Week of April 20


April 19th, 2015
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Administrative Professional Day is Wednesday, April 22 2015.

What is coming up?

April 20 (M)
8:30-9:20,Joel observes bilingual teacher candidates at (Buena Vista Elementary)
10:15-11:15, Sara Green Meeting about Super-boundary

April 21 (T)
Smarter Balanced Testing Begins
9:00-10:00, CAP Budget Planning (Conference Room)
10:30, Joel in Formal Observation of Teacher
12:00-1:00, River Road Math Follow Up with Maddy, Reid, Kathy L. (Conference Room)
3:00-4:00, PLT Meeting- Main topic End of the year calendar and planning 15-16 calendar.
4:15, Informal Interview of Bilingual Teacher (Kelly Middle School)

April 22 (W)
Earth Day
Administrative Professional’s Day (formerly Secretary’s Day)
8:30-11:15, Joel in formal observations at 8:30 and 10:15 AM
1:45-2:45, Math PLC Time (Library)

April 23 (H)
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

2:45-3:45, Mod Squad Meeting (IPBS)
3:00-5:00, Camino del Rio Design Committee

6:00-7:00, New Kinder Orientation

April 24 (F)
Hop Valley Friday at 4:00

April 27 (M)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room)
7:00-8:30, Joel to River Road Community Organization Meeting

April 28 (T)
8:00-11:30, SST Meeting with ODE (Library)
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
5:00-6:00, ACE Awards Reception (Hult Center Lobby)
6:00-7:00, ACE Awards Ceremony – Ticketed Event (Hult Center, Silva Concert Hall)

April 29 (W)
12:45-1:30, Fiesta del Niño Assembly
1:45-2:45, Math PLC Time (Library)
3:45-5:15, Joel and KG Teachers to Full-Day KG Implementation Meeting (Ed Center)

April 30 (H)
Joel and Kathy Larson at the ODE/ Ed Northwest Principal -Coach Meeting All Day (Eugene Hilton)
2:30-3:30, PBIS Meeting (Room 21)
Fiesta Setup after 3:00 PM- 8:00 PM

May 1 (F)
No School – PD Planning Day
8:00-10:00, Professional Development (Library
10:00-12:00- Planning Time
12:30-3:00, Senderos Training
3:00-4:00, Planning Time
Fiesta begins- 5:00 PM

What is happening?

 

• 15/16 Specialists and Teacher Prep Time – The EEA contract requires that elementary teachers receive additional prep time next year. The plan that was shared with principals last week is that schools will continue to get one semester of PE and one semester of Music, each providing two 30 minute sessions per week during their semester. What is being added is that during the Music semester, which is first semester for Camino del Río, there will be a third 30 minute prep which will be provided by a once a week PE class. So first semester there will be two sessions of Music and one session of PE per week. Camino del Río was spoiled this year getting a full year of PE, but I did want to let everyone know that I plan to apply for this grant again next year. I will see if we can get a more quality prep time for all teachers to provide the best level of PE our building can provide.

• News from the Emerald Empire Reading Council – Here’s the April Newsletter from the Emerald Empire Reading Council. This month’s newsletter includes professional development opportunities, grant opportunities and other items, like their Annual Whine and Wine event. If you’d like more information, visit their (un-ironic 1990s style) website.

• McKinney-Vento Identified Student Count – I thought staff might find this report interesting. Deborah Dailey, the 4J McKinney-Vento (homeless) Coordinator shared a report with principals that had the total number of students identified in the district by region and by school. Camino del Rio has less than 20 students who are McKinney-Vento. Howard has very high levels of McKinney-Vento students in their school. I am concerned that the super-boundary unevenly effects our schools due to parents deciding to go to a non-language immersion program. This puts a lot of pressure on Howard and creates a barrier for these students when they have no Spanish speaking skills and are older than 7. This will be discussed in the superboundary meeting with Sara Green and Allan Chinn in early May.

• Helping Young Students Feel Positively About the Color of Their Skin – Here’s an article with some ideas about how to open the topic of skin color with young students. The activities are some that I have seen in variation, but the activities expand to include poetry writing which I believe will touch on the creative side of students’ thinking. Allowing space for this type of learning is necessary and can develop conversations and results for learners of all ages.

• May 1st PD- I am very excited that Dr. Robyn Duran will be joining us for a conversation about race and our dual language school. She will be Skyping with us from 8:00-10:00 AM on the morning of May 1st.  Carmen and Jennifer will also be helping us facilitate this ongoing conversation.

