Grants

September 6, 2021

By Allan | 2021/09/04 19:45 Posted in Announcements, Caring for Kids, Equity, Grants, P.D., Technology, Video | Comments Off

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all had a good 3-day weekend.

Twenty items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Title 1 EA Updates – Lori Tingue was hired last week as a 2nd grade teacher at Gilham, so instead of reposting for her position, we’ve taken her hours and reallocated them to Annie, Ben, and Iris and have shuffled the EA schedule around a bit.

• Behavior EA Vacancy – Our 6.5-hour Behavior EA Job Posting closes this Tuesday, September 8th, so please encourage anyone you know who’d be good (or even someone who is simply teachable) to apply.

• Classified Sub Shortage – We have one unfilled EA sub job in AESOP are if you know any subs who are available. It’s for Jason Martinez in the CLC while he’s on his parental leave.

• Virtual Meet Your Teacher, WED (KG) & THURS (1-5) @12:00 – The Zoom link is on the Staff and Family Zimbra Calendar. Kinder does theirs on Wednesday at 12:00. Grades 1-5 will be Thursday at 12:00. My plan is to welcome families, have teachers introduce themselves (and maybe name a favorite book to read to students), do a review of arrival/dismissal procedures, what to bring to school, and some covid safety procedures. Next I’ll send people to breakout rooms for 15-minutes, at the end of which I’ll close all breakout rooms, do a short wrap up (GO, BOLTS!), and then I’ll stay on to answer any questions.

• Kinderzone Plans – The Kindergarten Team has already connected with staff where you’ll be helping this day, but linked here is the Fall 2021 Kinderzone Plan.

• Enrollment Updates – At the start of August we were 104 students below our projection of 529, but now we’re around 60 under projection and downtown will hopefully release the 9 kinders on our wait list. Nearly every school in 4J is under projection and we are far from the lowest. If you’re interested, linked here is the District Enrollment as of 09/03/2021.

• Meals Change of Plan – Principals got a message late Friday that 4J is pivoting to eating meals outdoors and that more details are forthcoming. That’s about all I know, meaning we don’t know if this means both breakfast and lunch, for how long we’ll be doing this, what’s the plan when it’s raining, what’s the plan when air quality is hazardous, and not to mention how kindergartners would make it from the cafeteria to the covered play area without spilling their trays. There’s an Elementary Principals’ Meeting Wednesday morning, so hopefully we’ll get additional details then (the day before kindergarten’s first day). Stay tuned.

• Transportation Updates – Schools do not have their morning bus arrival times yet, but 4J’s Find My Bus Stop website is now live for families. I’m planning to call Transportation on Tuesday if I don’t hear from them over the weekend about bus arrival times. More to come.

• Meeting Schedules – Due to the above two items and the “Golden Hour” of prep moved to Fridays and PLCs to Wednesday, on the Leadership Team agenda for Tuesday is to look at revising our meeting schedule. We need to shift our Wednesday meetings to either Tuesday or Thursday (I lean toward Tuesdays). I’m also going to propose we go down to one Staff Meeting a month. Since we’re now meeting twice a week, I figure we can add some business items to those meetings. Also, so that teachers get their guaranteed amount of prep, the length of afternoon meetings may be shortened depending upon when buses arrive and when teacher begin supervision students in the morning. Downtown is requiring teachers get 20-minutes of prep at the start of the day before supervising students. So more to come on this topic as well.

• Tech Updates – Four technology related updates:

• iPads Distribution for New Students – Teachers will give students new to Holt their iPads and chargers on their first day of class. If students new to Holt are coming from another 4J school, they should already have an iPad. Student devices are tracked using Learn21, the districtwide device management system. Brian has a bunch of iPads ready to go. Our plan is to checkout iPads to the new student in Learn21, put a sticky note with their name on it, and give those to teachers to distribute the first day of school. All kindergartners will get new iPads and all 3rd graders will get a new iPad with a keyboard case once they return their 2nd grade iPad (grade 3-5 iPads have a keyboard case).

• Headphones Replacements – Brian has a stash of headphones for all new students as well as for students who lost or broke their headphones over the summer. I’d advise students keep their headphones at school, but teachers may send them home if you choose.

• Seesaw Updates – Justin Huntley and his team were able to go into Clever to activate the Seesaw tile district-wide. This means if a student logins in using their QR code, they’ll be able to see the Clever page and the Seesaw title is back on there. Furthermore, Justin will be setting up our specialist in Seesaw this week.

• EdTech Subscriptions & Tools – If you missed it in the flurry of last week’s tidal wave of PD, here are all of the district purchased EdTech Subscriptions and Tools. Not on the list, we also have a subscription to BrainPOP through December, which is a pretty rad website. Be sure to check that one out and maybe the district will get BrainPOP Jr. and BrainPOP Español if enough people use it. Also, don’t forget GoNoodle Plus is free to educators this school year if you sign-up.

• Missing Classroom Materials Inventory – In the spring, teachers filled out a Materials Inventory Survey. If you have any updates, additional missing materials or or newly discovered excess curriculum materials, please submit an update in the above survey or email me directly with your update. If you need to review what you submitted in the spring, here is the Spring Materials Inventory Results.

• Wear Your Holt Shirt FRIDAY! – The normal spirit day is Wednesday for wearing your Holt shirt, but everyone should wear your new green Holt shirt this Friday for the first day of school where we’ll have all K-5 students in the building!

• Updated School Map – Linked here is an Updated 21-22 Holt School Map of where folks are working this year. Let me know if you spot anything that looks wrong. This doc can also be found on the Staff Google Drive under MISC > Maps.

• Skipped Videos from Friday PD – The COVID Protocols went longer than I’d expected, so I skipped a couple videos at Friday’s Staff Meeting, but if you’d like to watch them or the two documentaries that were mentioned during Learning for All, see below!

“Inside the AC360 Doll Study”

CASEL: SEL 101: What are the core competencies and key settings?

“In the Shadow of Fairview” – Full Documentary (OPB Webpage)

“Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” – Netflix Full Documentary

• Care and Connection Resources – SSD Collaboration Facilitators put together these Care and Connection Resources for teachers to use with students during the first week of school. Some are a little too worksheet-like for my taste, but there’s also some really good stuff in there worth checking out.

• Color Printing – If teachers need to print in color, please contact Melanie. The office copier is the only one in the building that prints in color, but this printer hasn’t been added to staff laptops because the office copier is often loaded with labels, special paper, or is needed to copy materials for parents waiting to register children and we don’t want large jobs being sent to it. Also try to avoid printing class sets in color unless it’s a for special purpose or event.

• K-5 Connect & EOA – Families who submitted interest in the online pathways have until Thursday, September 9th to confirm they are enrolling.

• Updated District Retention Policy – 4J has unofficially used this process the past few years, but linked here is the updated 4J Grade Placement and Retention of Students Policy. In the past it was simply principal decision, but the new policy makes it more of a team decision, similar to an IEP eligibility process.

• REPEAT: Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.

• REPEAT: EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF Grant Application are due October 8th, 2021. Before submitting grants online, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission (no need to do a full write up for this step). Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.

• VIDEO: Starting Each Class With A Warm Welcome – One last video I passed over during our PD last Friday is a really good one, so I’m ending this week’s blog to highlight it. Keep in mind that a good welcoming activity is also a proactive classroom management strategy. It builds class community, establishes a sense of shared values, and makes everyone feel included. It can be as simple as a smile and greeting students by name as they enter the classroom, but it makes a HUGE difference. :)

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

September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 7 (T)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
8:00-9:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meetin (Zoom)
9:00ish, Optional Q&A Session for Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet the Kinder Teachers! (Zoom)

September 9 (H)
Transition Day – KG First Day
12:00-12:30, Virtual Meet Your Teacher (1st – 5th)
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom) – Checking w/PAHS if they are really meeting

September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students
YMCA After School Care Begins

September 13 (M)
Regular Day

September 14 (T)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library) TENTATIVE

September 15 (W)
2:45-3:30, PLC Meetings (Library)

September 16 (H)
Regular Day

September 17 (F)
2:30-3:30, Building Based PD (Library)

Two days to prep for two days of students!

Allan

August 30, 2021

By Allan | 2021/08/28 15:13 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Grants, Literacy, P.D., Technology, Video | Comments Off

Hello Holt Staff,

Welcome back to the 2021-2022 school year! If you hadn’t read my prior announcement from earlier this month, be sure to go back and review those for info about this school year.

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Three staffing updates:

• Staffing Reduction – Last Thursday I was notified Holt was being reduced by one full-time teacher due to under-enrollment (nine other schools also lost 1-2 teachers each), but since Ashley Wolf is joining Eugene Online Academy (EOA), we do not have to displace anyone. However, we did need to shift someone into Ashley’s 2nd grade position. Downtown suggested and I agreed that one of our four 1st grade teachers should move into that position, so the 1st grade team met on Friday and Lisa volunteered to take Ashley’s spot. Thank you, Lisa.

In terms of overall enrollment, we were projected at 529 students and currently have 440 enrolled, which puts us 89 students under-projection. We only had 37 students request to go online (ten at 1st grade, four at KG, nine at 2nd, four at 3rd & 4th, and eight at 5th), which is fewer than most schools our size.

• Behavior EA Vacancy – Mandy has been offered a position with more hours at Spencer Butte Middle School, so we have a vacant Behavior EA position. HR said they would get the position posted this week, so if you know of anyone good who wants a 6.5-hour position, please encourage them to apply.

• BEST Updates – Holt is slated to open a BEST After School Program this fall, but 4J is having a hard time filling vacancies for even existing BEST programs. Right now there are five BEST Coordinator vacancies out of seven programs. If it comes down to it, downtown is rightfully going to prioritize existing programs over new ones, so it’s a possibility we may have to wait another year before we get BEST at Holt. I have mixed feelings on this. I’m disappointed we won’t have this additional support for students, but I’m also a little relieved at not having to coordinate one more new thing. I’ll update folks as I find out more. Job postings for a BEST Coordinator, Assistant, and EA positions are on the 4J Jobs Website if you or anyone you know is interested.

• Class Lists Update – Not in my blog, but attached in my email is a spreadsheet of of students who chose EOA or 4J K-5 Connect. 2021-2022 Class Lists should be updated by Wednesday at noon. Sending and receiving grade levels should connect regarding who, when, and how you want to update your lists. Let me know if you’d like me to be a part of any class list meetings or discussions.

• “Golden Hour” and Meeting Schedule Updates – I’ve added this to Monday’s agenda, but the “Golden Hour” is no longer on Mondays and is back on Fridays, but schools need to decide if they want the PLC and district PD to happen on Wednesdays or Fridays. Below is what was shared with principals on Friday.

Building Schedule – The feedback was exceptionally valuable in developing the following guidelines. Please note, the 60 minutes of continuous prep is being scheduled for Friday this year only.

• 60 minutes of continuous prep must be provided on Friday this year.
• At least 20 minutes of daily prep must happen prior to teachers supervising students.
• Building decides how much morning transition time is necessary to bring kids in the building, get them breakfast and off to the classroom. (At least 10 minutes)
• PLC weekly (Wednesday or Friday).
• Professional development in ACT and building priorities weekly (Wednesday or Friday).
• No administrator initiated meetings on Monday.
• Building and staff meetings can happen on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

• School Supplies for 2021-2022 – School Supplies are being provided by downtown. They are in the library and teachers should take what you need, but not more (no hoarding). If grade levels need additional items not purchased by the district, connect with Melanie.

• COVID Protocol Updates – Six COVID Protocol updates of note:

• 2021-2022 Elementary FAQ – The school district as created a 2021-2022 Elementary FAQ. It’s a pretty exhaustive document, but let me know if you have any questions about protocols or if there are questions you have it does not answer. Additional info can be found on the previously shared 4J COVID Rules – Visitors, Volunteers & Field Trips.

• PE and Music Protocols – I’ve already shared this with Alex and Ashley, but if you’re interested in the guidelines for PE and Music this year, they are:

• Students must maintain 3-feet physical distance “to the extent possible.”
• Masks must be worn inside the building.
• Masks are not required outside.
• Staff do not need to clean surfaces or equipment between groups (We’re not seeing spread via surfaces).
• Every student washes hands or uses hand sanitizer leaving PE or Music (we’ll station a hand sanitizer station in the hall outside Music and PE hallway).
• No wind instruments in Music.
• Singing with masks on is allowed.

• Breakfast Update – Student will need to collect their breakfasts at the exterior building entrances and not at classrooms. This is due to 4J being out of compliance with Federal Meals Program rules and Nutrition Services likely being audited this year.

• Restroom Cohorting – Each wing should use the same restrooms they were assigned in the spring (see linked Cohort Map), but we do not need to use these restrooms during lunch or recess.

