Week of February 23
Did you know that last Saturday was International Mother Language Day? This is an event sponsored by UNESCO each year.
What is ahead?
February 23 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week #2
10:30-11:00, Joel in the Design Debrief with Go to Meeting (Joel’s office)
12:00-2:45, Joel to Research for Better Teaching Training (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45, Site Council Meeting at River Road
February 24 (T)
7:40,3rd Grade Student Support Meeting (Jennifer’s Office)
1:00-2:00, School Tour
2:45-4:45, Staff Meeting- 2 hours
February 25 (W)
1:45-2:45, Grade Level Collaboration (Library) & Classified Supervision Meeting (conference room.)
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
5:30-6:30, Evening School Choice Event
February 26 (H)
8:30-9:30, School Tour
3:00-5:00, Design Committee
4:30-6:30, Equity Committee
February 27 (F)
School Choice Application Deadline
4:00-Happy Hour at Tio Pepe’s
March 2 (M)
Dr. Seuss Week Begins
Pajama Day
1:30-3:00, Immersion Principals Meeting
March 3 (T)
Crazy Hair Day
2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting
March 4 (W)
Hat Day
1:45-2:45, Grade Level Collaboration Meeting (in Library)
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
4:00-5:00, North Region Principal Meeting
6:00-8:00, Dr. Seuss Night
March 5 (H)
Crazy Socks Day
4:00-6:00, Equity Committee
March 6 (F)
Favorite Book Character Day
3:30-5:30, Superintendent Interviews for Equity Committee
Looking way ahead: There are 16 school weeks left in the year. Here are some of the biggest events at our school for the rest of the year.
March 12 CLLAS Latino Conference at UO
March 13 Joint PD Training on HMH Senderos Curriculum with BV
March 23-27, Spring Break Week
March 30-April 3, STAMP Assessment Given (3 and 5)
April 6,7,8,9- Caring For Kids Trainings- A variety all week.
April 16, Kinder Orientation Night
April 29, La Fiesta del Niño
May 1 District Professional Development Day-Possible Equity Training or Oral Proficiency Assessment Training
May 1 Fiesta Event at Camino del Rio
May 6 Math Night
May 14 and 15, 5th Grade goes to Outdoor School
May 11- May 21, New OAKS Assessments in 3,4,5
May 22, Final Camino del Rio PD Day- Curriculum Mapping and Possible Math Training
May 25, Memorial Day, No School
June 4, Talent Show
June 5, Grading Day
June 10, 5th Grade Promotion
June 11, Field Day
June 12, Grading Day and End of Contract Year
June 12,13- OABE Conference in North Clackamas School District (Portland Area)
June 15 & 16, Priority School Funded Curriculum Mapping Days (Outside of the contract year)
June 23,24,25,26,27, CFEE Summer Workshop
June 29, 30,31, ATDLE Conference in Palm Springs
What should you know about?
Here are some items of note for the week:
• School Choice Visitation Week – Just a reminder that this week is the second School Choice Visitation Week. We do not have many families signed up for tours, but don’t be surprised if you see me walking visitors around the building and into classrooms this week.
• 2015-2016 Staffing Timeline – Principals will receive next year’s staffing Monday, March 9th and building staffing plans will likely be due the day before spring break. Once I get our staffing allocations, I’ll share the numbers with everyone that same day. I’ll hold a Staff Meeting on Thursday, March 10th at 2:45 in the library for staff to give input on the different staffing scenarios, which I’ll email out ahead of time. After staff have had a chance to reflect on the different plans, we’ll hold an additional PLT Staff Meeting on Tuesday, March 17th at 2:45 in the library which all can attend. I will then submit a final plan to all staff for final recommendations via email.
The preliminary enrollment projections have us projected for more students than we were staffed for this year, which should mean we’ll see an increase in staffing next year as long as the staffing ratio stays the same.
• Spring Break Activity/Lunch Program – Nutrition Services setting up a spring break lunch program for area students, ages 2 – 18, Monday through Friday over the break. The meals will be served from 12:00-1:00 and would be served out of the Howard cafeteria to Camino del Rio and Howard kids. The one catch for the state grant is that an “activity” needs to be planned each day, though that activity can be as simple as coloring books, showing a video, singing songs, open gym or free choice on the playground. Nutrition Services also asked if there are any staff willing to donate an hour of their time to supervise and/or lead one of the activities. They are casting a pretty wide net for volunteers, so please don’t feel any obligation to volunteer unless you truly want to. I’m pretty sure Nutrition Services will be able to find folks to get this covered.
