Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Week of September 10

WINK’S WEEKLY WORDS

The 3rd week of school has been another great week, and I want to thank you for all that you are doing to engage your students.  You are setting the bar high and because of that, your classes are responding well.  I can't thank you enough for the hard work you are putting into helping your students learn, grow, and excel.  

As we begin the 4th week, I challenge you to find the engagement structure that is your biggest challenge and set a goal for growth.
  • Is your bell ringer effective at priming student brains for your lesson?
  • Is your focus lesson concise and precise at modeling learning for the kids and is it effective at getting student to take notes?
  • Is guided learning targeted for your most struggling students?
  • Is collaboration effective at letting students learn with and from one another?
  • Is independent learning differentiated based on where each student is growing?
  • Do your exit tickets give you quick information to drive the next day's lesson?
The answers to these questions should drive you to find your greatest area of need and then it should push you to find a colleague who is successful with that structure that you can learn from.  Remember, we learn the most from one another.  If you need help with any of these structures, please remember that Matthew, Melissa, and I will help you in any way that we can.

CLICK HERE TO READ MY BLUE RIDGE COMMUNITY BLOG

What I'm Reading

Are You Monitoring Your Relationships with Your Students?

CURRICULUM ANNOUNCEMENTS

BRISD utilizes TEKS Resource System for the scope and sequence related to your subject, as well as other tools designed to enhance your planning.  For a quick reminder on how to access your subject's scope and sequence (YAG), please view this video.  CTE teachers in need of additional support are encouraged to visit the Texas CTE Resource Center.

All consumable curriculum resources have been delivered to the campus principals.  Ms. Stiney is in the process of preparing all online curriculum resources for deployment as quickly as possible.

Please see your campus principal for questions/suggestions/concerns regarding curriculum resources.

LATE START FRIDAY FOCUS

Please bring your Chromebook to all BRISD Professional Learning

Friday, September 7th is a district level Friday Late Start.
Check with your building principal for attendance expectations vs campus coverage.
We will begin promptly at 7:30am in the BRISD Board Room.  
In order to keep traffic flowing smoothly, please park behind the elementary building, and utilize the elementary sidewalk to access the administration building.  Please do not park in the administration building parking lots.
We will be discussing how to document Allowable Accommodations for FA and STAAR testing.  If you are a core subject and/or special education teacher in 2nd through 11th grades, you need to plan to attend.


Friday, September 14th is a campus level Friday Late Start.
Check with your building principal for attendance expectations vs campus coverage.
We will begin promptly at 7:30am on your home campus.
The topic will be reviewing and responding to MAP Reading and Math data within vertical campus Math/Science and Humanities teams.
ALL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS will attend a required training regarding the Random Moment of Time samples at district administration.


Friday, September 21st is a campus level Friday Late Start.
Check with your building principal for attendance expectations vs campus coverage.

We will begin promptly at 7:30am on your home campus.
Since September 21st is Homecoming in BRISD, your campus administrator will use this time to ensure all processes and procedures are in place to make the day a success.


Friday, September 28th is a district level Friday Late Start.

Check with your building principal for attendance expectations vs campus coverage.
We will begin promptly at 7:30am in the BRISD Board Room.  
In order to keep traffic flowing smoothly, please park behind the elementary building, and utilize the elementary sidewalk to access the administration building.  Please do not park in the administration building parking lots.
We will be discussing the BRISD Response to Assessment that is required after FA1 testing.
All Grades 2-11 core teachers must attend
ALL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AND PARAPROFESSIONALS will attend a required training regarding MSB at district administration.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING - My growth page

Click here to learn how to use the "My Growth Page" tab of your lesson plans as part of your Beginning of Year Goal Setting Meetings with your principal as part of T-TESS.

Log your compliance training, as well as any other professional learning from this summer in the BRISD Summer Learning Documentation Form.

Testing Announcements

TEA has released the 2018 STAAR/EOC assessments.  BRISD uses these assessments as the MOCK FA prior to your STAAR/EOC assessment.  With this in mind, please 
DO NOT USE ANY 2018 RELEASED STAAR/EOC MATERIAL.  

