Literacy

December 7, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/12/05 21:22 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, Math, P.D., Video  |  Comments Off on December 7, 2020

 

Hi All,

Twelve items of note for this week:

• Social Emotional Learning Items – Three SEL related items of note:

• Erin’s Law & Second Step Child Protection Unit – Even though we are in CDL, the state still requires we cover the child safety lessons required by Erin’s Law. 4J uses the Second Step Child Protection Unit. For each grade level, there are six lessons, which are to be covered at three points in the school year. The recommendation is to teach lessons 1-4 in the fall, lesson 5 right before spring break, and lesson 6 right before summer break.

I’m not sure if each teacher has a copy of your grade level’s Child Protection Unit and since CDL makes sharing more difficult, let me know if any grade levels would like me to scan your Child Protection Unit and put a PDF version the Staff Google Drive.

I’m including the linked article in Monday’s Quick News and it’s recommended teachers follow-up with the linked Family Message (English and Spanish).

• Second Step CDL Scope & Sequence – Related to the above, this was shared way back at the start of the year, so it may have gotten lost in the avalanche of emails in the fall, but linked here is the recommended Second Step CDL Scope & Sequence. This is not an expectation, but is simply a recommendation. Linked here are Second Step COVID-19 Resources.

• Social Emotional Learning Remote Learning – As a follow-up to the Morning Meeting sharing at last week’s Staff Meeting, Fulton County Schools has a bunch of canned SEL lessons, most of which involve watching a video and then responding, so they work well for both synchronous and asynchronous. They have quite a few other CDL resources worth checking out.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time, 2:40-4:00 – Shared earlier, schools now are in charge of their Wednesday PD/PLC times and have to report our topics to downtown. I reached out to some downtown folks for a Nearpod and Lalilo refresher, but got NOs or no response, but Jacque has stepped up and will lead a Nearpod refresher this Wednesday at 2:40. See the Zimbra Staff Calendar for the Zoom link.

• Supply Distribution Updates – We’re learning what works for distribution as we go, so next round we’ll add a few new measures:

• Uniform Bags – With many items being added from from specialists, last minute flyers, and other sources, sturdy bags that are easy to open and close work best, so we’ll purchase some sort of Large Slider Ziplock Bags for everyone to use next round.

• Labels on Bags – A lot of teachers are already doing this, but if you’re not, office staff will print labels with student names for bags next round, which also makes it easier when adding items later for individual students.

• Knock & Drops for Non-Pick Ups – For students who do not get their supplies, some staff have done “Knock & Drops,” which are allowed, but if you do, let office staff know so we can track who has and has not picked up supplies.

• Hot Mama’s Wings Fundraiser 12/15 – Mark your calendar’s for Tuesday, December 15th, this month’s Holt Night Out Fundraiser at Hot Mama’s Wings. I highly recommend the Beer-Battered Pickle Basket!

 

• Human Resources Items – Three HR related items of note:

• Leadership Plan Approved – JCAC met last week and approved Holt’s 2020-2021 Leadership Plan.

• CDL Resident Sub Update – HR has changed building resident subs to “regional” resident subs, so we will sadly not have an extra body to help with small groups or covering for absent teachers on short notice.

• Willing to have a sub shadow you for two days? – Related to the above, HR is still looking for willing teachers to be shadowed by a sub for a couple of days so they can see first hand what they will be asked to do when subbing during CDL. Leslie had a sub shadow her for a couple days, so she can tell you how that went, but let me know if any of you are will do help the district train up more subs for CDL.

• Seesaw Math Lesson Feedback – Downtown is considering creating optional ELA Seesaw lessons as they have done for Math, but before the do that, they want to know what teachers think of the math lessons. Are you using them? Are they helpful? What would improve them? Fill out this linked anonymous Math Lesson Feedback Survey by Friday. I’ll share the results with Eric Anderson.

• Hour of Code 2020 This Week! – This week is Computer Science Education Week which includes The Hour of Code. Let me know if any of you are doing something cool for the Hour of Code during CDL. I’d love to see if we can get some media coverage for some of our activities during Computer Science Education Week. See the above links for some fun and easy online actives for all grade levels.Khan Academy also has quite a few quality activities and Edutopia has quite a few links as well.

• Safe Routes to School & UO OHeroes Read-Aloud Videos – Linked here is a Google Folder of UO Athletes Reading Books about biking, which comes to us from the Safe Routes to School Program. TIP: some of the athletes are more fluent and engaging readers than others. Check out Tillie the Terrible Swede, Duck on a Bike, and Born to Ride, along with the rest. And keep in mind copyright laws and do not make any of the videos publicly available on YouTube or other sites on the open web.

• 2020–21 Hazardous Weather Information – Staff were emailed the 2020–21 Hazardous Weather Memo, but principals were asked to review it with staff. The short version is:

• For a snow day during CDL or Hybrid, classes will be taught remotely, but on-site services such as food services, may be cancelled.
• A decision to close would be announced by 6:15AM
• Staff should prepare to telework if inclement weather is in the forecast and buildings are closed.

 

• School Choice Updates – School Choice timelines this year will stay the same as in the past, but deadlines may be extended for this year. Official dates and info will go up on the district website soon. The Elementary School Showcase is cancelled for this year, but schools will conduct “Virtual Tours” for families at some point in January. More info should be coming on this.

• “Can I Have a Hug?” Tools for Teaching Consent to Elementary Students – Opportunities abound to teach young children the language to say “yes” or “no” as they learn how to respect personal space. See this ASCD Express Article for tips on how.

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

December 7 (M)
Computer Science Education Week / Hour of Code.
1:30, Allan to Data Team Training (Zoom)
6:00-6:30, How to Draw Baby Yoda with Ms. Kim (Zoom)

December 8 (T)
National Pretend to Be a Time Traveller Day
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
2:00-3:00, Leadership Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-6:00, Share a Joke for the Next Virtual Assembly!

December 9 (W)
8:30-9:00, Student Council (Zoom)
9:00-9:45, Allan to Virtual Coffee with the Principal (Zoom)
10:00-11:00, Allan Meeting w/Charis McGaughy (Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – Topic is TBD (Zoom)

December 10 (H)
10:00, Facilities Dept. Site Security Visit
1:00-2:00, Allan to Video Security Training (Sheldon HS)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-5:30, Learn More Magic w/Mr. Chinn (Zoom)
6:00, PAHS Meeting (Zoom)

December 11 (F)
9:00-10:00, Allan to Physical Distancing Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

December 13 (SU)
National Cocoa Day!

December 14 (M)
Erin’s Law Fall Instruction Week
International Monkey Day
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)
4:00-5:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
5:00-5:30, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-6:30, Learn to Draw an Arctic Fox with Ms. Kim (Zoom)

December 15 (T)
12:30-1:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
11:30-8:00, Holt Night Out Fundraiser – Hot Mama’s Wings
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)

December 16 (W)
9:00-9:45, Allan to Virtual Coffee with the Principal (Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time – TBA (Zoom)

December 17 (H)
1:30-2:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Zoom)
7:00, Holt Holiday Gift Exchange Party (Zoom)

December 18 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting (Zoom)

Dec. 21 – Jan. 1 (SU)
No School – Winter Break

January 2 (SA)
National Science Fiction Day

January 4 (M)
No School – PD/Planning day
Classes Resume

January 5 (T)
Classes Resume
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Zoom)

10 school days until winter break!

