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 February 23


February 22nd, 2015
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Did you know that last Saturday was International Mother Language Day? This is an event sponsored by UNESCO each year.

What is ahead?

February 23 (M)
School Choice Visitation Week #2
10:30-11:00, Joel in the Design Debrief with Go to Meeting (Joel’s office)
12:00-2:45, Joel to Research for Better Teaching Training (Ed Center)
2:45-3:45, Site Council Meeting at River Road

February 24 (T)

7:40,3rd Grade Student Support Meeting (Jennifer’s Office)
1:00-2:00, School Tour
2:45-4:45, Staff Meeting- 2 hours

February 25 (W)

1:45-2:45, Grade Level Collaboration (Library) & Classified Supervision Meeting (conference room.)
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
5:30-6:30, Evening School Choice Event

February 26 (H)
8:30-9:30, School Tour
3:00-5:00, Design Committee
4:30-6:30, Equity Committee

February 27 (F)
School Choice Application Deadline

4:00-Happy Hour at Tio Pepe’s

March 2 (M)

Dr. Seuss Week Begins
Pajama Day
1:30-3:00, Immersion Principals Meeting

March 3 (T)

Crazy Hair Day
2:45-3:45, PLT Meeting

March 4 (W)

Hat Day
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
4:00-6:00, Equity Committee

March 6 (F)

Favorite Book Character Day
3:30-5:30, Superintendent Interviews for Equity Committee

Looking way ahead: There are 16 school weeks left in the year. Here are some of the biggest events at our school for the rest of the year.

March 12 CLLAS Latino Conference at UO
March 13 Joint PD Training on HMH Senderos Curriculum with BV
March 23-27, Spring Break Week
March 30-April 3, STAMP Assessment Given (3 and 5)
April 6,7,8,9- Caring For Kids Trainings- A variety all week.
April 16, Kinder Orientation Night
April 29, La Fiesta del Niño
May 1 District Professional Development Day-Possible Equity Training or Oral Proficiency Assessment Training
May 1 Fiesta Event at Camino del Rio
May 6 Math Night
May 14 and 15, 5th Grade goes to Outdoor School
May 11- May 21, New OAKS Assessments in 3,4,5
May 22, Final Camino del Rio PD Day- Curriculum Mapping and Possible Math Training
May 25, Memorial Day, No School
June 4, Talent Show
June 5, Grading Day
June 10,  5th Grade Promotion
June 11, Field Day
June 12, Grading Day and End of Contract Year
June 12,13- OABE Conference in North Clackamas School District (Portland Area)
June 15 & 16, Priority School Funded Curriculum Mapping Days (Outside of the contract year)
June 23,24,25,26,27, CFEE Summer Workshop
June 29, 30,31, ATDLE Conference in Palm Springs

What should you know about?

Here are some items of note for the week:

• School Choice Visitation Week – Just a reminder that this week is the second School Choice Visitation Week. We do not have many  families signed up for tours, but don’t be surprised if you see me walking visitors around the building and into classrooms this week.

• 2015-2016 Staffing Timeline – Principals will receive next year’s staffing Monday, March 9th and building staffing plans will likely be due the day before spring break. Once I get our staffing allocations, I’ll share the numbers with everyone that same day. I’ll hold a Staff Meeting on Thursday, March 10th at 2:45 in the library for staff to give input on the different staffing scenarios, which I’ll email out ahead of time. After staff have had a chance to reflect on the different plans, we’ll hold an additional PLT Staff Meeting on Tuesday, March 17th at 2:45 in the library which all can attend.  I will then submit a final plan to all staff for final recommendations via email.

The preliminary enrollment projections have us projected for more students than we were staffed for this year, which should mean we’ll see an increase in staffing next year as long as the staffing ratio stays the same.

• Spring Break Activity/Lunch Program – Nutrition Services setting up a spring break lunch program for area students, ages 2 – 18, Monday through Friday over the break. The meals will be served from 12:00-1:00 and would be served out of the Howard cafeteria to Camino del Rio and Howard kids. The one catch for the state grant is that an “activity” needs to be planned each day, though that activity can be as simple as coloring books, showing a video, singing songs, open gym or free choice on the playground. Nutrition Services also asked if there are any staff willing to donate an hour of their time to supervise and/or lead one of the activities. They are casting a pretty wide net for volunteers, so please don’t feel any obligation to volunteer unless you truly want to. I’m pretty sure Nutrition Services will be able to find folks to get this covered.