• COVID Testing Partnership with UO – I don’t yet have all the details yet, but 4J schools are participating in a voluntary COVID testing system with the UO where students can choose to be tested weekly at home. Our only role would be to distribute test kits and later ship the returned tests to the UO. Linked here is a Program Flyer.

• New Water Bottles – We did purple last year and this year we have green. They should hopefully arrive next week.

• Inservice Schedule Updates – I’ve sent updated Staff Meeting Agendas in a separate email for the principal led portions of inservice week. Zoom links are now all on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. Linked here is complete Inservice Week Zoom Links. For the all-district PD where everyone is joining the same Zoom (Keynote, ELA + Math Acceleration, and Literacy PD), downtown is hoping schools and/or grade level teams will watch one Zoom feed. Last spring when everyone joined separately, it caused some lagging issues. Here are some additional inservice week reminders and info:

• REPEAT: Report Back Dates– Here are the report back dates:

• Licensed Staff – Monday, August 30
• Classified Staff – Thursday, September 2

• REPEAT: K-1 & Title EA Heggerty PD – Any K-2 or Title 1 EA who have not participated in a previous Heggerty training should attend one of the Zoom sessions on Friday, September 3rd at 8:00-9:50 or 10:00-11:50. Zoom links are on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. I’d recommend attending the second session so you can attend the first part of the Staff Meeting on Friday.

• REPEAT: ArtSpark Artist in Residence Survey: DUE: SUNDY NIGHT – Teachers should fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey by Sunday night to help start the conversation when we make a final decision at our Back-to-School Staff Meeting on Monday. Artist info is on the Lane Arts Website.

• REPEAT; Single Student Desk Raffle! – The single student desks are to arrive Tuesday morning. We have enough desks for 8 (maybe 9) classrooms. Add your name to the Single Desk Lottery Google Form if you’d like something other than your current desks.

• REPEAT: Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/31 – Want a delicious breakfast burrito on Friday? Fill out the linked Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 9:00am, Tuesday, August 31st (student teachers included). You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form. Let me know if you have any trouble with the form and I can input it for you.

• Keynote Speaker: Keith Jones – See the YouTube video Keith Jones: Un-Rapping Disability to learn about this year’s Keynote speaker, Keith Jones, a musician and disability rights advocate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFHshGDAU9Q

• Classified & Licensed Self Assessment & Goals – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a self assessment in TalentEd by September 30th. Licensed staff need to also complete a Goals Development Form by October 30th, which later next month we can develop some optional building goals people can use.

• EEF 2021-2022 Grant Applications DUE OCT 1st – EEF usually accepts applications in the spring, but last year was not typical, so EEF made the decision to move the granting process to this fall. EEF Grant Application will be available on their website under the “Grants” tab at the top of the page by September 1st. Applications will due October 8th, 2021. Before submitting grants online, let me know your grant title and idea so Site Council can rank order grant submission (no need to do a full write up for this step). Let me know if you have any questions or care to discuss grant ideas.

• GoNoodle Plus is FREE! – GoNoodle Plus is Free to all educators for the 2021-2022 school year. See the GoNoodle News Release for info, but just sign up for an account to get in on the deal.

• LTD Bus Passes for Students – This program is more utilized by middle and high school, but free bus passes are available for all 4J students. If you know of a student who could use this, let me know and I can arrange for them to get a free pass. Additional information can be found on the LTD Website.

• FREE Program: Architects in Schools – Free design program for 3-5th – Architects in Schools (AiS) provides free architecture and design programming to 3rd-5th grade students and teachers. AiS materials can link to almost any classroom subject and is proven to be most impactful among low-income students, ELL students, and non-traditional learners, and reinvigorates student interest in school. If teachers are interested in using this program, see the linked AiS Flyer, Application Info, and Teacher Application. The deadline to apply is October 22nd.

• REPEAT: Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – If you haven’t already, grade level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules and I’ll add names to the Master Schedule and PE/Music Schedule.

• REPEAT: Make Sure Your Voicemail is Set-Up – Ensure sure your 4J voicemail is set up and working. See the linked 4J Phone Voicemail Manual or this Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up. If you have questions, please contact our TSS, Brian Lambert, at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu or call (541) 790-7777.

• District Admin Updates – If you’re interested, linked here are a few District Admin Updates, including District Athletic Director (Patrick Brown), Health Services Supervisor (Joy Maxwell), Human Resources COVID Support (Heather Stein), and South Eugene High School Assistant Principal (Rhiannon Boettcher).

• Which Reading Strategies to Try, and Which to Ditch – Research shows that some popular activities for reading instruction don’t actually result in more fluent readers—so this Edutopia Article and video below round up the most classroom-worthy ones (and the ones to ditch).

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

August 30 (M)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Treats! (Cafeteria)
8:30-10:00, Building Welcome Back & A.C.T. PD (Cafeteria)
10:00-11:30, 4J Keynote – Keith Jones (Zoom)
12:30-3:00, PLC Info & Business Meeting (Cafeteria)
4:00-5:30, Optional KinderZone PD (Ed Center)

August 31 (T)
8:00-11:30, 4J Instructional Tech (Zoom)
8:00-10:00, 2nd Grade Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, 4J ELA + Math Acceleration PD (Zoom)

September 1 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
8:00-9:00, Allan to Elementary Principal Meeting (Zoom)
8:30-9:00, Treats & Supplies from Project Hope! (Front of School)
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)

September 2 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:30-9:00, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Goodies! (Library)
9:00-11:00, District Kick-Off Event (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, 4J Literacy PD (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, SSD Staff Meeting with SSD Dept. (Zoom)

September 3 (F)
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Burritos! (Cafeteria)
8:30-12:00, Principal Led PD – Learning for All, Anti-Racism Instructional Strategies, SEL (Cafeteria)
September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 7 (T)
8:00-12:00, Staff Meeting, if needed (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

September 9 (H)
Transition Day
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students

See you soon!

Allan

August 23, 2021

By Allan | 2021/08/21 20:28 Posted in Announcements, Arts, Grants, P.D., Technology | Comments Off

Howdy Everyone,

The countdown to school has begun.

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Two staffing update for this week and we are now fully staffed for the year!

• Annie Carpenter (4-hour EA) – Annie is currently working as a Life Skills EA at ESY (Extended School Year Summer Program) and prior to that she was the Hybrid Utility EA at Awbrey Park. Before that she worked as an elementary EA in Veneta and way before that, I was her principal at Yujin Gakuen (I’m old). Please welcome Annie to Team Holt!

• Holt BEST EA Job Opportunities – If any classified staff are looking for additional hours, or if you know of anyone good, there are two job posting up right now, Program Coordinator Assistant, BEST Afterschool Program (closes 8/24) and Educational Assistant, BEST Afterschool (closes 9/5). Holt will get a BEST Afterschool Program this year and are partnering with YMCA, where the programs will serve 50-80 students and run until 5:30 or 6:00, five days a week, also proving students with a dinner.

• Inservice Schedule Updates – I’ve sent the Staff Meeting Agendas in a separate email for portions of inservice week that I’m in charge of. The most current dates and times are at the bottom of my announcements and also on the Staff Zimbra Calendar. Downtown made a few changes to the week, including adding an optional KinderZone Meeting on Monday (in-person), a Heggery training for 2nd grade Tuesday (Zoom), a meeting on Thursday for SSD Staff (Zoom), a Heggerty Training for New EAs on Friday (Zoom), and I added a Leadership Team Meeting on 9/7 to touch base with last year’s team. Downtown hasn’t sent all of the Zoom links the district-led PDs, but I will add them to the Staff Zimbra Calendar as they come in. Here are some additional inservice week items of note:

• K-1 & Title EA Heggerty PD – Noted above, any K-2 or Title 1 EA who has not participated in a previous Heggerty training should attend one of the Zoom sessions on Friday, September 3rd at 8:00-9:50 or 10:00-11:50. Anyone wanting a refresher is also welcome to attend. Zoom links are on the Staff Zimbra Calendar.

• Optional Q&A Session for New Staff, Wednesdays @9:00 – I’ll be available Wednesday 9/1 and 9/ 11 at 1:00 in the library to check-in, answer questions, or provide any assistance for new staff. I can get busy during inservice week, so I like to set aside a time when I’ll be available for new staff. You can also always email, text, or call.

• Transition Day 9/9 – Thursday, September 9th will be a day for kindergarten only to be in the building. It’ll be all-hand-on-deck for helping this day. Classified staff will push into classrooms as well as licensed staff, though if classroom teachers want to use this day for personal phone calls to connect with families, that is an acceptable alternative. This item is also on the BTS Meeting Agenda.

• Care and Connection Week – ODE is asking schools to focus on Care and Connection the first week students return, and also for the first week when staff return, which is why I’ve hacked off and impressed some of the PD time, so people have more time to plan and prep. I think it’s pretty clear staff will need extra time to plan since you can’t recycle your usual start-of-the-year activities since this is not a usual start-of-the-year. If you’re interested, there are some resources on the ODE Care and Connection Week Website.

• ArtSpark Artist in Residence Survey – Holt will get two Artist Residencies this year funded by ArtSpark. One big change is we can choose from both visual and performing arts artists, which means we can ask for artist who do dance, drama, or music. I want to get your preferences early, so we can lock in an artist and date before the good ones are taken. Please fill out the linked Artist in Residence Survey to help start the conversation when we make a final decision at our Back-to-School Staff Meeting.

• REPEAT: Breakfast Burrito Orders Due 8/31 – Want a delicious breakfast burrito for our first meeting back with the whole gang together again? Fill out the linked Breakfast Burrito Google Form by 9:00am August 31st and I’ll have a hot burrito waiting for you Friday morning. You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form. I’ll also have food for folks the first day licensed staff report back (8/30) and also the first day classified staff report back (9/2). Let me know if you have any trouble with the form and I can input it for you.

• Single Student Desk Raffle! – The single student desks are supposed to arrive this week! We have enough desks for 8 (maybe 9) classrooms. Please add your name to the Single Desk Lottery Google Form if you’d like something other than your current desks. A few classrooms already have some older single desks, so if any of those teachers win this raffle, their old single desks will be added to the raffle at the end.

• COVID Updates – The latest RSSL has come out and and downtown is mostly solid in their COVID protocols. For the most part, protocols are the same as in the spring, except we have 3-feet physical distancing instead of 6-feet, staff must wear masks at all times unless in a room by themselves (with a few exceptions), and masks are not required outside. Let me know if you have questions or if there are questions I should ask.

• Updated Class Capacity – Taking into account the new 3-foot instead of 6-feet distance guideline, linked here is the Updated Holt Classroom Capacity Sheet. I’ll update numbers posted on classroom doors this week. Looking at current Student Totals, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade will be slightly over capacity. I’ve notified Jeff and Melissa about this, but the exact language of the RSSL advises for “maintaining at least 3 feet of physical distancing to the extent possible.”

• Open House, Not Allowed – Parent, volunteers, and other “non-essential” volunteers are not allowed inside schools, so that means no Open House. However, I am putting on the 8/30 Meeting Agenda to discuss if we want to do some kind of virtual open house, maybe individual class Zooms, or one big schoolwide Zoom where we introduce staff and then parents can pepper me with questions, or maybe just stick with a welcome email when we email class lists (see next item).

• Class List Email 9/3 @3:00 – We’ll likely need to update Class Lists once we see who all is going to EOA or 4J K-5 Connect, which I predict will not be as many students as last year. We’ll get that list sometime later this week, but the district class list notification process will be the same as last year, with all classroom teachers sending a welcome email at the same time, which will be on Friday, September 3rd at 3:00pm. I’d advise folks to “schedule” your emails in Zimbra, so you don’t have to worry about hitting send two something times at 3:00. Let me know if you’d like me to show you how to use the schedule feature.

• Breakfast & Lunch – Breakfasts will be as we did them in the spring. Grab-and-go meals which students will eat in the classroom. Lunches will be eaten the cafeteria, but classrooms will have assigned tables and students will have spots 3-feet apart. Linked here is the 4J Breakfast & Lunch Consideration Doc if you want all the details. This doc says to pass out breakfast at entrances, but I’m going to check if we can do it how we did last year in classrooms, since that was folks preference.

• Area Carpets are Coming Back! – You won’t be able to seat your entire class on the carpet at once with the 3-foot rule, but teachers are allowed to have their carpets back in class.

• Separate Supplies for Students – There has not been a lot of transmission over surfaces, but 4J is playing it safe and all students should have their own supplies, using either desk cubbies or the book boxes from last year to store items.

• Mask Lanyards for All Students – Downtown purchased mask lanyards for all students, which should help when students transition from indoors to recess or other outside activities.

• Water Bottles are Coming – I ordered a new set of water bottles for students since drinking fountains are still off limits.

