Math

March 19, 2018

By Allan  |  2018/03/17 15:30 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Math, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on March 19, 2018

 

Hello Radiant Roadrunners,

Eighteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing and Schedule/Calendar Updates – Last week I emailed the staffing plan that I submitted to HR for next school year, so our next steps are to begin planning next year’s master schedule and calendar. However, we are still waiting for direction from downtown and EEA on those two fronts. On Tuesday, principals will get preliminary information about school start and end times, but we’ll still have to wait to hear how the increased specialist times will work for next year before we can start working on next year’s master schedule.

Regarding the development process for the master schedule, I’m thinking Title 1 and SPED will first come up with a template for workshop groups. From there I’d like to put together a committee of interested staff to work on fleshing out the schedule. We’ll also need to prioritize scheduling for grade levels with larger classes and with higher needs. A couple notes regarding next year’s schedule. One, due to Title 1 cuts, we’ll likely have to eliminate Math Booster and will instead have to provide non-SPED math support through BEST. Two, I’m wanting our lunch schedule to go back to our traditional lunch first, then recess model. More to come on all this as we get more information.

• New CLC Staff Member – Please welcome Navneeta Medart to the Howard CLC team! We’re getting a 1st grader from the closed Edison CLC-B and Navneeta has been working with the student as his 1:1. She and the student will start after spring break, so welcome Navneeta to the amazing Howard Team! FUN FACT: ODE’s SPED Department unexpectedly visited 4J last week and when SSD chose which program to show off, they chose Howard.

• Preliminary April 2nd PD Day Plan – Jaimee Massie emailed Math Teacher Leaders the preliminary plan for the April 2nd PD Day. More details will come this week and times may shift one way or the other by 15 minutes, but here’s the current plan:

ALL LICENSED STAFF
Focus – Giving access to language, tools, and discourse then applying learning back in buildings
Grade-level Collaborative Math PD from 8-12 (K-2 at Holt & 3-5 at Chavez)
Building Math Design Time 12:45-2 (back in buildings)

ALL CLASSIFIED STAFF
Focus – Unpacking and engaging the OA/NBT standards
Elementary Math Foundations PD from 8-12 at RiverRoad

PRINCIPALS
Focus – Preview access sessions, developing instructional leadership around math, and leading learning back in buildings
Grade-level Collaborative Math PD from 8-10 (Holt/Chavez)
Admin Math PD 10-12 (RiverRoad)
Building Math Design Time 12:45-2 (back in buildings)

• Artist in Residence Updates – I’ve finalized the plan with Lane Arts for our second Artist in Residence, which will actually be two different artists. Grades K-2 and Life Skills will have Maiya Becker for ReUse Art, meeting for four 45-minute sessions from May 7 – May 18. Grades 3-5 will have Merideth Ferrell for Silk Painting in the STEAM Room for four 60-minute sessions from May 28 – June 8. I’ll work on a schedule over the break, so teachers should let me know by Friday if you have any field trips or other activities not already on the building calendar that I should schedule around.

• PTO Meeting, Tuesday at 6:00 – The March PTO Meeting is this Tuesday at 6:00 in the Community Room if any staff are able to come out to show support our for our small but hard working parent group.

• PTO Grade Level Donation – Lori already emailed teachers, but the PTO decided instead of doing a special project to give the $5,000 to K-5 classrooms for enrichment activities. This comes to $833 per grade level. The two criteria for accessing the funds are:

• Enrichment – The funds are to be used for an enrichment activity. This can be a field trip or it can be brining a presenter or other guest into the classroom to lead an enrichment activity.

• Grade Level Agreement – The funds are for a grade level activity and are not to be different classroom to classroom. For example, all classes at a grade level don’t all have to go on a field trip the same day, but they would all have to be going not the same field trip.

• Fire Drill MONDAY at 1:35 – This was originally scheduled for Thursday, but the weather is looking questionable later this week, so I’ve moved the drill up to Monday at 1:35 instead.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program – A few quick reminders about the FFVP:

• Fruits or Vegetables should be served daily
• Fruits or Vegetables should not be served during breakfast or lunch period
• Leftovers should be given to the students
• There should not be carry-over of Fruits or vegetables from one day to the next
• Containers should be returned to the cafeteria the same day the produce was delivered

• Unclaimed Printouts/Copies – Copier counts are again exceeding projection, so please only print what you need. After just a week, there was about a reams worth of unclaimed printouts sitting in the downstairs workroom basket. Please be judicious in your printing and copying.

• Spring Break Facilities Work – The big news is that second floor classrooms may be getting shades installed over the skylight nearest to the teaching wall, although Facilities is still working with the manufacturer to confirm dates. There is also some landscaping, civil work in the bus area, adding siding to the covered play area downspout, adding an eyewash station in the kitchen, adding two hose bibs on the roof, and adding some electrical outlets near the boiler room.

• Front Lobby Signage – If you’ve been wondering about the glitching monitor in the front lobby, it’s luckily still under warranty through Friday, so LG is finding a local repair technician and if they can’t find a technician, they will just give us a new TV.

• MyON / News-o-Matic – If you haven’t tried it yet, remember we have a 3-month free trial for MyON/News-o-Matic through the end of next month. MyON bought out News-o-Matic and offers a similar daily news service for kids that features interactive articles with maps, videos, and links to related books (MyON also includes a large library of digital books). The first time students log on, they will take a baseline Lexile assessment and the site will adjust the text difficulty based on grade level and reading level. It will do an interest assessment for the digital library portion of the website. Not here, but in a separate email is info about staff and student username and passwords. Students are already attached to classroom teachers and links are on the Howard website. Feel free to test drive the website to see if it’s worth the subscription fee and let me know if you need any help.

• REPEAT: PRIDE Awards Due Tuesday – This Wednesday during lunchtime in the cafeteria will be our PRIDE Awards for Discipline. Teachers should remind students about PRIDE and the meaning of Discipline (“Work Hard at Everything”), and then pick 2-3 students who have demonstrated Discipline. Be sure to get the Discipline PRIDE Certificates to me before Wednesdays and remember to send home the PRIDE Award Invitations to parents before the event. Also, I’ve been asked by a few people if a student can receive more than one PRIDE Award, and the answer is YES, although it is good to spread the awards around if you do have other deserving students.

• REPEAT: Eugene Emeralds Reading Program Assembly, Wednesday – This Wednesday is the kickoff for the Eugene Emeralds’ Reading Incentive Program. The program will run the same as in the past, which is classroom teachers set a reading goal for students and if students meet that goal they get two free tickets to attend an Ems baseball game this summer. The K-2 assembly will be 8:45-9:10 and the 3-5 assembly will be 9:20-9:45. See the linked assembly map and directions for details.

• How do brain breaks benefit learning? – This Edutopia article cites how recent research supports the use of breaks during the school day to help students prepare for learning. Benefits of regular, short breaks, researchers say, include improvements in focus, mood, motivation, increase in productivity, and reducing stress. GoNoodle is a great website with videos to lead classrooms in movement breaks, and although they now have a paywall for most of their videos, you can still find a lot of their content on YouTube or other video websites.

• 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Unmotivated Students – If we know what works to motivate students, why are so many still unmotivated? These five questions from a Cult of Pedagogy article will help you determine if your practice is really in line with research.

• Howard Staff Social: Alvvays Concert April 8th! – You can still get your tickets for the excellent indie pop band Alvvays at the Hi-Fi Music Hall here in downtown Eugene on Sunday, April 8th at 9 PM . The show is general admission. Advance tickets: $15, Day of Show: $18. Come join in the fun and then you can be in the ritual staff concert group photo!

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

March 19 (M)
Artist in Residence Continues
9:00, Allan meeting with parent (Office)
1:35, Fire Drill
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)

March 20 (T)
8:15-11:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
11:30-12:00, Allan to BEST Meeting (Ed Center)
9:00-12:30, Kreider/Peterson to Museum of Natural History
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)
3:45-5:30, 4J Staff of Color Affinity Group (Community Room)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)

March 21 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
8:45-9:10, K-2 Eugene Emeralds Reading Program Assembly (Gym)
9:20-9:45, 3-5 Eugene Emeralds Reading Program Assembly (Gym)
11:00-12:45, PRIDE Awards at Lunch – Discipline
2:30-3:30, Student CARE Team (Conference Room)

March 22 (H)
9:00-12:30, Niccum to Museum of Natural History
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:30, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

March 23 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
9:00-12:30, Robinson to Museum of Natural History
11:00-12:50, March Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Community Room)
2:30, BEST Dance Party (Gym)

March 26 – 30
No School – Spring Break

April 2 (M)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Encouragement
No School – Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-12:00, Classified Staff PD: Elementary Math Foundations PD (River Road)
8:00-12:00, Licensed Staff PD: Grade-level Collaborative Math PD (K-2 at Holt & 3-5 at Chavez)
12:45-2:00, Licensed Staff: Building Math Design Time (Howard)

April 3 (T)
Classes Resume
4:00-5:15, Allan to Report Card Committee Meeting (Ed Center)

April 4 (W)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Committee (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

April 5 (H)
Regular Day

April 6 (F)
Regular Day

April 7 (SA)
10:00-2:00, PTO Spring Bazaar (Gym/Cafeteria)

April 8 (SU)
9:00PM, Howard Staff Social – Alvvays Concert (Hi-Fi Music Hall)

Have an excellent last five days before your well deserved break!

Allan

February 5, 2018

By Allan  |  2018/02/03 21:36 Posted in Announcements, Assessment, Math, Science, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on February 5, 2018

 

Hello Rockin’ Roadrunners,

This week is National School Counseling Week, so please take a moment to recognize the hard work of our rockstar school counselor Mr. Matt! School counselors fill a unique and vital role in schools and in the success of all our students. Be sure to give Matt a pat on the back this week for all his skills and hard work!

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• FOSS Science Survey – Linked here is a FOSS Survey for teachers to fill out as to where you are in meeting your goal of teaching the first investigation of your second science kit by March 1st. If teachers need support, Allison and Instruction Department folks are here to help and can arrange for support in anyway teachers need.

• 2018-2019 Staffing Timeline – Principals will receive staffing for next school year on Tuesday, February 20th at 10:00. I’ll send an email to staff later that day with all the details. Howard is currently 20 students above what we were staffed for this year (498 enrolled and projected for 478) so I expect that our projection will be higher for year (although we do have a larger exiting 5th grade class than our current KG class).

• 2018-2019 Staff Survey, Due Feb. 19 – With staffing allocations coming out in two weeks, I’d like staff to complete the linked Google Form Staff Survey or on the linked Word file. I’d like to know staff members’ individual plans and preferences for the future as well as your thoughts on next year’s staffing plan and master schedule. Please complete the survey by Monday, February 19th. All answers will be kept confidential and please let me know if you have any questions.

• Report Card Items – Four items/reminders regarding report cards:

• Parent Reports Coming – The new parent reports for K-1 were sent to principals late Friday, so I’ll put those to K-1 teachers’ mailboxes Monday. Downtown is having technical issue with the reports for grades 2-5, but said they are working on it over the weekend. There’s a separate explanation sheet (English & Spanish) about the easyCBM and OAKS scores. I’ll run sets of the English version for grades with 2-sided reports and print it on the back of the parent reports for grades with 1-sided reports. I’ll leave copies of the Spanish version under staff mailboxes.

• LZ Parent Support Sheets – I put class sets of these in teacher mailboxes to be sent home with report cards. I realize not everyone may be in the same place with the Learn Zillion pacing guide, but I’d still encourage teachers to send this information home.

• Spanish Translations Due Friday – If you need any report card comments translated, they are due to Bianca by Friday.

