Diario Camino del Río

Week of April 20

Administrative Professional Day is Wednesday, April 22 2015.

What is coming up?

April 20 (M)
8:30-9:20,Joel observes bilingual teacher candidates at (Buena Vista Elementary)
10:15-11:15, Sara Green Meeting about Super-boundary

April 21 (T)
Smarter Balanced Testing Begins
9:00-10:00, CAP Budget Planning (Conference Room)
10:30, Joel in Formal Observation of Teacher
12:00-1:00, River Road Math Follow Up with Maddy, Reid, Kathy L. (Conference Room)
3:00-4:00, PLT Meeting- Main topic End of the year calendar and planning 15-16 calendar.
4:15, Informal Interview of Bilingual Teacher (Kelly Middle School)

April 22 (W)
Earth Day
Administrative Professional’s Day (formerly Secretary’s Day)
8:30-11:15, Joel in formal observations at 8:30 and 10:15 AM
1:45-2:45, Math PLC Time (Library)

April 23 (H)
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

2:45-3:45, Mod Squad Meeting (IPBS)
3:00-5:00, Camino del Rio Design Committee

6:00-7:00, New Kinder Orientation

April 24 (F)
Hop Valley Friday at 4:00

April 27 (M)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room)
7:00-8:30, Joel to River Road Community Organization Meeting

April 28 (T)
8:00-11:30, SST Meeting with ODE (Library)
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
5:00-6:00, ACE Awards Reception (Hult Center Lobby)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Ceremony – Ticketed Event (Hult Center, Silva Concert Hall)

April 29 (W)
12:45-1:30, Fiesta del Niño Assembly
1:45-2:45, Math PLC Time (Library)
3:45-5:15, Joel and KG Teachers to Full-Day KG Implementation Meeting (Ed Center)

April 30 (H)
Joel and Kathy Larson at the ODE/ Ed Northwest Principal -Coach Meeting All Day (Eugene Hilton)
2:30-3:30, PBIS Meeting (Room 21)
Fiesta Setup after 3:00 PM- 8:00 PM

May 1 (F)
No School – PD Planning Day
8:00-10:00, Professional Development (Library
10:00-12:00- Planning Time
12:30-3:00, Senderos Training
3:00-4:00, Planning Time
Fiesta begins- 5:00 PM

What is happening?

• 15/16 Specialists and Teacher Prep Time – The EEA contract requires that elementary teachers receive additional prep time next year. The plan that was shared with principals last week is that schools will continue to get one semester of PE and one semester of Music, each providing two 30 minute sessions per week during their semester. What is being added is that during the Music semester, which is first semester for Camino del Río, there will be a third 30 minute prep which will be provided by a once a week PE class. So first semester there will be two sessions of Music and one session of PE per week. Camino del Río was spoiled this year getting a full year of PE, but I did want to let everyone know that I plan to apply for this grant again next year. I will see if we can get a more quality prep time for all teachers to provide the best level of PE our building can provide.

• News from the Emerald Empire Reading Council – Here’s the April Newsletter from the Emerald Empire Reading Council. This month’s newsletter includes professional development opportunities, grant opportunities and other items, like their Annual Whine and Wine event. If you’d like more information, visit their (un-ironic 1990s style) website.

• McKinney-Vento Identified Student Count – I thought staff might find this report interesting. Deborah Dailey, the 4J McKinney-Vento (homeless) Coordinator shared a report with principals that had the total number of students identified in the district by region and by school. Camino del Rio has less than 20 students who are McKinney-Vento. Howard has very high levels of McKinney-Vento students in their school. I am concerned that the super-boundary unevenly effects our schools due to parents deciding to go to a non-language immersion program. This puts a lot of pressure on Howard and creates a barrier for these students when they have no Spanish speaking skills and are older than 7. This will be discussed in the superboundary meeting with Sara Green and Allan Chinn in early May.

• Helping Young Students Feel Positively About the Color of Their Skin – Here’s an article with some ideas about how to open the topic of skin color with young students. The activities are some that I have seen in variation, but the activities expand to include poetry writing which I believe will touch on the creative side of students’ thinking. Allowing space for this type of learning is necessary and can develop conversations and results for learners of all ages.

• May 1st PD- I am very excited that Dr. Robyn Duran will be joining us for a conversation about race and our dual language school. She will be Skyping with us from 8:00-10:00 AM on the morning of May 1st.  Carmen and Jennifer will also be helping us facilitate this ongoing conversation.