• The First Construction Pains-  I was informed that prep of the school site will begin as soon as school is out.  This means that the earth works will start right around June 15.  Unfortunately, the school garden will be razed at this time.  We will need to begin a transplanting plan for the garden as soon as possible. Also,  there will be a construction fence put up near the 5th grade wing as soon as school is out.  There will not be access to this part of the school until the new gym is completed. The new gym is expected to be complete in Fall 2016. We might have a small lapse in PE in a gym for a short period of time in 2016.  We may need to place the PE classes on portions of the playground in September and October 2016.

Spanish and the indigenous language of the region are incorporated in the curriculum (teleSUR)

Spanish and the indigenous language of the region are incorporated in the curriculum (teleSUR)

 

•  Bilingual Education in Ecuador – Bilingual Schools Strengthening Ecuador’s Plurinational State Article. Bilingual schools support the indigenous communities of Ecuador in many ways. This article explains how the nation has prioritized both Kichwa and Spanish as important in order to truly grow an intercultural community.

 

I hope you all have a great week.

 

Joel

Week of April 13


April 13th, 2015

Guanajuato, Mexico

What is coming up?

April 13 (M)

1:30-2:30, Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
7:00-8:30, Joel to River Road Community Organization Meeting (River Road Annex)

April 14 (T)

10:15-11:15, Joel and Sara Green meet about the super-boundary (Joel’s Office)
2:50-4:50, Staff Meeting (Library)

Agenda: A Conversation about Race in Dual Language Program

6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting in (Room 9)

April 15 (W)

8:45-2:45, Visitors from Guanajuato, Mexico (In classrooms)

1:45-2:45, PLC Collaboration Time

April 16 (H)
Joel out of the building- at the COSA Workshop “All Means All” with Anthony Muhammad

2:45-3:45, PBIS Meeting

April 17 (F)

Joel out of the building -at the COSA Workshop “All Means All” with Anthony Muhammad
12:00-3:00, BAW Teacher Leaders to Being a Writer Meeting (We need someone to go to this.)

12:00-3:00, 504  Training Meeting- Jaime  Jones attends.

6:00-8:00, Peace Jam Conference  with Rigoberta Menchu Tum- Camino del Rio Marimba Band Plays!

April 20 (M)
8:00-2:30, Fluoride Varnish Clinic at River Road

April 21 (T)

3:45-5:15, Joel to Full-Day Kindergarten Meeting (Ed Center)

April 22 (W)
Admin Professional’s Day (formerly Secretary’s Day)

Earth Day

1:45-2:45, PLC Collaboration Time

April 23 (H)
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

2:45-3:45, (IPBS) Mod Squad Meeting

April 24 (F)

4:00, Meet up at Hop Valley

What is going on?

• Spanish Spelling Bee A Success–  This last Friday was a very exciting day for the Spanish Spelling Bee team. Those students who participated went to Forest Grove and began the competition around 10:00 AM. Leslie and Aiden represented El Camino del Rio and 4j in the competition. In addition, we had 5 other students attend. Aiden’s father, George, and Megan Murphy brought the students all the way to and from Forest Grove. Leslie was able to place in the final 12 students of the 60 or so who competed. I am so proud that our students made it to this event.  This event is good for  our students, our program, and providing opportunities for students to have their language skills be seen as assets in the public eye.  A big thank you goes out to Hannah Golden, the Spelling Bee Coach, Megan Murphy, and the Birns family for their support.  Here is an article with pictures of our team included!

 Summer School Update –  It is a priority for parents to hear from you about Summer School. The office needs all teachers to communicate the need for Summer School directly from you.  When they hear from you it makes a huge impact on the importance of the program.  Please make those calls for your students so they can take advantage of this valuable resource.

• Expo Process Update–  I am proud to announce that we have made a permanent hire for our 1.0 ELL Position. Nancy Schaal McHarry will continue in her position for the next year.  Nancy has done a great job in her ELL classroom and has jumped at the chance to help us integrate technology in ELD lessons, create an inclusion model in kinder, design a FLOSOM oral language proficiency model for our building, and participate in our PLT.  Her team player attitude  and hard work fits nicely with the changes our dual language program has made.  Please congratulate her if you see her on Monday on staying with the Camino del Río team.

The 1.0 and 0.5 FTE positions in 1st and 5th grade are still open. We did not find a viable candidate on Thursday last week. If there are candidates who apply, I my attend the 2nd round of EXPO. At this time, I am actively seeking external applicants.

