Diario Camino del Río

Week of January 29, 2018

• Racism Free Zone Action Plan– This will begin a meeting with Bahati Ansari by conference call in the next couple of weeks with our active parents and equity team.  Then, we will go through a customized inservice to discuss the outcomes we want in our school. She will be here from New Mexico to help us accomplish this.  There will be specific aspects of hate covered that we experience in our school setting. The parents, community members, and staff involved will go through a series of steps described below to help us formulate our declaration that we publish and post in the school. 

1.      Presentation and Professional Development: The RFZ Team to work with our school to provide a presentation, which helps everyone understand the hurt and unfairness of racism.  The presentation/workshop includes empathy exercises, to give each participant some points of contact with the experience of racism.

2.      Self Assessment: The participating group then undertakes a self-assessment to discover where more information is required and where attitudes need changing. 

3.      RFZ Statement Creation: The group them formulates it’s own RFZ Declaration or statement of commitment in the participants own words and after the dedication process the real work begins to continue to make this real.

4.      School Wide Implementation: The RFZ approach has been implemented in schools in all subject areas, as students create RFZ logos, posters, banners and art murals. We can do some or all of these activities. Students can also write letters supporting racial justice or immigration. They also are involved in many community projects around this issue.

• Heritage Spanish Speaker List Update– I am continuing to work with the district to ensure a clearer system for  allowing entry into our program from Heritage Spanish speakers. One of my concerns is that we have balanced classes of Spanish and English speakers.  In addition,  we need to find a systematic way to assess incoming students with their Spanish skills.  The School Choice Team and Lynette Williams, an immersion TOSA  will help us begin this process. This week, we will be verifying all the Spanish speakers who are on our school choice list to make sure we are getting Spanish speakers on that list. I will submit a report to them on Wednesday.

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Week of January 22, 2018

Hi Everyone,

Here are some items of note for this week:

• Report Card Grading Day, Classified & Licensed – For classified staff, 4J is planning to put on an Elementary EA Extravaganza on the elementary report card grading day next week on Friday, February 2nd. I haven’t seen any details yet, but it’s been on a district calendar sent to principals, so hold this date and watch for more info.

Report Cards: For licensed staff, report card grading day is a regular work day.HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

• Report Card Notes – A few items of note regarding report cards:

• Send-Home Date, Monday, February 12 – All report cards will go home on MONDAY.

• New Parent Reports – With Quickbase Parent Reports a thing of the past, teachers should instead print and send home the easyCBM Parent Reports, which you can find on the easyCBM website by going to REPORTS > INDIVIDUALS > DOWNLOAD in the Parent Report column for each of the students on your class list.

• No Copies for CUM File – Teachers DO NOT need to make any copies of report cards for cumulative files for this grading period, but we will need to put in copies at the end of the school year.

• Synergy Report Card Help – Tammy Christensen is the Elementary Synergy TOSA, but if you have Synergy/report card related questions, send an email to sis@4j.lane.edu. There are also many Synergy related support materials on the 4J Elementary Synergy TeacherVUE Documentation webpage, including a Synergy Report Cards Manual.

• School Choice Visitation Week #2 – The second and final School Choice Visitation Week is this week, so be prepared for families to drop by classrooms at different times. I’m also conducting an evening School Choice Event on Wednesday at 5:30 in the library. And FYI, the deadline for families to apply for in-district transfers is January 31 and out-of-district applications will be accepted March 1 – April 1.

•January 26 Professional Development  – Here is the agenda for this Friday.

• 7:45- Coffee and donuts available
• 8:00- FLOSEM Presentation by Karen, Nancy, and Erin Reckers
• 8:45- Conversation on using FLOSEM so far this year.  
• 9:15- Activity- Watching video to norm FLOSEM  also use of See Saw for Oral Language Development example in ELL.
• 9:45- Break
• 10:00- 11:30- Participation in setting decisions on school wide procedures for the FLOSEM.
• 11:30-12:00- Lunch Provided
• 12:30- 3:30- Promptly begin work with Karen Perez Da Silva, Jennifer Harris, and members of the equity team. Topic: Racial Conversations and Dynamics in a Dual Language Environment

• Shortened State ELA Assessment – ODE sent superintendents and principals an update on state assessments that said in an effort to be responsive to feedback from stakeholders, ODE’s Assessment Team worked with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to implement customized, shortened test blueprints for all Smarter Balanced assessments this year. The new assessments are estimated to reduce testing time by 1-hour for English language arts (ELA) at all grade levels, and will go into effect when the 2017-18 test window opens.