• The First Construction Pains-  I was informed that prep of the school site will begin as soon as school is out.  This means that the earth works will start right around June 15.  Unfortunately, the school garden will be razed at this time.  We will need to begin a transplanting plan for the garden as soon as possible. Also,  there will be a construction fence put up near the 5th grade wing as soon as school is out.  There will not be access to this part of the school until the new gym is completed. The new gym is expected to be complete in Fall 2016. We might have a small lapse in PE in a gym for a short period of time in 2016.  We may need to place the PE classes on portions of the playground in September and October 2016.

Spanish and the indigenous language of the region are incorporated in the curriculum (teleSUR)

I hope you all have a great week.

Joel

Week of December 15

Weekly Summary of Events

December 15 (M)

8:00-3:00, Data Team Meeting

December 16 (T)

SST Meeting, 8:00-11:00

4:00-8:00, Joel to First Aid Training

December 17 (W)

My mom visits as principal for a day.

2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting

December 18 (H)

1:00-1:35, Pride Assembly Rescheduled from December 4 (AM kinders parents can come visit to see students get awards too.)

3:00-5:00, Design Committee Meeting

December 19 (F)

Last day of school before Winter Break!

January 5 (M)

School Resumes

Hi everyone,

Well, we are in the final stretch towards winter break. This often means that students are stressed, not to mention the teachers. Please make sure you listen closely to students and consider their needs and anxiety of the upcoming break.  I can come by and help if you need it.

Here are several items for the week:

• Love food not waste is beginning at Camino del Río- With the help of Craig Young, Lisa Livelybrooks, Tim Whitley and PSS, we are starting the City of Eugene’s Love Food Not Waste Program.  This is a program that will help us reduce our school garbage bill and reduce landfill amounts tremendously.  Please talk to Marcy, Nikita, or Megan about getting helpers in your classes to help make this a smooth process.  Also, if you are aware of families that might want to volunteer supervising students, that could be an easy way for them to help out.  Please advertise it in your weekly newsletter.

• Pride Assembly will be this Thursday- Thank you all for bringing me the Pride Awards this week.  Please keep them coming.  I hope to represent each class in the school during this presentation.  In addition, we will be recognizing kindergartners from both am and PM.  Please make calls to parents or send them a not home in an envelope.  We want this to be a big deal for students on Thursday afternoon.  Also,  we are going to recognize our amazing First Lego League Robotics Team.  They brought home three trophies! The assembly will be about 25 minutes. Please seat students in a neat line in order with your grade and keep classes separated for ease of recognition.  A seating chart will be available by Thursday afternoon. Below is the agenda starting at 1:00 PM. Edna will call classes down. Please stay in classrooms until she calls your classroom.

1. Mr. Adee will start students off with a song or two to set the tone. (Please remind students of PBIS Assembly expectations.)

2. We will present the Golden Tray Award to two classes.

3. We will present the FLL Team to the school and give them an applause.

4. We will recognize the students who read to the City of Eugene.

5. Megan and the Student Leadership team will quickly remind us what the Virtudes Award is and how to get it.

6. We will read the names of students who received pride awards.  Teachers will come to the front to present awards. Mr. Lavin will read names.  We will read K through 5.

7. Students will be excused by classroom.

Three Trophies for First Lego League competition last weekend.

• International Human Rights Day Declaration was a success.– See the pic below taken at the Hult Center.  Our school is really getting some positive attention.

This is a shot of our students presenting the International day of Human Rights on December 10th. They did a tremendous job in front of the public.

• EEF Announcement Soon-  We should know the EEF announcement of our $5000.00 grant before Winter Break. If we do not get the full amount, it may be possible that we can get the funds via another source.  I have been networking with some business leaders in our community that have interest in supporting our programs.

• PLC Wednesday and Tech: Please remember to fill out your PLC Form each Wednesday that you meet. I have invited Misty Jackson to return so she can support you with your iPad technology needs. We are inching closer to a 4th grade 1:1 initiative.  Edna purchased Reflector for all classroom teachers and ELL.  Peggy will come by to do installs on tablets and laptops this week. I really like this model, ( having an expert come in who can help on a specific topic.) I am hoping I can convince Reid Sheppard to come by on a Wednesday or two in order to help with formative math assessments.

