Week of October 9, 2017
Indigenous People’s Day is Monday, October 9.
Dear Shining Star Staff,
Well, last week was pretty great! I thing we showed so much pride in our new space. It was thrilling to see so many staff present at the grand opening. Our community deserves such a beautiful place and our kids truly seem to be thriving in these new learning environments.
Here are the main items for the week:
Safety Week Schedule:
Monday- Fire Drill at 12:00 PM
Tuesday- Earthquake Drill at 12:00 PM
Wednesday- Room Clear Practice- on your own schedule.
Thursday- Bus Safety Video – on your own schedule.
NO LOCKDOWN TRAINING UNTIL NOVEMBER
See email for procedures.
Library begins this week: – It took us a while but we have got it running. Pilar is ready to have students come in to check out books this week. Here is the library permission slip. Please make sure it is signed by parents before checking out books.
Leadership Plan and October 18th Staff Meeting, 2:00-3:00 – The October 18th Staff meeting will be focused on the Leadership Plan.We want our new leadership plan to be built using more staff input from scratch to reflect current staff and their priorities. We will do this on October 18 at a full staff meeting. Please arrive on time.
- Leadership Plan Discussion (30)
- LearnZillion updates (10)
- PBIS/GOTG updates (5)
- Choosing a science teacher leader (5)
ALICE Training for new employees: ( Required Classified and Administrators, Optional for Teachers)
| Interactive ALICE Training with Eugene Police Department- Registration Required |
| When: October 13, 2017 08:30- 11:30 am Where: Churchill High School Who: Required for all untrained 4J Classified Staff and all untrained 4J Building Administrators Optional Training for 4J Licensed Staff (non contract day-PD units available) What: Introduction to ALICE Protocol (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) Opportunity to participate in mock intruder drills. |
• Teacher Inservice Day: There is no School on Friday, October 13. Classified staff have a work day. If you have some time banked in compensation. Please fill out a comp form with Maricarmen this week to take that day off and communicate directly with me to get any approval in writing.
• Talking With Books: The upcoming Title 1 event called “Talking with Books” will be from 6-8pm on October 25. This teaches comprehension skills and early literacy strategies. We need helpers to work this event to teach kinder and 1st grade families reading strategies. The UO CTL program is also supporting this event. See Karen Ramirez Gutierrez if you want to help out.
Churchill Know Your Rights Session is October 26th
•Produce Distribution Day will be Friday, October 27- Produce: This a Fresh Produce Pick Up day for families from 3:00- 5:30. It is open to all 4j families but is advertised in the North Region.
• October 20th is our First Academy Day designated for El Camino del Rio. There is no school. All classified EA’s and teachers are required to attend if you work with students in any part of your day. The focus will be on Math Number Talks and English Language Learners. Reid Sheppard and Lily Gold will be there to help us through learning from 8:00- 2:00 PM. 2:00-4:00 PM will be planning time.
•Dia de Los Muertos – It will be on November 1st 6-8. Please work with Aline to volunteer. She is the coordinator. Sign-up in the staff lounge. Altar for the main platform in the Gym. Alexis will bring it to school. El Día De Los Muertos Volunteers are needed. Alicia Longoria will share a short article on the cultural aspects of the DDLM celebration. Please share it with your families in mid-October.
•Fall Conference Scheduling: Jaime Jones will be arranging for Fall Conferences. Conferences are on November 20 and 21. November 22 will be a compensation day. Then, it is Thanksgiving! Jaime will be using the same format as Megan used in previous years. Jaime will provide instructions for this via email in the coming week. There will be an online and paper sign up format again.
•Staff Climate and a need for Regular Grade Level Meetings – There are several reports from teachers seeking more support from their grade level peers. Some are worried they do not have enough time to communicate with their colleagues. The PLT team really felt that we need regular PLC meetings. They expressed that they need more grade-level team time with collaboration. Cross-grade support with a teaching partner on your own schedule. Grade levels, establish regular times to meet and report these times to the office to put on the Zimbra calendar.
The expectations from the principal are below:
RESPONSIBILITIES OF GRADE LEVEL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES
The Grade Level PLC is responsible to the principal. The Grade Level PLC is in charge of planning, instruction, and formative assessment at that level. All Grade Level PLCs will have the following duties and responsibilities:
Assess and evaluate needs of the grade level in terms of staffing, materials, equipment and other resources
Conduct periodic and planned grade level meetings, focused on student learning and instruction.