• Report Cards Sent Home 2/16 – All report cards will be sent home in Friday Folders on Friday, February 16th

• 4J Policy Reminders for Staff – Principals were asked to review the following items with staff:

• Restraint and Seclusion – Falling under Board Policy JGAB, this linked document covers the procedures regarding Use of Restraint and Seclusion. EEA has shared concerns that staff who are not trained in restraint and seclusion (OIS or MANDT) are not fully aware of the procedures and expectations, so principals have been asked to review the policy and procedures regarding restraint and seclusion before spring break, along with training staff regarding the escalation cycle. We’ll plan to do this at our Howard Academy Day, Friday, March 2nd, along with OAKS Test Security Training.

• Building Visitors – Per Board Policy KK, all visitors and all visiting district staff must sign in with the front office at all times. If you have a large group come, have the leader sign in and provide you a list of all participants attending with them. And if you see a visitor without a sticker, please direct them back to the office to sign in.

• Perfect Attendance Awards – Lupe reminded me about recognizing students who have had perfect attendance first semester (no tardies or absences). If you’d like me to give a 30-second award presentation to perfect attenders in your classroom, just give me a date and time to come in and I can make a big deal about regular attendance. Attached in my email is a list of all the students with perfect attendance first semester. Also, if you know of any kids with “near perfect” attendance who you’d like to recognize, let me know and I can award them as well. I’ll plan to do the same at the end of the school year for perfect second semester attendance and for students with perfect attendance all year.

• New 4J VPN – If you ever need to log onto the 4JNet from home, 4J recently changed their VPN. An email was sent to staff earlier this year who had logged on with the old Cisco VPN recently, but linked here directions on how to install the new FortiClient VPN for Mac. Also, you’ll need to be on the 4JNet (at school) to download the new VPN.

• Library Announcements – Julie has a few items of note from the library:

• Remind kids library is not a shortcut – I have noticed kids are starting to cut through the library in the morning and after school to avoid the crowded hallways. I would prefer nipping this in the bud, if too many kids start doing this it will become very unsafe (my chairs sneak out and trip you) and helps to keep students from messing around where they shouldn’t be. :)

• Open Library Times – Here are open times for staff and students to come to the library to exchange books, special check out, etc…

M, W, Th, Fr 8:00 – 8:10 & 8:40 – 9:10
M-F 11:00 – 11:30
M & Tu 12:15 to 1:15
W 12:30 -1:00

I have hall passes in the works to give to each classroom. On short weeks I may have a class, just let your students know that if there is a class in the library to check back at a later time and I will be happy to help them.

• No Unattended Students in the Library – A gentle reminder that students should only be in the library during school hours if an adult is working in the library. Our library is closed to students after 2:15 in the afternoon.

• New books in the Library – Here are new titles for teachers and EAs:

ADA Twist Scientist (2 copies)
Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers
Iggy Peck Architect
The Invisible Boy
My Mouth is a Volcano!
Don’t Squeal Unless it’s a Big Deal
What if Everybody Did That?
Do Unto Otters A book about manners
Rude Cakes
You Get What you Get
Crabby
A Little Book of Manners
The Crayon Box that Talked
Too Shy for Show and Tell
Lying Up a Storm
Jessica’s Box
Have Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids
More behavior books on the way!

• OBOB Updates – OBOB games start this week. Monday Morning 8:10 – 8:40 & 12:30 – 2:00. Students participating should come down to the library 5 minutes before their game is scheduled to start. We will be sending them back to class when their game is over. Thank you for all your support and encouragement!

• Dental Kits for K-3 Students – United Way is providing dental kits this year to all Lane County K-3 students. Kits will be delivered to buildings during the week of February 12. United Way’s hope is to get them into students’ hands during February, which is National Children’s Dental Health Month.

• Homeless Resource Guide – The City of Eugene created the Outreach Handbook: Eugene’s rest stop & car camping programs HOW TO guide to provide information on rest stop programs, car camping programs, outreach strategies, resources, outreach materials and other items. I’ve also uploaded a copy to the Howard Google Team Drive, but please feel free to share with families as necessary.

• Free Math Apps – Misty Jackson shared with principals the website Free Math Apps from The Math Learning Center. These are web apps as well as iPad apps. She said several schools are already using the Geoboard app, so if you want any of these installed on iPads, send a ticked to 4jdesktop, or if you want a like added to the Howard Links for Learners, let me know and I’ll add it.

• REPEAT: Wacky Wednesday: Favorite Character Day – Remind your students that the February Wacky Wednesday is this Wednesday and the theme is Favorite Character Day, where kids can dress up as a favorite character from books, TV shows, movies, or video games. The office staff plan is for me to dress as a male version of Cruella de Vil (internet Rule 63), with Lori and Bianca dresses as Dalmatians, so feel free join and dress as one of the dogs I’m trying to make a coat out of.

• District Admin Updates – BJ Blake, 4J Director of Secondary Education, will be retiring at the end of the school year. BJ was principal of Buena Vista and Meadowlark (where I was her assistant principal one semester), Spencer Butte Middle School, and Churchill High School, and most recently as the district’s secondary education director. Downtown will post the position and undertake a search process to select the next secondary education director.

• Howard Staff Social: Alvvays Concert! – So heavy metal isn’t your thing. How about indie pop? The excellent band Alvvays (pronounced Always) is playing Sunday, April 8th at 9 PM at the Hi-Fi Music Hall here in downtown Eugene. The lead signer was asked to describe their style and her response was, “If old people ask, I say it sounds like the Cranberries. If young people ask, I call it jangle pop. If a punk asks, I say it’s pop.” The show is general admission, so you can get your tickets anytime. Advance tickets: $15, Day of Show: $18. I’ve already got mine!

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

February 5 (M)
National School Counseling Week
Second Semester Begins
easyCBM Testing Closes
Allan Out at ODE Tech Cadre Meeting (ESD)

February 6 (T)
Regular Day

February 7 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
Wacky Wednesday – Favorite Character Day
1:15-2:00, Classified EA Supervisors Meeting (Room 26)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Admin Meeting (NEHS)

February 8 (H)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 5/1/2
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)

February 9 (F)
Deadline for Report Card Translations
Allan, Angela, Ashley to LEL (Holt)
6:00-7:30, PTO Valentine Family Craft Night (Cafeteria)

February 12 (M)
11:00-12:00, Allan to Eval Planning Meeting (Conference Room)
3:30-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

February 13 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elem. Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
8:30-11:00, LCC Dental Clinic
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa/Mariah’s Room)
3:45-6:30, 4J Staff of Color Affinity Group (Community Room)

February 14 (W)
Valentine’s Day
9:00-9:45, OBOB Final Battle Assembly (Gym)
2:30-1:30, PBIS Meeting (Rae’s Room)

February 14 (H)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 3/4/K
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)

February 15 (F)
Report Cards Sent Home
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting

February 19 (M)
Presidents Day – No School

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

 

January 29, 2018

By Allan  |  2018/01/27 07:13 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Caring for Kids, Math, P.D., Science, Video  |  Comments Off on January 29, 2018

Greetings Howard Staff,

Want to hear my theory why kids are kind of nuts right now? It’s because we’re nearing a total lunar eclipse, colloquially know as a Blood Moon, this Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. If you want to be a science geek, it’ll be visible from 4:51am to 6:07am, and see the last item below for more lunar eclipse info!

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Report Card Grading Day, Classified EAs – An email was sent to Title 1 and SPED EAs, but this also includes other EAs as well. 4J is putting on an Elementary EA Extravaganza on the report card grading day this Friday, February 2nd. There will be sessions happening from 8:00-4:30 at the Ed Center (you only need to attend the length of your regular work hours). The specific offerings are still being finalized and will be shared soon. Life Skills and CLC EAs, watch for an email from Seth or Leila regarding a MANDT training this day. Let me know if you have any questions.

• REPEAT: Report Card Grading Day, Licensed – For licensed staff, report card grading day is a regular work day. If you are working from home, remember to notify me in advance, but be sure to make plans ahead of time if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading.

• LZ Report Card Alignment & Parent Support Sheets – I had a couple teachers ask about Jamie Massee’s LZ Report Card Alignment email. This is not something teachers have to do in addition to the regular report card, but is a document to help teachers know which standards on the report card were taught to mastery, are in progress, or not yet taught if you’re keeping up with the pacing guide. Jamie shared them in a Google Drive Folder and I also put them on the Howard Google Team Drive under Curriculum/Instruction > Math > LZ Report Card Alignment. The link also includes grade level specific Report Card Family Support sheets that I’ll run off for classroom teachers and put class sets in your mailboxes on grading day.

• Want parent reports printed for you? – A few teachers mentioned it was nice to have the parent reports printed for them in the past, but that was done for teachers because only ESCs and principals had access to the Quickbase Parent Reports. However, let me know by Friday if you’d like me to run the new easyCBM Parent Reports for you. I’ll run them on grading day and will put them in your mailboxes. If you’d like to run them yourself, go to the easyCBM website > REPORTS > INDIVIDUALS > DOWNLOAD in the Parent Report column for each of your students. Never mind! Downtown just said they are printing them for schools and will be delivered on Wednesday. 

• Updated LZ Parent Math Resources – I’ve shared this link before, but the 4J Elementary Family and Community Math Resources webpage has new information posted, including some good short videos by grade level on “What does success in math look like at the end of the year for my child?” I’m planning to share one or two of these videos at the next PTO meeting.

• New Spanish Howard Pledge – Our new and improved Howard Roadrunner Pledge signs with a more accurate Spanish translation have arrived. I’ll deliver the new signs to classrooms on Monday if teachers can have students begin practicing the new Spanish version, which we’ll do over the intercom starting Wednesday. Thank you, Jill and Bianca, for the updated translation!

Soy un correcaminos de la escuela Howard.
Yo soy prudente, amable y responsable.

Soy un individuo único,
y soy parte de la familia de la escuela Howard.

Tomo buenas decisiones
y me emociona aprender.

Somos los correcaminos de la escuela Howard,
¡y el día de hoy será un éxito!

• No Hoods Up Inside the Building – Please do not allow students to wear hoods inside the building. We’ve seen more and more students doing this, so we need to be consistent in enforcing this rule across the building in all settings. If some staff allow hoods up while other do not, it sets students up for unnecessary negative interactions with staff and sets up your colleagues for unnecessary negative interactions with students.

• February PBIS Focus: Cooperation – The February PBIS monthly focus is “Cooperation.” The PBIS team created a PBIS/CSC Cheat Sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring School Community class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together.

• Setting School Culture With Social And Emotional Learning Routines – Speaking of Caring School Community, this Mind/Shift article highlights the importance of starting each day with a class morning meeting. Building students’ social and emotional skills with daily routines and regular class meetings is an important part of setting classroom and school culture.

• Student Care Team Resources – Thought I’d share a few resources shared at last Wednesday’s Student Care Team Meeting. Some have been shared before, but to highlight a few that you can feel free to share with families if situations arise:

• Therapist for Youth Offenders – Kelly Crane is the therapist who founded Sage House. She works with juvenile sex offenders and their family.

• Womenspace Survivors Support Groups – The Survivors Support Groups are a series of seven weekly sessions and is an open, on-going group, repeating every seven weeks. This process group offers survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) on-going support and education in a safe non-judgmental setting. An evolving curriculum provides clients with an understanding of the dynamics of IPV, safety planning, relationship red flags, healthy relationships, PTSD, self-care, and self-empowerment. Available in English and Spanish.

• First Place Family Center – First Place gives crucial assistance and support to families with children who are in transition due to homelessness, job loss, health issues, or other critical problems.

• Overnight Parking Program – The Overnight Parking Program (OPP) provides legal camping, free garbage disposal, and portable restrooms to homeless families and individuals living in their vehicles or campers. Parking for families is administered by First Place Family Center. Parking for adults is administered at the Eugene Service Station.

• Interfaith Night Shelter – Night Shelter is a consortium of approximately 32 faith communities offering night shelter, food, recreational activities, and comfort to 10 families per night, from the start to the end of each school year.