Remember that FA1 is due in DMAC on or before September 7th.
Click here for FA testing dates and required subjects.
Click here for Instructions for Creating FAs
Click here for Instructions on how to print FA Answer Documents

Your campus principals will be sending you your Student Goal Sheets.  To assist you in completing the sheets prior to the administration of FA1, please view this screencast.

The beginning of the year MAP testing window opens September 4th and closes September 14th.  Remember that we will be assessing students in grades K-9 in reading and math.  

Elementary: IStation, F&P,  and AR testing windows open September 4th.

Be sure to check the 2018-2019 Blue Ridge ISD Testing Calendar for important testing dates throughout the school year.

TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCEMENTS

All online programs are now available for teachers and students to access through Clever. If you have any issues accessing teacher and student accounts please submit a support request using the Technology Support Request Form. 

To access teacher and student accounts BRISD uses a tool called Clever. Clever allows teachers and students to log into multiple online accounts using only one username and password. This reduces the amount of wasted instructional time spent on logging into accounts. To get started with Clever and to begin accessing your online programs please view the following resources. 

To log into your Teacher Clever account click on the Clever app logo in the top right-hand corner of your Chrome browser and sign in with your BRISD Google account information. You can also go to https://clever.com/in/blueridge and sign in with your BRISD Google account information.

Social Media Reminder: Pictures and videos of students cannot be posted from a personal social media page. All posts with students should go through a district/campus social media page first and then it can be shared from a personal account. Contact your campus tech leaders to submit social media posts: ES- Miranda Garlington MS- Mary Townsend HS-Kenny Williams

Transportation Request Form: This process has been updated to a Calendar format in Google Sheets. This will allow staff members to see transportation requests previously submitted. The first page outlines the instructions for completing transportation requests. 

STAFF SHOUTOUT

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Thank you Eduardo Vargas for the work you did in Blue Ridge ISD!

Upcoming Events
  • Fri, Sep 7 - End of 1st 3 Weeks Grading Period (Progress Reports out the next week)
  • Fri, Sep 7 - Deadline to enter your 1st FA in DMAC 
  • Sat, Sep 8 - Saturday Night in Blue Ridge by BRASA at the Square in Blue Ridge
  • Sun, Sep 16 - Paint the Town Green for Homecoming Week
  • Fri, Sep 21 - Homecoming at 7:00 p.m. and Homecoming Parade at 1 p.m.
  • Week of Sep 24 - FA 1 Testing Window
  • Week of Oct 1 - Response to Assessment

SPECIAL PROGRAMS ANNOUNCEMENTS

New announcements and information regarding special programs have been added to the Special Programs page in the Teacher Toolbox blog!!

Information regarding the BRISD RtI/CARE procedures are coming soon!  Check with your campus administrator for more information.

Please complete the Gifted and Talented Teacher Information form for the 2018-2019 school year.

The 2018-2019 Blue Ridge ISD Special Program Coordinators are:

Terra Mathers, Special Education - terra.mathers@brisd.net
Missy Douglas, Section 504 - missy.douglas@brisd.net
Missy Douglas, At-Risk - missy.douglas@brisd.net
Leslie Patterson, Dyslexia - leslie.patterson@brisd.net
Anna Miller, ESL/ELL - anna.miller@brisd.net
Rebecca Kay, CCMR - rebecca.kay@brisd.net
Alise Burke, Gifted & Talented - alise.burke@brisd.net

These coordinators are ready and willing to assist as needed.  Please do not hesitate to contact them with any questions or concerns.

BUSINESS OFFICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

2018-2019 Budget will be adopted at the Board Meeting on August 27, 2018. Purchase orders will begin being processed September 7th. This will also be the first day checks are cut in the 2018-2019 school year.

Personnel Announcements

Due to some technical difficulties updates to AESOP have been delayed. We will have all local and state days updated by the end of September, if not sooner. Your 5 new local and 5 state days will be reflected in September Payroll.