SEPTEMBER

Lisa Rakofsky 9/9

Susan Stern 9/16

Lauren Akolkar 9/18

Arien Hardin 9/25

Nelson Hooks 9/25

Pivot

PPE

(more to come as the list grows)

Employee Handbook Receipt and Compensation Notice

There are two documents for all employees to view and accept through the TEAMS Employee Service Center at esc.pisd.edu: The 2020-2021 Compensation, Supplemental Duties and/or Stipend Acknowledgment and the 2020-2021 Employee Handbook Receipt.

You must view and then accept each document. The deadline for electronic acceptance is Friday, September 18, 2020.

Step by step instructions can be found here. Please contact the Help Desk (ext. 28767 or TSOS@pisd.edu) if you need assistance with your login ID and password, or with any part of the acceptance process.

Prior to meeting with your appraiser for the TPG/SLO meeting, you want to have (at minimum) an idea of what you like your goal to be.

Below are a list of goal examples that incorporate blended and f2f learning. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X2QIP8MXOH-X9XLN0jOObeJhv8DFjuYqx1T1ulYUsa8/edit?usp=sharing

ALL TEACHERS:

All goals must be submitted into PowerSchool Perform. If you need assistance with this process, please reach out to your Appraiser.

GOALS ONLY TEACHERS:

If you are a Goals-Only Teacher, make sure to complete the T-TESS Rotation Agreement.

*You will know if you are Goals-Only Teacher if the T-TESS Rotation Agreement shows up in Perform. If it is not available for you to complete, you will have a full T-TESS observation.

**All new teachers or new to campus teachers will have observations.

In case you need it again, attached is the T-TESS Appraisal Schedule for the 2020-2021 school year.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uYuX_W-a9ktBCRrOc0PiqBByArd5ITIf/view?usp=sharing

***NEW INFORMATION***

Grades

UIL eligibility and progress reports will be collected on September 21st. As you plan your lessons and grades, you should have a minimum of 1 or 2 major grades and 5 daily grades in your gradebook by this point. On September 21st we ask that you not make any changes on grades until the following day. All grades need to be updated before 8:00 am on September 21st. This will help us with our eligibility report for UIL.

Class Crashers

A few of you have experienced some "random" students zoom-bombing your classes. Please let admin know immediately so we can address.

Restroom & Nurse Sign In/Out for Students

When exiting and entering your class to go to the bathroom or nurse, students will be required to scan a QR code that will send them to a google form to complete. A QR code is already in your boxes. It will also be sent to you electronically.

Goal Conferences

Your appraiser will be reaching out soon to schedule your goal conference. Be on the look out.

MTSS Video

We will be going through to ensure that all MTSS Videos have been watched. You will receive an email if you have not completed the training and submitted the accompanying google form.

*OLDIES, BUT GOODIES*

Picture Day

Monday, September 21st: Remote Students Only (remote staff can take pics this day)

Wednesday, September 23rd: Face-to-Face Students Only

Renner All Emails

Please be mindful of your Renner All emails. We completely understand that they need to be sent occasionally, but please do your best to limit them.

Web Pages & Google Classroom Codes

If you have your google classroom codes on your web page, please take them down. We are wanting to avoid any class-crashers.

Match the Pet to the Owner Board: Paula has volunteered to update the big bulletin board outside of the lounge. Please send her your pet pictures. No people! We want to play the game where we match the pet to its person. Email your pics to: paula.sandoval@pisd.edu

New Donors!

Ridley

Andrade

Akolkar

Harbin

Koons

Kizer

Whitman

Duckworth

McCann

Vicente

Mathas

(Please contact Sharon.wilder@pisd.edu if you have donated and your name is not on this list!)

Check out what you all did! Amazing!!!!

https://sites.google.com/pisd.edu/rmsopenhouse/home

..so far only 40 folks have joined!

*There is now a Google Classroom setup where we will put all remote learning resources. Hopefully, this will help minimize some of the email traffic while still giving you access to all of the technology helpsheets, videos, links, etc. If there is something that you would like to share with staff/add to the classroom, let Katie Aycock know and she will add you.