• Other Questions? – When I get a chance, I’m going to update the Holt COVID Protocol Handbook and will share that soon, but what are we forgetting? What haven’t we thought of? I’ve already gotten some good questions from folks, so keep them coming. A few lingering questions downtown is still working out include:

• If a student has to quarantine for two week, do they go to EOA, get a paper packet, Zoom into their classroom, or something else?
• If breakfast is in the classroom, what time are schools letting students in so that teachers don’t lose contractually guaranteed prep time?
• If we’re not as worried about transmission over surfaces, does that mean we do not need to assign cohorts to specific restrooms?
• Can we offer on-site tuition based after school programs, such as Young Rembrandts?

• Back to School Family Newsletter – Im going to finish the Holt Family Welcome Back Quick News later this Sunday and send it out Monday morning, but the link will be up on the Holt School Webpage before I email it if you want a preview.

• Make Sure Your Voicemail is Set-Up – All teachers should ensure your 4J voicemail is set up and working. See the linked 4J Phone Voicemail Manual or this Quick Start Voice Mail User Guide for how to set it up as well as info on other phone functions. If you have questions, please contact our TSS, Brian, at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu or call (541) 790-7777.

• REPEAT: Report Back Dates – Most staff report back the last week of August. Here are the report back dates:

• Licensed Staff – Monday, August 30
• Classified Staff – Thursday, September 2 (196-day on 8/27)

• REPEAT: 21-22 Master Schedule – Linked here is the 2021-2022 Holt Master Schedule and is also on the Holt Staff Dashboard.

• REPEAT: Who is A/B and C/D on the Schedule? – If you haven’t already, grade level teams should let me know which classes will follow the A, B, C, or D schedules and I’ll add names to the Master Schedule and PE/Music Schedule.

• REPEAT: Holt Staff Handbook – The Holt Staff Handbook includes most every relevant building policy and procedure. Please take time to review the handbook.

• SELCO’s Educator Grants, Due 9/30 – SELCO’s SPARK! Creative Learning Grant Program is now accepting applications for projects up to $1,000 that inspire curiosity, make learning accessible, and spark something new. Applications are open August 15–September 30. Visit the above link for details and to apply.

• FREE Google for Education Level 1 Certification – ODE and Google are partnering to offer educators their Google for Education Level 1 Certification. See this ODE News Release for additional info. The deadline to apply is September 15th.

• Podcast Suggestion: Jessica Lahey on Armchair Expert – Candace shared this Armchair Expert Podcast Episode (Spotify) with me where Dax Shepard interviews Jessica Lahey, a teacher and author. She speaks primarily about parenting, but nearly all of her advice also applies to teaching. Next time you’re working in your room, think about putting this podcast on in the background. It’s full of good advice.

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

August 23 (M)
Office Opens
August 26 (H)
6:00, PAHS (Parents at Holt School) Meeting (Zoom)

August 30 (SA)
9:00-12:00, Project Hope – Holt Clean-Up Day

August 30 (M)
Licensed Staff Report Back
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Treats! (Library)
8:30-10:00, Building Welcome Back & A.C.T. PD (Library)
10:00-11:30, 4J Keynote – Keith Jones (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, PLC Info & Business Meeting (Library)
4:00-5:30, Optional KinderZone PD (Ed Center)

August 31 (T)
8:00-11:30, 4J Instructional Tech (Zoom)
8:00-10:00, 2nd Grade Heggerty Phonemic Awareness (Zoom)
12:30-4:00, 4J ELA Adoption (Zoom)

September 1 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)

September 2 (H)
Classified Staff Report Back
8:30-9:00, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Burritos! (Library)
9:00-11:00, District Kick-Off (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, 4J Literacy PD PD (Zoom)
12:00-4:00, SSD Staff Meeting with SSD Dept. (Zoom)

September 3 (F)
8:00-8:30, Welcome Back Social w/Breakfast Treats! (Library)
8:30-12:00, Principal Led PD – Learning for All, Anti-Racism Instructional Strategies, SEL (Cafeteria)

September 6 (M)
Labor Day, No School

September 7 (T)
8:00-12:00, Staff Meeting, if needed (Cafeteria)
1:00-2:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Library)

September 8 (W)
Teacher Planning Day
9:00, Optional Q&A Session for New Staff (Library)
10:00, Classified Staff Meeting (Library)

September 9 (H)
Transition Day
2:30-3:15, IPBS Team Meeting (Library)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom? School Garden? Library?)

September 10 (F)
Classes Begin for All Students

See you all soon, but not too soon. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Allan

March 29, 2021

By Allan | 2021/03/27 17:11 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, Science, SEL | Comments Off

Hi Everyone,

Hope folks were able to refresh over the break and are ready for kids to finally return to the building.

Twelve items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Four staffing updates:

• CLC EA Vacancy – Clay has left his position and a posting for his replacement should get posted to 4J Jobs sometime this week. We’ll have a sub in the position until someone is hired, but if you know anyone good looking for a 6-hour position, please encourage them to apply. This is not a temp position, so they would be a permanent hire.

• Hybrid Utility EA Position – Our Hybrid Utility 5.5 hour EA position is still vacant, but it was reposted before spring beak and I’m hoping to get candidate names from HR soon.

• ELD Staff – Holt’s ELD staffing will stay the same for next year.

• 2021-2022 Classified Staffing – Good news and bad news. The bad news is Classified Staffing is not finalized, but good news is it’s not finalized because downtown has given schools additional classified hours to support 1st grade reading from state Student Investment Act (SIA). Holt is getting 12 additional hours from SIA funds and principals on Monday will get more information on the rules for how to include these in our classified staffing plans.

• Week of Mach 29th Notes – Seven notes about this week.

• Badge COVID Sign-In is Ready – All staff have completed the two required forms for staff badges to be reactivated. I’ve let downtown know, but haven’t heard back if they actually reactivated badges for building-wide door access, but even if they haven’t, as of Monday staff no longer need to complete the paper sign-in/sign-out and badging in on a card reader counts as your daily COVID Attestation.

• YMCA After School Beings (tell kids where to go) – Holt’s after school YMCA program surprisingly did not fill up, so it is being combined with Gilham’s program, which also did not fill up. Holt students will be driven by van to Gilham. The YMCA van will park curbside in front of the building on the parking lot corner by the hard play area. Be sure to tell any students attending YMCA this is where they should go. And if this plan causes traffic issues, we’ll change the pick-up spot.

• 2-5 “How Are You Getting Home?” Parent Form for Orientation – Melanie let me know about a Holt form to document how kids plan to get home at the end of each day. She will put copies of the “How are you getting to School?” form in teacher mailboxes. At orientation this week, teachers should give parents the form when they drop kids off and tell them to return it when they return at the end of the orientation.

• Intervention Groups Cancelled this Week– Title, SPED, ELD, and other intervention groups are cancelled this week to focus on the return on K-1 students on-site and for 2-5 orientations. Groups will resume the following week, April 5th.

• 2-5, Async Only on Orientation Day & Sample Lessons – Grade 2-5 teachers are not required to do any synchronous teaching on orientation days, but should provide async lessons, which could be modified versions of the Sample K/1 Hybrid Lessons focused on COVID protocols.

• Grade 2-5 Attendance – On your orientation day, attendance will be taken paper/pencil for students who attend the on-site orientation. Look for an attendance sheet in your mailbox from Melanie.

• Extra Help for K/1 On-Site Students – With intervention groups cancelled this week, any extra staff able to help with arrival, recess, dismissal, and other times requested by K-1 teachers would be much appreciated. Times we could use help would be:

• ARRIVAL, 7:40-8:00 – Helping at buses, at the C and D Wing Entrances, and directing student, adults, and vehicle traffic in front of the building.

• K-1 RECESS, 10:20-10:50 – Reminding students stay 6-feet apart and in their designated hard or soft play areas, as well as helping reinforce the typical recess rules and safety practices.

• DISMISSAL, 12:50-1:10 – Normally we’ll end supervision at 1:05, but things always take longer the first few days of school. We can use help xtra help assisting students to find their buses, finding their adult, and reminding kids and adults to stay 6-feet apart.

• Week of April 5th Notes – Three notes for next week:

• K-5 Full Hybrid Starts & Extra Help Needed – If any EAs with hours shorter than 5 hours are able to extend you day MTHF, helping with arrival and/or dismissal, you could utilize trade time on Wednesday to compensate for working longer other days. Check in with me if you’re able to do this. Also, any non-classroom licensed staff able to help would also be appreciated.

• Intervention Groups Resume – Title, SPED, and ELD groups will resume this week.

Comprehensive Learning Center – Service Focused
ELD – Zoom
Learning Center – Service Focused
Speech – Zoom on off-site days
Title 1 – Service Focused

• New Wednesday Meeting Schedule Begins – Building meetings will shift to Wednesdays, 1:40-2:40, starting this week. Staff Meeting will be the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, Leadership the 2nd Wednesday, and PBIS/IPBS the 4th Wednesday of the month.

Wednesday PD/PLC time will continue to be at 2:40-4:00, meaning the workday on Wednesday is continuing with the 8:00-4:00 schedule. The current district Wednesday PD/PLC Calendar has the next three weeks as building based, so unless something comes up that can’t wait for a Staff Meeting, I will plan on not holding any meetings during the Wednesday PD/PLC time until April 21st.

Outside of the morning “Blue” Zoom times and afternoon Staff Meeting times, teams can decide their own Wednesday collaboration times.

• Hybrid-SSO Handbook & Other Hybrid Updates – Nine hybrid updates, including a few updates to the Holt Hybrid-SSO Handbook:

• New 3-Foot Guideline – Are teachers ready to cut those 6-foot PVC pipes in half? If you missed it, the Friday before the break ODE released a revised Ready Schools, Safe Learners that said students only need to be 3-feet apart (it’s still 6-feet for staff-to-student and staff-to-staff). No word yet from downtown on how 4J will respond to this. Right now it’s optional guidance from the state (my sense is downtown wants to avoid any more radical shifts unless it becomes mandatory, but who knows), so stay tuned.

• Lunch Process Update – For the next two weeks, lunches will be delivered to classrooms by kitchen staff in a paper bag with all the food and a separate container for cold milk. After two weeks, we’ll start a lunch count for how many regular meals, vegetarian meals, and gluten free meals are needed each day. This may be a Google Sheet, but I’m checking with other schools to see how they are handling this.

• Recess Restroom Door Change – If a student needs to use the restroom during recess, they will use either the A or D wing doors in front of the building to access their designated cohort restroom, even if it’s not their regular entrance/exit, which will help with supervision.

• Inside Recess Supervision – There will be at least two staff members supervising classes per wing on rainy days, thought my thinking is unless it’s a downpour, kids can deal with a little bit of rain:

K/1 Recess: Barbara, Connie, Lisa G., Lisa P.
2/3 Recess: Connie, Lisa P. SPED EA (plus Hybrid EA)
4/5 Recess: Kelly, Lisa P., Theresa (plus Hybrid EA)

• Safety Drills & Evacuations – See the Non-COVID Holt Staff Handbook (which is permanently linked on the left column of my blog) for standard evacuation procedures. Below is what we’ll do different during hybrid:

Room Clears: Same procedure as normal, except room clear into your wing’s designated alternative learning space (A02, B01, C02, D02) and not into another classroom.

Fire Drills: Same drill procedure as normal, except classes should use their designated entrance/exit door and K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 cohorts should do their best to stay separate when lining up. We’ll decide line-up spots for classes/grades at the next staff meeting, but let me know if anyone has a proposal before then.

• Arrival/Dismissal Staff Supervision Assignments – Below is where EAs will be stationed at arrival and dismissal once we are in full hybrid, K-5. At dismissal, classroom teachers will walk their class to their designated area.

For the week after spring break, when it’s just K-1 in the building, EAs stationed at A and B Wing Doors for arrival should help at C and D wing doors or hallways this week.

ARRIVAL
Buses – Lisa
A Wing Door – Connie & Mandy
B Wing Door – Tasha & Hybrid EA
C Wing Door & Bike Cage – Marilyn, Theresa, Kelly
D Wing Door – Lori & Cheryl
Crossing Guard – Barbara & Jason

DISMISSAL
Library Hallway Area – Theresa
Buses – Lisa, Cheryl, Lori, Connie, Hybrid EA
Crossing Guard – Barbara & Darrin

• No Hand Sanitizer for Classrooms – Schools are now only being provided with the hand sanitizer stands and not sanitizer for individual classrooms. Students in the classroom are now supposed to use the sink for hand sanitizing.

• Separating Classes at Recess Proposal – I mentioned this at the Staff Meeting, but after talking with the district contact tracers, they said keeping classes separate on the playground would not make a difference in terms of potential quarantines, so we will stick with our current plan of just separating grades by soft play and hard play.

