iACT Announcements - Week of 5/6

Upcoming Dates

*May 6 - EOC and AP Testing begins

*May 7th - Yvonne Recio’s Retirement Party @ Ruth Cherry Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 8th - Debra George’s Retirement Party @ Davis Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 9th - Strategic Planning Committee Year 2 Update @ CO, District wide improvement Council Meeting @ Central Office (4:15 p.m.)

*May 10th -

*May 13th - STAAR Math 3-8, Board Meeting (Teacher of the Year Recognitions)

*May 14th - STAAR Reading 3-8

*May 15th - STAAR Science 5/8, Terry Young/Anita Sims Retirement Party @ HS Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 16th - STAAR Social Studies 5/8 , Top Dog Spectacular @ 6:30 pm

*May 17th - All STAAR Make-Ups complete, Senior Walk

*May 20th - Summer School Meeting 6th/7th @ CO (3:45), 5th/8th @ CO (4:15)

*May 21st - Principal Meeting @ Central Office (9:00), Summer School Meeting 3rd/4th (3:30)

*May 22nd - New Teacher Meeting @ CO (3:45), Michelle Agriesti Retirement Party @ Browning Innovation Room (1:00 p.m.)

*May 23rd - Staff Appreciation @ PAC (1:30)

5 Ways to Quickly Create Audio Slideshows for End-of-Year Events
Do you need to know how to quickly create audio slideshow videos for end-of-year events? Here are five options for making audio slideshow videos - http://bit.ly/2H7oVxo

Summer Professional Learning

Here is a list of PD offerings this summer.  New items are being added daily.

http://bit.ly/2GZ6tqy

TEKS Resource System - Spring Newsletter

News and updates on the TEKS Resource System for Spring 2019 - see the newsletter HERE!  https://conta.cc/2UYOMMD.

TCEA Offering FREE Membership for Teacher Appreciation Week
TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) is a global, nonprofit, member-based organization. We support the use of technology in education.

During Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6–10, 2019), TCEA will offer all current and retired educators, administrators, and librarians free, one-year TCEA memberships, regularly priced at $49. The resources available through TCEA are amazing!

See more information about a FREE MEMBERSHIP here! - https://tcea.org/teacher-appreciation/

iACT Announcements - Week of 4/29

Upcoming Dates

*April 29 - ELAR Adoption meeting @ RCMS (4:00 p.m.)

*April 30 - Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00 a.m.)

*May 1st -

*May 2nd

*May 3rd

*May 6 - EOC and AP Testing begins

*May 7th - Yvonne Recio’s Retirement Party @ Ruth Cherry Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 8th - Debra George’s Retirement Party @ Davis Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 9th - Strategic Planning Committee Year 2 Update @ CO, District wide improvement Council Meeting @ Central Office (4:15 p.m.)

*May 10th -

*May 13th - STAAR Math 3-8

*May 14th - STAAR Reading 3-8

*May 15th - STAAR Science ⅝, Terry Young Retirement Party @ HS Library (4:00 p.m.)

*May 16th - STAAR Social Studies ⅝, Top Dog Spectacular @ 6:30 pm

*May 17th - All STAAR Make-Ups complete, Senior Walk

New Updates to Google Classroom

Google Classroom has just added two new features many teachers have been requesting! See this link for more information! http://bit.ly/2UHoKNH

Brain Breaks
It’s that time of year...our students’ brains are TIRED and so are ours! There is research to support the use of brain breaks. Physical brain breaks during class time resulted in better behavior and students’ time on task. Brain breaks support children’s reading comprehension and creative thinking.