• Classrooms Input in New Building- Please speak with Erin Skoubo, Marcy Hellman, Alexis Screen, and Karen Ramirez Guttierez about their input on the classroom design.  The glass from floor to ceiling in parts of the classroom I believe is a real problem for storage, wall space, custodial maintenance and too much distraction.  I need you to provide input to the teachers involved about your opinions.  The ed spec process asked for these windows in Howard and our school. Please provide input with your opinion as it may make a difference. If Allan Chinn and I can make a compelling argument together to change the Ed Specifications, we may be able to shift this in both our schools.

• Global Delights Coffee Fundraiser- Soon we will begin a fundraiser to help support the Outdoor School Program in 5th Grade.  I am recommending that 4th and 5th grade get involved.  If our 4th grade can raise funds this year, we won’t be in such a pinch during the next school year. Nikita, Megan, Jaime, and Jill: Please see me about organizing this fundraising event.  We could make  600.00 for every 100 pounds of coffee that we sell. This could also be a school-wide event later in the year. They also will be saving 1.00 for us for every pound they sell in the kiosk throughout the year. Go local and help our students go to Outdoor School! The date for Fundraising will begin in the second week in January.

• Kindergarten Expo Next Week- Some of you may have noticed that there was a position open for kindergarten in our building this week in an email from EEA and Cyd Vandercar.  I will attend the expo session next week if there are any applicants to our position within the district. If there are not, then this position will go public starting over Winter Break or in early January.  I will be advertising far and wide over break. Many unknown factors remain about staffing as December is an extremely early time of year to think about all of this. It has prompted me to ask several questions to staff about their intentions to be kinder teachers in our building and even what their other intentions are for other grades.  If you’d like to approach me earlier about your staffing interests, do not hesitate to speak with me.  Later in March, I will be sending out a more formal survey about your interests and intentions for 2015-2016.

• Enrollment Numbers- For 2015-2016 we are projected to have 366 students. This is an increase of 33 students over 14-15  projections.  The district also projects that we will have 75 kindergartners next fall. They slated 3 positions for us in full day kinder next year.  We will have to make some classroom placement decisions once we have a clearer picture of staffing.

• Monday 12/15 – Friday 12/19 is Secret Snowman Week -Starting Monday, December 15th, you are in charge of leaving your S.S. something special for each day of the week. Remember, it can be a poem, piece of candy, or an encouraging note. The max you can spend is $10.00 total for the week, so be creative. Friday, December 19th right after school we will reveal our person in the staff room. Please join us for a few minutes of holiday cheer before winter break! Staff had a lot of fun last year trying to guess who our S.S. was.

• Progress on late entry policy-  I have been asked by the district to submit a policy proposal regarding late entry students in the River Road /Howard super-boundary.  Briefly, the proposal would ensure that we would remain a neighborhood school and we would not accept students after Fall of 2nd grade into the program. The policy will also outline a policy for how to accept students who are heritage  Spanish speakers and others who have specific designations and abilities. I have been referring to some master plans from California, Connecticut, Utah, and Colorado for research.  In addition, Abby Lane, Tom Piowaty, Allan Chinn, Eric Anderson, Sara Green, Rosa Molina, and others will contribute. This proposal will be submitted to the board and hopefully have some resolution before school choice season is in full swing in late January.

•  CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grants Due Jan. 2 – I sent this out once before, but I thought I’d remind anyone interested in applying for a grant they are due Jan. 2nd. The CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grant Program is a competitive grant open to PreK-12 teachers and is designed to help teachers inventively implement technology in their classrooms to increase student achievement. They will consider requests of up to $5,000 submitted by full-time classroom teachers, with a deadline of January 2, 2015. Grants will be awarded in April.

• The Threat of Stereotype – Stereotype threat is a situational predicament in which people are or feel themselves to be at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group. Stereotype threat and the responses it elicits can play a powerful role in the relatively poor achievement of certain students—African Americans, Latinos, and girls in math-oriented domains. The following article is an excellent piece that discusses the impacts on students and more importantly how educators can help.

• Teachers can take a cue from Google to encourage innovation – Technology firms, including Google, have found success with a strategy that allows employees to spend one-fifth of their time on “passion projects.” Now, the approach appears to be catching on in education, with some teachers setting aside time for students to work on inquiry-based projects. This article includes 20 tips to help educators adopt this approach.

Thanks and have a good week.

