http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=1448
Hi All,
It’s another short week with a non-contract day on Friday for teachers and a furlough day for classified and administrative staff.
Twelve items of note for this week:
• Two Caring Schools Surveys, Due Tuesday – In your mailbox is a purple, two-sided survey on the Caring School Curriculum. CSC is grant funded and this all-staff survey is needed for grant purposes, comparing pre and post surveys. Robin and I need to collect these by Tuesday (sorry for the short turnaround) before our Caring for Kids leadership meeting on Wednesday. We’ve also been sent a second less critical survey for staff to fill out, but if you have a moment to answer the three questions on the survey before Tuesday and email them to me, it would also be much appreciated.
• SPLASH! Program 2012-13 – SPLASH stormwater education curriculum is for each grade level from kindergarten through 8th grade. “Salmon and the Ecosystem” continues the curriculum in grades 5-12 with an emphasis on salmon and its role in our area’s ecosystem, economy and culture. Attached is an overview of the program and also the email sent to principals. It includes contact information for new or replacement materials. All materials are free to teachers in Eugene and participating schools will receive a grant of $1,000. Let Lori or I know if you are interested in the program and we will get you registered.
• New Roadrunner Assembly Date, 11/6 – The new date for the first Roadrunner Assembly will be Tuesday, November 6th at 1:00. As we discussed at Friday’s meeting, this change is so that the assembly won’t conflict with PE and music.
• TSS Schedule Change – David’s schedule will be changing starting this Monday. He will now be here in the afternoons from 12:25-4:00 and will be at ATA in the mornings.
• Collaborative Meeting – Since a number of staff will be helping with interviews during what was scheduled as collaborative time, staff should feel free to use this month’s collaborative time however is useful to you. We’ll be talking more at our next staff meeting how we will use the collaborative time once Music and PE start in November. My original plan was for teams to begin discussing on Tuesday how you plan to use your collaborative time during our nine weeks of PE and music. I know some teams have already done this and have shared their plans with me.
• Alternatives to the Traditional Question-and-Answer Dynamic – The quickest way to turn off the minds of shy students, English language learners, students receiving learning support, and those who are generally uninterested is to ask your questions in the form of a traditional Q&A. This one page article offers some nice alternatives to traditional questioning techniques.
• Oregon Spellers – Attached is a brochure and information on Oregon Spellers. This is a spelling bee type competition that may appeal to gifted readers and gifted children in general.
• StaverDanceSport Field Trip – A local ballroom dance studio, StaverDanceSport, is offering schools a free field trip on weekdays, from 9:30-11:30 or 1:20-2:30. The trip includes a lesson in Waltz, Cha Cha and Tango and is intended to give the students a chance to really experience Ballroom Dancing in a professional studio. Visit their website or call at (541) 746-6268 for more information or to set up a field trip.
• Fall 2012 Edition of Healthy School News – The fall edition of Healthy School Newsletter is full of new resources, learning opportunities, and articles that may be of value to staff.
• JUST FOR FUN – School Children Entertained/Terrified by Life-Like Dinosaur Puppet – Speaking of Roadrunner Assemblies, I want this presentation to come to our school! It’s a video of someone in a giant T-Rex suit making shockingly life-like movements, which leads to a mixture of delight and pants-wetting terror!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFf3ZWNF6EY [/youtube]
• Thank You, Teachers! – And if you’d like a more inspiring of video, Friday was UNESCO World Teachers’ Day, which YouTube used as an opportunity to feature the stories of teachers worldwide who open doors. One of the features was highlighting videos of celebrities talking about their most inspiring teachers. I like the Julia Louis-Dreyfus and J.J. Abrams videos best.
• Allan’s Schedule for the Week – It was suggested the I let staff know my schedule for the week, so here are the times when I’ll be out of the building or otherwise occupied. Please know that when I’m out of the building that I am still available by email, text or cell if anything comes up.
Oct. 8 (M) 2:00-3:30, Title 1 Principal & Coordinator Meeting
Oct. 9 (T) 2:15-6:30, Kindergaten Interviews
Oct. 10 (W) 8:00-3:00, Caring for Kids Leadership Team Meeting
Oct. 11 (H) 12:30-1:30, 2:30-3:30 Individual Teacher Goals/Performance Standards Overview Meeting
Have a great week, everyone, and an even better three day weekend!
Allan