http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=6198
Hi Everyone,
Twenty-three items of note for this week:
• UPDATE: Fire Drill
Tuesday at 1:10Tues. Feb. 21 @1:10–It’s supposed to be dry this Tuesday and no one has PE, Music, Lunch or Recess at this time, so we’ll holdOur February fire drill onTuesday at 1:10Tuesday, February 21st at 1:30 as long as the weather cooperates.
• New Care Team Release Form & Feb. Referrals – Linked here is an updated Care Team Release of Information Form (this one you can electronically edit if you open the file with Adobe Acrobat Reader) for the Student Care Team. Please remember to have the parent/guardian initial Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol if they wish for that information to be disclosed. There is also now a button at the top of the second page to add additional providers we may be inviting to the table just once for a specific family. This reduces the need for multiple releases.Our February Care Team Meeting will be in two weeks on Wednesday, February 22nd, so referrals to the team are be due to me by Friday, February 17th. Referrals can be for families seeking or needing help in most any area, but who do not know where to get that help. The broad goal of the Care Team is to prevent student and family situations from slipping through the social service cracks. Food assistance, incarcerated parents, counseling/mental health needs, parenting resources, transportation assistance, clothing needs, financial assistance, and any other situation where a family is looking for help. Try to get a parent/guardian signature on the release form, but know that you can also refer “hypothetical” situations.
• Updated PE/Music Schedule – There were a few changes made to the PE and Music Schedule (those effected already know), but linked here is the updated schedule (PDF and XLS). Let me know if anything on here looks incorrect.
• Dental Hygiene Kits Coming – Nurse Robin asked me to let teachers know United Way is providing nice dental hygiene kits to children K-6 in Lane County. Zippered Pouches contain toothbrush, full tube of toothpaste, some floss and a plastic hourglass type “timer.” Robin wanted folks to know that these are coming soon so perhaps this can coincide with a dental prevention message in the classroom and a plan for distributing the dental kits. Robin is also happy to assist low income families without insurance to access dental care. The White Bird Smile Day is happening Feb 20. Linked here is the Free Dental Clinic flier, and English and Spanish applications. A healthy smile is so important, and it is easier to learn if your teeth don’t hurt!
• 2017-2018 Staffing Survey, Due Wednesday – If you haven’t already, all staff should complete a short survey, either on this linked Google Form (my preference) or on the linked Word file. All answers will be kept confidential.
• Artist in Residence – Thanks to support from our PTO and a from the Lane Arts Council, we’ll have artist in residence again this year. We need to decide on an artist at our February Staff Meeting, so let me know between now and then if you have any early favorites from the 2016-2017 Artist Residencies List. We can always have some of our favorites come back and do a new project too.
• Positive Referrals – I think I set a record for Level III’s last Friday (it was a full moon), but if anyone would like to send a student to the office for a good reason, linked here is a positive office referral you can feel free to use. I’ll plan to run a batch of these on Monday and put them in the office filing cabinet with all of the other referrals.
• AESOP Sub Report Time – When entering a report time for subs, please put 7:30 instead of 7:00. The office is not open at 7:00, so subs end up waiting outside or knocking on windows when we’re trying to get ourselves in the office organized before letting students and families into the building.
• OBOB Final Battle & Awards Assembly – Linked here is the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) Assembly Map & Directions for the final OBOB battle this Wednesday at 9:10. I mapped spots for grades 3-5, but if younger grades would like to attend, let me know by Friday and I’ll add your class to an updated assembly map.
• Free Corridor Musical Field Trip, “A Spoonful of Sugar” – If any teachers are interested in taking your class to Corridor’s annual musical performance at the Hult Center the morning of March 22nd or March 23rd, send an email Joanne Jones (jones_j@4j.lane.edu) to be entered into the lottery for a buses and free admission to the performance. See the linked email for details, but include in your email:
1. School:
2. Teacher name & email:
3. Grade:
4. Number of total seats needed:
5. Wheelchair seats needed: YES/NO
6. Enter lottery for Wednesday, March 22, 2017 only: YES/NO
7. Enter lottery for Thursday, March 23, 2017 only: YES/NO
8. Enter lottery for both days: YES/NO• Check School Website Staff Directory – An update to WordPress killed our Staff Directory page last week. Peggy rebuilt the page from scratch, but please check the page and let me know if we’re missing anything (missing staff members, old links for webpages, wrong emails, etc.) or anything else that needs updating.
• New Building Updates – Here are the items of note regarding our new building:
• Unlock Your AMX Cabinet Tuesday – Classroom staff, on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, please leave your back cabinet doors unlocked that contain the AMX equipment. The AMX people will be working in the building again after school these days and will need access to these cabinets (which don’t have a universal key and are individual to each classroom). Thank you!