Saludos cordiales,

Joel

Week of October 27

 Schedule of Events of The Week

October 27 (M)

2:45-3:45, Site Council Meeting for October

October 28 (T)

8:30-9:30, Three Guys and A Ball Assembly on Bullying and Harrassment (Gym)

1:00-3:30, Superintendent Berman to observe classrooms and chat with staff at Staff Meeting. Classified Staff, please come and accumulate comp time to be part of the conversation.

3:45-5:30, PLT Meeting for CAP Revisions (Extra Duty Contract for PLT Members)

October 29 (W)

1:45-2:45, Wednesday Collaboration Time

2:45-3:45, PBIS Meeting for November

October 30 (Th)

3:00-5:00, Design Committee

October 31 (F)

Halloween- Costumes to be worn in classroom parties only.

November 3 (M)

IIPM Data Consult Meeting to be rescheduled due to conflict.
1:30-2:30, Aline and Joel to Title 1 Coordinator and Principal’s Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principal’s Meeting (Ed Center)

November 4 (T)
8:00-12:00, Picture Retakes (Library)

November 5 (W)

8:00-3:30, Joel to Learning About Learning Network Meeting (BV)

2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting in Recker’s Classroom

November 6 (H)

1:00, Fire Drill and Lock Down Practice immediately afterwards.

4:00-8:00 PM, Conferences

November 7 (F)

8:00 AM -8:00 PM Conferences

Hi everyone,

Here are several items of note for the week. Last week felt like a marathon and I think it was!  I am looking forward to a more routine week though we all know any day in our building is filled with richness of discussion and learning.  I am also really looking forward to our Día de Los Muertos Event as it’s my first time to go. I am planning on bringing my kids to the event to celebrate, decorate and learn.

Site Council Agenda October 27th

A Conversation about Parent Involvement, Decision Making, and Language of Power.

Staff Meeting Agenda October 28th- begins at 2:45 and ends at 3:45.

1. Greeting and United Way Presentation by Nancy Schaal McHarry -5 minutes

2. A Conversation with Superintendent Dr. Sheldon Berman -40 minutes

3. A Short iPad Training- 10 minutes

The Growth Mindset and Malcolm Mitchell:

Many of you have heard of Carol Dweck and the Growth Mindset. This video explores a great example of how the growth mindset actually manifests itself in everyday life.  I loved this story.  I encourage you to share it with your classes and have a discussion about reading and working hard at it.

New Building Design Update

We have moved quickly into the stage known as schematic design in design committee. This last week, our team was able to see some rough models of initial layouts. As most of you should know by now, the building will be sited on the west side of our building.  In addition, our team is also exploring the idea of removing our old gym early in order to design a building with less constrictions on space.

On Friday, I also had a chance to see Trillium Creek Elementary in West Linn.  This was inspirational and clearly a building designed with kids in mind.  This gave me motivation to always keep the child in the forefront of my mind when working on our design.  Here is a short clip of me coming down the slide in the Trillium Creek Library.

Earl Boyles Visit

Our visit to Earl Boyle Elementary was truly inspirational.  I was amazed to see a school designed to support families from age 0 to 11.  There were so many features of their program which we would like to emulate.  I will share more about this in a future staff meeting.  The greatest learning for me was their parent group structure.  It is called Parents United.  The group conducts all parent meetings in Spanish. They set an educational agenda for them selves and their bi-cultural parent coordinator helps them find the resources to learn what they need to further their parenting skills. Fundamentally, all parents are seen as asset holders in the children’s learning, and they are assets!

Tasha Katsuda will be forming an early learning task force which I will be joining.  This group will be looking to find partnerships in the community to help us to find a way to include a preschool program in our building in the future.  I will also begin to work with the design team to discuss possibilities of making space in our building for a preschool program.

Some November 6 and 7 Conference Details

Dinner on November 6 and 7- I am still working out the details of this. I will be checking in with Parent Group to see if they have a way to support us with a meal one night. The school will have a meal on a second night. I will share this with you next week.  Email me if you have suggestions for dinner.

Free/Reduced Meals Forms at Conferences- Be sure to have free/reduced meal forms on hand during conferences and please highlight this program for families. We’ll have extra copies available in the office.

November 10 Classified Staff Expectations- Monday, November 10 is a regular work day for Classified Staff, but is not a work day for licensed staff who worked extended hours for conferences. Since this is a non-student day, I would encourage classified staff who have comp time coming to use it this day. Please submit your comp form to me to ensure you have these hours accumulated. If you are planning to work on Monday, please connect with your primary cooperating teacher on how best to help out this day.

