences and advertising in your weekly newsletters starting now.  Please give due diligence to make contact with all parents to review their learner's data and goal setting.  When at all possible, the learners should be involved in these conferences.  Keep documentation of parents who do/do not attend conferences.  During your time together, I would encourage you to listen for in case a parent would like to make a change in house for the 2022-2023 school year, wants specialized testing, or is considering retention.  Please write these requests down and EMAIL them to Chantel and Leigh Ann.  This makes sure that we have a second layer of accountability as we transition to the next school year.  In addition, remind parents that we DO NOT take requests for house colors or designers and we do our best to have siblings in the same house, but cannot always guarantee it.  We do our very BEST to keep as many learners in their house when we loop up, but we sometimes have to move learners when balancing our building each year.  Parents WILL be notified by campus administration before Meet the Designer Night, if their learner is being moved. Please ask me if you have any questions!!!  

DLC UPDATE

We've all been there  -  that awful feeling when you've been working hard on your digital portfolio but then suddenly have a glitch and lose saved work. Never fear, your DLC's are here! We are so excited that bulb has added a Page History option that functions just like Revision History in Google Docs! Using this feature, you can scroll through multiple versions of a page and restore the one you choose! Command + Z can also be a great keyboard shortcut to undo any of your small "oops" moments when on your Mac too. Need ideas for your own goal reflections or looking to help learners build their portfolios?  Let us know.  We are happy to help!

COACH'S CORNER

Found this AMAZING resource in Books. The book is designed by various Apple Distinguished Educators from around the world and has examples. It applies the “Everyone Can Create” theme to Earth Day activities. If you would like me to come co-teach one or more activities with you, please use the spreadsheet to sign up. 

Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

For a successful shared reading experience, consider the following strategies:

• Consider translation dictionaries for newcomers 

• Provide opportunities for peer discussions (explicitly model how)

• Read while tracking the text and point to words and visuals

DATES TO REMEMBER:

April 18- NO SCHOOL

     Maria's Birthday

April 20- NO Staff Meeting, but bring your PEEPS to the media center after school

April 22- Earth Day

Week of April 11, 2022

This week, I am reminding myself that being an educator is the BEST profession in the world and Lee Elementary is the BEST place to be!  Why do I feel this way?  Because of EACH OF YOU!!  Starting end of year goal setting conferences this week has truly reminded me of my WHY.  The creative ways that you have showcased your year of growth in your Bulb portfolios is super impressive.  Listening in on some RTI Time, I'm so proud of the progress monitoring you are doing.  Our children and famiLEEs are blessed to have YOU as their educational partner!  Have a great weekend!

(Thanks for the picture, Keiko)

DID YOU KNOW:

• the April Imaginarium is out and available?  Check it out here. 
• that some hires for next year have been approved by the CISD Board?  Congratulations to Brooklyn Burt and Chandana Mohite.  We excitedly share that they will be part of our FamiLEE for the 2022-2023 school year. 

PTO MEETING

You will get an email on WEDNESDAY morning to send on to parents including our Zoom link for the meeting.  Thank you for sending it on!  Please remind parents in your newsletters that there is a meeting this WEDNESDAY at 6:00.  

YOUR INPUT WANTED/VALUED

Employees are encouraged to share feedback on the CISD Visioning process during the following come and go sessions:

• Monday, April 11 from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room at CMS West located at 2701 Ranch Trail in Cypress Waters
• Thursday, April 14 from 8 a.m. to noon in the Board Room at the Vonita White Administration Building located at 200 South Denton Tap Road

Staff are asked to provide input on priority areas and statements, which were developed by teams as part of the district’s Visioning process. Details on these statements and the CISD Visioning process can be found at go.coppellisd.com/VisioningStatements. 

COPPELL EDUCATION FOUNDATION

There is an opportunity to participate in the CISD Education Foundation's 20th Annual Run to Fund on May 7.  Register here!  $2 for each registration go back to the Lee PE program.

CISD NIGHT AT THE BALLPARK

This district-wide event will take place on Friday, April 29 as the Texas Rangers take on the Atlanta Braves.  You can purchase tickets in the CISD section at go.coppellisd.com/22BallparkNight 

SAVE THE DATE

We are looking forward to the upcoming Movie Night.  PTO requests that you fill out this form so they can plan for attendance and concessions.

DLC UPDATE

Since the technology department has implemented the two-factor authentication process through Duo, The DLC team has noticed that getting a push can be difficult in areas where the Wi-Fi is not strong. When the Duo push is not working well, we have found that entering a passcode manually works well! If you would like to use this method, follow the instructions below:

If you have any issues with, or questions about, Duo please put in a help desk ticket so the technology department can troubleshoot with you.