**Here is the Code for GC is zh27c24**

Last year, Ms. Bright won her very own parking spot! Unfortunately, she was unable to get and use it due to...well you know why. So, FINALLY, we were able to set up her spot. If you see this sign...you should clearly be able to ascertain that this spot is not for you. It is Ms. Bright's! Congrats, Ms. Bright, and thank you for your patience!

*Shout out to Doug O'Bryant and Demarkus Barnes for completing the "installation."

Positive Phone Calls have begun..began..begunned. Keep submitting them!

Form here: https://forms.gle/Bk5yUCvXj7iVSrmi9

**Please make sure to include the student's entire first and last name(s) when filling out the form. Be detailed in your reason for recognition as Ms. Cindy will read it verbatim to the parents.

We have 44 staff members that have not joined. No pressure. But, please join, please! Let us know if we can be of any help.

Dot & Andrade

-------------------------

Dear Renner Teachers and Staff,

Thank you ALL for your hard work in getting this 2020-2021 school year off to a great start! We are excited for another amazing year at Renner, albeit a challenging one! Please know that we are here to support you in any way that we can!

We hope you will join us this year and help us achieve recognition again as a Texas PTA Golden Apple campus with 100% faculty and staff participation in our PTA. As a faculty/staff member, your PTA dues are only $6.00. Membership dues directly fund teacher grants/wish list items and appreciation projects, teacher treats, parent and student programs, website and enews communications, and much more!

Below is a direct link to the faculty membership form where you can join PTA:

https://rennerpta.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/116991

If you are a Texas PTA Life Member, please contact me at membership@rennerpta.org to receive your promotional/discount code for this school year. Please include in your email the name of the school and year that you were awarded Life Member.

Thank you for your support of Renner PTA! We look forward to working with you to help our students, school, teachers, and staff achieve their very best this year! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or need assistance!

Why Join?

-Support the Renner Community

-Our PTA is the best

-Teacher Treats (every 9 weeks)

-Teacher Grants/Wish List

-Huge Teacher appreciation Week in May

-and much more!

Best regards,

Kara Grimes
4th VP - Membership, Renner PTA

membership@rennerpta.org

As of 10:38pm on Thursday, September 3rd, we had 49 completed co-seating trials. Below are some of the results.

Remember, this entire process is not evaluative. There is NO JUDGMENT. It is solely about helping us all learn from one another in order to make our best preparations for an imperfect process. That being said, we can do it!

Shout-outs are bolded. Names are redacted in certain areas to avoid any type of potential embarrassment...not that ANYONE should feel embarrassed! We are all learning and we are all in this together!

When you go to different screens it will be hard to keep up with the chat. Also seeing what students are doing while you change to different screens.

None noted

None

1. For teacher, it's hard to manage the chat, teach, and check on online kids at the same time. Potential solution: assign one student as chat monitor.

2. Teacher has to remain at desk in order to work out problems on the ipad/Aver so online kids can see. So no ability to walk around the room while teaching or helping.

Teacher was 'stuck' behind desk. Not enough room between front of class and first row to maintain 6 ft social distancing.

Desks were spaced out as much as possible but not 6 feet apart.

The biggest barrier for all of us is being able to move from computer to student... I think we should all just give grace to ourselves and do our best

"late" @home students --> directions had to be repeated.

none

Peardeck only shared/presented on teacher computer --> would F2F students follow on their Chromebook only? or would you present on your projector?

A lot of desks. Was told top amount of students was 18. Not enough space for all to be 6 ft apart.

The ability to be as mobile as preferred.

We discussed the difficulty of monitoring student responses in a chat as well as in person.

Also, it just takes longer to instruct the remote students because of technical issues and even simple instructions like "turn on your mic and repeat after me" weren't as simple because it took students a while to turn on their mics whereas the F2F students will just be sitting waiting for the online students to catch up.

None. Desks will be spaced 6ft apart before the start of school.

seat placement to see teacher's face-maybe angle computer screen

Some trouble with online students logging on (took about 5 minutes from the start of class for everyone to "arrive") and participating in which F2F students would potentially be sitting idly (didn't have a chance to talk with (teacher name) about her plans for managing this as it was a double-block period and she was still instructing students when I left).

Nothing so far

Teaching and making eye contact with both groups is challenging.

None

Needed a remote, and a key to unlock all his things

N/A

None that I observed

n/a

None that I observed.

none

No

None

Teacher unable to leave desk area, microphone does not work and unable to see At Home students away from desk.

