http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=5800
Howdy Everyone,
Hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoyed a quiet Friday, even if you were one of the folks who had to report to work.
Fifteen items of note for this week:
• Student Care Team Referrals – The Student Care Team will be meeting in two weeks, which means student/family referrals to the team are due this Friday. DHS has been great about helping quite a few of our families, pointing them towards resources for a variety of different situations (homelessness, assistance with bills, incarcerated parents, counseling resources, and many others), so please consider referring a student or family in need. Try to get a signature on the 4J Release Form (PDF or DOC) so we will be able to openly discuss the student(s) by name and also so DHS can research the family situation to see what services they would qualify for. If there’s a situation where you can’t get a signature for whatever reason, you can refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me know if you have any questions about potential referrals, but if it’s a situation that’s on your mind, it’s probably a worth referring to the team.
• Safety Week, Oct 31 – Nov. 4 – We’ll conduct our annual Safety Week at the end of the month, which is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students, and families about the various safety procedures right at the start of the year. Usually I like to do this in September, but I wanted to give us time to work out the kinks on our first fire drill and I also like to hold Safety Week when two months overlap in the same week, so we can take care of the monthly fire drill requirement all in the same week. The schedule for Safety Week will be:
• Monday, Oct. 31 – Fire Drill, 8:15
• Tuesday, Nov. 2 – Room Clear, time decided by teachers
• Wednesday, Nov. 2 – Lockdown/Lockout, 9:00
• Thursday, Nov. 3 – Earthquake/Fire Drill, 1:15All of these drills are listed in the “Emergency Procedures Manual” which is the rainbow tabbed spiral notebook that should be hanging in every classroom. We’re no longer using the Howard Red Binders and are instead using the Emergency Procedures Manual, which is the district standard. I won’t be making any announcement before the drills, so it’s okay for staff to prep your students before the drills take place.
For the Fire Drill, we’ll follow the plan I shared in earlier announcements after our debrief. See the updated Map of the Fire Evacuation Lines & Routes, which also includes the updated evacuation routes for second floor classrooms that were shared earlier. And as a reminder, here are the changes we made from our first fire drill:
• PE/Music now go to the playground
• 2nd & 5th Grade line up in one long line (not side-by-side)
• Yellow & blue wing classes exit courtyard gates closest to their side of the courtyard
• Lastly, make sure ALL students are silent during the drill.Room Clear drills will happen at a time determined by classroom teachers and in cooperation with another classroom where students would go in the event of real room clear. Students should know the designated classroom they would room clear to in the event of an actual emergency since in some cases the teacher would need to remain in the classroom while the rest of the students leave on their own.
For the Lockdown/Lockout Drill, per our ALICE training, we are no longer doing Code Blue and Code Red style of lockdowns. Instead, we follow the scenario that happened at North Eugene earlier this year, where they started with a lockdown (closed curtains, locked doors, account for students, sitting quietly in different parts of the room), which then moved into a lockout (classes resume as normal, curtains still down, all students & staff saying inside the building, all exterior doors remain locked). In both situations, office staff would activate the lockdown button, which will lock all automatic doors (the ones with badge readers) and will drop all blinds. Myself or other office staff would make an announcement informing everyone what is happening (i.e. “There is police activity in our area and as a precaution we are going into a lockdown. Check you emails for further details.”). And speaking of ALICE, the district is formulating a plan for schools to have designated reunification sites. Our Safety Committee last year talked about making an agreement with Trinity United Methodist Church on Maxwell, but right now we’re waiting for direction for downtown before we move forward on that.
For the Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects, and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website, where you teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness.
Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions.
• Costume Parade & Thrill the World Performance – Linked here is the Thrill the World Map and Directions and also the flyer I’ll send home to families regarding the event (Bianca returns this week and will translate the bottom half later). The short version of the plan is that on Monday, October 31s at 1:05, second floor classrooms will parade down the stairs in their wings and the bottom floor classrooms will parade behind them. The three wings will then parade out to their designated grade level lines on the field, which will be mark with cones. Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts on how to improve the plan between now and then.
• Día de los Muertos Assembly – Jill has some friends in a band who’ve put on assemblies as River Road in the past and she thinks she can get them to perform here at Howard on Friday, October 28th for a Dia de los Muetros assembly. We’re still working out times and if they will be able to do two assemblies or if we’ll just do one assembly for older grades, but I wanted to put this on folks radar since October 28th isn’t too far away.
• Dismissal Thank-You – Just a quick thank you to teachers for coming out front with your students each day at dismissal. It’s a nice way to close the day with kids and to connect with families, but it’s also a nice way for teachers to see each other and stay connected since we’re all so spread out in our giant building.
• October PTO Meeting Tuesday – This Tuesday at 6:00 in the library is the October PTO Meeting. There was a great turnout at the September meeting and we had several staff members attend, which is a great way to show our support for the PTO’s work and fundraising efforts. Hope to see you there and don’t forget about the PTO Wayback Burger fundraiser on Monday 5:00-8:00!
• FREE BOOK: Closing Circles: 50 Activities for Ending the Day in a Positive Way – If classroom teachers would like a copy of Closing Circles: 50 Activities for Ending the Day in a Positive Way, just let me know. It’s filled with great ideas for ways to close the end of each school day and it fits very perfectly into the Caring for Kids/Caring School Community curriculum. I received a number of copies from downtown, so if you’d like one, just let me know and I’ll put it in your mailbox.
• New Building Updates – Here are the items of note regarding our new building:
• Automatic Door Lock Timers – I believe I now have the PC application figured out for controlling the lock timers on the building doors, so let me know if there are any doors you think need their locking and unlocking times adjusted. Any door or gate with a badge reader (and a few that don’t) can be controlled by this system.
