Week 3.5

Celebrate Excellence

Sharing is Leadership

Several of our teachers have been attending G/T training provided by Region 7 this semester.  I wanted to spotlight Kallie Boxell and Saundra Morris  for sharing their learning from this training last week.  Check out their work.

TES Teachers are #Excellence4ALL

Check out some great examples of TES teachers going above and beyond to help their kids excel.

•  Regi Gray has a homework group that she stays after with school  two days a week to get caught up on their math homework
• Jackie Davis stays every Friday for an after school reading club to get her students caught up in AR
• Tamara Fite and Putu Januwati organized a  homework center where ambassadors help students (campus wide) study and complete assignments -- they both stay and help monitor

Growing Excellence (+10 for ALL) 

Reestablishing Relationships in the New Year

As you reflect over your 1st 16 weeks of school, you will reflect on the kids that you have made progress, and more than likely you will identify students that you are failing to reach.  The pathway to a student's brain is through their heart, and relationships with students are at the very heart of learning.  To help you reestablish relationships with kids when they return in January, how can we know more about these kids and how can we can make a plan based on what we learn about our kids? Here are some guiding questions to help you make a plan to jump start your January.

• What strengths does the student have?
• What difficulties did he or she have last year?
• What symptoms did the student show prior to the difficulty?
• What kind of teacher communication helps this student move forward, and what kind of communication shuts him or her down?
• What are the most critical areas in which you should provide consistency to help the student engage in the learning environment?
• What does the student need from you to help him or her build positive relationships with other students in the classroom?
• What personal, non-school-related characteristics about the student can you use to begin to build a positive relationship?

If you are struggling in building relationships with individual students, a group of kids or the class as a whole, I encourage you to reach out to your colleagues, your principal, or the best resource on your campus, your counselor.  You will be able to find at least one idea to help kids.  How important are relationships?  Check out this quote below.

"In the end it is going to be the basis of the relationship that allows the student to be vulnerable enough to engage in the learning."

Ben Johnson (2015)

 College AND Career 
Check out the projects that Trey Miller's students are doing in his digital media classes.

Congratulations to our freshmen.  Their passing rate on their report cards increased from 81% in the 1st 6 weeks to 89% in the 2nd 6 weeks.  Passing all classes in the freshman year is a strong predictor that the student will not drop out of school, and that is necessary to reach a college and career future.

 Google Me This 
Check out Cindy Haston's Smore on Technology for Assessment.

Here is a great idea to get collaborative learning happening through Google Classroom.  It includes all necessary procedures from assigning the task to turning it in.

 Upcoming Dates 

• Monday, Dec 21 - Friday, January 1 - Christmas Break
• Monday, Jan 4 - Staff Work Day (see your principal for more information)
• Monday, Jan 11 - 3rd 6 Weeks Formative Assessments Given (CLICK HERE)
• Thursday, Jan 14 - Deadline to give and enter FAs into DMAC 
• Monday, Jan 18 - MLK Jr. Holiday
• Tuesday, Jan 19 - Response to Assessment (CLICK HERE)

 What I'm Learning

• Teaching with Fear by @thenerdyteacher

• Every Classroom is a Team & Every Teacher is a Coach via +TeachThought 

Merry Christmas

Christmas is here and I would like to wish you the very merriest Christmas ever.  I'm very blessed for my wonderful family and for a wonderful district family as well.  As you leave for break, I hope you remember to enjoy the many gifts that have been bestowed upon you.

Christmas isn't Christmas without music, and as a musician I couldn't feel the spirit of Christmas without all of the songs of the season.  Aside from the every part of Handel's Messiah, my very favorite Christmas song of all time is 'Carol of the Bells'.  Instead of singing it for you, I'd like to share this awesome a capella version by Pentatonix.

Merry Christmas, and I look forward to seeing each of you in 2016.  Be thinking about your New Year's Resolution for your classroom.  If you could describe it in one word, what would it be?

  

Week 3.4

Celebrate Excellence
The Texas Legislature designated December 9 as Educational Technology Appreciation Day.  This week, we would like to recognize our tech-leaders who are pushing our district forward in the area of technology integration.  Tatum ISD is the leader in technology integration, and this week we would like to thank the leaders who make our district what it is today.

Please join me in thanking the following tech-leaders:

• Wes Boyd, TISD Technology Director, 
• Don Hill, Computer Tech
• Cindy Haston, THS MITS (Media Information and Technology Specialist)
• Veronica Wilkerson, TES MITS (Media Information and Technology Specialist)
• Cristi Whiddon, TMS MITS (Media Information and Technology Specialist)
• Jennifer Day, TPS MITS (Media Information and Technology Specialist)

           

Growing Excellence (+10 for ALL) 

TPS Kids enjoying skating this month.

With one more week until Christmas break, some kids are excited about Christmas, while others are anxious.  Some who look at their school as their home away from home will not be able to come to school for 2 weeks.  With that being said, reinforcing your relationships with kids is very important.  It helps them get closure for the 2015 year and potentially can give them hope that 2016 will be an even better year.  Don't miss this opportunity to connect with your kids on a personal level and inspire them to aspire for excellence with they return in January.

