Week of September 22

Calendar of the Week Plus

“An artist is above all a human being, profoundly human to the core. If the artist can’t feel everything that humanity feels, if the artist isn’t capable of loving until he forgets himself and sacrifices himself if necessary, if he won’t put down his magic brush and head the fight against the oppressor, then he isn’t a great artist.” Diego Rivera

September 22 (M)
8:00-11:00, Joel to Skillful Teacher Co-Observation (Ed Center)
1:30-2:30, Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

September 23 (T)
Kathy Larson visit. (All day)
9:00-10:00, Data Meeting Analysis of General Trends before Data Consult Day
2:45- 4:45, Staff Meeting with PD on Effective PLC Practices
4:30-6:30, Joel to 4J Equity Committee

September 24 (W)
1:40-2:40, Grade Level Collaborative Planning Time (Library with support from Sarah, Aline, Karen and Joel)

September 25 (H)
12:30-2:30, Joel to Skillful Principal Being A Writer Training (Ed Center)
4:30-5:30 Design Committee (Library)
5:30-7:30, New School Design Public Meeting- Camino del Rio (Library)

September 26 (F)
Regular Day

September 29 (M)

8:00-11:30, Being a Writer Training for all teachers.
12:00-3:00, Principal Being a Writer Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45, September Site Council (Conference Room)

September 30 (T)
Kathy Larson Visit
Life Touch Picture Day (Gym All Day)

October 1st (W)
1:40-2:40,Collaborative Planning Time
6:00-8:00, Curriculum Night- Plan de Estudios de Noche

October 2 (H)
Joel in Portland at Coaches and Principal’s Meeting
2:45-4:45, Design Committee

October 3 (F)
Academy Day- No School
8:00-12:00, Maravillas Training with a McGraw Hill PD Consultant
12:00-4:00, Teacher Planning Time in relation to Maravillas.

October 6 (M)

2:45- 3:45, PBIS Meeting, Classified encouraged to come in exchange for an hour of comp time.

October 7 (T)

2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting

October 8 (W)

1:40-2:40, Grade Level Collaboration Time

2:45- 3:45, IPBS Meeting

October 9 (Th.)

2:45-3:45, Design Committee

October 10 (F)

No School, Statewide In-service Day- non-contract day for teachers and EA’s

This week on duty:

Inside lobby: Alexis

•  Fire Drill Practice and Details: Later this week, you will find a daily instruction packet in your box about Safety Week.  Craig and I spent some time redoing the classroom order outside.  The numbers will be repainted on Monday. This year, due to classroom changes, there will be  new order along the track lines. Please rehearse and practice lining up on the fire drill lines once or twice this week so you are familiar with the location of your line.   Inserted here is the updated fire drill map including the classroom line placements.

•  Design Committee Update: This week, there will be an evening event on Thursday, September 25th from 5:30- 7:30. You are invited to attend to see the proposals that will be posted for viewing.  We will be presenting 2 main concepts. One on the East of the Site and one on the West of the site. In general, what we are discovering is that overall costs before construction will be less if we build on the west.  There are some proposals that have been put up for us to discern that describe demolition of classroom wings or the gym before building. Our design team has discouraged these because of the costs that could be incurred.  Avoiding demolition saves funding to be put into the final building and saves disruption to our classrooms and learning.  After this week’s open meeting, the team will process the public’s feedback and we will make a final decision on the site of the new building. Here is the presentation from last Thursday’s session.

October 3rd PD on Maravillas: I have spoken to the McGraw Hill Representatives to plan our October 3rd PD.  They are bringing in a professional development expert to help us get a good overview of the Maravillas Program.  The professional development will run from 8:00-12:00 on October 3rd. The main topics planned will be:

• How to use these materials in a Dual Language Program.
• How to integrate English Language Materials into the ELA block that relate to the themes, concepts and objectives  in the Maravillas materials.
• How to structure Tier 2 instruction using Maravillas Materials.
• The use of the online features of Maravillas.

Your afternoon will be planning time. The Maravillas team will provide you with some tasks to become more familiar with the materials that afternoon that you can work on with your grade level team.  I expect that the EA staff, SPED Staff, and ELL staff to attend the AM session as it will directly benefit our students if you understand this program.

• Change in the date for Rosa: October 20th is the new date that Rosa Molina will be coming to Oregon.  She had other engagements on the 13th of October so we have pushed it back a week.  I will update you on the topics and use of that day after further conversation with her next week.

•  Good Behavior Game Free Training – Trillium Community Health Plan & Lane County Public Health is offering free trainings for the “PAX Good Behavior Game.” You can read more about The PAX Good Behavior Game here and here. Subs will be provided and and trainings will be held at the Lane ESD Oct. 8th for teachers new to the program and Oct 9th for a booster training for teachers who have been previously trained.

•   SELCO Educator Mini-Grants – SELCO Community Credit Union accepts Mini-Grant requests each fall from K-12 educators in the 26 counties they serve. Mini-Grants of up to $500 are awarded to educators to implement creative education projects and to help fill in the gaps left by school budget shortfalls. The SELCO Mini-Grant application process is simple – please carefully read the funding criteria to be sure your project is eligible for a SELCO Mini-Grant and use the online application form to tell us about your classroom project. The deadline for applications is October 3rd and recipients are announced November 19th.

•   Facilities Use: Use of 4J Schools – Annual Reminder –   Facilities sent their annual reminder that as public employees, no person may use district property for personal financial gain or offer it free to the community, or for use that is inconsistent with districts public purpose, or in a manner that will discredit the district. It occasionally comes to their attention that 4J employees are using the school buildings for, music lessons, sports, exercise and many other types of classes/meeting. Please see the attached 4J School Board Policy on the use of district property.

All 4J schools are public property and are subject to public scrutiny.  The District has established Board Policies to address staff and outside groups wanting to use 4J facilities.  In order to establish fairness to all groups, including 4J staff, Administrative Rules have been written to address these issues.

If employees wish to use 4J Facilities and/or equipment for private instruction or for non-school community group meetings, or any other reason, they will need to (1) get approval from the Superintendent or his designee (i.e. Facility Scheduler: Natalie Medina) and (2) they will need to complete the online Facilities Request Form and Online Scheduler

•    TalentEd Update – TalentEd has now been updated for the 2014-2015 school year. This link provides the “home” page for you to click on TalentEd for login and Quick Start Guide. This link can be found on our 4J web site under Human Resources Teacher Effectiveness and Growth Systems. We will discuss school-wide goals and expectations at the staff meeting this week.

•  Latino Heritage Month:  Yes, it is Latino Heritage Month! I do not have a bunch of materials to share with you at this point, but I will point you towards one of my favorite bloggers, Larry Ferlazzo. Larry makes lots of great resource links to support ELLs and they are good for all learners! This set of links  is focused on one of my favorite Mexican artists, Diego Rivera.

•  Math Teaching Methods- Great example of a strong math discourse:

Reasoning in Multiplication and Division  Take a look at this excellent video of a teacher using number talks and math discourse.

Have an excellent week!

Joel