News From Mrs. Graves

Upcoming Events
Thursday, 1/24  +Refresher for Parents, 2:00 pm; Bullydozer Rally 2:30 pm
Tuesday, 1/29  NAEP Testing, Select 4th Graders
Wednesday, 1/30  Early Dismissal, 12:30 pm
Friday, 2/1  PTO Meeting, 8:10 am; KNO 6-10 pm
Tuesday, 2/5  NTB Competitive Team Qualifier Test, 7:20 am; Neighborhood Recruitment Tour, 9:30 am
Wednesday, 2/6   5th Grade head to Camp
Friday, 2/8  5th Grade returns; BoxTop Collection; Kinder Snow Day
Wednesday, 2/13  Neighborhood Recruitment Tour, 9:30 am
Thursday, 2/14  Class Valentine Parties
Saturday, 2/16  Neighborhood Recruitment Open House and Play Date, 9-11 am
Wednesday, 2/20  Early Dismissal, 12:30 pm
Thursday, 2/21  Neighborhood Recruitment Tour, 9:30am
Saturday, 2/23  Roberts Auction


+Refresher for Parents
Join us Thursday, January 24th at 2:00 pm in the Cafe to learn more about +Works.  Here from co-founder Sarah Fisher about her vision, and how that work is impacted the culture of Roberts Elementary.  Find out how you can be a part of that work and pick up your copy of the +Parenting Handbook.  Then stick around to be part of our community-wide Bullydozer Rally for Peace.

Neighborhood Recruitment

Its that time of year!  We need to work together to reach out to neighborhood families with young children and invite them to learn about Roberts Elementary!  We have several events on the calendar, specially designed for our neighbors to learn more about the fantastic academic program we have to offer.  You can help us by talking with your neighbors and getting the word our about our upcoming events.

Why Go Anywhere Else? Tours @ 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday, 2/5 

Wednesday, 2/13 

Thursday, 2/21 

Neighborhood Recruitment Open House and Play Date

Saturday, February 16th, 9-11 a.m.

Kinder Pre-Registration, February 5-March 1, 2012
Call for an appointment, 713-295-5272
Pick up the enrollment packet or find it online at www.robertselementary.org


ASPIRE Awards

ASPIRE is an acronym for the District initiative to not just improve achievement, but to make a commitment to grow every child each year.   Under ASPIRE, each school receives information about the average growth of our students in comparison to other HISD campuses.  The District uses this growth data to identify teachers who are producing exceptional gains for students.  

For several years the District has funded awards with grant money for top ranked teachers who produced exception results under this statistical formula.  Awards for growth from the 2011-12 school year will be paid out this week.  The criteria for the payout is different this year, and is being awarded to only the top quintile, rather than the top 50%.  The model used to calculate the awards varies by grade level and by job category.  Many of our teachers will be receiving some form of award. 

Because teachers are paid with public funds, the local media may request the amount paid and may publish that information.    I imagine you can appreciate that while it is public information, our salary and bonus pay is very private to us.  The teachers and I are focused on the work of teaching and learning, and cannot be distracted by the award.  If you have questions or concerns about ASPIRE awards, please feel free to send me an inquiry email.

Spotlight on IB

What are Key Concepts?

excerpt from Making the PYP Happen

Central to the philosophy of the PYP is the principle that purposeful, structured inquiry is a powerful vehicle for learning that promotes meaning and understanding, and challenges students to engage with significant ideas.  Hence in the PYP there is also a commitment to a concept-driven curriculum as a means of supporting that inquiry. 

Which concepts were chosen and why?

A set of eight concepts was drawn up, each of which, it is felt, is of major importance in the design of a transdisciplinary curriculum.  These concepts are:

• form - the understanding that everything has a form with recognizable features that can be observed, identified, described and categorized.
• function - the understanding that everything has a purpose, a role or a way of behaving that can be investigated.
• causation - the understanding that things do not just happen, that there are causal relationships at work, and that actions have consequences.
• change - the understanding that change is the process of movement from one state to another.  It is universal and inevitable.
• connection - the understanding that we live in a world of interacting systems in which actions of any individual element affect others.
• perspective - the understanding that knowledge is moderated by perspectives; different perspectives lead to different interpretations, understandings and findings; perspectives may be individual, group, cultural or disciplinary.
• responsibility - the understanding that people make choices based on their understandings, and the actions they take as a result do make a difference.
• reflection - the understanding that there are different ways of knowing, and that it is important to reflect on our conclusions, to consider our methods of reasoning, and the quality and the reliability of the evidence we have considered.