iACT Announcements - Week of 1/21


Upcoming Dates
* January 21st - MLK Holiday
* January 22nd - Asst. Principal Meeting at Middle School @ 9:00, Interactive Read Aloud Training (3rd - 5th) with Debbie J @ Central Office, STEM Innovator Coaching Day (MS),
* January 23rd - Jayne Knighton @ Ruth Cherry, Relay Cohort in Dallas, CKH Training, Supt. Advisory Committee @ 4:00 p.m.
* January 24th - Relay Cohort in Dallas, CKH Training, Jayne Knighton @ Herndon, 4th Grade teacher Essay Grading @ 3:30,
* January 25th - Gretchen Bernabei Workshop with NTxASCD @ Central Office,


MAP Testing
Window continues to be open until Jan. 30th. Please let Kathy Milton or Amy Hopkins know if you are experiencing any difficulties with testing. They are working closely with Zach Allen and the Technology Department to troubleshoot issues.

The Importance of Teaching the Behaviors You Want to See
How do you respond when students don't exhibit the behaviors you would like to see? Do you tell students they need to change? Do you lecture them about responsibility or respect? Do you complain to your colleagues about kids these days? Do you punish or reward?
Read this excellent article by David Geurin about what educators can do to better address non-learning behaviors - http://bit.ly/2CA8R4P 

20 Ways to Cut Grading Time in Half
In the following pages you’ll find 20 really smart ideas you can mix and match to cut back on the time you spend grading and get those piles of paper under control! - http://bit.ly/2CxRqBT 

Teaching Digital Citizenship with Storybooks
Teaching digital citizenship in a meaningful way can be daunting. These picture books illustrate important concepts beautifully - http://bit.ly/2CDuRvy

iACT Announcements - Week of 1/14

Upcoming Dates

* January 14th - 2nd SLO Check for teachers (remember that teachers update the spreadsheet they have in Google Drive - already linked in Eduphoria); IDC Meeting @ 4:00 at Central Office

* January 15th - L2L Meeting @ 4:00 pm at Central Office

* January 16th - STEM Innovators Coaching Day, Relay Cohort @ 4:00 p.m. at Central Office

* January 17th - Jayne Knighton @ RCMS, CTC Make-Up Training (9:00 - 12:00) @ Central Office

* January 21st - MLK Holiday

* January 22nd - Interactive Read Aloud Training (3rd - 5th) with Debbie J @ Central Office, STEM Innovator Coaching Day

* January 23rd - Jayne Knighton @ Ruth Cherry, CKH Training, Supt. Advisory Committee @ 4:00 p.m.

* January 24th - CKH Training, Jayne Knighton @ Herndon, 4th Grade teacher Essay Grading @ 3:30

* January 25th - Gretchen Bernabei Workshop with NTxASCD @ Central Office

TexQuest
TexQuest is a statewide digital resources program that provides anytime, anywhere access to high quality, authoritative digital resources to all educators, students, and students' immediate families in Texas K-12 public schools and open enrollment charter schools. Supported, in part, by appropriations from the Texas State Legislature, Texas districts pay a small per student participation fee to gain access to TexQuest resources from the providers.

Some of the resources in TexQuest: encyclopedias, newspaper articles, images, videos, e-books, learning games, test prep…. and SO MUCH MORE!

RCISD TexQuest resources can be accessed through Clever under the "Inquiry and Research" section.

Information/Training on TexQuest
*Introductory Slideshow
*The Username/Password with descriptions of each resource can be found here
*Links to training videos on each resource: http://texquest.net/welcome/texquesttraining

Please see your campus Library Media Specialist for more information and/or training. This is a valuable resource for you and your students!

Check Out These Great Resources
4 Great Social Studies Apps
4 Good Chrome Apps for Science Teachers

New Features Added to Google Classroom

Last week, Google unveiled a couple of new features for Google Classroom!  

iACT Announcements - Week of 1/7

Upcoming Dates

*January 7th - Lesson Fixer Upper and Humanex Survey Results
*January 8th - Campus Workday and Humanex Goal Setting
*January 9th - New Teacher Meeting @ 3:45 at Central Office
*January 10th - 2nd Grade Report Card Meeting @ 3:30 at Central Office
*January 14th - 2nd SLO Check for teachers - see announcement below; IDC Meeting @ 4:00 at Central Office
*January 15th - L2L Meeting @ Central Office
*January 16th - STEM Innovators Coaching Day
*January 17th - Jayne Knighton @ RCMS


MAP Testing
Middle of Year (MOY) window opens on January 9th closes on Jan. 30th. 2nd grade tests should only be set to read to those students that need it. 3rd - 10th should not turn on oral administration unless students receives that accommodation. Please call Kathy Milton with any questions.

