1st Week of April

DOK - Intervention and Extension in April & May
As we near the end of the year and get ready for April and May STAAR tests, it is criticial to ensure that every student masters the critical skills for every course:  those assessed on STAAR, as well as those needed for success next year.

STAAR Wars Goal Sheets
Mrs. Beazley has her students earning stickers for
mastering essential skills tied to the
STAAR Science test.

The critical skills for STAAR are the Readiness Standards which make up 66% of the test.  To prepare kids for next year, kids will need to be very familiar with this year's supporting standards that are aligned to next year's readiness standards.  In non-core courses, like CTE and foreign language, the essential skills are skills that are aligned to the 4 C's:  Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity and Collaboration.

To ensure that every student masters this year's essential skills, intervention and extension should happen simultaneously on a regular basis.  Here is how it can work:

• Intervention 
• Small groups can be pulled for students who have the same instructional deficit or need, or 
• Individuals can be pulled for remediation on an academic deficit unique to the student.
• The teacher works with students directly.
• Extension  
• Group work can be assigned to students that are tied to skills that need additional reinforcement.  Every student must do their own work, but students are encouraged to collaborate and communicate to help one another master the skills.
• Individual tasks can be given to students that are based on specific skills that need additional practice.  These tasks should also be familiar to the students and require little to no support from the teacher.   
• Projects can be for groups or individuals and they allow kids opportunities to apply their learning in creative ways.
• The teacher's role in extension is to monitor student engagement, provide feedback, and ensure that students complete the work.

Instead of thinking about the end of the year, I'd like you to think about April and May in this way.  Preparation for the next school year begins at the end of this year, and our goal should be to begin the transition process by ensuring that all kids have a firm grasp of the essential skills this year. By personalizing our support for kids who struggle as well as challenging all kids to master this year's essential skills independently, we are giving every student the tools to begin that transition process on the right foot.

Academic Events for the next month
April 10 - Teacher submit TSR 2 & 3 in Eduphoria
             #LoveMySchoolDay (share on Twitter all the reasons why you love your school)
April 13 - Librarian Appreciation Week (Thank your MITS for all that they do for you!)
April 17 - End of 5th 6 Weeks
April 20 - STAAR 5 & 8 Math
           Public School Volunteer Week (Thank our volunteers for all that they do.)
April 21 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Math & 8 Social Studies
April 22 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Reading and 5 & 8 Science
              Administrative Professionals Day (Thank your office staff for all that they do)
April 29 - Early Release Day
May 4    - STAAR EOC Week at the High School
May 5    - Cinco de Mayo


College and Career - Poverty Plays a Part
As we strive to prepare every student for a college and career future, we must acknowledge that poverty plays a big part in whether or not a student will choose to pursue an education beyond high school.  In the graphic to the right, the Center for Public Education estimated in 2003 that 65% of students of poverty became Non-College Enrollees (chose to not go to college), while 34% of students of poverty enrolled in college.  In other words, 2 out of 3 students of poverty choose to not attend college.

More than half of our country's students come from poverty.  That means that only 33% of our nation's kids will not even attempt to enroll in college, which means that they will have limited options to pull themselves out of poverty.  Simply stated, 1 in 3 U.S. children will automatically have limited options to pull themselves out of poverty.

What can we do about that?

• Talk about college and career as something that every child can do and must do to have a prosperous future.
• Talk about scholarships that can be earned.
• Tell stories about students who overcame amazing odds to put themselves through college.
• Talk about careers that are tied to your content and encourage students about how they could be successful in a career that is tied to their strengths.
• Talk about how college and technical schools isn't just for the "smart kids" or the privileged kids.  It's for all kids.  It's for them.

Kids need to hear daily how much value they have and how much potential they possess.  Don't miss that opportunity to flip the switch we call a changed life.

STAAR Thank You's
This week's testing went very smooth.  We had a few glitches here and there, but that is to be expected when you test over 1000 students in 3 days.  The reason for the success over the last 3 days is because a lot of people that did a great job getting the kids ready to reach Excellence for All.