• Attendance Pilot is in Full Swing- This last week we sent out our second set of attendance letters.  We sent 23 letters for the month of March.  For this last week the attendance letter list dropped to 10 students. That is good.  Parents are responding to the letters and we have seen a drop in unexcused attendance in the last couple of weeks. Soon, I will be making referrals to Mark Barr, the truancy officer.  This practice will continue on a weekly basis now that the office is trained and the system is set up.  We will also use this system in the Fall as well. Thank you to Yasmin for her persistence and hard work on this project.

• Guanajuato, Mexico Visit –  Armando Morales will be guiding the Guanajuato students to visit our school this Wednesday.  There will be 19 students and 3 teachers. They are very interested in how the United States education system works, and will be especially interested in the dual language program. Several are used to visiting a high school environment so the age level will also be new to many of them. Expect to have 2-3 guests in your classroom visiting and observing. They are all very excited to visit our school. I will begin the day with a presentation to them about how our program works.

• Staff Meeting PD Session with John Lockhart – On Friday, John and I met for a couple of hours to plan and discuss the professional development we will be having at our next staff meeting. The topic ties closely to the conversations we have had in our Taking It Up Equity meetings. We will discuss the dynamic between Anglos, Latinos, and other racial groups in the context of our dual language program. A precursory question to think about is:

“In your role, how does your cultural sense of self and others both allow you to and inhibit you from helping students of color and white students develop healthy racial identities?

We will reflect, share observations, and formulate ideas together. The meeting will run from 2:50-4:50. You will be paid an extra hour for attendance.  Carmen Urbina  and Jennifer Harris will follow up with us on May 1st in the morning to help us continue the conversation.

• Lane County Family Mediation Family Check-Up – Lane County Family Mediation are offering a “Family Check-Up” program developed by the UO to provide brief, family-centered interventions that identify strengths and weaknesses in family functioning and help participants become motivated to make positive changes. The services are available to parents and their children, ages 2-17, who are members of Trillium Community Health Plan. They will conduct assessments of family interactions, encourage self-reflection, promote positive family management skills, and provide referrals to community services. Families can earn $150 (provided in gift cards) by attending three appointments, which take place over a four to five week period.

Please feel free to share this information with any interested families. I will also be sending the attached flyer to families. I did check to see if this is available for Spanish speaking families and they said it unfortunately is not at this time.

• Earth Day, April 22nd – Schools across the country will be celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22. Teach your students how to care about their world — and how they can make it better! — throughout the year with these resources from Edutopia.

• Federal lawmakers may be close to draft NCLB bill – With state testing right around the corner, I thought people might be interested to know that federal lawmakers reportedly may be getting close to a new draft bill for the rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This article offers a glimpse at some of the potential changes, including giving states more flexibility on testing requirements and expunging the language inserting “portability” of Title 1 funds (which would have been a devastating to Title 1 schools like us). The education committee is expected to mark up a bill this week.

• Downtown Admin Updates – HR Director Sarah Brown has accepted a position in Florida, her home state, as the Chief of Human Resources for Manatee County Schools. She will be leaving April 24. There has not yet been an announcement regarding who will be the interim Director of HR.

Have an good week, everyone! 39 more days!

Joel

Week of March 2


March 1st, 2015

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What is ahead?

March 2 (M)

Dr. Seuss Week Begins

Pajama Day

Maria de Pilar Zentz begins on Monday 1:30-3:00,

1:00-2:30,Immersion Principals Meeting- Joel at Fox Hollow

6:30-8:00,Spanish Smarter Balanced Info Night for Parents

March 3 (T)

Crazy Hair Day 4th Grade Math Planning Session with Reid

2:00, Parent Advisory Board with Alicia, Edna, Joel, and parents.

2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting

March 4 (W)

Hat Day-
Eat (and contribute to) at the Classified Staff Celebration at lunch beginning at 11:00 AM in the Staff Lounge.
8:00-11:00    Joel at Skillful Teacher Co-observations-(Corridor)

12:30, Fire Drill
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 8:00-12:00, 5th Grade Math Planning Session with Reid 5:00-6:00,  Superintendent Candidates Public Forum

March 6 (F)

Favorite Book Character Day

March 9 (M)

10:00-11:30, Joel to 15/16 Staffing Allocation Meeting (Ed Center) 8:00-12:00, 3rd Grade Math Planning Session with Reid

March 10 (T)

8:00-12:00, 2nd Grade Math Planning Session with Reid
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting, main focus will be Staffing

March 11 (W)

1:45-2:45, Grade Level Math PLC in the Library ( All K-5 grades, please fill out your PLC form)
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting in Recker’s Room

March 12 (H)

8:30-9:10,PRIDE Assembly-for all students.

