ROO WAAG - Edition #17 !

Dear Roo Nation,

As we move through the final week of January, I want to take a moment to thank you for the energy, care, and professionalism you continue to bring to our school each day. This time of year, can feel especially full; academically, emotionally, and logistically and your steady commitment to our students does not go unnoticed.

Your work in the classroom and beyond is making a meaningful difference, whether it’s helping students stay focused during the winter stretch, supporting one another as colleagues, or maintaining the high standards that define our school community.

As we look ahead to February, please remember to take care of yourselves as well. Thank you for all that you do and for the positive impact you continue to have on our students and on each other.

Our KHS F.A.M.I.L.Y. values—Integrity, Collaboration, Relationships, Success, and School Pride—are not just words; they are lived out daily through our actions, appreciate you all.

Wishing you a strong finish to the month.

GO ROO’s,

Miguel Timarky

Principal

ROOS, January marks a fresh start to the year and a time for reflection, refocus, and renewal. It gives us the opportunity to reset our intentions, support our students with renewed energy, and continue building a positive, engaging learning environment. As we enter a new semester, it’s a great time to revisit goals, strengthen relationships, and encourage students to see each day as a new opportunity for growth and success.🦘 “Roo Pride Runs Deep — KHS Strong, Always Justified!"🤟

Teachers and Staff, as you greet students each morning, consider asking a fun “Would You Rather” question to spark conversation, build connections, and start the day on a positive note.

ROOS, have students stand or sit based on their choice. Here are a few to assist you:

January's CKH Trait is RESPECT. For ROO Faculty and Staff, RESPECT means valuing every student by treating them with kindness, listening to their voices, and honoring their feelings, space, and perspectives.

Hey ROOS,

Take time out and read this article by Marcus Luther from the January 15, 2026 edition of Edutopia.

Incorporating peer review and individual reflections makes frequent, intentional formative assessment manageable, with big benefits for student learning.

Early in my teaching career, I remember shuddering a bit on the inside when someone brought up the importance of “formative assessments.”

In my mind, I was already drowning with the actual assessments in the classroom in terms of designing them and giving effective feedback—and on top of these summative assessments I now was expected to bring in formative assessments, too?

As an early-career teacher, I was already overwhelmed. So formative assessments were few and far between in the classroom.

Which was a mistake.

Looking back now, I realize two things I was entirely wrong about: First, there were ways for formative assessments to be much more efficient and effective than I initially realized, and second, a classroom built around formative assessments was much, much better for student learning.

3 WAYS TO LEAN ON FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT MORE EFFECTIVELY

1.) Target a specific skill for feedback in a longer task. Perhaps one of the downsides of rubric culture has been to try to provide expectations and grading guidelines for every aspect of an assignment. This is understandable and well-intended, as students often ask for and appreciate clarity while teachers need a tool to rely upon to justify their grade.

However, the result? Teachers spend too much time trying to give feedback on every aspect of the task, and as a result, the quality of the feedback is stretched thin by its quantity, and students also are often overwhelmed by all the different notes they receive in return. (Not to mention the research around too many grades being a potential negative.)

The shift I’ve made in recent years is to remind myself that you can ask students to practice without attaching a grade to everything—and, I’ll admit, having a strong spiral notebook system is incredibly helpful with this—but also remember that you do not need to leave feedback on everything you ask students to do.

Instead, I much more frequently have students write a constructed response and then highlight a targeted focus of the day’s lesson. For example, I may have students write a response to one of our readings and then highlight their use of a skill we have just covered, such as a participle phrase or colon-introduced textual evidence.

On my end, this makes the feedback stage much more effective. I zoom in on the specific skill I wanted them to focus on and give detailed, high-quality feedback, and with the “zooming in” that feedback tends to be much more effective as well as efficient—better for me, and better for students.

2.) Empower students to score themselves with peer samples. As many teachers have experienced, one of the downsides of exit tickets is the time it takes to read and provide feedback on each of them individually. Given the time constraints in our work, though, many teachers choose to assess student learning less frequently.

A strategy I lean on to still provide these formative assessment opportunities despite not having nearly enough time? Building a “feedback lesson” for the following day off of exit tickets.

