http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=13329
Howdy Bolts,
I hope everyone had a restful holiday weekend. I know I enjoyed my downtime!
But be ready to do lots of pre-teaching and re-teaching of rules and expectations. Between kids having 9 days off of school and rising excitement/stress with the coming holidays, kids are going to need LOTS of reminders over the next few weeks.
Twenty items of note for this week:
• New SPED EA, Tiffany Chambers – Please welcome Tiffany Chambers to the team as our newest SPED EA! Tiffany has been working as a long term sub in this position and been a fabulous addition to the primary SPED team. Tiffany is also a Holt parent of a 1st grader, adding to our club of Holt Staff/Parents, which by my count is now up to thirteen!
• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:
• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.eduThe Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• Wednesday PD, 11/29: Conferences Feedback – Principals were asked to dedicate some time for staff to provide feedback regarding conferences, which were somewhat different this year. We’ll plan to do this Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1:30 in the library during our Wednesday PD time. Kim also has a post-winter break PBIS proposal, and after the meeting EEA reps asked for time.
• Dental Sealants Clinic, FRIDAY – Stay turned for detail from Nurse Haley, but this Friday will be the Dental Sealants Clinic for certain grade levels.
• Danceability Assembly, 12/4 – We have a K-2 and 3-5 assembly schedule on Monday, Dec. 4 in the gym for DanceAbility, a local disability advocacy group who’s mission is to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to dance and move together. They have a great message and this is probably one of my all-time favorite assemblies. We’ll put out grade level cones for where to site and times are:
8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly
• Data Team Meetings 11/5 & 11/7 – Data Team Meetings are in two weeks, but I had kinder and 5th grade times flipped, so the correct dates/times are:
Tuesday, Dec. 5:
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15Thursday, Dec. 7:
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45
• Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day, 11/6 – The first Wednesday of each month is Walk & Roll Day, so encourage students to walk, bike, carpool or ride the bus to school.
• Wednesday PD, 12/6: Building System – Wednesday, Nov. 6 will be to review building systems and structures (requests for assistance, team structures, referral processes, etc). Principals got information about the “Intervention Team” (see item below) which is somewhat different from the past. My general thinking is we hold monthly IPBS meetings for Tier 2 and 3 behavior discussions as we have in the past (now compensated), PBIS meetings to address Tier 1 school wide behavior, Data Team for Tier 1 & 2 academics, and possibly look at creating an old school SST team to specifically manage and track SPED referrals, with changes in Tier 3 services (Title and SPED) being discussed during Grade Level Team meetings, connecting with appropriate staff during those times. If there are specific systems you want to make sure we discuss, let me know ahead of time, but I think this is the main one we want to get agreement around. The following Wednesday PD, the last one before winter break, will be a review of the Upbeat Survey Results.
• Fire Drill, 11/7 @1:15 – Our final Fire Drill of the year will be Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map.
• Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event, 11/7 @5:30 – See Debbi’s Email for details, but mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 for the annual Staff Holiday Party. One person from each team should let Debbi know by Dec. 1 how many team members you have so Katie and Melanie can plan.
• Artist in Residence Update – I realized last week I never heard back from LaneArts regarding our Artist in Residence request, so I called them to get that going. We can’t get our first of December, since that’s too fast, but they said we should be able to get our first choice of artists. However, they said Larry Meyer’s Mask Making is for older grades, so we’ll have Mask Making for 4th and 5th grade Feb. 5 – 16, and Five Clay Friends with Lily Hamilton for grades K-3 at a date to-be-determined. LaneArts is still getting back to be about a date for Clay with K-2 and Fiddling with Kelly Thibodeaux for K-5, but they know we want to avoid the end of the school year when schedules start to get complicated.
• Intervention Team Meetings – The following was sent to principals about “Intervention Teams” which downtown gave conflicting messages whether it was for academics or behavior or both:
Ideally, you should be engaging your staff in intervention team meetings to address academic and behavior concerns for students requiring Tier 2 and 3 interventions. This should be prioritized into your building meeting schedule and data team reviews (you have already been provided release time for data team). However, if you are finding it difficult to fit these meetings into your regular cycle of meetings, you can provide extended contract time. In order to be eligible for extended contract, staff would have already have attended a weekly meeting. Ex. Teacher A attended a grade level team meeting on Tuesday and also needs to attend an intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member would be eligible to fill out the extended contract form. Teacher B does not have a building scheduled meeting this week and needs to attend the intervention team meeting (iPBS) on Thursday. This staff member is not eligible for extended contract. Please let us know if you have any questions.
So this means we will be able to compensate staff who attend IPBS meetings, because there’s other required meetings most every week. We can discuss at the Wednesday PD who we thing should attend these meetings, though I imagine there will be core members at every meeting and other staff who attend as needed.
