November 26, 2012

By Allan 　

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had some quality rest and relaxation over the holiday break and are now ready for the upcoming four full weeks of classes before winter break.

Twelve items of note for this week:

• Final Call for United Way Pledge Forms – This Friday is the last day to turn in United Way pledge forms. I do have a couple blank forms if you lost or need a new form. Donations can be one-time or monthly, and they can also be targeted through EEF. And remember, if we have a higher participation rate than Awbrey Park, their principal will have to buy us all Jamba Juice!

• Common Core State Standards Resources Page – I’ve added a new page to my blog (found to the top left) called Common Core State Standards. On this page you will find various resources related to the common core. If you come across any other useful resources, such as the ones Suzy emailed to staff before last week’s staff meeting (which are included here too), be sure to share them with me so I can add them to this page.

• Math Walk-Through – Principals were recently given a math walk-through protocol that I am planning to use over the next few weeks. In addition to trying out the protocol, I’ll also be looking to see where classes are at in relation to the math pacing guide. And although this document was intended for walk-throughs, it can also be used by teachers for planning and self-evaluation.

• Earthquake/Fire Drill, Monday at 9:00 – It actually wasn’t raining last week at the scheduled fire drill time, but we do have to give the Fire Department notice ahead of time when we’re holding our drills and it was looking pretty dark in the sky that morning. However, the weather forecast is looking better for this Monday, so as long as we’re not rained out, I’ll plan hold our November earthquake and fire drill at 9:00.

• December Staff Meeting – SafeSchools Online Trainings – For our December staff meeting, unless something incredibly pressing comes up, I’m going to use this time for staff to complete the two required SafeSchools Online Trainings. Both of these trainings are to be completed by all staff by the end of December. One training should take an hour and the other should take 15 minutes to complete. If folks need more time, you can also use the December 11th Collaborative Meeting time. Please let me know if you have any questions about these required trainings.

• January 7th PD Day – Caring for Kids Training – It’s a ways out, but I wanted to let staff know that on the January 7th professional development day, following winter break, there will be a training for all teachers at the pilot schools of the Caring for Kids program. The training will be in the Chavez Library and will run from 8:30-11:30. 8:00-8:30 will be coffee & chat & catch-up time.

• Celebrate BEST! 11/29, 4:00PM at Chavez – This is a repeat from a couple weeks ago, but if any staff members are able to, please come and celebrate that BEST is fully funded this year. The gathering will be Thursday, Nov. 29th, 4:00-5:00 at the Chavez library! See the flyer for details.

• UO International Cultural Presentations for Classrooms – The International Cultural Services Program is once again making their student ambassadors from across the globe available for the 2012-2013 school year. Since the program’s inception almost 30 years ago, ICPS participants have brought cultural diversity to our community through group presentations, panel discussions, and demonstrations of regional dance, music, food and many other forms of cultural expressions. This program is K-12 and is offered free of charge. If you would like to invite an international student to speak to your class, please contact ICSP at (541) 346-1333 or at icsp@uoregon.edu. More information can also be found on the ICSP website.

• Junior Achievement Classroom Presentations – Junior Achievement recently sent me an email offering free classroom presentations K-12 that help students envision the possibilities of what they can be by helping them see the value of staying in school. Their interactive curriculum engages and excites students, leading to stronger critical thinking and decision making skills and more confidence. A volunteer from the local business community would present once a week for five weeks, but they can offer a different schedule if you prefer. If you would like more information see the attached overview sheet describing the topics by grade level and also the presentation request form.

• Education Research Resource – Here’s an interesting resource I just recently learned about. The Ask A REL Reference Desk service at REL Northwest functions much the same as a technical reference library. They provide educators, policymakers, and community members with prompt, authoritative resources, customized to individual needs. I haven’t used this myself, but I do know others around the district that have used it and have had a pretty fast turnaround, with useful information. Those who’ve used it said it’s been helpful when they need research on a given topic, but don’t have a lot of time to do the research themselves.

• Stopping Small Classroom Cruelties Before They Escalate to Bullying – Here is a nice one page article that emphasizes the importance of stopping “gateway behaviors” before they become full blown bullying behaviors. The author encourages teacher to Take time to notice, Assess what you’re seeing, Respond immediately and to Be assertive but respectful.

• Schedule of Events for the Week – Here are the events of note for the week:

Nov. 26 (M)
Reading Progress Monitoring 5
2:30-3:30, Allan to Eligibility Meeting
3:45-4:45, Allan to Meeting with HR (Ed Center)
5:15-6:15, Allan to Jon Saphier Study Group

Nov. 27 (T)
Vision Screening
2:30-3:30, Site Council

Nov. 28 (W)
7:45-11:15, Data Team Meetings (Staff Room)

Nov. 29 (H)
9:00-10:00, Allan to potential meeting For Common MS & HS Schedule Operations (Ed Center)
2:15-2:45, Parent Laptop Training (Room 6)
4:00-5:00, Allan and any available staff to “Celebrate BEST!” (Chavez Library)

Nov. 30 (F)
Picture Retake Day
11:00-12:25, Birthday Lunches with Mr. Chinn (Room 2)

Have an awesome week, everyone!

Allan

This entry was written by Allan, posted on November 22, 2012 at 10:14 pm, filed under Announcements, Articles, Assessment, Caring for Kids, Math, P.D.. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.