She couldn't see the Elmo display and the kids at the same time. I am going to show her how this is possible using the projector as a second display.

None that I observed.

No

Flex seating is still in room

Using all devices (computer, Elmo, mic,, school screen, and added monitor) Lots of back and forth juggling, but he’s got it down!

Some kids logged into the meeting and walked away. Some kids were not using Chromebooks.

None

no

size of ipad projection

none

None

Move some desks

N/A

assuming projector would be used with real F2F kids? (Jonathan is working to fix projector)

none

None

N/A

None- seating is good

Sound was clear but could not hear out of the flex mic

speaking loud enough for the online learners to hear when she was not directly facing the computer

None

Some students can have trouble getting logged into Google Meets. Some students had trouble with technology on their end at home. Some weren't able to log into the portal.

No technology challenges

Displaying on projector and chrome at the same time.

1. The Aver (like the Elmo) has trouble focusing. It has a mind of it's own and goes in and out of focus at random, which is a problem for in person students. Maybe Jonathan can come take a look/train (teacher name) on how to manually focus it.

2. Google classroom got really messed up for (teacher name) & (teacher name) - that was an issue in the beginning of class but will hopefully be resolved before co-seating.

3. Is there a way to "pin" one box on the screen in google meets? Idea is you could have the google meets only showing one video (the aver video) without also showing other student's faces. Then projector could mimic whatever is happening online for the at home students.

While teacher is in 'presentation mode' they were unable to monitor online students.

Nearpod glitching online, students not being able to utilize google classroom appropriately.

Students using phones instead of computer/chrome book. Slow WiFi at home.

Kids couldn’t see Elmo clear... maybe share the document with them via classroom and they can all open it on their own screen?

determining computer/camera placement

Chromebook does not have strong wifi--> was not able to connect to Google Meet

Everything went smoothly except that (teacher name) mentioned that when she does try to use her IPAD it will usually freeze on her. She is using the ELMO/AVER now and had no issues.

None that I observed

Talked about how to share a video at home and how to share a video to those in the classroom.

Technology was working efficiently

Teacher computer froze while instructing students--it lasted about 15-20 seconds, online students' computers drop out periodically for various reasons

None that affected the lesson during google meet. Working on getting the portable microphone to work.

Sound was squealing- Student questions were super loud, so how do you have a private conversation with online students when you have students in the classroom?

None.

Phone is not working.

None during my observation.

Split screen and projector screen ratio settings

Needed a remote.

N/A

None observed.

youtube video lag/ not playing properly & low broadband/ connection speed for student's (mic's, video, participation)... Stern handled it like a champ!

None that I observed.

Google Meets had feedback when the teacher attempted to include F2F students in in the meeting room via Chromebook.

The home students do not have the ability see the board. she try to use personal computer.

None

Microphone not charging. No technology tool to display Face to Face and At Home students at the same time no matter where the teacher is in the classroom.

See previous question

None that I observed.

At home student seeing the board

Sound cutting out

Has it handled nicely. No complications during observation.

None observed. The document camera was stubborn, but came up after restart.

No

none

IPAD challenges

none

Possible lag trying to run kahoot and video. Sometimes laggy and other times it worked fine

None really. She taught from her desk. Just need to not only focus on remote kids. Will do that once kids are in class.

N/A

none that I saw

none

None

N/A

Trying to figure out how to display screen onto projector and on Google Meets. Ended up figuring it out and getting a plan in place that works.

She was having to move around between 3 devices, but other then that everything seemed to be working

no challenges were experienced

None

It will be somewhat of a challenge for teachers to teach both F2F and online learners.

Everything went so smoothly!!!!!!!! Koons and Kramer did amazing! Screen displayed kids, then document cam, then google classroom. Everything went well.

Interaction limited due to inability to project on chrome and screen.

co-seating is going to be a lot of stress on the teacher to manage both groups at once, but seems decent for kids. Co-seating is...not ideal.

The technology that was used in class appeared to be working well and the teacher seemed comfortable interacting with @home students.

The technology allowed for online and F2F instruction as much as it can..., it won’t ever be perfect but like I said earlier I think grace needs to be given in this situation but over all it was done great :)

no

Teacher is confident that adaptations will produce the desired results.