Allan

 

 

FYI – Pretty happy about my Spotify Wrapped top song of the year. Go, Yacht Rock!

 

November 2, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/10/31 19:58 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, P.D., Technology  |  Comments Off on November 2, 2020

 

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all remembered to change your clocks and “fall back” this weekend.

Fifteen items of note for this week:

• Recording Zooms for Asynchronous Learning – I heard this is through the grapevine so it’s not official, but another principal told me they talked to Jeff and Brooke, who told them it’s fine for teachers to record live Zoom sessions with students (faces, names, voices, and all) and that teachers may also upload these videos to Seesaw for asynchronous lessons. I’m planning to bring this up at the elementary principals’ meeting Monday for some additional clarifications and will share updates at Tuesday’s Staff Meeting.

• New Substitute Guidance – Principals received an email on Substitute Guidance for Licensed Staff, which had some big news (first bullet) and principals heard one other option at an admin meeting (second bullet):

• No Sub, Asynchronous Option for 1-2 Day Absences – If it’s only a one or two day absence, teachers are allowed to simply push out asynchronous lessons and notifying families there are no live sessions that day. However, this option should not be used extensively.

• Splitting Classes Option – If a grade level is keeping pace with each other, another option is to split an absent teacher’s class between the other classrooms (or with one other teacher) for a day or two. This scenario does require all teachers to be willing and agree to do this.

• Thursday Supply Distribution – I’ve heard from KG, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and Title about distributing supplies and am sending out the article below on Monday. I’ll also send out a Seesaw announcement and made a social media post over the weekend. Let me know ASAP if your grade level was left out and I can add it to my article.

School Supply Distribution THURSDAY, 8:00-3:00

The school district office is now allowing schools to distribute materials and supplies the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month as needed. Holt will likely only do this once a month, but we will let families know if grade levels have materials they plan to distribute. The following grades should come this Thursday between 8:00-3:00:

Kindergarten: Math Books & New School Supplies
2nd Grade: Math Unit Work Packets
3rd Grade: Math Unit Work Packets and New School Supplies
4th Grade: Art Supplies
Title 1: All students in Title Groups will get additional materials.

• Thursday Supply Distribution Sign-Up – I realize most staff are now teaching groups, but if you are available, please add your name to the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Sheet to help between 8:00-3:00 this Thursday. Staff can utilize trade time if you work beyond your normal hours this day.

 

 

• MOD Pizza Fundraiser, SUNDAY! – This Sunday is a Holt Night Out Fundraiser at MOD Pizza on Coburg Road! Talk this up to your class and see you Sunday! Takeout, delivery, or pick-up orders, and for online orders use the coupon code of “GR166586B” and 20% of your meal’s price will be donated back to Holt. See the Facebook Event or GroupRaise Page for more details.

• Informal & Formal Observations – In normal times, I try to complete the first round of informal observations in the first two months of school, but I wanted to give teachers a chance to get your feet under you a bit before I started. Over the next few weeks, for Probationary and Contract Year-1 teachers, I’ll drop in on clases, most likely during SEL/Morning Meeting times, for a short 10-20 minute observation. I’ll share my notes through TalentEd and will be available to meet if any teachers would like to debrief.

For formal observations, I’m going to wait to see if it looks like we’re moving into in-person teaching or not. If it looks like we’re continuing CDL after winter break, I’ll most likely start formal observations now, but if it looks like we’ll actually have students in the building in January, I’ll wait to do formal observations then.

• Wednesday PD/PLC Time – If you didn’t open the attachment in Eric Anderson’s Email regarding this week’s Wednesday PD/PLC Time, it has some nice options, such as taking a walk, reading a book, or turning off your screen (Option #2, which I highly recommend).

• Virtual Coffee with the Principal – As an FYI, I’m copying the principal at Monroe and starting this Wednesday, 9:00-9:45 will hold a weekly Virtual Coffee with the principal each week. Parents and guardians can ask question, share experiences, and process & collaborate. Zoom link can be found below and on the Holt Family Calendar.

• Civil rights & Safe Routes to School Opportunity – Ruby Bridges Day is coming up mid-November and to celebrate this day, Safe Routes to School emailed principals they want to encourage kids to take a mindful walk with their families to think about Ruby’s bravery and the power children can have toward positive change. They will order the book Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles for any teacher who is interested in teaching about Ruby Bridges in addition to talking to students about taking a mindful walk with families. Linked here are Sample Lesson Plans about halfway down the page. Let me know by Friday if you would like to participate and I will have Safe Routes order you a book!

• New ODE Reopening Metrics – ODE released New Reopening Metrics on Friday. The short version is the metrics for reopening has loosened, but 4J is sticking with our current timeline of after Winter Break as the earliest we’ve move into hybrid, making a decision by the end of November. See this ODE News Release for all the details, but here are the new metrics for reopening:

• Statewide test positivity rates are no longer a factor for school districts
• County data window is changed to one two-week period, instead of three separate weeks
• Thresholds have changed to:
– K–12: < 50 cases per 100,000 over 14-day period, < 5% test positivity
– Elementary (K–3 and expanding up to all elementary grades): < 100 cases per 100,000 over 14-day period, 5–8% test positivity

Lane County currently does not meet the minimum requirements to return to in-person learning, under either the original or revised metrics. (In the most recent two-week period, Lane County had 147.6 cases per 100,000 residents, still well above the expanded cap of 100 per 100K.)

• 4J COVID-19 Communicable Disease Management Plan – Since June, 4J has worked to establish a blueprint to address Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidance from ODE and created a COVID-19 Communicable Disease Management Plan. This document has a wealth of information staff can find answers to many important questions. Topics include:

• Cleaning, disinfection and ventilation
• Contact Tracing
• Face Coverings and PPE
• Visitors and Volunteers
• Response to Confirmed Cases and/or Outbreak
• And Much More!

Reviewing and updating this document will be an ongoing. Additionally, as the state updates the Ready Schools, Safe Learners guidelines, we may need to make changes. This document will always be posted on the 4J website and available for staff.

• Video.Link Workaround – If you missed James’ Email, he shared a workaround for how to share Video.Link (formerly SafeYouTube) so kids can view the videos on their iPads. Here’s a link to his quick sheets on the Laptop Video.Link Fix and the iPad Video.Link Fix.

• Student Meals & Holiday Boxes – As an FYI, with the holidays and school breaks coming up, Nutrition Services emailed principals their plans for Thanksgiving and Winter Break. For Thanksgiving, they will provide a four-day meal box with the Wednesday meal bag. For Winter Break there will be two meal boxes available. Boxes will be available for pickup or by request through delivery. Sign-up info is coming, but see the above linked email for details.