• New Ticket System for AMX Issues – If you have any issues with the AMX systems (wall keypad, projector, sound, etc.) send an email to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu and that email is going to get rerouted to the team in charge of fixing any and all AMX related issues. If you’re having problems, DO send in an email, especially while all of our equipment is still under warranty.
• Report Card Absence Count Error – Lupe discovered a discrepancy on the number of absences printing on the report card than what students actually had. The Tech Department figured out is that the report cards were not counting “Planned Absences” in the absence totals. I wanted to let teachers know about this in case you already printed your report cards and you have any students who you wanted to re-print report cards for to make sure all of their absences were shown.
• Instructional Minutes Info – Oregon K-8 students are required to have 900 hours of instruction each school year and it’s come to light after all of our snow days when downtown began counting instructional hours at all schools that all 4J elementary schools are short on hours (Howard is 6 hours short, so we’re very close). To address this, one thing being looked at by downtown for next year is aligning the start and end times and amount of time for recess and lunch so all students receive the same instructional hours.
• January McKinney-Vento Student Data – Linked here is the district-wide January McKinney-Vento Student Report. These totals represent students for the entire school year, not necessarily who’s in buildings now. As was last year, Howard serves more homeless students than any elementary school in 4J.
• Eugene Math Festival – See the linked Flier (English and Spanish) for an event on February 18, Crater Lakes Room, EMU, where students ages 5-14, who like math and share a passion for games, problem solving, and hands-on math activities, to come to the first annual math festival. This year they are offering free admission without prior registration. Parents are required to accompany the youngest participants (grades 1 – 3).
• Free Audubon Materials for Classrooms – See the linked letter from the Lane County Audubon Society Adventures Coordinator, Rachael Friese, who is offering amazing classroom kits for free to 3rd-5th grade classrooms.
• Emergency Radios Training Video – I shared this once before, but principals were asked to share again if you are someone who uses a school radio and you haven’t watched this video yet, please take 5 min of your time to view the linked 4J radio training video. Be sure to sign in to your 4J Google account to access the video.
• Argumentation in Mathematics Course, Grades K-2 Teacher Opportunity – For grades K-2 teachers, there is a $250 stipend for completing an online course from the University of Washington about Argumentation in Mathematics. The course will begin mid-March and will include one “break week” in the spring. Coursework is likely to take 1-3 hours to complete each week. This can be completed at any point in the week that works for you. Teachers should email Susan Wilson <susan.wilson@state.or.us> if you’re interested.
• Risk Management Field Trip Info – Teachers, please review the following Risk Management Field Trip webpage. Take special note of the Field Trip forms link and the 4J Code of Conduct for Trip Chaperones document, which you could share with field trip chaperones as you see necessary. On a related note, starting next year 4J is planning to have all volunteers who fill out the online criminal background check complete a short online training for volunteer expectations.
• Black History Month Do’s and Don’ts – DO incorporate black history year-round and connect it to current issues; DON’T focus on superficial cultural traits based on stereotypes or stop your “regular” curriculum. Find more advice where these came from in Teaching Tolerance’s popular Do’s and Don’ts of Teaching Black History.
• 4 ways games inform teaching, learning – Students are drawn to playing games, so it makes sense that teachers should adopt some basic principles of game play in the classroom, instructional coach Andrew Miller writes. In this blog post, Miller shares four takeaways from video and board games and the gamer brain.
• 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:
February 13 (M)
9:30, Allan Meeting with Facilities Staff
1:00-2:00, OBOB Games (Library)February 14 (T)
Valentine’s Day
1:10, Fire DrillMOVED TO NEXT TUESDAY
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room)February 15 (W)
Exclusion Day
9:10-9:40, OBOB Final Battle & Awards Assembly (Gym)
2:30-3:30, Grade Level Meeting Time (Jenny’s Room)February 16 (H)
9:00-11:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
5:00-7:00, PTO McTeacher Night Fundraiser (River Ave.)
6:00-9:00, Howard Elementary Nights with the Ducks (UO vs Utah)
7:00-8:00, School Choice Informational Meeting (Ed Center)February 17 (F)
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
2:30-4:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)February 20 (M)
President’s Day – No SchoolFebruary 21 (T)
School Choice Visitation Week #2
8:00-1:30, LCC Dental Clinic
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
11:00-12:00, Allan to All-Admin 17-18 Staffing Meeting (Ed Center)
1:10, Fire Drill
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)February 22 (W)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Conference Room)February 23 (H)
Book Fair Arrives/Set-Up
9:00, School Choice Tour
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)February 24 (F)
8:40-9:05,, K-2 Pride Assembly (Gym)
9:10-9:35, 3-5 PRIDE Assembly (Gym)
10:30-12:30, Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Community Room)
And it was fun seeing everyone after school on Friday who was able to come out for beverages and laser tag and/or bowling. We’ll see what the Social Committee has planned for us next. Get Air? Level Up? Shooters? Suggestions welcome!
Allan