• Family Court Assistance Office – The purpose of the Family Court Assistance Office is to help the increasing number of self- represented litigants in domestic relations cases (divorce, custody, or parenting time proceedings). Office staff can inform self-represented litigants of court procedures and available court forms, review documents, and provide information about legal services and other resources available in the community.

• Wacky Wednesday: Favorite Character Day (next week) – Please remind your students that the February Wacky Wednesday is coming, not this week but next week, on Wednesday, February 7th and that the theme is Favorite Character Day! Kids and staff can dress up as a favorite character from books, TV shows, movies, or video games. The office staff plan is for me to dress as a male version of Cruella de Vil, with Lori and Bianca dresses as Dalmatians, so feel free join in and dress-up as one of the dalmations I’m trying to make into a fur coat.

• BEST Coordinator Update – Esther Flynn-Purvis has been offered and accepted the Howard BEST Coordinator position, which Bryan has been filling in as for most of the school year. Esther has been the #2 person at the Spring Creek BEST program and is familiar with the BEST/YMCA hybrid program we started this year. Esther is going to begin transitioning into the coordinator role here at Howard, but won’t officially start here until her replacement at Spring Creek is hired. In the meantime, Bryan will continue to coordinate the Howard BEST Program. Please welcome Esther to the Howard Team!

• Updated Incident/Accident Report – 4J has a new Incident Report Form that should be used to document employee or volunteer on-the-job-injuries and/or staff concerns related to extreme student behavior. The information provided will enable both the school and district to learn about what contributed to the incident and discover potential system failures so they can be corrected. If possible, the form should be completed and submitted to your supervisor (me) within 24 hours of injury or encounter. The first page must be completed by the injured/concerned employee or volunteer. The second page must be completed by supervisor.

• Total Lunar Eclipse Tues. Night/Wed. Morning – Wednesday morning is a Total Lunar Eclipse from 4:51am to 6:07am. A Total Lunar Eclipse is when the full moon travels through the Earth’s shadow and turns a deep red color for a couple hours. The next one isn’t visible in Oregon until 2019 and then not until 2021. The Eugene Astronomical Society is holding a local event. If you want to share about this with students, kid friendly information can be found at the NASA Kids website and the YouTube video below.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 29 (M)
10:00-11:45, Christine Nesbit Visting Howard
12:00-1:30, Oregon State Senator Manning Visiting Jill’s Class
3:30-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

January 30 (T)
Regular Day

January 31 (W)
In District School Choice Applications Due
1:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)

February 1 (H)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Cooperation

February 2 (F)
Grading Day – No School
8:00-4:30, EA Extravaganza (Ed Center)

February 5 (M)
National School Counseling Week
Allan Out at ODE Tech Cadre Meeting (ESD)
Second Semester Begins
easyCBM Testing Closes

February 6 (T)
Regular Day

February 7 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
Wacky Wednesday – Favorite Character Day
1:30-3:00, OPTIONAL: 4J Elementary EA Behavior Workshop (Ed Center)
1:15-2:15, Classified EA Meeting (Room 26)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Admin Meeting (NEHS)

February 8 (H)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 5/1/1
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)

February 9 (F)
Deadline for Report Card Translations
Allan, Angela, Ashley to LEL Meeting (Holt)
1:30-3:00, OPTIONAL: 4J Elementary EA Behavior Workshop (Ed Center)
6:00-7:30, PTO Valentine Family Craft Night (Cafeteria)

Have a good 4-day week, everyone!

Allan

 

January 1, 2018

By Allan  |  2017/12/30 09:57 Posted in Announcements, Arts, Caring for Kids, Math, P.D., Science, Video  |  Comments Off on January 1, 2018

 

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you all had a fabulous winter break. My break got off to an unusual start, with the Chinn Family moving in with my in-laws for a week. Our house had some water damage to our hardwood floors in November due to a leak behind our dishwasher, so we had to move out of our house while the floors got refinished. Hopefully your break was not as atypical.

Seventeen items of note for this week:

• January 2nd PD/Planning Day Info – There was a rather confusing flurry of last minute emails from downtown regarding PD plans for January 2nd, but to recap, here is the latest:

• Classroom Teachers – See Sue Wilson’s email for info about the Jan. 2nd FOSS Science Training. It will be at River Road 8:00-11:30 for people teaching Earth Science starting in January and 12:00-3:30 for people teaching Physical Science starting in January. If you’ve forgotten which kit was sent to you, see the email I forwarded earlier.

• SSD Staff (licensed and classified) – See Marlee Litten’s email for info about SSD’s Jan. 2nd “Addressing Challenging Behaviors” training. All SSD staff will meet at the Churchill High School STEM Center from 8:00-11:25. Lunch will be on your own. Licensed SSD staff will have an additional meeting 12:05-1:15 for a job-alike meeting.

• Title 1 Staff (licensed and classified) – Corianne has organized an alternate Howard specific IPBS and Academic Language training for Jan. 2nd that was approved by downtown, so Title 1 staff do not need to attend the above behavior training as you were originally directed by downtown and should instead report to Howard for the training at 10:00.

• All Other Staff – For all other staff, this is a regular work day at Howard unless you’ve made prior arrangements.

• Staffing Updates – With Frank’s retirement, SSD has hired Tamera Berge to fill the vacancy. Her first day of work will be January 2nd, so please welcome Tamera to the Howard Team! I’ve also received notice from HR that Life Skills EA Susan Schueller, who was here part of September, is extending her leave and we will continue with a substitute filling her position.

• Winter Break Facilities Updates – Here are some updates on the work done over the break:

• Extra Rolling Book Shelves & Furniture – We have several of the low rolling book shelves that quite a few people had asked for last year (see picture below), so if you would like one, they are in the hallway along the library. Feel free to take one or tag it with where you’d like it delivered.

• Elevator Badge Reader – The elevator badge reader is finally working, so to use the elevator you will need to present a badge to the pad, wait for the beep, and then push the call button. Upstairs classrooms will now need to give students an elevator badge when they are going up or down with lunch baskets, library books, or other large items we don’t want carried up or down the stairs. I have elevator specific badges I’ll put in upstairs teacher mailboxes on Tuesday. Staff badges are all coded to use the elevator, but let me know if for some reason your badge was missed.

• Window Tint Update – Window tinting will be added for all south facing classrooms, both first and second floor, so hopefully that will help with the natural lighting issues. However, there is no definite timeline for when this will happen. In the meantime, let us know if you’d like help putting up butcher paper to block the sunlight.

• Classroom Audio Issues – Technology Department Staff and AMX contractors came out over the break to try to fix the classroom audio issues. I haven’t gotten an update on their progress, but do let me know if the problems are continuing.

• January PBIS Focus: Be Your Best – The January PBIS monthly focus is “Be Your Best.” The PBIS team created a PBIS/CSC Cheat Sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring School Community class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together.

• School Choice Visitation Week & Info – School Choice season has begun and the School Showcase will be held this Saturday at the Ed Center, 10:00-12:00 if any staff members are interested/willing to help me brag about our school. This event is for families to learn about all 4J schools in one place at the same time. Last year they provided breakfast for staff helping at the event. Let me know if any of you are interested/willing to help promote Howard and tell families why they should come to our amazing school!

Three related items: One, the first School Choice Visitation Week is next week, January 8-12, so be prepared for families to drop by classrooms over the course of the week. Two, all North Region elementary schools are doing one school choice evening event and Howard’s evening event will be Tuesday, January 23rd if anyone is interested/willing in helping me talk about our school. And three, the window for school choice applications has been shortened this year, so if families ask, they have until the end of the January to lottery into Howard. The out-of-district lottery will be March 1 – April 1, but those families are invited to attend tours at Howard this month.

• TaeKwonDo Demonstration Team Assembly, 1/12 – Not this week, but Friday next week, the U.S. TaeKwonDo College Demonstration Team will hold their motivational assembly we discussed at last month’s Staff Meeting. The K-2 assembly is 8:10-8:35 and the 3-5 assembly is 8:45-9:10. See the linked assembly map and directions for details.

• Howard Holiday/New Year Party, Friday! – See Angela’s email for details, but this Friday 6:00-8:00ish at Angela’s house is the Howard Holiday/New Year Party. Watch for the pot-luck sign up and we’ll see you there for the fun!

• Number Talks Info – Two items from our final Number Talks trainings.

• Developing Math Fluency with Number Talks Pacing Guide – Number Talks supports the development of students’ procedural fluency from conceptual understanding. Located on the 4J Learn Zillion website is a Number Talks Pacing Guide for each grade level (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5), which lists the concepts that should be focused on in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. The pacing guides are on the 2nd or 3rd to last page of the above linked documents, which can be found on the 4J Learn Zillion website by going to Math full lesson plans (K-5) > your grade level > LearnZillion Pacing Guidance & Additional Supports.

• Number Talks Peer Observations – Subs are already taken care of for the peer observations. Information about the observer-as-learner protocol used for the observations can be found in the green Number Talks Resource Spiral. The dates for the half-day peer observations are scheduled for:

• Kindergarten: Jan. 25, 7:30-11:30
• 1st Grade: Jan. 26, 7:30-11:30
• 2nd Grade: Jan. 24, 7:30-11:30
• 3rd Grade: Jan. 11, 11:30-2:30
• 4th Grade: Jan. 11, 7:30-11:30
• 5th Grade: Jan. 19, 7:30-11:30

Let me know by the end of the week if these dates/times present any potential conflicts for you so we can reschedule.

• Artist in Residence Survey Results (so far) – Teachers, if you haven’t already completed the Artist in Residence Survey for your preferred dates and artists, please do so this week. Survey results so far are:

• First Artist Dates: February was the #1 pick and March the #2 pick
• Second Artist Dates: April was the #1 pick and June the #2 pick
• #1 Artist Choice: Ceramics — Andrea DiPalma Yansane
• #2 Artist Choice: Silk Painting — Merideth Ferrell
• #3 Artist Choice: Drawing for Everyone: Zentangle– Rosie Hill

• Front Entry Wall – I’ve taken down our Veterans Day display in the front entryway (I saved the stars if any students are wanting them back) and now it looks pretty empty. If any classroom would like to crate a display, just let me know and the space is all yours!

• Google Apps Student Access Tip – If a student is unable to log into Google Apps AFTER the permission form has been given to Lori and recorded in Synergy, email 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu. Permissions should become activate during the evening Synergy update process, so email 4jdekstop if it’s to working for a student the following day.

• Volunteer of the Month Nominations – The Register Guard would like to have more Volunteer of the Month nominations from 4J schools. There are a good amount of parents and other volunteers at Howard doing great things! This is an excellent way to highlight some of our amazing school volunteers and a nice way to encourage more volunteerism. Linked here is the Volunteer Nomination form. Feel free to submit the form yourself, but I’d be happy to submit it for you if you email me a volunteer’s name and what they do for you.

• School Board Behavior Presentation – This isn’t anything staff aren’t already aware of, since we live it day-to-day, but if you are interested, linked here is a presentation district staff shared at a community forum in December regarding rising student behaviors in schools. What I found most interesting was the data regarding the rise of challenging student behaviors both in our community and across the nation.

• Young Writers Fiction Contest – Here’s a fun contest to motivate students to do some creative writing. There is a K-2 and 3-5 category. See the Wordcrafters in Eugene website and linked flyer for details.

• School Garden Project Workshop Series for Elementary Teachers – The School Garden Project is presenting a free workshop series titled Deepening Connections in January, February, and March, to help 2nd – 5th grade teachers learn strategies to successfully take your classroom outside, and share simple lessons that help students connect with their school garden while learning math, art, writing, and science standards. See the above linked flyer for details.

• Howard Staff Social: Queens of the Stone Age Concert! – Hard rock fans, time to assemble! The Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal are playing the Hult Center on Saturday, January 27th. Matt, Becky, and I are in and we’ll be ordering tickets this Friday after school in Matt’s office. Meet us there and we’ll buy out a block of seats for all of the Howard Metalheads!

