Week of February 22
Queridas Estrellas Brillantes,
Last week was a busy week. I missed being in the building on Thursday and Friday as a lead facilitator for Carrying It Forward. However, I was also very proud to have so many staff members with me in the room at the Ed Center doing important inside out work to change our practices for the better with students. Carrying It Forward (Taking It Up) is a jump off point for us to renew our work in the area of race and equity. In particular, our building must work especially hard to support positive cross-cultural, and positive racial identity development. The teachers and staff members on our team agreed. We decided to focus our efforts in the equity action plan on school climate and race. We especially felt that PBIS and Caring For Kids curricular systems need more development in relation to race and will work on this in the coming weeks with all of you. Thanks again for your dedication to this work to support all of our students.
Some important events and items of note
• School Choice Visitation Week – Just a reminder that this week is the second School Choice Visitation Week. We have some of families signed up for tours (mostly at the younger grades), so don’t be surprised if you see me walking visitors around the building and into classrooms this week. There are some special appointments I made during this week with certain parents who could not make the regular tour times.
• TELL Oregon Teacher Survey – If you didn’t catch this in Gus’ email to staff earlier, the TELL Survey is an opportunity for teachers to share your experiences and insights, and is open now through the end of February. Linked here is a letter from the groups partnering on this project, which includes OEA and the Chalkboard Project. This is the second year Oregon has participated in the nationally developed survey. All licensed, school-based educators are invited to share observations and opinions about the teaching and learning conditions in their schools and what supports are needed to ensure success for each and every student. The TELL Survey is voluntary, confidential, and anonymous, and takes about 20–30 minutes to complete online. The survey will ask you for a unique individual code, which you can request online or you can get off of a letter that I will put in licensed staff members’ mailboxes on Monday.
• Read Across America, Wednesday, March 2nd – Just a quick reminder that Wednesday next week is NEA’s Read Across America. Classroom resources for this event can be found at Suessville, ReadingRockets.org and NEA. Our Title team has organized many fun events during Spirit and Literacy Week. See her email for details.
• District Title 1 Newsletter – Here is the latest district level Title 1 Newsletter that went out to Title 1 Coordinators and principals. As usual, this month’s newsletter is mostly coordinator specific information and tasks, but there is a nice infographic about What Does it Mean to be Culturally Responsive? which includes the four stages of culturally responsive teaching.
• McKinney-Vento Identified Student Count – I shared this report last year and thought staff might be interested in this year’s numbers. Deborah Dailey, the 4J McKinney-Vento (homeless) Coordinator shared the January McKinney-Vento Report with principals, which included the total number of students identified in the district by region and by school. The North Region has the most identified students. Howard has had 29 students who were McKinney-Vento so far this year, which is the second highest at the elementary level compared to Chavez’ 38 students. River Road is third behind Howard with 28 students.
• Start Planning for Women’s History Month – Women’s History Month is just around the corner! Start planning for March with written, visual and multimedia texts in Perspectives for a Diverse America. Filter your search on the website with the “Gender” lens and by grade level to find a reading, and pair it with a task like Where I Stand to make it come alive for students.
• bell hooks and Emma Watson in conversation – Related to the above, here is a great Boing Boing blog post. Paper Magazine’s “Girl Crush” series pairs notable women for fascinating conversations, which they transcribe and publish. The series is spectacular, and this interview, between author/feminist/activist bell hooks and actor/feminist/activist Emma Watson, is the best yet.
• Do iPads improve teaching, learning? – Educators Jeanne Carey Ingle and Tanya Moorehead in this commentary share five takeaways from research on the use of iPads in the classroom. Research, they write, shows that iPads improve learning and student engagement. Researchers also have found that iPads can level the playing field for all students, they note.
New Building Updates:
El Camino del Rio Elementary New School Garden Meeting, Wednesday, February 10, 2016
- Update from John regarding garden components- Fence will not be part of 4j design. Will be part of the grant maybe as phase 2/3. Probably pad and shed is most important. Also, idea of putting the shed on the north side and the beds on the south to get more sun. A 3-bin compost system doesn’t have to be part of this stage but can be added later at minimal cost. Shed will be a bit more of a display area/kiosk, as well.
- Wish List- Pour pad and shed, Irrigation system, Greenhouse, Stackable benches that can be chained at night., A couple picnic tables/benches.
