October 22, 2012

By Allan  

Hi All,

It’s the last five day week of October.

Nine items of note for this week:

• United Way Campaign – If you were not at last week’s staff meeting, the annual United Way Campaign is in full swing. To liven things up this year, the Awbrey Park principal has challenged Howard to see which school can get the highest participation rate (percentage), with the losing principal buying Jamba Juice for the winning staff. The United Way of Lane County supports many organizations that our students access, so it’s a tax deduction that’s well worth doing. A few folks have already turned in their forms, so please consider giving if you are able. Remember you can choose to make a one-time donation or set up a months deduction. You can also specifically earmark gifts through EEF to go directly to Howard, to a certain grade level or even to a specific classroom. Form are due Friday, November 30th and should be turned in at the United Way folder on Lori’s door. Even if you make a small donation, every little bit helps and can make a difference. Let me know if you have any questions.

• UO Winter Educational Foundations Practicum Students – The UO Educational Foundations major is in need of approximately 130 field experience placements for the winter term (Jan. 7 – Mar. 15, 2013). Their Educational Foundations field experiences include the following expectations:

1.  The Ed Foundations undergraduate major fully prepares our students to apply to graduate elementary licensure programs, so it is not an undergraduate licensure program. Therefore, host teachers are not required to have a certain number of years teaching experience… just a positive learning environment!

2.  The field experience student will assist in the classroom for 30 hours total (approx. 3 hr. block per week for 10 wks locally, or 4-­5 hr. block for 6-­7 wks for further districts) over the term.

3.  Field students are eager to assist individuals and small groups, under the direction of the host teacher. During the majority of the time, students will need to assist or observe the children during instruction versus doing paperwork.

4.  The UO asks that only one university student (field experience, practicum, or student teacher) be assisting at a given time frame. However, you may request 2 field experience students if they each have their own time slot.

5.  Field students will not be designing or teaching work samples, so there is no monetary compensation for host teachers.  The host teacher is only asked to initial the student’s hourly log and fill out a very brief one-­page evaluation of the field student at the end of the term. They believe your classroom will benefit from having an aspiring future educator as your consistent assistant!

Their undergrads have varying schedules. Therefore, you may request to have a field student  on days and time frames that will support your class’s needs. However, they especially have a need for placements on Mon., Wed., or Fri. for their 82 juniors!

If you are interested in hosting an Educational Foundations field experience student, please email Jeanne Hall with the following information by Wednesday, October 24th.

1.) Your  name, grade, school, and email.
2.) Your preferred days and 3-­hr time blocks per week for the winter term.
3.) The type of classroom setting you have (general ed., special ed., Title  I,  ELD, etc.)
4.) If you wish to have 1 or 2 field experience students.

• iTunes App Purchases – I’ve gotten a final answer regarding iTunes app purchases, now that we are no longer allowed to purchase gift cards. If it is a purchase for multiple devices, David will still do a group purchase. If it is a single app for a single device, such as a teacher iPad, that teacher should purchase the app themselves and then submit for a reimbursement. It is also possible for Lori or I to put it on a school credit card and purchase it as a gift that that can be emailed to you, but doing a reimbursement is much easier and you also don’t have to wait on us to buy you the app.

• Halloween Parade Directions and Map – Suzy and I have worked on the plan for this year’s Halloween Parade, Wednesday, October 31st at 12:30. See the attached directions and map for how it will happen. Room 18 will begin the parade “train”, following the planned route. Students will parade through classrooms, with each class adding to the train as they leave the room. Classes will follow the parade route until they end back at their own classroom. Also, included in the attachment is a second map for just in case it rains. There may be some crowded hallways if it does rain, but we can keep our fingers crossed that we’ll have a dry afternoon.

• Family Movie Night Dates – Alicia and I have set the dates for our Family Movie Nights. They will be on Friday, January 18th and on Friday, April 10th, both 6:00 − 8:00 PM in the gym.

• Fire Drill, Thursday at 1:00 PM – I was originally planning to hold our October Fire Drill the week of Halloween and Conferences since that week is already full of disruptions, but the 10-day weather forecast is not looking so good, so I am going to try to hold our October Fire Drill this Thursday at 1:00. If Thursday gets rained out, we’ll try again that same time on Friday.

• Allan Available at Conferences – It’s not for another week, but I wanted to let teachers know that I am available to sit in on any conferences that you’d like me to attend. Just let me know a date and time and I’ll get it on my calendar.

• Parent Teacher Conference Tips – With conferences coming up soon, here’s a good, though rather thick article from ASCD about parent/teacher conferences. If you wade through the article it does have some nice tips for teachers to keep in mind when conducting conferences, which I’ve conveniently listed for you below if you don’t have time for the entire article.

• Listen well, regardless of the situation.
• Balance constructive critiques with positive comments about the student.
• Make parents feel welcomed and relaxed. Parents are not on their turf; they may feel anxious or nervous.
• Inform parents that you, the teacher, will take notes during the conference so you can carefully address each of their concerns.
• Be cool and calm in everything you say and do. Your tone of voice and mannerisms can escalate or deescalate parent-teacher interactions.
• Be deliberate and realistic in what you promise a parent. Remember that you cannot feasibly call or e-mail several parents or caregivers every day.
• Collect data on what you say. Take note of how many questions you ask, how often you offer the parent encouragement, and how often you emphasize the ideas or suggestions that the parent brings to the conference.
• At all costs, do not use your authority as a teacher as a means of forcing your point of view.
• Interact with parents or caregivers to learn more about the student and to understand how the parent has been successful or unsuccessful with that student at home.
• Understand your role as a teacher and have a working knowledge of how other school professionals can support parents and students. Generic referrals to “seeing a guidance counselor” are not always necessary or appropriate.
• Conduct the conference in a warm, enthusiastic, and professional way. Teachers who appear apathetic, aloof, or begrudging will seldom foster successful relationships with parents and caregivers.

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

Oct. 22 (M)
Allan out all day at all admin Jon Saphier Training at Ed Center (rest assured that principals are letting downtown know how unhappy we are about being called out of our buildings so much this year)

Oct. 23 (T)
9:00-1:30, Room 13 to Maude Kearns Field Trip
2:30-3:30, Site Council

Oct. 24 (W)
7:45-11:15, Data Team
2:30-3:30 Goals/Performance Standards Overview Meeting
4:00-6:00 Wednesday Forum with Jon Saphier (Feedback to students: frequent, timely, non-‐judgmental, and useful.)

Oct. 25 (H)
8:00-10:00, Kindergarten Hearing Screening
1:00-1:15, Fire Drill
2:30-3:30, Social Team Cancelled (will be a virtual meeting [email] due to a conflicting unplanned IEP meeting)
5:00-8:00, Carl’s Jr. North Region Homless Student Fundraiser

Oct. 26 (F)
10:00-11:00, Blues in the Schools 3rd – 5th Grade
11:10-11:40, Blues in the Schools Assembly
2:45-3:15 Goals/Performance Standards Overview Meeting
4:00-5:30 Allan to pilot webinar at Ed Center

Have a great week everyone and let’s stay dry!

Allan