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

January 1 (M)
Winter Break – No School

January 2 (T)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-11:30, K-5 FOSS Earth Science Training (River Road)
8:00-11:25, SSD Staff (Licensed & Classified) “Addressing Challenging Behaviors” Training (Churchill STEM Center)
10:00, Title 1 Staff Training (Room 26)
12:00-3:30, K-5 FOSS Physical Science Training (River Road)
12:05-1:15, SSD Licensed Staff Job Alike Meetings (Churchill STEM Center)
1:00-3:00, Allan to Admin Science Training (Chavez)
3:00, Allan to Principal Goals Meeting (Ed Center)

January 3 (W)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Be Your Best
Classes Resume
easyCBM Winter Benchmark Testing Opens
In-District School Choice Opens (Closes Jan. 31)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center) CANCELLED
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

January 4 (H)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45, Allan to Early Childhood Open House Planning Meeting (Room 21)

January 5 (F)
2:15, Queens of the Stone Age Ticket Buy (Matt’s Office)
6:00-8:00, Howard Holiday/New Year Party (Angela’s House)

January 6 (SA)
10:00-12:00, Elementary School Showcase (Ed Center)

January 8 (M)
School Choice Week #1

January 9 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa/Mariah’s Room)

January 10 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – School Color Day
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
2:30-3:30, PIBS Meeting (Rae’s Room)
5:30-7:45, SSD Early Childhood Open House (English)
6:00-8:15, SSD Early Childhood Open House (Spanish)

January 11 (H)
7:30-11:30, 4th – Number Talks Peer Observations
11:30-2:30, 3rd – Number Talks Peer Observations
2:30-3:30, TLT Meeting (Angela’s Room)

January 12 (F)
10:00, Allan to testify at DHS Hearing (Lane Circuit Court)
5:00, PTO Spaghetti Feed/BINGO Night (Cafeteria)

January 15 (M)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School

Not to end my first announcements of the year all sappy, but I’ve missed seeing my work friends over the break and was thinking of what I said at the end of the year last year; that years from now I want Howard to be know as “that geezer staff who’ve all been together over there forever.” See you, all, soon!

Allan

December 11, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/12/09 14:43 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Math, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on December 11, 2017

Hello Awesome Howard Staff,

It’s the last week before winter break, which mean there will be lots of student excitement, anxiety, and other volatile emotions, which can mean an increase in interesting/unusual behaviors. Remember to take the time for lots of pre-teaching of rules and expectations this week because students will likely need the extra reminders.

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• Bus Safety Training Info DUE THURSDAY – If you have not done so already, I shared earlier in the year that all classroom teachers are required by law to provide a bus safety training to all students by the end of December. If you haven’t already, email Lori the date you did your training and the training method you used (showing the video below or a teacher created lesson). Linked here are bus safety information sheets (English and Spanish) classroom teachers can teach from, but to meet the training requirement, the easiest method is by showing the the quaint 1997 bus safety video The Safest Way Out. Info is due to Lori by Thursday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xPFw8PyaAo

• Final Number Talks Training, Wednesday – This Wednesday at 2:30 in Ashley’s Room is the final Number Talks training. This time, please bring your laptops or other internet connected device (in addition to your Number Talks book and green spiral notebook), because there is a survey downtown has asked all teachers to complete regarding the Skillful Teaching Modules (i.e. Research for Better Teaching (RBT)/Jon Saphier trainings).

• Artist in Residence Survey & Update – I shared earlier this year that the Eugene Rotary ArtSpark Program is working with downtown to bring Artists in Residence to the ten schools in 4J with the highest poverty. I met with the Rotary last week and they actually want to bring TWO ARTISTS to Howard this year! I’d like to make a decision on the artists and dates at the next staff meeting, so to streamline the process, teachers should complete the short Artist in Residence Google Form and that way we can have a proposal ahead the January meeting. The Rotary folks also clarified that they were less interested in auctioning kid art, though they would like to if possible, but not for that to guide our pick of artist. Please take a look at the Lane Arts Artist in Residence website for details on each artist and let me know if you have any questions.

• January 2nd PD/Planning Day Info Coming – UPDATED – See Allison’s email regarding the FOSS Science training Jan. 2nd. The training will be at River Road 8:00-11:30 for 3-5 teachers and 12:00-3:30 for K-2 teachers. Elementary SSD and Title 1 staff (licensed and classified) will have a separate training on Number Sense. Details on time and location of that training should be coming soon as well.

• Math Teacher Leader Updates – If you’re like to know what our Math Teacher Leaders have been up to, linked here is the latest MTL email from downtown. Some key points included in the email for teachers to keep in mind are:

• Math Discourse (specifically QUESTIONING) is key!
• Planning supports for Conceptual Lessons
• USE TOOLS!!! (some ideas for which ones can be found in the videos or unit planners)
• Plan over a series of days for a KEY CONCEPT. Linked here are Key Concept Overviews by grade level; Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5
• Parent Math Page is up! (https://bit.ly/4jmath and Productive Struggle letter linked in English & Spanish!)
• Reach out! Planning, collaboration, feedback, etc. MTLs and downtown staff are here to help!

• Know Where Your Kids Are At – Classroom teachers, please make sure you know where your students are when they are going to groups or elsewhere. It make us look rather foolish when parents come to pick-up students and teachers don’t know where they’re at (LC? Title 1? CLC? ELD? Elsewhere?).

• No Kids in the Work Room – Please do not sent students to the Work Room to pick-up printing. We’ve caught kids playing around in there a few times and there’s also confidential information on the printer at times. Instead, send students to the front office if you need any printing picked up.

• Winter Break Facilities Work – During winter break there are a number of things going on in the building. Below is the list that was sent to me. I’ve asked for clarification about the work being done regarding curtains and shading because the item below mentions second floor and I know it’s also an issue for first floor classrooms.

1. Furniture installation for several rooms, exact rooms to be determined. This will start on the 19th and run until finished. If all deliveries are on time then it shouldn’t take much past a week, but if not it might be the full break. Preferably we would like to use the cafeteria for staging and assembly.
2. Daylighting issues – this impacts classrooms on the second floor, all of them. This work isn’t 100% a go yet as we are dependent on final pricing approval and support from the manufacturers to produce the shade and materials. We will be installing skylight shades, blackout fabric on 12 small end windows and window film on upper exterior windows that do not have shades. I do not have a schedule for this and it will involve two separate contractors. I’m trying our best to fit this in over the break.
3. Exterior work – some plants, landscape and dirt work over the break.
4. Potentially siding work for improvements
5. Potentially electrical work for improvements
6. Potentially an irrigation well drill and vault installation.

• First Fridays – The First Fridays, Communities of Color and Allies Network (CCAN), meets monthly with the goal to create a safe space to foster friendships and networks for people of color, social justice allies, and equity workers in the local area. If you’d like to attend or want to share with anyone who’d might like to attend, the First Friday schedule for the first part of 2018 is:

Jan. 5, 2018 Lane Council of Governments (LCOG)
Feb. 2, 2018 Eugene 4J School District
Mar. 2, 2018 Lane ESD | Bethel SD
Apr. 6, 2018 Lane Community College
May 4, 2018 EWEB

See their website for details.

• REPEAT: Tail Feather Reward & Activity Sign-Up – We’re still in the midst of our PBIS Tail Feather Reward, so remember to keep an eye out for classes deserving of a tail feather. The reward for classrooms meeting their tail feather goal of 10 new feathers will be a menu of fun activities on Friday, 1:00-1:40 including a Dance Party in the gym. See Rae’s email for details and linked here is the Google Tail Feather Activity Sign-Up Sheet.

• REPEAT: Wacky Wednesday! – Mismatched Clothes Day – This Wednesday is Mismatched Clothes Day, so start planning your colorful, clashing, crazy outfits. Remind your class too, so I’m not the only one looking ridiculous!

• The Future of Coding in Schools – In this Edutopia article, Mitch Resnick, one of the creators of Scratch, shares why he thinks coding should be taught in all schools, and it’s not the reason you’d expect. “Many people embrace coding in schools as a pathway to jobs as computer programmers and computer scientists, and of course they’re right that those opportunities are expanding rapidly. But that’s not a great reason for everyone to learn how to code. Very few people grow up to be professional writers, but we teach everyone to write because it’s a way of communicating with others—of organizing your thoughts and expressing your ideas. I think the reasons for learning to code are the same as the reasons for learning to write. When we learn to write, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas. And when we learn to code, we are learning how to organize, express, and share ideas in new ways, in a new medium.” When asked what does that look like in the school system, Resnick repsonded, “These days I talk about our approach in terms of these four words that begin with the letter p: projects, passion, peers, and play. So that’s the approach I would take with coding, but also with any other learning: getting students to work on projects, based on their passion, in collaboration with peers, in a playful spirit. And each of those p’s is important. I think work on projects gives you an understanding of the creative process, how to start with just the inkling of an idea and then to build a prototype, share it with people, experiment with it, and continue to modify and improve it.”

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

December 11 (M)
1:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Office)

December 12 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

December 13 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Mismatched Clothes Day
1:30, Staff Rip-Stick Practice – Optional (Gym)
2:30-3:30, Team Meeting Time – Number Talks Part 4/4 (Ashley’s Room)

December 14 (H)
8:30, Allan to Observation
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
3:00-4:00, Allan to Pre-K Transition Planning Meeting (Room 5)

December 15 (F)
8:00-9:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
11:00-1:50, December Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
1:00-1:40, PBIS Tail Feather Reward

Dec. 18 – Jan. 1
Winter Break

Dec. 19 – 22
New Furniture Delivery and Installation

January 2 (T)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day (details coming)
8:00-11:30, 3-5 FOSS Science Training (River Road)
12:00-3:30, K-2 FOSS Science Training (River Road)
2:30, Allan to Principal Goals Meeting (Ed Center)

January 3 (W)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Be Your Best
Classes Resume
easyCBM Benchmark Testing Opens
In-District School Choice Opens (Closes Jan. 31)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

January 4 (H)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
2:45, Allan to Early Childhood Open House Planning Meeting (Room 21)

January 5 (F)
Regular Day

January 6 (SA)
10:00-12:00, Elementary School Showcase (Ed Center)

Have a good final work week of 2017 and a well deserved winter break!

Allan

December 4, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/12/01 18:35 Posted in Announcements, Math, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on December 4, 2017

Hello Roadrunners,

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Need More Classroom Furniture? Tell Me ASAP! – Over winter break we are having a TON of new furniture being delivered. Let me know by Friday if you want any additional furniture. See the linked Furniture Delivery List for all the furniture we’re getting, but for some reason they did not order any single desks. Other than that, we will have many double desks, teacher desks, chairs, stools, filing cabinets, kidney tables, round tables, plastic storage tubs, and pretty much everything that came with the classrooms and some of the specialist rooms.

We’re also getting one comfy couch and one comfy chair for each of the six commons areas, so let me know by Friday if your grade level team DOES NOT want them delivered to your wing and I’ll instead give them to a grade level team who’d like additional furniture in their wing.

We really need to know this now, so we can tell the installers where to put stuff and how much they need to assemble, because the excess furniture will be stored unassembled in the custodial storage area and I’d like to save Crystal the time and hassle of having to assemble and move furniture later if the people being paid to do it can do it now. Let me know if you have any questions.

• United Way Campaign Pledges DUE THURSDAY– At last week’s Staff Meeting, information was shared about the annual United Way Campaign. This year’s campaign is closing very soon and all completed pledge forms are due to my mailbox this Thursday. Blank pledge forms are available under Staff Mailboxes. This year you can also pledge online instead of using the paper form by going to the United Way ePledge website. Use the generic username and password (USER: 4JEugeneScho PASS: School2017), you will be prompted to create your own unique user account.