Linda Darling Hammond on Equity and Literacy in the 21st Century

This is an excellent article on equity in schools.  Linda Darling Hammond from Stanford is one of the giants of multicultural education.  When I read this article, I realized that we as a staff are battling many factors that are out of our control and some that we can control.  Fortunately, we have resources, very qualified staff, and expertize to help our students and support them in high levels of literacy. Some of the questions asked of Linda in this interview article directly relate to our building. It was affirming to hear that there are a lot of things we are doing right!

Math PD Planning

Last week Karen and I met with SDS Reid Sheppard and Math Director  Maddy Ahearn.  They shared many ideas about how to support our staff with more math professional development.  In addition, we discovered with their research many things that could help us this year.  One,  there are math Investigations Teacher Editions in Spanish.  We are exploring how to acquire these for our staff.  Two Smarter Balanced or New OAKS  Math Assessment will be offered in Spanish! Our students can study math in Spanish and take the test in Spanish!  This is huge!  Reid and Maddy will be planning more PD with a focus on math practices this year.  Our major focus will be on using the 8 math practices at appropriate times to improve students math thinking skills. Here is a document that Kathy Larson shared that unpacks ways to consider using the CCSS  in Math. It is North Carolina’s Math Common Instructional Framework

PBIS Cafeteria Plan Reminder

Our PBIS focus on improving cafeteria behavior continues. This week, the tables will begin getting points for their class behavior in their seats.  Teachers, please remind students about this system and give them positive feedback for points earned for appropriate cafeteria behavior next week.

Common Core ELA in kid friendly Language

Here is a link to a poster/ word wall anchor standard poster of the new ELA CCSS Standards in very kid friendly terms. They are in Engish.

ELD Project with UO

Abby lane and I have been working with Julie Heffernan on a new practicum program for students who are in the UO Teach Out Program.  There will be many students learning from our ELL’s by interviewing them. They will use the data to share plans on how to support ELL’s in the classroom.  More details to come, but this will begin in Winter term.

iOS Apps of Note – Here are a smattering of interesting apps I’ve come across from various sources:

• Free app teaches lessons about digital citizenship – A new app aims to help students become responsible digital citizens. DigitalCitizen, by Learning.com, teaches students about online safety, the proper use of digital tools and how to handle cyberbullying through the use of games, videos and quizzes. The app is available at no charge from the Google Play and Apple store.
• Classroom Management Apps – In the School Library Journal article, “Classroom Management Tricks” by Richard Byrne, he recommends three apps that help with classroom management:

• Random student name selector
• Countdown timer
• Noise regulator

• Flocabulary App – Flocabulary is a collection of content-based songs and videos using hip-hop themes and catchy phrases and mnemonic devices to help students remember basic content.

 

That’s all for this week.  Have a spooky week!

 

Joel

Week of October 13

Hi all,

I had a wonderful experience on Friday night at the benefit for Centro Latinoamericano.  I sat beside Ramon Ramirez, the President of PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste).  He was the keynote speaker and delivered a powerful message about migrant workers rights, sustainability, and education. He shared his experience of marching with many people from Selma to Montgomery Alabama fifty years after the original march. It was encouraging to hear him say that education is one of the greatest ways to make a difference in children’s lives whether they are from a migrant family or not.  His speech was powerful and inspiring.  I encourage you to read more about the work of PCUN. They have been fighting for migrant farm worker’s rights in Oregon since 1977.

Here is a similar message from President Ramirez 2 years ago.

• Here is The Schedule of Events for the Week:

October 13 (M)
8:00-4:00, Stella Dadson will be guest administrator in office- Joel doing goals meetings and informal observations all day.

9:00-9:30, Joel in meeting with Hayden Spence, UO Pre-education major and my former Madison science class 6th grade student.

7:00- 9:00, Joel to Common Core State Standards Information Night at North Eugene, All teachers are welcome to attend.

 

October 14 (T)

9:00-10:00, Meeting with new SST Leader- Kathy Krieder and Kathy Larson

1:45-2:30- Youth Orchestra- Strings Project- Recruitment  –4/5th Grade Assembly in Cafeteria (SORRY for the late Notice)

2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting, Please arrive on time unless on duty.

