November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
Dragon Newsletter
GETTING TO KNOW OUR STAFF:
MARTIN BODE
This is my seventh year as a special education teacher for Dallas ISD, and it
is my second year on the Seagoville Middle School campus. I am teaching
in the Total Communications unit for students on the autism spectrum.
I was born in Minnesota, but have lived most of my life here in Texas. I
received my bachelor of arts in Political Science from UT Arlington in 1980,
and a professional degree from UT Austin in 1983. I received my training
as an educator through Dallas ISD's alternative certification program. In
addition to my work in the unit, I coach our Special Olympics athletes and
our school's new chess team.
I am pictured with my daughters Erica and Andrea and my son,
Christopher.
Martin Bode, Special Education – Autism Unit
A Message from our Principal: Time to Finish Strong.
2016 - 2017
I hope you had a rejuvenating and relaxed week enjoying the
company of your family and friends. With so many things we are
thankful for, sometimes we forget to give ourselves a pat on the
back for the hard work we all are doing. We should be thankful
for the opportunity of working with such great group of
professionals and for the invaluable opportunity of shaping
the lives of our students.
I am grateful for the dedicated and kind people that our students have here at
Seagoville Middle School. Your love and support for each one of our scholars
makes a positive impact in every one of them. I am grateful to be part of this
fantastic school filled with hard-working staff members striving to provide
quality learning and a safe environment for our young Dragons.
The semester is almost over and we need to make sure we don’t slowdown in
our efforts to help our students.
With only two more weeks of instruction and one week of testing, let’s make
sure we use every minute to continue to implement effective instructional
practices. There is no time to waste; students will celebrate and socialize
whenever is time to do so. For now, let’s concentrate on instruction and
interventions for those students that have fallen behind.
Let’s continue to reflect on how each one of us is individually contributing to
make our vision possible, to be the premier middle school in the district.
Let’s continue to work on Compliance-->Commitment-->Excellence.
Get ready, be strong... Seagoville Strong!
Let's Make It Happen!
Javier Chaparro, SMS Principal
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Let’s Make It Happen!
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
This section will permanently
remain in our newsletter to
remind our staff about our 20162017 goals
1. Quality Instruction/Student Achievement. Implement High Quality and rigorous instruction
to increase overall student academic achievement:
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ACPs to increase in 12% compared to spring 2016 (7% on fall of 2016 and 5% on spring of 2017).
STAAR passing rate will reach at least 75% in all subject areas.
STAAR Advanced Level II will increase in at least 5% compared to previous year in all subject areas
2. Continuous Improvement Process. Implement Data Analysis Systems and institute a culture of
feedback that fosters a continuous improvement process in all areas.
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Through the use of data analysis and feedback, by June 2017, our teachers will reach a proficiency level
of 2.0 in the SPOT Observations indicator 2.3: Lesson Delivery: Explains instructional content clearly and
cohesively.
Through the use of data analysis and feedback, by June 2017, our teachers will reach a proficiency level
of 2.0 in the SPOT Observations indicator 2.4: Cognitive Demand: Engages students in appropriately
challenging content.
3. Climate and Culture. Create an environment that is conducive to learning by developing a
culture of compliance and commitment among students, personnel, and parents.
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At least 80% of our staff members will complete and submit the 2016-2017 Climate and Culture Survey.
The Climate and Culture Survey will consistently improve in all 4 indicators compared to the spring 2016
survey.
The Culture of Feedback and Support category will show at least 60% of positive responses on spring of
2017 survey.
The Positive Culture and Environment category will show at least 60% of positive responses on spring of
2017 survey.
Who We Are
Our Vision: Seagoville Middle School will be the premier middle school in the Dallas Independent School District.
Our Mission: The Seagoville Middle School Community is committed to the development of scholars through a
world class education by providing college and career ready skills in a nurturing, safe, and supportive
environment.
Our Motto:
“Be All You Can Be,
Let’s Make It Happen!”