Please consider donating a small amount. You can even donate directly to your school, grade level, or classroom through EEF on the form or online. For more information on how United Way of Lane County is assisting in Eugene, please visit United Way website or see their video below.

• Learn Zillion Support – Also as last week’s staff meeting, Jaimie Massie offered to help teachers in any way you need with Learn Zillion. Jaimee is available to:

• Visit with teams
• Email resources
• Model a lesson
• Observe a lesson
• Meet for planning
• Create a quick video
• Ask LZ or stakeholders
• Answer questions
• Bring in a grade-level expert
• Give team planning time (yes, paid sub time!)
• …and more!

• Fire Drill Thursday at 1:40 – The December Fire Drill will be this Thursday, December 7th at 1:40. The weather is supposed to be clear, but if we are rained out the back-up plan will be to do it first thing Friday morning.

• Wacky Wednesday!- Mismatched Clothes Day – Wednesday next week is Mismatched Clothes Day, so start planning your colorful, clashing, crazy outfits. Remind your class too, so I’m not the only one looking ridiculous!

• Hazardous Weather Conditions Change – Downtown sent everyone updated Hazardous Weather Conditions info, but one change I wanted to highlight is that if there is a 2-hour delay on an early release day (which is rare, but did happen last year), the early release is cancelled and schools will dismiss at their regular non-early release times. So for Howard, this means if there were a 2-hour delay on a Wednesday, we would dismiss at 2:05 instead of 1:05.

• easyCBM Security Update and Site Re-Routing – Houghton Mifflin did a major update to easyCBM last week that may impact your access to the site. If you bookmarked the old site (http://www.4j.or.easycbm.com) it should automatically redirect you to the new site (https://4j-or.easycbm.com/). See Eric-Michael MacCionnaith’s email for background and details if you are interested.

• Subs for Peer Observations – A few teachers asked about subs for when we do peer observation in January, so I wanted to let teachers know that Lori has arranged for our usual team of roving subs these days, meaning teachers don’t have to worry about finding a sub.

• Tail Feather Reward & Activity Sign-Up – We’re now in the midst of our first PBIS Tail Feather Reward, so remember to keep an eye out for classes deserving of a tail feather. The reward for classrooms meeting their tail feather goal of 10 new feathers will be a menu of fun activities on Friday, December 15th, 1:00-1:40 including a Dance Party in the gym. See Rae’s email for details and linked here is the Google Tail Feather Activity Sign-Up Sheet.

• Elementary School Showcase Volunteers? – It seems far off, but since this event is right after winter break, I thought I’d ask now. Saturday, January 6th, 10:00-12:00, 4J will hold a shortened version of the Elementary School Showcase if any staff are willing/interesting in helping me share info about our AMAZING school! The showcase is a one-stop information fair for parents considering their elementary school options. Each elementary school has a table staffed by the principal and one or two other knowledgeable, personable representatives, ready to talk with parents. Let me know if any of your are willing/interested in helping at this event.

• Responding to Parent Calls/Emails – This was a reminder sent to principals as an expectation of us when returning parent calls/emails, but I thought it’s also a good reminder for teachers when you have parent calls and emails. Always return parent phone calls and emails within 24 hours, 48 at the very most. Why? When parents don’t hear from you, they assume the worst. They NEVER assume the best. If all you can do is to say “I received your email/phone call, and I will bet back to you tomorrow with more information” then that assures the parent they have been heard and their anxiety reduces. My own additional bit of advice is to always try to make a phone call rather than emailing. Intent and tone is easily misconstrued in emails and phone calls almost always work better (and they can save you the time and hassle of getting into an long chain of back-and-forth emails).

• REPEAT: PRIDE Awards, Respect, Due Tuesday – Wednesday during lunchtime in the cafeteria will be our PRIDE Awards for Respect. Teachers should remind students about PRIDE and the meaning of Respect (Honor Yourself and Others), and then pick 2-4 students who have been been demonstrating Respect. Be sure to get certificate to me before the 6th so I can sign them and get them organized. See last week’s announcements for ideas on how to discuss respect with students.

• REPEAT: Hour of Code Next Week – The Hour of Code is happening this week for Computer Science Education Week. if teacher can squeeze in an hour of coding. Resources include Code.org, HourofCode.org, Edutopia, and Khan Academy. I’ve added a link to Code.org’s many online activities on Howard’s Links for Learners webpages, but let me know if you would like any other coding links added.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

December 4 (M)
Computer Science Education Week / Hour of Code

December 5 (T)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa/Mariah’s Room)
4:00, Allan to LCC Grant Meeting (Kelly MS)
5:30-7:30, North Region Visioning Community Engagement Event (Kelly MS)

December 6 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
9:00, Allan Meeting w/Eugene Rotary (Office)
11:00-12:50, PRIDE Awards at Lunch – Respect (Cafeteria)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

December 7 (H)
9:00, November Book Winers (Conference Room)
1:40, Fire Drill

December 8 (F)
Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/pretend-to-be-a-time-traveler-day/

December 11 (M)
3:15, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Office)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)

December 12 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

December 13 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Mismatched Clothes Day
2:30-3:30, Team Meeting Time – Number Talks Part 4/4 (Ashley’s Room)

December 14 (H)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
3:00-4:00, Allan to Pre-K Transition Planning Meeting (Room 5)

December 15 (F)
8:00-9:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
11:00-1:50, December Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
1:00-1:40, PBIS Tail Feather Reward

Dec. 18 – Jan. 1
Winter Break

Dec. 19 – 22
New Furniture Delivery and Installation

January 2 (T)
No School — Professional Development/Planning Day (details coming)

January 3 (W)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Be Your Best
Classes Resume
easyCBM Benchmark Testing Opens
In-District School Choice Opens (Closes Jan. 31)

And if you’d like to see some fancy professional photos of Howard, PiVOT just shared a bunch with me that I put in the Howard Google Team Drive under MISC > PHOTOS > PIVOT PHOTOS.

Allan

November 20, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/11/18 07:33 Posted in Announcements, Grants, Math, Technology  |  Comments Off on November 20, 2017

 

Greetings Marvelous Howard Staff,

We had a good turnout for the PTO Family Movie Night, which was a nice fun way to end a crazy week. Thank you to all the staff who came out for the event!

Although this is going to be a short week, it’s going to be a busy one with long days  and nights for teachers, but look forward to a yummy dinner provided by the PTO each evening.

Twelve items of note for this week:

• TalentEd Standards Overview Meeting – I’m still trying to get to all licensed staff for your start-of-the-year Standards Overview Conference meeting (if you’re Contract Year-2, you’re off the hook), so I’ll come by classrooms during conferences when teachers have a break in your schedule, but also feel free to swing by the office or tell me a time that works to meet if we haven’t met already.

• PTO Meeting Updates – Linked here is the November PTO Meeting PowerPoint from last Tuesday’s meeting. There were no burning topics, but some items of note were that the PTO will vote on the $5,000 Special Project at the January meeting (send your ideas to the PTO before then), there are a few unfilled spots at the Dec. 2nd Holiday Bazaar if you know anyone who has something to sell, plans were finalized for feeding teachers dinner during conferences, there will be a BINGO and Spaghetti Feed on Friday, Jan. 12th, and they are still looking to fill the following board positions if you or you know of anyone who might be able to fill them: Fundraiser Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Staff Liaison.

• PDUs for August Trauma Informed Care – Shasta sends her apologies for this coming a bit late, but linked here is a PDU Certificate for attending the August Trauma Informed Care Training.

• Parent Math Resources – I’m going to put this in the next school newsletter, but if parents ever ask you for information about LearnZillion, you can direction them to the 4J webpage Elementary Family and Community Math Resources. This link is on the Howard website under Parents > Academic Resources. One particularly helpful document explains some of the shifts we’ve made in math instruction; Help Your Child with Productive Struggle.

• Leadership Plan Approved – JCAC approved Howard’s leadership plan last week. I expected it to be approved since it’s very similar to the ones we’ve had approved in the past, but wanted to let staff know that it’s now official.

• REPEAT: Care Team Referrals – Families tend to share a lot at conferences, so please have some of the 4J Release Forms (editable PDF and non-editable PDF) on hand to get signed if any situations come up where the Care Team might be able to assist. Feel free to call/text me to come discuss the Care Team at a conference if it seems appropriate. Referrals are due by the end of the day Tuesday.

• REPEAT: Conference Items of Note – A repeat of two conference items:

• Conferences and Specialists & Classified Staff – Specialists (Title, SPED, ELD, Music, PE, etc.) are to be working during conferences in some capacity and are available to families if they would like to meet. For classifieds staff, Tuesday and Wednesday are regular work days unless you have trade time saved up.

• Title 1 Compacts – Corianne sharing information on this last month, but please remember the following:

• PLEASE DO NOT SEND THESE COMPACTS HOME TO GET THEM SIGNED
• If we can only get you and the student to sign, then make a photocopy for Title 1, and THEN the original will be sent home to be signed. If it comes back, great! If it doesn’t, no biggie. We’ll have the copy showing we tried.
• PLEASE have families sign these at conferences.
• Once you have signed compacts, please return them to Corianne.

• NEA Grant Opportunities – Here are a couple grants teachers might want to take note of:

• NEA Foundation Learning & Leadership Grants – Want an all expenses paid trip to a conference to enhance your professional learning? This NEA Teacher Grant offers $2,000 or $5,000 for travel, lodging, and conference fees. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, June 1 and Oct. 15 of each year.

• NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants – This Classroom NEA Grant provides funds for resource materials, supplies, equipment, transportation, technology, or scholars-in-residence. As with the above grant, it awards $2,000 or $5,000 grants and the deadlines are Feb. 1, June 1 and Oct. 15 of each year.

• Assistance for Corridor Fire – As most staff know, a great deal of classroom materials are staff-funded. If staff feel so inclined, teachers at Corridor are looking for support to replace damaged:

-Classroom calendar
-Bulletin board borders
-Bulletin board letters (varied sizes)
-Classroom job poster
-Classroom Birthday poster
-Cursive poster
-Number line
-Multiplication chart poster
-Place value poster
-Varied math posters (hundred chart, other content related posters)
-Varied writing posters (editing posters, writing aids, etc)
-Name/checklist posters (you know, the ones you can log reading minutes or things being turned in for each student)
-Inspirational quote posters
-Character Trait posters and materials
-Lots of Oregon Duck stuff (duh)
-Various writing paper/cards for letter writing for the kids (fun prints, envelopes, decorated computer paper)
-Anything paper (construction paper, reams of computer paper, lined paper, spiral notebooks, etc)
-Various yarn (hair colored (Oregon Trail art project) and other colors)
-Various fabric (printed and plain)
-Yards and yards of muslin
-Rolls of batting (for story quilts)
-Stickers (various kinds, lots and lots)
-Approximately 6 rolls of postage stamps (my kids write letters and we mail them)
-Boxes of ziploc bags (small, medium and large)
-32 clipboards

• Hour of Code, Dec. 4-10: Take a “journey” with Minecraft! – Let me know if any of your are doing any fun coding activities the week of The Hour of Code. We’ve been lucky to get TV stations and the paper out to Howard in the past for The Hour fo Code. Linked here is a handy Hour of Code How to Guide. Also, Code.org and Microsoft just announced a new coding activity, Minecraft: Hero’s Journey! Introducing the Minecraft Agent, students write code to instruct the Agent to execute commands and overcome in-game obstacles. On the Howard website, I’ve added a link to the Links for Learners for all grade levels to Code.org’s many coding activities.