• Projector Interactivity and Wall Decor on Boards – Tech Department staff wanted to remind teachers not to hang items underneath the white rectangular box mounted under the projectors. Number lines, alphabet cards, borders, etc. will all interfere with your interactivity.
• Courtyard Gate Changes – Facilities met with a hardware company Friday last week to get their recommendations regarding safety concerns we’re having with the heavy courtyard gates swinging back on students when they’re pushed open quickly. They planned to install a trial gate on the playground during State In-Service day to test it for a few of days to ensure the fix works and then do the rest. The new gate should also help to address the issue with the gates not closing on their own.
• Projector Brightness and Sunlight Issues – Facilities is working with the architects for a classroom skylight shade/curtain option, so that is good news. The bad news for the gym and cafeteria is they are not looking at options for those skylights, saying it’s good enough and only occasionally used, which makes me furious. I’m still fighting the fight for a fix those spaces, but the classroom projector and sunlight issues should improve with a skylight shade. I’m also pushing on Facilities to install a darker blinds and also put a blind on the high windows near the front of each classroom, so classrooms have the ability to darken their classroom.
• Calling the Office (Use Phone, Not AMX) – On the classroom AMX panels is a “Push to Talk” button for calling the office, but the AMX panel in the office is not close to Lori or Bianca’s desk, so calls do not get noticed and you’re better off using a good old fashioned phone. Phones are also better because the AMX intercom has to be used like a CB, where only one person can talk at a time while you’re holding down the button.
• EWEB Fundraiser – I didn’t put these into teacher mailboxes until Thursday after school, so I know they didn’t all go home last Friday, but please make sure the flyers for the EWEB Parking Lot Fundraiser go home this Friday. It’s a great fundraiser where we sell parking spaces at the old EWEB building for $10 a piece, starting four hours before kickoff at the UO vs. Arizona State football game. I have seven volunteers so far, but I’m hoping we can get nine more so I can have volunteers work 2-hour shifts instead of a 4-hour shift. And let me know if any staff are willing to help work a shift with me, Crystal and some parent volunteers at the game.
• Staff School Pictures – With picture day this Wednesday, I wanted to ask staff to have your picture taken too so I can get our Staff Directory webpage updated. There are quite a few generic roadrunner pictures on there and I would like to update with real photos.
• 16/17 Student Demographics – I’ve had a few people ask about our demographics this year, so linked here is a Synergy report titled Student Ethnic Distribution List, which lists students by what was marked by parent/guardians at the time of enrollment. 64% of our students are white, 21% are latino, and the third largest group are mixed race, which is listed on the report as “Two or More” and makes up 9% of our student population.
• $50 – $500 Mini-Grants – Mini-Grants are available for classroom projects, clubs, supplies, and other uses from the Adrienne St. Clair Group at Berkshire Hathaway Realty. The application deadline is Thursday, October 27th. See the linked flyer for information or visit their website to apply.
• What does research say about cursive writing? – The Common Core State Standards do not include requirements for cursive writing, a decision driven, in part, by the increased use of technology for communication, says Sue Pimentel, one of the lead writers of the ELA standards. Experts in this EdWeek blog post consider some of the research behind the debate about teaching cursive writing in schools. The short version is research says having good handwriting is important, but whether it’s print or cursive makes no difference.
• Name Mispronunciation = Microaggression – Recently an article came out that mispronouncing student names has been proven by social scientists to be a racial microaggression. Many of us have already studied this, but I think it is important to review occasionally. Here is a list of important resources for this topic. Education Week reports on a national campaign to promote this practice called “My Name, My Identity.” You can read about it in their story, Mispronouncing Students’ Names: A Slight That Can Cut Deep. They also published a useful follow-up, Pronouncing Student Names Correctly: A Quick Guide. And, if you doubt the importance of this practice, read The Toast’s The Names They Gave Me. You might also be interested in a resource filled webpage on The Best Places For Students To Learn About Their Names.
• 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 17 (M)
5:00-8:00, PTO Fundraiser at Wayback Burger
5:00-6:00, Allan to River Road Community Organization Meeting (Howard Community Room)October 18 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30, Allan to Evaluation Planning Meeting (Conference Room)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)October 19 (W)
School Pictures
No Title 1 Wednesday
7:30-10:30, Promise of Oregon Video Shoot
1:30-2;30, PBIS Meeting (Rae’s Room)
1:30-2:30, Allan to Evaluation Planning MeetingOctober 20 (H)
8:00-4:00, Allan to OIS Training (Ed Center)
9:00-11:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center) SKIPPING
1:00-6:00, Cookie Dough Pick-Up (Gym)October 21 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
9:30-1:30, Kindergarten Hearing Screening
2:15-3:15, Allan to IEP Eligibility Meeting (Bryan’s Room)October 24 (M)
9:40-11:10, 2nd Grade Fire Prevention Month Visit
2:30-3:30, Site Council (Conference Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)October 25 (T)
9:00-12:30, Pond & Larsen to Mount Pisgah
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, B203)October 26 (W)
9:00-12:30, Swift to Mount Pisgah
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team (Conference Room)
2:30-5:00, District PE Meeting (Howard Gym)October 27 (H)
Regular DayOctober 28 (F)
Dia de los Muertos Assembly (tentative)
9:00-2:00, Kreider/Shadwick Salmon Field Trip
10:00-12:30, Life Skills Pumpkin Patch Field Trip
10:30-12:30, October Birthday Lunches (Community Room)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP MeetingOctober 29 (SA)
EWEB Parking Lot Fundraiser (EWEB)
Have a fabulous week, everyone!
Allan
