Our Greatest Superpower...

Tomorrow our doors will open and parents and students walking through those doors will be that concrete evidence that the 2017-18 School Year has begun.

We provided them the "trailer" or "preview" to what the year will be like for them last Thursday night at Meet the Teacher. And it was by far our best and most successful Meet the Teacher to date.

Monday is our opportunity to show them WE ARE that awesome, and every day after that.

On Friday I had the opportunity to talk with a potential parent who was considering sending their child to Sendera about our school. I told this parent how we do school. I knew he and his wife had a big decision to make for their child. The child could remain at another school choice or they could choose us. I told the father that at Sendera Ranch Elementary we start with the heart. I told him that we believe every child should be greeted in the morning at the door and have the opportunity to meet every morning with his class BEFORE the academics start for the day. I told him we believe, and research has shown, we cannot proceed or engage the mind of a child until we have won his/her heart. That, I believe is OUR SUPERPOWER.

I love when I am able to talk about what we do every day and share it and others think it is extraordinary. Don't underestimate what you do and think it is common in every educational setting. What we do at Sendera... it is common for us, but it is extraordinarily unique outside of our building. We are #SREEverydayHeroes.

In my thinking about my "challenge" to start off the 2017-18 year for our staff I came across the following blog post: Why I Hated Meredith’s First Grade Teacher: An Open Letter to America’s Teachers by Kylene Beers. Take a moment to read it. Then consider how are you going to capture your student's mind and heart for the next nine months so that you will have students giving you "hero status" much like Meredith's mother shares in this post.

Have a wonderful first day of 2017-18 and 179 wonderful days of school after that. I know the family I spoke to on Friday HAS made the decision to choose Sendera Ranch Elementary because of who we are as #SREEverydayHeroes. After all, we all have the greatest Superpower... to forever make a positive difference in the life of a child.

"What's Your Superpower?" - Day 3

Today began by talking about collective efficacy and one of the intentional ways we foster that. That intentional way is through PLCs.

As a district we have been "doing" PLCs for some time. Over time, however, we have gotten away from the true root of what a PLC is and how it drives student and teacher learning/growth.

Who We Are...

To bring about a sense of collective efficacy we started the conversation through the Compass Points protocol via the guidance of Nicole Young and Amy Ahmad. Once our Sendera team identified their compass point they joined others and created a synopsis of who they were based on four questions from the protocol (which can be located in the SRE Virtual Collaborative Classroom). The synopsis were shared out with the entire group.

 

 


Later eveyone was asked to post a response regarding this activity in the Google Classroom. If you haven't had an opportunity to post as a team and/or individual we would love to hear from you: https://classroom.google.com/c/Njg1NjI3NjA2OFpa/sa/NzA1MTEwODA0M1pa/details

WHY We Do What We Do...

Once we recognized the different strengths and perspectives we all bring to the table, we then moved into examining what is a PLC via an article entitled "Building Professional Community in Schools" where participants were asked to read the article and annotate. Once eveyone had an opportunity to become familiar with the article we followed the Text Rendering Protocol to build a common understanding and shared belief. Through the sharing of sentences, phrases and words that stuck out to us or resonated us we were able to see where we are as a campus in regards to the noting what authentic PLCs are.

 

 


From there we identified what our PLCs have been through creating independently how time had been spent in the past. NISD's four areas that PLCs should address was shared:

• Understanding Standards and Curriculum
• Creating Common Assessments
• Responding to Data
• Raising the level of rigor, relevance and engagement

The four areas along with the reflection from the article via the text rendering, teams were challenged to create a pie chart together or how PLCs should be going forward at Sendera Ranch Elementary.

From the pie charts that were created by each team the campus came to a consensus on how PLC time should be spent. This pie chart (shown below) will be embedded in the PLC agenda form that teams will use to guide and capture discussions.

It was noted that the four areas that should be address in PLCs are cyclical in nature and are not always equally discussed/addressed/taken action on in a single PLC. Rather, they are continuously addressed over time and if noted help guide that our conversations/work in PLCs contiuously revolve around these four areas. It was also noted that teams need to take care of the health of the team, keep their norms at the forefront of every PLC, have agendas that have been collectively built by all and through the use of documenting their own notes help determine what may not have been addressed in one PLC, and will guide what will happen at upcoming PLCs. Additionally, it was a consensus that there must be some time in PLCs to address the unexpected, challenging and situations that are not always part of the four areas... this led to the creation of the "Longhorn Loophole" that intentionally builds time in for those specific but sometimes undefinable needs.