• Technology Skills Practice for Smarter Balanced (and practice test) – This is a repeat from earlier in the year, but mentioned at the 3/4/5 Smarter Balanced Assessment training, the Vacaville School District in California has created a site for teachers to support students becoming proficient in using the keyboard and mouse/track-pad/touchscreen for the tasks they will be asked of by the Smarter Balanced assessment (highlighting, clicking and dragging, etc.). It’s organized by grade level and has direct links activities for each of the skill areas. Also remember that the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment (which are closer to the real thing than are the practice tests and which in theory provide results that can be used to guide instruction) are available through the OAKS Secure Browser. And here’s the new link to the OAKS Portal.

• New Title 1 EA, Welcome Maria (Pilar) Zentz!, As many of you know, we have had an open position in the Title 1 classroom. Last week and before we interviewed several bilingual candidates for Jame’s old position.  I am very excited to announce that we found an excellent candidate.  Maria (Pilar) Zentz will begin as our new EA next week.  Maria has worked for interpretation and translation services for the last three years. She has become one of the most highly sought after interpreters in the district.  Maria is very excited to join our staff and begin to teach and supervise students in our classroom.

• New Associate Director of Technology – Kim Ketterer has accepted the position of Associate Director of the Technology Department. As you know, Kim has been serving our district and students since 1987, most recently as the Interim Director of  Technology. Another downtown staffing change of note, Simone Sangster, the Director of Financial Services has accepted a job in Bellingham, WA and will be moving on at the end of April. Andrea Belz will be interim head of Financial Services and retired Financial Services Director Hillary Kittleson will be coming back to help provide support.

• Youth talking about micro aggressions – “Oh, you’re so pretty for a black girl.” “Do you speak good English?” Though they might be unintentional, these offensive phrases – called micro-aggressions – are heard all too often in everyday conversation. And while they’re frequently said in a joking way, the meaning of those words can have lasting negative effects. In a video created by SheKnows, a group of teen girls explain how micro-aggressions can be hurtful to their self-esteem. “Because they’re micro, because they’re very subtle — they’re small — you feel like you don’t have a reason to be upset,” says one girl. “We try to just use jokes to make this less awkward, ease social experiences,” adds another. “But… you need to aware of what you’re saying and who you’re speaking to.”

Site Council Agenda for Monday, February 23

Family Handbook Feedback

CAP Update

Technology Update

Curriculum Update

Staffing Update

Staff Meeting Agenda on Tuesday, February 24

Technology Agreements- Decide

PBIS Booster and Focus For Spring- Inform

HM Journeys, Senderos, Maravillas Discussion- Inform

Family Handbook Updates and Homework Conversation- Decide

STAMP and Formative Oral Language Assessment- Discuss and Inform

Staffing Update and Survey to be done in Meeting

 

 

That’s it for this week.  Have an excellent week!

Best wishes, Joel

Week of February 2


February 1st, 2015

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What’s Ahead?

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Langston Hughes, African American Poet (Born February 1, 1902)

 

February 2 (M)
Second Semester Begins
National School Counseling Week
7:30-8:00, Pre conference with teacher
8:30-9:45, Joel in Formal Observation
2:45-3:45- Joel and Jaime work on 504/TAG Writing with Synergy

February 3 (T)

8:30, Joel at HR Training in hiring.
10:00-12:00, Joel at UO as guest in Roscoe Caron’s Class on Poverty in Schools
12:30- Joel back to our building.
1:00, Earthquake and Evacuation Drill (Please review with students beforehand.)
2:00, Parent Advisory Board Meeting
2:45-4:45, PLT Meeting- Agenda Topics: Smarter Balanced, HM Materials, Decision Making Model, Parent Handbook Tasks, Math PD Proposal

February 4 (W)