• Winter Break Food Assistance 2023 – Goign out in the Quick News is a link for families to sing up for food boxes over winter break. We have paper copies to go home in Monday Mailers and here is a blurb teachers can feel free to cut-and-paste into your classroom newsletters:
Winter Break Food Assistance 2023
If your family depends on school-provided breakfasts and lunches, Harlow Serves would like to provide your child with food assistance over Winter Break. This program is for students currently enrolled at Holt Elementary. Food Boxes need to be picked up from Holt Elementary School on Wednesday, Dec. 13, or Thursday, Dec. 14, 7:30 am – 3:00 pm. The deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 8 for returning paper applications to the Holt office OR signing-up at https://bit.ly/feedhope2023
✶Any food not picked up by 3:00 pm Thursday will be reallocated for other programs.✶
• Field Trip Process Update – Principals got to meet with the person in charge of Field Trips and they scaled back on one step, no longer requiring teachers to upload scans of signed permission slips and instead only require one copy of the permission slip be submitted before sending them home with students. Students will still need to have permission slip turned in two weeks before the trip for Low Risk/Day trips, so there is sufficient time for the school nurse to adjust medical plans as needed. Linked here are the latest version of the permission slip (English and Spanish), which are also linked on the Field Trip Info Page.
• Check Lost & Found – Remind kids to check the Lost & Found because everything will go after winter break. I’ll put a reminder in the Quick News about this as well.
• Retirement Planning Seminar – Shiloh Powers, a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones who left us a bunch of scones in the Staff Room a couple weeks ago emailed me about a free retirement panning seminar happening Jan. 23 at 4:30pm. Click the Registration Link to sign-up.
• Professor says coding, SEL boosts elementary-school math – Introducing coding principles and social-emotional learning into third- through fifth-grade math lessons helped enhance student interest in the academic subject, according to Lindsay Gold, an associate professor at the University of Dayton. Gold shares research that found coding and SEL helped increase engagement, improve understanding of math concepts and enhance problem-solving skills among students See this EdWeek Article for details.
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:
• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Safety Unit – All classroom teachers should teach lesssongs 1-4 of the Second Step Child Protection Unit to the state Erin’s Law requirement. See Erin Gaston’s Email for details, but each grade level has their own kit and linked here are Child Protection Unit Scans of the teacher guides (here’s a District Link that has additional files).
• Computer Science Education Week Dec. 4-8 – Resources for Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code include The Hour of Code Games, Minecraft, Star Wars, Frozen, Angry Birds, The Grinch, Google Hour of Code Activities, Microsoft MakeCode Arcade, Minecraft Education Edition Hour of Code Escape Estate, and Khan Academy.
• Mandatory Bus Training – The Annual Bus Safety Training is due by the end of December. Teachers should review the following two handouts:
• Riding the School Bus Safely in English and Spanish
• Emergency Exits HandoutLet me know the date you reviewed the handouts, so I can add it to the completion form I need to submit downtown. There are videos teachers can show in addition to the handouts.
• HANDBOOK HIGHLIGHT: Classroom Buddies – This week’s highlight from the Holt Staff Handbook, is on Classroom Buddies:
Buddies:
Each year classes from different grade levels are matched as buddy classes. This goes along with our Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) curriculum. Once classes are matched, it is up to them to determine when to meet and what activities do. The goal is for classes to meet at least once a month, but you are welcome to meet more frequently if you and your buddy wish. You also may use ideas from Caring for Kids (Caring School Community) Cross Grade Book and/or do whatever works best for your classrooms and buddies.
•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 27 (M)
1st Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
2:45, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
3:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)November 28 (T)
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team MeetingsNovember 29 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Upbeat Survey ResultsNovember 30 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
2:45-3:30, Equity & Inclusion Team Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)December 1 (F)
Dental Sealants Clinic (time is TBA)December 4 (M)
2nd Grade, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
8:30-9:10, K-2 Danceability Assembly (Gym)
9:30-10:10, 3-5 Danceability Assembly (Gym)December 5 (T)
10:30-2:30, Data Team Meetings (4th, 2nd, KG)
4th – 10:55-11:55
2nd – 12:05-1:05
KG- 1:15-2:15
11:00-12:00, 4th Grade Garden
12:00, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
1:00-2:00, 4th Grade Garden
2:45-3:30, PBIS/SEL Meeting (Calming Room)December 6 (W)
Monthly Walk+Roll to School Day
8:00-8:30, Allan to Upbeat Meeting (Zoom)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Building Systems
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)December 7 (H)
8:00-11:45, Data Team Meetings
1st – 8:00-9:00
5th – 9:10-10:10
3rd – 10:45-11:45
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-9:40, Safety Committee OSHA Training (Office)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
4:30-6:00, BEST Open House
5:30-7:00, Holt Staff Annual Gingerbread House Event (Katie’s House)December 8 (F)
National Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day
Here we go! Just three weeks until winter break!
Allan
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