For ideas on brain breaks, see this article from WeAreTeachers - https://www.weareteachers.com/brain-breaks/

Which Digital Citizenship Skills Do Most Students Need?
Digital citizenship has emerged as a top priority in U.S. schools and classrooms. In fact, six out of 10 educators are teaching some kind of digital citizenship skill every month. Which skills do students need most? See this article for the information and tips on promotion in your classroom - http://bit.ly/2LadNF5

iACT Announcements - Week of 4/23

Upcoming Dates
*April 22 - BAD weather Makeup - Holiday
*April 23 - Asst. Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00), Kindergarten Round-up (5:30 - 7:00)
*April 24 - 2nd Grade Rubric Meeting @ CO (3:30)
*April 25 - Angela Pille Retirement @ Fort (3:15 p.m.)
*April 29 - ELAR Adoption meeting @ RCMS (4:00 p.m.)
*April 30 - Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00 a.m.)
*May 1st -
*May 2nd -
*May 3rd -

Kurzweil Extension for Chrome
Reminder... if your students are needing to utilize Kurzweil for oral admin, one of the options for use is to read the web via Chrome Extension. Here's the link to where to find the extension in the Chrome Web Store - http://bit.ly/2W3yrrh. Resources for using the extension and other Kurzweil info can be found here - http://bit.ly/2TjmikZ.

25 of Our Favorite Educational Netflix 

Shows
WeAreTeachers has curated a list of readers’ favorite educational Netflix Shows. To see the list, access their website here - https://www.weareteachers.com/educational-netflix-shows/

18 Creative Ways to Get Kids to Read More
Are those student reading logs starting to look a little sparse? Time to switch things up and encourage students to pick up a book! The ideas share one commonality, positive reinforcement, and will help your students finish their reading year strong - http://bit.ly/2VkT3OM

Websites to Check Out!
*Why Device-Free Dinners Are a Healthy Choice - from Common Sense Media - http://bit.ly/2VhdrQX
*Making Motivational Posters with Google Drawings - https://t.co/Rw0mnMZ9zO
* 11 Essential Chrome Extensions - http://bit.ly/2Vp6ixO

iACT Announcements - Week of 4/15

Upcoming Dates

*April 15 -

*April 16 - Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00)

*April 17 - New Teacher Meeting @ CO (3:45),

*April 18 - DIY PD Day

*April 19 - Good Friday Holiday!

*April 22 - Bad Weather Makeup Holiday

*April 23 - Asst. Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00), Kindergarten Round-up (5:30 - 7:00)

*April 24 - 2nd Grade Rubric Meeting @ CO (3:30)

*April 25 - Angela Pille Retirement @ Fort (3:15 p.m.)

HELP! I Can’t Log Into Eduphoria!

When this happens, put in a tech request. Your campus technician will be able to troubleshoot and ‘unlock’ your account, if needed.

Why Do We Celebrate School Library Month?

April brings School Library Month, National School Librarian Day, Library Workers Day, and National Library Week. We want to acknowledge our awesome campus Library Media Specialists! They are librarians who are passionate teachers, who love books, who are ‘Future Ready,’ who embrace change and LOVE STUDENTS. Thank you to our wonderful RCISD Librarians!

Davis: Debra George
Cherry: Dawn Jordan
Middle School: Andrea Lara
Herndon: Nichole Hahn
Vernon: Christi Mones
Scott: Julie Geer
Fort: Shannon Crowell
High School: Christie Watts

Read this great article on 10 Reasons Why Librarians Are As More Important Than Ever - http://bit.ly/2USbgmL

Follow the RCISD Library Media Service Department on FB - http://bit.ly/2DZsnIz

And Twitter - https://twitter.com/RCISDLibrary

Websites to Check Out!

* Fast Lane - a free platform that helps teachers and education stakeholders bring high school financial literacy to the classroom - https://fastlane-education.org/
* 10 Tools for Effective Peer Feedback - http://bit.ly/2UXTrTc
* Article - Helping Students Beat Test Anxiety - https://edut.to/2UXgSMt

iACT Announcements - Week of 4/8

Upcoming Dates

*April 8 - Board Meeting, Ruth Cherry Presentation, L2L Presentations

*April 9 - STAAR (Writing 4,7; Math 5,8, English I)

*April 10 - STAAR (Reading 5,8)

*April 11 - STAAR (English II)

*April 12 - All make-up testing complete by today

*April 15

*April 16 - Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00)

*April 17 - New Teacher Meeting @ CO (3:45),

*April 18 - DIY PD Day (Make sure you have entered what you are doing on your campus spreadsheet)

*April 19 - Good Friday Holiday!