Our Core Beliefs:
 We believe all students can learn and have
academic success.
 Teamwork makes the dream work.
 Set and achieve high expectations
 We provide life skills and career skills
 Dedication to students inside and outside of
classrooms
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Our Creed:
Stop and think, do your share
Make the right choices to show you care
Show respect and courtesy, and never forget
honesty
We are here to excel,
At Seagoville Middle University
We do well.
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
Our Fire Breathing Dragons
We would like to congratulate the LCC Drill Team for an outstanding performance at Atwell Middle School
drill competition on Saturday November 12. The SMS Drill Team performance resulted in:
1st Place trophy for Unarmed Color Guard
1st Place trophy for Unarmed Platoon Exhibition
2nd Place trophy for Unarmed Platoon Regulation
3rd Place trophy for Armed Platoon Regulation
Special Thanks to Commanders COL. Liliana Ochoa, CPT Jennifer Vazquez, CPT Joany Juan, and CSM Trinitie
Everly
Congratulation to the other 51 drill team members that attended and/or performed.
Especial thanks to Ms. Chenard and all the parents who attended to support their students and family.
Thank you MSG Goins, SCPO Jefferson, and SGT Bass for leading our LCC students to excellence!
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
City of Seagoville 2015-2016 Year Awards
Our Administrators and other school
leaders attended the City of
Seagoville 2015-2016 Year Awards.
Mr. Dennis K. Childress, the
Seagoville Mayor, Seagoville
Chamber of Commerce members,
Businessmen, The Seagoville Feeder
Pattern principals and
administrators and other prominent
citizens were present to recognize
the hard work of police officers, fire
fighters, city employee of the year,
Seagoville person of the year, and
teachers of the year of the different
schools in the Seagoville Feeder
Pattern. Ms. Linda Boshart, elected
teacher of the year 2015-2015, was
not able to attend, and on her behalf,
Ms. Lucinda Darnell, teacher of the
year 2016-2017, receive the award.
WHAT A SURPRISE!
After being deployed overseas for about a year, our LCC student Liliana Ochoa’s sister, Elizabeth Ochoa, a
Seagoville Middle School and Seagoville High School Alumni serving in the US Marines Corps, came back for
the holidays. The unexpected visit was a huge surprise and anticipated Christmas gift for Liliana when she
saw her sister in the middle of a ceremony to honor Veterans in the LCC class.
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
THE HOUR OF CODE
We are celebrating computer science education week December 5th-9th, with an hour of code.The
Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Seagoville
Middle School is participating this year. Nothing special needed, you can schedule your classes to
come to Room. 118 (computer lab) for 1 class period that week. Even if the period is not an “hour”
they will still get recognition for an “hour” of code. We are limited to 28+/- students at a time due to
number of computers available in Mr. Kennedy’s lab. Teachers will need to stay with their students
while they are in the lab.
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
CUSTODIAL STAFF APPRECIATION
The Seagoville Middle School Community contributed to celebrate the Custodial Staff Appreciation
Day. These Seagoville Middle School family members work really hard every day to keep our school
clean, organized, and safe. They are there for us any time we need them. Faculty and staff members
wanted to express our appreciation for all they do. Thank you Coy, Ana Terrence, Maria, and Santana.
Also thank you to Ms. Jackson, our Community Liaison who coordinated the appreciation day event.
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
Time to Teach – By Wayne Bollin
Belief #10:
Self-Esteem Matters
Current researchers widely accept the premise that self-esteem is significantly associated with
personal satisfaction and effective functioning. Stanley Coopersmith of the University of
California, Davis, studied the conditions that lead an individual, child or student to value him or
herself. He found that parental warmth, clearly defined limits and respectful treatment were
clearly the antecedents to high self-esteem.
Coopersmith found that young people high in self-esteem were happier and more effective in meeting
environmental demands than were persons with low self-esteem. How sad that there has been so little
investigation of classroom or school-wide models which cultivate happier and more effective students while
holding them accountable for behaving appropriately… until now!