• 20 Teacher-Approved Educational YouTube Channels – Check out this WeAreTeacher Article for a list of YouTube channels for educational content that will enhance your lessons. I was particularly like Storyline Online, where celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Kevin Coster, and even Betty White reading one of my all-time favorite picture books, Harry the Dirty Dog, read a variety of picture books. But as with all media, I recommend screening all videos in advance to be sure they’re appropriate.

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

November 2 (M)
1:30-3:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

November 3 (T)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Library & Zoom)
7:00, All About Pets Zoom! w/Ms. Kim McManus! (Zoom)

November 4 (W)
9:00-9:45, Allan to Virtual Coffee with the Principal (Zoom)
2:40-4:00, PD/PLC Time (Asynchronous)
5:00-5:30, Learn Magic with Mr. Chinn! (Zoom)

November 5 (H)
8:00-3:00, Supply Distribution (Front Entrance)
2:00, Allan to 504 Plan Meeting (Zoom)

November 6 (F)
1:00-3:00, Allan to Principal PLC PD (Zoom)

November 8 (SU)
10:30am-10:00pm, Holt Night Out Fundraiser – MOD Pizza

November 9 (M)
Regular Day

November 10 (T)
8:30-9:30, Allan to Attendance Meeting (Zoom)
3:00-4:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Zoom)

November 11 (W)
No School — Veterans Day

November 12 (H)
5:00-6:00, Site Council Meeting (School Garden & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (School Garden & Zoom)

November 13 (F)
Fall Benchmark Testing Window Closes
1:00-3:00, Allan to Principal PLC PD (Zoom)

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

 

October 5, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/10/03 22:16 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Grants, Literacy, P.D., Technology  |  Comments Off on October 5, 2020

 

Howdy Holt Staff,

Twenty-three items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – We’re still in the hiring process for our 3-hour Title 1 EA vacancy, but for our 4-hour Title 1 EA position, please welcome back Andrea Fox! Andrea is a longtime Holt teacher who retired at the end of last year, but we were lucky enough to bring her back to team. Andrea will start Monday, so please welcome her back to Team Holt!

• Office Hours for Spanish Speaking Families – Thanks fo some additional Title 1 funds we received, Holt staff member Jason Martinez is now available for Spanish speaking families each day 7:30-8:30 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 4:00-5:00 on Thursdays. Jason is available to assist adults with classwork questions, technical support, communicating the other Holt staff, and other family needs (assistance with food, childcare, bills, etc.).

• Student Supplies Distribution, Wed. & Thurs. – Thank you to those who signed up to help with supply distribution on Wednesday and Thursday, 8-12 and/or 12-4. We still have a few open slots and could particularly use more help Thursday morning if any staff available to help at that time. Please sign up on the Supply Distribution Sign-Up Google Sheet.

• Friday Info (Regular Workday for Classified Staff) – There is no school this Friday for State In-Service Day. This is a non-contract day for licensed staff , meaning this is a non-work day, but this is a regular work day for Classified Staff, who should stay tuned for online PD information that should be coming early this week.

• Staff Meeting Update – Besides the Leadership Plan discussion and SMART Goals, I’ve added a few agenda items to Tuesday’s Staff Meeting; Site Council Licensed Reps (there are two openings), October 29/30 Conference Info (yep, they’re happening), LearnZillion Packets & Supply Distribution (if they’re delivered partway through supply distribution, do teachers want them passed out to some student and not all?), and an iPad/Zoom Student Renaming Deadline (Do we want to make a deadline for students to add their name to Zoom?).

• Optional Shared Building SMART Goals – Speaking of SMART Goals, licensed staff can feel free to use the linked Optional Shared Building SMART Goals and cut-and-paste these into TalentEd. In creating theses, our thinking was to make goals around things we’re already doing (such as easyCBM reading benchmarking and for the professional goal figuring out student engagement during CDL) as opposed goals that add to teachers’ already full plate. The percentages on these are merely suggestions and teachers can feel free to adjust as you see fit. Goals are due by the end of October, but let me know if you have any questions on this.

• TalentEd Task Reminder – All staff, both classified and licensed, need to complete a Self-Reflection/Assessment Form in TalentEd.These were due at the end of September, but I also know everyone is extremely taxed and stretched as you re-invent yourselves and instruction in CDL. Please take time complete this form by the end of next week, 10/16.

• REPEAT: Leadership Plan Survey – As of Saturday night, there are only six responses to the Leadership Plan Survey. Please fill this out if you haven’t already, but I’ll plan to move forward on the assumption that those who did respond are representative of licensed staff as a whole, though I would like to hear from more licensed staff if possible. For your reference, linked here is the 2019-2020 Holt Leadership Plan.

• Wednesday Office Hours – I emailed Brooke for an update, but haven’t heard back, so for now I think we just go with a building arrangement where grade level teams agree to offer something similar to families so we’re consistent.

• REPEAT: Family Needs – If you discover any families with needs (food, shelter, bills, etc.) please complete Darla’s linked Student Supports/Needs 2020-2021 Google Form.

• Small Group EA Assistance – As interventionists start up small groups, we may end up with some classified staff with empty slots in their schedule. If classroom teachers would like an extra adult for small groups or for other purposes during synchronous learning times, send me an email and I’ll start compiling a list of days/times teachers could use extra help.

• Newly Enrolled Students & Specialists Seesaw – Let me know if you have any students tell you they cannot see PE, Music, or Counselor Seesaw assignments. Justin Huntley let principals know that only homeroom teachers are automatically rostered through Synergy, and new students need to be manually entered for specialists. I’ll plan add any students newly enrolled, but let me know if you discover any students were missed and I’ll get it fixed.

• Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program – Holt and two other elementary schools now quality for the Federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Program (FFVP). During CDL, this means additional fruits and/or vegetables will be added to the sack lunches given out daily. Once we’re back in brick-and-mortar, it means that classrooms will be given a daily snack of fresh fruit or vegetables you can give students for a snack.

• SafeYouTube/VideoLink Issues – The Tech Department has worked with SafeYouTube/VideoLink and resolved the current issues by having the old SafeTube links now automatically redirect to the new VideoLink URLs. So staff do not need to update any links at this time, but know that these link redirects may not work indefinitely. The Tech Department recommend that you update your links by changing “safeyoutube.net” to “video.link”. For example, if your link is https://safeyoutube.net/w/u2U8, you should change it to https://video.link/w/u2U8. The rest of the URL will not change, so you could use a search and replace function (they recommend Notepad++) to replace all links within one or multiple files on your hard drive. If you have links to replace online, you could use the Find and Replace Text feature.

• ULD Slide Show w/Voiceover – If you’re interested, linked here is the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Slideshow we did earlier in the year, but now with VoiceOver. A second slideshow will be coming out soon.

• SPED/Classroom Collaboration Slideshow w/Voiceover – Linked here is a Collaboration Practices Across General Education and Special Education Google Slideshow that includes voiceover by Marlee Litten. Expectations are still the same as what I’ve shared before regarding SPED/Gen Ed Collaboration and also the Collaboration Log, but this has some expanded explanations of why we’re having to do this (mainly ODE requirements) if you want to listen.