• 3 Assumptions Teachers Should Avoid – Some assumptions can negatively impact your teaching practice. This Edutopia article has a few tips to combat three common ones.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

November 20 (M)
2:00-3:30, Tech Dept. Using STEAM Room
4:00-8:00, Parent/Teacher Conferences
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
5:00-6:00, PTO Provided Dinner (Staff Room)

November 21 (T)
Student Care Team Referrals Due
8:00-8:00, Parent Teacher Conferences
9:00, Allan to Conference
4:10, Allan to Conference
5:00-6:00, PTO Provided Dinner (Staff Room)
7:00, Allan to Conference

November 22 (W)
No School – Teacher Comp Day for Conferences
Regular Work Day for Classified Staff

November 23 (H)
No School – Thanksgiving Break

November 24 (F)
No School – Thanksgiving Break

November 27 (M)
2:30-3:30, Site Council (Conference Room)

November 28 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting – Number Talks Part 3 (Ashley’s Room)

November 29 (W)
Picture Retakes (Community Room)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 5/1/2 (Conference Room)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Conference Room)

November 30 (H)
7:50-10:40, Data Team Meetings 3/4/K (Conference Room)
12:00-3:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)

December 1 (F)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Generosity
11:00-1:50, November Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)

December 2 (SA)
9:00-2:00, PTO Holiday Bazaar (Cafeteria/Gym)

Have a good week and an event better Thanksgiving Break!

Allan

October 30, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/10/28 17:08 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Math, P.D., Science  |  Comments Off on October 30, 2017

 

Greetings Howard Roadrunners,

I’m looking forward to our Halloween Staff Photo after school on Tuesday!

Sixteen items of note for this week:

• Dismissal Pick-Up line Moving – In an effort to keep the pause parking line moving better, we’re moving Mr. Matt’s student pick-up line closer to the bus loop, so please remind students of this new location.

• 4J Science Resources – Don’t forget about the many, many resources on the 4J Science Blog that’s managed by Howard’s own Allison Kreider. Just click the links along the right for grade level specific resources for each kit, including printable learning targets (single sheet or poster size), vocabulary cards, word wall cards, and more!

And are you having trouble figuring out where to fit in science lessons? The Title 1 Progress Monitoring days are an excellent day for science. Also, if you’re having trouble finding time to get to all of the lessons in your kit, know that it’s better to focus on teaching the high priority lessons and getting to the end of the kit than it is to teach lessons in order and not finish. No student is ever told they’re bad at science (there’s no tests, there’s no pull-out groups, etc.), so science is a great time to integrate multiple subject areas and make all kids feel successful!

• LearnZillion Tips – Principals had a mini-training at our last elementary principals meeting and were told what were the top “Power Moves” for successfully teaching the new math curriculum. They were:

• Learning Targets – How do teachers communicate criteria for success?
• Manipulatives/Visuals – How do teachers help make student thinking visible?
• Anchor Charts – How do teachers help make academic language accessible?

• Nov. 8 Number Talks Change for LEL & Math Info – I’ve had to reschedule Part 3 of the 4-Part Number Talks trainings. Originally we were doing part three at the Teacher Team Time Meeting on Wednesday, November 8th, but instead I’ll be presenting information downtown wants principals to share regarding the LEL (Learning About Learning) visit we’ll have the following week (November 15th). There is also an extended Math Teacher Leader update that downtown asked to be shared, which we’ll also do at this meeting.

• November PBIS Focus: Appreciations – The November PBIS monthly focus is Appreciations. The PBIS team created a PBIS/CSC Cheat Sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring School Community class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together.

• Supporting Undocumented Students – Principals were asked to share the linked FAQ for Staff – Supporting Undocumented Students. The most important point is 4J is committed to a safe, inclusive, and supportive school environment for all students, regardless of their national origin, immigration or documentation status, which in practice means we do not collect or share any information regarding immigration status. All schools held a training with staff on this topic last year, but please let me know if you have any questions.

• Student Care Team Resources – Below are a few community resources that were unused at last Wednesday’s Student Care Team that you can feel free to share with families should the need come up. Also, all of these along with others, can all be found on the Howard Google Drive in the Student Care Team folder.

• Dusk to Dawn Program – Families and adults in need of overnight shelter can access the Dusk to Dawn Programs administered by St. Vincent de Paul; families with children under 18 at First Place Family Center, 1995 Amazon Pkwy and adults at the Eugene Service Station, 456 Hwy 99N.

• Oregon Family Support Network, Lane County – OFSN Lane County partners with families of children who experience behavioral, emotional or mental health challenges to help them succeed at home, school and in life. They work with parents, foster parents, grandparents and others, offering Parents Night Out (or respite care), System Navigation and Peer Support, Family Fun Activities, Support Groups, Wraparound Family Partners, Resource, Referral and IEP Support, Collaborative Parenting Series, Mental Health First Aid Training (Adult and Youth), and more.

• Central Housing List – Lane County’s Coordinated Entry program is one central list that homeless families can get onto that will place them on the wait list for all of the community agencies that provide housing assistance (i.e. Catholic Community Services, St. Vincent De Paul, Shelter Care, Looking Glass, etc.).

• Oregon Telephone Assistance Program (OTAP) – Free phones are offered through the Public Utility Commission to qualifying low income individuals. People can apply by email, phone, or print out application from on the OTAP website.

• Ways to Support Howard – This is going out to families in the November newsletter but to highlight it for staff as well, here are a few easy ways you, your friends, and relatives can help support Howard!

• eScrip: eScrip works with merchant partners to contribute to groups like ours each time you shop with your registered debit or credit cards – at no cost to you!

1. Go to http://www.escrip.com Enter the School or Group I.D. #500046355
2. Register your debit and/or credit cards.
3. Shop at eScrip merchants, including Safeway, Market of Choice and Amazon!
4. Use your eScrip registered cards for all your purchases.
5. A percentage of purchases will be automatically contributed by the merchant.

• Fred Meyer Rewards: You are now able to link your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to your favorite nonprofit by following the link below. Whenever you use your Rewards Card when shopping at Freddy’s, you will be helping Howard earn a donation from Fred Meyer. If you do not have a Rewards Card, you can sign up for one at the Customer Service Desk of any Fred Meyer store.

1. Sign up for the Community Rewards program by linking your Fred Meyer Rewards Card to Howard Elementary School at http://www.fredmeyer.com/communityrewards. You can
search for us by our name or by our non-profit number # 88934
2. Then, every time you shop and use your Rewards Card, you are helping Howard earn a donation!
3. You still earn your Rewards Points, Fuel Points, and Rebates, just as you do today.
4. If you do not have a Rewards Card, they are available at the Customer Service desk of any Fred Meyer store.

• Target REDCard: If you have a Target REDCArd (credit or debit) Target will donate a percentage of all REDCard purchases made at Target and Target.com to Howard if you designate our school.

1. Go to http://www.target.com/tcoe
2. Log onto your REDCard account
3. Fill in the information under “Sign me up” to designate
Howard!

Howard also participates in the following programs. Click on each link to find out how you can help the school earn more money through each program. Many of the programs just require you to sign up and will donate through purchases you are already making. Some of the programs require you to clip a code or label of some sort; these can be sent to the school.

• Box Tops http://www.boxtops4education.com/
• Labels for Education http://www.labelsforeducation.com/
• Ticondaroga & Prang http://www.prangpower.com/
• Tyson http://projectaplus.tyson.com/
• Amazon Smile http://smile.amazon.com/ (Howard Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization)

• Allan Out Thursday – Following the ALICE Lockdown Evacuation Drill, I’ll be out of the building at an all-day ILT meeting, but retired 4J principal Stephanie Cannon will be in the building covering for me.

• REPEAT: Safety Week This Week – This week is our annual Safety Week. The schedule will be:

• Monday, Oct. 30 – Earthquake/Fire Drill, 1:30
• Tuesday, Oct. 31 – Room Clear, time decided by teachers
• Wednesday, Nov. 1 – Classroom lesson on ALICE. Place Holder date for weather
• Thursday, Nov. 2 – ALICE Lockdown Evacuation Drill, 9:00
• Friday, Nov. 3 – Fire Drill, 8:30

See last week’s staff announcements for details and resources on each drill. Let me know if you have any questions.

• REPEAT: Halloween Costume Parade, Tuesday at 8:10 – The annual Howard Costume Parade is Tuesday at 8:10. Linked here is the Costume Parade Route & Directions. Upstairs Buddy Classrooms will join their downstairs Buddy Classrooms at 8:05. At 8:10 Suzy’s class will lead the “Parade Train” from Blue-Wing to Green-Wing to Yellow-Wing. After classes complete their parade loop, they will re-enter their classroom or stand along the edges of the commons area to watch the parade. Families may watch from the courtyards or commons areas (or join the parade). Classroom parties may be held at the teacher’s discretion. Students who do not celebrate Halloween are invited to participate in a fun acting in the Learning Center. Bryan will also offer a fun alternate activity 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon for any classes holding class parties at the end of the day.

• Voluntary Elementary EA Workshops – 4J added quarterly training opportunities in addition to the EA Extravaganzas. The quarterly trainings will be a 1-1/2 hours, on early release days. They will offer the same training on three different days to accommodate the various early release times/days in buildings across the district. Over the course of the year there will be four different trainings offered, two on behavior and two on math. These are voluntary trainings. If they go beyond an EA’s regular workday, you can check with me about using trade time. The first training topic will be focused on behavior during supervision and presented by 4J Behavior Consultants: Systematic Supervision: Creating a Safe and Positive Playground and other Common Areas. In this workshop, participants will learn to:

• Develop playground scanning methods that incorporate movement and proximity strategies
• Establish and maintain positive environments and relationships with students
• Focus on positive appropriate behaviors and Respond to problem behavior/take action

The schedule for quarterly trainings will be:

November 3, Auditorium 1:30-3:00 Behavior 1 (Supervision Focus)
November 8, Auditorium 2:00-3:30 Behavior 1 (Supervision Focus)
December 6, Tower room 1:30-3:00 Number Sense 1
December 8 Auditorium 1:30-3:00 Number Sense 1
January 10, Auditorium 2:00-3:30 Number Sense 1
February 7, Auditorium 1:30-3:00 Behavior 2
February 9 Auditorium 1:30-3:00 Behavior 2
March 7, Auditorium 2:00-3:30 Behavior 2
April 11, Tower room 1:30-3:00 Number Sense 2
April 13, Auditorium 1:30-3:00 Number Sense 2
May 9, Auditorium 2:00-3:30 Number Sense 2

Hold the date! – Elementary EA Extravaganza, February 2nd. Contact Marlee Litten if you have any questions x7586.

• Día de Muertos Celebration, Nov. 1 & 2 – The JSMA honors this annual celebration of life and death that takes place in Mexico, parts of Central and South America, and Latino communities in the United States. Altars with offerings, and traditional art, music, dance, food, flowers, and poetry remember and welcome souls journeying to the world of the living for a brief visit.

• 3 ways to boost brain function – It is possible to boost brain function and capacity in students, asserts Eric Jensen, a brain-based teaching and learning expert and former teacher. In this EdSurge Commentary, he shares three ways to kick-start this process to better serve students living in poverty.

• 10 ways to get your mojo back – October is an especially hard month for teachers, says Mike Anderson, author of “The Well-Balanced Teacher” in this ASCD article. “There’s so much positive energy at the beginning of the year … [but] after five or six weeks, reality starts to crash in.” Around this time, “student challenges might present themselves more prominently and the curriculum can start to feel overwhelming.” When the “October blues” bear down, what can you do to keep your momentum going? Turn to the CCSSO 2017 State and National Teachers of the Year for advice.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

October 30 (M)
Safety Week
1:30, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:15, 4th Grade Job-Share Interviews (Conference Room)

October 31 (T)
Safety Week: Room Clear Drills
8:10, Halloween Costume Parade
2:15, Staff Costume Photo! (Story Cove)

November 1 (W)
Safety Week: ALICE Drill Student Lesson
PBIS Monthly Theme – Appreciations
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
Ewok Appreciation Day
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Facilities)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

November 2 (H)
9:00-9:15, ALICE Evacuation Drill
9:15-4:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Stephanie Cannon subbing)

November 3 (F)
8:30, Fire Drill

November 5 (SU)
Daylight Savings Time – Fall Back

November 6 (M)
Regular Day

November 7 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30 IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, Room 23)

November 8 (W)
Wacky Wednesday-Favorite Sports Day
2:30-3:30, Teacher Team Time Meeting (Ashley’s Room, Room 25)

November 9 (H)
2:30-3:30, TLT Meeting (Angela’s Room, Room 24)

November 10 (F)
Veterans Day – No School

Have a terrific week, everyone, and look forward to a 4-day week next week!