Kevin Boling does admin support 8-12.
8:15-10:00, Joel doing pre-conference and formal observation of teacher.
1:45-2:45, PLC time with all teachers of grade level in the library.  Remember to fill out your PLC form to document work on math. PLC Recording Form-Please complete this week.
2:45-3:45, IPBS Meeting
4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Joel to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

February 5 (H)

8:00- Early Learning Committee (Room 9)
2:50- Joel in pre-conference with teacher

February 6 (F)

8:00, Joel meeting with budget committee member, Evangelina Sundgrenz (Joel’s Office)
11:00, Joel to meeting with Kyle Ennis and Sara Green about the Stamp test.
4:00-6:30, Eugene Wine Cellars Party for River Road Staff! Please bring a snack, cheese, or something yummy! I’ll me bringing some of my favorite salami pre-sliced.
255 Madison Street, Eugene, OR 97402 (541) 342-2600

February 7 (S)

8:00-3:00, Joel, Jennifer, and Karen to the OALA Conference (University of Oregon)

February 9 (M)

Report Cards Sent Home
8:45-10:00, Joel in a Formal Observation
10:30, Design Debrief Meeting
1:30-2:30, Joel to Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
7:00-8:30, Joel to North Region 4J Parent Information Night: Smarter Balanced Assessment (NEHS)

February 10 (T)
Regular Day
8:00-9:00, Joel at the dentist.
2:45-3:45, Staff Meeting
6:00-7:00, Parent Group Meeting

February 11 (W)

1:45-2:45, PLC Time
3:45-4:45, TLT Meeting

February 12 (H)

8:00-2:30, Data Team Meeting
2:00-3:30, Joel at Talent Ed/ Teacher Evaluation update.
3:00-5:00, Design Meeting

February 13 (F)
Camino del Rio PD/Planning Day – No School
8:00-12:00, Training with Edward Olivos in the morning on Assessment, All instructional staff are encouraged to attend. This PD is for licensed and classified instructional staff.
12:00-4:00, Planning Time

 

Hi All,

I have so much gratitude to share this week.  Firstly, this week is National School Counseling Week.   I think we all know how amazing Ms. Jennifer is! Jennifer does amazing work with children, their families, and our staff.  Her skills in creating and providing intensive behavior supports are exemplary. In addition, I see her as a very strong leader for social justice in our school and district. Her participation on the District Equity Action Team is so invaluable to students in our school.

Secondly, we have two staff members leaving us this week. Mr. 80 and Ms. Kelly will be greatly missed. The first semester was a truly wonderful experience for all of our students. Your teamwork across disciplines has been wonderful to watch. Thank you Terry and David for your hard work and passion for teaching.

My favorite immersion video of the week:

Notice the level of student engagement and the excellent sheltering techniques these teachers use. It’s inspirational!

• BLACK History Month- Four Black History Month Must-Haves – With Black History Month upon us, here is a Teaching Tolerance post that lists four things that will not only highlight black history but will strengthen those critical analysis skills that the Common Core State Standards highlight.

1. Begin with student voice and experience.
2. Educate students about the socio-political context.
3. Highlight the role other communities of color play in black history.
4. Introduce complex descriptions of key figures in history.

Here are two other sites worth going to for resources:

Smithsonian African American History  Resources

NEA Black History Month Lesson Plans

• EAST Request: Half Day Assignments – At HR’s monthly meeting with E.A.S.T. (the substitute teacher union) they was asked about whether the district supports Guest Teachers taking two-half day assignments. HR responded with a clear and resounding “yes”. There are fewer unfilled licensed absences but unfortunately it still happens and this is something that would reduce how often this happens. HR has encouraged guest teachers to take two-half day assignments if they can be coordinated well together and asked schools to support guest teachers in their willingness to accept two assignments in one day. I did clarify with HR that a few minutes late between jobs is okay, but subs are not to take an 8:00-12:00 job at one school and an 11:30-3:30 job at another.

• Effectiveness & Growth Cycle Contract Year 3 – The district added the task of formal observation to contract year three  TalentEd task lists. It turns out the state the state changed what they are requiring of 4J and that this was supposed to have been there since the start of the school year.  So for those of you on Contract Year 3, this year of the cycle is pretty much the same as Year 1, with one formal observation and 3 informal observations.

