Thursday, September 27, 2018

Week of October 1 (1.7 & RtA)

WINK’S WEEKLY WORDS

CLICK HERE TO READ MY BLUE RIDGE COMMUNITY BLOG

The Food Pantry Food Drive will be held all month long.
The winning grade levels will win an ice cream party.
Let's End Hunger.
Congratulations on a fantastic September.  So many great things happened that we can't count them all.  Instruction in every classroom is in high gear, and students are pushed in every classroom every day.  Our football team won homecoming.  Our volleyball team is in first place in district.  Our band is sounding better every week as they prepare for contest.  FFA is doing great and amazing things, and our UIL Academic teams are gearing up to chase the district championship.

As we head into October, I want to encourage you to focus on the questions that I posed last week and think about Question 3, how will we respond when kids fail to learn?  The answer to that question is found in how we plan for Guided Learning.  To push kids to high levels of learning, we create guided learning plans by student and by skill.  Don't forget to look at your misconceptions and prerequisite skills as well as your FA data, for those resources will give you cues as to how to create those plans.  

Upcoming Events
  • Week of Oct 1 - Response to Assessment Week
  • Oct 1 - 27 - Food Pantry Food Drive
  • Tue, Oct 2 - Distribute Progress Reports
  • Mon, Oct 8 - No School (State Fair Day)
  • Fri, Oct 19 - End of 1st 9 Weeks
  • Sat, Oct 27 - Blue Ridge Fall Festival (contact Shawn if you want to sign up)


ADMINISTRATION BUILDING RESERVATIONS

If you would like to reserve the School Board Meeting Room and/or the Hospitality Room for
campus/district meetings, please email your request to Angie Lillard (angie.lillard@brisd.net).

#1 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING NEEDS FORM

If you are in need of training/guidance related to something we have in place here in BRISD, please complete the Professional Learning Request Form.  We are willing to meet one-on-one, in campus teams, or in district groups...all based on need.  There is no such thing as a bad request...if you have a need, do not hesitate to make a request!

#2 RESPONSE TO ASSESSMENT

The window for FA1 administration was September 24th through 28th.
Assessment with no response does nothing for our students.  With this in mind, the Late Start on Friday, October 28th will guide you through the BRISD process for responding to formative assessments.  For a preview of our September 28th training, please review the BRISD Instructions for RESPONDING to Formative Assessments document.

#3 BRISD RtI FLOWCHART

Please take a moment to review the RtI Flowchart for Blue Ridge ISD.
If you have a student who is struggling, please refer to the flowchart for what to do next.
All CARE (Collaborating About Reaching Excellence) Meetings are called by your campus principal.  Therefore, if your interdisciplinary (grade level) team must schedule CARE Team meetings through your campus principal.  
Please direct any questions to your campus principal.

#4 GIFTED AND TALENTED TEACHER INFORMATION NEEDED

Please take a moment to complete the Gifted and Talented Teacher Information Form.
Mrs. Burke will be collecting information until October 1st, so your feedback is needed soon.

#5 LATE START FRIDAYS

Remember to bring your Chromebook to all Late Starts, which begin promptly at 7:30am
For future topics and sites, please see the 1819 Friday Late Start Collaboration Calendar

Date: September 28th
Site: BRISD School Board Room
Topic: BRISD Response to Assessment
Audience: All STAAR/EOC & FA Teachers (see this link for more info)

Date: September 28th
Site: BRISD Hospitality Room
Topic: SpEd MSB Training
Audience: K-12 SpEd Teachers and Paraprofessionals

Date: October 5th
Site: Home Campus
Topic: Parade Meeting
Audience: Campus Staff - see Campus Administrator for specifics

Date: October 12th
Site: BRISD School Board Room
Topic: How to Effectively Work in Vertical Teams
Audience: All K-12 Core Content (ELAR/Math/Science/Social Studies) Teachers

STAFF SHOUTOUT

Great job to everyone for making our Homecoming a huge success.  While the rain rained on our parade, it didn't stop us from having a great homecoming week.  Thank you for your flexibility and willingness to do whatever it takes to have a great week.

Thank you to Coach Bailey, Coach Broach, Coach Hunter and Coach Mathers for organizing a great JH Volleyball Tournament for 36 teams.  It was a great event and extremely organized.


TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tech Tip for Thought: 
Have you heard about the great updates made to Google Classroom over the summer? 

Updates include:
-New Classwork page for streamlining student work and organizing assignments by topic or unit
-Improved grading process that now includes a comment bank and the ability to simultaneously view student work as you grade or leave feedback. 



Business Office ANNOUNCEMENTS

$100 Six Weeks Attendance Bonus Schedule
1st 6 Weeks: August 8-September 28
2nd 6 Weeks: October 1- November 9
3rd 6 Weeks: November 12-December 20
4th 6 Weeks: January 7- February 15
5th 6 Weeks: February 18-April 5
6th 6 Weeks: April 8- May 29