http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=5772
Hello Rockin’ Roadrunners,
Remember that this Wednesday is our first Wacky Wednesday of the year and it’s Favorite Color Day, so decide your favorite color and start planning your outfit for the day. Lucky for me my favorite color is blue, which allows me to wear jeans this day. Feel free to fib on your favorite color for comfort or laundry related reasons. :)
Twenty-six items of note for this week:
• Google Doc of ALL Tech Issues – I mentioned at Friday’s staff meeting that I want to compile an exhaustive list of EVERYTHING that is not working technology-wise. Projectors, interactivity, audio and video inputs, missing cables or adapters, phone issues, or any other tech related problem. If you’ve sent me a problem, I’ve submitted it to our project manager but I don’t know which ones have been fixed or not. Follow this link to the Google Sheet of Howard Tech Issues to list any and all problems you are currently dealing with. Please list each issue on a separate line along with your room number and name. And if you haven’t tried some of your classroom tech features, please also list that so Tech Department staff or the project manager can test them out.
• Synergy Attendance and iOS Problems – I checked with the Tech Department as to when Edupoint would have a patch for the issue with iOS devices not properly saving AM and PM attendance, even if you did check both and saved correctly. They said it is slated to be fixed in the next upgrade, which is going to be released around the end of November. That means teachers should continue to use laptops to take attendance for the time being.
• Learning About Learning Visit, Nov. 16th – The district Learning About Learning (LEL) groups are making the rounds to all schools again this year, but one change is that schools are no longer coming up a “problem of practice” and all LELs are instead focusing on science this year. Howard is going to have one of the LEL groups visit on Wednesday, November 16th, which is also one of our non-Title group day, so we’ll probably want teachers to adjust their schedules to teach a science lesson this morning, so stay tuned for more information on this as we get closer to this date.
• District PBIS Referral Forms Streamlined – In an effort to streamline data being collected across the district, downtown is looking to create a uniform set of behavior referrals (i.e. Level 1, 2, and 3s). They also want to streamline and get some uniformity in terms of what is considered a Level 1, 2, or 3 referral. This seems like a great idea to me, but there is going to be a process to create these forms, so there likely won’t be any changes until later this year or next school year.
• Mandatory Bus Safety Training 2016-2017 – As required by OAR 581-53-002, all students must receive instruction on bus safety before winter break. The intent of the rule is to reach the occasional riders who find themselves on a bus because of a field trip or other activity. Linked here is the information sent to principals and also some bus safety information (English and Spanish) to use if you’d like, but to meet the requirement the easiest method is by showing the the classic 1997 bus safety video The Safest Way Out. Once you have completed your chosen method of meeting the requirement, please let Lori know the date and the training method used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xPFw8PyaAo
• Early Release and Conference Comp Day – HR got back to me and the official answer is that we cannot move an early release Wednesday to a Monday due to the conference comp day falling on a Wednesday.
• End of Day Bus Loop Change – I’ve already let SPED staff know, but Transportation is re-ordering the buses starting Monday so the regular routes are first in line, followed by SPED bus routes. Their thinking is this will allow the SPED buses to pass if they are loaded and ready and that regular routes will not get trapped behind SPED routes still loading, which is what was happening previously.
• ELD and Non-Title Group Wednesdays – To clarify the plan for ELD on the two days a month without Title groups, Carolyn is available to see her groups if that is the preference of a grade level. For continuity of instruction, all classes at a grade level with ELD students need agree. We’ll plan on students staying in homerooms these days unless you’ve contacted Carolyn. The minimum requirement for ELD is 30-minutes three days a week, so we have that requirement more than covered.
• Informal Observations & TalentEd Goals Entry Due – I’m planning to start conducting informal observations this week for probationary, temporary and contract year-1 teachers. I’ll likely combine my post-observation check-in with the “Standards Overview Conference” where I’ll also make sure folks have entered their goals into TalentEd. I did make a revision to the Shared Building Goals I posted last week, because I realized at least one goal needs to address ALL students in your class, so I adjusted the goals accordingly. Please have you goals entered into TalentEd by Friday.