Share email minutes from meeting to principal and team.
An agenda is a best practice for PLC time.
Serve as liaison between administration and teachers.
Monitor progress of program goals and objectives
Represent faculty as necessary at various functions
Meet two Wednesdays per month and another 2 designated times decided by the team.
Planning field trips should be a very minor proportion of time used in this committee.
Discussing student data, AIM4S3, LearnZillion, Science Kits, Maravillas, Tier Two Instruction, Inclusionary practices are all relevant collaborative conversations for PLC time.
Specialists should use scheduled PLC time to communicate with grade level teams when possible.
•Halloween Rules on Parties and Expectations:
Individual teachers will determine if Halloween parties will take place in their classrooms. Please consider families religious identities before deciding on a party. If teachers permit costumes during Halloween, the following dress code will be enforced, as it pertains to costumes:
Costumes must be easy to put on and may not be worn before 1:00 PM. They must be easily put on in 5 minutes. So, 1:00 PM to 2:40 is when parties may occur and costumes put on.
NO costumes appropriating another person’s culture or ethnic identity.
NO weapons
NO weapon-like props
NO masks.
All student faces must be recognizable.
NO especially scary or gory costumes
Alternative activities for families who do not celebrate will be provided in the library. These activities include board games and other fun interactive activities.
No students wearing costumes will be in the library.
All families who request to have their child not attend from school will have excused absence recorded after 1:00 PM.
Parents and guardians are invited to attend parties.
•PBIS transitions and routines communication– Please do not tell supervisors how to change routines. Communicate directly with the Nancy or Joel if you have a suggestion. Many have great ideas on improvement, but it confuses our staff when supervisors get mixed messages. Please do not tell playground/cafeteria supervisors a change you want. Communicate directly to me or send an email to myself and Nancy and we will discuss in the PBIS meeting this Wednesday and in future PBIS meetings.
•PLT Notes Shared Weekly: Some have complained that they do not know enough about what is happening in PLT. From now on the shared Google Doc will be pasted in an email every Friday before 4:00 PM.
• Licensed Staff Sub Folders – Most all classified staff have tuned in their sub folders to the office, but we’re still waiting on a number of licensed staff member sub folders. If you haven’t completed and turned yours in to Maricarmen, please do so by the end of this week. Linked here is HR’s recommended list of Guest Teacher Folder Content.
• AESOP Job Note for Classified Subs – Classified staff, please enter your job title into the “Notes to Substitute” section of AESOP when you put in for a sub. AESOP is not good at giving subs a clear idea of what jobs they are picking up and this helps clarify.
• Classified Comp Time – Overtime and Compensatory “Comp” Time must have prior, written approval from a supervisor, which is most easily done by emailing me before to the date(s) you’re planning to accumulate comp time. Some additional notes regarding comp time:
• Overtime or Compensatory (comp) time (time and a half) for any time worked in excess of 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week.
• Comp time requests must be submitted in writing (or email) prior to being accumulated.
• Only for occasional and irregular overtime work.
• Maximum of 240 hours may be accumulated.
• Must be used or paid within 26 months of earning.
Let me know if you have any questions.
• Math Updates – Linked here is an email update sent to Math Teacher Leaders, but the short version for math teachers is:
• Rekenreks – For K-2 teachers, you DO NOT have to use these but may. If you won’t be using them, please put them in your plastic tub.
• Printing Assessments – Assessments are on the grade-level pages of the 4J LearnZillion website and Jaimee will add them to the LZ Assessment Page as well.
• New Level 3 Form – Linked here is the new 4J Major Behavior Referral Form (i.e. Level 3) we’ll begin using once they are delivered sometime this week. The content of the form is pretty much the same as what’s on our current Level 3 form, but the format is fairly different.
These will be printed in triplicate, white on top (parent), pink in the middle (homeroom teacher) and yellow on bottom (office). As you can see on the form, there is a section of information that gets filled out on the second page, which does not go to the parent on the first page. Downtown is in the process of having the form translated into Spanish.
• Stop, Walk, Talk Review – I shared this last year, but below is a good video teachers can use for a class review of Stop, Walk, Talk at a Caring School Curriculum class meeting. Also, linked here is a Stop, Walk, Talk step-by-step Stop, Walk, Talk Lesson on teaching this strategy, which I believe was created by Brianna Stiller.