• Journeys Links in One Document – Tired of going through ThinkCentral for the Journeys teacher guide, audio, weekly tests, lessons, the student reader, vocabulary cards, leveled readers, etc? See this Journey’s All-Grade Links Document which contains easy to access links to EVERYTHING! Credit for this document goes to Awbrey Park teacher Patrick Chesterman, who I had the pleasure of working with when I was principal at Yujin Gakuen.

• REPEAT: EEF Grant Proposals Due Wednesday – I haven’t heard from anyone about EEF Grant proposals, so grants are wide open if anyone wants to apply. If you have a grant idea, let me know by Wednesday. Completed grants aren’t due until Oct. 25, but all I need by Wednesday is a grant title and a brief description (which you can tell me in person) for Site Council to rank order. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Add Apps to Student iPads – Know that if you need any apps added to student iPads, we have the ability to remotely add apps to student iPads. All apps need to be approved (mainly for ADA compliance). See the linked List of 4J Approved Apps (you’ll need a VPN to check from home), but if you are wanting to add an app not on the list, you can request an app on the same above link.

• 4J Wraparound Smore Newsletter Update – Maria Covernali, the 4J Wraparound Coordinator, shared the latest 4j Wraparound Smore Newsletter. She made some updates to include tutoring and childcare resources she just learned about. Feel free to pass along this blog or any of these resources to families.

• The Library Lowdown – Amy Page, the 4J District Librarian, shared the latest issue of The Library Lowdown with principals if you’d like to read about a menu of services, such as books talks, tech support, and other resources.

• 3 Keys to Effective Instructional Videos – When using videos with students, remember that we actually need to teach students how to use instructional videos. See this Teacher2Teacher Article on what one educator learned last spring for making instructional videos effective during distance learning. The short version is to keep videos six minutes or shorter and super focused on the learning target, take full advantage of tools that enable you to check whether students are still with you, and ask questions aloud in the video to help kids learn that they need to actually listen to you speak.

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

October 5 (M)
9:30, Allan Reading to Class
2:30-4:30, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Zoom)

October 6 (T)
3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

October 7 (W)
Regular Day

October 8 (H)
7:30-9:00, OPTIONAL Webinar: A School and Home Collaboration: A Pathway to Support the Behavioral, Social, and Emotional Needs of Student (Library or Gym)
5:00-6:00, Site Council (School Garden & Zoom)
6:00-7:00, PAHS Meeting (School Garden & Zoom)
7:00-7:30, Holt Family Tech Training! (Zoom)

October 9 (F)
No School — Statewide In-Service Day
Classified Regular Work Day
Licensed Non-Contract Day
8:00-4:00, Classified PD (Time is TBA)
9:00-10:15, Allan to Physical Distancing Site Coordinators PD (Zoom)

October 12 (M)
Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Speech Small Groups Begin
Fall Benchmark Testing Window Opens

October 13 (T)
3:00-4:00, Leadership Team Meeting (Gym & Zoom)

October 14 (W)
Regular Day

October 15 (H)
Regular Day

October 16 (F)
Regular Day

Have a good week, everyone!

Allan

June 8, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/06/06 12:05 Posted in Announcements, Literacy, Technology  |  Comments Off on June 8, 2020

 

Hi Everyone,

If you can make it, I’m looking forward to seeing folks this Tuesday 11:00-1:00 for the 5th Grade Drive Thru Promotion/Clap-Out Event! Bring your signs and looking at the weather report, maybe bring an umbrella.

Eighteen items of note for this week as well as notes from last Wednesday’s Staff Meeting:

• 2020-2021 Staffing Update – Our TSS, Jyillina, who currently serves Howard, River Road, and Kelly, is next year going to serve River Road, Kelly and YG (since YG is moving to Kelly). Howard TSS for next year will be YG’s current TSS, Tom Maddox, who I’ve heard good thing about from James Grubic, so please welcome Tom to the Howard Team!

• Report Cards – Details on this year’s abridged report card are on the Spring 2020 Reporting webpage. The videos are very thorough, but four additional items:

• “Engaged in Learning” vs. “No Basis” – According to the Spring 2020 Reporting Guidance document, you should only mark “No Basis” if “While contact was made with the family, the student did not participate in distance learning in any capacity,” so if a student did just one activity since distance learning started, they count as engaged.

If they responded to one Seesaw assignment, did one Zoom, did one PE, Music, BEST or other supplemental activity, they should be marked as having participated. Even if their only engagement was to submit a video of flatulent noises (yes, that did happen), they should be marked engaged. It may not be appropriate engagement, but they were engaged.

• Spanish Translations, DUE MONDAY – If you need report card comments translated into Spanish, those need to get to Elizabeth by Monday.

• REPEAT: RC Send Home Date, THURSDAY – To keep things consistent for families and to avoid parents comparing teachers, everyone should sent report cards home (email, Seesaw, or Synergy) on Grading Day, Thursday, June 11th. If you need to use snail mail for families without email or who are not connected through Seesaw, let me and Lori know and we can mail a copy home. If A family is homeless and without email or a mailing address, let me and Jennifer Volem know so we can figure out a plan.

• REPEAT: Email Lori Report Card Copies – The office needs a copy of report cards to upload to Synergy and another copy for cumulative files, so email Lori copies of all your final report cards. These can be sent ahead of Grading Day (if you’re an overachiever).

• Staff Input on Class Lists – Linked here is a view only version of the 2020-2021 Class Lists, if support staff and prior year teachers want to take a look at next year’s class lists to check for any questionable combinations or other adjustments you think might improve the lists.

• Summer Meals Update – Howard served more meals than any other site in 4J, so Nutrition Services is planning to continue serving meals MTWH through Labor Day. Starting next week, June 15th, Nutrition Services is taking over the front of the building meal service that Howard staff have done up until now. Also, the district Care Team is taking over meal deliveries.

• Summer School Updates – It’s now official. ESY and DHH will not use Howard this summer and will use a distance learning model instead, but Title 1 Summer School is happening in a modified form, which will be at River Road.

• Room Assignments – It was brought up at the staff meeting a desire to keep grade levels in the same wings and how we have drifted from that. Now that Corridor has closed, our enrollment will likely take a jump and I’m just about positive we’ll be adding a classroom or two, so our current classroom assignments will almost certainly change. Nurse Robin also had a good point that keeping grade levels in the same wing greatly helps contact tracing and quarantines. Minimizing movement during the school day may be important if we are in a phase where there is an increase of COVID-19 cases. However, we are going to have to wait until closer to the fall when we have more solid student numbers so we know which grade levels will have added classrooms.

• TpT Shopping Spree – I know some of you have been waiting for this! This Monday teachers can feel free to go to the TpT School Access website and download however many resources as you like. We started with 160 and you can see how many are left by going to the TpT School Activity webpage. Our subscription ends June 30th.

• REPEAT: 5th Grade Drive Thru Promotion & Clap-Out – See last week’s announcements for details, but please come join us in the bus loop on Tuesday 11:00-1:00 for the Drive Thru 5th Grade Promotion & Clap-Out!

