http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=4662
Howdy Roadrunners,
Twenty One items of note this week:
• November PBIS Focus: Appreciations – I forgot to put this in last week’s announcements, but the November PBIS monthly focus is Appreciations. The PBIS team created a PBIS/CFK cheat sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring for Kids class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together. And on a related PBIS note, here’s a link to the Perseverance video and the Respect video we showed at last week’s PRIDE assembly.
• Bias in Journeys Materials – Downtown is taking a look at bias in the new Journeys materials. At the elementary principals’ meeting last week, a couple schools raised concerns of racial bias in the new curriculum. Principals have been asked to have teachers report elements of bias you come across in the new reading materials, whether it’s race, gender, religion or otherwise. For example, Amber spotted a highly inappropriate vocabulary card depicting students of various races dressed as ”pilgrims and indians.” There is not a formal reporting form or an official plan of will be done with the collected information, but I do think it’s important for us be cognizant of bias in this and any other curriculum materials.
• LEL Share-Outs – The staff members from around the district at our LEL visit last week had very nice things to say about Howard. Outside of the “problem of practice” regarding technology integration, they thought we had some great kids, strong teachers, saw lots of reading happening, well established routines, students using other students as resources, and had many other nice comments. Regarding their observations around tech integration, they observed that technology use was primarily in the S and A levels of the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition), but tech use was purposeful and appropriate, allowed students to make their thinking visible and was also individualized. Technology also appeared to enhance the level of student engagement, with level of on-task behavior quite high. Not all classes observed were using technology, but for those using it, student comfort level with technology was clearly high.
The LEL’s wondering or next step ideas for us to consider included if we had a plan to sustain the technology immersion vision as new staff come onboard, which I think should be a topic at our TLT meeting. They also observed one class that had both a content objective and a separate technology objective, which which they wondered if all classes practiced doing both a content and tech objective if it would increase student productivity and outcomes. One suggestion I liked was to add signage around the building highlighting technology integration, which is something we’re talking about for the new building. They also wondered about articulation with middle and high school, and what technology looked like at those levels, which I know if unfortunately limited. Another suggestions I quite liked, though I’m not sure the Tech Department would do, is to locate some district tech staff in our building, like Misty or Kellyclare. So overall, I don’t think there were any real surprises and it was quite positive feedback. If staff are interested in seeing the summary observation charts the LEL put together, they’re posted in my office.
• Conferences Information – Conferences aren’t for a few more weeks week, but I did want to let teachers know that I’m available to sit in on any conferences you’d like me to attend. Just tell me the date and time and I’ll get it on my calendar. And as in the past, the PTO will be providing meals both evenings. Lastly, and I’ve shared this before, here’s a link from the NEA website with resources and tips for Parent-Teacher Conferences and below are some good tips that I copied from an ASCD article on conducting parent-teacher conferences. Mostly though I think parents just want to know that teachers care about their children and if they know that, they’ll be open to most anything you have to share.
• 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.• Updated Leadership Plan Proposals – Linked here is an updated version of the Leadership Plan Proposals, which now has a third proposal. The first plan is status quo. The second plan takes one and a half days from the Literacy Leader, giving one day to a new Science Leader position and moves the one half day to the Tech Co-Leaders so they get 2 days each. The third plan adds more days to the IPBS and PBIS team leaders and takes days from the Tech and Literacy leaders. There are also a few highlighted duties that were added to this version of the proposal that these folks were already doing. We’ll vote on these plans in a couple weeks at our November Staff Meeting. We’ll do a vote between all three plans (or more if other proposals are submitted) and then eliminate the plan with the least amount of votes. We’ll do another vote between the remaining two and lastly we’ll vote to approve the final plan, which needs to have at least 80% staff support (if we don’t have that already with the second vote). Please let me know by the end of the week if you have any new proposals.
• Free After School Tutoring Opportunity for Elementary School Students – Starting in January, The Center on Teaching & Learning at the University of Oregon is providing free reading instruction to 1st through 5th grade students reading below grade level. This is a first come, first serve opportunity, so let families know soon who you think would use this resource. Students attend the clinic twice a week (Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday) for 50 minutes after school. There is a 1-hour Parent Orientation either the week before, or the first week of, Clinic, and families are responsible for transportation. Interested families just need to fill out and return the attached packet if they want to register. If you have any questions, contact Shaheen Munir-McHill (munir@uoregon.edu) or Anna Ingram (annad@uoregon.edu).
• Informal Observations Tuesday – Retired Twin Oaks principal Larry Soberman will be covering for me this Tuesday while I complete some formal observations I’ve schedule. I also wanted to let teachers know that I’ll be trying to complete some informal observations this day for teacher on Year 1 of the observation cycle or teachers new to the building.
• School Clocks Reset – Our building clocks are about 1 minute 48 seconds ahead of Cupertino time, which I believe all of our laptops, iPads and personal iOS devices are set for, so last week I asked Crystal to put in a work order for our clocks be changed to better match the “real” time. Hopefully this will be fixed sometime this week.
• Title 1 Newsletter – Here is the latest district level Title 1 Newsletter that went out to Title 1 Coordinators and principals. As usual, this month’s newsletter is mostly coordinator specific information and tasks, but there is a nice equity related video from Janice Jackson on “Discipline Disparity” and an article about the need to analyze multiple measures for effective instructional decisions.
• New Building Updates – Attached are the minutes from the last Owner/Architect/General Contractor (OAC) Meeting and below are a few items of note:
• Community Meeting PowerPoint – If you’re interested, attached is a PDF version of the PowerPoint that was used at last week’s meeting to update the community on the new school’s progress and summarize the layout and features. All of this has been shared before, but the attachment has a nice visual summary of the many features, including the sustainable features, like rainwater collection and the porous pavement int he parking lot, which staff may not be fully aware of.