 

• Seesaw PD in Your PJs – Follow this link for a free Seesaw online training session and learn how to use Seesaw from the comfort of your couch. Hosted by star Seesaw teachers, you’ll leave with teacher-tested tips and ideas to use the next day! Whether you’re a beginner or a total pro, you’ll find a session to pique your interest, across all grade levels and subject areas. And linked here is the Seesaw Resources webpage.

• Tips for giving students more time to respond – The Edutopia article Extending the Silence reminds us that giving students several seconds to think after asking a question—and up to two minutes for some questions—improves their learning.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 22 (M)
School Choice Week #2
9:00-10:00, School Choice Tour

January 23 (T)

8:00-12:00, Peer Observations -2nd and Jones/Hellman

8:00-12:00, Fluoride Rinse in the Gym

9:00-1:00, Ramirez 2nd Grade Field Trip to Raptor Center
8:15-11:15, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

12:00-2:00, Joel in classrooms

January 24 (W)

8:00-12:00, Peer Observations 3rd

12:30, Fire Drill

12:00-2:00, Joel in classrooms
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Howard Conference Room -Jennifer attends)

5:30-6:30, School Choice Evening Presentation (Library)

6:00-8:00, Family Engineering Night (Various Locations)

January 25 (H)

8:00-12:00, Peer Observations 4th /5th

12:00-2:00, School Choice Tour

January 26 (F)

Academy Day- See above

No PLT

January 29 (M)

8:00-3:00, Data Team #3

4:00-5:30, Joel to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)- Budget and projections announced.

6:00-8:00 PM, Viaje Musicale Rehearsal

January 30 (T)
Regular Day

January 31 (W)
In District School Choice Applications Due

12:00-1:45, Joel to Classrooms

6:00-8:00, Spanish Volunteer Safety Training

February 1 (H)

9:00-11:00, Joel in Classrooms

February 2 (F)
Grading Day – No SchoolNo PLT
EA Extravaganza (details coming)

Have a great week everyone! Work together to celebrate the great things  that happen in our building every day!

Joel

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El 15 de enero, 2018

Hello El Camino Educators,

The last week was definitely an intense week for us.  Being in the news and feeling like we are under the microscope for our support of immigrant students/ families has been on many peoples minds.  In addition, on Friday we sent many teachers to the OABE conference, we presented on FLOSEM, and on our school transformation. It was a powerful week. There are many things to be proud of from our hard work and learning last week. In addition,  I want to emphasize that we are not alone in supporting each other. Our unity as a staff has mattered greatly in this time. I want to commend you all for how you have stuck together and provided positive words and thoughts for each other.  I received many messages from schools who stand with us. Twin Rivers Charter school is making posters in support of us.  Guy Lee Elementary in Springfield is also showing solidarity with us during this time. The graphic above is from an article in time that came out a year and a half ago, titled” The immigrants fate is everyone’s fate.” Please stand together to keep this hate out of our school.

These three rocked their presentation on Friday. I am a super proud principal for seeing their teacher leadership come out to the world.

• Science Investigation #1 by March – The district has set a goal for all 4J elementary students to complete Investigation #1 before March 1st. During PD you might have heard Sue explain this as her new year’s resolution. Sue Wilson and Brooke Wagner will follow up with principals to measure Kit #2 implementation, as well as scheduling some times for school walk-throughs. Please let me know if there are supports that will help you with science implementation. I have planning days as substitutes to provide for you if you need to sit down with Allison Kreider to figure out  how to use the materials.

• PE/Music Semester Transition – Good news!  Our staff has two amazing teachers that get to STAY with us. There is no teacher transition, no change in routine.  There will be adjustments to the schedule but it is mainly unchanged. Second Semester we will not have PE on Wednesdays.  This means that we will not have to squeeze in PE on other days or swap out other academics on certain days like we did last year.  Really, the only change is that the toothpaste tube squeezes to the PE side of things. This is great for kids and teachers. They know the students and know the rules.  It should mean less difficulty for the kids with behaviors after February begins.  

• Major-Minor Behavior Matrix – Linked here is the 4J Elementary Behavior Matrix, which includes a handy grid on pages three and four with guidelines on when we should respond to misbehavior with a Redirect/Reteach (Uh-Oh/Level 1), a Minor Referral (Level 2), or a Major Referral (Level 3). For example, for Disrespect/Noncompliance, a Level 1 is appropriate for passive refusal to participate, with very slow response to request, a Level 2 is appropriate for ignoring a reasonable request with a prolonged refusal to participate, and a Level 3 would be appropriate for repeated refusal that leads to substantial and ongoing disruption. Other guidelines are for Disruption, Inappropriate Language, Fighting/Aggression, Teasing/Harassment, Property Damage, and Lying/Cheating/Theft. And as we all know, the referral forms mean nothing and it’s all in our reteaching, reinforcing, and consistency that helps to improve student behavior.

