http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=7328
Hello Roadrunners,
Fourteen items of note for this week:
• Need More Classroom Furniture? Tell Me ASAP! – Over winter break we are having a TON of new furniture being delivered. Let me know by Friday if you want any additional furniture. See the linked Furniture Delivery List for all the furniture we’re getting, but for some reason they did not order any single desks. Other than that, we will have many double desks, teacher desks, chairs, stools, filing cabinets, kidney tables, round tables, plastic storage tubs, and pretty much everything that came with the classrooms and some of the specialist rooms.
We’re also getting one comfy couch and one comfy chair for each of the six commons areas, so let me know by Friday if your grade level team DOES NOT want them delivered to your wing and I’ll instead give them to a grade level team who’d like additional furniture in their wing.
We really need to know this now, so we can tell the installers where to put stuff and how much they need to assemble, because the excess furniture will be stored unassembled in the custodial storage area and I’d like to save Crystal the time and hassle of having to assemble and move furniture later if the people being paid to do it can do it now. Let me know if you have any questions.
• United Way Campaign Pledges DUE THURSDAY– At last week’s Staff Meeting, information was shared about the annual United Way Campaign. This year’s campaign is closing very soon and all completed pledge forms are due to my mailbox this Thursday. Blank pledge forms are available under Staff Mailboxes. This year you can also pledge online instead of using the paper form by going to the United Way ePledge website. Use the generic username and password (USER: 4JEugeneScho PASS: School2017), you will be prompted to create your own unique user account.
Please consider donating a small amount. You can even donate directly to your school, grade level, or classroom through EEF on the form or online. For more information on how United Way of Lane County is assisting in Eugene, please visit United Way website or see their video below.
• Learn Zillion Support – Also as last week’s staff meeting, Jaimie Massie offered to help teachers in any way you need with Learn Zillion. Jaimee is available to:
• Visit with teams
• Email resources
• Model a lesson
• Observe a lesson
• Meet for planning
• Create a quick video
• Ask LZ or stakeholders
• Answer questions
• Bring in a grade-level expert
• Give team planning time (yes, paid sub time!)
• …and more!• Fire Drill Thursday at 1:40 – The December Fire Drill will be this Thursday, December 7th at 1:40. The weather is supposed to be clear, but if we are rained out the back-up plan will be to do it first thing Friday morning.
• Wacky Wednesday!- Mismatched Clothes Day – Wednesday next week is Mismatched Clothes Day, so start planning your colorful, clashing, crazy outfits. Remind your class too, so I’m not the only one looking ridiculous!
• Hazardous Weather Conditions Change – Downtown sent everyone updated Hazardous Weather Conditions info, but one change I wanted to highlight is that if there is a 2-hour delay on an early release day (which is rare, but did happen last year), the early release is cancelled and schools will dismiss at their regular non-early release times. So for Howard, this means if there were a 2-hour delay on a Wednesday, we would dismiss at 2:05 instead of 1:05.
• easyCBM Security Update and Site Re-Routing – Houghton Mifflin did a major update to easyCBM last week that may impact your access to the site. If you bookmarked the old site (http://www.4j.or.easycbm.com) it should automatically redirect you to the new site (https://4j-or.easycbm.com/). See Eric-Michael MacCionnaith’s email for background and details if you are interested.
• Subs for Peer Observations – A few teachers asked about subs for when we do peer observation in January, so I wanted to let teachers know that Lori has arranged for our usual team of roving subs these days, meaning teachers don’t have to worry about finding a sub.
• Tail Feather Reward & Activity Sign-Up – We’re now in the midst of our first PBIS Tail Feather Reward, so remember to keep an eye out for classes deserving of a tail feather. The reward for classrooms meeting their tail feather goal of 10 new feathers will be a menu of fun activities on Friday, December 15th, 1:00-1:40 including a Dance Party in the gym. See Rae’s email for details and linked here is the Google Tail Feather Activity Sign-Up Sheet.
• Elementary School Showcase Volunteers? – It seems far off, but since this event is right after winter break, I thought I’d ask now. Saturday, January 6th, 10:00-12:00, 4J will hold a shortened version of the Elementary School Showcase if any staff are willing/interesting in helping me share info about our AMAZING school! The showcase is a one-stop information fair for parents considering their elementary school options. Each elementary school has a table staffed by the principal and one or two other knowledgeable, personable representatives, ready to talk with parents. Let me know if any of your are willing/interested in helping at this event.
• Responding to Parent Calls/Emails – This was a reminder sent to principals as an expectation of us when returning parent calls/emails, but I thought it’s also a good reminder for teachers when you have parent calls and emails. Always return parent phone calls and emails within 24 hours, 48 at the very most. Why? When parents don’t hear from you, they assume the worst. They NEVER assume the best. If all you can do is to say “I received your email/phone call, and I will bet back to you tomorrow with more information” then that assures the parent they have been heard and their anxiety reduces. My own additional bit of advice is to always try to make a phone call rather than emailing. Intent and tone is easily misconstrued in emails and phone calls almost always work better (and they can save you the time and hassle of getting into an long chain of back-and-forth emails).
• REPEAT: PRIDE Awards, Respect, Due Tuesday – Wednesday during lunchtime in the cafeteria will be our PRIDE Awards for Respect. Teachers should remind students about PRIDE and the meaning of Respect (Honor Yourself and Others), and then pick 2-4 students who have been been demonstrating Respect. Be sure to get certificate to me before the 6th so I can sign them and get them organized. See last week’s announcements for ideas on how to discuss respect with students.
• REPEAT: Hour of Code Next Week – The Hour of Code is happening this week for Computer Science Education Week. if teacher can squeeze in an hour of coding. Resources include Code.org, HourofCode.org, Edutopia, and Khan Academy. I’ve added a link to Code.org’s many online activities on Howard’s Links for Learners webpages, but let me know if you would like any other coding links added.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
December 4 (M)
Computer Science Education Week / Hour of CodeDecember 5 (T)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa/Mariah’s Room)
4:00, Allan to LCC Grant Meeting (Kelly MS)
5:30-7:30, North Region Visioning Community Engagement Event (Kelly MS)December 6 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
9:00, Allan Meeting w/Eugene Rotary (Office)
11:00-12:50, PRIDE Awards at Lunch – Respect (Cafeteria)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)December 7 (H)
9:00, November Book Winers (Conference Room)
1:40, Fire DrillDecember 8 (F)
Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pretend-to-be-a-time-traveler-day/December 11 (M)
3:15, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Office)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)December 12 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)December 13 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Mismatched Clothes Day
2:30-3:30, Team Meeting Time – Number Talks Part 4/4 (Ashley’s Room)December 14 (H)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
3:00-4:00, Allan to Pre-K Transition Planning Meeting (Room 5)December 15 (F)
8:00-9:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
11:00-1:50, December Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
1:00-1:40, PBIS Tail Feather RewardDec. 18 – Jan. 1
Winter BreakDec. 19 – 22
New Furniture Delivery and InstallationJanuary 2 (T)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day (details coming)January 3 (W)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Be Your Best
Classes Resume
easyCBM Benchmark Testing Opens
In-District School Choice Opens (Closes Jan. 31)
And if you’d like to see some fancy professional photos of Howard, PiVOT just shared a bunch with me that I put in the Howard Google Team Drive under MISC > PHOTOS > PIVOT PHOTOS.
Allan