• Updated New Building Map – I asked for a clean copy of the final layout for the new building, so see the attached first floor and second floor map of the new building if you want to see the final layout of all the rooms, doors, hallways and such. It will look pretty small when you view the file, but zoom in to see the details.
• Meet the Superintendent, Thursday at Kelly MS – 4J is inviting families and the public to meet our new superintendent, Dr. Gustavo Balderas , this Thursday at Kelly middle school to share their thoughts and questions about Eugene and its schools. If you’d like to attend or would like to let your students know, the Meet the Superintendent Event will be in the Kelly library from 5:30-6:30 for a session in English and from 6:30-7:30 for a session in Spanish, which will be great since our new superintendent is from a Spanish speaking family himself.
• Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE) School Tours – I wasn’t originally going share about the K-12 tours being offered by OJMCHE, but their email says “Ask us about scholarships for bus transportation both inside and outside of the Portland metro area” so maybe they’re willing to provide transportation if anyone would like to plan a field trip.
• Three Rivers Foundation Grant Opportunities – The Confederate Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, through the Three Rivers Foundation are offering grants for innovative ideas, collaborative approaches, and grassroots efforts in the following areas; education, health, public safety, problem gambling, the arts, the environment, cultural activities, and historic preservation. Grants do not have minimum or maximum grant limitations, but it’s anticipated that the average award from the Three Rivers Foundation will be between $2,000 and $7,000. This year’s online grant application period opens December 1st and will close at 5:00 PM on December 31st. See their website for more information
• Papa’s Pizza Achievement Awards – I know teachers sometimes like to use the Papa’s Pizza Achievement Awards as an incentive for students, so I contacted Papa’s Pizza last week to get more awards. Sometime this week we’ll have 200 of them in the file cabinet in the mailroom if any teachers can use them.
• News from the Emerald Empire Reading Council – Here’s the November Newsletter from the Emerald Empire Reading Council. This month’s newsletter includes a number of workshops and information on a $100 literacy grant. If you’d like more information, visit their 1990s Space Jam-looking website.
• Bus Safety Training Reminder – A reminder to teachers to let Lori know what method you’ve used to teach students bus safety. The state requires all students receive instruction on bus safety by the end of December. Showing your students the video The Safest Way Out is the easiest method to meet the requirement.
• ICSP 2015-16 Brochure – I shared this earlier in the year, but the UO International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) just emailed out their updated brochure for this school year, listing all of the free presentations available to classrooms from international UO students. If you have questions, contact the ICSP Coordinator, Sophie Patterson, by email icsp@uoregon.edu or phone (541) 346-7429, or request for a presenter on their website here.
• PERS Info Session 11/18 @1:30 – A PERS pension financial advisor approached me about offering a drop-in session for staff to ask any questions you might have regarding PERS. Kris Kartub will be here next week on Wednesday, November 18th at 1:30 in the library to answer any PERS pension related questions folks might have. Here is an email she asked me to forward to staff, along with a link to register if you think you’ll come. Below are some potential questions she sent me. She also said she’ll have snacks!
• Understand the differences between Tier 1, Tier 2, and OPSRP
• Pension benefit calculation methods
• Understanding your IAP account
• Retirement option choices• These short videos can bring some ‘calm’ into your classrooms – Rachel sent this to elementary principals. Between Halloween and the time change over the weekend, we’re all feeling a little out of whack. Marcy G., a 1st grade teacher (and GoNoodler!) in Oregon, suggests doing lots of stretching and oxygen-rich movements, especially in the morning, to invigorate the body and mind. Here are three calming videos to help, whether you find your class snoozing during reading or going crazy during math!
Airtime Space – Practice deep breathing for a calmer, more focused classroom. Perfect for after lunch or recess.
Find Peace – Think, reflect, and set some positive intentions for the day. Great for morning meeting!
Super Scooper – Stretch and rejuvenate with Maximo the monkey to feel ready for whatever comes next!• How can technology promote equity in schools? – In this blog post, Robert Dillon, director of technology and innovation at Affton School District in Missouri, shares seven ways technology can promote equity in schools. Ideas include virtual field trips, community-based learning and virtual connections.
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
November 9 (M)
9:30, Allan, Lori & Crystal Meeting with Pam Wescott (Office)November 10 (T)
Sara Green Visiting North Region Schools
Allan Conducting Observations – Larry Soberman to Cover
11:45-2:00, 3rd Grade to Hult Center
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 1)November 11 (W)
Veteran’s Day, No SchoolNovember 12 (H)
2:30-3:30, TLT Meeting (Room 6)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting
5:30-6:30, Meet the Superintendent – Community Event – English (Kelly MS)
6:30-7:30, Meet the Superintendent – Community Event – Spanish (Kelly MS)November 13 (F)
9:40-10:30, Allan Teaching Math GroupNovember 16 (M)
Progress Monitoring Week 3
12:30-1:30, Allan to Super Boundary Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Allan Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)November 17 (T)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting (Library)
4:00-5:30, Allan to 4J Nutrition Services Community Meeting (Ed Center)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)November 18 (W)
Dental Screening and Fluoride Varnish (Gym)
9:00-11:00, Allan to OAC Meeting (Construction Trailer)
1:30-2:15, PERS Financial Advisor Info Session (Library)November 19 (H)
1:30, Fire DrillNovember 20 (F)
10:45-12:30, Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Library)
Have a good week and also enjoy a plethora of Howard Halloween pictures taken courtesy of Suzanna.
Allan