9:30-12:00, Joel to CLLAS Conference at UO

12:00-4:00, 1st Grade Math Planning Session with Reid

March 13 (F)

8:00-12:00, Senderos PD at Camino del Rio K-2 Primary
12:00-4:00, Senderos PD at Camino del Rio 3-5 Intermediate
4:00-5:30, Hey staff, let’s go bowling! Firs Bowl
5:30-10:30, Benito Juárez Birthday Celebration at Kelly

What is going on?

Hi Everyone,

Monday, March 2nd through Friday, March 6th marks the celebration of Classified Employees Appreciation Week! Contributions by classified staff to our school, students and families are immeasurable! Not only would our school be unable to operate without our classified staff, our school is by far a better place for the classified folks we have here at Camino del Río. Your dedication and hard work, whether it’s going that extra mile for a student or taking over a classroom or taking over a group in a pinch, know that your efforts have not gone unnoticed. Camino del Río is a better place for having you all here!

Poster-classified

 

• Teacher Pathways Program – 4J is participating in the Lane County Teacher Pathways Program, which will pay tuition costs for the licensure program on a Pay-It-Forward, Pay-It-Back system. The Pathways program is working to diversify the teaching force in three ways: linguistically, culturally, and socio-economically. They are actively seeking people who speak multiple languages, are culturally-diverse, and/or are first-generation college students. Meeting one of these descriptors is a bonus but not a requirement. Please share this information with anyone who you think would be a good candidate for the program. Attached is the Lane County Teacher Pathways Program brochure and applications. The deadline to apply is March 13th, so it’s a fast timeline if there is anyone you plan to share this with.

• TalentEd Password & Login Update – HR let principals know that Netchemia, the organization that provides TalentEd Perform, made upgrades to the system last week. As a result, when you log into TalentEd for the first time since then, it will look different. The different systems available for purchase within TalentEd are Discover, Recruit & Hire, Perform, and Records. Netchemia has now made it possible for their customers who use more than one system to log in using one password, though 4J only uses Perform and not the other systems. So the next time you log onto TalentEd, follow the directions given to you when you login and remember the following:

1) You are not required to change your password, necessarily. You will be prompted to change your password, but can “change” it to the same one you were using before IF that password had a “special character” in it and meets all other requirements they set up for passwords.

2) Put at least one “special character” in your password. These are such symbols as: @ # $ % ! …etc.

3) To make your password more secure, you may want to create one that has at least eight (8) characters in it and has a combination of lower case letters, upper case letters, and numbers.

4) If your attempts to log in don’t work – PLEASE CALL HR AND THEY WILL CONFIGURE YOUR PASSWORD ON THE SPOT TO GET YOU IN. The “Forgot your password?” feature doesn’t seem to be working too well since the upgrade. Please don’t keep trying and end up frustrated.

• New Nutrition Services General Manager – 4J has a new Nutrition Services General Manager and is the Howard PTO President, Kaylynn Olney. Some of you know Kaylynn has worked in 4J as the Operations Manager since 2012 and worked for Oregon State University Catering for six years before coming here. If she comes by to check in, please say hello and congratulate her.

• Math PD Sessions with Maddy and Reid – As some of you may know, grade level teams are meeting with Reid and Maddy between now and Spring Break.  This will be a tremendous opportunity for finding the gaps in the math program and sharing common strategies. Here is the agenda.

• Complete the staffing survey by March 9th –Don’t forget to complete the staffing survey. This is for all classified and certified staff.

 The Staffing Survey– Click on this form to begin.

• Ems Emazing Readers Assembly Incentive Assembly, 3/18 at 1:00 – This is a fun assembly kickoff for the Eugene Emeralds’ Reading Incentive program. The program will run the like previous years, but Aline will distribute information to classroom teachers on how the program works, which is essentially classroom teachers set a reading goal for students and if students meet that goal they get two free tickets to attend an Em’s baseball game this summer. For the assembly, we will meet in the gym at 1:00 so Sluggo can motivate kids to meet their reading goals.