11:00-11:30, Carpenter
11:30-12:00, Rock
12:00-12:30, Cortez
12:30-1:00, Callihan

And check out the excellent shirts we had made for our quarantined group of 5th grade graduates!

• REPEAT: End-of-Yea Technology & Library Book Return – See last week’s announcements for details, but we can still use volunteers to help with iPad & Library book returns Wednesday and Thursday. Please sign up on the linked End-of-Year Materials Return Sign-Up.

• Optional Staff Meeting, Wednesday @12:30 – Due to the added furlough days, I’m moving our required June Staff Meeting to this Wednesday at 12:30 instead of Thursday. I’ll also move next week’s Optional Staff Meeting to Wednesday as well. On my email and on a forthcoming Zimbra calendar invite, but not on my blog, are the Zoom Meeting Invite links.

• REPEAT: 2020-2021 Leadership/Building Rep. Positions – Don’t be bashful. Sign-up to be a leader or a team member on the 2020-2021 Leadership/Building Rep. Positions Google Sheet!

• Learn 360 Reminder – Misty Jackson sent principals an email reminding us Learn 360 is still free through June 30th. No username or password needed if you click the above link. I’ll add to Misty’s email that tif you want to download any of the videos, the Chrome extension Stream Video Downloader will download the embedded Learn 360 videos and will do the same with most any other website with embedded videos if there are some you want to snag before free access disappears.

• Retain Your Contact Log – Please remember to retain your family contact log through the end of next school year, should any parents come back to claim no one ever tried to reach out to them.

• Book support during this difficult time – Julie received an email from our library association on Books on Social Justice for June of 2020, which includes a list of books that may help support the Black Live Matter subject. We have some the title mentioned in our library.

• Registration/Enrollment Reboot – If parents ask you about enrolling for next year, you can direct them to the 4J 2020 Student Enrollment webpage. There will soon be a district registrar who will take care of registrations, with paperwork dropped off at the Ed Center, but in the meantime families can email Lori electronic copies from the above website or they can drop them off during the meal distribution times, Monday through Thursday.

• 4J Library Lowdown – 4J Librarian Amy Page shared the final issue of 4J The Library Lowdown of the year, which has some DEI resources, PD audiobooks, and summer reading resources, book lists, and activities for students. Let Amy know if you have trouble accessing any of the resources. You will need to login to your Sora account to access the DEI resources.

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

June 8 (M)
Furlough Day (192 & 196-Day Classified Staff)
8:00, Work Share Claim Form Extended Deadling (8AM @Ed Center)
10:30-12:00, Allan to Elem. Principal Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

June 9 (T)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
11:00-1:00, 5th Grade Drive Thru Promotion/Clap-Out and Device & Book Return
11:00-11:30, Carpenter
11:30-12:00, Rock
12:00-12:30, Cortez
12:30-1:00, Callihan

June 10 (W)
Last Day for Students
8:00-4:00, End-of-Year Technology & Library Book Return (Gym)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:30-1:00, Optional Howard Check-In Meeting
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendance
2:45-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Committee Meeting

June 11 (H)
Grading Day/Last Day for Teachers & Classified Staff
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
8:00-4:00, End-of-Year Technology & Library Book Return (Gym)

June 12 (F)
No School – Furlough Day (Licensed, Admin, Classified 10, 11, & 12-month)

July 28 (T)
Elementary Principals Report Back

August 10 (M)
Elementary Secretaries Report Back

September 1 (T)
Licensed Staff Report Back

September 2 (W)
Classified Employees Report

If I don’t see you this week, have a fabulous summer and hopefully we’ll all get to see each other in person again in the fall.

And now enjoy the staff summer reading picks below (it was a bit thin this year since I wasn’t able to bug people in person this year).

Take care, everyone!

Allan

 

STAFF BOOK PICKS


CORIANNE

I’m almost finished with Becoming by Michelle Obama. Most Excellent!

Reading books 2 & 3 in the Dragonwatch series, and eagerly awaiting books 4 & 5! It’s a continuation of Fabelhaven, which is one of the best fantasy books for kids. Right up there with Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams which I didn’t read last summer as planned, but now own it, so I will!

Next Year in Havana is sbout a woman who goes to Cuba to scatter her grandmother’s ashes, and discovers much about her own family’s past and why they fled Cuba during the revolution. It came highly recommended by Molly Hansbrough. She was 4j’s last elementary Librarian until she retired…

The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber, who lives in Portland. This is a memoir about her and her family, being raised by a Jordanian father who never felt quite “right” in the west, and was obsessed with the foods they made to remind him of home. Her book “Crescent” is one of my all-time favorites!

Hoping to get to two others of hers: Life Without a Recipe, another memoir, and Arabian Jazz, a novel which deals with the merging of cultures and all that it can bring. This is a theme that plays out in most of her novels and memoirs, being Jordanian, but also American. And food often plays a central role in her books. She attributes some of that to her time spent in Eugene as a grad student, where she and her friends would ride their bikes to the Saturday Market, and then go off to someone’s house to prepare a large meal together.

 

JULIE

New Kid by Jerry Craft Fellow librarian recommendation
Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature! Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers in grades 5 to 6, especially during homeschooling. It’s a fun way to keep your child entertained and engaged while not in the classroom. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games Series Prequel) Fellow Librarian recommendation. A slow start, but a page turner for sure.

The Persuasion Catch up on my Eve Duncan series. I’m so excited!

Labyrinth (FBI Series #23) by Catherine Coulter More from my FBI thriller series, yes!

The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners: A No-Stress Meal Plan with Easy Recipes to Heal the Immune System by Dorothy Calimeris New cookbook :)

OBOB 2020-21 titles I’m excited to get started on next year’s books!

 

 

JUSTINE

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Slow at start, but empowering and good

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Loved It!!!

Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Amazing

 

LUPE

Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry by Susan Vaught
Integrates historical fiction, race, Alzheimer’s,…

Jason Reynolds’s Track Series Collection
Different students and their abilities to come together to understand each others needs

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
Case in California that helped end segregation

Voices from the Fields : Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories by S. Beth Atkin

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jiménez

 

 

ROBIN

The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Kelli Estes. Was recommended by a friend and I’m looking forward to some down time to enjoy it.

 

 

SUZY

The Choice: Embrace the Impossible by Dr. Edith Eger All I can say about this book is WOW!! This is a memoir about Edie who was was only 16 when she and her family were sent to Auschwitz. She ends up surviving and moving to the US where she becomes a world renowned psychologist helping others through their own trauma. She tells her story not only through her own, but also through patients that she has worked with over the years. The overall theme of this book is compassion, forgiveness (of ourselves and others), and of course choices. We cannot choose what happens to us, but we can always choose our response to what happens to us. This is a book everyone should read.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish The story is set in London during the 1660’s as well as the early 2000’s. It is told from two different women’s point of view. One is a scribe for a Portuguese Rabbi in 1660’s, and the other is a historian of Jewish history in the 2000’s. Their stories come together when a bunch of documents are found hidden in a London home that were written by the female scribe in the 1660’s. They search to find out who this female scribe was (who goes by the name of “Aleph”) since she breaking with gender lines in the 17th century. Great historical fiction!

