http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=7281
Greetings Marvelous Howard Staff,
We had a good turnout for the PTO Family Movie Night, which was a nice fun way to end a crazy week. Thank you to all the staff who came out for the event!
Although this is going to be a short week, it’s going to be a busy one with long days and nights for teachers, but look forward to a yummy dinner provided by the PTO each evening.
Twelve items of note for this week:
• TalentEd Standards Overview Meeting – I’m still trying to get to all licensed staff for your start-of-the-year Standards Overview Conference meeting (if you’re Contract Year-2, you’re off the hook), so I’ll come by classrooms during conferences when teachers have a break in your schedule, but also feel free to swing by the office or tell me a time that works to meet if we haven’t met already.
• PTO Meeting Updates – Linked here is the November PTO Meeting PowerPoint from last Tuesday’s meeting. There were no burning topics, but some items of note were that the PTO will vote on the $5,000 Special Project at the January meeting (send your ideas to the PTO before then), there are a few unfilled spots at the Dec. 2nd Holiday Bazaar if you know anyone who has something to sell, plans were finalized for feeding teachers dinner during conferences, there will be a BINGO and Spaghetti Feed on Friday, Jan. 12th, and they are still looking to fill the following board positions if you or you know of anyone who might be able to fill them: Fundraiser Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Staff Liaison.
• PDUs for August Trauma Informed Care – Shasta sends her apologies for this coming a bit late, but linked here is a PDU Certificate for attending the August Trauma Informed Care Training.
• Parent Math Resources – I’m going to put this in the next school newsletter, but if parents ever ask you for information about LearnZillion, you can direction them to the 4J webpage Elementary Family and Community Math Resources. This link is on the Howard website under Parents > Academic Resources. One particularly helpful document explains some of the shifts we’ve made in math instruction; Help Your Child with Productive Struggle.
• Leadership Plan Approved – JCAC approved Howard’s leadership plan last week. I expected it to be approved since it’s very similar to the ones we’ve had approved in the past, but wanted to let staff know that it’s now official.
• REPEAT: Care Team Referrals – Families tend to share a lot at conferences, so please have some of the 4J Release Forms (editable PDF and non-editable PDF) on hand to get signed if any situations come up where the Care Team might be able to assist. Feel free to call/text me to come discuss the Care Team at a conference if it seems appropriate. Referrals are due by the end of the day Tuesday.
• REPEAT: Conference Items of Note – A repeat of two conference items:
• Conferences and Specialists & Classified Staff – Specialists (Title, SPED, ELD, Music, PE, etc.) are to be working during conferences in some capacity and are available to families if they would like to meet. For classifieds staff, Tuesday and Wednesday are regular work days unless you have trade time saved up.
• Title 1 Compacts – Corianne sharing information on this last month, but please remember the following:
• PLEASE DO NOT SEND THESE COMPACTS HOME TO GET THEM SIGNED
• If we can only get you and the student to sign, then make a photocopy for Title 1, and THEN the original will be sent home to be signed. If it comes back, great! If it doesn’t, no biggie. We’ll have the copy showing we tried.
• PLEASE have families sign these at conferences.
• Once you have signed compacts, please return them to Corianne.• NEA Grant Opportunities – Here are a couple grants teachers might want to take note of:
• NEA Foundation Learning & Leadership Grants – Want an all expenses paid trip to a conference to enhance your professional learning? This NEA Teacher Grant offers $2,000 or $5,000 for travel, lodging, and conference fees. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, June 1 and Oct. 15 of each year.
• NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants – This Classroom NEA Grant provides funds for resource materials, supplies, equipment, transportation, technology, or scholars-in-residence. As with the above grant, it awards $2,000 or $5,000 grants and the deadlines are Feb. 1, June 1 and Oct. 15 of each year.
• Assistance for Corridor Fire – As most staff know, a great deal of classroom materials are staff-funded. If staff feel so inclined, teachers at Corridor are looking for support to replace damaged:
-Classroom calendar
-Bulletin board borders
-Bulletin board letters (varied sizes)
-Classroom job poster
-Classroom Birthday poster
-Cursive poster
-Number line
-Multiplication chart poster
-Place value poster
-Varied math posters (hundred chart, other content related posters)
-Varied writing posters (editing posters, writing aids, etc)
-Name/checklist posters (you know, the ones you can log reading minutes or things being turned in for each student)
-Inspirational quote posters
-Character Trait posters and materials
-Lots of Oregon Duck stuff (duh)
-Various writing paper/cards for letter writing for the kids (fun prints, envelopes, decorated computer paper)
-Anything paper (construction paper, reams of computer paper, lined paper, spiral notebooks, etc)
-Various yarn (hair colored (Oregon Trail art project) and other colors)
-Various fabric (printed and plain)
-Yards and yards of muslin
-Rolls of batting (for story quilts)
-Stickers (various kinds, lots and lots)
-Approximately 6 rolls of postage stamps (my kids write letters and we mail them)
-Boxes of ziploc bags (small, medium and large)
-32 clipboards• Hour of Code, Dec. 4-10: Take a “journey” with Minecraft! – Let me know if any of your are doing any fun coding activities the week of The Hour of Code. We’ve been lucky to get TV stations and the paper out to Howard in the past for The Hour fo Code. Linked here is a handy Hour of Code How to Guide. Also, Code.org and Microsoft just announced a new coding activity, Minecraft: Hero’s Journey! Introducing the Minecraft Agent, students write code to instruct the Agent to execute commands and overcome in-game obstacles. On the Howard website, I’ve added a link to the Links for Learners for all grade levels to Code.org’s many coding activities.
• 3 Assumptions Teachers Should Avoid – Some assumptions can negatively impact your teaching practice. This Edutopia article has a few tips to combat three common ones.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
November 20 (M)
2:00-3:30, Tech Dept. Using STEAM Room
4:00-8:00, Parent/Teacher Conferences
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
5:00-6:00, PTO Provided Dinner (Staff Room)November 21 (T)
Student Care Team Referrals Due
8:00-8:00, Parent Teacher Conferences
9:00, Allan to Conference
4:10, Allan to Conference
5:00-6:00, PTO Provided Dinner (Staff Room)
7:00, Allan to ConferenceNovember 22 (W)
No School – Teacher Comp Day for Conferences
Regular Work Day for Classified StaffNovember 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving BreakNovember 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving BreakNovember 27 (M)
2:30-3:30, Site Council (Conference Room)November 28 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting – Number Talks Part 3 (Ashley’s Room)November 29 (W)
Picture Retakes (Community Room)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 5/1/2 (Conference Room)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Conference Room)November 30 (H)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 3/4/K (Conference Room)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)December 1 (F)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Generosity
11:00-1:50, November Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)December 2 (SA)
9:00-2:00, PTO Holiday Bazaar (Cafeteria/Gym)
Have a good week and an event better Thanksgiving Break!
Allan
