http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=10179
Howdy Everyone,
It was great finally getting to see folks this past week and getting to see Team Holt in action! It was kind of lonely this summer in a near empty building, but it feels good to be back in a school with real live people again, even if back-to-school inservice week wasn’t the same as in the past. I know not everyone is able to work on-site, but I do feel lucky so many people did come back to work in the building, compared to what I heard from other principals, which makes me feel like Holt is a team who will work together through this bizarre distance leaning thing. Go, Bolts!
Twenty-two items of note for this week:
• Inservice Week #2 Schedule – Below is the schedule for the week. I’ve noted which sessions are for licensed and/or classified staff.
September 7 (M)
Labor Day, No SchoolSeptember 8 (T)
8:00-12:00, Classified & Licensed Various District PD Topics (Gym & Zoom)1. Trauma Informed Care (1hr),
2. Mental Health Referrals & Tiered Services (30 min),
3. PBIS in CDL (1 hour),
4. Community Building in CDL (90min)
5. Others12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)September 9 (W)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Classified & Licensed Culturally Responsive Teaching PD (Gym & Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Protected PlanningSeptember 10 (H)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00, Class List Welcome Emails Sent to Families
1:00-2:00, Classified & Licensed Building Operations (Gym & Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Protected PlanningSeptember 11 (F)
Protected Planning DayFolks seems to like the option of meeting in person, so I’ll continue to hold building led PD in the gym with a Zoom option.
For Tuesday’s PD, much of what principals are to deliver is informational, so to avoid holding a long meeting that could have been an email, I’m going to share the slideshows ahead of time. I will plan to efficiently cover the material, give folks a chance to ask any questions, and maybe end a little early.
Trauma Informed Care and 321 Insight Sept 2020
• Grade Level Alignment Clarity – It’s important when teachers communicate with families and once we begin working with students that grade level teams are aligned in what they are communicating and teaching. Teachers do not need to be lockstep in everything you do, but we should not have outlier classrooms where one class is doing far less or far more than the others. Grade level teams need to stay in close communication throughout CDL so they are doing mostly the same or similar of communication and instruction.
• Updated “Slow Rollout” Schedule – Downtown gave principals on Friday an Updated 4J CDL Elementary “Slow Rollout” Schedule that fixed some mistakes (such as the green blocks marked “Yellow Time App. Practice – non-content” which was in reference to when the green blocks used to be colored yellow, until the Communications Department sent out the parent version that changed the color from yellow to green), but it’s mostly the same.
One important note on the schedule principals were also told on Friday we should ignore the teacher tabs to the left and to instead go off of the student tabs on the right. They said they would work on updating the teacher section, but hadn’t had time to update those tabs yet.
Regarding the missing and conflicting break/lunch times and the Wednesday schedule issues brought up last week, I asked about these at a principals’ meeting on Friday and the answer I got was that this is being negotiated and then needs to be ratified, so nothing is decided at this point. With conferences next week, hopefully that’ll be time for this to get sorted out. If it doesn’t, we can figure something out at the building level.
• Meeting Zoom Links – To make things easier, starting this week I’m using one reoccurring Zoom link for all building meetings if you want to save the info below (below on my email, but not on my blog). I’ll continue to post building and district Zoom links into the notes section on Holt Staff Zimbra Calendar events, but I’m not going to send calendar invites, which I figure clutter up already full inboxes.
• Holt Quick Links – If you feel like I do, you’re drowning in a sea of Google and Zoom links scattered across dozens of emails, slideshows, and documents. I’ve tried to capture all of those links and put them all onto one document I’ve linked on my blog along the left column called Holt Quick Links. I’ll plan to continue to update this document.
• Class Lists & EOA Student List Update – I emailed teachers earlier, but to keep everyone in the loop, downtown emailed a clarification to principals on the EOA student list they sent last week, which was that it was simply the results from the earlier parent survey, not students who actually enrolled in EOA. Friday at midnight was the deadline for families to enroll in EOA, so I’ll share EOA enrollment info as soon as I get it, and then we’ll finally be able to finish class lists. If you’re curious, linked here are the latest District Enrollment Numbers. We’re under our projection, but so is pretty much every school in 4J right now.
Melanie is continuing to update the 20-21 Incoming Student Spreadsheet she shared earlier. Please have all changes to the Big Class List Spreadsheet by Wednesday. Specialists and classified staff, please take a look at the lists for any potential student combinations you think we might want to reconsider.
