Week 1.1 (Beginning of the School Year)

#BeTheLIGHT
I am so proud of each and everyone of you.  You did amazing work, and our kids and parents are going to be so impressed on the first day of school.  Start strong and consistent, and stay committed and persistent.  Most importantly, don't forget to turn on the LIGHT for your students!

TechTip of the Week

If you want to know how to quickly find the Teacher Toolbox, please watch this video and learn how.

Top 10 First Week of School Strategies
As a follow up of our work this summer and last week, here is a list of 10 strategies that will guarantee that every student has a great first week of school where they will learn consistent high expectations in every classroom with high levels of support.

1. Call every student by name and build a strong relationship with them.
2. Establish, communicate, and teach strong routines and procedures.
3. pRAISE or thank students for meeting your expectations for working and learning.
4. Execute your interception plan for misbehaviors with proximity, praising other students, and frequency.
5. Build relationships with parents with positive message, email, text, Remind, or phone call.
6. Teach students the importance of notetaking and using their brain, C1 and how to use the room's resources to drive learning, C2.
7. Have students turn and talk every 5 - 10 minutes about the content C3.
8. Promote +10 and that the goal of the class is for every student to grow in their learning.
9. Promote, teach, and expect bell to bell learning, for this is the only way to reach our goals.
10. CELEBRATE!  What gets celebrated gets accelerated!  

Staff Shoutout
We have some awesome folks who have taken off with their lesson plans and you need to go see what they're doing.  Here are a few people to see.

• Primary - Shayne Thames, Amanda Ivy, Debbie Miller, Anneth Garcia-Rodriguez, June Barnes
• Libby - Karol Weeks, Rosalind Rougely, Scarlett Rivera, Rileigh Parker, Crystal Capps, Mary Taylor, Kim Bullock
• Baker Koonce - Jennifer Tucker, Shelley Goolsby, April Bagley, Crystal Cantrelle, Julie Dieter
• Junior High - Lauren Garvie and Jeff Griffin (Team Planning), Carla Johnson, Taylor Sharpe, Linda Kimberly
• High School - Art Horton and Brian Caver (Team Planning), Sherry Parker, Sandra Maxey, Belinda Ratcliff, Schelice Reyes, Ana Pellon, Alicia Stewart, Karen Shamburger

Upcoming Events

• Week 1.1 Focus - Routines & Procedures & C4B4Me
• Fri, Aug 23 - Last day to sign up for TRS-Active Care Insurance and Benefits
• Week 1.2 Focus - Relationships for Learning
• Fri, Aug 30 - Last day to turn in Payroll Deduction Authorization & Sick Leave Bank
• Week 1.3 Focus - Engagement:  Note-taking & Collaboration
• Mon, Sep 2 - Labor Day (No School)
• Fri, Sep 6 - Formative Assessment 1 (FA1) is due for STAAR tested teachers.  CLICK ASSESSMENT TAB to learn how to build FA's.
• Fri, Sep 6 - End of 3 Weeks (Have gradebook ready to submit)
• Tue, Sep 10 - Last day to notify payroll department of any changes in Salary Information Verification

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