• 19 Big and Small Classroom Management Strategies – Related to the above, this Edutopia article has some excellent behavior management reminders (even if it was written by a 12th grade English teacher). A good reminder I know I sometimes forget is #2, which said, “Keep your consequences as minimal as possible – When a rule is broken, assign the smallest consequence possible and see if that gets the job done. Don’t use up big consequences too fast.” There’s also plenty of good small reminders, like never punish an entire class or give students choices or publicly announce classroom management goals. Read on for more!

• TeacherVUE Synergy App for Attendance – The TeacherVUE Synergy app (iOS and Android) a few years ago was discouraged from being used to take attendance because of reliability issues, but some 4j teachers have tried and it seems to be working now. Using the app on your phone or tablet can be easier for taking attendance than on your computer if teachers want to download and use it. In setting it up, just use the URL https://sis.4j.lane.edu/

 

▪ District Admin Updates – Cydney Vandercar, Director of HR, is assuming additional leadership responsibilities for the district’s operational departments in the reinstated role of Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services. As Assistant Superintendent, Cydney now oversees the district’s operational departments and services, including human resources, business services, financial operations, food services, technology, transportation, and facilities, while the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, Dr. Charis McGaughy, oversees instructional services. Another change down the road from us is Spring Creek Elementary School’s principal, Raquel Gwynn, has accepted a position with the Oregon Department of Education and will be leaving 4J in early February. Larry Sullivan, 4J’s prior special education director, will step in as interim principal at Spring Creek for the remainder of the school year.

• Care Team Referrals Due Friday – The January Student Care Team is next week, so any new referrals are due to me this Friday. Linked here is the 4J Release Form to get signed, but you can also refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me know if you have any questions.

• One More MLK  Resource-  I know that most of you spent time working on the message of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Last week but I thought I would share one of his most important letters with you.  It is titled A Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  This link is from the Stanford University Library.  It includes an audio version with Dr. King’s voice in the background too.  It is a good read and helpful for us to re-read as educators when we teach about his legacy.

 

Schedule of Upcoming Events at School

January 15 (M)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School

January 16 (T)

8:00-12:00, Kinder Number Talks Peer Observations 

January 17 (W)

8:00-12:00, 1st Grade and 1/2  Number Talks Peer Observations

2:00-3:00, Staff Meeting We will be in Nancy’s Room, A211 (EA’s and All Teachers attend, others welcome)

Agenda:
Connections- 5 min 
Poster Evaluation- 15 minutes
Next Steps & Actions- 40 minutes

January 18 (H)

Joel in classrooms

2:40-3:45, Guardians of the Galaxy

January 19 (F)

8:00-2:30, Data Team Meeting #3

3:00-5:30, Produce Plus Program  by Alicia for  all 4j families in Lobby

January 22 (M)
School Choice Week #2

9:00-10:00, School Choice Tour

3:00-4:00, IEP in the Conference Room

January 23 (T)

8:00-12:00- Fluoride Varnish Clinic  (Gym)
8:00-12:00, Peer Observation for 2nd Grade including Jaime Jones
8:15-11:15, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 24 (W)

8:00-12:00, Peer Observation for 3rd Grade

2:00-3:00, Grade Level PLC Planning Meetings-  Teachers meet to review math / literacy units and assessments.

2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Howard Conference Room)

5:30-6:30- Evening Presentation for School Choice

6:00-7:15- Engineering Night

January 25 (H)

8:00-12:00, Peer Observation for 4th and 5th Grade

12:00-1:00, Final School Choice Tour

January 26 (F)

Academy Day- All Specialists, Classroom Teachers, and EA’s should be present.

7:45, Coffee, donuts, and fruit available

8:00-11:30, AM Focus will be deepening understanding of FLOSEM Assessment and aligning assessment procedures.

Lunch provided.

12:00-3:30, PM Focus- will be an equity conversation with Karen Perez Da Silva.

 

Have a great week, everyone!

Joel

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RIVER ROAD/EL CAMINO DEL RÍO PARENT MESSAGE — IMMIGRATION POSTER VANDALISM January 12, 2018

 

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Week of January 8, 2017

Hi all,

Welcome back and Happy New Year!  This is the first blog entry for 2018. 

Here are some important items of the week:

• Science Curriculum Update – I wanted to highlight a few items were shared at the principal science training last week:

• Life Science is Optional – In an effort to be responsive to hearing how overwhelmed elementary teachers are feeling with new curriculums and materials, downtown is making the FOSS Life Science kit optional and simply a pilot this year for teacher who choose to teach it.