FUN FACT! If you have elementary age kids of your own at other schools and want to know their teacher, have your child log onto Seesaw using clever and you’ll see which class they are in. I tried this myself with my 3rd grade daughter Josie and it worked, but the Tech Department is actually trying to unlink Seesaw and Synergy until after teachers notify families on Thursday about class placement, so it may not work for long.
• Thursday Teacher Welcome Email to Families – A few things teacher may want to include in your welcome email to families:
• Slow Rollout Schedule for Families – Linked here is a useful Slow Rollout Schedule for Families by Grade Level in English and Spanish that teachers can make a copy of and customize for your class or grade level. And linked here is another Sharable Schedule for Families you could use that is more specific to the A/B, C/D, E/F schedules, but is not grade level specific. Further down the road, another option is this Sample – Parent Weekly Plan.
• Conference Schedules – Use whatever method works best for you to schedule conferences, whether that’s SignUp.com, MeetingBird.com, or Google Forms. The BV principal made a 2-Minute How-To Video on the Google Form method.
Linked here is a Sample Pre-Conference Form teachers could send to families before conferences.
• Technology Pick-Up and Support – I’m putting this in my Quick News on Monday, but it may be good to remind families. Here’s a blurb you can feel free to use:
Holt is distributing student iPads for students to borrow during distance learning 6:00PM today. Families are strongly encouraged to borrow a device over using a personal device because you will get access to paid apps, subscriptions, and school district tech support. Also, 4J has created e a new Parent and Student Tech Support Portal to support families. This is intended as a self-help resource and contains many quicksheets designed to help with common problems encountered with devices that went home. Many of these documents are also available in Spanish.
• Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser, 9/17 – I sent this one out too, but here’s another quick blurb you can cut-and-paste:
The first Holt Night Out Fundraiser of the year is scheduled and it will be at Papa’s Pizza on Thursday, September 17th. It’s good for dine-in or take-out, but not deliveries. Mark your calendars, bring a flyer, and spread the word!
• Family Conference Notes – For family conferences next week, linked here is the Conference Survey Template teachers can, if you choose to, fill out during conferences for each family, which will give you a nice spreadsheet summary of all your conference info. Linked here is a Sample Conference Schedule Google Sheet you can use if you’d like.
• Student QR Clever Codes – The Tech Department has created a custom Student Login Code for all 4J students to support distance learning from home that will be passed out with iPads later this week (Sample Login Code Sheet). These will provide families with the information they need to access their student’s online learning tools from one location (Clever). They also provided a set of Zoom Instructions for how families will access Zoom on student devices that we’ll pass out as well.
• Holt Shared Google Drive – After surveying a few people it sounds like folks preferred the old Holt Staff Documents Shared Google Drive over using the aa-Principal’s Shared Folder. There’s more functionality with a shared drive versus a shared folder and it also just seems easier to use. I’ve moved the “aa-Principal’s Shared Folder” into the Holt Shared Drive as an archival item that won’t be updated. I’ve updated access to the shared drive for all current staff, but let me know if for some reason it does not show up under your shared drives.
• Leadership Team Notes – Linked on the Holt Shared Google Drive and here are the Leadership Team Minutes and Slideshow from last week. Most of the meeting was helping me learn some past building practices as to how we will proceed with master schedule, calendar, the leadership team process, and how best to share information.
• 2020-2021 Elementary Leadership Plans – Elementary Leadership Plans (see linked email for details) are proceeding as usual and are due to HR November 6th (not that we have enough to do already). In discussion with the current leadership team, it sounds like the vision for the Holt Leadership Team has changed multiple times over the years and it it has also varried how the Leadership Plan connects with the Leadership Team. My feeling is a leadership team should be representative of stakeholder groups and that staff should be the ones primarily deciding the purpose and membership of the team. I’ll plan to work on a protocol to use at a future staff meeting for us decide how all these intersect.
• Building Meeting Calendar – I’ve added building meeting dates to the Holt Staff Zimbra Calendar for Staff, PBIS, Site Council, and Tech Team meetings. Meeting will primarily be on Tuesdays, 3:00-4:00, due to the Elementary CDL schedule that has Wednesdays as protected time for PLC Meetings (which we will not have the first few weeks of school).
• Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser Thursday 11:00-12:00 – Kona Ice it coming to Holt this Thursday from 11:00-12:00 during iPad Distribution and Lunch Distribution, where they will give us a percentage of all sales. As a bonus, they’re also giving free shave ice to all staff members! So turn off you video for a few minutes during the Tech PD Zoom, grab your badge, take a movement break, and enjoy a yummy shave ice!