#I'mTalkingAboutYOU

Thank you's go out to:

• Our 4th & 7th Writing, 5th and 8th Reading and English 1 & 2 teachers for all of their hard work this year preparing the kids for success.
• Sabrena Socha, Tamara Fite, Jo Miller and Robbye Rowe for their hard work in organizing the testing days and making sure that everything was in place for smooth testing days.
• Our teachers and staff for their great work in administering the tests and ensuring a secure testing environment.
• Nancy Turner and our volunteers who helped out every campus in every way possible.
• Our maintenance, custodial, and technology staff for responding immediately to any need that arose.
• Our bus and cafeteria staff for getting the kids here in a great mood and serving great meals.
• Finally, our primary staff for laying the foundation in the early years, so that our students would be prepared for excellence. 

Tatum ISD is a very special place that is because of YOU!  Thank you for your hard work and commitment to preparing our students to exceed their potential on STAAR.

What I'm Learning
How to Password Protect your Google Forms

Look what Veronica Wilkerson found
Mastery Connect has created an app that allows you to search standards by grade level, subject, and key words.  Last updated March 2015.  Looks user friendly and easy to search. 

Android:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.masteryconnect.tx&hl=en

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/texas-essential-knowledge/id892241715?mt=8

Best thing....love Principal El!

A photo posted by Todd Nesloney (@techninjatodd) on Mar 26, 2015 at 7:18pm PDT

Cool Technology - 3Doodler 3D Pen

4th Week of March

DOK - Creative Strategies for Individual Students

No two kids are the same.  In fact, my four children have completely different personalities, affinities and ways that they learn.  To ensure that learning occurs for every child, it is critical to remember that all kids learn differently and therefore, we have to continuously ask this question.

How do we help each child grow from where they are to where they need to be?  

Joann Jordan working with a
student on guided reading.

If we truly want to focus on the growth of each child, we have to ask a follow up question.  Does learning belong to the student or the teacher?  If the learning belongs to the teacher, the control of how learning occurs will also belong to the teacher; however, if the learning belongs to the student, then control has to also belong to the student.  To give control over learning to students means that we also have to provide students some choices.  All students have strengths and all have weaknesses, and when students have choices in how they will grow in their learning, students tend to leverage their strengths to address their weaknesses.  Therefore, the role of the teacher transforms from a sage on the stage to a guide on the side.  

Teachers who successfully guide learning provide extension activities that do not require the teacher's direct support.  In fact, the most powerful extensions provide students the following:

• opportunities to independently challenge themselves in more personalized ways, 
• opportunities to foster student collaboration to deepen their learning, and ultimately 
• opportunities to create learning experiences that generate higher levels of cognitive activity. 

Finally, the reason that extension is so important is because it provides the teacher with opportunities to intervene with struggling students. While the class is engaged in extension, the teacher can do the following:

• pull small groups for remediation, 
• pull individual students for conferencing or goal-setting or 
• reteach a previously failed concept. 

Intervention and extension go hand in hand and when done correctly, every student's learning becomes more personalized. 

Checklist for STAAR Test Administrators

It gets a little stressful as we get ready to administer the STAAR test.  There are so many things to remember, so I put together a little checklist for you to review.  If you have any concerns, please consult your counselor as Friday (tomorrow) will be the last school day to be prepared.

1. You have followed all requests of your principal and counselor to be prepared to administer the STAAR test.
2. The test Administrator Manual has been read, and you have tabbed or paper-clipped important sections for testing.
3. You are prepared to be at school a little early on test day to get the test booklets from the counselor.
4. You know to verify that you have received the correct tests from the counselor.
5. You know that once you have checked out your tests from your counselor, you are responsible for monitoring them at all times, until you return them back to your counselor.
6. The Test Administrator Directions (the script) have been reviewed and practiced.
7. Your testing room is test ready with instructional displays removed or covered, desks separated and all materials removed from the desks.
8. You have pencils, scratch paper, highlighters or any other supplies ready for students.
9. You are prepared to take up cell phones and all electronic devices before testing begins.
10. You know to contact your counselor first if you encounter any problem, irregularity, or testing violation before, during or after testing.
11. You know to place a DO NOT DISTURB sign outside your door prior to testing.
12. You're prepared to actively monitor all students throughout testing.
13. You're prepared to announce the time remaining on the test at the correct intervals.
14. You know when and how to make the following statements:
1. I can't answer that for you; just do the best you can.
2. You have not recorded your responses on the answer document.  Please go back and mark your answers on it now.
15. You know the accommodations that students assigned to your room should receive and you ensure that they are provided correctly.
16. You have enough dictionaries in your room if they are required for testing. 
17. If you are doing online testing, you have familiarized yourself with the program.  (Special Note: Grade 4 & 7 Online Writing - Do NOT submit the test after Day 1 of testing.
18. If you are administering STAAR A , you have looked at the STAAR A Educator's Guide. (Click Here for a Copy)
19. If your are doing online testing, you have checked out the computers a day ahead of time to ensure that they work.