*April 22 - BAD weather Make-up Holiday

*April 23 - Asst. Principal Meeting @ CO (9:00), Kindergarten Round-up (5:30 - 7:00)

Kurzweil - the new program for Oral Administration (and more!)

The district has purchased a new program to aid students who receive oral administration - Kurzweil. Besides the ability to provide oral admin, it also has many other features within the program.

https://www.kurzweiledu.com/k3000-firefly/overview.html

All RCISD teachers have logins. Choose the “Forgot My Password” option on the website and it will generate an email that will provide your username and allow you to reset your password to one of your choice. The Kurzweil login page is: https://www.kurzweil3000.com/KLogin.php

We’ve offered 3 trainings for staff, but more will be planned in the future. For information and resources on the program, here’s a link to a Google Drive folder of documents - http://bit.ly/2TjmikZ

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. Click on this link for some great ideas for celebrating the month and incorporating poetry. - http://bit.ly/2KardAg

Tidying Up Your Digital Life

Have you gotten on the “Tidying Up with Marie” bandwagon yet? If not, here’s a clip! http://bit.ly/2UoiSgt.

Maybe you’re one who needs their digital life ‘tidied up!” For some great tips on how to clean up and clean out your files and other digital items, see this great blog post from TCEA’s Lori Gracey - http://bit.ly/2UkSFzm

iACT Announcements - Week of 4/1

Upcoming Dates
*April 1 - STAAR Alt 2 Window Opens
*April 2 - Asst. Principal Meeting, TELPAS Submission Day for Holistic Ratings @ RCHS (ESL) 8:30-3:30, Deadline for TELPAS Alt. ratings to be submitted (CTC/Test Admins), Fountas and Pinnell Info session for 5th/6th grade teachers @ 3:30 (Training Room) #TxEdTuesday - More Than A Test
*April 3 - Relay Cohort Meeting in Dallas
*April 4 -
*April 5 - Go Blue for Child Awareness Day, Statewide TELPAS Window Closes
*April 8 - Board Meeting (Recognize Teachers of the Year), Ruth Cherry Presentation
*April 9 - STAAR (Writing 4,7; Math 5,8, English I)
*April 10 - STAAR (Reading 5,8)
*April 11 - STAAR (English II)
*April 12 - All make-up testing complete by today


To Boost Learning, Just Add Movement!
Using movement to enhance learning is effective from preschool all the way through college. Here’s some information about what the research says about movement-based learning, and six different ways you can add more movement to your instruction - http://bit.ly/2OB0dso


10 Ideas for Digital Exit Tickets
How can we make the most of the end of class? How can we tie a bow on a day of class to wrap everything up?
An exit ticket gives us that opportunity — much like bell-ringer activities help us kick class off effectively.
The name “exit ticket” makes it sound like you need a ticket to exit the room, but exit tickets are final quick check-ins with students before class wraps up. See this link for 10 great ideas for exit tickets - http://bit.ly/2OBCDfb



Teachingbooks.net
This WONDERFUL resource is provided through the library resources purchased through the district. Be sure to check it out!

The website describes Teaching Books as this:
From our exclusive, ever-growing, vetted collection of instructional materials about children's and young adult books and authors, everyone can easily...
*Identify exceptional books that reflect diverse cultural experiences, interests, and ability levels
*Obtain resources paired with your book titles that further reading enjoyment, contextual knowledge, and educational relevance
*Share resources with everyone in your community via easy-to-use flyers, emails, texts, embeddable links, and social media
TeachingBooks.net offers every reader the power to enrich their relationship to the books they are reading.

