Lion's Lore

Hello RLT!

As you are aware, the district insurance carrier will change on January 1, 2009. The administrators in the district met with district office personnel on Tuesday to discuss changes. The district continues to find areas where we can cut costs to address our current budget deficit. Based on the information provided during our meeting, we are projected to save five-hundred thousand to one million dollars in the first year. Lastly, the program TRS-Active insures more than 85% of state.

Please read below as we highlight some important information:

• Open Enrollment from October 1-31



• Medical Coverage is changing to TRS-Active Care.



• The district will no longer offer alternate plan for those employees who have medical coverage from another source. Employees will have $20,000 in district provided life and must pay for their dental coverage.



• The district may no longer offer EAP (Employee Assistant Plan) to employees. RFP is out for these services and the board will make the decision on whether to continue this plan on November 13.



• Total re-enrollment for medical, dental, vision and Section 125.



• All employees must complete TRS-ActiveCare enrollment form even if declining coverage.



• All employees must complete scan sheet to elect or decline medical, dental, vision and Section 125 pretax plan.



• All employees must designate beneficiary for 2009.



• Section 125 election form is required for everyone who wishes to participate in Section 125 medical reimbursement or child care accounts.
  

Current coverage for cancer, disability, and voluntary term life plans will continue unless changes are made during October. Reenrollment of these plans is not required. Reps from UNUM will be on each campus sometime during the month of October.

Open enrollment packets will be delivered next Monday or Tuesday and each employee eligible for benefits will receive an individual packet.

All paperwork must be returned to Lance Campbell’s office by October 31. Please see link of power point presentation that explains TRS-ActiveCare:

S:\Health Care Coverage

Have a great day,
Lance

Lion's Lore

Happy Friday!

As we conclude a week of homecoming festivities, we would like to recognize Brandon Walters for his dedication and commitment towards making this week a special event for our kids. Brandon has organized homecoming court, door decorations, spirit week, and of course, the dance on Saturday. We are fortunate to have Mr. Walters as a member of the Turner staff.

We would like to thank our volunteers in advance for giving up a Saturday night to chaperone. Those who are chaperoning the event can come in on Monday at 7:15! You deserve it.

Thank you all for making the first month of school a success. Our kids certainly benefit from such an amazing staff!

Mindset Minute:
"Seen through the lens of the growth mindset, these are stories about the transformative power of effort - the power of effort to change your ability and to change you as a person." We would like to thank Charles Marley and Marshall Huston for their efforts and success in being team players for R.L. Turner!



Have a great weekend,
Lance

Lion's Lore

Hello RLT,

Homecoming is next week! The theme is "Do you believe in magic?" The parade and game vs. W.T. White will be on Friday, along with the dance at the DFW Grand Hyatt Hotel on Saturday. Please email waltersb@cfbisd.edu if you are interested in chaperoning the dance...you will not regret it! R.L. Turner students look wonderful and the talent on the dance floor will amaze you. Mr. Wisener will send the parade schedule and don't miss Lion Revue on Thursday night. Remember, your enthusiasm will be contagious, help make this a great time for our students!

As an added bonus, we will have two Spirit days next week. Please wear jeans and a Turner shirt on Thursday and Friday! GO LIONS!!!


Instructional Tip for the Week:

Learning Goals

An amazing bit of research: When students know what they are LEARNING, their performance, on average, has been shown to be 27 percentile points higher than students who do not know what they are learning.

How can we make sure students know what they are learning?
By focusing each day on our Learning Goal at the beginning, middle, and end of the period.

What should a Learning Goal look like?

A learning goal is not an agenda. (i.e.: Students will watch film clip and complete worksheet in groups v. Students will understand the similarities and differences in the governments of the Roman Republic and the United States.

• Instructional goals narrow students’ focus.
• Instructional goals should not be too specific.
• Students should be encouraged to personalize the teacher’s goals.

