http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=450
Hi Everyone,
Am I the only one watching the weather reports and wondering if there’s going to be snow Sunday night? I’m not holding my breath, but I’m still checking the NOAA website a couple times a day.
Lots of items of note for this week. Ten in all:
• Winter easyCBM Benchmark Testing – The testing window for Winter Benchmark testing will begin next week, Monday, November 30th and go until Friday, December 17th, the last day before Spring Break. Same as with Fall Benchmark Testing, teachers will complete their own testing and subs will be available if you require one. If you would like help entering scores, the deadline to give your scores to Ruby (YG) or Jon (Corridor) will be the Friday, December 10th. We’ll put the blank student sheets in your mailbox as soon as they arrive. Please review the “Winter 2010 District Reading Administration Instructions (Elementary)” on the 4J easyCBM website for all of the nitty gritty details of which test to give and how to administer them. Let me know if you have any questions.
• CLC Interviews Committee Volunteers – Tuesday, November 30th from 3:00-6:00 we’ll be holding interviews to fill the vacancy in the CLC left by Michael (Marlene has been filling in). We’d like to have some staff besides Jennifer and myself to be part of the selection process, so let me know if you are interested in helping out.
• Hazardous Weather Conditions Information– Attached is this year’s hazardous weather conditions information. Generally speaking, if school is cancelled for students, only lead custodians, secretaries, and administrators report to work. Let me know if you have any questions.
• COW and Laptop Security – Please remember to lock-up your COWs at night. Over the last several years the district has had several stolen COWs and computers from 4J schools. If you have computers stored outside of a COW, please try to store them in a secure spot but at a minimum somewhere out of view from exterior windows.
• Music Everyday Program – The Oregon Bach Festival contacted me about the Music Everyday Program, which both schools use, and offered to assist us if there are any additional resources and/or training that is needed. If you know of any resources or training you could use, let me know by the end of the week.
• SMART Table Preview – Howard has had the privilege of hosting a SmartTable (shared by Apple) in their first grade classrooms the past couple of weeks. They were given an opportunity to “play” with this tool and provide feedback to Apple. A SmartTable is similar to an iPad/iTouch, only it is much larger and has four legs. It has a touch screen and up to four students can interact with a variety of educational applications. Howard inviting anyone who would like to check out this technology on Monday, Nov. 22 between 1:00-1:45. Since most all of you are teaching at this time, I can sub during this time for anyone who wants to go, but since there’s only one of me to go around, it’s first come first serve. Let me know.
• UO International Cultural Presentations for Classrooms – The International Cultural Services Program offered by the University of Oregon program is designed to bring talented UO international students into your classroom to share their cultural traditions and to help develop greater cross-cultural understanding. There are students from South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. If you have any questions or would like to invite a student to speak to your class, contact ICSP by phone (541-346-1333) or email (icsp@uoregon.edu). More information can also be found on their website.
• Sacred Heart Trauma Nurse Classroom Presentation – Sacred Heart Medical Center is offering free 30 minute presentations on Helmet and Seatbelt Use for up to 50 students, grades K-5. The goal of the program is to give students tools to recognize potentially harmful situations and behavior that supports injury prevention. If you are interested, call or email Amy Shelton at (541)242-5496, ashelton@peacehealth.org, in the Public Affairs Office.
• eSIS Potential Changes – Last week 4J received the announcement their eSIS student information system vendor (AAL) has been purchased by Pearson which is a relatively large company that has interests in education, business (Financial Times Group) and consumer publishing (Penguin Group). In the educational arena Pearson currently owns two other student information software products called PowerSchool and Chancery SMS. 4J will be meeting with their state Pearson representative this week in Portland for introductions and to hear their vision for eSIS. 4J will let us know more when they learn more. As best as they can tell at this early stage, this doesn’t affect our current operations.
• Technology Integration Article – Here an interesting article that may spark new idea for folks on how to integrate technology into core subject areas. It’s a short article on how kindergarten students at one school engage in learning with iPads, Skype, and other technologies. I particularly liked the teacher’s use of Skype and video chats.
Have a nice short week, everyone!
Allan