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

Week of November 1, 2021

Thank you for those of you that participated in our first Trunk or Treat!  I imagine there are going to be lots of memories made during this fun event.  Special thank you to Bethany and Kristi for stepping up and leading this event.  I also appreciate all of your participation during Red Ribbon Week.  You make this such an amazing week. The pictures on Twitter are WONDERFUL!  I also appreciate your efforts to teach a Common Sense lesson to your learners.  I SEE YOU!!!  YOU all are the reason we are actualizing our campus goal and making a difference each and every day!  Have a fabulous fall weekend and enjoy things that make you happy!

A special thank you to OMI and CHANDANA for their service as our extra famiLEE members during our new momma's FMLA time in Yellow House.  They have fit right in, collaboratively worked with houses and grades, and been incredible designers for our learners.  This is their last week, so we want to make sure everyone knows.  

We will welcome back Kristina and Meghan on November 8.

DID YOU KNOW:

• there is a November Imaginarium available for you?  Thank you Susan Maynor from Epic Elementary for sharing your creativity!
• you have to go in to Power School and sign walkthrough forms?  In the past you have received an alert when a walkthrough was submitted.  With our new system you do not get an alert.  We want you to grow and celebrate from feedback, so please check Power School and electronically sign these.  
• your Vivatek boards do not turn off on their own and the still image will burn on the screen if left on repeatedly? Please remember to power these off before leaving each day. 
• we will be getting a new audio/video doorbell (similar to Ring) installed at the front door on campus this week?  This means the front door will be locked from now on.  
• you and your learners can get FREE Covid-19 testing at the CHS Visitor's Press Box?  Hours are 6:30am-4:00pm Monday through Friday.  It is a self-collected test with results in 3-4 hours.  Book an appointment here.

STORYBOOK PARADE

We will start the parade as soon as morning broadcast concludes.  Please exit out the EcoPond doors and come in through the cafeteria doors.  We will walk two laps of the track.  Parents are welcome to cheer the parade on around the track.  There is no need to check in in the office since we are outside.

DESIGN DAYS

I am super excited that we can give you designated time to work through house "work."  We will be using this Design Day Document (thank you Samira) to help us stay focused.  Please take a look at it before your day.  We will meet in the large conference room for these meetings.  As a reminder, here is the Design Day Schedule.  Please let me know if you see any issues.

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY

Can't wait to see everyone sporting their college gear on Wednesday!

WRITE A CHECK

Ladies, we could not meet this goal without your constant encouragement and cheerleading.  THANK YOU for all of your extra efforts to help us meet the PTO Goal.  Someone will be getting a gift card from Target!!! Stay tuned on Friday and Monday's announcements to see if we did it.  (I will let you in on a little secret... we already collected $2000 more since some teacher emails went out today!) 

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

We have SO MUCH TALENT on campus.  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.  Nominations are due by November 5th, and here is the TOY Website and Nomination Criteria and Form

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 2021-2022 school year

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 November 12.

$$$$ EARNING OPPORTUNITY $$$$

CISD is experiencing an increased demand for homebound services districtwide.  Please feel free to share this information with your staff as you see appropriate.

Extra duty homebound rate of pay:

$35 per hour X 4 hours weekly

(The HB facilitator sets the schedule and should be mutually agreeable.)

$25 each week for 1 hour of planning and organization per HB learner

Educators interested should reach out to dgaunnt@coppellisd.com for additional information.  All services are in-person in the home environment. Services are short-term, approximately 4 weeks or less. 

PANORAMA SURVEY

Please promote that FamiLEEs complete the CISD Family Survey by Nov. 5

The Fall 2021 CISD Family Survey is open now through Friday, Nov. 5. To participate in the survey, parents and guardians can visit go.coppellisd.com/FamilySurveyFall21, then select your child(ren)’s school.  If you have multiple children in CISD, we ask that you take the survey for each school your child attends. Please email input@coppellisd.com, if you would like to share any additional feedback or insight not covered in the survey or have any additional comments to share with the district. 

3-5 Designers, must complete the Panorama survey with your learners by November 12. Learner surveys can be access by navigating here and entering their student ID (which is their access code). 

I will build time into Wednesday's staff meeting for staff to complete the staff survey so that you don't have to worry about this task.

DYSLEXIA AWARENESS MONTH

Thank you for helping to spread dyslexia awareness this month! Below is a link to the Fall MLI newsletter that was sent to parents. It is filled with information and resources to learn more about dyslexia. I hope you have found this information helpful. Please reach out to Melissa if you have any questions! 😊

MLI Newsletter

DLC UPDATE

Did you know? The Khan Academy Kids app (already in Manager) now features a teacher account that enables you to pick and choose activities for different learners. It gives you the ability to customize your learners' ability levels differently and pinpoint specific needs. Khan Academy Kids can be a great option to help learners with gaps build skills in phonics and more! Learn more about creating assignments and setting up classes either manually or through SSO here. https://www.bulbapp.com/u/differentiating-with-khan-academy-kids Reach out to a DLC to learn more!

COACH'S CORNER

Learning Space Environment | Organized Learning Environment

Don’t you love the feeling of an organized space? I love knowing that each and every thing has a purpose and a specific place. It is the best feeling as an educator! An organized learning space is not only beneficial for educators though. Your learners benefit from this organization as well! It promotes a relaxed environment where they can focus on the learning. 