As a teacher, I ask myself regularly…

• To what extent do the Learning Goals address essential knowledge?
• Will the assignment assess, or enhance the learning of, the knowledge in the Learning Goal?
• Given the learning goal, is the assignment worth the time?
• Are there aspects of the assignment that would require knowledge other than that in the Learning Goal? If so, are we teaching that knowledge or assuming that knowledge?
• When I set objectives, to what extent do I believe that my students
• Could describe what they are learning, not just describe what they are doing
• Focus more on learning goals than completing assignments
• Personalize the learning goals

MINDSET MINUTE

This week in PD, Georgeanne talked about how to share Mindset in a systemic way with our students. Please use the link below and share with your students the language of Mindset. We want this to be a part of conversations we have with all students.
“People are all born with a love of learning, but the fixed mindset can undo it.”

S:\2008 Professional Development\Mindset\Mindset questions to share with students.doc

DIGITAL COFFEE

Boomers, feeling a little misunderstood around all of these millennials? Join the crowd.
Having trouble speaking the language of your millennial learners? No worries, just be like Joe Cocker and check this clip from Woodstock as he butchers this classic Beatles song.

Talk about feeling misunderstood! YIKES!

After the clip, here are some new words from these Bull Market Babies:

Next time you encounter a member of the Millennial Generation, try incorporating these:
Bacn: impersonal e-mails (as annoying as spam) that you have chosen to receive, such as alerts and newsletters.
Bershon: that angry/bored/too-cool-to-care look that 12- to 18-year-olds sport in every family photo.
Compunicate: to chat with a co-worker when you are in the same room using Instant Messenger instead of speaking to them in person.
Defriend: to remove somebody from your established list of contacts, considered the ultimate snub on a social network.
Lifestreaming: posting an online record of a person's daily activities, such as blogs.
Meatspace: referring to real life or the physical world and conceived as the opposite of cyberspace or virtual reality.
Moofer: derived from the acronym for "mobile out of office." Someone who abandons their workplace between meetings, taking laptop and Blackberry to the local Starbucks or anyplace else where they can escape the interruption of talkative co-workers.
Passion bucket: a metaphor for a job or endeavor that can fulfill one's sense of mission and ambition.
Peachfuzz billionaires: when someone launches their first startup in middle school and ends up a budding teeny mogul on the cover of a magazine.

Have a great weekend,

Lance

Lion's Lore

Happy Friday!

As discussed during staff development, we are concerned with the number of students taking the SAT each year. Certainly our overall scores are impressive; however, as you recall our Hispanic population in terms of participation is around twenty-eight percent in 2007. The 2008-2009 AEIS report will be available in November. Our district has provided the 2008 data for us to review.

Below is a link to our SAT data comparison (count represents the number of students tested):
C-FB SAT Data

Recently the College Board reported information to explain trends in the 2008 data.

• This year’s class is the most diverse class on record with historic increases in the number of Hispanic, African American and Asian American students taking the test.
• Minority SAT takers comprised 40 percent of all test-takers, up from 33 percent 10 years ago.
• The number of first-generation students has increased over the last decade and from last year. In the class of 2008, 36 percent were first-generation students, compared to 35 percent in the class of 2007.
• Females have narrowed the performance gap with males in critical reading, closing the gap to 4 points, compared with 7 points a decade ago, and females continue to outperform males on the writing section — by 13 points this year.
• A record number of students in the class of 2008 received fee waivers, with 221,962 students qualifying for and receiving them. This indicates an increase in the number of traditionally underserved students preparing for college success.
• The writing section of the SAT is the most predictive section of the test among all racial and ethnic minority groups.
• The inclusion of the writing section has also contributed to an increased emphasis on writing in the classroom.

We are working on a plan to increase the number of students taking the SAT at Turner. If you have recommendations, please post your comments this week. We truly need creative ideas!

MINDSET MINUTE
As we continue our focus on Mindset, let’s revisit the definition of a growth mindset. The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience. This week, we would like to highlight Shannon Luttrell for demonstrating a growth mindset. Mary Gesino states, “she has REALLY stepped up as a new member of the Team in her caring attitude and hard work to help kids pass the Math TAKS and graduate on time! She is our current Ag teacher and FFA sponsor and now she is also a MATH teacher!”

Digital Coffee for Gen X-ers
Generation X is known for going it alone, but the way of the rugged individual is giving way to the power of the group. Our students learn best with and through others. There is no better way to get this generation on board than with inspirational words from great coaches to kick off the football and learning seasons. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TEAMWORK?

Click on the video