SLO - Student Learning Objectives

It’s time for the January 14th SLO (Student Learning Objective) Progress Check!
Teachers should have already downloaded and filled out the Student Growth Tracker at the
beginning of the year.

Here are the directions (for new staff members not having done this earlier in the year.)
*Documentation will be done on a Google Sheet- Here is the link to the Google form for the

Student Growth Tracker. It will force you to make a copy. The link will be placed in Strive.

See the above directions on where to place the link to your Growth Tracker Document in Strive.

*The dates for each of the progress checks is listed on the form - Nov 12th, January 14th,
and February 18th.
*Remember that the point of the checks is for teachers to adjust instruction for the students who are not growing - not just document where kids are.

Amazon Inspire

Amazon Inspire is a service that provides educators a place to discover, manage, rate, review,
and share educational resources. Teachers, schools, districts, and third-party publishers contribute
to the Amazon Inspire library of instructional resources across the country. Amazon Inspire
will help educators discover digital resources, benefit and learn from the work of their peers,
and help improve the quality of education across the country.

Impact of Reading: Why 30 Minutes?

How many minutes per day should students be reading? What is the relationship between how much students read and their comprehension growth? In this article, you’ll learn the research and impact of reading 30 minutes per day.

iACT Announcements - Week of 12/17

Upcoming Dates
* December 21st - Early Release (Elementary/Intermediate @ 12:00, MS/HS @ 1:00 - Merry Christmas!
* January 7th - Lesson Fixer Upper
* January 8th - Campus Workday
* January 9th - New Teacher Meeting @ 3:45 at Central Office
* January 10th - 2nd Grade Report Card Meeting @ 3:30 at Central Office

Article on Strategies for Slow-Working Students
Jennifer Gonzales, author of Cult of Pedagogy Blog reposted this great article about strategies to use for slow-working students. Check out some great strategies she discusses that work with all students!

5 Ways to Display YouTube in Class Without “Related” Content
This article highlights five tools that you can use to display YouTube videos without showing the related video suggestions and comments - http://bit.ly/2CiZt6I

What is Formative Data?
Feedback is essential to a student’s learning story. That same feedback helps students set goals and determine what they have learned or not learned yet. How are students getting meaningful feedback in class and from their assessment evidence? - http://bit.ly/2CfWr2Y

iACT Announcements - Week of 12/10

Upcoming Dates
*December 10th - Board Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.
*December 11th - Bilingual Coaching @ MMV (Emelia Ahmed)
*December 12th - Bilingual Coaching @ Fort (Emelia Ahmed), Relay Cohort @ 4:00 @ Fort
*December 14th - Paraprofessional Brunch
*December 21st - Early Release (Elementary/Intermediate @12:00, MS/HS @ 1:00 - Merry Christmas!

Fountas and Pinnell Resource
Building Momentum in Schools is a great resource for K-2 teachers. This website explains how the Fountas and Pinnell reading levels work and provides some great resources for parents. You will find some great flyers to send home to parents based on reading levels.

BrainPop
BrainPop has wonderful resources, lessons, and at home connections for families. Take a look at their educator site to access all the great content they have to offer - https://educators.brainpop.com/ 


Beyond Hour of Code
So many of our students participated in Hour of Code last week. Thank you for introducing and/or reinforcing computer science concepts with our students. Here’s blog post to extend Hour of Code
past the first week of December!
http://ditchthattextbook.com/2018/12/03/beyond-the-hour-of-code-20-free-lessons-for-teaching-computer-science/

iACT Announcements - Week of 12/3

Upcoming Dates

* December 3rd - English I EOC, Learn2Lead Meeting @ 4:00 @ CO

* December 4th - Algebra I EOC, Literacy Coaching @ MMV with (Jayne Knighton)

* December 5th - English II EOC, Benchmark Assessment System Training with Debbie Jarzombek, K-8 Textbook Adoption Meeting @ CO (2:30 p.m.)

* December 6th - Biology EOC, Literacy Coaching @ Fort (Jayne Knighton)

* December 7th - US History EOC

* December 10th - Board Meeting @ 7:00 p.m.