• Language Translation Support – Downtown asked principals to share that teachers (and also principals) have been contacting Debi Starr at the ELD office about immediate needs for translation services. Many of these requests could be easily managed through the Language Link telephone translation service. It is very easy to use, especially when time is of the essence. See the linked Language Link Directions for how to access this service. I’ve used it a couple times and it’s worked well.
• Beep Beep Drawing – We don’t usually do Beep Beep drawings on short weeks, but since we have two four-day weeks in a row, we will do a Beep Beep drawing this Thursday.
• Lexiles on easyCBM – I was reviewing easyCBM scores this past week and noticed that class reports now include a column for reading Lexile, which could be an easy way for teachers to pair students up with appropriate level of books to read. Some books have the Lexile scores on them, but you can also go to the Lexile website to search by book, author, or ISBN.
• Monthly Book Giveaway & Location Change – You probably already saw the email about the monthly book giveaway, but for staff new to Howard, we do a monthly book giveaway where one lucky student from each classroom who met their monthly reading goal set by their teacher can win a free book. One change since that email is we are going to move the location of Tuesday’s giveaway to the Conference Room in the office instead of the library so we don’t overlap with any scheduled library times.
• Contract Reminder – Principals were asked to remind staff that ANY/ALL/EVERY agreement or contract that requires a signature needs to come through purchasing. This includes agreements/contract with no monetary value. No one should be signing anything that ties the district to terms and conditions. There are only 5 people in the district that can sign contracts, that means any kind of contract – Gus, Charis, Monica, Andrea and Harlan Coats. Principals can sign the designated line on the ICA’s, but that is only to show that they have knowledge of the contract and spending related to the contract. Any questions, please contact purchasing@4j.lane.edu
• Monthly PBIS Focus: Bully-Proofing – I forgot to include this in last week’s announcements, but the Howard October PBIS monthly focus is Bully-Proofing, so remember the PBIS/CFK Cheat Sheet, which matches our PBIS monthly themes with Caring for Kids class meeting lessons. This is a nice way to tie the PBIS and Caring for Kids together.
• New Building Updates – Here are the items of note regarding our new building:
• Please Close Courtyard Gates – Facilities and the contractors are still working on getting the courtyard gates to automatically close behind people, so please make sure the gate is closed and latched behind you until a solution is figured out (the one exception being during recess for students to be able to go in to use the restroom). The contractor re-greased the gates last week and we tested them, but they still don’t operate properly. That was Facilities final test so they need hardware to fix the closing operation. A spring isn’t a fix since they can close the heavy doors too hard. These heavy duty gates are a first for the district and not something they have come across, so Facilities estimates this will take a week or so to figure out a solution and the install portion depends on the availability of parts.
• Wobbly Windows – Several staff have mentioned to me the very wobbly windows on the second floor by the small group rooms of blue and green wings. My concern was if a kid tripped or fell against the window, it doesn’t seem very secure. I’ve been told we have nothing to worry about – the windows are plenty stout to take a major hit and not come out. Even if a student broke the interior side of the glass there is another layer on the exterior that is very unlikely to break. However, Facilities is proceeding with installing a false window mullion (chair rail) once parts are in. This will help keep the glass from moving as much, but more so provide a place for student to put their hands instead of on the glass.
• Larger Floor Mats for Rain – You may have noticed some temporary mats were put down around the playgorund courtyard entrances to help limit the amount of water being tracking into the building on rainy days, but we’re actually going to enlarge the mat areas at the bottom of the library stairs, since it was clear last week that the current mat set-up wasn’t enough to get wet shoes dried off before students hit the stairs.
• Small Group Mushroom Chair Delivery Timeline – The Neo Rok stools are currently set to be delivered November 30th for the 18″ stools and December 30th for the 15″ stools, but we have been told they should actually ship sooner. We’ll get a revised estimated ship date spread sheet on Monday or Tuesday, so hopefully we’ll see them sooner than later.