- Joel’s idea of shrubs and trees- Parents interested in a sensory garden. Herbs, edible perennials, etc. How can we design something that includes these plants, a place to walk into, a meandering space. What do the landscape architects have in mind? Are there more edible/aromatic plants around the classrooms, all around the edge, space on the west. Sarah Wheeler (SGP) is a great resource for the types of plants we will want. We don’t want a production garden, but a learning garden appropriate for a class of children. Pollinator species, wetland-type plants along the swale. An area around the beds that can be trampled, but then edge is more a nice herb garden where people can meander. Closer to the edge of the property for the eventual fruit trees. Careful with native plants. That giant one in the old garden. Careful with the lines of sight if they get too big.
- Miscellaneous garden topics discussed: 1. Global Delights owner is interested in helping with coffee grounds for compost. 2. Andrea Garcia (first grade parent) wants the sensory garden, also including the Latino community/history/plants/customs. 3. More intentional work with culturally diverse components for the garden. 4. John Moriarty: garden beds to better serve kids with special needs, he knows two people who can consult when the time comes to help with beds that are higher for accessibility from a wheelchair. 5. No more garden beds in the 4j design, but really cheap, pre-cut, maybe $4-500. We have the ones currently in the front of the school as well.
- Furniture Meeting, February 18: Many of you may have noticed that we have a lot of new furniture in the library. It is there for you to try out and get a feeling for. In addition, we are interested in what you like or dislike of the furniture. There are a few items we already have discovered do not work well. The spinning desk ,for example, is out. We heard that Howard absolutely loved these desks in concept. Once they tried them out, however, they realized the desks would not work. Currently, we are in the stage of focusing primarily on the classroom. Once we have made furniture decisions there, we will move on to the commons and the other common spaces like media center. There are kidney table renderings available for us to see if you have interest in the size or style. They do not have any in stock for us to look at though.
Schedule of Events
February 22 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week
Informal Observations throughout the day.
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
February 23 (T)
7:30-7:45, Pre conference Meeting
8:45-9:45, Cafecito and School Choice Sessions- Transitions Focus
10:15-11:15, Joel in Formal observation
12:05, Joel in informal observation
3:00-5:00 PLT Meeting- Discussion of scenarios.
6:30-8:30, Black Lives Matter Book Club- TaNehisi Coates Between the World and Me (Library) All are welcome to attend.
February 24 (W)
10:00-12:00, Joel to Staffing Allocation Meeting (Ed Center)
12:00-1:00, Joel to Title 1 Allocation Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Jennifer and Joel to Student Care Team Meeting (Staff Room at Howard)
2:15-3:30, Contractor PreBid Walk about.
February 25 (H)
7:30-7:45, Mid term Goals Meeting
7:45-8:15, IEP Meeting in Learning Center
8:45-9:20, Quetzal Assembly in the Cafeteria
10:00-12:00, Joel doing Informal Observations
1:30-2:00, School Choice Tour
2:45-3:45, Mod Squad Meeting
3:00-4ish, Roshny’s Baby Shower in the Staff Lounge
February 26 (F)
Last Day for In-district School Choice Requests
7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
7:45, Pre-conference Meeting
9:00-10:30, PDAT Meeting on Latino Parent Curriculum in Bethel SD
12:00-1:00, Joel in formal observation.
3:00, Joel in mid term goal conference.
4:30-6:30, Joel at 4J Equity Committee
February 29 (M)
SPIRIT WEEK
7:30, Joel in post conference observation meeting.
9:00-10:00, Joel in formal observation.
11:35-12:30, Joel in informal observation meeting.
3:00-4:00, Site Council Meeting
11:30-3:30, Joel and Aline to Title 1 Principal & Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)
March 1 (T)
Women’s History Month
Youth Art Month
Music in Our Schools Month
National Nutrition Month
7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
Open Enrollment Begins for out of district students.
3:00-3:45, Staff Meeting – Topic: staffing (Library)
March 2 (W)
7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
1:45-2:45, PBIS Meeting
2:45-4:15, IEP Meeting in Learning Center
6:00-7:30, Dr. Seuss Night
March 3 (H)
7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
11:00-1:00, Joel at the Latino Outreach Network Meeting
March 4 (F)
7:30, Mid Term Goals Meeting
3:00, Mid Term Goals Meeting
Have an excellent week, everyone!
Joel
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