http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=8772
Hi All,
Well that was a strange and unexpected short week, but this week looks like it’ll be back to normal. However, there is one special thing about this week. It’s Classified Employee Appreciation Week! Howard is very lucky to have a stellar team of classified staff, from educational assistants, to library, to office, to kitchen, to technology support, to our colorful custodial staff, we have an amazing team of people who help support students and families each and every day. Thank you, all, for being such a talented and dedicated group of people. We couldn’t do things without you! And please look for some treats in your mailboxes each day this week. It’s the least we can do for you!
Eleven items of note for this week:
• PBIS Tail Feather Reward Spring Break Incentive – Let your students know that this Monday is the first day of our three week PBIS Tail Feather Challenge leading up to a Disco Dance Party if classes reach their classroom goal. Watch for an email from the PBIS Team for details, but start getting your kids excited to Be Safe, Be Kind, and Be Responsible!
• PTO Readathon Recap – To give a brief recap of details on the Readathon that went home last Friday and will run March 1-31. The main goal is to encourage reading and is secondary a fundraiser. For the fundraiser, they are using a website called Pledgestar to collect donations online. The PTO is asking teachers to collect reading logs each Monday record minutes on the linked Readathon Google Spreadsheet Minutes Log. As a thank-you, the PTO is offering a $100 Donors Choose gift cards to help fund classroom libraries for the top three classrooms with the most minutes. The school-wide goal of 200,000 minutes over the course of the month. If each student reads for at least twenty minutes a day, five days a week, we will reach the goal and all be rewarded with a long-awaited lip sync battle! They will also fund classroom parties for the top-reading classroom in each grade level, providing pizza vouchers or other small prizes to students who turn in their reading logs each week, and give prizes to the top three readers in the school. See the linked PTO Readathon Emails for complete details.
• Friday Early Release PD – Last Friday’s Early Release PD was going to be a Reading Progress Monitoring and this Friday’s PD was going to be Math PLC Time (along with time to discuss staffing scenarios for next year). . Principals have not been given the plan for this Friday’s meeting yet, but I there is a rescheduled elementary principals’ meeting this Tuesday where we’ll get the plan, so stay tuned.
• March 15 PD Day – Not this Friday, but Friday next week is scheduled to be a Professional Development/Planning Day. The stated plan for this day at the start of the year is that it would be fore K-12 Articulation Activities, Elementary Science Kit #3, and Math PLC, although plans can change over the course of the year, so I’ll let folks know the plan for both classified and licensed staff once they are announced.
• REPEAT: Classified Self Evaluations Due 3/15 – Also not this Friday, but Friday next week, the linked Classified Self Evaluation From is due to me by Friday, March 15th. Hardcopies were put in everyone’s mailboxes last week, but emailing me an electronic copy works as well (and is actually preferred). Let me know if you have any questions.
• REPEAT: Student Teacher Celebration MONDAY – HR is hosting a Student Teacher Celebration on Monday at the Ed Center Auditorium, 4:00-5:00. Please, share the attached flyer with your student teachers and if you know you will have a student teacher this spring, they are also invited and you are welcome to join the event as well.
• REPEAT: 15th Annual Literacy Night, Thursday – The rescheduled Literacy Night is this Thursday. We’ll have sign-in sheets for each classroom and each family that signs in will get a book delivered to their classroom the following week. We’ll also continue our traditional free pizza and cookies for families before visiting classrooms. The schedule of the event will be:
5:30-6:00: Free Dinner (cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Scholastic Book FairTalk Literacy Night up to your students and get them pumped to attend!
• REPEAT: Literacy Night Staff Dinner – We’ll once again provide a meal for staff working Literacy Night, with a variety of pizzas and salads from Mezza Luna (including some of my “weird” pizzas).
• REPEAT: Walk + Roll to School Day, March 6 – Not this week, but next week is the Monthly Walk + Roll to School Day, so remind your students that they might try to walk, skateboard, bike, or use another mode of transportation to get to school this outside of riding in a car.
• Study: Building relationships improves outcomes – Students’ academic engagement and behavior improves when teachers form meaningful relationships with them, according to a study by researchers at the University of Minnesota. The study focused on the Establish-Maintain-Restore approach, and researchers shared ways teachers can develop stronger relationships with students, including spending time with them in one-on-one meetings. See this Edutopia Article for details.
• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the rest of the year:
March 4 (M)
Classified Employees Appreciation Week
PBIS Tail Feather Reward Spring Break Incentive (Disco Party)
12:20-12:45, Allan Meeting w/5th Grade Team – Staffing Input (RM9)
2:40-3:05, Allan Meeting w/KG Team – Staffing Input (RM2)
3:05-3:30, Allan Meeting w/1st Grade Team – Staffing Input (RM11)
4:00-5:30, Student Teacher Celebration (Ed Center)March 5 (T)
9:30-12:00, Allan Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
1:15, BRING Recycling Presentation to Kreider’s Class (RM20)
2:45-4:45, ESSA Meeting #3 (Conference Room)
6:00-7:00, Kindergarten Round-Up (Library)March 6 (W)
Monthly Walk & Roll to School Day
8:00, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Office)
2:40-3:05, Allan Meeting w/3rd Grade Team – Staffing Input (RM18)
3:05-3:30, Allan Meeting w/2nd Grade Team – Staffing Input (RM22)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Committee – SKIPPING
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)March 7 (H)
Licensed Interventionists (Title & SPED) PLC
2:40-3:10, Allan Meeting w/4th Grade Team – Staffing Input (RM26)
4:00-6:00, Allan to TalentEd Rubric Committee (Ed Center)
5:00-6:00, 5th Grade Parent Info – Human Growth & Development (Conference Room)
5:00-5:30, Staff Literacy Night Dinner (Staff Room)
5:00-8:00, Literacy Night5:30-6:00: Free Dinner (cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Scholastic Book FairMarch 8 (F)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
9:30-10:00, 2/3 Music Performance (Gym)
1:30-1:55, Allan Meeting w/Specialists (SPED, ELD, Title, PE, Music, etc.) – Staffing Input (RM10)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – Reading PM/Math PLC (Library)
4:00-5:00, Allan to Title 1 Budget Meeting (Ed Center)March 9 (SA)
9:45, OBOB Lane County Regional Tournament (Thurston High School?)March 10 (SU)
Daylight Saving Time – Spring ForwardMarch 11 (M)
PBIS Tail Feather Reward Spring Break Incentive Continues (Disco Party)March 12 (T)
8:30-12:00, Allan to All Admin & Elem Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Erin’s Room, RM22)
4:30-8:00, 4J First Aid Class (Library)March 13 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Rainbow DayMarch 14 (H)
Staffing Plans Due to HRMarch 15 (F)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day
Classified Self Evaluations Due
Welcome back after your unplanned pre-spring break break!
Allan
