Kleckner's Korner

I try not to overly share information about myself in the Smore (hallways however..well...) however, I decided that in order for you to get my full message I have to share some of my nauseous November with you.

its hasn't been my month (or anyone's year), the one strong hold that's really kept me together is all of you. Coming to work, seeing your faces, talking with students, yes...even hiding feathers has kept me grounded.

I appreciate EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU. I appreciate your dedication to our students but I also appreciate your dedication to each other. You do an amazing job each day and I'm thankful to be here with all of you. I hope you all enjoy this next week and get some much needed rest.

I'm soooo thankful I have ya'll to keep me going!

Progress reports will lock over the holiday break. Student grades must be updated before the gradebook locks. This means, entering grades for all students for every assignment you plan to count. If students are missing assignments you need to enter zero's so parents see there is work that needs to be completed. Otherwise, the missing assignment won't count in the grade average. At this point in the grading cycle you should have 6 to 7 grades for each subject.

Cycle 2 Progress Notice #2 End Date – *Friday, November 27, 2020

Teacher Gradebook Lock – *Sunday, November 29, 2020 at 11:45 p.m.

Cycle grade guidelines and weights

Teachers are required to update grades in Skyward a minimum of one time per week.

· Minor grades: 80% (8 grades minimum)
Classwork, assignments, homework and quizzes

· Major grades: 20% (2-3 grades minimum)

Tests, projects, products, Benchmark Exams, common assessments

Please reach out if you have questions about grading or need support.

A thank you to everyone that has gotten signatures on all of their PSMs and a reminder to reach out to parents on Friday for any remaining PSMs, they will need to be signed virtually before the end of the day on Friday.

Also, a reminder to update your 1069 documentation for November, update documentation will be due Dec. 4th.

Guided Reading:

For students who are struggling with foundational skills, decodable readers are an appropriate substitute for leveled readers during guided reading.

If you would like me to model a guided reading F2F lesson, let me know the time, and I'll be there.

For F2F/Virtual guided reading modeling, we should have videos of other teachers soon to share; Cara Warren can also model if you would like her to come. Cara also provided this resource for phonics readers to use: speldsa.org.au The phonics books include fluency word charts to overview prior to reading and one-pagers for quick phonics lessons.

Check out my ELST page under the "Balanced Literacy" button for Book Reviews students can use during independent reading; more will be added as I make them as well.

Curriculum Updates:

K-2--New Seesaw lessons have been added, and there is a tab for an HMH family letter that discusses what will be taught in each Module.

3rd: Multiple-choice revising and editing items will be included as field test items on grades 3–8 STAAR reading tests in Spring 2020 and 2021. These items will be embedded in the assessments and will have no accountability measure.

The new writing items will not become operational until the 2021–2022 school year. They look similar to the 4th grade multiple choice revising and editing passages--and there are Samples on the TEA website.

Mercedes - She was the first person to get all of her PSMs signed, thank you for all of your hard work and effort. - Esther

1. 2021 STEAM Zooming into Science and Engineering - ALL CLASSROOM TEACHERS

2. Accessing Lead4Ward Field Guides - 3-5 Teachers

3. Aspiring Administrators Academy - those interested

4. Dual Language November PLC - ALL Bilingual Teachers

5. Eduphoria Aware Update Feature, printing booklets - 2-5 teachers

6. Hour of Code - All teachers

7. Random Moment of Time Study - all SPED peeps

8. Retake CBA information - 2-5 teachers

9. Sheltered Instruction Training for 20-21 - email sent to those who need it.

November

****27 - Required and Recommended Videos Due; Progress Report Notice 2 grades end

****29 - Progress Reports Notice 2 Locks at 11:45pm

30 - Virtual Book Fair starts

December

***3 - 12 Days til Christmas Break starts

4-9 - Fall Technology Audit: PC's, monitors, camaras, printers, and scanners

18 - Winter Sing a long

18 - Cycle 2 Report Card grades end

21 - January 1 - Holiday Break

January

3 - Cycle 2 grades lock at 11:45pm

4 - Earned Flex Day

5 - Q3 Begins

15 - Q2 Awards

If you need assistance with individual concerns or counseling services, please reach out to Mrs. Medrano-Johnson at gmedranojohnson@garlandisd.net,

or fill out the following Park Crest Request for Counseling Services form.