How We Do What We Do

From the piecrafting of how we will spend our time in PLCs we moved into what ways we can collect our conversations/work and how we can foster collective efficacy not only on our teams but across the campus.

The Google Classroom: SRE Virtual Collaborative Classroom was shared and teachers were given the opportunity to enroll in the course. Within the course was a link to the Sendera Ranch Virtual PLC Team Drive which houses many additional resources beyond the Google Classroom. The Team Drive was shared with all teachers and supporting teachers. It houses folders for each grade level that include district assessment calendars, the Grade Level Assessment Calendar and will also house the team's PLC notes and other items as this "Virtual PLC Team Drive" grows and evolves.

The Team Drive along with the Google Classroom are designed to foster collective efficacy, transparency and provide a place to garner support/resources. All teachers are encouraged to utilize these vehicles for driving their teams and students toward growth.

Some additional features in the Google Classroom were a readily available link to the SRE Longhorn Learning Blog, A Link to the Sendera Ranch Elementary Virtual PLC Team Drive, Protocols that have been utilized or will be utilized for PLCs and PD, and best of all the ARD Input Form and IEP Form that can be found in the Google Classroom where it forces a copy to be made and then can be placed in a Google Folder and Shared with Jen Webster/Jen Marshall. Also located in the Sendera Ranch Elementary Virtual PLC Team Drive are additional SPED Resources in the SPED Folder, Alignment Documents to foster conversations about vertical alignment regarding content and academic vocabulary, and class schedules folder.

The Assessment calendars were discussed. The intention of the calendar is to map out a marking period at a time where district CBAs are, plan both formative and summative assessments with the understanding that dates and intended assessments may be altered, and ensure that teachers are alinged with the ways they are assessing and what they are electing to record in the gradebook. This is not intended to be a detailed plan, rather a forecast of where the team is going for a marking period recorded in one place for everyone to be able to reference.

Below is an example of a completed assessment calendar for one marking period (as was shared in the presentation):

The assessment calendar template is located in the Sendera Ranch Elementary Virtual PLC Team Drive in each grade level folder.

SPED Update

The SPED team presented to us some great insight and training to help us all have common language when supporting and serving our kiddos. Clarification was provided about accommodations, modifications, Google Resources and ARD Ettiquette. Additionally, Kourtney made herself available as a resource when determining interventions with RTI students and mentioned Intervention Central as a great online resource for finding way to support kiddos in the RTI process. This presentation along with the Speech supports that were discussed and emailed can be found in the Sendera Ranch Elementary Virtual PLC Team Drive in the SPED folder.

Some items that are needed to be completed in the near future:

-PLC notes when teams meet in PLC on Friday (completed as teams meet... anyone can scribe)

-1st Marking Period Assessment Calendar (Due by September 1st for 1st Marking Period, all other marking period assessment calendars due the Friday before the start of that marking periods)

-Respond to Google Classroom Question About Compass Points for your team or yourself (remember to reflect and respond how the compass points represented on your team can impact your team dynamics)

-Complete the "Who am I" sheet (except for the Mission and Vision) once the color printer is repaired, proceed with printing out and displaying (we can print again once we have our Mission and Vision solidified)

The PD presented today, Building Collective Efficacy, has been added to our Google Classroom to reference as needed.

Please don't hesitate to provide feedback, ask for clarification and or continue dialogue (through comments on here, in the Google Classroom and/or face to face) on what was discussed. We are just beginning to define what authentic PLCs mean for Sendera Ranch Elementary.

What's Your Superpower? -Day 2

The second day in many things had been accomplished the day before and today was no different. The morning discussion started in where a question had been raised the day before...

Question: We noticed that there is a new format for the "Who Am I?" on the shared drive. Is there going to be a new expectation this year?

The answer... Yes!

The 4 square was shared out. A sample and template can be found on the the shared drive in the "SRE and More Folder" in the sub-folder "Who Am I?"

Teachers are encouraged to make a copy and then personalize.

In Quadrant 1 (top left) the teacher is encouraged to identify this where the mission and vision will be and then add an image to indicate this is under construction.