6:00-8:00, Parent Group Meeting- Kindergarten Presenting

 

October 15 (W)
8:00-11:00, Joel to TAG Coordinator Training (Leaving early)

10:00-10:00, Joel returns to meet with ODE Shanda Brown

2:45-3:45, PBIS Meeting- 1 hour paid to all classified who attend.- 3 positions available- We need your input!

 

October 16 (H)

4:00 PM-Schedules due to submit to Rosa Molina via Dropbox folder.

3:00-4:00, Costume Swap- after school.

3:00-5:00, Design Committee in Library

 

October 17 (F)

Joel in goals meetings and informal walk-through observations.- Another guest administrator will be in the building to support us to complete goals meetings.

 

October 20 (M)

8:00-4:30, Rosa Molina Visit to consult on our schedules and district wide issues.- Sarah Knudsen will send schedule out this week.

Title Meeting for Aline.

Title Coordinator and Principal Meeting

First Day of BEST
October 21 (T)

8:15-12:15, Priority School Support Team Meeting (SST) (Conference Room)

12:30-1:30- Math PD Planning meeting with Reid Sheppard and Maddie Ahearn (Conference Room)

2:45 3:45 – TLT Meeting Conference Room

6-8, Latino Family Meeting  @ NEHS
October 22 (W)

6-8,Talking with Books Kinder Literacy Event

2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting in Recker’s Room

 

October 23 (H)

6-8,Talking with Books Kinder Literacy Event

3:00-5:00, Design Committee

4:30-6:30,  Joel to the  4J Equity Committee

 

October 24 (F)

Joel in Portland with Karen, Alicia, and Sara Cramer to learn about Early Literacy.

8:25-9:10,  Asemblea Andina

November 6 and 7- Parent Conferences.

 

Here are some items of note for the week:

• Please finish your grade level weekly master schedule: Make time to complete your weekly master schedule this week. It is due by Friday at 4:00 PM to be inputted into Rosa Molina’s Drop Box.

• Goals Meetings: Make you goals appointment with me this week or next. I am available as early as 7:15 some days.

• Parent Group Meeting, Tuesday at 6:00 – The October Parent Group meeting will be this Tuesday, 6:00-8:00 PM in the library if any staff are able to attend. There was a big turnout of staff and families for the September meeting, which was a great show of support for the Parent Group’s work. Hope to see you there!

• Classified Staff Comp Time reminder.- Please ask Edna for the comp time form to keep track of your comp time on a monthly basis. This makes it easier for us to manage and keep track of.

• Classified Staff AESOP Reminder – When entering an absence into AESOP, when you get to the Time section, always select “Custom” and then enter your work hours. If you forget this step, AESOP defaults assigning the sub to an 8 hour day. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Conference Compensation for Large Classes – Most teachers probably already know this, but section 10.1.9 of the contract states “If an elementary school unit member has greater than twenty-eight (28) students for the all-school parent conference, he/she will be compensated for one half (1/2) day at his/her per diem rate.” How this was handled last year was that following conferences teachers with 29 students or more signed an extended contract form to receive their additional half-day pay.

• Elementary Leadership Plan Changes – While we need to wait for the School Board to ratify the new EEA contract, I wanted to let everyone know how the Elementary Leadership Plans will be more generous this year. The old plan I had was to divide our 14 days among 4 people (3.5 for for School Climate, 3.5 for for Technology and 3.5  for Differentiation and TAG Support  ), but pending board approval we will now get 18 days to divide among up to 6 teachers. This means we will need to revisit and update our plan. The 18 days could be evenly divided among our four current leaders or we could add new compensated leadership positions and decide how to divide the 4 additional leadership days. Let me know if you have ideas or preferences on how to distribute our 20 days, so we might have a starting place for discussion at our next staff meeting.

• District Admin Updates – Tryna Luton has been hired as the Staff Growth and Effectiveness Administrator, taking the place of Tasha Katsuda who became the new Federal Programs (Title 1) Coordinator. Since 2008, Tryna has been serving as the Director of Federal Systems for the Oregon Department of Education. One of her many responsibilities in this role was to collaboratively direct the teacher and principal evaluation system implementation. Before her work with ODE she worked at Oregon State University as a P-12 Outreach Coordinator/Administrator and she also worked for 10 years as a teacher in the Lebanon Community School District.