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara Okay, I’ve had this book for probably the last year and a half and every time I go to pick it up, I put it back down because I wasn’t ready to delve into real-life crime that would scare me as fell asleep each night. I didn’t want to think that every sound a heard was someone trying to break into my house. A few weeks ago, I finally picked it up and couldn’t put it back down. For the first 100 pages, I kept telling my husband, “I probably should stop reading this book,” but I just couldn’t stop. The author gets you hooked as much as she was to find out who the Golden State Killer is. Unfortunately she didn’t live long enough to see him arrested in 2018.

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera Set in South Carolina in the 1920’s. It is told from three female perspectives who come from very different backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common—they are all mothers who stand up for injustices happening around them, and to them. Three women helping each other and helping their families. Another great read!

 

 

ALLAN

The Living Dead by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus,. George A. Romero, the man who invented the “rules” for zombies with Night of the Living Dead (dead eat the living, must destroy the brain, zombies are slow, etc.) started this novel before his death in 2017, but it was finished by Daniel Kraus, who wrote Oscar Best Picture winner The Shape of Water.

Mean Business on North Ganson Street by S. Craig Zahler. I haven’t read any of his books, but he’s now a filmmaker of some shockingly original films (though not for all tastes), including Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete. I’m hoping his books are equally mean and nasty!

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. I loved his prior book, My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which was a mix of 80s nostalgia, The Exorcist, and Mean Girls. This new book is described as Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in the 90s, so how can I NOT read this book!

Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue. Jeff got me started on this. I love old school samurai movies and this Japanese manga/graphic novel about a masterless samurai is magic! I’ve read volume 1 and 2, but I’m ready to dive into the subsequent volumes 3 – 12. The artwork alone is enough to read this graphic novel. 

 

Have a good summer, everyone!

 

May 4, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/05/02 17:23 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on May 4, 2020

Hello Roadrunners,

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week and it’s like no staff appreciation week we’ve ever had. Our fabulous PTO was originally planning on feeding staff each day this week, but COVID-19 has left them undeterred. Teachers should look for a small appreciation in the mail from the PTO coming soon. Thank you, teachers, and a thank you to ALL staff for your hard work and effort during this stressful time. I know it’s appreciated more than you can ever imagine!

Seventeen items of note for this week as well as notes from last Thursday’s Staff Meeting:

UPDATED: Job Expo Updates – Howard had more applicants than any other school in 4J and I was the only principal who had to do two days worth of interviews. We’re quite popular! However, HR only filled some of our vacancies. Bryan is filling the 5th grade vacancy, Savannah was hired into her current kindergarten position but had since moved into Jessy’s vacant 1st grade position, and HR placed Crystal Thomas, who is coming off a leave, into our other 1st grade vacancy. SSD has also placed Kim Sullivan, Camus Ridge CLC-B Teacher, into our Learning Center position left vacant by Bryan.

Congratulations to Imelda, who was hired into the Spanish Immersion Program at Kelly, and congratulations to Jessy, who was hired as the new counselor at Willagilespie. For round two of the Job Expo, we will have a vacancy at kindergarten and two vacancies at 4th grade (Justine is moving back to 4th).

• Required Staff Meetings, May 7 @12:30 – Downtown is asking schools to resume holding required Staff Meetings, per the CBA. We will stick with our usual once a month required staff meetings for licensed staff. The required Staff Meeting for May will be this Thursday at 12:30. Zoom meeting info is in my email and a calendar invite, but not on my blog. We’ll vote at this meeting to schedule the remaining required meetings for the year and cover any other topics that come up. My proposal will be the first Thursday of each month be the required meeting, which is only one more meeting June 4th, believe it or not.

• Attendance Update, 12:30-4:00 Fridays & Contact Log – Teachers are to record attendance on Fridays between 12:30 and 4:00. It is also important to reach out to families that have not participated in class activities or made contact at any points during the week. Teachers are now required to record all attempts (calls, texts email, message, etc.) to connect with and engage families who are not participating in distance learning on a weekly basis. This is required by the state, but if you haven’t already kept a log, just start keeping one from this point forward. And when you call families, you do not need to pressure them into completing assigned work, as many families are struggling right now, but it can simply be a check in to make sure everything is okay or if they are needing any support.

Also, if you have students you have not heard from, please check with specialists (PE, Music, ELL, SPED, BEST, etc.) to see if they have made any contact with students or families before marking students absent. A few students participated in Music in PE last week who were marked absent because they hadn’t done any of their regular classroom work.

If you’re curious what our attendance rate looks like, only 33 out of nearly 500 students were absent last week. I’ve heard through the grapevine the district average is about a 50% attendance rate, so our 94% attendance rate is looking pretty strong! It’s actually better than our usual attendance rate, which tells me our students are missing you all and wanting to stay connected! (even if they’re not doing all their work)

• Interventionist Meetings District Requirement – Howard and a few other schools already started doing this, so we won’t have to change much, but downtown is now requiring meetings between classroom teachers and interventionists (SPED, ELD, Title) to collaborate, particularly so SPED teachers can consult with gen ed teachers in order to meet state requirements around specially designed instruction (SDI). Howard has documented our meetings one way, but one potential change we may have to do is SSD is considering having all schools use the same template to document meetings (a much more complicated one I’d rather not use, so we’ll stick with ours for the meantime).

• Sample Weekly Lesson Plans (Please Use!) – Related to the above, if classroom teachers use the Sample Weekly Lesson Plans, which already include as much Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as possible, you’ll save a lot of time at the above meetings since they are already designed to be accessible for students on IEPs. Another benefit is these lessons will scale up for more advanced students. My own kids are getting these lessons from their teachers are they’re really good. Please consider using these lessons and same yourself some time!

• Birthday Zoom Lunches With the Principal – This Friday at 12:00, I’m going to try a virtual Birthday Lunches with the Principal for March and April birthdays, which we missed out on. In my email, but not on my blog, are the Zoom links. Please let families know about this. I’d love to have a “Zoom Bouncer” or two help me keep an eye on things and any other staff are welcome to join as well. I’m sure the kids would love it. Below is a short blurb you can feel free to use:

 

March & April Birthday Lunches with the Principal

Each month, Mr. Chinn celebrates student birthdays with a Birthday Lunches with the Principal. We’ve missed the past two months birthday celebrations due to statewide school closure, but this Friday, 12:00-12:15, Mr. Chinn and a few special guests are holding a VIRTUAL Birthday Lunch Celebration for all the students who has March and April Birthdays. “Zoom” in if you have a March or April birthday to enjoy some corny jokes, magic tricks, and fun!

• Fun Friday! – Go to the Beach Day – Not this Friday, but Friday next week is a Fun Friday. Even though we’re not together, feel free let your students know that they can still dress like they’re spending the day at the beach or if you want to do any beach related activities with your students.