• Equity, Instruction and Partnerships Website – The 4J Office of Equity, Instruction and Partnership has a new website! The purpose of the website is to provide teachers, staff and administrators with community and district events, family resources, free/low cost professional growth opportunities in our area, and links to interpretation services and an application form (to a very small pot of money from the Equity, Instruction and Partnerships’) for student enrichment opportunities in our area (for bus, materials…). Dr. Karen Pérez-Da Silva said to let her know if there are articles, video, film, event, etc. that you recommend for the website, so feel free to email me anything you think should be posted to the website and I will forward it on. The website will be updated bi-monthly so please bookmark it for future reference.
• UO The International Cultural Service Program Presentations – The International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) is now open for 2017-18. ICSP provides free presentations and classroom visits by specially trained international UO students. They can give cultural presentations, participate in panel discussions, and introduce activities from cooking, song, dance, and crafts, to martial arts, yoga, traditional sports, and storytelling. An updated ICSP Brochure is coming soon, but for an up to date list of available ICSP students, please visit the International Cultural Service Program website (or this link to request visits) or watch is video to see them in action.
• Classroomscreen.com – A teacher from the Netherlands made a simple tool with all their favorite digiboard widgets. They couldn’t find such a thing, so they made it it themselves. classroomscreen.com Just project the website on your board full-screen and you can:
• choose a background
• type your instructions in the textbox
• choose a work symbol
• set a timer or show the clock
• use the traffic light
• pick a random name
• do some simple math
• draw in-screen or full-screen
• generate a qr-code
• drag and drop the icons in the right place
It’s a pretty cool simple tool for interactive white boards!
•Know Your Rights Workshop-Thursday, October 26th, 6:30 p.m. Churchill Auditorium. This workshop is intended for immigrant families and support staff interested in knowing the rights of undocumented families. There will be a 30 minute presentation on the rights of immigrant families followed by a question and answer time with a local lawyer. Families will also have the opportunity to pick-up a family preparedness kit and to sign-up for a one-on-one appointment with a district employee to organize their family preparedness folder. For more information or to make an appointment contact: Marcos 541-790-5151 (at Churchill) *The office of Equity, Instruction & Inclusion will work next with the North Region Administrators to plan a follow-up to their Know Your Rights Workshop for an event to take place in Mid November or Early December. All families are welcome to the Churchill event.
Here are the upcoming events for the next two weeks:
October 9 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day- This day is an official holiday in Eugene like it is in Corvallis, Seattle, Springfield, and Portland. Find a way to celebrate in your classroom. It is no longer an official holiday recognized in Eugene for the Italian colonizer, Columbus.
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
Joel at lunch and recess.
Fire Drill at 12:00 PM
October 10 (T)
8:15-11:15, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
Joel at lunch and recess.
Earthquake Drill at 12:00 PM
Site Council Meeting from 5 to 6.
Parent Group Meeting from 6 to 7.
October 11 (W)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
Joel at lunch and recess.
Room clear practice in every classroom throughout the day.
2:00-2:45, PBIS Meeting -All Classified Attend (Office Closes)
4-5, Joel at the North Region Principal Meeting
October 12 (H)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
Joel at lunch and recess.
Bus Safety Video and Lesson done in Every classroom throughout the day.
Join the Equity Team at this showing: 3:30–5:00 p.m.
Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon?: A Hidden History-Walidah Imarisha is coming to the University of Oregon on October 12th to give a powerful talk from 3:30–5:00 p.m. in the Harrington Auditorium of the Jaqua Center.Walidah gives a very concise history of the whiteness of Oregon in an accessible and dynamic format. You can get a sense of her and her talk here:
October 13 (F)
No School — State In-Service Day
Regular Workday for Classified Staff
Non-Contract Day for Licensed Staff
8:30-11:30, ALICE Training for New Staff (Churchill HS)
October 16 (M)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
1:50-2:00, Enter assembly.
2:00-2:40- Venezuelan Trio to present music for the students. Then, dismissal.
4:00-5:30, Joel to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
October 17 (T)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
3:00-4:00, New Teacher Check In- You bring the questions. I’ll bring the snacks!
(Conference Room)
October 18 (W)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
2:00-3:00, Staff Meeting
3:00-4:00, Planning Time (Can be collaborative)
October 19 (H)
8:30-11:00, Informal Observations
12-4, LEL Training from for Erin Bucklew, new member of LEL. (Ed Center)
October 20 (F)
No School- El Camino del Rio PD Day.
Have a good week, everyone!
Joel
