Diario Camino del Río

Week of October 8, 2018

Buenos dias mis estrellas brillantes,

It’s a short, but busy week with several items of note:

• SMART Goals DUE OCT. 15 – Licensed staff need to have SMART Goals entered into TalentEd by Monday, October 15th next week. For classroom teachers, linked here are Optional SMART Goals template from SDS staff, and linked here is a Completed Sample SMART Goal with the blanks filled in for the above sample goals. Teachers are, of course, welcome to create their own goals. Non-classroom licensed staff can adapt the language of the above goals for any of your own related work, but let me know if I can be of any assistance. Most of us have met and discussed goals and I am impressed with the high quality of each of your ideas.  Please set aside time to complete these goals forms in a timely manner so you have them in place as you begin to measure your students progress.

• Día de los Muertos planning and organizing – It is time to begin planning and working on the Dia de los metros event.   Please contact Alicia Longoria if you would like to volunteer to plan and volunteer this event that will be held on November 1 from 6:00-8:00 PM. It should be a family, teacher, volunteer organized event. It is not a title 1 event this year.  We will also discuss shared responsibilities for this event at the equity meeting on November 1.

• 18-19 Leadership Plan Proposals–  Please expect an email with the full leadership proposed plan on Monday.  It will have the details we have done based on last year.  I would also like to hear other proposals for different ideas to support teacher leadership in the building. If you have a great idea, please plan on sharing it during our PLC session on Thursday morning after we work on mission/vision.

• Synergy Grade Book Training & Building Reps – More information to coming regarding a Synergy Grade Book Training connected to the new report card. Downtown is going to offer two teachers from each building to be trained – paid two hour extended contract – to attend one of three trainings. The meeting date and times are Oct. 16 (Howard), Oct. 18 (Willagillespie), Oct. 22 (Tower Room), all from 4:00-6:00. I hope someone can take this on and help train staff. It will make for a faster and more efficient grading experience in February.

• REPEAT – Wednesday: Walk + Roll to School Day – Remind your students that Wednesday is Walk + Roll to School Day, where they are encouraged to walk, skateboard, bike, scooter, or use another non-motorized mode of transportation to get to school. There will also be a “Walking School Bus” where regular ed buses will park at RX Medical Center on River Road. Come and help out. Contact Sarah Mazze if you want to help go from the RX center with students.

Thursday: LICENSED &  PD Day– Licensed staff will meet 8:00-12:00 in the library for Fall Benchmarking, PLC Mission/Vision Work, and Grade Level Math Planning Time. Title & SPED staff are excused from the PLC and Math activities to attend an “Interventionists PLC” 2:00-4:00 at Chavez. 

• REPEAT – Friday: State In-Service Day – Friday is a regular work day for administrators and classified staff. For classified staff, this is a good day to use any accumulated Trade Time, such as from working at Dia de Los Muertos or staying late to keep students safe at dismissal. Remember to submit your comp form to my clip.

• Aesop & Absences Responsibility – For both classified and licensed staff, it is your responsibility to enter your absences and verify their information in Aesop is correct. MariCarmen’s responsibility is vacancies. It is the employee responsibility to enter absences. Let me know if any of you need a quick refresher on how to use the system.

• BEST and Dreambox – We will be using Dreambox at BEST.  I am having a planning meeting with Alexis, Pilar and Molly about this on Monday and will share more details next week.

• World Book Replacements – Irecently found out that 4J is cancelling the the district subscription to World Book Online. However, Justin Huntley sent principals a list of World Book Online Replacements for educational videos and research that are either free or that 4J continues to maintain a subscription. Let me know if you want any of these links added to your grade level’s Links for Learners page on the El Camino del Rio website (which Peggy recently updated and revamped for us).

• How Creative Teachers Are Using Microphones to Rock Their Instruction – For most kids, using a microphone in class is about as fun as it gets. But there are plenty of other benefits, too. Microphones can help promote language articulation, develop public speaking skills, and provide an incentive for active participation. Here are 15 fun ways teachers are using microphones in the classroom.

 

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