Proficient bilinguals see higher earnings, research shows– Patricia Gándara shares important research on the economic advantages of being bilingual. The work you do with children gives them an immense economic advantage in the workplace of the future.

Have a great week everyone and enjoy the festivities of the week!

Best,

Joel

Week of January 26


January 26th, 2015

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Dear Staff,

This last week was another impressive week for me at El Camino del Rio.  I really enjoyed teaching in the Engineering Night.  Our team once again did an amazing job.  It was so encouraging to see parents and students working together to do science and engineering.  Aline and Alicia did a tremendous job teaming up to organize this event. Thank you both for your hard work. Also thank you to all the teachers who took time out of their evening to support this important work. We continue to build a strong bi-cultural community and that’s exciting! Lastly, as we enter school choice season Edna and Nikita have gone the extra mile to help us look strong out there in the expo and with our new flier.  We will be posting our new information in the lobby for incoming parents to read. Come by and check it out so you have a good feel for what we are sharing with the public.

 What’s coming up?

January 26 (M)
8:20-9:45, Joel in formal observation
9:00-10:00, Early Learning Meeting
10:30-11:00- Design Debrief Meeting
1:00-2:00, School Choice Tour
2:30-4:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room) (Joel cannot attend- Olivia facilitates.)

January 27 (T)
8:00-3:00, Joel and Karen at Charlemagne for Learning about Learning Network
9:00-10:00, School Tours- Alicia/ Edna conduct the tour.
2:00-2:35, Final Music Assembly (Gym)
Staff Meeting cancelled due to grading week.
7:00- 9:00, Forum with Rob Saxton Asst. Superintendent from ODE, North Eugene HS- This is guaranteed to be an informative (and lively) event.

January 28 (W)
8:30-9:30, Joel in formal observation
10:15-11:30, Joel in formal observation
1:45-2:45, PLC Time- Main focus Mathematics Report Card Reporting, use time for peer support and communication.  Report using the PLC Form.

January 29 (H)
12:00-3:30, Joel and Karen to Smarter Balanced Test Administration Training (Ed Center)
3:00-5:00, Design Meeting

January 30 (F)
Grading Day – No School
9:00-11:00, Edna, Yasmin, Joel meet with Kevin Boling to pilot the new  4J attendance system.
1:00-2:00, IEP Meeting Joel attends.
2:30-3:30, Joel attends second IEP Meeting
6:30-7:30, Ballet Folklórico Introductory Session in the cafeteria. All students invited.

February 2 (M)
Second Semester Begins
National School Counseling (We love Jennifer! 😀 ) Week

February 3 (T)
8:00-12:00, Joel out in the AM for HR Training and speaking event at UO.
12:30, Earthquake and Evacuation (Fire Drill)
2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting

February 4 (W)
8:20-9:30 Joel in Formal Observation
1:45-2:45, PLC Time – Please get back to using math formative assessments and document this using the PLC Form.
4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

February 5 (H)

Last day to submit grades so we can print and send in Monday folders on February 8th.
8:00-2:30, IIPM Consult Data Team Meeting
2:45-3:05, Joel in pre conference meeting
3:00-5:00, Design Committee

February 6 (F)
8:40-10:00, Joel in Formal Observation
4:00-6:30,Winter Social at Eugene Wine Cellars

This week’s announcements

• School Choice Visitation Week – Just a reminder that this week is School Choice Visitation Week #1. We have a few families already signed up for tours (mostly at the younger grades), so don’t be surprised if you see me walking visitors around the building and into classrooms this week. The Showcase was excellent. We had a great turnout from families as well as staff to assist.  I want to give a big thank you to Edna, Nikita, Karen, Jill, Nancy, Jessica and many others who either showed up to help or put in many hours to create our fabulous new posters.  It really showed Estrella Pride!

• January 30 Grading Day Staff Expectations – Taking classified staff first, this is a regular work day for most classified folks, so remember there are many workshops available this same day at the EA Extravaganza, but if you have any comp time coming, this would also be a good day to pay back extra time that’s owed to you. For licensed staff, HR has gone back to being more flexible about grading day expectations. The following rules were sent out to principals, which now allow teachers to request to work from home on grading days:

Unlike a planning or PD day, where the District has a firm expectation that all teachers report and be physically present throughout the work day, we have exercised greater flexibility for grading days in recognition of teachers’ professional status. On grading/ report days, principals have discretion to require that all teachers report and work on their grades at the building, or alternatively, to allow teachers to request permission to work from home, and report to the building when grades are completed. In exercising this discretion, please consider the following:

(1) Would allowing a teacher to work from home on this day interfere with work that needs to be done? For example, do you have teachers who need to collaborate with each other in order to prepare reports? — if so, it does not make sense to allow them to work in isolation;

(2) Grading day is a work day. It costs the district about $480,000, and it is not intended to be a vacation day.