• Resources for Smarter Balanced – Marlee Litten posted several links for Smarter Balanced last week. The one link about universal tools is now expired, but Oscar had downloaded the video so it is loaded on the Teacher Resource Site under ESC > State Assessments on the Teacher Resource page. If you have found other resources to share, please send them to Marlee or myself. The video of a PLC team is still not working on YouTube so downtown is trying to get a copy sent to us of that one.

• Title 1 Newsletter – If you’d like to know what’s happening in Title 1 from the district perspective, here is the latest Title 1 Newsletter that went out to all Title 1 Coordinators and principals. This month’s issue is again mostly coordinator compliance tasks, but there is an interesting video on close reading strategies with informational texts.

• Recycle Art Challenge – The deadline for this is Wednesday, but here’s an opportunity for teachers to raise awareness about waste control and promote recycling education PLUS win cash for your classroom. The contest is open to all Lane Country children grades K-5. Winning artists will receive a pizza party for their homeroom class and $350 will also be award to the class of each winner. In addition, each winner will personally receive a $50 gift certificate to the Maude Kerns Art Center. See the flyer for details.

•Bilingual Education turns 40– Did you know that bilingual education as we know it is 40 years old this year?

Here are two articles that outline the landmark ruling that shifted English Language Learner’s Education  if you have the time to read them.

Students effected by Lau vs. Nichols from San Francisco Unified School District

How Lau v. Nichols Transformed Bilingual Education

Forty Years Since Bilingual Education Ruling, Challenges Remain

Have a rewarding and enriching week with your students!

Saludos cordiales,

Joel

Week of September 8

Weekly Schedule

September 8 (M)
Fall Benchmark Testing  and KRA Continues

8:30, Reading to Piper’s Class

9:15, Reading to Nikita’s Class

10:30, Reading to all of first grade.

1:30-1:45, Website Design meeting with Peggy (Principal’s Office)

1:45-2:30, Joel to BEST Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting (Conference Room)

2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

September 9 (T)
Fall Math Benchmark Testing and KRA

9:00-9:30, Family Night Planning Meeting (FRC Rm. 9)

10:15, Joel reads to Recker’s Class

12:00-1:00, Meeting with Federal Programs Director, Tasha Katsuda (Principal Office)

2:30-3:30, PLT (Conference Room)

4:00- 5:00, Joel meets with Kerry Delph to set up Facebook Page.

6:00-8:00, Parent Group Meeting (Library)

September 10 (W)

8:30-9:00, Family Resource Center Meeting (FRC Rm. 9)

1:40-2:40, Grade Level Collaboration  Meeting (Objective and Unit Planning in classrooms together)

4:30, Joel to United Way Meeting (Ed Center)

2:45-4:45, First Design Committee Meeting with Staff (Library)

September 11 (H)

Joel begins walk through observations in classrooms.- Personal notes taken on iPad. No notes will be added to the Teacher Effectiveness and Growth System.

2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting (Library)

September 12 (F)

Joel begins walk through observations in classrooms.- Personal notes taken on iPad. No notes will be added to the Teacher Effectiveness and Growth System.

 

September 16 (T)
8:15-11:30, Joel and IPBS Team to CICO Training (Lane ESD)

September 30 (T) Life Touch Photo Day

Hi Everyone,

We did so well our first week back and the school year seems to be off on a great start thanks to everyone’s hard work!

Some items of note this week:

• Skillful Teacher (Cohort 3) Camino Rep – 4J is starting a third Skillful Teacher cohort and is reserving a spot for each school to send a rep. Speak with Karen and Megan can let you know their experience with it, but the first session for Cohort 3 will be Friday, September 26th. Attached is a calendar of Skillful Teacher Trainings for the year. There is a possibility of multiple teachers from our school being able to attend if other schools do not fill their spots. If you are interested in being part of Cohort 3, let me know by the end of the week.

• Safety Week, Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 – I’d like to again hold a Safety Week this year and schedule it for the end of this month so we can practice all of the most common safety drills (and also take care of the September and October fire drill requirements all in the same week). Craig and I will be reviewing the previous year’s drills and will update manuals in the next week or so. We are also working with Matt Cornwall from downtown in order to ensure that our evacuation routes are clear. This is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students and families about the various safety procedures right at the start of the year. The schedule for Safety Week will be:

• Monday, Sept. 29– Fire Drill, 9:00
• Tuesday, Sept. 30– Room Clear, time decided by teachers
• Wednesday, Oct. 1 – Lock Down (Code Blue and Code Red), 9:00
• Thursday, Oct. 2– Earthquake/Fire Drill, 8:30

It’s not for another three weeks, but I wanted to let staff know now to help with planning. All of these drills are listed in the “Emergency Procedures Manual” which is the rainbow tabbed notebook that should be hanging in every classroom. I won’t be making any announcement before the drills, so it’s okay for staff to prep your students before these drills take place. For the Lock Down drill, please review the Code Blue and Code Red procedures. These steps are more detailed about our lockdown procedure than the more general ones in the Emergency Procedures Manual. Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions.