iACT Announcements - Week of 3/25

Upcoming Dates
*March 25th - L2L Meeting @ CO at 4:00 p.m.
*March 26th - K-4 Bilingual Adoption Materials Mtg. @ Central Office (K-2 @ 2:30, 3-4 @ 3:15), IDC Mtg @ Central Office at 4:00 p.m.
*March 27th - Superintendent’s Advisory Council (SAC) @ CO (4:00 p.m.)
*March 28th - District TELPAS Validity & Reliability Meeting @ Admin (ESL) 8:30-3:30,
*April 1 - STAAR Alt 2 Window Opens,
*April 2 - TELPAS Submission Day for Holistic Ratings @ RCHS (ESL) 8:30-3:30, Deadline for TELPAS Alt. ratings to be submitted (CTC/Test Admins)
*April 3 - Relay Cohort Meeting in Dallas
*April 4 -
*April 5 - Go Blue for Child Awareness Day, Statewide TELPAS Window Closes

Student STAAR Scores on texasassessment.com
Every student who takes the STAAR test receives a Confidential Student Report that helps parents see where their child is doing well and where he or she may need extra help.

Instructions for parents on how to look up a student’s test scores can be found here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nxcfGFNjrQ8XZgQ-NUU2glKvS6tfyEO4/view. There are many good resources on https://texasassessment.com/ that will assist parents with how understand STAAR and to help their student at home.


26 Must-Watch TED Talks to Spark Student Discussions
TED Talks can engage students and spark meaningful conversations. At 18 minutes or less, these TED Talks can be a phenomenal classroom resource. Here are some of the best TED Talks students (and you) will find informative, funny, and uplifting. - http://bit.ly/2JwJM1j 

Be Internet Awesome - New Family Resources
Now families can Be Internet Awesome, too, with the launch of new resources for parents. Check out Google’s new Family Guide and Tips available in English or Spanish to help families talk about online safety and digital citizenship at home. This would be a GREAT resource to share with your parents!
https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/en_us/families


Education Galaxy for PARENTS
Parents can now connect with their child's Education Galaxy account to improve the home/school connection. Parents are able to pull 6 different reports, send one-way sticker messages to their child and control notifications about their child's scores.

It allows teachers and school administrators to quickly and easily connect with their online Education Galaxy accounts. Now, you can pull reports from your phone, message your students and live monitor your students in a cinch!

To communicate this to parents, use THIS LETTER - http://bit.ly/2JybaMi 

                                  

iACT Announcements - Week of 3/18


Upcoming Dates
*March 18th - TELPAS Holistic Ratings Week Begins (CTC, ESL, Teachers, Admins), Teachers complete their “RCISD T-TESS Teacher Professional Goal: Parts 2&3 Reflection”
*March 19th -
*March 20th - New Teacher Meeting @ Central Office (3:45)
*March 21st -
*March 22nd -Deadline for all Holistic Ratings to be completed (CTC, ESL, Teachers, Admins)
*March 25th - EOY Conference begin with teachers
*March 26th - Principal Meeting @ Central Office at (9:00 a.m.), 3rd Quarter Review of CIP
*March 27th - Relay Cohort Meeting @ Central Office (4:00), Superintendent’s Advisory Council (SAC) @ CO (4:00 p.m.)
*March 28th - District TELPAS Validity & Reliability Meeting @ Admin (ESL) 8:30-3:30, Board Meeting with City of Fate @ Fate (6:00)

April 18th DIY Professional Learning Day

Information about the April 18th DIY Professional Learning Day can be found HERE - http://bit.ly/2TGSu1E

For tutorials on how to make your reflection within Bulb, here's a link to Bulb pages with lots of information - https://www.bulbapp.com/u/bulb-digital-portfolios~2?sharedLink=540c5edc-ecaa-4be9-a4bf-cdf4d6ecf552

Five Good Places to Find Current Events Stories for Kids
Here are some other good places to find news stories that are written and produced for classroom use - http://bit.ly/2EzE9ty