If you have completed this checklist for success on STAAR, then you are ready to go.  Good luck and as we begin the STAAR Wars, may the force be with you.

College & Career - Exposure is Everything

Great job to our CTE teachers at THS for the "Pick your Pathway" for 8th graders.   Watch this video to learn more about our high school pathways in CTE.

5th grade students @TES_Eagles spent the day touring the power plant. pic.twitter.com/N3ApAVGdpi

— Tatum ISD (@tatumisd) March 18, 2015

Academic Events for the next month
March 27 - End of 3 Weeks

Zack Wallace designed the parts of his
fire pit uisng the Torchmate Cad Cam
software and then using the
automated plasma cutter to
 cut out the parts.

March 30 - STAAR 4 & 7 Writing (Day 1) and EOC English 1
March 31 - STAAR 4 & 7 Writing (Day 2) and 5 & 8 Reading
April 1 - STAAR EOC English 2 & TELPAS Holistic Rating (TPS & TES)
April 2 - TELPAS Holistic Rating (TMS & THS)
April 3 - School Holiday
April 10 - Teacher submit TSR 2 & 3 in Eduphoria
             #LoveMySchoolDay (share on Twitter all the reasons why you love your school)
April 13 - Librarian Appreciation Week (Thank your MITS for all that they do for you!)
April 17 - End of 5th 6 Weeks
April 20 - STAAR 5 & 8 Math
           Public School Volunteer Week (Thank our volunteers for all that they do.)
April 21 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Math & 8 Social Studies
April 22 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Reading and 5 & 8 Science
              Administrative Professionals Day (Thank your office staff for all that they do)
April 29 - Early Release Day
May 4    - STAAR EOC Week at the High School







New Tech Tool
Easel.ly is an infographic creation tool that guides users to build visual and text representations of concepts or ideas. Easel.ly provides some themes and many objects, but it is up to the user to search through these materials and organize them into a cohesive infographic. Fortunately, the website offers an option to share finalized products, so there are many public infographics to choose from for a template. The site is easy to navigate, and progress on a project can be saved for later. Infographics can also be saved to a group, which simply allows other users to quickly find and view the work.

Skills: Creativity, Communication and Collaboration, Tech Skills
Price: Free
Grade Levels: 7-12


Fun with Google Forms
@brantfarris - 5 Things You Did Not Know About Google Forms #txed #gafe http://zite.to/1Fm9pIB 

3rd Week of March

True Tech Integration is DOK 2 & 3

When I saw this tweet from @justintarte, I thought to myself, "Tech integration is really hard" and "What does tech integration look like at its highest levels?"  As I pondered that question a little deeper, I reflected back on the various posts that I made throughout the year.  Tatum has a lot of great examples of tech integration.

• Mrs. Beazley's use of Kahoot to hook her kids into science through a bell ringer.
• Melody Ojeda's Print Shop as they leverage technology to create projects that impact the community.
• Throughout the year, we have spotlighted numerous TPS teachers and all of the apps that they use to empower kids to drive their own learning independently.
• Coach Eppler's class leverages student cell phones as useful tools for learning.
• THS's Teachers work with Google Drive as their primary tool to teach English & Social Studies
• Mrs. Januwati has a coding & computer programming club that meets after school.
• Kevin Grace's honors English 2 class participated in CSPAN's annual national video documentary competition.
• Tatum News Today is an outstanding video news program which continually amazes me with their creative promotion of the great things THS has to offer students.

To reach the pinnacle of tech integration, it's not about the tool; it's what you do with it to drive student learning.  If students are leveraging technology to accelerate their learning to deeper and higher levels, that is true tech integration.

This month, I invite you to share your examples of tech integration.  It's simple.  See it.  Snap it.  Tell me what you're doing and I'll share it.  Why should we share?  When we share the great things happening in our classroom, we give all of our colleagues one more idea that has the potential to impact every student in TISD, and that is what Excellence for All is all about.

College and Career - "Pick your Path"

Ag. Mechanics

8th Grade students came to THS on Monday to participate in the Pick your Path event hosted by the THS CTE teachers.  From A/V to Animals and all points in between, THS students and teachers exposed our future freshmen to the world of possibilities that THS has to offer them.