• Meals for SSO & Off-Site Students – Since school kitchens are now focused on serving meals to students on-site, 4J is now offering a once-a-week food box delivery on Wednesdays to families. Families can sign up for a free weekly food box delivery for their 4J student or children 18 years old and younger at bit.ly/4Jmealdelivery. More info at 4J Nutrition Services. Feel free to share with families.

• Coffee Run on Monday! – Want a coffee on Monday? Kim is offering to make a coffee run and here are the deets!

WHAT: Drink run to Starbucks

WHEN: Drinks arrive at 10:30 am on Monday

HOW: Sign up here by 9:00 a.m.: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lJ-KHSxJrd50gQIPKoDeaAxrUz79zamyacz_RvulcYQ/edit?usp=sharing

MENU: https://www.starbucks.com/menu

DELIVERY: Drinks will be in the office. Kim will deliver to K-1 teachers and staff who are working with students in the building. You will note that on the sign up:)

PAYMENT:
• You can pay anytime during the day in the office.
• There will be some change in the envelope, but if you can, bring the exact amount
• Short on cash – no worries. One of Kim’s simple pleasure in life is buying a coffee for a friend!

WHY: ‘Really – we need a reason:)

• PAHS Welcome Back Breakfast Burrito Orders! – From our FABULOUS parent group:

Welcome to hybrid! The parents at Holt want you all to know how grateful and appreciative we are of your hard work and flexibility this year. They want to offer you a hearty breakfast to get your day started just right. Fill out the Quick PAHS Burrito Survey and PAHS will take care of the rest. Thank you for making Holt such a special place for our children. Orders are due Friday, April 2nd. Your burritos will be waiting for you when you arrive Monday, April 5th at 7:15am!

• Food for Lane County Cereal Update – I called Food for Lane County and they are continuing to offer their Cereal for Youth program for schools, but their program coordinator wanted to connect with 4J Nutrition Services before allowing schools to pick-up cereal, so right now I’m waiting to hear back from them once they have the all clear.

• Earth Day Opportunity – April 22nd is Earth Day and 4J offering a “4J Loves Food Not Waste at Home” project. The 4J Loves Food Not Waste at Home project involves:

-Distributing reusable produce bags with waste reduction educational materials
-Love Food Not Waste Challenge/ PSA art contest with prize drawing with prizes
-Connecting to the 4J Climate Justice Earth Week educational opportunity

See the linked Email and the No Time to Waste website for details, but if your class is interested in participating, let me know by Friday.

• Lenovo Teacher Giveaway – Jacque shared this one with me. Every month, teachers can be entered, by themselves or nominated, to win $1,000 to be used toward their AdoptAClassroom.org classroom fundraiser. At the end of 12 months, 1 grand prize winner will win $2,500 + a Lenovo device of their choosing. Visit Lenovo Teacher Appreciation Giveaways for more information.

• When Young Children Return to the Classroom – This Edutopia Article takes a look at how one first grade teacher created routines and fostered a safe, nurturing environment for her students. Below is the short version of the strategies she found helpful (I especially like the last three):

• Make safety protocols fun
• Offer flexible seating
• Provide individual storage tubs
• Use a long rope for moving as a group
• Create a peaceful learning environment
• Focus on social and emotional connection
• Lower your expectations
• Get outdoors

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

March 29 (M)
Grades 2-5 Orientation Week & continue hybrid classes on CDL schedule
7:40, Door Open
7:55, K-1 Begin On-Site Learning (Cohort A)
8:30-10:00, 2nd Grade Orientation (Cohort A)
10:45-12:15, 2nd Grade Orientation (Cohort B)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30-6:00, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)

March 30 (T)
9:00-10:00, 3rd Grade Orientation (Cohort A)
10:30-11:30, 3rd Grade Orientation (Cohort B)
3:00-4:00, PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade Family Night for ODS (Zoom)

March 31 (W)
8:00-8:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:00-11:00, Allan to HR Early Hire Interviews (Zoom)

April 1 (H)
7:40, Door Open
7:55, K-1 Begin On-Site Learning (Cohort B)
9:30-10:30, 4th Grade Orientation (Cohort A)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Orientation (Cohort B)
3:00-4:00, Allan to SSD Elem SPED Meeting (Zoom)

April 2 (F)
9:00-10:30, 5th Grade Orientation (Cohort A)
1:00-2:30, 5th Grade Orientation (Cohort B)
3:00-4:00, Allan to Outdoor School Meeting (Zoom)

April 5 (M)
7:40, Door Open
7:55, All Grades in On-Site Learning (Cohort A)

April 6 (T)
School Librarian Appreciation
12:00, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)

April 7 (W)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
1:40-2:40, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)

April 8 (H)
7:40, Door Open
7:55, All Grades in On-Site Learning (Cohort A)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

April 9 (F)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Coordinator Meeting (Zoom)

And Awaaay We Go!

Allan

February 15, 2021

By Allan | 2021/02/13 23:04 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Grants, SEL, Technology | Comments Off

Howdy Bolts,

Five weeks until spring break. Let the countdown begin!

Nine items of note for this week (though one if really long):

• Staffing Updates – We held interviews for our two EA postings last week and have hired Connie Gilhuber for the 5.25-hour KG EA positions and Ben Duncan for the 4-our Title 1 EA position. Connie has been subbing at Holt a fair amount this year and is a former Holt EA. Ben is a current Holt EA, but is now moving into position with more hours and more instructionally focused, so we I’ve submitted a posting to hire for his 3-hour Recess Supervisor position. We’re glad to have both of you as part of Team Holt!

We have three Holt Bolts retiring at the end of the year, our librarian Theresa Garnsey, secretary Katie Mackey, and music teacher Tim Walter. All three are finishing out the the school year, but please congratulate Theresa, Katie, and Tim as they set out on their retirement adventures. Also, staff should start beating the bushes to recruit for an excellent new librarian, secretary, and music teacher! Tell your educator buddies they want to come to Holt!

• Hybrid/SSO/COVID Updates – Eleven hybrid/SSO/COVID items of note:

• Updated Hybrid/SSO Slide Show – Linked here is an Updated Hybrid/SSO Slide Show I’ll share with families in the Monday Quick News. I updated last week’s Quick News on the website to this version, but on Monday I’ll delete the slide about the changing pathways since the deadline will have passed.

• Arrival/Dismissal Planning Committee, Feb. 23 @2:00 – Not this week, but Tuesday next week on February 23rd at 2:00 I’d like to meet with anyone interested in drafting an arrival/dismissal plan for when students return. We’ll need to discuss which entrances and and exits we want to use, where we want students to link up, and how we will supervise and move cohort groups to and from various locations (buses, car pick-up, crosswalk, etc.). Let me know if you’d like to join and also let me know of other issues this group might want to discuss and plan for.

• PE & Music Online – PE and Music will be online during hybrid. Downtown is still working out schedule details (times, days of the week, teaching which cohorts, etc.). It’s sounding like PE and Music will see students on their off-site days, but that’s not officially decided yet.

• Building Space Updates – 4J is having all schools clear out gyms for after school childcare. I’m checking with YMCA to see if they might be able to provide additional child care before school and/or during the day for students on their off-site days.

• Nutrition Services Updates – Once hybrid is in full swing, walk-up meal distribution will end. All students will get additional food to take home for their off-site days. More details are coming.

• Daily Visual Screening – Once students return, teachers will use the linked Visual Screener & Questions with students daily. This is already being used at secondary for LIPI. Classroom teachers will first do a Visual Screening for symptoms (see below) and if symptoms are observed will ask the two follow-up questions. You can ask more questions, but these two are required.

Visual Screening (observation only):
Unusual color
Unusual behavior (behavior change, lethargy, unusual fatigue)
New or significant coughing
Respiratory symptoms not typical for student (noisy breathing, voice changes, nasal dripping)
Shortness of breath
Chills (shivering, teeth, goosebumps)
Appearing ill (sweating, sunken eyes)
Vomiting

Screening Questions:
1.) Are you feeling OK today?
2.) Have you felt anything that’s different for you in the last few days?

• iPad Carts Coming to Classrooms – Brian is wiring old computer carts with chargers for each classroom. Teachers should start thinking about where you want your cart. It will need to be near an outlet and can be either inside your classroom or outside in the commons area. Each cart will have one spare iPad as a back-up if a student’s iPad fails.

• Holt Testing Center Ending – Once hybrid starts, Holt will no longer be the Sheldon Region testing site and school psychs will resume testing students are their regular schools.

• COVID Protocol HR Updates – Principals peppered HR with a number of procedural questions regarding COVID protocols. Karen Hardin Emailed principals a number of follow-ups. Here are three of the most interesting:

• Students Arriving Early – Transportation will work hard to schedule buses to not arrive early. Early parent drop off will happen and schools will need to plan some supervision for those that arrive early (perhaps 10-15 minutes before the doors open). At Friday’s walk through at Howard, this topic was discussed. Facilities is working to determine an appropriate method to mark 6 foot distances outside the entrances to communicate to parents/students how to wait for doors to open.

• Face Shields – These were sent to all schools to have on hand should an employee request one. These may not be worn in place of a mask, but are to be worn in addition to a mask.

• 2nd Dose on Fridays – This one isn’t in the above email, but HR has arranged for all of the second dose clinics to happen on Fridays so that if staff do have an adverse reaction the vaccine they will have the weekend to recover.

• Safety Drills During Hybrid – Three items here:

• Drill Resume During Hybrid – Principals learned that once students return, within 10 days we will have to resume required safety drills (monthly fire drills, one earthquake and one lockdown/lockout drill before the end of the year). We also have to do the drills for each cohort group, meaning we’ll do two fire drills a month. If you’re interested, linked here is the Oregon Fire Marshal Guidance for Safety Drills as well as Kari Skinner’s Email to principals.

• Post New Evacuation Poster – Downtown gave schools evacuation maps to post in every classroom and offices, which should be posted near doorways. I’ll put these in staff mailboxes this week

• Safety Drill Instruction – Most schools are not in compliance with this, but Oregon State Law requires that we provide 30 minutes of instruction per month on fire safety. This will need to start once students return. Linked here is the State Fire Marshal’s Website, which provides age appropriate activities for teachers to use, though I’m thinking it may be easiest to find a different video each month and have a short discussion before and after.

• Have a Hybrid Instructional Question? – Elementary principals were given a Google Form link for us to submit questions to the Operations Committee regarding hybrid and SSO instruction, so if you think of something you’d like asked, let me know and I’ll submit it to the group.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – Principals got some clarity on Friday about Wednesday PD/PLC topics. This week is an Anti-Racist PD Slide Show presentation. The presentation was created by Misael Flores Gutierrez the 4J Equity, Instruction & Partnerships Administrator. He is also planning to offer an optional PD exclusively for the staff of color this same day. It will be an affinity space where staff of color can engage in conversations from a non-dominant standpoint. Staff of color may choose to attend this optional PD instead of attending the building-led PD.Next week will be Hybrid PD focused on a lot of nuts-and-bolts hybrid protocols (more procedural and less instructional), which was originally planned for this Wednesday. See you on Zoom at 2:40!

• Jump-a-thon, March 10th – At last week’s PAHS meeting some details were worked out for this year’s Jump-a-thon. The event will be March 10th at 1:00, about when the first Wednesday bonus PE/Music class starts. If teachers have office hours during this time, you can cancel them this day. Staff and students will wear their Holt shirts that we’ll give out at the March 4th Supply Distribution, along with their jump ropes. The plan will be for 15 minutes of jumping and 10 minutes of awards/live drawings. There will be a pre-made Seesaw lesson for classroom teachers to push out on Friday, March 5th to promote the event and also for students to make a submission, which is where winners will be drawn from. Stay tuned for more details as we get closers.

• Lottery Update & Kinder Orientation/Registration – The school choice lottery for next year is being done mid-February (a little later than normal) and downtown is wanting schools to hold Kindergarten Orientation Zoom events during the first three weeks of March. More information is coming regarding how registration will work, so stay tuned.

• Video Adapters for New Laptops – A number of teachers got new laptops this fall, but we’ve realized not every teacher got a new adapter to go with it. Since we’re inching closer to in person teaching again, please check to make sure you have the adapter you need for your classroom AV set-up.

• REPEAT: 2021-2022 Staff Survey, Due MONDAY – To help prep for 2021-2022 Staffing, please complete the linked 2021-2022 Staffing Survey by this Monday.

• DonorsChoose Matching for SEL Projects – ODE Announced that DonorsChoose is currently matching donations towards new social and emotional learning projects. You can visit the DonorsChoose Help Center for instructions on how to take advantage of this valuable offer for your students. Submit your project by March 5th, 2021

• A Simple Way to Self-Monitor for Bias – Teachers concerned that they might be showing bias against students in marginalized groups can use a short checklist for self-assessment. Those five areas are Discipline, Calling on raised hands, Cold calling, “This kid is in the wrong class,” and Good Times. See this Edutopia Article for further explanation.