COACHES CORNER

EOY Assessments | April 11th - May 20th, 2022

This week the window for End of the Year Assessments opens up. This window will close on May 20th, 2022. As a grade level team you will decide when you are going to test your learners. It is imperative that we create an authentic testing environment and set goals with our learners. Help them learn the importance of showing what they know. We are looking forward to seeing growth in all learners based on all the wonderful teaching and learning that has happened during this challenging year. 

Please let me know how I can help with mClass or MAP assessments.  Use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

To make read-alouds more comprehensible for Emergent Bilinguals, it is recommended to accommodate and practice techniques that maximize your instruction. 

Techniques:

• Explicitly model expectations, practices, and peer interactions

• Activate background knowledge with a guiding question

• Pre-read the text and review vocabulary in a small group to prepare them for the larger group experience.

• Display sentence stems that students can use when answering your questions or in peer interactions (be aware of your font size)

• Share read in a small group while the rest reads independently

LEE LIFE PRINCIPLE:

Curiosity- the eager desire to learn, to explore, to investigate

LESSON IN LEADERSHIP:

Learn and inquire about things that interest you.

LEE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

"The future belongs to the curious. The ones who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it, and turn it inside out." -Anonymous

DATES TO REMEMBER:

April 9- Job Fair

April 11- EOY MAP and MClass window opens

April 12- Meredith's Birthday

April 13- Mr Hunt Roadshow at Lee (Cafe 3:15)

     Virtual PTO Meeting (6:00)

April 14- Suzanne's Birthday

     Green House Field Trip

April 15- InfoSEQ Training must be completed

April 16- Carley's Birthday

Week of April 4, 2022

You made it!  Enjoy the weekend and beautiful Spring weather.  We will be bringing back a version of PEEP WARS so stay tuned.  

DID YOU KNOW: 

• audits from the district level will continue to evaluate if staff are wearing their badges and closing all exterior doors?  Please let's work at 100% compliance.
• that your flex hours are due by soon?  All submissions have been approved, thus far by campus administration in Power School.
• that Lee Elementary raised $6950.35 for the American Heart Association during the Kids Heart Challenge this year? Thank you to Julie and Aparna for all of their efforts!
• we need all classroom designers to check learner buss tags?  If you cannot see/read their bus number anymore, please re-write it.  
• Ramadan is approaching?  It begins Saturday, April 2 and ends Sunday, May 1.  Here is a resource that applies to some of our learners. 

PTO MEETING

You will get an email on Tuesday morning to send on to parents including our Zoom link for the meeting.  Thank you for sending it on!  Please remind parents in your newsletters that there is a meeting this Tuesday at 6:00.  Last month's participation was down.

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY

YOUR INPUT WANTED

Employees are encouraged to share feedback on the CISD Visioning process during the following come and go sessions:

• Monday, April 4, from  3 to 7 p.m. in the Board Room at the Vonita White Administration Building located at 200 South Denton Tap Road
• Thursday, April 7, from 8 a.m. to noon in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room at CMS West located at 2701 Ranch Trail in Cypress Waters
• Monday, April 11 from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Large Group Instruction (LGI) room at CMS West located at 2701 Ranch Trail in Cypress Waters
• Thursday, April 14 from 8 a.m. to noon in the Board Room at the Vonita White Administration Building located at 200 South Denton Tap Road

Staff are asked to provide input on priority areas and statements, which were developed by teams as part of the district’s Visioning process. Details on these statements and the CISD Visioning process can be found at go.coppellisd.com/VisioningStatements. 

EDUCATION FOUNDATION RUN TO FUND

There is an opportunity to participate in the CISD Education Foundation's 20th Annual Run to Fund on May 7.  Register here!  $2 for each registration go back to the Lee PE program.

SPRING CONFERENCES

You will want to begin planning for your Spring Conferences starting now.  Please give due diligence to make contact with all parents to review their learner's data and goal setting.  Keep documentation of parents who do/do not attend conferences.  During your time together, I would encourage you to listen for in case a parent would like to make a change in house for the 2022-2023 school year, wants specialized testing, or is considering retention.  Please write these requests down and EMAIL them to Chantel and Leigh Ann.  This makes sure that we have a second layer of accountability as we transition to the next school year.  In addition, remind parents that we DO NOT take requests for house colors or designers and we do our best to have siblings in the same house, but cannot always guarantee it.  We do our very BEST to keep as many learners in their house when we loop up, but we sometimes have to move learners when balancing our building each year.  Parents WILL be notified by campus administration before Meet the Designer Night, if their learner is being moved.  Please ask me if you have any questions!!!  

