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eNotes

February 3, 2020

eNotes February 3, 2020

“Vulnerability doesn’t come after trust—it precedes it. Leaping into the unknown, when done alongside others, causes the solid ground of trust to materialize beneath our feet.”~D.Coyle

Building Trust and Highly Effective Teams

One of the books I have been reading lately is Culture Code by Daniel Coyle. An idea that has resonated with me the most involves vulnerability and building trust. He reminded me that vulnerability comes in a lot of different flavors, and some of the most exceptional leaders and effective teams build trust by being vulnerable with each other. We don't always have to be the expert and have all the answers. That is the power of belonging to a team. I encourage you to keep this in mind as you meet with your teams to review MOY data and refine STAAR plans. Being vulnerable, acknowledging that we don't always have all of the answers, and soliciting input from others can have a tremendous impact on building trust and a collective buy-in as you move this work forward. Here is a short interview with Coyle, where he discusses how vulnerability builds trust and develops highly effective teams. And here is a quick and easy, yet powerful read on the most important four words a leader can say.

Balanced Literacy & AggMo Walks

I am looking forward to the collaborative walks this week. One of the major changes to the principal learning plan was to provide more opportunities for campus principals to collaborate and calibrate in the work. Similar to the sheltered walks, you will have time to debrief and determine how you will continue to advance this work on your campuses. Here is the schedule:


  • Elementary-Balanced literacy walks at Heather Glen-Tuesday, February 4, 8:00-11:00


  • Middle schools-AggMo walks at Lyles-Wednesday, February 5, 9:30-12:00


Thanks again to Melissa and Michael for hosting.

Elementary Principal Collaborative Planning Session

This is a reminder that we are meeting Friday at Handley to share and exchange ideas and resources around our MOY data plans and practices. You are all doing similar work, so this will be a great opportunity for you to strengthen your plans by seeing what plans/practices look like at other campuses. You will not start a new plan; this is simply an opportunity for you to refine and tweak your plans/practices. Here are the different components that will be discussed:


  • Individual student growth trackers by teacher (goal setting & celebrations)
  • Projections DNM, approaches, meets masters (group students by skill)
  • Whole teach opportunities (high-leverage SEs, hot spots)
  • Small group structures (schedule, support personnel)
  • Assessment system-weekly assessments (formative assessments & trackers)
  • Monitoring plan (instructional team's monitoring plans)


In order for us to maximize our time together, I would like for you to complete this form by COB Tuesday, February 4th. You will need to bring any resources associated with the topics listed above. Thanks again to Cheryl for hosting.

Instructional Leadership

Instructional leadership is a term often used to describe a principal's role in improving instructional practices on their campuses. Although this term is often overused and at times oversimplified, it is important to get into the particulars of what this looks like on a day to day basis. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you continue to move the instructional needle on your campuses:


  • We must ALL be consistent with our communication. The use of the waterfall document is a must so we all speak the same language. Have it available during your instructional planning meetings. Have it in front of you when you are coaching teachers so you can refer to the exact terminology used in the waterfall document. Access it during your administrative meetings while you debrief with your leadership team. Make reference to it on your SMORE, and provide exemplars and reinforcers for your staff when you see it in practice.


  • Stay current on best practices. We will never master all the content, but we should have a toolbox of instructional practices that support teaching and learning on our campuses. The practices outlined in Bambrick's Get Better Faster or Lemov's Teach Like a Champion are great resources to use when coaching and growing your teachers.


  • The way we choose to spend and calendar our time are indicators of our priorities. Be sure to regularly inventory your time and make adjustments to your calendars and systems to ensure you are spending enough time in the instructional work, i.e., WDMs, planning, walkthroughs, coaching, etc. It's never too late to go back and refine our calendaring systems.

It's Time for Mid-Year Reviews

We will begin conducting mid-year reviews this week. This is a reminder to review your goals, bring any evidence you have that shows the progress you are making, and be ready to respond to the mid-year guiding questions. Please don’t create extra work for yourself; just bring responses to the guiding questions and what you already have that shows where you are at with each goal. I am looking forward to meeting with you.

Coaching topics

Below are some of the topics we will discuss during upcoming coaching visits. I will add more detailed notes/questions to your coaching document prior to our meeting, but please be prepared to discuss the following:


  • Discuss progress with walkthrough and coaching system
  • AggMo implementation and progress
  • Review MOY data and trackers
  • Review STAAR plans and small group instruction rotations
  • Review monitoring plans (admin systems)

My Schedule

Monday -T-PESS mid-year reviews

Tuesday -Balanced literacy walks & AggMo walks

Wednesday -ESF campus visit

Thursday -Staffing & Teaching Trust Teams 2 session

Friday -Campus visits & principal collaboration at Handley

Upcoming Dates

February 1-myOn reader challenge kids off-ends 2/28 (WAIP, 1, 31)

February 3-National School Counseling Week

February 6 - SSI - Informational Sessions (WAIP, 1/17)

February 7-Deadline to submit School Board Appreciation Materials (WAIP, 1/10)

February 7-Deadline to submit Paraprofessional of the Year nominations (WAIP, 1/10)

February7-Go red for Heart Awareness Month (WAIP, 1/10)

February 10-MAP window closes, adjusted date (WAIP, 1/10)

February 10-Deadline to submit TELPAS testing plans (eNotes, 1/27)

February 12-Deadline to distribute school report cards to parents (WAIP, 1/10)

February 12-Deadline to submit chemical roundup spreadsheet (WAIP, 1/31)

February 13-Deadline to submit Teacher of the Year Nominations (WAIP, 1/10)

February 14-Deadline to take TELPAS tutorial (WAIP, 1/17)

February 14-Deadline to submit names for Goldie Locke Excel Awards (WAIP, 1/10)

February 18-21-7th writing & 6th reading CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

February 22-UIL plus competition (WAIP, 1/17)

February 24-TELPAS window opens (WAIP, 1/17)

February 24--28-4th/5th grade CFA window for writing, math, reading (WAIP, 1/31)

February 25-March 4-Writing CFA scoring labs (WAIP, 1/10)

February 28-Last day for mid-year reviews (eNotes, 12/16, 1/21)

February 28-Chemical roundup (WAIP, 1/31)

March 2-6-3rd/4th grade CFA math window (WAIP, 1/31)

March 2-6-8th grade social studies CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

March 2-6-7th & 8th grade honors math CFA window (WAIP, 1,31)

March 6-HEB Community Challenge ends (began January 6, WAIP, 12/6)

March 18-25-3rd/4th grade reading CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

March 23-27-5th grade science CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

March 30-April 13-8th grade science CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

March 31-Deadline for Title I parent survey (eNotes, 1/21)

April 7-10-8th grade algebra 1 CFA window (WAIPl 1/31)

April 8-6th & 7th grade honors math CFA (WAIP, 1/31)

April 10-17-7th grade reading CFA window (WAIP, 1/31)

April 13-Goldie Locke Excel Awards for elementary schools (WAIP, 1/10)

April 13-TOY luncheon (WAIP, 1/17)

April 14-Goldie Locke Excel Awards for middle schools (WAIP, 1/10)

April 20-24-Brightbytes survey window (WAIP, 1/31)

May 8-Transfer window closes (WAIP, 1/24)

May 15-Deadline for principal to enter transfer PARs (WAIP, 1/24)

DDI & Collaborative Documents

Click on this resources document to access related samples and resources. *Added the Get Better Faster video guide to this document.