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

February 14 (SU)
*DANCE BATTLE* Virtual Assembly Videos Due

February 15 (M)
Regular School Day – Presidents Day
2:00-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)

February 16 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)

February 17 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
8:40, Allan Reading to Class (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, KG Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 1st Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 2nd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – District Anti Racist PD (Zoom)
4:30, Poetry Club w/Ms. Katharine (Zoom)
6:30, Cheer with the Ducks – Holt Virtual Event! (Zoom)

February 18 (H)
11:00-10:00, Bo & Vine – Holt Night Out Fundraiser
2:00-3:00, IPBS CDL Meeting (Zoom)

February 19 (F)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)

February 22 (M)
11:30, Allan to CICO Planning Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
5:30, This Week in Sports w/Mr. Cole (Zoom)

February 23 (T)
No Dynamos Groups – Title Staff at SIPPS Training
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, OPTIONAL Arrival/Dismissal Planning Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, PBIS Meeting (Zoom)
6:30, “Pictionary With the Ducks!” – UO Athlete/Holt Virtual Event (Zoom)

February 24 (W)
9:00-9:45, Virtual Coffee w/the Principal (Zoom)
9:30-10:00, 3rd Grade Data Team – Tier 3
10:40-11:10, 4th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
12:00-12:30, 5th Grade Data Team – Tier 3
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – District Hybrid Information (Zoom )

February 25 (H)
PAHS Holt Staff Appreciation Day at The Human Bean
2:00-3:00, IPBS CDL Meeting (Zoom)

February 26 (F)
Fancy Day – SPIRIT DAY!
7:30-8:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)
12:00-1:15, Lunch Bunch – KG 12:00, 3/4 12:20, 1/2 12:40, 5th 1:00 (Zoom)

If you’re reading this on Sunday, Dance Battle videos are due today! Here’s my ridiculous dance, which I posted onto TikTok to the shock and horror of my own children. I believe the word “cringy” was used to describe my dancing.

Allan

November 16, 2020

By Allan | 2020/11/14 21:56 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Grants, Technology, Video | Comments Off

Hello Holt Bolts,

Ten items of note for this week:

• License Staff 1:1 CDL Feedback – Principals have been asked to do 1:1 interviews with representative licensed staff to get feedback regarding district implementation of comprehensive distance learning. Let me know if any of you are interested/willing to have a short chat to provide feedback.

And for both classified and licensed staff, if you haven’t already, be sure to complete the Staff Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) Check-in and Feedback Survey and if you’re a 4J parent, the 4J Distance Learning Feedback (Parent Survey).

• COVID Protocols Update – Physical Distancing Site Coordinators (that’s me for Holt) had a meeting on Friday and there are some big changes as a result of new state guidance that will be shared by downtown with all staff later this week, but to give you a preview, here’s the Site Coordinator Meeting Doc that was shared with principals last Friday and here are the high points:

• Regardless of Distance, Wear Masks if Sharing a Space (Inside & Outside) – If you are in your classroom or office alone, that is the only time you can take off your mask. If you are sharing an indoor space with another person, even if it’s just two people sitting at opposite ends of a classroom, gym, or library, they must wear masks at all times. Even walking through the parking lot, staff now need to wear masks.

• Allowable Face Coverings – Face coverings with valves and “gaiter” type face coverings are not permitted. Clear face shields with hooded enclosures are an acceptable alternative to regular face coverings under limited circumstances where and when appropriate (see above link for exceptions). “Face covering” should be a cloth, polypropylene, paper, or other face covering that covers the nose and the mouth and that rests snugly above the nose, below the mouth, and on the sides of the face.

• Returned Items 72-Hour Quarantine – Any item that is returned to school (technology, library books, etc.) now have to be quarantined for 72-hours.

• Staff Meals & Breaks – Since staff must remove their face coverings for eating and drinking, so staff must eat snacks and meals independently, and not in staff rooms or other shared spaces where others are present. Downtown did say, if you eat lunch outside 10-feet apart, that is allowable.

• Transportation (Home Visits, etc.) – For home visits or drop & gos, when multiple staff ride in a vehicle for work-related purposes, regardless of the travel distance or duration, all people inside the vehicle must wear a mask or face covering. This requirement does not apply when all people in the vehicle are members of the same household.

• Exposure Definition – An exposure is now defined as an individual who has close contact (less than 6 feet) with a person who has COVID-19 for more than 15 cumulative minutes in a 24-hour period starting from 2 days before the onset of illness.

• December 3rd Supply Pick-Up – Our next supply pick-up is in three weeks on Thursday, December 3rd. Grade levels and teams should let me know by the end of next week if you have items you’d like families to pick-up.

• Zoom Authentication – The Tech Department let me know the Zoom authentication issue has been fixed, so teachers should re-enable this function to prevent Zoom Bombers.

• Thanksgiving Lessons Reminder – This is an annual reminder I do each year about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday where I remind staff to keep in mind that student conceptions of Native Americans often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving. These conception of Native Americans gained from such early exposure is often both inaccurate and potentially damaging. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learned in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the “First Thanksgiving” is a mixture of both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should avoid reinforcing historical myths and should also avoid stereotypes (ie. NO warbonnets!) It’s often best to shift the focus away from reenacting the “First Thanksgiving” and instead focus on items children can be thankful for in their own lives and on their families’ celebrations of Thanksgiving at home. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at Teaching Tolerance and Education World. Here is a good article with a Native American Perspective on Thanksgiving as well as one on The True Story of the First Thanksgiving. Also, the 4J Natives Program is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture. See the next items for more details on that.

• 4J NATIVES Program Learning Hub – The 4J NATIVES Program Learning Hub is now up and contains all the recorded presentations, all power point loom presentations, power points, stories, books and resource supports, the 4J land acknowledgment, all the SB13 curriculum segregated by grade (4th, 8th and 10th), the ODE supports for Distance Learning/Teaching and all the curriculum of the 9 federally recognized tribes of Oregon (except Burns Paiute which has not yet provided). A general site for Oregon Indians is included, but they are still collecting items to put in that tab. They also have a tab for media and music, but are working on compiling things to put in those tabs.

• EEF Grants Coming in January – The second round of EEF Grannts will be reviewed in late January. If you have a proposal for an EEF grant, please complete the EEF Grant Application form. In January, Site Council will rank order the grants before I submit them to EEF. And an update on the first round of grants, I checked in with them last week and they are set to evaluate grants this week.

• Focusing on Feedback in Distance Learning – Particularly in this difficult year, providing clear feedback is key to helping elementary students achieve learning goals. See this Edutopia Article for what good feedback looks like, how to integrate feedback into the learning process, and leveraging feedback to make grades more meaningful.

• Local History – The Exploding Whale 50th Anniversary! – How did I miss this last week? To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Florence, Oregon dynamiting a beached whale, the owners of the original film footage had it expertly restored and scanned in glorious meaty wet 4K. Now you can discern individual falling chunks of blubber and everything! Feel free to delight and disgust your students with this memorable bit of local history. Additional dead whale footage can be found at the Oregon Historical Society. Enjoy!

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

November 16 (M)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

November 17 (T)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
7:00, Trivia Night! “Name That Baby Bolt” – Holt Virtual Event! (Zoom)

November 18 (W)
8:30-8:00, Student Council (Zoom)
8:40, Allan Reading to Class (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Allan to Virtual Coffee with the Principal (Zoom)
3:00, 4J Virtual Field Trip – Fir Butte Feathered Friends and More (Zoom)

November 19 (H)
8:30-4:30, Allan Threat Assessment Training (Zoom)
6:30, Creation Crew w/Ms. Jackie – Holt Virtual Event (Zoom)

November 20 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
7:30pm, Oregon Football with Mr. Cole (Zoom)

November 23 (M)
Scholastic Online Book Fair Begins, 11/23-12/6

November 24 (T)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, PBIS Meeting (Zoom)

November 25 (W)
8:30-8:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Allan to Virtual Coffee with the Principal (Zoom)
7:00, Animal BINGO Night! – Holt Virtual Event (Zoom)

November 26 (H)
No School — Thanksgiving Break

November 27 (F)
No School — Thanksgiving Break

Not that I’m counting, but just five more weeks until winter break!

Allan

October 5, 2020

By Allan | 2020/10/03 22:16 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, Literacy, P.D., Technology | Comments Off

Howdy Holt Staff,

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – We’re still in the hiring process for our 3-hour Title 1 EA vacancy, but for our 4-hour Title 1 EA position, please welcome back Andrea Fox! Andrea is a longtime Holt teacher who retired at the end of last year, but we were lucky enough to bring her back to team. Andrea will start Monday, so please welcome her back to Team Holt!

• Office Hours for Spanish Speaking Families – Thanks fo some additional Title 1 funds we received, Holt staff member Jason Martinez is now available for Spanish speaking families each day 7:30-8:30 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 4:00-5:00 on Thursdays. Jason is available to assist adults with classwork questions, technical support, communicating the other Holt staff, and other family needs (assistance with food, childcare, bills, etc.).

• Student Supplies Distribution, Wed. & Thurs. – Thank you to those who signed up to help with supply distribution on Wednesday and Thursday, 8-12 and/or 12-4. We still have a few open slots and could particularly use more help Thursday morning if any staff available to help at that time. Please sign up on the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Google Sheet.

• Friday Info (Regular Workday for Classified Staff) – There is no school this Friday for State In-Service Day. This is a non-contract day for licensed staff , meaning this is a non-work day, but this is a regular work day for Classified Staff, who should stay tuned for online PD information that should be coming early this week.

• Staff Meeting Update – Besides the Leadership Plan discussion and SMART Goals, I’ve added a few agenda items to Tuesday’s Staff Meeting; Site Council Licensed Reps (there are two openings), October 29/30 Conference Info (yep, they’re happening), LearnZillion Packets & Supply Distribution (if they’re delivered partway through supply distribution, do teachers want them passed out to some student and not all?), and an iPad/Zoom Student Renaming Deadline (Do we want to make a deadline for students to add their name to Zoom?).

• Optional Shared Building SMART Goals – Speaking of SMART Goals, licensed staff can feel free to use the linked Optional Shared Building SMART Goals and cut-and-paste these into TalentEd. In creating theses, our thinking was to make goals around things we’re already doing (such as easyCBM reading benchmarking and for the professional goal figuring out student engagement during CDL) as opposed goals that add to teachers’ already full plate. The percentages on these are merely suggestions and teachers can feel free to adjust as you see fit. Goals are due by the end of October, but let me know if you have any questions on this.

• TalentEd Task Reminder – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a Self-Reflection/Assessment Form in TalentEd.These were due at the end of September, but I also know everyone is extremely taxed and stretched as you re-invent yourselves and instruction in CDL. Please take time complete this form by the end of next week, 10/16.

• REPEAT: Leadership Plan Survey – As of Saturday night, there are only six responses to the Leadership Plan Survey. Please fill this out if you haven’t already, but I’ll plan to move forward on the assumption that those who did respond are representative of licensed staff as a whole, though I would like to hear from more licensed staff if possible. For your reference, linked here is the 2019-2020 Holt Leadership Plan.

• Wednesday Office Hours – I emailed Brooke for an update, but haven’t heard back, so for now I think we just go with a building arrangement where grade level teams agree to offer something similar to families so we’re consistent.

• REPEAT: Family Needs – If you discover any families with needs (food, shelter, bills, etc.) please complete Darla’s linked Student Supports/Needs 2020-2021 Google Form.

• Small Group EA Assistance – As interventionists start up small groups, we may end up with some classified staff with empty slots in their schedule. If classroom teachers would like an extra adult for small groups or for other purposes during synchronous learning times, send me an email and I’ll start compiling a list of days/times teachers could use extra help.

• Newly Enrolled Students & Specialists Seesaw – Let me know if you have any students tell you they cannot see PE, Music, or Counselor Seesaw assignments. Justin Huntley let principals know that only homeroom teachers are automatically rostered through Synergy, and new students need to be manually entered for specialists. I’ll plan add any students newly enrolled, but let me know if you discover any students were missed and I’ll get it fixed.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program – Holt and two other elementary schools now quality for the Federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program (FFVP). During CDL, this means additional fruits and/or vegetables will be added to the sack lunches given out daily. Once we’re back in brick-and-mortar, it means that classrooms will be given a daily snack of fresh fruit or vegetables you can give students for a snack.

• SafeYouTube/VideoLink Issues – The Tech Department has worked with SafeYouTube/VideoLink and resolved the current issues by having the old SafeTube links now automatically redirect to the new VideoLink URLs. So staff do not need to update any links at this time, but know that these link redirects may not work indefinitely. The Tech Department recommend that you update your links by changing “safeyoutube.net” to “video.link”. For example, if your link is https://safeyoutube.net/w/u2U8, you should change it to https://video.link/w/u2U8. The rest of the URL will not change, so you could use a search and replace function (they recommend Notepad++) to replace all links within one or multiple files on your hard drive. If you have links to replace online, you could use the Find and Replace Text feature.

