Week of November 28
Hello Shining Stars,
I hope you had a restful break.
Important Announcements and Resources
- Title IIA Peer Observations THIS WEEK: Each teacher in our building has been allocated sub days to self examine and improve his/her practice. The PLT team confirmed that we should use these funds for continuing the practice of peer observation. Our first round of peer observations will occur right after conferences. Tuesday, November 29 will be our k/1 peer observation session. Wednesday, November 30 will be our second session for 2/3. There are 1/2 day subs in the morning for each of these peer observations. Our focus will be on understanding language acquisition strategies for emerging bilinguals regardless of the language. Chapter 4 of Teaching for Biliteracy is where we are getting inspiration for these peer observations. We will be looking for and learning about the differences between scaffolding and sheltering strategies in the classroom. There will be time for reflection for each group to reflect on their practices and share learning with each other. Two teachers will be asked to teach by Joel from each group. The subs will be used for allowing for peer observation within each grade. Myka will pre-arrange these Title 2A substitutes for us. The 3/4/5 observations will occur before Winter Break but we have not confirmed a date yet.
- December 5th and 6th: AIM4S3 Follow Up Visit with Lisa Meyer: In early December we will be having a visit from Lisa Meyer to support teachers in their implementation of AIM4S3 in the classroom. The visit will be structured for teachers to have an hour of feedback from Lisa and consultation. We will also have a 2 hour staff meeting on the 6th focused mainly on AIM4S3 strategies for effective Spanish math instruction.
• Care Team Resources – The November Care Team Meeting has a few new community resources that are worth sharing:
• Social Service System Navigation – OFSN (Oregon Family Support Network) is a group that offers parent and caregiver respite for children with emotional, behavioral, mental and/or physical challenges, peer delivered support groups and child and youth activities, family fun events at low or no cost to families, assistance to families navigating the health care system, peer support and advocacy for children protected under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act,community connections and referrals related to mental and/or behavioral health, ongoing peer support and peer services for children experiencing mental, emotional, behavioral or physical challenges, and advocacy training and support for the family voice at local and state wide committees, boards and task forces.
• Assistance Washing Clothes – For families needing a place to wash their clothes, First Place Family Center in South Eugene and The Eugene Mission offer free laundry access. Another resource Matt did some research on in Springfied is Laundry Love, At the Holiday Coin Laundry (179 14th St, Springfield) the 2nd Monday of each month from 5pm-7pm and the last Thursday of each month from 10am-12pm, families can do their laundry for free. Laundry detergent is provided (sometimes fabric softener and dryer sheets too), but not bleach. We also have a washing machine here in the custodial area that I think I’d be willing to open up in specific cases.
• Families “Precariously Housed” – First Place Family Center has a new funding source for project looking to help families who are “precariously housed” or on wait lists to get into housing. They can help with moving expenses, deposits, and other expenses. Interested families should call Chris Stark, who they should be able to reach off their main phone number.
• Clothing Assistance – Catholic Community Services offers a Clothing Closet at their Springfield Center (1025 G Street, 97477 – corner of 10th & G Street across from the Brattain House). Both of their locations actually provide clothing, but since their Springfield Center is larger than their Eugene Center they’re able to house a full Clothing Closet. Families can come in any day for the clothing in their lobbies and can go to the Clothing Closet once a month. Right now they are offering up to 10 items per person in the household. For example, if there was a mom, dad and three children, that household could get up to 50 items free from the Clothing Closet. Hours are Monday – Saturday from 9:30am – 12:30pm. It is completely run by volunteers so their hours are somewhat limited right now. Families interested in this service would just need to check in at our front desk for a brief intake. Bags of Love is another local service where a family can give them a size and they give them clothes, hygiene products, other basic needs
• List of Social Services – Similar to the 2016 Parenting Now Resources for Families (English and Spanish) I shared last year, linked here is a very comprehensive resource guide from the Relief Nursery (PDF and DOC) that ranges from counseling, to anger management, to immigration assistance, to 19 pages more of local resources for families.
• Wrap Around Services (“Wrap”) – Wrap is for OHP/Trillium youth under 18 who have a mental health diagnosis, who are involved in at least two youth-serving systems (i.e. mental health, substance treatment, Dept. of Youth Services, Child Welfare, Developmental Disabilities, school) and experiencing difficulty meeting the youth and family needs. The Wrap facilitator supports the children and their families meet their needs and assist them in accessing services. If you’re thinking of accessing this for a family, they should complete the linked form, and let me know because I have some additional information for who to send it to.
• Elementary Math Adoption – In 14 days the math adoption team will review data collected over their seven-month adoption process and make a recommendation for next year’s math curriculum. If you have not had an opportunity to let your voice be heard yet, please do so in the next week. Check out their website for more information. Review the linked updated version of the back-to-school flyer. Provide your feedback about the 3 options the adoption team is considering via this short survey. Contact Maddy Ahearn if you have any questions.
• IEP Meeting Compensation – Many non-SSD licensed staff attend IEP meetings during planning times or outside the workday. The EEA contract allows for licensed staff to be compensated for up to four hours of additional pay. I wanted to remind teachers to track your IEP meeting times on the Non-ESS Licensed IEP Time Log (this form hasn’t updated their acronym from ESS to SSD yet), which will be accepted later this year between April 25th and June 9th. The attachment can also be found on the HR Forms section of the 4J website.
• Licensed and Classified Breaks – Principals were asked to check in with all licensed and classified staff to assure that they are getting their 30-minute duty free lunch and required breaks (see linked document). Please let me know if you are not getting your required breaks. If it is indeed not happening, I want to ensure that we fix the situation.
Teaching and Learning with Emerging Bilingual Students
Grouping students: Heterogeneous, homogeneous and random structures
Teachers have long recognized the power of grouping students together for a variety of reasons: to collaborate with each other on a project, for cooperative learning opportunities, to work with a small group of students on a particular skill and more. But how do teachers decide how to group students together, and when is a particular grouping structure best given the learning or task at hand? Read more here: article.
Schedule of events for the next two weeks:
Week of November 28
Week of December 5
Hard to believe there are only two weeks after this one until Winter Break! That is all for the week. Joel
Here is a cool thought could on public education:
