Safe Schools Training Link!

You might want to consider doing a few of these lessons before school starts.  It would be one less obstacle to jump over when the fun begins.  Use your ID number without the zero!

Birdville ISD is using SafeSchools^TM.com to offer employee training courses online for your convenience. Follow these easy steps to complete your Birdville ISD safety training requirements:

Using your web browser, Go to the SafeSchools^TM website for Birdville ISD: http://birdville.tx.safeschools.com/


Once you log into the site, click on a course title to begin the training. Each course has audio, so be sure to turn up your speakers if you'd like to listen. You must complete each section of the course in order to receive full credit.

Your Birdville ISD SafeSchools^TM contact:
Candace Miller
candace.miller@birdvilleschools.net

Below is your complete SafeSchools^TM training plan along with your coursework status:

 “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often”

Winston Churchill

First of all, I think that you will be amazed at the new look of our old building.  The orange lockers, black trim, and new paint on the walls have really brightened up the place.  I was excited about the building being repainted, but I did not expect the magnitude of the improvements.    

Many of you worked extremely hard at the end of a tough year to prepare our building for this endeavor and it was definitly worth the effort.  Thank you!

Because of the painting, the floors have been delayed a bit.  The 8^th grade hall is completely finished and others will follow. 

The Tiger Line Up Card

Congratulations to Liz Pena!  Mrs. Pena is now the freshman assistant principal at Haltom High School.   Cassidy Spillman will now be teaching 7^th grade general education reading.

Congratulations to Mary Ann Shaft! Mrs. Shaft will perform the roll of Academic Coach at Haltom Middle.  We will discuss this role and job description as the year starts.  To summarize, it is essentially an academic assistant principal role. Jaye Antwine will be joining us in the ELA department in the 8^th grade. By the way, thank you Mrs. Shaft for setting up our new blog and book study!

Congratulations to Jeannie James!  Mrs. James will now be our 8^th grade reading interventionist.  She will be working with our Tier Three 8^th grade students.  April Newkirk will be joining us in the ELA department in sixth grade.

Obviously, Ms. Newkirk and Mrs. Antwine are new names to the staff.   I will provide more information about our newbys and other staff movement very soon!

More information to come....Keep Moving Forward!

Preview of the 2013-2014

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Sustaining the Work

Why is celebration important? What critical questions can you use to identify your successes with common formative assessment? How would you answer them? What successes have you had?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Getting the Most Bang for your Assessment Buck - Involving Students

Why is it critical for students to play a key role in the assessment process? Review Popham’s (2008b) hierarchy of assessment implementation. How does this align with your classroom and/or school?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Now What?  Using Data to Make a Difference

Why are Tiers 2 and 3 responses important?  How have you addressed students who haven't mastered an important learning target after initial instruction?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - The Big Picture -- Pacing Guides and Unit Design

Pacing guides and the backward planning model have proven to be highly effective when designing units.  How does your PLC plan for intervention?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Designing Quality Common Formative Assessments

What should your team consider when developing an assessment plan? Review tables 5.1 and 5.2, and discuss the benefits for your PLC.

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - The Unwrapping Process -- Achieving Collective Clarity on Learning Targets

After reading about the unwrapping process in this chapter, which of these steps do you think your PLC will find most difficult? The easiest?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Power Standards -- The Essential Outcomes

What do the authors mean when they say that teachers can interpret standards in different ways? Has this ever happened in your experience or with your PLC?

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Setting the Stage for Common Formative Assessments

After reading about formative versus summative assessments, discuss examples of each you have used in your classroom.

Common Formative Assessment Book Study Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Getting Started as a Collaborative Team

How does the author's definition of common assessments differ from they way your PLC used common assessments?