• ULD Slide Show w/Voiceover – If you’re interested, linked here is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Slideshow we did earlier in the year, but now with VoiceOver. A second slideshow will be coming out soon.

• SPED/Classroom Collaboration Slideshow w/Voiceover – Linked here is a Collaboration Practices Across General Education and Special Education Google Slideshow that includes voiceover by Marlee Litten. Expectations are still the same as what I’ve shared before regarding SPED/Gen Ed Collaboration and also the Collaboration Log, but this has some expanded explanations of why we’re having to do this (mainly ODE requirements) if you want to listen.

• Journeys Links in One Document – Tired of going through ThinkCentral for the Journeys teacher guide, audio, weekly tests, lessons, the student reader, vocabulary cards, leveled readers, etc? See this Journey’s All-Grade Links Document which contains easy to access links to EVERYTHING! Credit for this document goes to Awbrey Park teacher Patrick Chesterman, who I had the pleasure of working with when I was principal at Yujin Gakuen.

• REPEAT: EEF Grant Proposals Due Wednesday – I haven’t heard from anyone about EEF Grant proposals, so grants are wide open if anyone wants to apply. If you have a grant idea, let me know by Wednesday. Completed grants aren’t due until Oct. 25, but all I need by Wednesday is a grant title and a brief description (which you can tell me in person) for Site Council to rank order. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Add Apps to Student iPads – Know that if you need any apps added to student iPads, we have the ability to remotely add apps to student iPads. All apps need to be approved (mainly for ADA compliance). See the linked List of 4J Approved Apps (you’ll need a VPN to check from home), but if you are wanting to add an app not on the list, you can request an app on the same above link.

• 4J Wraparound Smore Newsletter Update – Maria Covernali, the 4J Wraparound Coordinator, shared the latest 4j Wraparound Smore Newsletter. She made some updates to include tutoring and childcare resources she just learned about. Feel free to pass along this blog or any of these resources to families.

• The Library Lowdown – Amy Page, the 4J District Librarian, shared the latest issue of The Library Lowdown with principals if you’d like to read about a menu of services, such as books talks, tech support, and other resources.

• 3 Keys to Effective Instructional Videos – When using videos with students, remember that we actually need to teach students how to use instructional videos. See this Teacher2Teacher Article on what one educator learned last spring for making instructional videos effective during distance learning. The short version is to keep videos six minutes or shorter and super focused on the learning target, take full advantage of tools that enable you to check whether students are still with you, and ask questions aloud in the video to help kids learn that they need to actually listen to you speak.

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

October 5 (M)
9:30, Allan Reading to Class
2:30-4:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

October 6 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

October 7 (W)
Regular Day

October 8 (H)
7:30-9:00, OPTIONAL Webinar: A School and Home Collaboration: A Pathway to Support the Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Needs of Student (Library or Gym)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (School Garden & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (School Garden & Zoom)
7:00-7:30, Holt Family Tech Training! (Zoom)

October 9 (F)
No School — Statewide In-Service Day
Classified Regular Work Day
Licensed Non-Contract Day
8:00-4:00, Classified PD (Time is TBA)
9:00-10:15, Allan to Physical Distancing Site Coordinators PD (Zoom)

October 12 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Speech Small Groups Begin
Fall Benchmark Testing Window Opens

October 13 (T)
3:00-4:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

October 14 (W)
Regular Day

October 15 (H)
Regular Day

October 16 (F)
Regular Day

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

September 28, 2020

By Allan | 2020/09/26 22:53 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, Technology | Comments Off

Greetings Bolts,

We made it through the first week and the internet at school even seemed to be stable (even if we were not). Hooray!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Blue/Green/Applied Time & Slow Rollout Notes – I emailed staff last week with some Green Time Clarifications, to make sure everyone is one the same page, and Brooke emailed teacher about the Week #2 Slow Rollout. A few items of note:

• Wednesday Schedule After this Week – For the rest of the year on Wednesdays, classroom teachers will teach 65-minutes of blue time (30-minutes SEL, 5-minute break, and 30-minutes small group). There are no green time asynchronous lessons this week, but there will be asynchronous lessons provided for green time starting next week. This was not made clear on the slow rollout schedule, so this is new information for most of us.

• Recommendation for Wednesday Green Lessons – Create routine activities kids can do independently. For example, for reading, have them read or listen to the story of the week and do an activity or have them record passage for fluency practice. For math, work from the lesson the day before with additional practice. Create a routine for Wednesdays that works within your lesson sequence and can be repeated each week.

• Video Recording Lessons? NO – This is still being negotiated, but at this time teachers should not record their lessons in a way where students can be seen, heard, or called by name.

• Applied Learning Time – This is time for students to practice their skills and learning. These are activities kids do on their own and do not submit to the teacher for feedback. Examples would be independent reading, Dreambox, math games, choice boards, or choice projects These activities are not “homework.” They are additional practice activities to be done on students’ own schedules.

• Teacher Office Hours (slow rollout) – The current expectation from downtown for office hours to have 30-minutes per day of office hours that you’ve communicated to families for when you are available (by phone, Zoom, or email) beginning this week. Office hours are not listed on the Slow Rollout schedule for this week, so teachers should identify their 30-minute time blocks. Wednesdays have also not been figured out by downtown yet for the morning or eventing office hour times, so for now just make sure your grade level team is all doing something similar. We’ll discuss this more at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting.

• PE/Music Schedule Updates – Two updates:

• Synchronous Times Now Earlier – The PE/Music Schedule was adjusted last week when it was noticed the live synchronous afternoon times were from an older version of the district schedule. The time change was so PE and Music specialists can participate in afternoon meetings.

• SEL Times – A couple teachers asked if they’ll see Alex and Tim each week during SEL or just one and then the other the following week? It’s the latter. Tim and Alex are flip flopping A and B weeks, so teachers will see them individually every other week.

• Leadership Plan Survey – Leadership Plan development can be an uncomfortable discussion for staff, since there are always more duties than there are days/slots to compensate, along with having to decide which extra duties are worth more days than others, so I’ve created a Leadership Plan Survey for licensed staff to give more anonymous of feedback. Please complete the survey by the end of the week. I’ll share an overview of the results at the October 6th Staff Meeting, which will help guide our process for creating this year’s plan. For your reference, linked here is the 2019-2020 Holt Leadership Plan.

• easyCBM Updates – Two updates regarding fall benchmarking:

• No Testing this Week (possibly next week too) – With downtown unexpectedly pulling the plug on testing this week (except for students with an IEP), I don’t want to create more work to staff by saying we’re definitely starting test next week, only to have that sudden change. After attending the Friday training on Administering easyCBM through Zoom, there are still quite a few questions yet to be answered. Linked here is the current easyCBM Guidance given principals on Thursday, which does have testing starting next week. Downtown is holding additional easyCBM Administration trainings this week, so stay tuned whether we’ll start testing next week or not, but right now I lean toward waiting another week until things look more solid.

• District Support Coming – Oscar Loureiro, Director of Research and Planning, emailed principals they are creating a plan to provide support to schools, maybe creating support teams that will move from school to school over time. As an example, all the trial testing they have been doing has shown them the importance of having at least two staff members in the zoom call when administering the assessment.

• Title 1 EA Interviews, Thursday @12:30 – This weekend I’m finishing up candidate screening for our Title 1 EA vacancies, all 72 of them (there is some overlap between the two postings, but that’s a solid pool of candidates!). We will hold interviews this Thursday, 12:30-4:00. Interviews will be in-person in the school garden area (weather permitting). I’ve heard from a couple people already, but please let me know if you’d like to volunteer your time to help select our newest Holt Bolts!

• New Bolts Start this Week! – Announced earlier, our newest staff members, Gloria Speasl, our Essential Skills Coordinator, is starting Monday, and Kim McManus, our Student Success Coordinator starts this Wednesday. They will both be working out of Room A02. Please welcome Kim and Gloria to Team Holt!

• Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting, Wednesday @3:00 – Teachers are, of course, welcome to create your own goals, but there was interest in having an optional shared building goal focused around the year’s already planned PD activities (which is still vague, but I have a general idea), so this Wednesday at 3:00 in the Library and Zoom (I think we’d be a small enough group we can socially distance in the library) will be an optional meeting to discuss potential building wide SMART Goals. For your reference, link here is the Shared Building SMART Goals I offered staff last year (updated with Holt logos), which allowed classroom teachers (and specialists too if they adapted the goals a bit) to cut-and-paste into each section of the TalentEd Goal Form.

• Student Supplies Distribution, Thursday & Friday? – There’s a possibility we’ll be allowed to distribute student supplies this Thursday and Friday. We’d likely do something similar to what we did at iPad Distribution. However, downtown has not made a decision on this yet, so stand by for details if we’ll be allowed. I’ve created a Wednesday Supply Bagging Sign-Up Google Sheet in case we are able to pass out supplies. We haven’t received any of the supplies yet from the warehouse, but I imagine we’ll have them by Wednesday. I create an additional sign-up sheet for distribution one I get parameters on how that will work. For additional supplies grade levels want to distribute, I will set out boxes for each grade in the hallway along the front entrance. Journeys student textbooks are allowed to be sent home (although I heard a rumor they might instead put together consumable packets). If your grade level is short textbooks, let me know and I’ll contact Chelsea, the ELA TOSA. For math, downtown is putting together LearnZillion packets that match up with the priority standards.

This round of supplies is pretty basic (see earlier email), but downtown is planning a second round with more comprehensive of student supplies (see newer email) for K/1, 2/3, and 4/5. Downtown is also talking about holding some sort of regular, possibly monthly, distribution of supplies, but details are still being decided on that as well.

• EA Laptops – James Emailed EAs earlier, but if you have borrowed a laptop from the testing COW without putting in a ticket, please email James at 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu and he will get you officially set up.

• EEF Grant Proposals Due Oct. 7 – Everyone received an email that EEF is now accepting grants, so Holt grants need to be given to me by Wednesday, October 7th for Site Council to rank order our grant submissions. I don’t need the grant completely written out, but if you can give me a title and general description of the grant, that’s enough for us to rank order them. Linked here is the 2020-2021 EEF Grant Application Announcement & Application. They changed the working, but I believe we can submit up to five grants in any amount up to $5,000. EEF this year puts a higher priority on requests that support equity, diversity, and inclusion; student engagement; and/or access to education. Let me know if you have any questions, want to bounce ideas off of someone, or would like help writing a grant. Later this year there will be a second round of EEF Grant applications that will be due January 8th.

EEF is also accepting “Urgent Request Applications” throughout the year on a rolling basis that support urgent needs related to COVID or Comprehensive Distance Learning, and are unplanned needs that cannot wait for the standard application review period. Applications submitted as Urgent Requests will be evaluated within 5 business days.

Application guidelines, funding priorities, and FAQs are located at the above web address. Please read through them before submitting to me your grant for Site Council consideration, as there are changes from prior years.

• SELCO’s SPARK! Educator Grants – SELCO’s grant cycle typically opens mid-August, but they pushed back the application window by a month. SELCO is offering educator grants of up to $1,000 to help bring creative classroom ideas to life. Applications are open September 15–October 31. Visit the SPARK! Creative Learning Grants webpage for details and how to apply. SELCO is usually pretty generous in awarding most grant applications, so be sure to check this one out!

• New referrals for SPED evaluations? – Linked here is a Short SSD Document that may give you ideas about how to respond to parents (or staff) about the appropriateness of referring a student for special education during this pandemic-tinged school year.

• Collaboration Log NEW SLIDESHOW! – SSD made an Updated Collaboration Log Slideshow if you’re interested. Expectations are still the same as what I shared earlier, but this new slideshow provides some additional details and explanation why we are doing this (mostly due to ODE requirements).

• Wraparound Smore Newsletter Update – Maria Covernali, the 4J Wraparound Coordinator, shared the latest Wraparound Smore Newsletter. She made some updates to include tutoring and childcare resources she just learned about. Feel free to pass along this blog or any of these resources to families.

• 3 Keys to Effective Instructional Videos – When using videos with students, remember that we actually need to teach students to use instructional videos. See this Teacher2Teacher Article to read what one educator learned last spring for making instructional videos effective during distance learning. The short version is to keep videos six minutes or shorter and super focused on the learning target, take full advantage of tools that enable you to check whether students are still with you, and ask questions aloud in the video to help kids learn that they need to actually listen to you speak.

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

September 28 (M)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)

September 29 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

September 30 (W)
3:00-4:00, Optional Building SMART Goals Meeting (Library & Zoom)

October 1 (H)
12:30-4:00, Title 1 EA Interviews (School Garden)

October 2 (F)
Custodian Appreciation Day

October 5 (M)
Regular Day

October 6 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

October 7 (W)
Regular Day

October 8 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (School Garden & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (School Garden & Zoom)

October 9 (F)
No School — Statewide In-Service Day

Hey, this first week went way smoother than expected!