(3) Teachers are highly visible members of the community, and part of our expectation of them as professionals is to be good stewards of public resources. If you do allow teachers to work off site this day, please remind them public perception issues and work to protect them. This means that if we grant flexibility to work off-site, it is critical that they work during work time. We grant flexibility to principals to allow teachers to work off-site on grading day, but if it is abused, we will not be able to continue to do so.

(4) The flexibility to work off-site is a privilege, and not an entitlement. Whether you allow any teacher to work off-site is within your discretion. I believe the best practice is to communicate to teachers is that you expect them to work in the building on this day, unless they have requested and received your advance permission to work from home.

So in short, if teachers would like to work from home this day, let me me know, but be sure to make plans ahead of time if you need to collaborate with colleagues for grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town.

• Winter Social at Eugene Wine Cellars on February 6th– Come have a glass of wine and bring a little cheese to this social event on the Friday after grading as we mark 1/2 way through the school year.  We will be there from 4:00-6:30.

• Synergy Attendance Reminder from CIS –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.

• Mid Year Check-In Meetings & Observations – This is the time of year principals are supposed to begin conducting our mid-year check meetings with licensed staff regarding educator goals. I am continuing to try to see all staff in a formal observation.  I will do my best to contact each of you to make these appointments.  The mid-year check in process will begin in early February.  Please bear with me as I try to see each of you teach and provide feedback.  It is a priority for me to make sure I observe everyone. If you want to combine your mid goal meeting with the pre-conference or post conference, let me know. That will make things easier for all of us. Make sure you have your SLGO smart goals ready to analyze at the mid term meeting.

• Feb. 13 Camino del Rio PD/Planning Day – We will be continuing the work with Edward and Audrey on February 13th.  This session will more specifically address how assessment fits in to the instructional cycle.  Audrey and Edward will continue to weave in components of the Skillful Teacher work so we can address each of these issues.

• Denver Public Schools Series on Dual Language Videos – It is always good to see examples of what other schools are doing. Take a look at this video series if you have time.

 

 

• PLC time this week – All teams are expected to continue to meet in the library each Wednesday. Also,  continue to use the PLC form each time that we meet. It is important that we document how our PLC time is going for the state and so I can monitor progress in this area. This information is submitted to the priority schools SST team and the Office of school improvement.  Please complete it for each grade level.  This week, I encourage you to use your PLC time for familiarizing your self with math report cards, especially if you are new.  You could even collaborate and help each other record progress of students on the report cards together during this time. This falls closely in line with our math assessment focus of PLCs.

• Concussion Policy – Attached is the final district concussion policy. This document represents the collaboration of 4J Athletic Trainers, Nurses, and the Regional Traumatic Brain Injury Liaison. It has also been reviewed and approved by our Insurer. School nurses have offered to present the document at staff meetings, which we will likely do at a future staff meeting, but I thought I’d share the policy now if staff wanted to get a preview.

• Full-Day Kindergarten Updates – Attached is an informational flyer about full-day kindergarten that was shared with families at the School Showcase by district staff. Also, Sara Green shared with principals this week in her newsletter, though nothing is definite at this point, that she’s proposing a 23:1 ratio for full-day Kinder. Keep in mind that it is a proposal and where we end up may be somewhat different, but this would be significantly better than the current district elementary average of 28:1. Sara’s been advocating for less than 23, but there are a number of competing interests and it’s challenging to put all the budget eggs in one basket.

• Key multimedia skills all educators should have – Educators provided input about multimedia skills that help in the classroom as part of a recent national survey conducted by T.H.E. Journal. The following are the top five skills that teachers should master, according to the results: troubleshooting technology, embracing curiosity, incorporating video, using multiple display devices and using technology to create presentations.

• How Integrating Arts Into Other Subjects Makes Learning Come Alive – Here’s a good article from Mind/Shift on the value of including the arts in core instruction and not viewing it as an elective or add-on. The main crux of the article is viewing art not as an extra, but as integral to learning.

Thanks and have a good week!

 

Joel

Inspiring children to learn another language is a great investment