• HM Journeys Updates & Training, March 13th – Most of the new HM Journeys materials will be delivered before Spring Break. The staff still needs to discuss how to use these materials. Every school in the district received them. In December, PLT discussed the opportunity to get these materials and we decided to jump on it.  Now that HM schools have most all of their materials, there will be a PD session for teachers with the Houghton Mifflin trainers on the reinstated March 13th Professional Development/Planning day. Training for grades K-2 will be from 8:00-11:00 and the training for grades 3-5 will be from 12:00-3:00. They will be going over all the hard copy materials as well as getting everyone online access to the digital materials.

In addition,  this is a conflict for us right now.I do not know if we will be able to attend this HM session.

This is because Maddie Ahearn and Reid Sheppard will be continuing Math Common Core training with us on March 13th. We will probably have to participate in the HM training at a later date. The Math training is something I have been trying to fit in for months and it directly relates to our CAP.

• Smarter Balanced Update–  Last week, Karen and I went to be trained on Smarter Balanced.  Soon, we will have access to interim assessments for this new tool.  It will help us to help our students understand how the system works and to give them a chance to see the level of complexity of the tasks.  In order to use these interim assessments, we will need all all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers are trained as test administrators. There are many similarities to the OAKS interface that many of you used last year.  There are also many new regulations and changes to how accommodations re applied. We will let you know more details on this very soon and it will also be discussed in PLT this week.

• Design Committee now moving to every other week.– The design committee meetings are slowing down a little.  They will begin to meet every two weeks throughout the Spring. This will be a welcome relief as I try to catch up on mid term goals meetings and observation pre- and post conferences.

• Camino del Rio joining the Attendance Support Pilot – Kevin Boling met with us last Friday to help explain the attendance support system.  Starting this week, the office will begin a systematic attendance system to improve our students overall attendance. We will be among 4 other schools who began this pilot in October. My hope is that with an improvement in attendance and a reduction of chronic attendance problems we will be able to increase our students overall literacy skills in both languages.

• Synergy Attendance Reminder from CIS (Repeat from last week) –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.

• OALA Conference February 7th– Next weekend Karen, Jenifer and myself will be at the OALA Conference. There are some truly dynamic speakers that will be there. We are looking forward to it and will share back with staff some nuggets of experiences at the next staff meeting on February 10th.

• Spanish Spelling Bee Competition in April(I got no takers two weeks ago. Could the Fourth or Fifth grade team check in with me about this opportunity?) Here is an opportunity I do not want to pass up!  This Spring there will be a Spelling Bee up in Forest Grove. Perla Rodríguez, principal extraordinaire, is the organizer. This is a great opportunity for us to show Eugene and Oregon how well our students know Spanish and to excite our students that the Spanish language is a special talent and skill.  A professor friend of mine named David Wacks also shares the enthusiasm for Spanish language.  He teaches medieval Spanish and Sephardic literature at University of Oregon.  David has helped us enlist a university student who would like to help us coach some 4th and 5th graders to go to the Spanish Spelling Bee!  Hannah Golden is the student’s name.  She will be able to meet with the students after school once a week to practice for the competition.  I am happy to cover the registration costs. Now all we need are the participants!  4th and 5th grade teachers, can I count on you to enlist your students in this competition?

• SEHS Principal Opening– The South Eugene Principalship is open now. The deadline to apply was extended to Friday February 6th.  Do you know an administrator who you think should be in that position?  If you do, encourage them to apply.  I am hoping to have a strong advocate for equity and excellence and a new voice for social justice in the district and for the South Region.

• Start getting rid of stuff!– Are you the kind of teacher who keeps hold of things for many many years? Not that that is a bad thing, but this will be incompatible with a move into our new building. The new building will have limited space for storage of materials.  And given that we are less than 16 months away from moving to our new home, I encourage you to to take a good hard look at the materials in your classrooms.  Now is the time to weed your unused materials so you are not overwhelmed.  As a general rule when I was a teacher, if I had not used it for 5 years, it was passed on to another teacher or recycled.  I encourage you to begin this process now so you will not be completely overwhelmed on moving day.