In Quadrant 2 (top right) the teacher is encouraged to add information about themselves, the college(s) they attending and degree(s) earned, and/or hobbies or interest. This will serve dual purposes. By including the college(s) attended and degree with a small college image/pennant it will align with the Generation Texas week expectation for teachers to display the college they attended.

In Quadrant 3 (bottom left) teachers are asked to put two to three goals they are working in regards to professional growth and/or student growth. It is strongly encouraged to align this to T-TESS goals.

In Quadrant 4 (bottom right) teachers are to create a Google Form for feedback from walkthroughs done by peers, administration and district personnel. This Form designed by the teacher is intended to provide them feedback based on the two to three goals they have posted in Quadrant 3 of the "Who am I?"- Four Square.

A specific name for this "Who Am I?"-4 Square has yet to be determined. Teachers are encouraged to work on Quadrants 2 and 3. Rene Egle will be available for support to help with the Google Form for Feedback Thursday, August 24th in the afternoon. Email her to set up an appointment at regle@nisdtx.org.


Dr. Warren's Imperatives/Goals were shared out. His direct instructional questions are more purposeful and drive home the expectation for collective efficacy. Emphasis was placed on knowing our kids well, especially those that fall into our PBMAS data.

You can review those imperatives and questions HERE.

Instructional Focus/Problem of Practice (POP) was discussed. The collective whole was asked their thoughts, including did it need revamping.

4th Grade liked it and how it moved us toward more rigorous and relevant instruction and student work. They also noted that we need to add more about positive relationships and culture.

GLAMP referred back to the "Who Am I?- 4 Square and the use of the  QR Codes tied to the feedback walkthrough forms and how that adds in the accountability and allows us as a campus to do more to move toward true transparency. They noted ways it could improve was with more friendly wording that cut to the chase.

Kindergarten and first grade followed GLAMP's remark about more friendly wording pointing back to last year when they re-wrote the POP for their students using student-friendly language. It was noted that first grade made it part of their morning routine/meeting and students would state the POP both with words and hand motions. Often the students led the stating of the POP.

At that point the conversation led into how did our POP tie into our Mission and Vision. No one commented. Then John asked if anyone knew what our Mission and Vision is. No one really knew.

John then asked the staff to read the following article by George Couros: "Accountability and Action Toward a Shared Vision" from his blog The Principal of  Change.

After discussion about the article at tables ideas were shared out.

-Redo the Longhorn Pledge? (relate it back to the mission and vison)
-Mission and Vision posted in all classrooms
-Posted on the website
-Mission and Vision have a 'sing/song' dance like action tied to the mission and vision when students recite it that encourage positive behaviors and/or signals as reminder for behaviors (like what first grade did with the POP last year)
-Not on announcements everyday... loses meaning?
-Bring to community/students
-Put on Campus Improvement Plan and involve all stakeholders

It was then suggested that we hash out as a campus, then bring to stakeholders includes students then adopt that vision and mission.

Last year the OHI showed we were strong in relationships and trust and lowest in being data driven. This indicated that we were lacking a common goal.. a shared vision.

The definition of mission- is how we do things...
The definition of vision- is where we want to be

BOTH must be aligned.

It is believed that parents will be most likely to respond to emotional/relational piece with the POP and Mission and Vision.

At that point a T-Chart collecting the characteristics/qualities of a Vision and Mission was created with the staff:

From the above T-Chart of characteristics/qualities a criteria was created for what determines a well written Mission and Vision Statement. A list of 8 Criteria was created:

1. Character and Individual Development
2. Measurable/Accountability (data driven)
3. Accountability with all stakeholders
4. Learner Centered
5. Positive/Affirming Relationships
6. Simple/Kid Friendly
7. Actionable (Intentional/Purposeful)
8. Worth Fighting For

At this point it was determined that we needed to step away and revisit at a later time.

T-TESS update was next.

Click HERE for the full presentation/update.

Points of emphasis:

• goals need to be tied to the criteria that will be used to determine and evaluate vision and mission
• collect evidence throughout the year (can use feedback from self-creatheduleed feedback walkthrough form on "Who Am I?"- 4 Square); teachers may want to set themselves up a calendar reminder every couple of weeks to ensure evidence does continually get added
• communicate goals created/kept to John and Wilson; New teachers must schedule a goal-setting conference

The remainder of the day was talking about paper clip items. 