• BTS Meeting Minutes – I apologize for got having minutes written up from the 9/1 Back to School Staff Meeting. I’ll post them in the Staff Shared Drive and link them here on my blog later this week.
• COVID Protocol Updates – I got a few answers from Dawn Strong, the HR Administrator in charge of COVID Protocols to a few questions asked earlier this week at staff meetings:
• Grant Funded Student Supplies Distribution – Teachers are allowed to include these items when we distribute student supplies as well as other student supplies we deem “essential.” The dates, times, and logistics of supply distribution is yet to be decided by downtown.
• Book Sets Sent Home – Teachers are to send home class sets of books to support online teaching, and for returning books we can simply put a box outside the front office during office hours for student to return them. However, we have not been given an okay to send home student textbooks. This is a bigger issue at middle and high school and is still under discussion.
• Outdoor Socially Distant Conferences – A few teachers were interested in offering parents a chance to do in-person socially distanced conference in the school garden or other outdoor areas instead of Zoom. I did not get a “no” on this, but she said she’d have to talk to the district leadership team about this one.
• No Volunteers in Zooms – Downtown has decided we cannot let volunteers assist with Zooms, either whole group or small group, and only school staff and students can join during lessons.
• Custodial Uptakes – If you’re interested, Custodial Services Supervisor, Trevor White, shared the linked Custodial Updates related to COVID-related Supplies and PPE Locations, Requirements, and Replenishment Request Procedure Update, Cleaning and Disinfecting Protocols for Fall 2020 – 9.1.2020 Through Early CDL, and Plumbing System Flushing for Legionnaires Disease Prevention.
• 4J Elementary Learning Hub – You may want to bookmark the 4J Elementary Learning Hub, which is a collection of resources for CDL.
• Oregon Family Support Network (OFSN) – OFSN has created Reach Out Oregon, which is a resource website and chat-line for parents, by parents, providing resources for families specific to their regions and counties, newsletters and updates, discussion forums for parents, COVID-19 specific resources, and the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with staff over the phone or through their live chat feature. They can also provide assistance for any staff member looking for assistance with a child they work with with. Feel free to share this information with families as appropriate. Besides the above website, linked here is a Reach Out Oregon Flyer.
• Architects in Schools – Architects in Schools is a program that for 50 years has provided free architecture and design programming for 3rd through 5th grade students. This year, they are prepared to provide virtual curriculum and programming for 3rd through 5th grade teaching staff. See the linked flyer for more info and any interested grade 3/4/5 teachers should complete the linked Teacher Application. Deadline is November 6th.
• Extra Yards for Teachers Nomination – The UO and the Pac-12 have teamed up with the College Football Playoff’s Extra Yards for Teachers program to award one local teacher with over $3,500 to help continue molding young minds during this difficult time of social distance learning. Nominations are being accepted through September 14th.
• 20 Fun Zoom Games for Kids – See this WeAreTeachers Article for 20 fun Zoom games for kids that you can use to take a break from the traditional curriculum and keep kids engaged.
• 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 7 (M)
Labor Day, No SchoolSeptember 8 (T)
8:00-12:00, Classified & Licensed Various District PD Topics (Gym & Zoom)1. Trauma Informed Care (1hr),
2. Mental Health Referrals & Tiered Services (30 min),
3. PBIS in CDL (1 hour),
4. Community Building in CDL (90min)12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-4:00, Licensed Collaborative Planning Cross District Content Teams (4J Zoom)September 9 (W)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
9:00-6:00, iPad Distribution (Front Entrance)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00-2:00, Classified & Licensed Culturally Responsive Teaching PD (Gym & Zoom)
2:00-4:00, Protected PlanningSeptember 10 (H)
8:00-12:00, Licensed & Classified Instructional Tech PD (4J Zoom)
9:00-6:00, iPad Distribution (Front Entrance)
11:00-12:00, Kona Ice – Shave Ice Fundraiser (Front Parking Lot)
12:00-1:00, Lunch & Planning Time
1:00, Class List Welcome Emails Sent to Families
1:00-2:00, Classified & Licensed Building Operations (Gym & Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Protected PlanningSeptember 11 (F)
Protected Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Allan to All Admin PD (Zoom)September 12 (SA)
9:00-12:00, Holt Clean Up DaySeptember 14 (M)
First Day of SchoolSeptember 15 (T)
9:00-12:00, Allan to Elem Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)September 16 (W)
Regular DaySeptember 17 (H)
11:00-11:00, Holt Night Out – Papas PizzaSeptember 18 (F)
Regular Day
Enjoy you Monday off, everyone, and see you Tuesday!
Allan