2nd Semester Kinder Breakfast– Beginning this week, we will be moving the kinders to have breakfast in the cafeteria Instead of classrooms.  This aligns with more with the EEA CBA for teachers to allow for adequate prep time.  I am hopeful that with Craig and the morning supervisors support, we will be able to make a strong start for these students becoming more accustomed to breakfast with the big group. Thank you Bucklew, Tracy, Craig and Cathy for helping brainstorm ideas to make this work.

Have a great week, everyone!

Joel

Week of January 5, 2015


January 4th, 2015

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget he is someone today. Quotes to Start the New Year: Clever Classroom blog

Welcome back to school! I had a very relaxing break and really had fun with my kids. I have built numerous robots, Lego homes and shopping centers, cross country skied, and gone swimming multiple times. It was a dad’s paradise! 😉 I also read Enrique’s Journey (Thanks Nancy). I highly recommend reading this book if you have an interest in understanding more about immigration from Central America.

This is going to be a very exciting year, 2015. I am really looking forward to the month of January. I find that this month is one of the most productive of the school year because the holidays are over and most of our routines and patterns are figured out. Plus, the focus is on learning.  I will be contacting many of you this month individually if you need a formal observation. Please be flexible in times to meet with me for pre and post conferences, and for observations.

The Next 2 Weeks

January 5 (M)

8:15- Joel in meeting with parent. (my office)

10:00- Joel in meeting with parent. (my office)

11:30-12:00- Debrief meeting on design committee. (Joel in office)

January 6 (T)

8:30-9:30- Joel meets with Carmen Urbina (my office)

12:30- Fire Drill (Outside) (No lock down this month.)

2:45-3:45- PLT Meeting in the Conference Room

January 7 (W)

1:45-2:45- ALL PLC teams in the library. (Focus is still formative math assessments.)

2:45-3:45- IPBS Meeting 2:45-3:45 (Erin Recker’s Room)

4:00-5:00- Joel at North Eugene Regional Meeting -(NEHS)

 January 8 (H)

Design Committee 3:00-5:00

January 9 (F)

Regular day. No meetings.

January 12 (M)
Reading and Math Winter Benchmark Testing Week

7:30-9:45, Joel at Latino Community Breakfast (Ed Center)
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

January 13 (T)

8:00-3:30- Taking it Up Training Day 1 (7 staff attend at Auditorium)

2:45-4:45, Staff Meeting- Professional Development with Edward Olivos and Audrey Lucero, Zone of Proximal Development and tying assessment in to the  instructional cycle.
4:00-7:00, Joel to Kindergarten Expo (Ed Center)
6:00-7:00, Grupo de Padres/ Parent Group Meeting (Library)

January 14 (W)

8:00-3:30- Taking it Up Training Day 2 (7 staff attend in Auditorium)

1:45-2:45-  PLC teams in the library. (Focus is still formative math assessments.)
2:30-3:30, Joel to Taking It Up Training (Ed Center)

2:45-3:45, PBIS Meeting (Erin Piper’s Room)

January 15 (H)
1:30-4:30, Joel to HR Training (Ed Center)

3:00-5:00, Design Committee

January 16 (F)

Regular Day

Here are some items of note for the week:

• Camino del Rio Facebook and nice new website (http://riverroad.4j.lane.edu/) – Our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/elcaminodelrioelementary) is up and we received 115 likes before the new year began. I encourage you to “like” the page as well if you are on Facebook and share the page with friends that are fans of the school. We are planning on sharing many positive stories about our program in the coming months as part of the school choice season and beyond.  In addition, the website is updated and we will begin to post our newsletter on both the website and Facebook. If you have projects or activities you are especially proud of, take a shot with your phone and pass it on to Edna, Peggy or myself. We will get it up on the website or FB page. We give a big thanks to Peggy Vega for helping us get these pages looking so good.

• Technology progress in 4th grade and 5th grade – We will be sending some of our teachers to see what has been happening at Awbrey Park with iPad integration in the classroom. (January 9th in the PM) The  4th grade students at Camino del Rio will begin to have one to one access very soon. Soon after that, our 5th grade team will make the transition. This will mean significant technology access increases for other classes as well. The Mac Book Airs will have primary access for 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and kinder.