• When to teach science? – Principals discussed many of the barriers for teaching the kits. Schedule is often mentioned as a barrier, so I wanted to reiterate that it is okay to teach science during core English reading or Social Studies. The district is concerned that some kits were not used in the fall. They want to make sure that science curriculum is being used in addition to other science activities you plan.  Some of you remember the goal Sue Wilson set for the first hit in the all in one session at the start of the year. It was her New Year’s resolution.

• Kit Priorities and Key Concepts – This has been shared before, but there is a wealth of information on the 4J Science Blog (vocabulary cards, word walls, learning targets, etc), but in particular is the Priority Matrix for each of the science kits. The matrix rates each lesson as a high, medium, or low priority, which if you’re not able to get to all the lessons can help you decide which ones are the most important.

• Care Team Referrals Due 1/19 – The January Student Care Team meeting is in two weeks and any new referrals to the team are due the Friday, January 19th. Linked here are the 4J Release Forms (editable PDF and non-editable PDF) to get signed if any situations where the Care Team might be able to provide assistance. Try to get a signature on the 4J Release Form, but if you can’t, you can also refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me or Jennifer know if you have any questions.

• Joel taking a 21 day instructional leadership challenge.- This January and early February I am in a new Challenge to push myself to be a stronger instructional leader. I have conducted 90% of my formal and informal observations at this point in the year.  However, I want to get to a deeper level of understanding in your classrooms.  I have committed to make at least three 10-15 minute walkthroughs into classrooms every day. My goal is to make at least 500 visits to classrooms by June 16, 2018. Also,  I want to improve the instructional conversations we have about what is happening in classrooms. The first couple of weeks, I am mostly just trying to watch and learn in these type of walkthrough experiences. My “agenda” is to learn more about what you are doing and see your amazing work.  Currently, I am in Day 5 of the challenge.  I do a little reading and self reflection as part of the challenge too.

•School Choice Visitation Week – A reminder, School Choice Visitation Week is this week, so be prepared for families to drop by classrooms over the course of the week. Tours begin on Monday at 9:00 AM and repeats on Thursday 12:00.

Here is a short story from the Elementary Showcase that Karen and I went to.  We got some good press. 😉

KEZI- 4j School District Hosts Annual Elementary Showcase.

 

•ECDR Robotics Team Update- Also, another cool video is from our Robotics  Team that went to Salem in January.  This 6 minute video really shows the  skills our students developed and their critical thinking and fun they had in the experience.

This is our team video for the 2017 FLL Hydrodynamics season. The kids worked really hard and did an amazing job.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events

January 8 (M)
School Choice Week #1

Tour- 9:00-10:00, Guide: Joel 

January 9 (T)
8:15-11:15, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

Joel doing walk throughs in the PM

5:00-6:00 Site Council (Library)

6:00-7:15 Parent Group, Stand For Children Forum  (Library)

January 10 (W)

Joel doing walk throughs in the PM

12:00-1:00, Meeting with Reid Shepard (Joel’s Office)

January 11 (H)

Tour- 12:00-1:00, Guide: Joel

Joel doing Walk Throughs in the AM

January 12 (F)

Tom Piowaty on-call in case there is need for behavioral support.

Many teachers and myself at the OABE Conference. Keynote speakers: Carmen Xiomara Urbina, Charles Martinez.

January 13 (S)

Teachers and Principal at the OABE conference.  Keynote speaker Zaretta Hammond.

January 15 (M)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School

Come march with me.  Eugene/Springfield NAACP presents 2018 NAACP community MLK March! – Monday, January 15, 2018 at Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR. I will be there by around 9:00. 

January 16 (T)

Peer Observations with Reid in the AM

Joel walk throughs in the PM

3:00-4:00, New Teacher Check in

January 17 (W)

Peer Observations with Reid in the AM

Joel walk throughs in the PM

2:00-3:00 PM, All faculty staff meeting. 

• Agenda includes-
• FALL PBIS data share 
• Public Response to Flyer Removal Planning
• School wide Reading Incentives
• Update on the Stand for Children Parent Meeting
• Finalize the Artist In Residence  Schedule with Alexis S. and Erin Bucklew.

January 18 (H)

Joel walk-throughs in the AM

3:00-3:45, Guardians of the Galaxy Student IPBS Team Meeting (Conference Room)

January 19 (F)

Joel walk throughs in the AM

Last week was such a great week for our students.  I really enjoyed seeing you welcome them back to our building.  Let’s continue the trend this week.  

Joel

 

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