The first step here is to read a handful of the exit tickets and curate a range of responses in quality. For example, if the task had a rubric scale of 1.0–4.0 points, I would be looking for one that cleanly fit into each level of the rubric. From there, I make copies either physically or digitally, removing student names and frequently creating my own version of the lower student samples to avoid a student seeing their own work receiving too many critiques.

Then, at the start of the next lesson, I create a “peer feedback gallery walk.” I walk students through the previous lesson’s exit ticket criteria and any rubric that was provided, and then students get “to be Mr. Luther”: They travel the room, usually in pairs or small groups, trying to accurately score and leave feedback on each sample.

Once everyone has completed this activity, I review the actual score and reasoning for each of the samples in front of the class, addressing any questions students might have. Then students receive their own exit ticket back and score themselves—reflecting on what they did well and also what they could have improved upon.

To be clear: This isn’t just about saving time—it is about shifting agency to students in understanding their own work and building the capacity for ownership in their learning journey as we move forward.

3.) Utilize a student confidence reflection. Of course, it is important to have reliable methods of understanding what students have learned and where they are with the skills we are working on in class. But what sometimes gets left out? How students see themselves as learners.

This is why I try to go one step further with my formative assessments as frequently as possible by adding in a simple, final question before students are done: How confident are you in what you just did?

Usually on a numerical scale (for example, 1–5), I ask students to identify their current level of confidence and add a brief reflection of why before they submit a formative assessment.

As a result, I walk away with two things I see as critical to being my best self as a teacher. First, I have a much clearer understanding of how individual students feel about themselves with whatever our current learning focus is. Stepping back, I also get a snapshot of how I am doing as a teacher—because if students don’t feel confident about what they’re learning, I have work to do. Plus, there is a ton of value, I believe, in helping students develop metacognitive strengths around self-reflection with activities like this.

In too many classrooms, assessments are where learning stops. Students do their best, they receive a grade or test score, and then we move on.

Moving toward a focus on formative assessment in the classroom opens the door, however, to an ongoing conversation around student learning. Instead of having students take a high-stakes assessment each month or so, I can build the classroom around more-frequent, more-targeted opportunities to understand where students are and communicate back to them what’s next. This is the space where I’m at my best as a teacher, and that’s why I want to continue leaning into a classroom that centers formative assessment—intentionally, frequently, and reflectively.

Courtesy of Marcus Luther

Question: What do you call a teacher who forgot to take attendance?

🦘Absent-minded!

Question: What is the longest word in the dictionary?

🦘Smiles. Because there's a mile between the first letter and the last.

Question: Why was the math book sad?

🦘Because, it had to many problems.

• Active monitor your students throughout the lesson.
• Post the focused skill for the week in a visible location.
• Provide support and guidance when students are struggling with skills.

Continue encouraging students as we work toward mastering two skills each week. Let’s keep pushing forward — we believe in you, and we are KHS STRONG!

Hey ROOS!

Teachers, please continue to intentionally follow the Ellevation Criteria by clearly posting language objectives, providing structured opportunities for student discourse, and using targeted supports for English learners, and thank you for your dedication and commitment to meeting the needs of all students. 🤟

Remeber that the Ellevation program empowers educators to make informed instructional decisions that improve outcomes for English learners (ELs). By combining real-time student data with tailored professional development, Ellevation provides EL educators with the tools needed to build exceptional systems of student support.

Last Saturday, our KHS JROTC team had an outstanding performance at the Granbury JROTC Competition, finishing 7th overall!

This competition was extra special because it marked the first time three of our cadets traveled to compete, and they represented Killeen High School with pride, determination, and teamwork every step of the way. Congratualations! ROOS!!

👕👖 Dress Code Reminder – Let’s Start Strong! 👟🎒
Hey ROOS! We will be consistently enforcing the district dress code to help maintain a safe and focused learning environment. #KHSStrong #RooPride #DressForSuccess

Roo Strong, Student Strong! Our strength is in how we support one another — teaching with purpose, learning with pride, and growing together all month long. Together we rise, learn, and lead with heart this January. Let’s make every day count!

***January's CKH Monthly Trait: Respect***

" Knowledge will give you power, but character respect."

-----Bruce Lee

" Politeness and Consideration of Others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back. "

-----Thomas Sowell