Overall, it went well. The problems (teacher name) experienced are ones all teachers will go through.

Classroom was set up great for co-seating with multiple monitors.

We will all make this work, somehow:)

Desks were spaced approximately 6 feet apart, but were slanted to face the teacher desk meaning that not all desks were entirely facing the same way. Not sure if this is important or not.

I was able to get some ideas by observing her.

Jennifer is a pro! :)

Stern's handled the tech difficulty like a PRO

Great setup

A more efficient Visual and Audio system needed for all room that will enable teachers to monitor and interact with ALL students at the same time without the limitation of being at their desk.

None

None

none

none

Heather is very technology savvy.

none-everything went smoothly

Looked good!

The struggle will be to focus not only on remote

Ms. Legg's technology set up is great, and she has fantastic communication with students.

Perfect

Taught from desk during class while projecting information on screen

Maybe a stand/podium or a high stool to help with devices. I liked how she used her chromebook to show her at the board but was sharing her desktop to the students to see the vocab. Great use of technology. for both F2F and School@home.

Chris Koons

It’s not always easy taking on jobs that aren’t necessarily ours and that’s not fun when we are so pressed for time. Thanks for your dedication to our campus and the kids! And your newbie in training!

Angie Ritchie

Everytime I walk by your room you are always teaching away on your computer. Like us, our kids are so lucky to have you!

Traci Vicente

You are such a hard worker and it’s not going unnoticed. Thanks so much for your care and dedication to our students!

Doug O'Bryant

The spreadsheet. Need I say more?! It’s a game changer and I never knew how much I needed pivot tables in my life. Thank you.

Mark Lindberg

A search option for the attendance spreadsheet. The addition I knew I needed and you made it happen better than F3. A parent email comes in and SECONDS later I have every attendance check in for that kid. If you haven’t sent your spreadsheet to Lindberg for the search add on you’re missing out!

8th grade Teachers teaching from home

I miss seeing all of you in the halls and having our full team together. While I know we can’t all be back ‘together’ when you’re back on campus with everyone but know that you’ve been missed and we’re thankful for the work you do from home!

Jennifer Beall

Thank you so much for answering my many emails and helping me catch up. I love being a part of the 8th grade team. You always have my back and help make this technology chaos organized. I'm grateful for our friendship and our heart to heart conversations we have...sometimes about sports. I try to act like I know sports.

Megan Hawthorne

You are doing such an amazing job helping plan and create for your team! Thanks for being an award winning cinematographer 😉 and venting friend! So glad to have you on our squad!

Anna Hensley

Words can't begin to explain how grateful I am to have you as my friend. Thank you for always looking out for me. We've had a rough start and I'm glad we have each other to help get through it. You always make me feel heard and understood. I really appreciate you and I'm so happy we get to work together.

Julia Hayter

Thanks for always keeping it real and reminding us all to let it go. Thanks for being an award winning cinematographer and the room with only smiles and positivity. 😊

Tracey Huston

I just can't thank Tracey enough. You have had to dive in and help me with the crazy attendance changes. This is a 2 man job, I am so thankful you have been there to help!! Much much appreciated!!

Lauren Well

Thanks so much for all you do to make art a fun, creative outlet for students. You create an environment where students feel safe and comfortable all while they get to do their favorite thing. Great job!

Sophia Cantu

Sophia goes above and beyond to be helpful and supportive. She always has a smile and is always positive, no matter the situation. Thanks for helping me so much!

Kelly Newman

Thanks for being a sounding board, listening ear, and for your check ins. Whether it’s a good day or bad, you checking in just to see how I’m doing or feeling is such a great reminder of our family community. I appreciate you and what you’re doing for our campus!

PJ Jefferson

PJ- thanks for all your hard work for our kids. You have so much heart and dedication. Without our big group lunches I don’t see you too much but you always make sure to check in. Thank you!

Daniel Anaya

Anayalator- thanks for being the backbone and bridge for our team. You do so much behind the scenes for our science team and I can’t imagine doing this without you. Thanks!!

Tyler McClain

So glad to have you on our team! It’s never easy starting a new job and it’s definitely no easier doing it all remotely in a digital classroom. Thanks for jumping in and helping me film the labs! Just be glad you don’t have to wear those goggles and apron all day for a real lab day! Thank you!!

