October 15, 2012

By Allan  

Hi Roadrunners,

I hope you all had a relaxing and rejuvenating three-day weekend!

Twelve items of note for this week:

• Learning About Learning (LEL) Network Visit, Wednesday – As we discussed on our PD Day, one of the LEL teams will be here on Wednesday. We had a schedule of when groups would be visiting classrooms and specialists, but this has changed because principals just found out on Friday that Rudy Crew, the new Oregon Chief Education Officer, will be visiting Eugene on Wednesday and subsequently an all administrator meeting has been called for in the middle of our LEL visit, 11:30-12:00. I’ll be sure to share the updated schedule once I have it, but regardless of when folks are coming to your classes, simply do whatever you would normally be doing, wether that means student teachers are teaching or regular staff are teaching at the time.

Since our topic of clear objectives is not something Howard has been working on for very long, it is being termed a “Learning Focus” instead of a “Problem of Practice”. Here is the focus statement that the LEL facilitator and I have come up with:

Howard is beginning to look at the importance and role of having a clear objective for each lesson. For example, do students understand what they will know and be able to do as a result of the lesson? Do they have some sense of how they will achieve that objective and how what they’re doing will cause the expected learning to occur? And do they know why what they’re learning is important and what success looks like? We’ll be exploring clear objectives by talking with students and examining the instructional core (relationship of the teacher and student in the presence of content) to understand more fully how clear objectives are communicated.

After the visit, I will share the themes and observations that came out of the visit at our November staff meeting. Please let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Kindergarten Update – I’ve worked it out with the YG principal for Robin Seno to take over for Robin Vaughan starting this Tuesday. Please welcome Robin S. to Howard when you see her this week!

• Math Professional Development Calendar 2012-2013 (K-5 and Specialists) – Teachers should have received an email on this, but in case it got buried in your inbox, attached is a math workshop flyer containing the dates for all of the required math trainings this year, which are being done by grade level. Specialists are required to choose either the K-2 or 3-5 series of workshops for the year. For example, if you attend the K-2 workshops, you will need to choose one grade level in October, January, and May for a total of three workshops. Howard staff are to use the AESOP code “Title One” for these trainings. Also take note of the On-going (optional) Math PD for 2012-2013 on the last page of the flyer.

• Presidential Election 2012 Educational Resources – It’s a learning opportunity that only comes around once every four years! There are loads of educational resources around this year’s election, from Scholastic to the NYTimes to even our reading publisher, Pearson. EDWeek actually had a recent article on how civics is a subject not being taught as much, so the presidential election can be a good time to at least temporarily break that trend. I was a political science major, so I love this stuff.

• Political Activities by Public Employees – On a related note, I haven’t seen 4J’s annual political activities reminder email, but keep in mind the following policy regarding political activities by district employees:

Public employees cannot use public time or resources to advocate for or against a ballot measure or a candidate or to collect signatures for a ballot measure or candidate. This includes use of our computer network to send information and use of our school communication channels.

Oregon law states: “No public employee shall solicit any money, influence, service or other thing of value or otherwise promote or oppose any political committee or promote or oppose the nomination or election of a candidate, the gathering of signatures on an initiative, referendum or recall petition, the adoption of a measure or the recall of a public office holder while on the job during working hours. However, this section does not restrict the right of a public employee to express personal political views.” (ORS 260.432(2).

Staff members may wear political buttons while on the job. Wearing of political buttons is a constitutional right of freedom of speech.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding this policy.

• State Report Cards – Although I have mixed feelings about the value and purpose of school report cards and standardized testing, I thought I’d share a link to the latest state report cards. Howard faired pretty well, especially when it came to our reading scores.

• Izzy’s Academic Achievement Awards and Free Pizza Parties – Izzy’s is offering free customized award certificates to use as incentives in classrooms. If you would like to order award certificates or need additional information, please contact Heather Long at Izzy’s corporate office by phone (541) 926-8693 ext. 227 or by email at heatherl@izzyspizza.com. Izzy’s also said they would provide pizza’s for class celebrations. They didn’t provide a lot of details, but wrote, “Need a reward in your classroom for a job well done, meeting a goal, or completing a big project? We’ll provide the fresh hot pizza, you provide the praise and fun! Call today! Ask for Keith at (541) 249-1212.”

• School uses Edmodo to facilitate summer learning – Over the summer, an elementary school used Edmodo to keep students learning when school was closed. The program, Summer Knappmodo, included weekly topics, such as writing thank-you letters, book recommendations and the Olympic Games. The technology and the format allowed students to start discussions online using the social-networking tool, and enabled teachers and parents to observe. Summer is quite a way out, but I thought this was a pretty innovative idea and presented some real possibilities. Here’s a link to the article.

• Carl’s Jr. North Region Fundraiser – The NERA (North Eugene Retirees Association) board is holding a fundraiser for North homeless students at Carl’s Jr. on October 25th, 5 PM to 8 PM. They are looking for volunteers from each North region school to come and serve as greeters and general supporters. Let me know if you’d be able to volunteer and the approximate times you could be at Carl’s.

• Help National Geographic Kids Magazine Break a World Record at Valley River Center – This could be a fun, free opportunity for kids if you want to share it with your students. Valley River Center is hosting an event on Friday, October 26th at 5 pm called “Run for the Planet.” It’s a 100 meter walk inside VRC from Center Court to Sports Authority and back. It’s part of a larger event sponsored by National Geographic Kids Magazine, attempting to break two Guinness World Records! One for the most people to walking/running in 24 hours and the other to collect as many pair of athletic shoes to be recycled into athletic surfaces. Registration is at 4:30 on 10/26 and more details can be found on the VRC and National Geographic websites.

• OEIB Community Forum on School Funding, Wednesday, 6-8:00 PM, UO Ford Alumni Center, Giustina Ballroom – Unhappy with the state of education funding? Here’s a chance to have some say. The Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB) will hold seven community forums and a webinar at which stakeholders can provide input and feedback on education funding. The Eugene forum will happen this Wednesday. See this announcement for details.

• Allan’s Schedule for the Week – Here are the times when I’ll be out of the building and other happenings of note:

Oct. 15 (M) 
2:30-5:30, Allan to Elementary Principal’s Meeting
BEST Begins
Cookie Dough and Flower Blub Sale Begins
Oct. 16 (T) 
1:10-2:10 Goals/Performance Standards Overview Meeting
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting
Oct. 17 (W)
7:45-11:15 1st Grade Understanding Rigorous Math Content PD
8:00-3:30, Allan to Learning About Learning (LEL) Network at Howard
11:30-12:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting with Rudy Crew at Chavez
Oct. 18 (H)
7:45-11:15 2nd grade Understanding Rigorous Math Content PD
9:00-11:00, Allan to Superintendent’s Cabinet
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP 3 Year Eval Meeting
Oct. 19 (F)
School Pictures
2:30-3:30 Goals/Performance Standards Overview Meeting

Let’s hope for a dry, non-indoor recess week!

Allan