* December 11th - Bilingual Coaching @ MMV (Emelia Ahmed)

* December 12th - PBMAS Meeting with Core Team @ 8:30 @ CO Training Room), Bilingual Coaching @ Fort (Emelia Ahmed),

* December 14th - Paraprofessional Brunch

Education Galaxy Lift Off
Struggling learners need extra support. Liftoff will build confidence for your at-risk students and provide the support and instruction they need to improve.
* First, students take an adaptive diagnostic to determine their level on a variety of skills.
* Once their level is determined, students work at that level and quickly elevate to more difficult concepts.
* Alien Explanations provide immediate instructional videos for every missed question.
* Games, collectible rockets, and alien rankings, make Liftoff fun and engaging for students.
* Video overview - https://educationgalaxy.wistia.com/medias/ca62y0027c

Education Galaxy does not automatically make Lift Off available to all students. Teachers need to activate Lift Off for their students. Here’s a video showing how to do this:
* Activate Education Galaxy Lift Off:
https://educationgalaxy.wistia.com/medias/zfhmtmc350

Studies Weekly
It seems that sometimes, Studies Weekly automatically assigns the publications to students based on their grade level. Sometimes, it doesn't. We called Studies Weekly and they can’t say why this happens!

If yours is an account that's not assigning publications automatically, here's what you need to do.
* Sign in to your teacher account.
* Go to Classes, Manage Publications
Assign the publications to students in this location.

iACT Announcements - Week of 11/26

Upcoming Dates:
* November 26th - IDC Meeting @ CO @ 4:00 p.m.
* November 27th - Literacy Coaching @ Davis (Jayne Knighton), Relay Cohort to training in Dallas
* November 28th - New Teachers Meeting @ 3:45 p.m. @ CO, SAC Meeting @ 4:00 p.m. (CO)
* November 29th - Literacy Coaching @ Scott (Jayne Knighton),
* November 30th - First Responders Luncheon at CO
* December 3rd - English I EOC, Learn2Lead Meeting @ 4:00 @ CO
* December 4th - Algebra I EOC, Literacy Coaching @ MMV with (Jayne Knighton)
* December 5th - English II EOC, Benchmark Assessment System Training with Debbie Jarzombek, K-8 Textbook Adoption Meeting @ CO (3:45 p.m.)
* December 6th - Biology EOC, Literacy Coaching @ Fort (Jayne Knighton)
* December 7th - US History EOC

TEKS Resource System Pacing Guides
If you use TEKS Resource System (ELAR, SLAR, Math, Science, Social Studies), Region 10 has pacing tools that help you plan each unit to meet the designated number of days. In order to login, you will need to login to your Region 10 account and when prompted to put in the pacing tool password, enter “R10pacingtools”. These tools provide performance assessments, daily teaching suggestions, and formative assessment ideas. These are extremely helpful in planning units and to fully understanding the scope and contents of each unit. Be sure to check them out!

John Hattie’s High Impact Teaching Strategies:
A great reminder on the importance of John Hattie's High Impact Teaching Strategies:
1.) Your actions can make a difference despite other hurdles that your students may face.
2.) Some approaches to your work as a teacher are likely to have a far larger impact than others. Therefore, it makes sense to start with those.
3.) No approach to teaching will work for every student, all of the time. As a result, you need to be always aware of the impact that you are having on your students. Then you adjust your approach when necessary.
Check out his website for more information

iACT Announcements - Week of 11/12

Upcoming Dates:

* November 12th - SLO Check #1 for Teachers, Literacy Coaching @ Scott (Jarzombek)

* November 13th - Literacy Coaching @ Vernon (Jarzombek), Literacy Coaching @ MS (Jayne Knighton),
2nd Grade Report Card Meeting @ CO (3:30)

* November 14th - Bilingual Coaching @ Davis (Ahmed)

* November 17th-25th - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

SLO - Student Learning Objectives

* Teachers should be ready to fill out the Student Growth Tracker. Here are the directions for
what teacher need to do!
* Documentation will be done on a Google Sheet- Here is the link to the Google
form for the Student Growth Tracker. It will force you to make a copy. The link will be placed
in Strive. See the above directions on where to place the link to your Growth Tracker Document in Strive.

* The dates for each of the progress checks is listed on the form - Nov 12th, January 14th, and February 18th.

* Remember that the point of the checks is for teachers to adjust instruction for the students
who are not growing - not just document where kids are.

Don’t Know Where to Start with Bulb?

Here’s an awesome STARTER ASSIGNMENT for you and your students. https://www.bulbapp.com/u/bulb-starter-assignment~2

12 Good Educational YouTube Channels for Young Learners 
This list of interesting YouTube channels provides educational video content for kids. The (channels) cover a heterogeneous set of educational topics using fun, entertaining, and colorful animations. Kids will get to learn basic math concepts, literacy skills, explore the world around them, engage in creative hands-on activities, experiment with various ideas and challenges, learn through nursery rhymes and music and many more.

