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Next Week's Schedule
Monday
- 10:00am - Jacobs to Principals Mtg @ Admin Building
- Costco Visit
- 1:30pm - Dyslexia Therapists Mtg @ Scott Elementary
- 7:00pm - 1st Grade Music Program
Wednesday
- PLC Meetings Today
Thursday
- Valerie James on Campus
Friday
- Bad Weather Make-up Day - Yes we have school!
- Ice Cream Party
Important Reminders
Reading Instruction
Guided Reading books have been organized in the 4th Grade pod by reading level. Teachers will develop groups based on student's instructional reading level. Reading groups will meet daily. Lower level readers will meet every day while higher level readers will meet at least 2x per week.
Accelerated Reader (AR) Update - Students should be at 33% of their goal by next Friday. If you notice someone who really needs help, please let me know. We will continue to monitor and encourage students to make weekly targets and a comprehension score of at least 80%. Nita Green is meeting with our targeted 3rd and 4th grade student to ensure they have a book on their reading level each day. Students should be asked to take home a book every night and read for 20 minutes. Be sure to communicate with parents `about their child's AR point goal and their progress toward reaching that goal.
Mathematics
1st & 2nd Grade - Lone Star Daily Rigor is being used with students each week.
3rd & 4th Grade - Think Through Math - Teachers please ensure that all students have been assessed for TTM. Remember that there's an app for TTM and it can be used on the iPad.
ESL Certification
Royse City ISD is pushing to have 100% of the teaching staff to be ESL Certification. The district will pay for teachers to take the test AND have the ESL Certification place on your teaching certificate. Below are a list of links that are helpful to those interesting in this process:
They can afford to reimburse you now - who know when they will no longer continue to this offer. Be sure to take up the district with this offer to reimburse you for this certification.
Royse City ISD is pushing to have 100% of the teaching staff to be ESL Certification. The district will pay for teachers to take the test AND have the ESL Certification place on your teaching certificate. Below are a list of links that are helpful to those interesting in this process:
They can afford to reimburse you now - who know when they will no longer continue to this offer. Be sure to take up the district with this offer to reimburse you for this certification.
30 Hour GT Training @ Administration Building - This training will be the week of July 13-17 here in Royse City. You can sign up and attend this training OR go to the Region 10 website and complete the online class for this training.
Early Release has been rescheduled - To keep inline with a TEA policy, our early release day has moved from Friday, May 1st to Thursday, June 4th. Elementary/Intermediate campuses will be released @ 12:00pm and secondary campuses @ 1:00pm. Afterwards, we'll meet at the High School by 1:30pm for our annual staff appreciation event.
Staff Workday - All staff members must keep track of their EXTRA hours to comp out for the Staff Workday scheduled for Saturday, June 6th. Each staff member needs a total of Six (6) hours to comp out. Your list dates/hours will need to be submitted to Martha Edward by Monday, June 1st.
Revolutionizing Learning Conference - Our second year for this conference will be August 5th & 6th. As you know, keynoting this year's event is author and nationally sought after speaker, Mr. Dave Burgess of Teach Like a Pirate (perhaps you've heard of him). Also joining us again this year will be Tammy Worcester, Janet and Joan (better known as J-squared), and close friend of Royse City ISD Kasey Bell from Region 10.
Click here and check out the website for Revolutionizing Learning Conference.
Here's the deal, we have reserved 750 tickets for the school districts who are working together to make this the biggest and best learning opportunity in the area. But, those spaces will only be held until April 15th. So, I would strongly encourage you to go ahead and register now! On April 16th we will be opening up the registration through TCEA to anyone and everyone in the state who wants to attend. Registration for the event will be capped at 1,000. We feel there is a strong possibility that we could sell out because we are already having districts contact us about when tickets will be made available. Please register asap!
(BTW - this is a great place to get your Six (6) hour GT update)
NEW Information
Two of the bad weather make up days are scheduled for Friday, May 1st & Friday, June 5th. Be sure to send out reminders to parents that we'll have school on this day.
PLC Training - On Friday, August 14th, our teacher new to the school district will be involved in PLC training from Eric Twadell. Some of our team leads have attended this training last summer and I'll be looking to ask other teachers to attend this training too. Participants will receive professional development credit hours.
T-TESS - NEW Teacher Evaluation System - I mentioned this in a previous blog post about new teacher evaluation system called the T-TESS (Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System). The new teacher evaluation system will be launched state-wide during the 2016-2017 school year. I included the most recent board minutes for you to review:
Our district is will be moving to the T-TESS for this upcoming school year. Currently all Royse City ISD campus principals are learning more about T-TESS and how it differs from PDAS. You can learn more about the new teacher evaluation system yourself here with this link below.T-TESS - NEW Teacher Evaluation System - I mentioned this in a previous blog post about new teacher evaluation system called the T-TESS (Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System). The new teacher evaluation system will be launched state-wide during the 2016-2017 school year. I included the most recent board minutes for you to review:
The State has been developing a new appraisal system, T-TESS for teachers and T-PESS for principals as the staff evaluation tool. The new system is slated to go into effect the 2016-2017 school year. Royse City ISD chose to participate in this pilot program before the full rollout is released.
The new system is designed to help grow our staff as educators, which is a little different twist in what we have done before.
The new program includes three (3) measures; 70% is observation, 10% is a teacher self-assessment piece in which staff look at categories and rate themselves, and the final piece is student growth which won’t be impacted the first year. Student growth may be evaluated through one or more of four models; STAAR, EOC, or district pre-imposed testing, of which the district could choose which grade model and portfolios. This program was designed to meet the new teacher standards which has four dimensions; the first is planning, which Ms. Robinson said she is thrilled to see, instruction, learning environment, and professional practice and responsibilities.
The differences of T-TESS are that it focusses on the whole picture of teaching. “We must gage by how the student responds” said Ms. Robinson “and check student performance data all along the way. That is what the meetings between teachers and principals will be about.
The first year, teachers will map out progress. At the year end, teachers and appraisers will determine what they are doing well and what they can do to improve. Development will be an ongoing process. “It is our job to help teachers find the professional development they need to attain their goals” said Robinson. Summer months will continue to be used to plan and provide professional development opportunities.
There will be two evaluations; one announced and one unannounced. “Very specific steps must take place before the evaluation takes place” she said. One unusual aspect is the “summative” piece will take place in August, at which time data will be reviewed to see how students performed on the assessment Trustee Christina Carrion asked if high performing staff will have the option of choosing whether they are evaluated each year or once every three years as PDAS allowed. Ms. Robinson replied “that will be a board decision, but this first year everyone will participate.”
The T-TESS System ... I will continue to share as we learn more about this process.
THIS Will Revolutionize Education (#stuvoice) -
Derek Muller (@Veritasium) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker and television presenter. He is best known for creating the YouTube channel Veritasium.
He believes that many technologies have promised to revolutionize education, but so far none has. With that in mind, what could revolutionize education? Watch this video and see if you can connect with these ideas to the student voice in your classrooms.
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