There is a link HERE to the Google Slide Show that discussed the various matters. The items that additional information was discussed included:

Library-

Google Folders

Brain Pop Survey to determine if we should continue its subscription for the campus

September 5th Library classes will begin

Guidance-

Lessons/Schedule

Send Trice your top three days and times

Starting second week of school Trice will visit K-1. Third week of school she will meet with 2nd and 3rd. 4th Week of school she will meet with 4th and 5th.

Trice is plannig to bring back bucket fillers. She will be reading the book that goes along with this. She asked that teachers NOT read this book to the class as she will be reading it to them when she visits classes over the next few weeks.

We will start honoring studenst for character traits at assemblies the second or third assembly.

To keep from too much of the same kids getting the same awards there is a historical log of awards. This can be found in the campus shared drive... go to the Common folder> BOY> Character... there you will be able to see who has received an award over the last three years.

NISD Elementary Grading policy has changed in regards to number of summatives required in Math on the marking periods with 5 weeks. Additionally only four formatives are required in K-3rd with a suggested summative in 4th and 5th grade for social studies. An email with the policy highlighting the changes will be sent to teachers as well as uploaded to the SRE Virtual Collaborative Classroom to easily access and refer to as needed.

There was some confusion about what will be shared via the SRE Virtual PLC Team Drives that will be shared soon. Lesson plans will NOT be expected to be uploaded, however, having team plans where support services like special education, library and gifted and talented can see them allows for everyone to be aware, supportive and add to our collective efficacy. Teams WILL BE expected to update assessment calendars outlining a marking period at a time in their team folders located in the SRE Virtual PLC Team Drives and include the dates they plan together as a team. More clarification will be provided on Wednesday, August 23rd.

It was a great two days and it seems that our Superpowers are only growing in strength because of us working together and coming to a consensus. Enjoy your time working in your rooms today until convocation. Be sure to check with John or Wilson if you don't know where you need to be on Tuesday for District Professional Development/Curriculum Updates. We will see everyone on Wednesday at 8:00am for ongoing conversations and staff development in the Library. 

Thank you to eveyone for actively participating and sharing honestly, openly and with positivity your thoughts, concerns, hopes and ideas!

What's Your Super Power?- Day 1

This is a summary of the first day of the 2017-18 year.

The day started with teams meeting together and building relationships with one another.

At 9:00 am the faculty and staff came together. New staff and teachers to the campus were introduced as well as changes in placements were shared.

First question asked was why acronyms changed for leadership. It was explained that roles/responsibilities and titles changed to reflect current times, for example, with technology expected to be fully integrated into learning and instruction there was no need to have a separate technology leadership team. The Leadership Team Leader will now assimilate the responsibilities of the Technology Leadership role into theirs. Operations and Safety are now combines for the Operations Safety Leadership team. Finally the Campus Advisory Council (CAC) is comprised of teachers and support teachers that attended the Leadership Academy with the Administration team. Their primary role is to keep us apprised of the pulse of the campus and keep us focused on the goals set for the campus.

Bulletin Boards were also discussed. It was decided that each teacher would have selected six items of student work to display that students have chosen as their "best" work. Students not on the board will still have their self-selected best work displayed around the board. Students on the board will write or be recorded explaining why they selected this particular piece of work. Students should somehow explain why this work exemplifies their "super power." It is important to note that student work does not have to be academic but can be selected by the student to showcase progress/growth in a social/behavior related area. The six students showcased will also have powerful, specific teacher feedback. The title of the boards that will remain all year is "What is Your Super Power?" It is important to remember that the boards are meant to further our campus learning and provide a picture into classrooms of what students are doing.

It was also noted that it would be done once a six weeks with the first round needing to be up by September 11th in time for Curriculum Night on September 12th. Journal entries can be utilizes and teachers may photocopy or scan work and print to hand on the board.

In an effort to move forward with a goal from the previous school year and align with the idea being promoted by central administration (School+2) we are doing clubs school wide every other Monday from 8:00 am to 8:30 am. Bradshaw shared her experience with this when she was on a previous campus. She encouraged us to keep it simple, focus on relationships, getting kids involved and making it a way for student to associate school with fun.

It was stated that there needs to be at least two adults per club. Parent volunteers (at the teacher's discretion) is encouraged. We could all meet in the gym and divide up into clubs at first since it will be a vertically mixed group. Upper grade students can help younger students navigate the process.

Jurgens is working on putting together a google sheet for the staff to determine what clubs teachers/support staff may want to sponsor. AMP teachers are not expected to participate (it is their conference time).

