Weekly Updates

You are special because of what you do. During this unique time, many of you are having to juggle school, your kids, their schooling, meals, and whatever else is going on inside your home.

You may be at wits end. And now, with the news a week and half ago, it has been confirmed that you will not get to see your students again this school year.

All across social media there has been teachers sharing their disappointment. In fact, many of your student’s parents are just as disappointed. Some possibly for a different reason, but disappointed none the less.

However, now is the time to “be intentional” with your students and families. You have the opportunity to make a difference in the their lives with your encouragement. They are having the same challenges and for some, it might be without a paycheck. Your words of wisdom, comfort and understanding can be the difference in their lives.

With our next "B3 Live" coming up, it gives you another opportunity to prove why you are special. You are an educator! What an awesome opportunity to show you care. Thank you for doing what you do.

Have a great Sunday! I miss seeing ALL of you!

This Smore will take the place of our April 27, Grade Level Meeting. If you have any questions, please call or email me.

Our Next Faculty Meeting will be Monday, May 4.

As discussed in our last faculty meeting, you will need to schedule a "B3 Live" with your students on WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29. If you suspect any issues with students, let us know by filling out the following form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfkixu8BEfbWISvoWrJtXFnblTSWDe1efPspXj4a9AdPxt10Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

* Our next "B3 Live" will be May 19 at 10:00 a.m. This will be our "FINAL" check-in with students prior to the summer break. May 19 is the day that we intend for students to start turning their iPads in so we need meet with them prior to lunch curbside pickup.

NJHS & STuCo have done a fabulous job fundraising. We have surpassed our goal of $1500.00 and are getting pretty close to the $2000.00 mark! Continue to encourage your students to participate.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Grades 6-8

Grades will continue to be issued for the remainder of the academic year in the traditional grading format. The fourth nine-week period grade recorded will be the greater of the following:

• The student’s grade average at the end of the third grading period; or

• The student’s average at the end of the fourth grading period

For example, if the student earned an 85 for the third nine weeks, then earned a 90 for the fourth nine weeks, the fourth nine-week grade will be 90. If the student earned an 85 for the third nine weeks, then earned a 70 for the fourth nine weeks, the fourth nine-week grade will be 85.

This allows students to improve their scores with Pirates Learn@Home, but will not adversely impact the academic standing of any student.

More information after the Administrator's meeting Monday.

You may begin preparing your room for summer soon. Due to the guidelines set by the Mayor, we can only allow a few people at a time and we must practice SOCIAL DISTANCING.

1) Students are not allowed in the building. That includes your own children.

2) Sign up for a time and date in the google sheet that will be provided.

3) Signup sheet will be available after Monday. I will post the link here so check back.

*I am waiting to hear back about what we need to do with desks, etc.

• Campus by Campus - via Zoom

• 15 minute segment

• Teacher of the Year

• Date TBA

• Awards Ceremony

• Teachers will record a short video on why they chose the student

• Video will be sent to student via google classroom / email

• Instead of slide show, names will be listed by grade level/award and emailed to all LBMS families.

• Yard sign and drive-by for pirates of the year.

• IF you haven't submitted your award winner, please do so asap.

There will be several surveys to complete. As you receive notification, please take time to take the survey's. Here's the first one that needs to be completed:

Survey on student engagement during Pirates Learn@Home:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQomaC3tShnXnSKKyo2IBwH2EzEUp0VtRxse4U3QP4I_Pu3g/viewform?usp=sf_link

Information coming soon

Information coming soon.

• May 19 (B3 live)

You will be involved in helping create this video. More information coming soon!

Join the Texas Computer Educator Association - TCEA for FREE:

https://tcea.org/membership/

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• Continue with the grading guidelines set in Pirates Learn@Home.
• We will keep you updated on grading as we receive information from TE

REMINDER:

Content Area Teachers

• Collect 2 grades a week, do not penalize students who are unable to complete assignments or submit work.

Electives

• Collect 1 to 2 grades every two weeks. Do not penalize students who are unable to complete assignments or submit work.