25 Good G Suite Add-ons & Chrome Extensions
Add-ons provide additional functions in Google Documents, Slides, Sheets, and Forms. You can find each of the following add-ons by opening the “Add-ons” drop-down menu while viewing a Document, Slide, Sheet, or Form. After opening the menu select “get Add-ons” and search for the name of the add-on you wish to use. This is a great resource of 25 good G Suite Add-ons and Chrome Extensions - http://bit.ly/2TNpKEH

iACT Announcements - Week of 2/25

Upcoming Dates
* February 25th - TELPAS Assessment Window Opens, Elementary/Intermediate Principals meeting w/Kenny Kaye @ CO (9:00 a.m.)
* February 26th - Assistant Principal Meeting @ Davis (9:00 a.m.)
* February 27th -
* February 28th - MAP User Conference in Plano
* March 1 -
* March 4th - STEM Innovator Coaching Day, ELAR Textbook Committee Meeting @ CO (4:00 pm), Board Meeting (MMV presentation)
* March 5th - Principal Meeting @ Cherry (9:00 a.m.)
* March 6th - Leadworthy Event in Grand Prairie (Intermediate, RCMS, RCHS), STEAM Formation
* March 7th - Groundbreaking Ceremony for Summers MS (11:00 a.m.), STEAM Innovator Coaching Days, 2nd Grade Report Card Meeting (3:30 p.m.),
* March 8th
* March 11-15 SPRING BREAK!


TxEd Tuesday
The campaign to engage our communities and legislators with the good news happening in Texas Public Schools is growing in popularity. Dozens of districts and hundreds of educators are using #TxEdTuesday to give a glimpse into the successes happening in the classrooms across the state. Continue the work by participating on 2/26 as we Celebrate our CTE programs on social media.

Follow RCISD Library Media Services on Social Media
Follow the district Library Media Services accounts on social media to see the amazing things happening in our libraries!
Facebook - http://bit.ly/2DZsnIz
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RCISDLibrary 

Learning on the Go!

Educational podcasts are a fantastic way to get PD in your pocket. What are educators are loving to listen to right now? Here are 10 podcasts to check out - http://bit.ly/2T0ldy3


Tech Tip: Classroom Screen- Upload Your Photos

Classroom Screen is constantly coming out with new updates to their website. The newest feature is the ability to upload your own photos as the background of Classroom Screen.

Click the background button, and then click the button (circled above) that has the arrow pointing up. Then upload your picture.

You could have a positive quote as the background, an image of your family vacation, or an image of your students.

iACT Announcements - Week of 2/18

Upcoming Dates
* February 18th - Professional Learning Day (Campus-based), 3-6th ELAR teachers at Admin Training Room, Librarians in Innovation Room, SLO Check #3 is due,
* February 19th - Principal Meeting @ Vernon (9:00 a.m.), STEM Innovators Coaching Day, TxEDTuesday_Schedule - please try and tweet about “National FFA Week) Don’t forget to #TxEdTuesday
* February 20th - STEMformation Training @ Admin Training Room (8:30), 4th Grade Writing Meeting @ Scott (3:30 p.m.)
* February 21st - K-2 ELAR Cadre Meeting @ Admin Training Room (8:30), STEM Innovator Coaching Day
* February 22 - Deadline for TELPAS Calibration Attempt #1
* February 25th - TELPAS Assessment Window Opens
* February 26th - Assistant Principal Meeting @ Vernon (9:00 a.m.)
* February 27th -
* February 28th - MAP User Conference in Plano
* March 1 -

Tech Tip: Shortcut to Make a Doc

Here’s a shortcut to make a Google Doc. 

1. In the Chrome Browser, open a new tab.
2. Type "doc.new" in the URL bar.
3. Then a new document will appear.

This saves time from having to go into your Drive, click new, and then click the type of application you want. What a great time saver!

*This will work with other Google Applications, too (sheets, slides, and forms).

Try these:

doc.new
slides.new
forms.new
sheets.new

7 Ways to Spark Engagement
Strengthening students’ sense of connectedness to their learning is a worthwhile goal, and there are some simple ways to do it - https://edut.to/2Gv0Dzs 

Read Works Now Offers Illustrated eBooks
ReadWorks, a fantastic free service for ELA teachers, recently added new illustrated ebooks to their library. These illustrated ebooks can be used in the same way that all other ReadWorks ebooks can be used by you and your students. That includes distributing ebooks to your students through a ReadWorks classroom and or through Google Classroom - more information HERE - https://goo.gl/E6r47s