TMS Art Club brings cheer to nursing home residents, crafts and playing bingo for prizes they bought themselves!

College AND Career 
FAFSA is the Free Application for Free Student Aid and it is a very important document that EVERY student must complete at the first step to apply for virtually any scholarship.  In order to complete the application,   Please beware that completing the FAFSA doesn't cost you anything and there are scammers out there who offer services (free or paid), and their main goal is to get your social security number.

Here are some resources to help you get started.

• FAFSA Homepage
• Create a new FAFSA

Below are the deadlines for students in Texas.

2015-2016

2015-2016 Deadlines

Includes deadlines for all states.

Federal Deadline

Online applications must be submitted by midnight Central Time, June 30, 2016.
Any corrections or updates must be submitted by midnight Central Time, September 17, 2016.

State Deadline

Texas - Check with your financial aid administrator.

College Deadline
Check with the college(s) you are interested in attending. You may also want to ask your college about its definition of an application deadline - whether it is the date the college receives your FAFSA, or the date your FAFSA is processed.

 Google Me This 

THIS IS BIG!!! Export your Entire Gradebook from Google Classroom

Watch this short video on the SAMR model, the different levels of tech integration.

Upcoming Dates & Deadlines

• Fri, 12/11 - End of 3 Weeks & Deadline to submit Formative Assessments to Principal
• Fri, 12/18 - Early Release for Christmas Break
• Mon, 1/4 - Staff Work Day
• Tue, 1/5 - Students Return
• Mon, 1/11 - Thu, 1/14 - Give 3rd 6 Weeks Assessments
• Mon, 1/18 - Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
• Tue, 1/19 - Response to Assessment

What I'm Learning

• There's More to #GrowthMindset than Assuming You have It

• Google Forms: Quick Start Guide 

via @rmbyrne 5 Good Typing Instruction and Practice Sites for Kids https://t.co/1KKXbXYT0C

— Dr. Justin Tarte (@justintarte) November 15, 2015

Week 3.3

Growing Excellence (+10 for ALL) 

Our 3rd 6 weeks formative assessment is due on Friday, December 11.
 Click here for instructions.

As you work with kids, your feedback is so important to help them learn at deeper levels.  With that said, I have a question.  What kind of feedback do you give your students to help them learn at higher levels?  In order to give effective feedback, it must be about the attributes of the student's work, and it should tell them what they must do next in their learning.  The slide below by Bill Ferriter perfectly describes the results we will see when we give effective feedback to our students.

Slide by Bill Ferriter on Flickr

 College AND Career - Match the Promise
Texas has a prepaid college tuition plan, which allows families to lock in tomorrow’s tuition and required fees at Texas public colleges and universities at today’s prices.  The plan allows you to purchase tuition units to cover all or a portion of these costs and offers flexible, budget-friendly payment options.

Match the Promise also has a scholarship foundation for qualifying families.  Families can save for college by awarding matching scholarships of tuition units worth up to $1,000, and one-time grants of tuition units  worth $2,000, at today’s prices. The scholarships are open to students who meet eligibility guidelines.  Check out this flyer to get more information about this program.

Google Me This 

Congratulations to Felesha Stone for having her successful strategies for technology integration featured in an article by +WeAreTeachers.

The blog post was titled 20 Ways I Use my Interactive Flat Panel to save Time and my Sanity, and her tips are numbers 13 & 18.  In the picture above, you will see one of her students using the interactive whiteboard in independent learning.
Great job, Felesha, and thank you for sharing your strategies on a national platform.









Upcoming Dates  

• 12/7 - 12/11 - EOC Retesting
• Fri, 12/11 - End of 3 Weeks & Deadline to submit Formative Assessments to Principal
• Fri, 12/18 - Early Release for Christmas Break
• Mon, 1/4 - Staff Development Day
• Tue, 1/5 - Student Return

THS Teachers host first  TED Talks - THS Style

TEDI (Tatum Eagle Digital Innovators) talks came to THS during our last early release day.  Teachers gave short TED talk style descriptions on how technology is impacting their classrooms.  Many thanks go out to the following teachers:

• John Huffstetler, 
• Vilia Payne, 
• Scott Eppler, 
• Marvin Kilbourne, 
• Brandie Bradford, 
• Wanda Risner, 
• Paulette Brown, and 
• Kevin Grace 

Topics included Google classroom in math and physics, Flubaroo for automatic grading of quizzes, cleaning up digital collaboration using protected cells, Vocaroo and QR Codes, alternatives to standard presentations (Prezi and Pow Toon) and back-channeling using Today's Meet.  To learn more how THS teachers are using theses cool tools, make contact with Cindy Haston.





What I'm Learning

How to add Rigor to Anything via +TeachThought


Google Classroom and Google Forms Happy Together by Brad Currie