*It’s expected that teachers will monitor progress and provide feedback to students.

We will move forward with a virtual Awards Ceremony. As always, you will need to select a student for each subject/grade level you teach. Lance will be working to get the information gathered. Submit your nominees by clicking on the following google form link:

https://forms.gle/W9horY5KMB8NmrrL6

We will have a virtual Convocation at the end of the year and it will include the following:

• Campus by Campus via Zoom

• 15 minute segment

• Teacher of the Year

Nominate the teacher you feel deserves to represent you as the LBMS Teacher of the Year:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFrQ9crEaX2RwfeE3Wm9NPalPidIoZt6C5_sTnVMO_vWbVOQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Encourage your students to donate by adding this flyer to your Google Classroom:

http://www.livebinders.com/media/get/MjAzNTYxNDY=

NJHS is participating by sending out letters to family members and friends. You do not have to be in STuCo or NJHS to help fundraise. Here are the instructions for other students that want to participate:

http://www.livebinders.com/media/get/MjAzNTYxNTE=

The Stream in your Google Classroom can be very overwhelming to students. Do you want your students to focus on your Classwork tab instead of searching the Stream for assignments? You can clean up the Stream by limiting what shows by following these steps.

Declutter the Stream

If you need help with Bulb, click the button below for instructions I sent out at the beginning of the year or ask Kevann if you need further assistance. If you have questions as to what type of evidence, feel free to ask the administrator you are meeting with. Please don't wait till the last minute to do this.

Once we have our conference, you will need to sign electronically. The button below will give you directions on how to update your profile and set up your electronic signature.

Campus Surveys will be sent out soon. We would like every faculty and staff member to fill it out.

DLS Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQomaC3tShnXnSKKyo2IBwH2EzEUp0VtRxse4U3QP4I_Pu3g/viewform?usp=sf_link

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Governor Abbott held a news conference today and announced the closing of all Texas schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. We are disappointed and saddened that we will not get see you in person but we look forward to seeing you virtually! More to come....

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Parr

Gov. Abbott says decision on school year coming this week....stay tuned!

As always, EVERY teacher will have an End of Year Conference. During that time, we will go over your evidence for the goals that you set at the beginning of the year. As discussed earlier in the year, that evidence will be submitted through BULB.

EOY Process for Goals in "BULB" & Strive

1. Log in to Bulb

2. Click on the "Goal Template" in Bulb

3. Add your goals

4. Upload your evidence

5. Copy the "Bulb" link & PASTE it under the "Evidence" tab in Strive for each goal

6. Before the end of the year, you will need to mark your goals "COMPLETE" in Strive so that I can Archive them.

7. Sign up for a Conference (Calendar coming soon)

**Due Date: Prior to your conference

**Window opens May 3, 2019 & Closes May 23, 2019

****Due to the Covid-19 situation, you will be exempt from Student Growth component.

APPRAISERS:

ELAR & Math - Edna

Science & SS - Kyle

Electives - Lance

Those of you on T-TESS will have a T-TESS Summative conference with your evaluator. We will be emailing you to set up at conference via Zoom or Meets.

The Employee Assistance Programs provides a support group for those in need. If you feel you need support in any area, please let me know and we will

Google Classroom has an update that might interest you. Google Meet Video Conferencing now integrates with Google Classroom classes. It will generate a unique meeting link for each class. It will not let you set the same code for multiple classes however. For that you might want to keep using the Nickname.

Here are good resources to learn more about it.

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2020/04/meet-classroom-integration.html

https://alicekeeler.com/2020/04/10/now-meet-in-google-classroom/

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Want to record your screen and have your students see you also?

Aaron will show you how to use QuickTime on your MacBook to do this. (Yes, I am the one who requested the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0EVuNh9hmU&disable_polymer=true

Looking for a way to help your students stay organized during LBMS Learns@Home?

Create topics by week in order to help your students find their assignment in Google Classroom easier. You can also name your assignment by the day students are supposed to work on it followed by the subject of the assignment.

This is an example of how it will look on your student's Classwork page. (Thanks Laura!)