ESL STRATEGY OF THE WEEK

Chunk academic reading materials

No matter what subject you teach, there are probably reading materials that students must read. When text is lengthy, this can pose a comprehension problem for some ELs who are still processing and translating the English language. One way to alleviate this is to chunk the reading material. This means break it down into smaller pieces. ELs will still read the same text, but in between you might give stopping points to talk or sketch meaning.

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Nov 1-5- GT Assessment Window for 3rd and 5th

Nov 1- Green Design Day (AM)

     Red Design Day (PM)

     Day 1- NO LEARNER TEAM TIME

     Honor Choir Auditions after school

Nov 2- Ed Foundation t-shirt and jeans

     Blue Design Day (AM)

     Yellow Design Day (PM)

     Day 2- NO LEARNER TEAM TIME

Nov 3- College Shirt Day with warm ups

     Purple Design Day (PM)

     3rd and 5th Grade GT Testing

     Day 3- NO LEARNER TEAM TIME

     Staff Meeting (3:15-4:45)

Nov 4- Diwali

     3rd and 5th Grade GT Testing

     RTI Meetings During Team Time

Nov 5- Fall Picture Day

     3rd and 5th Grade GT Testing

     TOY Nominations DUE

Week of October 25, 2021

What a week, friends!  THANK YOU to all of you who stepped up in BIG ways.  Whether it was being a learner at Reading Academy, helping in a different capacity this week as we had sub shortages, or being there for a teammate or colleague that needed you.  YOU DID IT!  YOU CRUSHED IT AGAIN THIS WEEK!  Do you know what is a month away?  DECEMBER TO REMEMBER!!!  

DID YOU KNOW:

• as a result of the steady decline in the number of test-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19, CISD schools may begin holding assemblies and other events on campus?  We will still follow CISD COVID Protocols and wear masks, distance as much as possible, and wipe and clean surfaces. 
• you still have time to nominate this year's Teacher of the Year?  Here is the TOY Website and Nomination Criteria and Form. Nominations are due November 5.  Please turn them in to CK.

LEEDERSHIP COUNCIL

Please send your learner down to the cafeteria at 8:00 on Friday morning.  Future LEEdership Dates are on the staff calendar.  Please permit a few minutes for your LEEder to share updates after each meeting. 

RED RIBBON WEEK

Red Ribbon week is HERE!  Please join in on the fun and share pictures of learner participation.  You should have picked up your sunglasses from the front Angela for Monday.

WRITE A CHECK

This is our last week to hype up this event.  The designer with the highest contributions will win a gift card from PTO.  I will be sharing an email for you to copy and paste to your parents (outside of your newsletter) next week.  Thank you for helping to get every dollar donated.  We can do this! 

(updated flyer- please don't use prior versions)

FLEX LEARNING

Join us for one of two sessions on Wednesday to earn an hour of flex credit.  Please remember to submit your request into Power School at the conclusion of your session.   

• Make and Take: Schoology Assessment Workshop

  Please join us In Blue House (Layne’s Space)

   

  Building Schoology Assessments can take time, especially when you are just getting familiar with the different question types.  What many people miss is the treasure trove of different ways to build interactive content within an assessment.  In this workshop style session, DLCs will be available to help share resources, unpack the different question types and support you as you build.

• Challenge Based Learning presented by Megan Schlossstein in Green House

TRUNK OR TREAT

Join us for our first Trunk or Treat on Thursday night.  Staff will be parked in the back parking lot in every other spot.  We will have games, decorations, candy, and FUN.  We can't wait to see you there!

PTO SPIRIT NIGHT

Don't worry about cooking dinner on Thursday night.  Call an order in to Papa Johns and tell them you are with Lee Elementary.  Our PTO will get 20% donated back.  

BOOK CHARACTER PARADE

Want a reason to wear a costume on Friday? Pick a costume and find a book to go along with it.  Our entire school will parade at 8:00 on Friday.  Parents are invited and welcome to surround the track. 

DLC UPDATES

Digital Learning doesn't have to be scary!  Check out these ideas for Halloween! 

ESL UPDATES

Assess understanding

Check to see if students understand the lesson or directions before it’s too late. Setting students up for success is key. If we want them to do well, we have to prepare them and check along the way to see if they are on track. Some call this incremental evaluation. There are many ways to do this. It can be asking students to retell directions to a partner or having partners hold an academic conversation as you walk around and listen in. When there is a written product, check in with ELs midway to see their progress. This will help to catch problems or errors in advance or the product being turned in for a grade. If done correctly, these meetings can also be wonderful ways to build relationships with ELs.

COACHES CORNER

Learning Space Environment | Walls That Teach

For the rest of the second quarter, we will focus on learning spaces and how we can make them inviting, engaging and organized for our learning community. Let’s talk about what’s on your walls. 

Does it...

• consist mostly of learner’s work (vs. commercial products or your creations)?

• include learners’ names and/or portraits (photos or drawings)?

• include a short description of what is displayed (maybe the I can statements)?

• reflect learner’s choice and current work (keep them fresh and relevant)?

• hang at learners' eye levels?

• include work from all learners?

• focus on process (consist of both drafts and polished work)?

• show class as well as individual work (classwork might include rules, learning goals, and favorite songs, activities, or greetings)?

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

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Week of Oct 25- Red Ribbon Week

Oct 26- Ed Foundation Shirt and Jeans

     LEEdership Council Training for 5th Graders

Oct 27- House Shirt and Jeans

     Flex Learning (3:15-4:15)

Oct 28- PTO Spirit Night at Papa Johns

     Trunk or Treat (5:30-6:30)

Oct 29- GEMS due

Oct 30- Jessica's Birthday