• Technology Skills Practice for Smarter Balanced (and practice test) – This is a repeat from earlier in the year, but mentioned at the 3/4/5 Smarter Balanced Assessment training, the Vacaville School District in California has created a site for teachers to support students becoming proficient in using the keyboard and mouse/track-pad/touchscreen for the tasks they will be asked of by the Smarter Balanced assessment (highlighting, clicking and dragging, etc.). It’s organized by grade level and has direct links activities for each of the skill areas. Also remember that the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment (which are closer to the real thing than are the practice tests and which in theory provide results that can be used to guide instruction) are available through the OAKS Secure Browser. And here’s the new link to the OAKS Portal.
• New Title 1 EA, Welcome Maria (Pilar) Zentz!, As many of you know, we have had an open position in the Title 1 classroom. Last week and before we interviewed several bilingual candidates for Jame’s old position. I am very excited to announce that we found an excellent candidate. Maria (Pilar) Zentz will begin as our new EA next week. Maria has worked for interpretation and translation services for the last three years. She has become one of the most highly sought after interpreters in the district. Maria is very excited to join our staff and begin to teach and supervise students in our classroom.
• New Associate Director of Technology – Kim Ketterer has accepted the position of Associate Director of the Technology Department. As you know, Kim has been serving our district and students since 1987, most recently as the Interim Director of Technology. Another downtown staffing change of note, Simone Sangster, the Director of Financial Services has accepted a job in Bellingham, WA and will be moving on at the end of April. Andrea Belz will be interim head of Financial Services and retired Financial Services Director Hillary Kittleson will be coming back to help provide support.
• Youth talking about micro aggressions – “Oh, you’re so pretty for a black girl.” “Do you speak good English?” Though they might be unintentional, these offensive phrases – called micro-aggressions – are heard all too often in everyday conversation. And while they’re frequently said in a joking way, the meaning of those words can have lasting negative effects. In a video created by SheKnows, a group of teen girls explain how micro-aggressions can be hurtful to their self-esteem. “Because they’re micro, because they’re very subtle — they’re small — you feel like you don’t have a reason to be upset,” says one girl. “We try to just use jokes to make this less awkward, ease social experiences,” adds another. “But… you need to aware of what you’re saying and who you’re speaking to.”
Site Council Agenda for Monday, February 23
Family Handbook Feedback
CAP Update
Technology Update
Curriculum Update
Staffing Update
Staff Meeting Agenda on Tuesday, February 24
Technology Agreements- Decide
PBIS Booster and Focus For Spring- Inform
HM Journeys, Senderos, Maravillas Discussion- Inform
Family Handbook Updates and Homework Conversation- Decide
STAMP and Formative Oral Language Assessment- Discuss and Inform
Staffing Update and Survey to be done in Meeting
That’s it for this week. Have an excellent week!
Best wishes, Joel
Equity, SBAC or "New Oaks", Staffing, Technology Integration, Title 1, Two Way Immersion, Uncategorized | Comment (0)Week of February 16
What’s coming up?
February 16 (M)
NO SCHOOL – Presidents’ DayFebruary 17 (T)
8:00-12:00, SST Meeting ( Library)
12:00-1:00, Meeting with Tasha Katsuda on Title budget and CAP. (Conference Room)
1:00-1:30, Meeting with parents about truancy. (Joel’s Office)
1:30-2:00 -Meeting with parent about behavior. (Joel’s Office)
2:45-4:45, PLT Meeting (Work session on Family Handbook)
February 18 (W)
Exclusion Day10:00-11:15, Joel to formal observation
1:45-2:45, PBIS Supervision Meeting (Joel will review supervision practices.) This is a paid meeting.
6:00-7:00, 5th Grade Kelly Transition Information Meeting ( 5th grade Teachers Compensated for attendance)
February 19 (H)10:00-11:30- Joel to formal observation (classroom)
3:00-5:00- Design Committee Meeting (Library)
4:30-5:30-Best Tour of River Road with Superintendent and donors.