Allan

October 23, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/10/21 06:17 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Math, P.D., Technology  |  Comments Off on October 23, 2017

 

Greetings Amazing Howard Staff,

Fourteen items of note for this week:

• Number Talks Follow-Up – Thank you, teachers, for continuing to learn and implement Number Talks with your students. I know it’s a lot of work on top of already learning LearnZillion (along with the new science, reading, and writing curriculums the past three years), but you all are amazing and Gretta has commented on how strong a staff we have here at Howard! A few items of note from last week’s Number Talks training:

• Number Talks Cliff Notes: The green 4J Number Talks 101 Notebook is a nice Readers Digest version of the big fat Number Talks book, but here are some pages from the big book to take note of:

⁃ K-2 Number Talks Overarching Goals – Page 25
⁃ K-2 Possible Focus – Page 67
⁃ K-2 Rekenreks Uses – Page 82
⁃ 3-5 Number Talks Overarching Goals – Page 230
⁃ 3-5 Highlights importance of developing strong foundations before moving into Number Talks that focus on computation with larger numbers – Page 230 & Page 182
⁃ Question/Answer Area – Page 368
⁃ General Prep for Number Talks – Page 16

• How to Access Online Video Clips: If you would like to access all the clips at once, follow these instructions:

1. Go to http://mathsolutions.com/myvideos and click the Create New Account button at the bottom of the Log In form.
2. Create an account, even if you have created one with Math Solutions bookstore. You will receive a confirmation email when your account has been created.
3. Once your account has been created, you will be taken to the Product Registration page. Click Register on the product you would like to access (in this case, Number Talks: Whole Number Computation).
4. Enter key code NTWNC and click or tap the Submit Key Code button.
5. Click or tap the Complete Registration button.
6. To access videos at any time, visit your account page.

Page XXVII shows the video clips by chapter. Page 337 of the book has comments from the author on each of the videos, which are more for teacher prep than student viewing. At 3-5 Number Talks per week, the progress students make will start to shine through over time. Maybe not during Number talks right away, but students also make connections in whole group math time. And remember that Gretta is available to come out to meet with folks to provide any support or assistance you might need.

• Safety Week, Oct. 30 – Nov. 2 – Not this week, but the following week will be our annual Safety Week, which is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students, and families about the various safety procedures right at the start of the year. Usually I like to do this in September, but I also like to hold Safety Week when two months overlap within the same week, so we can take care of the monthly fire drill requirement all in the same week. The schedule for Safety Week will be:

• Monday, Oct. 30 – Fire Drill, 1:30
• Tuesday, Oct. 31 – Room Clear, time decided by teachers
• Wednesday, Nov. 1 – Classroom lesson on ALICE.
• Thursday, Nov. 2 – ALICE Lockdown Evacuation Drill, 9:00
• Friday, Nov. 3 – Earthquake/Fire Drill, 8:30

All of these drills are listed in the “Emergency Procedures Manual” the rainbow tabbed spiral notebook that should be hanging in every classroom. The manual has not been updated to explicitly mention ALICE, but ALICE tenants are present in the Lockdown and Evacuation procedures. I won’t be making any announcement before the drills, so it’s okay for staff to prep your students before they take place.

MONDAY – Fire/Earthquake Drill: For the Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects, and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website, where you teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness. See the linked Evacuation Map & Lines for where classes should line up for the Fire Drill following the Earthquake Drill.

TUESDAY – Room Clear: Room Clear Drills will happen at a time determined by classroom teachers and in cooperation with another classroom where students would go in the event of real room clear. Students should know the designated classroom they would room clear to in the event of an actual emergency since in many cases the teacher would need to remain in the classroom while the rest of the students leave on their own.

WEDNESDAY – Classroom lesson on ALICE: Linked here is the Student ALICE PowerPoint presentation (and a PDF version with notes) that classroom teachers will use to teach the safety drills this day. After going through the PowerPoint, teacher will read the book I’m Not Scared, I’m Prepared (let me know if you do not have a copy of the book) with the Sticky Note guiding questions that go with the book.

THURSDAY – ALICE Lockdown Evacuation Drill: For this drill I will press the office lockdown button (dropping curtains, locking exterior doors, and closing [not locking] hallway doors to each wing) and will announce the following:

Attention students, staff and visitors: This is a LOCKDOWN: EVACUATE DRILL, this is a LOCKDOWN: EVACUATE DRILL. Repeat, this is a NOT A REAL EMERGENCY. THIS IS A DRILL. We are pretending there is a dangerous person (or intruder) in the building on the other side of the building from your classroom. We are pretending there is a dangerous person (or intruder) in the building on the other side of the building from your classroom. WE ARE IN A LOCKDOWN: EVACUATE DRILL.

Teachers will then direct students to evacuate the building to the nearest location along the perimeter of the school grounds. In a real emergency classes would run, but for the drill classes should walk. Classes will stop at the edge of the property and wait for my all-clear announcement. In a real emergency, students and staff would evacuate well past the edge of the property, and keep going until you can’t see the school.

FRIDAY – Fire Drill: Same as last month, which went quite smoothly, and same as the evacuation portion of Monday’s drill.

Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions.

• Staff ALICE Refresher Thursday – I’ll hold an optional refresher training for staff on Thursday, October 26th at 2:30 in the Conference Room for anyone who wants to review how to teach the ALICE Student Lesson and to also answer any questions staff may have regarding the drill or safety procedures.

• Visitor Sign-In and Identification – A general safety reminder, if you ever see a parent, volunteer, or even a district employee without a 4J badge or visitor sticker, please send them back to the office to sign-in at the Visitor Sign-In Computer Station. The exception to this rule is during arrival in the mornings when many parents walk students to the class, the preschool arrival starting around 9:00, and during school special events when it becomes logistically unworkable for so many visitors to sign in at one time.

• Hour of Code, Dec. 4-10 – As a Technology Immersion school, coding activities are a great activity for students to do all year long, but particularly during the first week of December during Computer Science Education Week. The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science during Computer Science Education Week, intended to demystify “code”, to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science.How do you participate in the Hour of Code? Start planning here by reviewing their how-to guide.

• Job Postings – With Amber sadly leaving us and Mellissa going on a half-time parental leave, we currently have a posting for a 2nd grade job-share with Mellissa (mornings and all-day Wednesdays) and a 4th grade job-share with Carla (afternoons M-F). Both Amber and Mellissa will continue teaching until we have people hired, but spread the word about these positions and feel free to recruit anyone good who’d make good additions to Team Howard!

• Field Trip and Other “Fees” – 4J has clarified/modified a policy that students may not be excluded from field trips or other educational activities for failure to pay any sort of fees, which falls under access to Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). The main part of this rule I want to highlight is that we cannot use the term “fee” when asking for money to pay for field trips or other activities. We can still ask for money, but we need to instead ask for a donation, a subsidy, or (my favorite) a contribution. Let me know if you have any questions on this.

• Read&Write Assistance – I wanted to remind teachers Kelly Moriarty (wilson_ke@4j.lane.edu) is available to come out and work with teachers who want to start using Read&Write for Goolge Chrome, whether on iPads or laptops. She’s already come out to work with a few teachers, but she can come when you are trying it with students or can meet with you outside of student hours.

• REPEAT: Howard Staff Social: Movie Night! – It’s not too late to buy your tickets for A Nightmare on Elm Street this Sunday at 2:00 if you’re reading this in time, but if you’re reading this later you can still get your tickets for the Saturday Night, 9:30 showing of the grisly horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! And if grindhouse cinema is not your thing, join us for $1 margaritas at Applebee’s before the movie!

• REPEAT: Music & Dance Assembly with Los Arribeños – Jill has again arranged for a group of musicians and dancers from Mexico to perform for us this Friday, with a K-2 assembly 8:10-8:35 and a 3-5 assembly 8:45-9;10. See the linked Assembly Map and Directions for details.

• REPEAT: PRIDE Awards, Perseverance, Wednesday – The first PRIDE Awards is this Wednesday at lunch. Teachers should choose 2-4 students who have demonstrated Perseverance and a “Never Quit” attitude and behavior. Be sure to get certificate to me before Wednesday so I can sign them and get them organized. Also be sure to send invitations home to families so they can attend.

• REPEAT: Halloween Costume Parade – The annual Howard Costume Parade will be at 8:10 on Tuesday, October 31st. Linked here is the Costume Parade Route & Directions. Upstairs Buddy Classrooms will join their downstairs Buddy Classrooms at 8:05. At 8:10 Suzy’s class will lead the “Parade Train” from Blue-Wing to Green-Wing to Yellow-Wing. After classes complete their parade loop, they will re-enter their classroom or stand along the edges of the commons area to watch the parade. Families may watch from the courtyards or commons areas (or join the parade). Classroom parties may be held at the teacher’s discretion. Students who do not celebrate Halloween are invited to participate in a fun acting in the Learning Center. Bryan will also offer a fun alternate activity 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon for any classes holding class parties at the end of the day.

• When Students Are Traumatized, Teachers Are Too – Trauma in students’ lives takes an emotional and physical toll on teachers as well. See this Edutopia article where experts weigh in on the best ways to cope, which include talking it out with colleagues, building coping strategies (whether it’s deep breaths or drinking coffee), and establish some coming home rituals.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

October 22 (SU)
2:00, Howard Staff Social – A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984 (Cinemark 17)

October 23 (M)
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room)

October 24 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30 IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, Room 23)

October 25 (W)
11:00-1:00, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Conference Room)

October 26 (H)
2:30-3:30, Optional ALICE Staff Refresher Training (Conference Room)

October 27 (F)
OSEA Site Visit
8:10-8:35, K-2 Music and Dance Assembly (Gym)
8:45-9:10, 3-5 Music and Dance Assembly (Gym)
11:00-1:00, Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Community Room)

October 28 (SA)
9:30, Howard Staff Social – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974 (Cinemark 17) – With $1 margs before!

October 30 (M)
Safety Week
1:30, Earthquake/Fire Drill

October 31 (T)
Safety Week: Room Clear Drills
8:10, Halloween Costume Parade
2:15, Staff Costume Photo! (Story Cove)

November 1 (W)
Safety Week: ALICE Drill Student Lesson
PBIS Monthly Theme – Appreciations
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
Ewok Appreciation Day
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Meeting (Facilities)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)

November 2 (H)
9:00-9:15, ALICE Evacuation Drill
9:15-4:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Stephanie Cannon subbing)

November 3 (F)
8:30, Fire Drill

See you at Elm Street!

Allan

 

Fidget spinners are a fad that’s thankfully fading, but check out this fidget spinner in space! From The Kids Should See This.

October 16, 2017

By Allan  |  2017/10/14 18:20 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Math, P.D., Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on October 16, 2017

 

Howdy Everyone

Open House was a terrific success! Minus running out of pizza, that is, but we ordered almost 700 slices (same s what we ordered last year) and were out by 6:30! Still, it was so great to hear from many, many families how their kids are loving Howard and love their teachers and the staff. It’s at these types of events where you really hear how much families appreciate all of your hard work. You all are amazing!

Nineteen items of note for this week:

• Google Classroom and Read&Write Follow-Up – A quick follow-up to last week’s Google Classroom and Read&Write Training:

• Google Classroom Quicksheets – Linked here are the quicksheets Kellyclare shared on Thursday for Google Classroom Basics, Google Doc Basics, and Google Drive Organization. If you don’t have this bookmarked already, here’s a link to former Howard TSS extraordinaire David Nelson’s Tech Tools for Schools webpage, which has an entire section of quicksheets on Google, including general tips, team drives, forms, and so on.