Keep on Truckin’

Allan

August 24, 2020

By Allan | 2020/08/22 14:35 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, P.D. | Comments Off

Hello Fellow Bolts,

One last week of summer and eleven items of note for this week:

• Reopening Updates: Instruction – Here are the latest updates on Fall Reopening Plans related to teaching and instruction:

• Classroom Teachers Specializing During CDL – I don’t think any grade levels at Holt do this, but during comprehensive distance learning classroom teachers are not allowed to “specialize” in content areas, where one teachers math to all classes, another teaches reading to all classes, and another teaches science, etc. However, grade level teams are allowed during distance learning for one teacher to prep all the math lessons, one prep all the reading lessons, one prep all the science lessons, etc. as long as it’s the homeroom teacher delivering the content and giving their homeroom students the feedback.

• Limited In Person Instruction – I don’t think any staff here were planning to do this, but principals got an Email from Charis and were asked to let staff know that they are not to start forming small groups of students to bring back and to not contact students and parents to make plans to come back for limited in person instruction. See the email for details.

• Phase II Planning Suspended – If you’ve been following district communications about Phase I and Phase II reopening planning, the above email from Charis also mentions that Phase II planning has been suspended, which was originally going to create optional lessons classroom teachers could push out to students for core subject areas.

• Class List Posting – Class lists are to be created as usual and will be shared with families in the same manner across the district. That manner is still to be decided, but they will very likely get posted just like normal, at the end of the first week staff report back. Stay tuned on this one too!

• School Supplies Not at Tech Distribution – Still no decision if there will be supply fees/lists, if the district is purchasing supplies, or if teachers can distribute materials to students, but principals were told that if we distribute supplies, it won’t be during the tech distribution. There’s a committee working on this one too.

• Can teachers distribute items to students? – This is another question I’ve been asked a few times this past week that and is another topic we’re waiting on an answer from the district operations committee. Rumor is that teachers will be able to send things home once at the start of year and then at a few different (monthly?) points during the year. However, there’s also questions about equity, if some schools are able to send home t-shirts and all sorts of great stuff and others cannot, so there may be some guardrails around what we’re allowed to send.

• Reopening Updates: Building Logistics – Here are the latest updates on Fall Reopening Plans related to facilities and building procedures and protocols:

• Shared Equipment Cleaning Protocol – Principals were given homework by downtown to develop a plan for school equipment that’s used by multiple staff members, such as workroom items (copiers, paper cutters, comb binders, etc.), staff room items (refrigerator, sinks, tables, etc.), office copiers, and staff restrooms. I’ve asked Ryan to make sure there are disinfectant spray bottles of Oxivir Five 16 Disinfectant (Instructions) in all staff restrooms, the workrooms, the commons area in each wing, and the office staff room. There are Cloriox Hydrogen Peroxide Wipes (instructions) in the workrooms to be used on the copiers, since we don’t want people spraying liquid onto the copier screen or keypad. Also, make sure the wipes aren’t soaking wet when used. The office will have Oxiver Five 16 Disinfectant Wipes (instructions), which are essentially the same as Clorox wipes, but Facilties thought staff would be more comfortable with a familiar brand for workrooms. See the above linked instructions for the procedure to disinfect all surfaces you have touched when you’re done in each of these areas. Let me know if there are other shared equipment or areas I’ve missed or if you have any questions.

BONUS PRO TIP! For cleaning staff restrooms, don’t touch the door handle on your way out with your bare hand. Use a sleeve or paper towel instead.

• No Hanging Out in the Staff Room – Staff Rooms and Break Rooms across 4J are closed for now when it comes to eating and hanging out unless a school has a large enough of space where people can take off their masks to each and also socially distance. Holt’s Staff Room is not large enough for this and for people to be able to move about the room, so staff will have to find another space to eat. However, the people may still use the fridge, sink, and such in the Staff Room. Just disinfect what you touch before you leave.

• Removal of Staff Owned Furniture (maybe) – There’s not a final decision on this, but staff may be asked to remove any non-4J furniture, particularly any porous (i.e. fabric) pieces of furniture. A decision is probably not coming soon since this is only a concern when we begin hybrid learning, which won’t be for a while, but I wanted to put this on peoples’ radar.

• No Bus Lane Use During Meal Distribution – With lots of foot, bike, and car traffic during meal distribution, happening Monday – Thursday, 11:00-12:00, staff should avoid the bus lane at these times. Traffic can get heavy when we’re passing out meals and food boxes, so if you do need to use this lane, make sure you are following the one-way traffic rules.

• UPDATE: COVID Capacity – If you’re interested, the Building Utilization Docs I shared earlier for when/if we do hybrid learning. This generated a fair number of questions from buildings, so principals got a Follow-Up COVIC Capacity Email that explained the process for how they arrived at these capacity numbers and also a few other questions about the numbers.

• UPDATE: Badge Entry Point Restrictions – The restricted card access entry points at all schools has made it so badges only work at the main entrance and not at all at other card readers.

• Back to School Staff Meeting, 9/2 @8:00 – Four items regarding our Back to School Staff Meeting on Wednesday, September 2nd from 8:00-12:00.

• Meeting Location – Since we can’t fit 60+ staff members in the library and also socially distance, we’ll meet outside or possibly in the gym. This week I’m going to test out some portable projectors and speakers to see which space works best, but feel free to share your ideas if you have any brainstorms on what might work better.

• Attend In-Person or Zoom – This is still being negotiated between downtown and EEA (OSEA has an agreement), but my plan is to give staff an option of how you attend this meeting. I realized there are health, childcare, and other reasons staff may not be able to attend on-site, so I’ll provide an option for people to phone or Zoom into the meeting. However, I’d like to get an idea of how many people will be attending in-person, so see the next agenda items to help me out with that!

• Attendance Survey & Breakfast Burrito Orders! – I’ll pick up some breakfast burritos for anyone who’d like one the morning of our Back-to-School Staff Meeting. Even if you don’t want a burrito, please complete linked Attendance Survey & Breakfast Burrito Order Google Form by Monday, August 31st at 9:00 to at least tell me if you’ll be attending the meeting in-person or by Zoom. This will help me in planning for seating, copies of mateirals, food, drink, etc. You’ll need to log onto your 4J Google Account to complete the form. I’ll also bring some donuts and other breakfast goodies if burritos aren’t your thing.

• Meeting Agenda – I have a tentative agenda for the Back-to-School Staff Meeting, but it sounds like downtown is going to mandate most all of what will be covered (another things we’re waiting on from the district). However, I did want to check with staff if anyone needs time on the agenda or if there were any topics you’d like placed onto the agenda. I’m planning to do a final agenda review with the Leadership Team the day before on 9/1, so send me any agenda items before then.

In general, I like to keep these meetings short since I know there is never enough prep time, and that’s going to be especially true this year, so even though downtown is dictating much of the agenda, I’ll do my best to respect the time.

• Inservice Week Schedule Coming Soon – Related to the above, I’ve asked downtown admin about this again and the answer is still “there’s a committee working on that.” This means I likely won’t have a complete agenda for inservice week until next week’s announcements.

• Staffing Updates — A few staffing updates:

• To Be Hired – The 4-hour and 3-hour Title 1 EA positions closed Tuesday, but HR let me know on Friday they are putting a hold on all EA hires, so I’ll keep everyone posted when they do allow us to interview. In the meantime, I’ve asked HR to repost the positions until they’re ready to let us interview, in hopes that will widen our candidate pool. Our 0.5 FTE Essential Skills Coordinator (ESC) position is now posted externally and closes Tuesday, so if you know of any outstanding candidates you’d like to lure over to Holt, please encourage them to apply! I’m tentatively planning on holding interviews Tuesday, September 1st at 12:30, so let me know if any of you are interested in volunteering your time to be part of the interview committee.

• Kim McManus (Student Success Coordinator) – District admin selected Kim McManus as our SSC, who comes to us from McMinnville (though she lived in Eugene) where she worked as an elementary school counselor the past three years, coordinating PBIS and IPBS, developing complex and simple FBAs, BSPs, and safety plans. Prior to working in education, he worked for the City of Eugene for 20 years at the Sheldon Community Center.

• Mark Elmore (Night Custodian) – Holt is getting additional custodial staffing this year, though it won’t start until students are back in the building. Once that happens, Mark Elmore will work at Holt for 2-hours and 6-hours at Edgewood.

• Ari Zyskind (Administrative Intern) – Ari was originally going to do an admin internship with me at Howard before I was moved to Holt. He is working on his admin license at the UO and is moving here from California, where he taught high school science. Holt will be his secondary placement, but you may see him around from time to time or on a Zoom, so I thought I would introduce him as well.

Please welcome our newest members of Team Holt!

• Classroom Assignments – I made this a bit for myself to help me learn where people are located at Holt, but linked here is a 2020-20201 Classroom Assignments Map. I went off a list Dan gave me, so let me know if anything on here looks amiss. The only thing I’ve changed is I made the small room next to the library Roseburg Therapy used into a TSS workspace, which will also double as our “Quarantine Room” when we return to hybrid model teaching.

• DonorsChoose.org is HOT! – Most of you are probably familiar with DonorsChoose.org, but it’s an on-line charity that connects the public to easily fund grants for public schools and I’ve seen a TON of Holt grants get funded the past few weeks. I think that with school reopening plans all over the news, people are looking for ways to support schools now more than ever. Maybe think about writing a grant for this fall or for later when kids are allowed back into school.

• REPEAT: Staff iPads – The school district now also has iPads available for staff who will be teaching or assisting with Comprehensive Distance Leaning (CDL) and who do not have devices. This includes both classified and licensed staff. These will be distributed after students have gotten their devices first, but there are a limited number of devices, so let me know as soon as possible if you do not currently have a device (or have an iPad 2 or older) and I’ll notify the Tech Department to put in your request.

• REPEAT: Report Back Dates – Most staff report back the first week of September. Here are the report back dates and the 4J Employee Work Year Calendars.

• Licensed Staff – Tuesday, September 1
• Classified Staff – Wednesday, September 2 (196-day on 8/27)

• More Editable “Meet the Teacher” Slideshows – I shared a WeAreTeachers Meet Your Teacher Slideshow, but Jacque shared with me a few other slideshows you might like to checkout if it’s helpful to you. Slideshow #1, Slideshow #2, Slideshow #3

• Opinion: Embrace the “human” feelings this year – During this challenging time, it is OK — and expected — that students will demonstrate sadness and anger, asserts the author of this ChalkBeat Opinion Piece. In this commentary, the author shares that expressing these feelings runs counter to the traditional ways social and emotional learning is taught.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are a few events of note for the next few weeks:

August 24 (M)
8:30-12:30, New Teacher Induction (Zoom)

August 25 (T)
8:30-12:30, New Teacher Induction (Zoom)

August 26 (W)
8:30-12:30, New Teacher Induction (Zoom)
6:00, PAHS Meeting (School Garden)

August 27 (H)
196-Day Classified Staff Report Back

September 1 (T)
Licensed Staff Report Back
9:00-12:00, Leadership Team Meeting (School Garden)
12:30-3:30, ESC Interviews (School Garden)

September 2 (W)
192-Day (most) Classified Employees Report Back
8:00-12:00, Back to School Staff Meeting (Location TBD)

September 3 (H)
TBD by downtown

September 4 (F)
TBD by downtown

September 7 (T)
Labor Day – No School

September 8-11
TBD by downtown

September 14 (M)
First Day of School

Looking forward to see you soon!

Allan

March 30, 2020

By Allan | 2020/03/28 01:55 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Caring for Kids, Grants, Technology, Video | Comments Off

Hello Roadrunners,

I’m sending my announcements earlier than normal so everyone knows the plans for next week sooner than later.

Principals have had multiple virtual meetings this week (the last one Friday afternoon) and the state is still not providing a lot of guidance on expectations for remote learning, so 4J is in the meantime is setting up some structures that will be able to accommodate whatever comes down from ODE. Linked here is the latest State Bulletin, which says they will define “Supplemental Education and Learning Supports” (SEALS) sometime this weekend. Linked here is an email sent to all staff from Kerry Delf, an email sent to teachers from Charis McGaughy, an email sent to SPED teacher from Kat Lange, and an email sent to principals from Karen Hardin.

Below is my distillation of all that info along with some additional information from principal meetings this week:

• Zoom Staff Meeting Monday at 10:00 – Principals are being asked to hold a Zoom Staff Meeting Monday. Howard will have ours at 10:00. My plan is to provide as much info here instead to waiting for the virtual meeting.

To join the Zoom Meeting on computer, tablet, or smartphone, click the link in the email.