February 20 (F)Regular Day
February 23 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week #210:30-11:00, Joel in the Design Debrief with Go to Meeting (Joel’s office)
12:00-3:30, Joel to Research for Better Teaching Training (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)2:45-3:45, Site Council Meeting at River Road
February 24 (T)
1:00-2:00, School Tour
2:45-4:45, Staff Meeting- 2 hours ( Technology focus, PBIS, and Family Handbook Agreements)
February 25 (W)1:45-2:45, Grade Level Collaboration
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
2:00-5:00, Joel at HR Recruitment Review Session
5:30-6:30, Evening School Choice Event
February 26 (H)8:30-9:30, School Tour
3:00-5:00, Design Committee
4:30-6:30, Equity Committee
February 27 (F)
School Choice Application Deadline4:00- -Happy Hour at Tio Pepe’s
Here are some items of note for the week.
- February Design Committee Meeting Focus- We are focusing on these areas:
- Front entrance court and lobby
- Cafeteria and café patio
- Commons, and outdoor learning courtyards.
- Parking lot and bus area relationship.
- In addition, there will be time spent discussing the indoor outdoor relationships throughout the building.
- How a number line can help ease anxiety about fractions – This EdWeek article describes how number lines may be a better way to teach fractions, and how more teachers are pinning numbers to clotheslines to demonstrate fractions rather than divvying pizzas and fruit pies.
- What to Say About “That’s So Gay” – When this elementary school teacher heard students saying, “That’s so gay!” she had to think carefully about whether her interventions promoted or hindered an inclusive classroom culture. This Teaching Tolerance article discusses how asking “Why would you choose that word?” or “Tell me why you think being gay is an insult” or “How do you think that would sound to a gay person?” went a lot further than just shutting down the conversation.
- Study explores role of teacher bias in STEM gender gap – This NYTimes article explores how elementary school teachers’ biases can discourage girls from math and science. A new study points to the influence of teachers’ unconscious biases, but it also highlights how powerful a little encouragement can be.
- News from the EERC Literacy List – Here’s the February Newsletter from the Emerald Empire Reading Council. This month’s newsletter includes a writing contest for 3rd-5th graders, professional development opportunities, grant opportunities and other items. If you’d like more information, visit their (1990s style) website.
- Proposed Math Placement Guidelines – Principals were sent the attached draft district Math Placement Guidelines to address parent requests for a student to move up a grade level in their math instruction. Pages 3-6 is the proposed elementary process. I think the policy looks pretty good and it’s definitely a good idea for 4J to have a uniform policy. Although this is not an issue that comes up very often at our school, let me know if you have any thoughts on the draft policy that you’d like me to pass along.
Have an excellent week everyone!
Joel
Week of February 9
What’s Coming Up?
February 9 (M)
Report Cards Sent Home
8:45-10:00, Joel in a Formal Observation
10:30, Design Debrief Meeting
1:30-2:30, Joel to Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
7:00-8:30, Joel to North Region 4J Parent Information Night: Smarter Balanced Assessment (NEHS)
February 10 (T)
Regular Day
8:00-9:00, Joel at the dentist.
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting
February 11 (W)
1:45-2:45, PLC Time
3:45-4:45, TLT Meeting
February 12 (H)
8:00-2:30, Data Team Meeting
2:00-3:30, Joel at Talent Ed/ Teacher Evaluation update.
3:00-5:00, Design Meeting
February 13 (F)
Camino del Rio PD/Planning Day – No School
8:00-12:00, Training with Edward Olivos in the morning on Assessment ( All instructional staff are encouraged to attend. This PD is for licensed and classified instructional staff.)
12:00-4:00, Planning Time
6:00-8:00+, Valentine’s Day Family Dance Party at Camino del Rio
February 16 (M)
NO SCHOOL – Presidents’ Day
February 17 (T)
8:00-12:00, SST in the Library
2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting (Conference Room)
February 18 (W)
Exclusion Day
1:45-2:45, Math PLC Time (Library)
2:45-3:45, PBIS Meeting in Room 8 Classified staff are invited to come. (will be compensated)
February 19 (H)
Regular day
February 20 (F)
Regular day
What’s going on?
Dear staff,
The OALA Winter Conference was a very inspirational experience for me. The administrator’s stories and shared experiences gave me very valuable insight into the work we do every day. Dr. Robyn Duran shared her perspective on equity in schools from a very scholarly yet real perspective. The power of her speech reminded me of how important the student’s story/ personal journey is in our work. My biggest take away was that we can intervene and insert a narrative to shift each of our students’ journey. The difference you make in one child’s life with a message of inspiration can and will make a difference. I will share more of Dr. Duran’s ideas this Friday before we meet with Audrey Lucero and Edward Olivos.