COACHES CORNER

Have you explored the app Books? Consider downloading the “Everyone Can Create” Series. There is a “Teacher’s Guide” for early learners and older learners. It has some great ideas about how to integrate creativity in lessons. You might also be interested in “Everyone Can Create in Science”. It has lots of great ideas specifically for Science. It’s a great time to go outside for a photo walk and use photos, drawing, video and be creative as we use our school as a tool. 

Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

We can accommodate mini-lessons to make it accessible to Emergent Bilinguals. 

Suggestions:

• Have students participate when creating classroom anchor charts

• Use gestures 

• Use visuals 

• Include opportunities for peer interaction

• Use sentence stems

• Check for understanding

• Show them how to participate in structured conversations

SPECIAL THANK YOU

A special thank you to this year's interview team: Hannah B. Laura, May, Maddie, Layne, Taylor, Julie, and Leigh Ann  They have already helped after school hours and some will be helping at Saturday's Job Fair.  We appreciate their help finding new FamiLEE members.  

DATES TO REMEMBER:

April 4- End of Year Summative Window Opens

    National  Assistant Principal Week

    National School Librarian Day

April 5- Education Foundation Shirt Day

     Honor Choir Performance?

April 6- College Shirt Day

     Paraprofessional Appreciation Day

     Staff Meeting (3:15-4:45 Cafe)

April 7- Emma's Birthday

     RTI Meetings during House Time

April 8- Megan's Birthday

     5th Grade girls Scoliosis Testing

April 9- CISD Job Fair

Week of March 28, 2022

It has brought me great joy to be in so many spaces this week.  I have seen Genius Hour, podcasting, small group work, and SEL experiences.  I am so proud of each and every one of you for the lessons you are designing.  THANK YOU for continuing to take advantage of ALL of our learning spaces inside and out.  YOU ROCK!  

 

DID YOU KNOW:

• Kindergarten enrollment begins this week?  If you have FamiLEEs with siblings that will be kindergarteners next year, please share this information.
• as an employee of CISD, children of staff members who do not live in CISD can go to Coppell Schools?  Please make sure you submit your request between May 1-May 31.  The district will be sending you an email
• we will host an optional flex learning opportunity on Wednesday.  If you need time/help/support to work on your Bulb for your end of year Summative, we are providing this time for you.
• it is a new 9 weeks so please review Digital Citizenship and your class Respect Agreements?  Remember that there should be 4-5 bullets in each quadrant. 

SUMMATIVES
You have probably noticed we are trying to get additional walkthroughs completed.  That is because Summative Season is approaching!  Here is a link to this year's EOY summative times.  Please sign up for a time that works for you.  All you need to have ready is your completed Bulb that is made public for Leigh Ann, Chantel, and Camille.  There will be an optional flex time after school on Wednesday, March 30, if you need help/support/time to work on your Bulb.  On your day, meet us in the large conference room with your MacBook ready to AirPlay to the tv.  We have 30 minutes with each of you and can't wait for individual time to discuss the year and moving forward into 2022-2023.  

• Agenda we will follow for hourly employees
• Agenda we will follow for non-hourly employees

EDUCATION FOUNDATION RUN TO FUND

Did you enjoy the Color Run?  There is an opportunity to participate in the CISD Education Foundation's 20th Annual Run to Fund on May 7.  Register here!

YEARBOOK

Order your 2021-22 yearbook from Lifetouch today!

PTO

PTO is still looking for parents to fill open Board positions.  Please share this link with parents to share their interest. 

COACH'S CORNER

You are either about to start the Life Science Unit or have already started it. I wanted to let you know about the Project Wild Resources that may be in your house. These resources (pictured below) are only available if you attend the Project Wild Workshop (usually hosted at the Dallas Zoo in the summer). They have wonderful activities that are hands-on, engaging and strategic. I have all three books and will keep them in my design studio if you wish to use them. I would also LOVE the opportunity to design lessons with you. We can even co-teach an activity.

Growing up Wild (Grades K-2)

Project Wild (Grades 3-5)

Project Wild Aquatic (Grades 3-5)

Please use this link to book a time with me so we can collaborate and plan Life Science together.

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Classrooms should allow safe access to learning materials, access to the content being studied, and student experiences should be reflected in their learning space. 

Examples of what this looks like:  

• Reference materials are accessible

• Variety of print with clear font

• Vocabulary cards 

• Content represented walls and its visual clarity 

• Students represented on classroom walls

• Artifacts of student learning

• Photographs of student work

DATES TO REMEMBER:

March 29- Reading Academy

     Education Foundation T-shirt Day

     Linda's TOY Observation- GOOD LUCK!

March 30- Reading Academy

     OPTIONAL Flex Learning - Bulb

April 1- Reading Academy 

     School Library Month

     National Autism Awareness Month

     Child Abuse Prevention Month

April 2- Reading Academy

     LEEdership Council Meeting (8:00 Cafe)