• Online Training for Stand-By Staff – Classified staff on stand-by will soon receive information regarding required online trainings, such as the Safe Schools Online Trainings. This requirement can be modified by supervisors if staff are currently working (i.e. assisting with meals and other jobs as they come up), so talk to me if you’re one of the folks currently working and would like this expectation modified.

• Student Belongings – Families still needing to pick up student belongings, swap out K/1 iPads, or return library books, they can still do all of that during meal distribution, Monday through Friday, 11:00-12:00. I’m emailing families this Howard Happenings on Monday, but teachers can feel free to share this info as well.

• Family iPad Tech Support – If families are experiencing challenges using the iPads or Seesaw or other apps, the Tech Department is asking for families to first reach out to teachers. To help teachers, they created these videos you can share with families having issues. It’s important to note that resetting school issued iPads fixes a variety of issues.

Accessing Clever & Dreambox from a Computer or Android Device
Accessing Clever & Dreambox from an iPAD
Video for families to model an iPad reset

If families continue having issues, have them follow up with Tech Department staff, sharing the information below. Their preferred method of communication is email.

For technical support on 4J owned devices, call 541-790-7770 or email student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu

Para obtener asistencia técnica en dispositivos propiedad de 4J, llamaré al 541-790-7731 o enviaré un correo electrónico a student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu

• Additional Filters on iPads – The Tech Department is taking additional steps to filter devices borrowed by families. See the linked email for details if you’re curious how they are able to filter devices not connected to the 4J Network.

• BEST Updates – Classroom teachers should look for a BEST survey coming that needs to be completed by the end of the month. Also, the state has given BEST guidance on how to implement their grant during distance learning. See the linked 21st Century Community Learning Centers Slideshow for details, but starting next week BEST is going to push out a supplemental BEST Choice Board from a BEST Seesaw Classroom.

• Memorial Day – No School – The current plan for Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th, is that this will be a non-school day, meaning there will be no distance learning and no meal services this day.

• Eugene 4J District Librarian Support – Amy Page, the 4J District Library introduced herself at the Optional Staff Meeting to share that staff can come to her Tech Help Sessions and email her with questions. See Amy’s The Library Lowdown blog for the latest resources.

• Remote Learning Is Breaking Parents – Chris shared this NYT Article with me and I think it’s a good reminder for us to give families grace when students are not completing assignments or doing everything we ask. For the adults in the home, trying to do their own jobs or simply trying to meet basic necessities, helping children with class work has become one of the most trying aspects of the pandemic.

• 22 YA Novels to Help Students Process the Pandemic (or Forget It for a Bit) – Not that we should be assigning novels right now, but I know there are quite a few avid readers on staff who might enjoy this Edutopia List. A former school librarian shares recent young adult novels to boost resilience or to give some laughs. Life As We Knew It is the only one on the list I’ve read, but it was a really good one!

 

 

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

May 4 (M)
Children’s Book Week
Teacher Appreciation Week
May the Fourth Be With You
10:00-11:00, Allan to Elementary Principals Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

May 5 (T)
Cinco de Mayo
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

May 6 (W)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
1:00-1:30, Kindergarten & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
1:45-2:15, 1st Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
2:30-3:00, 2nd Grade & Interventionist Meeting

May 7 (H)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, Required Howard Staff Meeting
1:00-1:30, 3rd Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
1:45-2:15, 4th Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
2:30-3:00, 5th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
7:00, PBIS Howard Zoom Dance Party (Tentative)

May 8 (F)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:00-12:20, March & April Birthday Lunches With the Principal
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendance

May 10 (SU)
Mother’s Day

May 11 (M)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

May 12 (T)
9:00-11:00, Allan to All Admin Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

May 13 (W)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
1:00-1:30, Kindergarten & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
1:45-2:15, 1st Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
2:30-3:00, 2nd Grade & Interventionist Meeting
2:45-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Eval Committee Meeting
4:00-7:00, PTO McTeacher Night Fundraiser (Tentative/Drive-Through)

May 14 (H)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
12:30-1:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting
1:00-1:30, 3rd Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
1:45-2:15, 4th Grade & Interventionist Zoom Meeting
2:30-3:00, 5th Grade & Interventionist Meeting
4:00-7:00, Allan to Job Expo Zoom Interviews

May 15 (F)
Fun Friday! – Go to the Beach Day
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
12:30-4:00, Classroom teachers take attendance

May the 4th be with. Always. 

Allan

April 20, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/04/18 18:19 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Math, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on April 20, 2020

 

Hello from Home!

I’ve continued to get emails see nice social media posts from families about our Howard Roadrunner Car Parade. Families were so grateful for that event and it makes my so glad we held this event. Thank you to Mellissa and Corianne for organizing the event and figuring out all the logistics! I’m thinking staff loved seeing each other just about as much as students did. Thank you everyone who was able to come out!

One other shout of for this week. This Wednesday is Administrative Professionals’ Day, formerly known as Secretaries’ Day, so I’d like to recognize the hard work of Howard’s excellent office staff, Lori and Elizabeth, who even during these extraordinary times continue to be available to help staff and families. Thank you both for all you do!

Thirteen items of note, including items from last week’s optional staff meeting:

• Enhanced Elementary Distance Learning Guidance – See’s Brooke Wagner’s Emails (Email 1 and Email 2) for details, but please take note of the Updated Elementary Distance Learning Video, the Two Weeks at a Glance (by grade level), the 4J Distance Learning for All Website being created as we speak by SDSs, and the K-5 Optional Lesson Plans: April 20-24 that were emailed Friday evening. Here are the highlights to take note of:

• Teacher-Led Minutes (classroom & interventionist) – These are the MAXIMUM minutes for daily teacher-led activities by classroom teachers and by interventionists (Title, SPED, ELL).

K/1: 40 min. Classroom, 5 min. Interventionist
2/3: 50 min. Classroom, 10 min. Interventionist
4/5: 75 min. Classroom, 15 min. Interventionist

Teacher-led time includes the time it will take student to read any text you provide, watch any videos you assign, complete the assignments, and also any synchronous time. Classroom teachers are not responsible for providing supplemental or health/wellness activities, but may share ideas and activities if you’d like.

• Asynchronous or Synchronous – Asynchronous (non-Zoom) is the district recommended method for teaching. Synchronous time should only be for class meetings or an occasional small groups, but it’s not an expectation. Teachers recording themselves teaching a lesson and posting the video is the preferred method, which allows students and families not to be tied to a specific time and also allows students to review a lesson multiple times as needed. If teachers do teach content (non-SEL or class meetings) synchronously, you are expected to provide the same learning opportunity for students unable to log-in, meaning you will need to record yourself teaching the same lesson (you can’t record the lesson live with students due to FERPA) and make that video available. So generally speaking, don’t teach content synchronously.

• Weekly Essential Skills – Lesson should focus on the weekly essential skills for your grade level in the Two Weeks at a Glance Doc, which narrows the focus during our limited instructional time. This also allows for SPED, ELL, and Title staff to provide targeted support.

• PE/Music & Seesaw – The Technology Department has set up PE and Music teachers with their own Seesaw Classrooms and Brooke Wagner shared the linked Elementary P.E. & Music Specialist Guidelines, which has PE and Music specialists creating two supplemental Music and two PE lessons per week for students. Siera and Tami are planning to provide an additional activity on alternating Fridays.