Wilson will put out a survey to parents via Facebook and create a QR code that can be posted on Meet the Teacher Night.

Planned Start is the first Monday of the second marking period, October 2nd.

Curriculum night will be on September 12th. Times to be determined. It will be in two rotations and will be in classrooms with that grade level. Departmentalized teams can partner with the colleague they share kids with. Self-contained can also partner together.

Flexible Grouping (Tier Time) will be an expectation for the campus. It will happen across the campus Tuesday-Thursday from 8:00 am- 8:30 am. Edugence, that is replacing AWARE, will be a great resource to determine groups and use data to drive targeted instruction. It will be important to determine extensions for students not needing intervention. Additionally, students needing intervention for all content areas that are in a departmentalized setting will need to have a fluid schedule between teachers to consistently address targeted skills. Grouping across the team to address and meet needs of all students is expected and encouraged.

Morning work is no longer going to be used as it had been in the past. Our focus when we start the day is greeting the kiddos as they come in the door. Teachers are to be ready and waiting at their door at 7:20 am. As part of the discussion Covarelli shared an article about rethinking morning work: http://mrdovico.blogspot.com/2017/02/rethinking-morning-work.html

We will begin true flex grouping the third week of school on Tuesday, September 12th. The first week of school teachers are to stay with their class, build relationships and establish routines and procedures. Week 2 have students move into one antoher's classrooms with "soft" activities to get to know their other teachers and begin to learn the process/expectations of flex time.

Morning Meeting will be part of how teachers will start their day. After greeting students at the door from 7:20-7:40 teachers will begin morning meeting right after morning announcements at 7:40. Morning meeting can be together (for departmentalized teams) or separate. We will work to curate some resources for Morning Meetings (also known as The Responsive Classroom/ Five Minute Meetings). In the meantime some great go to people on campus who have successful morning meeting strategies include Pair, Aslin and Woods. This time is designed to create a family atmosphere in the classroom. It is meant to build relationships. It is highly effective and powerful when it is student owned/led. 

Homework is a thing of the past. We will not have homework assigned on top of school work done during the day. Unfinished work from the day may be sent home. There will be no reading logs, but reading trackers may be used as part of an incentive program to encourage students to read at home. Reading is still an expecation that will be done at home. We will communicate with parents that we are no longer assigning homework, and are encouraging positive family engagement. Initiative via social media #SREFamilyHomework was suggested where students are rewarded when parents share via social media sites ways they are engaging as a family. For those students and parents that want additional academic activities teams can create a resource of links on the team page that parents can utilize.

Spelling was discussed. We want to move away from the memorized list/list test and try to find more authentic ways to encourage quality spelling in student writing while adhering to district grading guidelines that state 10% of ELA grades must come from spelling.

Homework is expected to be part of every teams' Curriculum Night informational session with the parents.

Reading Stampede continues and we are looking for ideas to boost engagement. What are some things that are working and what are some things not working? It was noted that the flex grouping will help with recognition of students when out catching kids reading. It is very possible we will be sharing dates with Thompson and having a Sendera Ranch Subdivision Reading Stampede. We plan to continue handing out the bookmarks like last year as it was well received by the students.

Miscellaneous items...

• Eliminating SEAC, new program AIM; Adding a Behavior Interventionist Coach that will be at SRE one day a week.
• Lunch Choices? Not sure, we will have a new Cafeteria Manager this year
• Birthday Celebrations will happen at the end of the day (2:45) except for third grade which will be 15 minutes before AMP
• Lunch parent table concerns... address as they occur
• Dismissal- address "falkers" on a case by case basis; Rainy day dismissal- will try to avoid but will make the call as close to 3:00 as possible with the idea we may need to call parents
• Friday's are still going to be "Hat Days"
• First few days of school K-2 will have some type of identifier for what bus to take to get home... Durham has an interim director so not sure how they will be identified but we will figure it out
• Daycare pick up will now include a Champions bus to pick up in the front except for Premier
• Champions is no longer our onsite after school care. AlphaBest is our new after school care provider.
• We will not have a 'hard rule' on Fidget Spinners; Address via kids; Will decide by Curriculum night if needed on our approach

Still discussing... Tutoring.

Today was an amazing day. Super Powers of Collaboration and Collective Efficacy were definitely on display. Cannot wait to see what Day 2 will bring!



Please feel free to comment or share your thoughts!