Zoom is pretty user friendly and linked here is a Zoom How To Guide, but let me know if need any help. If you want to practice or check Zoom out ahead of time, it’s fine to click or call the above links now.

Both classified and licensed staff are invited to participate in the meeting. The second part of the meeting will primarily be for licensed staff, but classified are welcome to stay. A tentative agenda for the meeting will be:

1.) Welcome
2.) Working From Home
3.) Building Access
4.) Classified Staff Expectations
5.) Licensed Staff – Remote Learning (preview of the PD Slideshow)
6.) Others

BONUS TIP! In the Zoom App, go to the PREFERENCES > VIRTUAL BACKGROUND and you can choose a virtual background and you can even upload your own picture or video to be your background. Add some fun to the meeting!

• Working from Home – Staff should try to work from home and beginning Monday staff are on “stand-by” status (UPDATE – I spoke with Imelda and we’re seeking clarification if “stand-by” applies to both Licensed and Classified or just Classified. There’s been conflicting information.). Stand-by means an employee is available for any work related communication and available to physically report, telework, or any combination. For myself, I’m planning to only be at school during the Free Lunch times on the days staff volunteers are here delivering meals to M-V families, Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays, 11:00-12:00. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has been able to help with this!

• Can I work in the building? – Staff should work from home and avoid coming to school (unless you are volunteering to assist with meal distribution). If you need to come to school, with the exception of the free meal volunteers, the new district procedure for working at school is:

1.) Contact me so I can meet you at school.
2.) Only enter through the main office entrance.
3.) Sign-in at the front office on the School Closure Sign-In Sheet.
4.) Go directly to your classroom or work area.
5.) If you go anywhere else in the building, note it on the sign-in sheet so custodians can disinfect.
6.) Do not use any restrooms besides the office adult restrooms and note on the sign-in sheet if you do so.
5.) Sign-out in the front office when you leave.

If possible, please come during my usual hours in the building Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays 11:00-12:00. If you’re interested in the nitty gritty for custodial work at this time, see Trevor Whites’ Emails to custodians.

• Classified Staff Notes – All classified staff will continue to receive pay and may be called upon to assist with various tasks, either remotely, on-site at Howard, or potentially at another building. HR is giving principals an alphabetical list of staff and we are to go down in order if Howard or the district has jobs needing done. Outside of helping with daily meals and possibly helping call families, I do not foresee asking staff for anything here at Howard. However, classified staff may be called in to help other programs happening around the district outside of your regular job duties. If staff cannot work for any reason, there are leaves available which HR will assist staff with.

• Remote Learning Updates – ODE announced they will provide guidance this weekend on “Supplemental Education and Learning Supports” (SEALS). In the meantime, 4J is putting some structures and plans in place to implement whatever it is we’re expected to deliver to students.

• Planning & Prep Timeline – This first week back, March 30 – April 3, there are two goals for teachers:

1.) Become familiar with Seesaw if you are not already.

2.) Use this time to create three three weeks worth supplemental education, starting April 6 and ending April 28. Some will complete all three weeks worth of student activities this week and others my choose to plans throughout April.

If you only follow only one link on this long email/blog post, review the linked Home Learning with Seesaw Eugene 4J Teacher Planning Guide. This document has pretty much everything you need and resources to get ready to provide remote learning. If you’re interested, linked here is the Principal Remote Learning PD Planning Doc, which is almost the same document, but has some additional information.

We will have a Zoom Staff Meeting at 10:00 on Monday and the rest of the time will be for teachers to plan, prep, and connect with colleagues to get ready for remote learning to begin the following week. The general schedule for people this first week back will be:

March 30 (M)
Staff working from home
Teachers Review the Home Learning with Seesaw Eugene 4J Teacher Planning Guide
10:00-11:00, Zoom Staff Meeting

March 31 (T) – April 3 (F)
Set Up Remote Learning Logins
Design a Home Learning Strategy and Routines
Make Contact with Families
If needed, attend one of the Seesaw webinars hosted by 4J Seesaw Ambassadors (link and Tues/Wed only) or one of the daily Webinars Hosted by Seesaw.

Seesaw also has a helpful Remote Learning for Teachers webpage that is very thorough.

• Google Classroom – Teachers can use Google Classroom if you’ve already been using it with your students. For communicating with families and communicating with students, Seesaw is a better tool, so teachers can continue to Google Classroom to push out work, but for communicating with parents & guardians, you’ll have to use Seesaw.

• Remote Learning Content – Details are being finalized once we hear from the state, but the general expectation is that teachers will provide 3-hours worth of daily activities for students. This could be:

30 minutes community building/morning meeting
30 minutes reading activities
30 minutes writing activities
30 minutes math activities
–build in
30 minutes of PE or Music

No NEW content should be taught, but this should be a time for review or going back to those units you wished you had more time on.

For specialists, PE and Music teachers are expected to provide activities for students and Kat Lange’s above email gave direction for SPED Staff, but other specialists (Title, ELL, Counselor, Instructional Coach, etc.) there has not been clear direction how you are to support classroom teachers and students, so I would suggest connecting with your same job colleagues around the district to brainstorm what you might share with classrooms teachers to send out to students or how you can help.

o Engagement before rigor
o Find out what activities keep students coming back.
o Establish a baseline of learning activities; do not over-assign
o Create structure to build stamina for learning: daily schedule

Think of routines that you already have and figure out how to bring that back in, such as read alouds, problem of the day, build in routines you already use.

If kids feel successful, they are going to come back. You might start with simple things the first few days. Like logging on to Seesaw. Go slow and you can pick up the pace a bit later.

Think about lessons that might take a whole week. You don’t have to do something new every day. One teacher is working on kindness and students will write a letter each day of the week to someone they don’t get to see right now.

See the previously linked Home Learning with Seesaw Eugene 4J Teacher Planning Guide for more info.

• Remote Learning, Asynchronous & Synchronous – I learned a couple new words this week. The district expectation is that the first week of remote learning, April 6-10, teachers DO NOT have to do any live Zoom Meetings with your class (asynchronous instruction). The second week of remote learning, April 13-17, teachers DO need to begin some live Zoom Meetings with your class (synchronous instruction). Zoom Meetings should be with your entire class and not with individual students.

If I were still teaching and in this situation, I think a Morning Meeting is where I’d most want to do a live Zoom Meeting, so I could give students a chance to reconnect. I think there’s a deep need to reconnect and we need to remember to put people first before simply jumping into content. China had to jump into online learning before the US and learned they first had to catch up with the students, make them feel cared for, and then they were ready to learn. It’s like the first day of school again. Teachers might need a morning message each day to remind students about “community.”

• Calling & Connecting Families to Seesaw & Devices – Downtown is requiring teachers to contact families this first week back and for principals to be able to track family responses, keeping a record of who DOES and DOES NOT want online learning and another needs (such as requesting a work packet instead of online work), so I created a Remote Learning – Family Contact Log. Note the date you called, if you left a voicemail or talked to someone in person, and note if families do or do not want to participate in remote learning. And feel free to add any other relevant information. The sheet is located on the Howard Shared Google Drive. Downtown will give us our parent technology survey results for which families do or do not need devices for remote learning, but classroom teachers are still to call ALL families to first make sure #1 they have devices and internet (both will be provided if they do not) and #2 make sure kids and parents are connected to Seesaw. For students, they log in with their username@4j.lane.edu and their Lunch PIN. Those can both be found in Synergy and shared with families.

• Calling from Personal Devices – If you don’t want families to have your personal cell numbers, remember you can set up Google Voice (iOS and Android) for free and get a dummy number to call and/or text families. There’s also a setting on iPhones to turn off your caller ID (Setting > Phone > Show My Caller ID > Toggle Off). Another option is to give families your classroom phone number and check your 4J Voicemail remotely, calling (541) 790-4400. For that option you can also set up Voicemail to Email, where when someone leaves a voicemail on your extension, the system will send you an email. If you are on the VPN you can listen to your voicemails on your computer. If you want to sign up for Voicemail to Email, send an email request to phones@4j.lane.edu and put “Voicemail to Email” in the subject line. In the body of the email indicate what your extension number and email address is.

Here is what the Interface looks like if you are on the VPN:

• Device Deployment to Students – A district level team is working on this, but it is sounding like students will come to Howard to pick up their devices and chargers if needed. I’m guessing I’ll be the one handing out devices and chargers. Downtown has also said they will provide families with assistance with internet, even if it means providing a hotspot. The Tech Department is also creating iPad Care & Handling Sheet that will go home with devices. I’ll let staff know more details once I have them.

• Together, we can do hard things (Resources) – Coronavirus is posing unprecedented challenges to schools and to help you keep the learning going, a coalition of education organizations, led by ISTE and EdSurge, have curated strategies, tips and best practices for teaching online at their Learning Keeps Going website. Also, here’s a nice post from a private school with some succinct tips for teacher.

• Final Thoughts on Remote Learning – Please know that I understand some of you may feel uncomfortable with this sudden shift to online learning. We all have the ability to give, learn, and grow during this time. Right now, we have an opportunity to grow our skills in technology instruction and student-centered learning. In a time of crisis, our strength lies in working together and collaborating to support our students and one another. We are all very lucky to be working with such great group of people through all of this. I’m getting a little weepy typing this. Go, Roadrunners!

• Non-Remote Learning/Working-at-Home Items – Six items of note:

• State Testing Cancelled – ODE has suspended ESSA Assessment and Accountability requirements for the 2019-20 school year, which means no state ELA, Math, or Science tests.

• Event Reschedules – We have lots of missed assemblies, field trips, and other activities, including the first two days of the artist in residence, impacted by the statewide school closure. Once we get closer to the April 29th student return date, I’ll work to adjust the calendar if that return date looks solid.

• April PBIS Focus: Encouragement – The April PBIS monthly focus is Encouragement. The PBIS team created a PBIS/CFK Cheat Sheet that matches our PBIS monthly themes with corresponding Caring for Kids (CFK) class meeting lessons. I’m not sure how this works into remote learning, but I figured I’d remind teachers if teams have any clever ideas.

• UPDATE: EEF Grant Timeline Changed – Principals were sent an EEF Email that the deadline for grants has been extended to September, so we’ll wait until next fall to rank order grant applications. Still, if you’d like to submit a grant idea for consideration to Site Council now, linked here is the EEF Email Sent to Principals, the 2020-2021 Grant Application Website, and the 2020-2021 EEF Grant Application. We can submit up to five grants in any amount up to $5,000 per application.

• District McKinney-Vento Student Data – Linked here is the district-wide McKinney-Vento Student Report. These totals represent students for the entire school year, not necessarily who’s in buildings now. As in the past, Howard serves more homeless students and families than any other elementary, middle, or high school in 4J. That’s over 10% of Howard students qualifying as McKinney-Vento, meaning more than 1 out of every 10 students is homeless.

• District Admin Updates – North Eugene High School principal Iton Udosenata has been named assistant superintendent of Salem-Keizer Public Schools. Iton will finish the school year and 4J will open a nationwide search for the NEHS principal position soon. Dr. Karen Pérez-Da Silva, who has served as 4J’s equity, instruction & partnerships administrator since 2017, has accepted a position with Hillsboro School District as their new director of equity and bilingual programs, starting July 1st.

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

March 30 (M)
Staff Working from Home
Teachers Review the Home Learning with Seesaw Eugene 4J Teacher Planning Guide
10:00-11:00, Zoom Staff Meeting

March 31 (T)
Set Up Remote Learning Logins
Design a Home Learning Strategy and Routines
Make Contact with Families
If needed, attend one of the Seesaw webinars hosted by 4J Seesaw Ambassadors (link) or one of the Daily Webinars Hosted by Seesaw.

April 1 (W)
Set Up Remote Learning Logins
Design a Home Learning Strategy and Routines
Make Contact with Families
If needed, attend one of the Seesaw webinars hosted by 4J Seesaw Ambassadors (link) or one of the Daily Webinars Hosted by Seesaw.

April 2 (H)
Set Up Remote Learning Logins
Design a Home Learning Strategy and Routines
Make Contact with Families
If needed, attend one of the Daily Webinars Hosted by Seesaw.

April 3 (F)
Set Up Remote Learning Logins
Design a Home Learning Strategy and Routines
Make Contact with Families
If needed, attend one of the Daily Webinars Hosted by Seesaw.

April 6 (M)
Begin Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)

April 7 (T)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)

April 18 (W)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)

April 19 (H)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)

April 20 (F)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous or maybe Synchronous)

As alway, please feel free to call, text, email, or Zoom me if you need anything.

This is a once in a lifetime moment we’re living in right now. I think this is a time when people’s true colors can show and I think we have a pretty wonderful group of caring individuals here at Howard. Take care of your people, do what’s in your control to put good out into the world, and remember to find balance in everything you do.

You got this, people!

Allan

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