Time To Teach! supplies teachers with the appropriate tools for building a classroom with clearly defined
limits, mutual respect, and warm emotional support. These are the conditions necessary to foster selfesteem. Above all, though, our major intent is to supply children with the building blocks of self-esteem –
one of which is taking personal responsibility for one’s own behavior.
From these building blocks children can construct social and educational success. Students will find
themselves with far more time for learning.
Time to Teach: Encouragement, Empowerment, and Excellence in Every Classroom. P-10
Do They Hear You?- By Tela Maupin
Today’s article is about providing effective feedback to your students by giving them
More than generic feedback.
The article states that students need to know specifically what they need to do in order
to be effective with the assignment they are currently doing. Furthermore, students
need what I call in the moment feedback to help them to be successful and in order to
provide students with meaningful feedback, the teacher must first be prepared for the
given assignment’s misconceptions.
An important part of successful feedback is to prepare the students for the learning of the day by
introducing the lesson to the students and letting them know the desired outcome after the lesson
has been taught. All of this means that the teacher must introduce the learning objective for the day
and let students know how they will demonstrate that they have learned the learning objective for
the day.
The author states that feedback should answer three questions for students: Where am I going (what
are the success criteria)? How am I going (what are the success criteria)? and Where do I need to go
next? By keeping these questions in mind and providing different kinds of feedback depending on
what the learner needs at the time, teachers can ensure that their feedback is robust and meaningful.
Two conditions can help cultivate students’ capacity to listen to feedback. The first is that structured
feedback should occur regularly during the year, and the second is to teach students how to
paraphrase the feedback they receive, which will demonstrate they understand it. The skills
suggested here will increase the students’ use of the feedback they receive.
Fisher, D., Fisher, N., & Hattie, J. (2016). Do they hear you?. Educational Leadership, 73 (7), 16-21.
Principal: Javier Chaparro
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
The Power of Protocols- By Kelli Paul
DESCRIPTIVE CONSULTANCY
Purpose
Help someone think through a problem through framing and reframing the issue.
Details
About 40 minutes. Group of 10 to 12 or small groups of 3 to 5.
Steps
1. Problem presentation. Presenting group member describes the problem, laying out its different
dimensions, and including attempts to address it. Others are silent.
2. Clarifying questions. Other members of the group (consultants) ask questions to get needed information.
3. Reflecting back. Group members share their perceptions of the problem, trying to gain a shared understanding. Presenter
is silent. They begin with "What I heard you say was ...”
4. Responding. Presenter briefly responds to the consultants’ expressed understanding of the problem, and provides further
clarification of the problem if needed. Consultants are silent.
5. Brainstorming. Consultants brainstorm possible solutions or next steps. Presenter is silent.
6. Response. Presenter talks about his or her current thinking after listening to what has been said to this point. Consultants
are silent.
7. Debriefing. "How did it feel to be the presenter? How did it feel to be the consultant?" Also, “Besides the presenter, who
else gained something from this consultation?”
ISSAQUAH COACHING PROTOCOL
Purpose
To develop good coaching habits
Details
About 50 minutes. Group size 10–15.
Steps
1. Presentation. A participant presents an authentic, unresolved problem.
2. Clarifying questions. Other group members (called consultants) get needed information.
3. Active listening/reflecting back. Each consultant briefly restates the problem in consulting terms—no interpretation or
speculation. Presenter waits to speak.
4. Check-in. Presenter responds to: “Quickly, are we hearing you correctly? If not, what would you change/add?”
5. Interpretive listening/reflecting back. Consultants, in turn, finish the sentence: “What I think is going on in this problem
is...”
6. Check-in again. Presenter responds to: "How does our thinking sound to you? Does it make sense?"
7. Probing questions. Consultants pose questions designed to help the presenter think more deeply about the problem. No
immediate response to questions — presenter is silent.
8. Response. Presenter reacts to the questions, not necessarily answering them. “Has your thinking changed about the
problem? What are your current thoughts on the issue?”