Special thanks to Jessica Rymel and Melody Ojeda for organizing the tour and thank you to the CTE teachers for presenting your outstanding programs to the kids.






Academic Calendar of Events

Agriculture Plant and Animal Pathways

It is hard to keep up with all of the academic spring events, so I decided to add it to the blog.   For a calendar of everything happening in the district, CLICK HERE for the TISD District Calendar

Academic Events for the next month
March 27 - End of 3 Weeks
March 30 - STAAR 4 & 7 Writing (Day 1) and EOC English 1
March 31 - STAAR 4 & 7 Writing (Day 2) and 5 & 8 Reading
April 1 - STAAR EOC English 2 & TELPAS Holistic Rating (TPS & TES)
April 2 - TELPAS Holistic Rating (TMS & THS)
April 3 - School Holiday
April 10 - Teacher submit TSR 2 & 3 in Eduphoria
             #LoveMySchoolDay (share on Twitter all the reasons why you love your school)
April 13 - Librarian Appreciation Week (Thank your MITS for all that they do for you!)

Print Shop & All Technology Pathways

April 17 - End of 5th 6 Weeks
April 20 - STAAR 5 & 8 Math
           Public School Volunteer Week (Thank our volunteers for all that they do.)
April 21 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Math & 8 Social Studies
April 22 - STAAR 3, 4, 6, 7 Reading and 5 & 8 Science
              Administrative Professionals Day (Thank your office staff for all that they do)
April 29 - Early Release Day
May 4    - STAAR EOC Week at the High School





TIP (Tech Integration Pic) of the Week
This video integrates our Tatum News Today's work with the THS Ag Mechanic Team's work in preparation for all of the Ag Mechanics shows coming up this spring.  Chris Tondre's students are creating some outstanding works of art.





What I'm Reading

• Smartphone Apps Helping Students with Dyslexia
• The Fire Within  by @benjamingilpin (CHECK OUT HIS VIDEOS at the bottom)
• Learning should NEVER be Lonely. by Bill Ferriter

1st Week of March

DOK - #MarchMotivation
It's March and the kids are ready for a break, but when they come back, will they be invigorated about school?  It depends on our excitement for the final push to June.  Here are some tips to help you refocus yours students for success.

1. Review your expectations for behavior and learning.  Students need a refresher on this when they return from any break, especially spring break.  Be sure to address behaviors that have been lacking in the past month.
2. Set an academic goal for the next month.  It may be for STAAR or raising your score on iStation or your next test.  When students are presented with a goal for learning, they are more inclined to meet the goal.
3. Start a Countdown - How many school days do we have to reach our academic goal.  See Kevin Grace at THS.  It is posted on his board everyday and reviewed every day.
4. Have an academic competition where students or groups can compete for the most growth in the next month.
5. Incorporate a reward or privilege system for overachievement.  Students will surpass expectations if they know there's something in it for them.

I encourage you to consider how you can incorporate the 6 C's of Engagement below into your learning procedures and routines after spring break.  It may be just the thing kids need to get motivation for learning.

Wake Elementary‏@WakeElementary

The Six C's of Engagement - Choice, Collaboration, Connection, Challenge/Competition, Communication & Commotion #ncascd #engagingourstudents

Collaboration


College & Career
Congratulations to Tatum High School and Wanda Risner for being selected as a Best Practices Classroom by Paxton Patterson.  The Paxton Patterson class is blend of Cloud delivered content and Project Based Learning.  students in the class are gaining knowledge in many health care related fields.  THS students are working in 8 different health care areas and are learning about 46 different careers.


Check out Jessica Rymel's blog (Click Here).  She is using her blog to communicate with her students, parents and the community at large to promote college scholarships.  Thank you Jessica for promoting college and career beyond your classroom.

If you would like to start your own blog or get started on Twitter, here is my screencasts to get you started.

• Set up your own blog - http://goo.gl/inxOiZ
• Set up your Twitter account - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44zuPVnKa2Q

Tech Integration

Mrs. Januwati's coding class is growing every week, as kids are signing up to learning more
about this interesting and innovative language.  The students are learning to draw and make animations using Java Scripts in Khan Academy. Check out the following link for one of the student's work: http://goo.gl/nkwAex.  These students are showing up after school

to participate in this fun learning opportunity.  Thank you, Mrs. J.

My Weekly WebFinds

• Do More for Students by Doing Less