• 4J Google Link – There is now a link to 4J Google Apps for students on the Howard website Links for Learners, which is where students would log in to Google Classroom.

• Student Google Classroom Log-In – Students log in using their 4J email and their Mealtime PIN. These can be found in the Synergy admin report “Class List (Elementary) with Student Usernames – School.” Linked here are directions for Printing Reports in TeacherVUE I shared earlier. You can also use this to see which of your students are already approved to to use Google apps. Let me know if you need help. I can also run the report for you.

• Google Student Permission Forms – Linked here is the K-8 Google Permission Form (English and Spanish). We’ll add this to our registration packet for new students and I’ll leave copies of English and Spanish forms by mailboxes for teachers if you’d like to send them home with students who do not already have permission.

• Read & Write Info – Here is the link to the Read & Write Resource Page Kelly Moriarty (wilson_ke@4j.lane.edu) and Jordan Gentzkow (gentzkow@4j.lane.edu) shared at Thursday’s training. Read & Write is already installed on all student iPads. On the laptops, students just need to open Chrome and log into their 4J account. The plugin is associated with their account and will automatically download. Kelly and Jordan said to feel free to contact them if you have any questions.

• Read & Write iPad Training Thursday at 2:30 – If you’d like to learn how Read & Write works on iPads, Kelly Moriarty is coming back to Howard to Thursday’s Technology Leadership Team Meeting at 2:30 in Angela’s Room (RM 24). Everyone is invited to attend!

• Charis McGaughy, 4J Assistant Superintendent, Visiting Howard Wednesday – Charis, 4J’s Assistant Superintendent, is visiting Howard on Wednesday from 8:30-11:00. She’s planning to meet with me for a bit and will then wander the school and visit classrooms, so don’t be surprised if she stops by your classroom this day.

• Conferences Info Coming Soon – Believe it or not, it’s time to start getting read for Parent/Teacher Conferences. Lori is prepping parent sign-up sheets for conference to go home soon and she will again schedule conferences for everyone, coordinating translators, siblings, specialists, and such, but to do this teachers will need to take the same breaks, lunches, and dinner times. We’ve grown too large as a school with too many variables for teachers block out different times, as some folks have done in the past. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Halloween Costume Parade, Oct. 31 – We’re not doing Thrill the World this year, but we are continuing the annual Howard Costume Parade. One suggestion I heard that I liked quite a lot was to move the parade to the start of the day at 8:10 instead of the end of the day, which might allow for more families to attend. Linked here is the Costume Parade Route & Directions, but we’ll do the parade entirely on the bottom floor to be inclusive of students who can’t use the stairs. Upstairs Buddy Classrooms will join their downstairs Buddy Classrooms at 8:05. At 8:10 Suzy’s class will lead the “Parade Train” from Blue-Wing to Green-Wing to Yellow-Wing. After classes complete their parade loop, they will re-enter their classroom or stand along the edges of the commons area to watch the parade. Families may watch from the courtyards or commons areas (or join the parade). Classroom parties may be held at the teacher’s discretion. Linked here is a flyer we can send home to families (Bianca will translate it when she returns).

• Classified Comp Time & Trade Time Clarification – Several folks had questions after my classified comp time item in last weeks announcements, so here are some clarifications and additional notes:

• Comp Time vs Trade Time – “Trade Time” is what staff most often are really using, though most people refer to it as “Comp Time.” Trade Time is when you work extra one day and then trade those hours out working less another day. Trade Time is hour for hour and not figured as time and a half which “comp time” does when it goes above the 40 hours of work per week.

• Using Trade Time – From article 11.3 of the contract: Trade time is equal time exchanged within the same workweek. Trade time is available by mutual agreement of the supervisor or building administrator and the employee.

• Work Beyond Regularly Scheduled Hours – From article 11.1.3 of the contract: Work time beyond scheduled work hours will be pre approved in writing, and where pre-approval is not possible, the administrator or supervisor will be informed in writing by the end of the employee’s next work day.

Contract language can be confusing, so let me know if you have any questions on this.

• PTO Wayback Burgers Fundraiser Monday 5:00-8:00 – Need dinner plans Monday night? Head over Wayback Burgers at Santa Clara Square between 5:00-8:00 and a percentage of all sales will be donated to Howard!

• Music & Dance Assembly with Los Arribeños – Through her work with the annual Día de los Muertos event at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Jill has again arranged for a group of musicians and dancers to perform for us next week, the morning of Friday, October 27th, with a K-2 assembly 8:10-8:35 and a 3-5 assembly 8:45-9;10. See the linked Assembly Map and Directions for details.

• Student Care Team Referrals, Oct. 25 – The Student Care Team will meet in two weeks, which means student/family referrals to the team are due this Friday. DHS has been great about helping quite a few of our families, pointing them towards resources for a variety of different situations (homelessness, assistance with bills, incarcerated parents, counseling resources, and many others), so please consider referring a student or family in need. Try to get a signature on the 4J Release Form (editable PDF and non-editable PDF) so we will be able to openly discuss the student(s) by name and also so DHS can research the family situation to see what services they would qualify for. If there’s a situation where you can’t get a signature for whatever reason, you can refer “hypothetical” student or family situations. Let me know if you have any questions about potential referrals, but if it’s a situation that’s on your mind, it’s probably a worth referring to the team.

• SMART Readers in New Year – Now that we have Alicia Longoria, the 4J Family Resource Coordinator, located in our building I’ve been working with her on some opportunities and one thing Howard used to have back when I was a teacher here is we had SMART Readers, who were community volunteers who would come in a couple days a week to read one-on-one with primary grade students picked by teachers who might need extra reading practice and/or time supportive adult. Alicia contacted the organization and found out Howard is actually the most requested school in all of 4J by volunteers! All we need is a parent or community volunteer to coordinate the readers. If we find someone soon, we might be able to get started as soon as January. I have some ideas who we might ask, but me know if you have ideas for who might be able to take this on.

• ODE School Report Cards Released – As an FYI, ODE is released school report cards last week. Linked here is the ODE Report Card Download website. I already shared some of this data at our back-to-school staff meeting. In terms of overall achievement (students meeting benchmark), we’re about the same as or better than similar 4J schools, but our Academic Growth (how well student scores improve 3rd to 4th grade and 4th to 5th grade) and in Student Group Growth (our subgroup data) is where we are lagging. I have additional data I can share at a future Staff Meeting, but let me know if you have any questions.

• Howard Staff Social: Movie Night! – It may not be Janet Jackson, but see Matt’s email if you’d like to join in on some pre-Halloween fun! This coming Sunday, October 22nd at 2:00 is a showing of the 1984 Wes Craven horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, which features Johnny Depp’s film debut! The following weekend Saturday, October 28th at 9:30 PM is the 1974 Tobe Hooper grindhouse classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both are showing at the Cinemark 17 at Gateway with reserve seating in their luxury loungers. Click the above links to reserve your seats now! And maybe we’ll do this too.

• REPEAT: PRIDE Awards, Perseverance, Oct 25th – The first PRIDE Awards will be Wednesday next week. Teachers should start talking to their class about PRIDE (Perseverance “Never Quit,” Respect “Honor Yourself and Others,” Integrity “Be Honest,” Discipline “Work Hard at Everything,” Excellence – “Do Your Personal Best.”) and thinking about 2-4 students who have been demonstrating Perseverance and a “Never Quit” attitude and behavior. Be sure to get certificate to be before the 25th so I can sign them and get them organized.

• Bring an artist into your classroom – Patricia shared with me a flyer from Clayfest offering a FREE opportunity to have an artist come lead a project with you class, though a regional non-profit named Local Clay. They offer demonstrations, workshops, and art projects. See the linked Local Clay Flyer for details.

• Produce Distribution Day, Oct. 27– Fresh produce is available for FREE to families once a month out of River Road Elementary School. This month’s distribution will be on Friday, October 27th from 3:00- 5:30. It is open to all 4J families but is advertised in the North Region. Feel free to spread the word.

• Know Your Rights Workshop – Thursday, October 26th, 6:30 p.m. Churchill Auditorium is a workshop 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 is planning a follow-up to their Know Your Rights Workshop for an event to take place in Mid November or Early December, but feel free to share the Churchill event with interested families.

• From Dull To Creative With One Simple Trick – From the blog Byrdseed, which is focused on gifted learners, but is really great stuff for all learners. This Brydseed post discusses how building a creative and complex task seems like it should take enormous work, but teachers have found great success with this simple trick: ask students to personify things that don’t have a personality. Here’s a close-ended and boring (but very common) question students are asked: What is Brian, from Hatchet’s, main character trait?

• It’s close-ended because everyone will answer with the same word: perseverance.
• There’s no room for creativity or fun final products.
• It’s boring, because kids who have mastered this already know how to do the thinking. They’ve done it since 1st grade.

Add A Point Of View – What would Darth Vader think about Brian? Suddenly we have a question with many right answers. Students who want to go deeper can go deep. Now there’s the possibility for lots of cool products (imagine a comic book, a skit, a piece of art, or a short movie), not just a one-word answer. Bonus: switch Vader to another character (or real person) and the question reinvents itself! What would Hamlet, Susan B. Anthony, or Katniss think about Brian?

• Math Creativity Warmup Resources – Here’s another post from the October Byrdseed Newsletter titled Math Creativity Warmup Resources that pairs nicely with Number Talks, providing four different ways to frame math questions in more interesting ways that require students to justify their answer. This post also links to a related earlier post on Creative Math Warmups that’s also worth checking out.

• Halloween: Characters Dressed As Characters – Last Bryrdseed blog post. Here’s a fun activity that can span all grade levels and can be taken in a variety of directions. It’s Characters Dressed As Characters, which could be a simple art project or an opportunity for students to compare, contrast, discuss, and debate character traits.

• Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:

October 16 (M)
First Day of BEST
9:00-1:00, Swift (2nd grade) to Mt. Pisgah
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
5:00-8:00, PTO Wayback Burger Night Fundraiser

October 17 (T)
Fluoride Rise Starts
2:30-3:30 Staff Meeting (Ashley’s Room, Room 25)
3:30-5:00, Allan to BEST Coordinator Interviews (Conference Room)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)

October 18 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
School Pictures
8:30-11:30, Charis McGaughy, Assistant Superintendent, Visiting Howard

October 19 (H)
12:00-6:00, Cookie Dough Fundraiser Order Pick-Up (Gym or Community Room)
9:00-1:00, Larsen/Pond (2nd grade) to Mt. Pisgah
2:30-3:30, iPad Read&Write Training/TLT Meeting (Angela’s Room, Room 24)
2:30-3:30, Allan to SPED Eval Planning Meeting (Conference Room)

October 20 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
10:00-12:15, KG/Life Skills Field Trip to Deterings

October 22 (SU)
2:00, Howard Staff Social – A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984 (Cinemark 17)

October 23 (M)
2:30-3:30, Site Council Meeting (Conference Room)

October 24 (T)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30 IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, Room 23)

October 25 (W)
11:00-1:00, PRIDE Awards at Lunch (Cafeteria)
2:30-3:30, Student Care Team Meeting (Conference Room)

October 26 (H)
2:30-3:30, Optional ALICE Staff Refresher Training (Conference Room)

October 27 (F)
8:10-8:35, K-2 Assembly with Los Arribeños (Gym)
8:45-9:10, 3-5 Assembly with Los Arribeños (Gym)
11:00-1:00, Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Community Room)
1:00-1:30, Tentative Musicians and Dancers from Mexico Assembly (Gym)

October 28 (SA)
9:30, Howard Staff Social – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974 (Cinemark 17)

If any of you are wondering when the next short week is, we have three full weeks until Veterans Day Nov. 10th. Have a fab week, everyone!

Allan