Friday, February 26, 2016

Hard to Believe it is March Already. . .


Week of:  Feb. 29th-March 4th, 2016
Monday - Have a Marvelous Monday! 

Tuesday-  Angie Out (All Day) 

Wednesday- Angie Out (AM) Brett Out (PM)
Faculty Meeting - 3:15 - Library 

Thursday- Brett Out (PM) 
Dyslexia Parent Meeting - Library (evening) 

Friday - Texan Town
PST/RTI Meetings - C106

 Important Reminders
 Flex Credit
Please make sure you are getting your flex hours (professional learning) completed and entered into Eduphoria.  These must equal 18 hours. These must be completed by April 30th and entered/approved in Eduphoria by May 5th.  

 Open House

Just a reminder that Open House will be coming up the week of March 7th corner!  Be thinking about what work you will want to showcase around the school and in your classrooms!  If you haven't freshened up your team black bulletin boards in a while, please try to change those out as well!  

March Potluck
We will be having our next TCE potluck on Monday, March 7th!  This is a great time to try a new recipe or bring up one of your favorites!  

STAAR Accommodations and Groups

As we are getting closer to our 1st round of STAAR testing, please make sure that you are carefully looking at all current state testing accommodations to ensure everything is in order for testing.  This includes reviewing carefully IEP's and 504 plans as well as looking at current RtI data for needs.   


We are working on creating small groups and individual testing as needed.  If you have a concern, please get with us (Kelly, Brett, me) ASAP! These groups we are working on will be shared with you soon as we have them ready.  Also, K-2 classroom teachers we will let you know if we need you for testing on any of these days.

March Birthdays
Becky Garrett - 7th
Kelly Burks - 8th
Sherri Kingsley - 16th
Beth Parker - 17th
Meredith Schaaf - 20th
Megan McGraw- 26th 
Lorri Brehm - 30th

Engineer of the Week 
 This week's engineer is Renee Rohani!

Shout Outs!
Shout out to Coach Yaegar and Sherri Kingsley for all of their help with Jump Rope for Heart!

Shout out to Coach Yaegar, Becky Garrett and Catherine Kim for the great job they did with our Jump Rope for Heart!   
Shout out to Sherri Kingsley, Kate Seifert and our parent volunteer Kathy Braem for Texan Treats and getting our popcorn out for snacks each Friday!  You ladies rock!!

Shout out to Kelly Spears, Lisa Hansen and Brett Shelby for helping administer the final round of TELPAS!  And shout out to everyone for being successful with getting it all completed!  

Shout out to our classroom teachers that welcomed our Denton Creek visitors this week! They were all very complimentary of TCE and the learning as well as all of the work displayed around the building!  

Shout out to those of you who have presented so far with our cultural plunges!  I appreciate your efforts and am blown away with the level of depth you have brought into your experiences and how we can help support our learners at TCE!  Thank you!!

Final Quotes
I was thinking about the power of perseverance this week. . .maybe because we are getting closer and closer to Spring Break!  :)



Sunday, February 21, 2016

Smile Big Everyone. . .


Week of:  February 22nd-26th, 2016

Monday - Picture Day Staff and Students (see attached schedule in email)
Team Leader - C106 - 3:15pm

Tuesday-  Angie Out (AM) 

Wednesday- TLC - 3:15 (Cultural Plunges)

Thursday- Have a Terrific Thursday!
TELPAS Follow-up Training - 3:15 - C106

Friday - Texan Town
RTI/PST Meetings - C106
Kelly Spears Out (AM)
Jump Rope for Heart - all day gym

Important Reminders and Updates
 Open House
Just a reminder that Open House will be right around the corner!  Be thinking about what work you will want to showcase around the school and in your classrooms!  If you haven't freshened up your team black bulletin boards in a while, please try to change those out as well!  

TELPAS Writing Samples
As you begin with your writing samples, please remember to check to ensure you have everything included from the training.  

STAAR Accommodations and Groups
As we are getting closer to our 1st round of STAAR testing, please make sure that you are carefully looking at all current state testing accommodations to ensure everything is in order for testing.  This includes reviewing carefully IEP's and 504 plans as well as looking at current RtI data for needs.   

We are working on creating small groups and individual testing as needed.  If you have a concern, please get with us (Kelly, Brett, me) ASAP! These groups we are working on will be shared with you soon as we have them ready.  Also, K-2 classroom teachers we will let you know if we need you for testing on any of these days.
   

February Birthdays 
Star Primera - 2nd 
Ashlin Bowman - 10th
Cathy Wilson - 14th 
Heather Judd - 16th
Jennifer Martin - 23rd

Engineer of the Week
 This week's engineer is Kelly Burks!

Shout Outs!
Shout out to Becky Garrett for another wonderful performance for our 1st graders!

Shout out to Laci Garza, Coach Yaegar and our 1st grade teachers for their help with the program!

Shout out to Sue Kane for being fast on her feet to help in our emergency earlier this week!   

Shout out to all of our testing helpers with our mid-year assessments for 3rd, 4th and 5th! Alicia, Kim, Cathy, KaTrina and Mary!

Shout out to everyone for helping to maintain under high levels of stress during emergencies.  It is extra difficult to hold it together when accidents or issues happen.  I appreciate all of you being able to keep our kiddos calm last week and for always loving and supporting our kids and families!
  
Professional Learning Day Info
 Thank you all for a wonderful learning day last week!  I appreciate Jennifer and Lauren for leading our UbD and for all of your participation and sharing!  

Here are a few of our resources from the day as well as a few pics of you all hard at work!  

Also, remember the resource of Mindshift for great articles and video connections!  
 





















Final Quotes 
I know this time of year can be frustrating at times when you have tried many ideas or strategies and some of your kiddos are still struggling.  It can also be tiring for all of us in education due to those day-to-day stresses that sometimes come out of nowhere and can beat you down. 

Take time to sit back and reflect on why you do what you do.  Remember the power behind never giving up and teaching our kiddos how to be resilient in this world.  Watch the video from earlier this year about grit as another way to remember that each challenge in this world or obstacle you overcome is making you the person you are. . .a stronger, smarter, passionate person who makes a difference each day!