iACT Announcements - Week of 11/5

Upcoming Dates:
* November 5th - Literacy Coaching @ Davis (Jarzombek). STEM Innovators Coaching Day (HS), E2L Meeting @ 4:00 @ CO with Sean Walker
* November 6th - Literacy Coaching @ Fort (Jarzombek). STEM Innovators Coaching Day (MS),
* November 8th - Literacy Coaching @ MMV (Knighton)
* November 12th - SLO Check #1 for Teachers, Literacy Coaching @ Scott (Jarzombek), IDC Meeting @ CO (4:00 p.m.)
* November 13th - Literacy Coaching @ Vernon (Jarzombek), Literacy Coaching @ MS (Jayne Knighton), , 2nd Grade Report Card Meeting @ CO (3:30)
* November 14th - Bilingual Coaching @ Davis (Ahmed), STEMFormation Training @ CO (STEAM Cohort Group)

Presenter Badges
On your Badging poster, you might have noticed the circles for presenters at the bottom of the poster! (see illustration below) We certainly want to honor those of you who are taking the time to share best practices, resources, and strategies that help all of us to grow. You can earn prizes for filling up those circles and it is really easy to do!!!!!

You can earn presenter badges for presenting on a WOW Wednesday, a Lunch and Learn, a faculty meeting, or Lesson Fixer-Upper, etc! The easiest way to earn one of those badges is to plan and present at a faculty meeting or PLC meeting! All you have to do is let your principal or iACT coach know what your plans are and they will help you submit your sign-in sheet to Amber Medlin (iACT’s fabulous Admin Assistant). Amber will get your session entered in Eduphoria so that you receive credit for the PD.

One of the goals of teacher led PD is to continue to ensure equity for our students. The more that teachers share best practices and resources, the more likely it is for ALL children to learn. Feel free to let other campuses know if you offering a session or keep it small by inviting only your PLC. ANYTHING that helps you ensure students are learning and you share with your colleagues can count for PD! Please see Glenda, Dana, Kristen, and Valerie and your principals for ideas!

Edgenuity MyPath
Many MS and HS staff members have received training on Edgenuity MyPath. MyPath is a supplemental program for grades 7-12, designed to meet students where they are in reading and math, and give them the specific instruction and practice they need to catch up and keep up. Here are a few resources to guide you as you use this with your students.
* Slides - http://bit.ly/2ALHMvT
* Parent Information for At-Home Use: http://bit.ly/2AzRCRi
* Edgenuity Reports and Data - http://bit.ly/2ALI06d

Education Galaxy - translate to Spanish
Did you know students have the option to receive some of the Education Galaxy instruction in Spanish? To change the language preference for students, see these instructions - http://bit.ly/2AMghlK

Have You Seen This Blog?
Some good resources for teachers - https://brenhamtechdaily.blogspot.com/

iACT Announcements - Week of 10/29

Upcoming Dates:

* October 29th - Bright Bytes Survey open through the end of the week! District Improvement Council Meeting @ CO (4:15 p.m.)
* October 30th - Literacy Coaching @ Davis (Knighton)
* October 31st - Superintendent’s Advisory Council @ 4:00 @ CO
* November 1st - Bilingual Meeting @ 8:30, Literacy Coaching @ Fort (Knighton)
* November 2nd - Bilingual Coaching @ Vernon (Emelia Ahmed)
* November 5th - Literacy Coaching @ Davis (Jarzombek). STEM Innovators Coaching Day (HS), E2L Meeting @ 4:00 @ CO with Sean Walker
* November 6th - Literacy Coaching @ Fort (Jarzombek). STEM Innovators Coaching Day (MS)


SLO - Student Learning Objectives
* Teachers should be ready to fill out the Student Growth Tracker. Here are the directions for what teacher need to do!* Documentation will be done on a Google Sheet- Here is the link to the Google form for the Student Growth Tracker. It will force you to make a copy. The link will be placed in Strive. See the above directions on where to place the link to your Growth Tracker Document in Strive.
* The dates for each of the progress checks is listed on the form - Nov 12th, January 14th, and February 18th.
* Remember that the point of the checks is for teachers to adjust instruction for the students who are not growing - not just document where kids are.

Bulb - Learn At Your Own Pace!
bulb is the digital portfolio for education where students, educators and professionals curate, share and showcase. We’re seeing lot of staff and students jumping on board! If you’d love to learn more so you can implement it with your students, why not work AT YOUR OWN PACE with these online courses? Bulb 101 contains 9 lessons; Bulb 201 has 6 lessons. https://www.bulbapp.com/u/bulb-master-course


Photo/Clipart Sites to Share with Your Students:
It’s always hard to find good photo and clipart sites that are appropriate to use in the classroom, free of copyright restrictions. Here are a few to try out and share with your students.
**Note the graphic and suggested ages for each site.
Pixabay  - https://pixabay.com/en/
Unsplash - https://unsplash.com/
Photos for Class - https://www.photosforclass.com/

Pexels - https://www.pexels.com/
Openclipart - https://openclipart.org/