• Facility Assessments Wednesday – Representatives from MGT of America, Inc. will be visiting each school in 4J to complete a Facility Assessment. Representatives from MGT will be at Howard this Wednesday at 11:00 if you notice a group of strange people poking around the building this day.
• Looking Glass Counselor Changes – Some of you may already know this, but our longtime Looking Glass counselor, Lynn Booth, is moving on up into an administrative position and we have a new Looking Glass counselor, Hannah Stevens, taking her place. If you need to contact Hanna her internal phone number is x14952 and her email is Hannah.Stevens@lookingglass.us Please welcome Hannah to the Howard tribe!
• Column Advancement Deadline – For licensed staff, October 15th is the deadline for submitting information for column advancement. Linked here is the Application for Column Advancement that needs to be returned to HR if you are seeking advancement on the salary schedule.
• Apple Educator Resources – This year one of the 4J back-to-school sessions was an Apple presentation for SSD staff. At that session Apple shared quite a few very helpful resources that would benefit any staff member working in a classroom. The Tech Department has posted this list of resources on the 4J Instructional Technology Resources & Links page and here is a direct link to the Reaching All Learners Resources presented by Apple.
• BRING Recycling’s Call to K-12 Teachers – BRING Recycling works under contract with Lane County to provide educational outreach to all Lane county schools. This services is provided free of charge. BRING’s education manager will come to our school or take students on tours of the Glenwood Central Receiving Station, Short Mountain Landfill and The Planet Improvement Center. Contact Emily Shelton: 541-746-3023 x315, emilys@bringrecycling.org. See the linked flyer for details.
• State In-Service Day, Friday, Oct. 14th – A repeat from last week, but this Friday is State In-Service day. This is a regular work day for administrators and 192 & 196-day classified staff. This is a non-contract day for licensed staff. For classified staff, this would be a good day to take any accumulated comp time. Let me know if you have any questions about this day.
• Oregon Best State for Teachers – According to a recent study, Oregon is the best state in the country in which to work as a teacher, citing competitive pay, supportive principals and co‐workers, and excellent job security. Given Oregon’s large class sizes, this surprised me, but many of the points in the article did seem to ring true.
• I was a “relationships second” teacher – Axioms about care in the classroom can seem corny. After years of a hard-nosed approach to content first and relationships second, one teacher realizes it’s time to reverse the order. What separates a good teacher from a great one is the effort and engagement borne out students who know that you care. See this ASCD article for the whole story.
• Getting Students Thinking At Higher Levels – “Memorizing facts is boring,” says consultant/author Susan Brookhart in this Educational Leadership article. “Drill-and-practice is boring. But thinking, for most students most of the time, is actually fun.” Brookhart suggests four strategies to engage students in higher-order thinking, such as always including two or three open ended questions in every lesson (i.e. How are 11 and 16 alike? How are they different?), having students respond to one another, students thinking not retelling, and teaching students to self-assess.
• Mythbusters Safest Sneeze – Just for fun (and to promote good health) I think I found he video Angela mentioned at Friday’s staff meeting where the Mythbusters team tests which method of covering your mouth is most effective.
• 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:
October 10 (M)
BEST Starts
Strings Academy BeginsOctober 11 (T)
9:00, Monthly Book Winners (Conference Room)
2:15, Allan to 504 Meeting (Matt’s Office)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, B203)October 12 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Favorite Color Day
8:15, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room?)
11:00, MGT America Visiting HowardOctober 13 (H)
Regular DayOctober 14 (F)
State In-Service Day (non-contract day for licensed staff, regular work day for classified and admin staff)October 17 (M)
Regular DayOctober 18 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30, Allan to Evaluation Planning Meeting (Conference Room)October 19 (W)
School Pictures
No Title 1 Wednesday
1:30-2;30, PBIS Meeting (Rae’s Room)October 20 (H)
8:00-4:00, Allan to OIS Training (Ed Center)
9:00-11:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center) SKIPPINGOctober 21 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
9:30-1:30, Kindergarten Hearing Screening
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Eligibility Meeting (Bryan’s Room)
Enjoy your second four-day week in a row!
Allan