• Principal Visits to Classrooms – If you haven’t already set up a time for me to come read to your class, let me know a good 15-20 minute block for me to come in this week or next. I’ll read a favorite story to your class and chat with the kids a bit. Thank you!

• Being a Writer Training for Teachers – On September 29th, representatives from the Developmental Studies Center will be conducting a Being A Writer Training for principals from 8:00-11:30 here at the Ed Center in the Auditorium.

• News Crew Starts This Week – Megan will be training some 4th graders in News Crew this week, which means we’ll be starting morning announcements this week! We will make the bilingual announcements short and they will begin at 8:30 so we do not disrupt morning meeting.

• Copier Codes  – The copy code for teachers is the last 4 digits of the teacher employee number in case you need that.

• Please take attendance early. –It is very important that you input attendance IN SYNERGY before 9:00 AM.  This is a safety issue and parent communication issue.  All classroom teachers should have Synergy up and ready to input attendance before class begins. Please make this part of your regular routine.

• Confidentiality of Free and Reduced Lunch Information.– The district expects that the Food Service Coordinator will not share any private information with staff.  The only person who is authorized by the Superintendent’s office to use this information would be the administrator. Please do not request this information of Rene as it puts her in a difficult situation.

• District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – Attached and linked here is the District Back-to-School Memo, which ALL staff must review and sign & return the acknowledgement form to Edna no later than Friday, September 26th.

• Title 1 Newsletter – If you’d like to know what’s happening in Title 1 from the district perspective, here is the September Title 1 Newsletter that went out to all Title 1 Coordinators and principals. This month’s issue is mostly a lot of coordinator business, but here it is if you’re curious.

• Supporting ELL Students Under New Standards (Free Online Course) – This eight-week online course is designed to help teachers support English Language Learners in meeting new, rigorous standards. Specifically, the course will focus on a key practice within both the Common Core State Standards and new English Language Proficiency Standards: constructing claims supported by evidence. Endorsed by the Oregon Department of Education for Oregon K-12 teachers, the content is also open to teachers outside of Oregon. I signed up. Won’t you join me?

• Oct 10 Statewide In service & Professional Learning Opportunities – This is a non-paid day, so staff are under no obligation to work or attend any of these trainings, but if you are interested in knowing what is being offered this day, attached is the 2014 Oregon Inservice Bulletin and also a flyer from Educational Explorations, which had paid classes offering credit through PSU.

• Visitors and Volunteers  –  We have many families who have been wandering the halls  during pick up. We need to be very careful about this.
Please follow this procedure:
a.If a parent or adult is helping volunteer in the classroom, they should go through the volunteer criminal background check process before helping in class.
b. If you have a visitor in your class, they need to sign in daily.  If they are visiting, they need to state their purpose, to observe, to share a skill, or to communicate with a teacher. Please ask your visitor if they have signed in each day and make sure they have a visitor sticker.
c. If you have a regular volunteer in your class please communicate with staff what their regular schedule is. Sometimes, there are custody conflicts which you may or may not be aware of.  We can help you work through these if both parents want to volunteer in the same classroom.

Some resources for Morning Meeting – Below are some great resources on Morning Meeting if you are looking for ideas on how to integrate language skills in the meetings.  I was really impressed with Ms. Noonan’s class.  Using sentence frames and a word wall can be great strategies to support our students in morning meeting.

Developmental Studies Center You Tube Channel for your Caring For Kids Ideas

http://youtu.be/PH3vTEKiSTs?list=UUibvNgcTZQ02PucorqcTvLg

Article on Engagement – This article explores the several factors to help teachers know they are actually increasing engagement amongst students in the their classroom.  I really liked it because it does not sugar coat engagement.  Many times, having fun or seeing students working are described as engagement. This article dispels much of that perspective.

Effective Engagement in the Classroom- “the 7X Effect”