•Staff Meeting Agenda for February 10th
Agenda:
1. Morning Meeting Activity- Led by Joel
2. CAP Update and PLT report- Joel and Karen
3. Decision making grid – discuss and vote- Joel presents and staff decides
4. PBIS Staff Review for Winter and hat decision.- Piper and Joel
•Opinion Article on bilingualism:
Bilingual students Are Economic Gold– Here is a great opinion piece from the San Antonio newspaper. I think the economic factor is one of the most convincing reasons for our students to be in our program regardless of the home language.
• State Testing Exemption (“opt out”) Process, Form and Information – This is more for 3/4/5 teachers, but if a parent requests to opt out of testing or asks for information about opting out of state tests, you can send them to me or you can give them a hard copy or direct them to the opt out FAQ and form on the district website. This form also applies to the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, ELPA, PSAT and ACT,. Here are a few key elements for you to know about this process.
Opt-out option:
• Parents may request an exemption from state required testing to accommodate either:
– their student’s IDEA or Section 504 identified disability or
– their student’s sincerely held religious beliefs.Process:
• To request an exemption, complete the district request form.
• Submit it to the superintendent’s office by March 30 or 2 weeks before the test date, whichever is earlier.
• The district will respond in writing.
Downtown will notify schools when they receive any opt out requests. If a parent asks about the process refer them to the above website.
• Title 1 Newsletter – Here is the latest district level Title 1 Newsletter that went out to all Title 1 Coordinators and principals. This month’s issue is again mostly coordinator specific information and tasks, but there is a nice video that tries to answer the questions: How can student interest and creativity be leveraged to spark growth and achievement? It’s a follow-up story to the “Caine’s Arcade” story that went viral a while ago.
• Academy Day PD/Planning Topics- (All instructional staff are expected to attend)
– discussing strengths and challenges of current assessment tools they
are using
– identifying areas/skills they are not currently assessing but would
like to
– ways to identify a child’s ZPD in a given concept or language
component
– ways to meet the needs of individual and small groups of children at
different levels
– use of ELD and SLD standards to guide instruction and assessment
– oral language assessment (here I could provide an overview of my
research since I’ll be assessing K,1,2 kids in the spring)
• Best Children’s Books of the Year – Dan Santat’s The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend won the 2015 Caldecott Medal for the best American picture book for kids. Here are a few of the American Library Association’s other big awards this year for children’s books:
• Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover (John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature)
• Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming (Coretta Scott King award for African-American author and illustrator)
• Gayle E. Pitman and Kristyna Litten’s This Day In June (Stonewall Book Award for book relating to the GLBT experience)
Here’s the whole list of honorees.
Thought some of you might enjoy this…..
Have a good week and look forward to that three day weekend!
Joel
Uncategorized | Comment (0)Week of February 2
What’s Ahead?
Langston Hughes, African American Poet (Born February 1, 1902)
February 2 (M)
Second Semester Begins
National School Counseling Week
7:30-8:00, Pre conference with teacher
8:30-9:45, Joel in Formal Observation
2:45-3:45- Joel and Jaime work on 504/TAG Writing with Synergy
February 3 (T)
8:30, Joel at HR Training in hiring.
10:00-12:00, Joel at UO as guest in Roscoe Caron’s Class on Poverty in Schools
12:30- Joel back to our building.
1:00, Earthquake and Evacuation Drill (Please review with students beforehand.)
2:00, Parent Advisory Board Meeting
2:45-4:45, PLT Meeting- Agenda Topics: Smarter Balanced, HM Materials, Decision Making Model, Parent Handbook Tasks, Math PD Proposal
February 4 (W)
Kevin Boling does admin support 8-12.
8:15-10:00, Joel doing pre-conference and formal observation of teacher.
1:45-2:45, PLC time with all teachers of grade level in the library. Remember to fill out your PLC form to document work on math. PLC Recording Form-Please complete this week.
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)
February 5 (H)
8:00- Early Learning Committee (Room 9)
2:50- Joel in pre-conference with teacher
February 6 (F)
8:00, Joel meeting with budget committee member, Evangelina Sundgrenz (Joel’s Office)
11:00, Joel to meeting with Kyle Ennis and Sara Green about the Stamp test.