• Forest Grove TWI article – Learning in 2 languages: Forest Grove aims to offer immersion education from preschool to high school  A colleague of mine from Forest Grove, Perla Rodriguez, and her staff had a great article written about their school, Echo Shaw Elementary. This staff has worked tremendously hard to design the most up to date innovative TWI program in the state. Perla and her team have researched and implemented exciting changes to create strong two way methodology and instruction. Please read about it as they have similar goals as we do.

• ELA CCSS 6 Shifts registration for January – Teachers should remember to sign up for the K-2 or 3-5 ELA CCSS Workshops this January (SPED should attend the 3-5 workshop). The sub code is “Title One” and please bring your computer, your planning book/instructional calendar and for 3-5 & SPED Teachers bring your Writing Performance Task Preparation Guide. Follow link above to register for your session and see Gretta’s email for more specifics.

• School Choice 2015: Important Changes, Key Dates, & Promotion – School Choice season is here and one change is that the Schools Showcase (Jan. 24th) is now elementary only. The rest of the rules and plans are pretty much the same. School Visitation Weeks will be Jan. 26–29 and Feb. 23–27. If you’d like further details, you can read Kerry Delf’s email. Edna, Alicia and I have set several dates to give tours which are on the El Camino del Rio Web Calendar. Also, Edna and I are working hard on the new brochures to share during school choice. Nikita has offered to help with the Expo Poster design. Do you want to help out too? Let me know.

• New OAKS (SBA) Blueprints – Math – Here’s the link to files that give a very thorough view of about half of what will be on the “New OAKS” in math at each grade level. Different from the Smarter Balanced Practice Test that I shared last Fall, the documents here have sample questions that are grade level specific, which would be good for students to see before they take the New OAKS/Smarter Balanced Assessment.

• ODE Smarter Balanced Communication Website Update – ODE recently reorganized their Smarter Balanced Assessment webpages to improve access and ease of use. Now, the Smarter Balanced landing page connects more easily to the following:

• Internal pages for Smarter Balanced Test Administration, Technology Requirements, Technical Documents, and Communication Resources
• Related Websites like the OAKS Portal, SBAC, and CCSS
• Internal pages for CCSS

ODE wants this to be the one-stop shop for direct access to resources as well as connection to two additional locations that house Smarter Balanced information—their OAKS Portal and the SBAC website. Teachers are encouraged to explore the site and resources. If you are new to the site in general and need assistance locating anything, feel free to contact Jessie McGraw at ODE by phone (503) 947-5970 or email at jessica.mcgraw@ode.state.or.us

• Winter PBIS Newsletter – Attached is the Winter Edition of the district PBIS Newsletter from the 4j Behavior Consultants. Kim Reinhardt and Melissa Barbour have taken over the lead on this one. Enjoy!

• Tips on Raising Caring Children – What does it take to raise a compassionate, moral child? asks Adam Grant in this New York Times article (here’s a condensed version). Researchers have found that worldwide, this is parents’ number one priority – instilling caring is more important to them than their children’s achievement. But how much difference do parents make in this area? Are some children born good-natured and others mean-spirited? Studies of twins suggest that between one-quarter and one-half of people’s propensity to be kind is inherited – which means that parents and the environment account for up to three quarters. Drawing on the psychological research, Grant has these suggestions for adults working with children:

• Praise is more effective than rewards.
• With children around 8 years old, praise character, not actions.
• Nouns work better than verbs (i.e. “be a helper” vs “help us”)
• With bad behavior, evoke guilt, not shame.
• With bad behavior, say you’re disappointed.
• Model caring and generous behavior.

Thursday, January 8 Meeting on Building Design- In the last design meeting of December the design team came to agreement on many of the spaces. The administration office, the library, the gym, site plan, and more were agreed upon. The first meeting in January will review budget constraints and possibly include a discussion of classroom. I will know more after the Monday debrief meeting what the focus will be. It is extremely important that teachers give strong input on the classroom spaces. It is my hope that many of you will be working in these rooms for several years to come. I want the rooms to maximize instructional functionality for students and ultimately for you. I will send out an email if we do talk about classroom this Thursday.