9. Suggestions. If presenter agrees that suggestions are desired, consultants may offer some suggestions. Presenter is silent.
10. Response. Presenter responds with thoughts about next steps.
11. Debriefing. Beginning with presenter, all respond to: “What was it like to go through these steps? Which kind of question
was most useful/least useful?”
CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING GROUPS PROTOCOL
Purpose
To help participants analyze the different facets of a problem, and move beyond familiar or predictable responses.
Details
Forty-five to 60 minutes. Groups of 5. Chart paper and markers are needed.
Steps
1. Introduction. Participants introduce themselves and assign themselves a number from 1 to 5. Facilitator explains that the groups
will be asked a series of sub-questions related to the larger question (or problem, issue) at hand. They will be given 5 to 7 minutes to
wrestle with each question, then one person will be called on (by number) to report his or her group’s answer.
2. First sub-question. Facilitator asks first sub-question.
3. Responses. The facilitator calls a number, and each of the participants with that number answer the su-bquestion, in turn.
4. Second sub-question, and so on. Facilitator repeats steps 2 and 3 through all the sub-questions, creating new su-bquestions on
the spot as seems appropriate.
5. Revisiting the larger question. Facilitator asks group to review what has been recorded and reflect on what has been learned
concerning the larger question, problem, or issue.
From The Power of Protocols: An Educator's Guide to Better Practice, p 30 JOSEPH P. MCDONALD, NANCY MOHR,
Assistant Principals:
Tela
Maupin
/ ELIZABETH
Kelli Paul CARROLL
/ WayneMCDONALD
Bollin
ALLEN
DICHTER,
AND
Principal: Javier Chaparro
November 28, 2106 Newsletter
Issue - 15
The Counselors’ Corner - By Gala N. Davis
The week of November 14th – 19th the district celebrated Anti-Bullying Week. It is important to
be aware of the importance of not labeling kids.
When referring to a bullying situation, it is easy to call the kids who bully others "bullies" and
those who are targeted "victims," but this may have unintended consequences. When children
are labeled as "bullies" or "victims" it may:
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Send the message that the child's behavior cannot change
Fail to recognize the multiple roles children might play in different bullying situations
Disregard other factors contributing to the behavior such as peer influence or school climate
Instead of labeling the children involved, focus on the behavior. For instance:
Instead of calling a child a "bully," refer to them as "the child who bullied"
Instead of calling a child a "victim," refer to them as "the child who was bullied"
Instead of calling a child a "bully/victim," refer to them as "the child who was both bullied and bullied
others."
Stopbullying.gov
Looking Ahead
November
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28 – Admin Meeting
29 – Science PLC 2nd Period
29 – SILT Meeting
30 – New Teacher Academy PD – 4:00 to 5:00
30 – Feeder Pattern Principals’ Meeting @ Central Elementary 8:30 – 12_00
30 – Counselors’ Meeting
December
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1 – Calibration Walk @ Seagoville High School
2 – PGPs Due!
3 – Discover Dallas @ Ellis Davis Field House
5-12- Social Studies and Science After School Tutoring
5 – Accountability Training for Principals @ Buckner Building.
5-12-19 – Admin Meeting
6 – Math, Reading, ELA, Social Studies PLC meetings
6 – SILT Meeting
7-21 – Grade Level Meetings After School
13 – New Teacher Academy PD – 4:00 to 5:00
19-22 – ACP Testing
22 – Faculty Meeting and Luncheon
26 – Winter Break Begins
Seagoville Feeder Pattern Instructional Initiatives
1
Increase student
achievement in all core
content areas by
improving the quality of
instruction.
Principal: Javier Chaparro
2
Improve the quality of
instruction through
classroom observations
and effective feedback.
3
Progress monitor
student achievement
data to inform
instructional decisions
and teaching practices.
Assistant Principals: Tela Maupin / Kelli Paul / Wayne Bollin