4:00-6:30, Eugene Wine Cellars Party for River Road Staff! Please bring a snack, cheese, or something yummy! I’ll me bringing some of my favorite salami pre-sliced.
255 Madison Street, Eugene, OR 97402 (541) 342-2600
February 7 (S)
8:00-3:00, Joel, Jennifer, and Karen to the OALA Conference (University of Oregon)
February 9 (M)
Report Cards Sent Home
8:45-10:00, Joel in a Formal Observation
10:30, Design Debrief Meeting
1:30-2:30, Joel to Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
7:00-8:30, Joel to North Region 4J Parent Information Night: Smarter Balanced Assessment (NEHS)
February 10 (T)
Regular Day
8:00-9:00, Joel at the dentist.
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting
February 11 (W)
1:45-2:45, PLC Time
3:45-4:45, TLT Meeting
February 12 (H)
8:00-2:30, Data Team Meeting
2:00-3:30, Joel at Talent Ed/ Teacher Evaluation update.
3:00-5:00, Design Meeting
February 13 (F)
Camino del Rio PD/Planning Day – No School
8:00-12:00, Training with Edward Olivos in the morning on Assessment, All instructional staff are encouraged to attend. This PD is for licensed and classified instructional staff.
12:00-4:00, Planning Time
Hi All,
I have so much gratitude to share this week. Firstly, this week is National School Counseling Week. I think we all know how amazing Ms. Jennifer is! Jennifer does amazing work with children, their families, and our staff. Her skills in creating and providing intensive behavior supports are exemplary. In addition, I see her as a very strong leader for social justice in our school and district. Her participation on the District Equity Action Team is so invaluable to students in our school.
Secondly, we have two staff members leaving us this week. Mr. 80 and Ms. Kelly will be greatly missed. The first semester was a truly wonderful experience for all of our students. Your teamwork across disciplines has been wonderful to watch. Thank you Terry and David for your hard work and passion for teaching.
My favorite immersion video of the week:
Notice the level of student engagement and the excellent sheltering techniques these teachers use. It’s inspirational!
• BLACK History Month- Four Black History Month Must-Haves – With Black History Month upon us, here is a Teaching Tolerance post that lists four things that will not only highlight black history but will strengthen those critical analysis skills that the Common Core State Standards highlight.
1. Begin with student voice and experience.
2. Educate students about the socio-political context.
3. Highlight the role other communities of color play in black history.
4. Introduce complex descriptions of key figures in history.
Here are two other sites worth going to for resources:
Smithsonian African American History Resources
NEA Black History Month Lesson Plans
• EAST Request: Half Day Assignments – At HR’s monthly meeting with E.A.S.T. (the substitute teacher union) they was asked about whether the district supports Guest Teachers taking two-half day assignments. HR responded with a clear and resounding “yes”. There are fewer unfilled licensed absences but unfortunately it still happens and this is something that would reduce how often this happens. HR has encouraged guest teachers to take two-half day assignments if they can be coordinated well together and asked schools to support guest teachers in their willingness to accept two assignments in one day. I did clarify with HR that a few minutes late between jobs is okay, but subs are not to take an 8:00-12:00 job at one school and an 11:30-3:30 job at another.
• Effectiveness & Growth Cycle Contract Year 3 – The district added the task of formal observation to contract year three TalentEd task lists. It turns out the state the state changed what they are requiring of 4J and that this was supposed to have been there since the start of the school year. So for those of you on Contract Year 3, this year of the cycle is pretty much the same as Year 1, with one formal observation and 3 informal observations.
• HM Journeys Updates & Training, March 13th – Most of the new HM Journeys materials will be delivered before Spring Break. The staff still needs to discuss how to use these materials. Every school in the district received them. In December, PLT discussed the opportunity to get these materials and we decided to jump on it. Now that HM schools have most all of their materials, there will be a PD session for teachers with the Houghton Mifflin trainers on the reinstated March 13th Professional Development/Planning day. Training for grades K-2 will be from 8:00-11:00 and the training for grades 3-5 will be from 12:00-3:00. They will be going over all the hard copy materials as well as getting everyone online access to the digital materials.
In addition, this is a conflict for us right now.I do not know if we will be able to attend this HM session.
This is because Maddie Ahearn and Reid Sheppard will be continuing Math Common Core training with us on March 13th. We will probably have to participate in the HM training at a later date. The Math training is something I have been trying to fit in for months and it directly relates to our CAP.