Ryan Kuns

We’re glad to have you on our 8th grade team. Thanks so much for bringing your ideas and resources to help put lessons together!! Thank you!!

Louis Lantiere

Thanks for always being solution oriented. When you think of possible problems you’re always willing to trouble shoot and think through possible answers. Glad to have you on the team!

Winners from the August random drawing are: ****Cindy Clay & Athulya Bright!****

**At the end of each month, I will draw TWO names from the shout-out list who will receive an item from their Staff Favorites list.***

**To give a staff shout-out or two, please complete the form. It doesn't take long and it goes a long way to support one another. Link here: https://forms.gle/s5S2SzGgBQ6y7hea6*

Hi! I am the campus REP for ATPE.

ATPE stands for: Association of Texas Professional Educators

Do you buy a house or rent an apartment without insurance? Do you drive your car without insurance? Being a part of any teacher organization gives you the protection you need in any unprecedented situation. ATPE provides you liability insurance by simply the cost of a takeout meal once a month. There are several options to sign up. You can pay online for a discounted rate, you can use payroll and have 12 deductions, or you can pay in full by check. All pricing can be found on the application or on ATPE website. Our Plano Local ATPE provides monthly social events for our members, opportunities for you to attend different region socials, and will pay for you to attend Summit- the biggest convention for any teacher organization. We know this year looks so different, but we will have creative ways to still make all of these events happen! Please, let me know if you have any questions.

Your Campus Rep,

Sara Andrade, CALT

Academic Specialist

(469) 752-5892

Sara.Andrade@pisd.edu

(brochure below)

Wanna do something nice for someone? Here is the Staff Favorites list so you know what they do and don't like!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12oSpmykcFO0XWMw4GqanBPFC8tx1IIdDBr5Gs9qHdPY/edit?usp=sharing

Optional Technology Help for Teachers

PL and DLT will be providing additional training sessions and office hours in order to support our teachers. Teachers can sign up to attend Online Tools for Synchronous Learning: Google Meet and Zoom, one of the back-by-popular-demand sessions from Friday’s training. Additionally, the teams will be available to answer questions related to Zoom, Meets, and google Classroom during office hours. To see the full schedule and registration links, click here.

August 7 PL Sessions - Recordings Available

Thank you for your participation and engagement on Friday, August 7 District Day. Several of the sessions from this day were recorded and are now available for viewing. Teachers may access the recordings of these sessions in this folder. If prompted, please sign into Google Drive using your PISD login information.

Core Store

Launched in 2016, the CORE Store has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in supplies and classroom materials to teachers throughout Plano ISD. The CORE Store allows teachers to shop for additional school supplies for their students at no cost. The Foundation was proud to adjust our services during the COVID-19 closures and deliver school supplies to over 900+ families during the Spring Semester. We continued to provide supplies directly to families by partnering on the district’s Back to School Fairs. Our next phase will include teacher shopping days in the CORE Store. We will limit shoppers to 6 teachers at a time and we ask that shoppers do not arrive early. Please plan to view the shopping list in advance and plan ahead since shoppers will only be allowed 20 minutes. More information on how to utilize the CORE Store can be found at https://www.pisd.edu/corestore.

Fall Shopping Days:

• September 16 & 18 2:00-6:00pm for 20 minute increments
• September 19 9:00am-2:00pm for 20 minute increments

Employee Crisis Fund

The mission of the Employee Crisis Fund is to provide a source of financial assistance to Plano ISD employees who are facing an emergency situation and are unable to handle immediate short-term financial obligations associated with the crisis. If you find yourself in this situation, please visit our website to learn how you can submit a request for assistance. At Plano ISD, we are dedicated to caring for our PISD family.

Per the Amazing Katie Aycock!

I was looking up a copyright situation for a teacher just a minute ago and came across this great link from the Library of Congress about what remote learning teachers can post online and how it applies to copyright: https://blogs.loc.gov/copyright/2020/03/teaching-from-a-distance-and-copyright-considerations/

• Direct Deposit: Please use link provided to submit changes online https://myforms.pisd.edu/Forms/directdeposit

• W-4: Please use link provided to submit changes online https://myforms.pisd.edu/Forms/W4_2020-standalone

• Payroll Questions: If an employee has a payroll related question, please have them send an email to payroll@pisd.edu.