• Smarter Balanced Update– Last week, Karen and I went to be trained on Smarter Balanced. Soon, we will have access to interim assessments for this new tool. It will help us to help our students understand how the system works and to give them a chance to see the level of complexity of the tasks. In order to use these interim assessments, we will need all all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers are trained as test administrators. There are many similarities to the OAKS interface that many of you used last year. There are also many new regulations and changes to how accommodations re applied. We will let you know more details on this very soon and it will also be discussed in PLT this week.
• Design Committee now moving to every other week.– The design committee meetings are slowing down a little. They will begin to meet every two weeks throughout the Spring. This will be a welcome relief as I try to catch up on mid term goals meetings and observation pre- and post conferences.
• Camino del Rio joining the Attendance Support Pilot – Kevin Boling met with us last Friday to help explain the attendance support system. Starting this week, the office will begin a systematic attendance system to improve our students overall attendance. We will be among 4 other schools who began this pilot in October. My hope is that with an improvement in attendance and a reduction of chronic attendance problems we will be able to increase our students overall literacy skills in both languages.
• Synergy Attendance Reminder from CIS (Repeat from last week) –We received an email from CIS asking us to remind teachers to mark student attendance every day for both AM and PM sessions. If you are using the “Take Attendance by List” option in Synergy instead of the seating chart option, you are most likely correctly marking both the AM and PM absences. Please see the above directions if you are not using the list view option to begin using this attendance screen. Edna or Yasmin will adjust attendance for those students who arrive late after 8:00 and for students who leave early. For students who arrive tardy before 8:00, teachers should only mark the tardy for AM and not PM. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like any help with this.
• OALA Conference February 7th– Next weekend Karen, Jenifer and myself will be at the OALA Conference. There are some truly dynamic speakers that will be there. We are looking forward to it and will share back with staff some nuggets of experiences at the next staff meeting on February 10th.
• Spanish Spelling Bee Competition in April –(I got no takers two weeks ago. Could the Fourth or Fifth grade team check in with me about this opportunity?) Here is an opportunity I do not want to pass up! This Spring there will be a Spelling Bee up in Forest Grove. Perla Rodríguez, principal extraordinaire, is the organizer. This is a great opportunity for us to show Eugene and Oregon how well our students know Spanish and to excite our students that the Spanish language is a special talent and skill. A professor friend of mine named David Wacks also shares the enthusiasm for Spanish language. He teaches medieval Spanish and Sephardic literature at University of Oregon. David has helped us enlist a university student who would like to help us coach some 4th and 5th graders to go to the Spanish Spelling Bee! Hannah Golden is the student’s name. She will be able to meet with the students after school once a week to practice for the competition. I am happy to cover the registration costs. Now all we need are the participants! 4th and 5th grade teachers, can I count on you to enlist your students in this competition?
• SEHS Principal Opening– The South Eugene Principalship is open now. The deadline to apply was extended to Friday February 6th. Do you know an administrator who you think should be in that position? If you do, encourage them to apply. I am hoping to have a strong advocate for equity and excellence and a new voice for social justice in the district and for the South Region.
• Start getting rid of stuff!– Are you the kind of teacher who keeps hold of things for many many years? Not that that is a bad thing, but this will be incompatible with a move into our new building. The new building will have limited space for storage of materials. And given that we are less than 16 months away from moving to our new home, I encourage you to to take a good hard look at the materials in your classrooms. Now is the time to weed your unused materials so you are not overwhelmed. As a general rule when I was a teacher, if I had not used it for 5 years, it was passed on to another teacher or recycled. I encourage you to begin this process now so you will not be completely overwhelmed on moving day.
2nd Semester Kinder Breakfast– Beginning this week, we will be moving the kinders to have breakfast in the cafeteria Instead of classrooms. This aligns with more with the EEA CBA for teachers to allow for adequate prep time. I am hopeful that with Craig and the morning supervisors support, we will be able to make a strong start for these students becoming more accustomed to breakfast with the big group. Thank you Bucklew, Tracy, Craig and Cathy for helping brainstorm ideas to make this work.
Have a great week, everyone!
Joel
African American History, Attendance, Common Core Taining, Equity, Office Procedures, Parent Involvement, SBAC or "New Oaks", Staff Meeting Agenda, Teacher Evaluation/ Observations, Technology Integration, Two Way Immersion, Uncategorized | Comment (0)