• REPEAT: Office Hours – Teachers should choose and inform your families of three 1-hour windows where they are available to families (your choice of phone, text, email, Seesaw, and/or Zoom), with one of the 1-hour blocks being an evening time to accommodate working parents. Note that this is not a time for 1:1 tutoring, but is a time for parents to connect with teachers.

• Attendance During Distance Learning – I shared a preview of this earlier, but linked here is the official Attendance Procedures During Distance Learning for All (Spring 2020). These new attendance procedure will start this week (4/20-4/25) and last until the end of the school year. The goal is to track which students are not engaged, avoiding leaving any students behind. To make it as easy and simple as possible, attendance will be taken only once a week (on the last teaching day of the week) by teachers as you normally do in Synergy. If a student made any form of contact with teachers (case managers included) during the week (completed an assignment, participated in a Zoom, send a message, etc.), they will be considered present. If a student is not connecting with school at all and parents are unresponsive to teacher attempts to reach out, let me know and I will reach out to make sure we’re not losing any students

• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – Buried in the 4J Distance Learning for All Website and on an earlier email is a video on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which explains ODEs mandate for how lessons should be designed for students, so that it’s accessible for students of all levels and abilities. Here’s a link to a UDL Video.

• Next Steps – Teachers this week will receive the week-by-week target skills for the rest of the school year. Direction for how SPED will support students is still being worked out by SPED directors and ODE, but something should be coming out soon. And remember to give yourself permission to go slow, keep it fun, and not overwhelm families.

 

 

• Zoom Security & Zoom Bombing – This has happened already in 4J and the district is currently re-evaluating Zoom as a platform for synchronous learning, but in the meantime 4J is sticking with Zoom. However, remember that asynchronous learning is the recommended method for teaching and the sample week provided for teachers includes only one day for a synchronous class meeting.

See Mellissa’s Zoom Bouncer Email if any teachers would like a co-host for your Zoom Class Meetings. Lots of us are excited and willing to help! And FYI, teachers do not have “Co-Host” access, but you can turn over host duties to another staff member while you focus on running your class meeting.

If you do use Zoom, keep in mind the Safety & Security Email sent to staff earlier, some highlights of which include:

• Use your 4J email to set up your Zoom account.
• Do not make meetings publicly accessible
• Require a password
• Create a “Waiting Room”
• Confirm participants’ identity
• Be present from start to end in every meeting
• Do not record video meetings with staff or students
• Mute participants on entry
• Keep control of the screen share setting
• Hosts can “Lock” a meeting
• Hosts can remove anyone by hovering over the ellipsis (…)
• Accept software update prompts from Zoom

For more tips on Zoom meeting security and safety, see:

4J Technology: Zoom Privacy Considerations – Guidelines and step-by-step instructions for Zoom settings
Zoom: Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom
Zoom: Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event

• SSD on Student Discipline – If you encounter discipline issues during a Zoom, SSD is advising that banning a student from Zooms counts as a “suspension” and will need to be documented as such, so contact me if you encounter this situation. More information on this is coming, but see Kat Lange’s Email if you want the details so far.

• LaneESD Paper Packets – 4J is not producing any more work packets, but the Lane ESD is creating 10-day project based learning (PBL) supplemental learning packets families can access if they choose. Since Friday’s Staff Meeting, downtown released their Analog Distance Education Guidance, which further explains how the ESD packets will work. Packets for the first two weeks are:

K-1 PBL: Student Facing Materials: Identity Mapping
2-3 PBL: Student Facing Materials
4-5 PBL: Student Facing Materials: (coming this weekend)

For implementing these at the elementary level, classroom teachers or case managers assigned to the student are responsible for checking in once per week (call, email, or message to families) to make sure the students feel connected to what is going on at school, marking attendance, and providing feedback to students.

4J’s hope is for all students to participate in online distance learning, but if families request a paper option, let me know and I will print a packet for families to pick-up at meal distribution times.

• REPEAT: Connecting w/Families – If there are families you have not hear from or or have been unable to contact, please continue reaching out and also let me know so we can take additional steps to re-connect families with school.

• REPEAT: Building Access – If you need to access the building, remember you need to notify me first to arrange a time for me to meet with you. Staff should enter ONLY through the main office entrance and sign-in on the clipboard on the front office desk, being sure to note all areas you went to so custodial staff can disinfect those areas behind you. If you need to use the restroom, only use the two staff restrooms in the office. Please try to limit your amount of time in the building, but if you do need to come into the building, try to make it on Mondays, Wednesday, or Fridays between 11:00-12:00, which is a set time that I will be in the building.

• Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meetings, Thursday @2:00 – We decided at Friday’s Staff Meeting to go down to one meeting a week, which will be on Thursdays at 2:00. I’m following the district guidance on Zoom Meetings, so each meeting will have a different URL, Meeting ID, and Password, which I’ll include in my announcements email and on a Zimbra Calendar Invite, but not on my blog.

• Tech Support for Families – If families are needing tech support that you cannot quickly answer, and if they have school owned device, you can share the following info:

For technical support on 4J owned devices, call 541-790-7770 or email student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu

Para obtener asistencia técnica en dispositivos propiedad de 4J, llamaré al 541-790-7731 o enviaré un correo electrónico a student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu

• 5th Grade Honk-By – Corianne has begun working on a 5th Grade Honk-By in lieu of our traditional 5th grade celebration activities. If you have ideas feel free to share them with Corianne.

• UPDATE: 4J Wraparound Resources – Matt and I are your contacts for families in need, but the 4J Wraparound Team Email sent to us included a link to their Wraparound Resources for Staff Doc, which can help you locate what families need and continues to be updated daily.

Some highlights added this week:

• More food sites and a food box locator. Casa de Luz is one site open this Saturday where Spanish is spoken and they offer foods that are more familiar for many Latino families.
• Info. for families who receive SNAP – increased emergency benefits and ability to order delivery from Amazon or Walmart.
• Easier ways to apply for OHP.
• Links to tech support for parents in English and Spanish, including videos.

And linked here are the following flyers:

• Info. about CARES Act Unemployment Insurance Expansion (flyer)
• Info. about COVID-19 in Spanish
• Tenants’ rights flyer in English and Spanish
• Oregon Childcare Provider Relief Guide (website has guide in several languages)

• 5 Home Learning Experiences for the Elementary Grades – See this Edutopia Article for activities that incorporate speaking and listening, reading and writing, math, music, science, art, and drama—and are parent-friendly.

• FREE Live Concerts! – Not education related, but for fun while in quarantine, I’ve been checking this Live Nation – Live form Home website every day, which includes links to daily live streams from some well known bands and musicians around the globe. It seems like there at least a few big names performing every day. On Sunday I’m planning to check out Carly Pearce at 5:00 (maybe John Mayer at 6:00) and Alice in Chains on Monday at 6:00 for some throwback 90s grunge.

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

April 20 (M)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

April 21 (T)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 22 (W)
Administrative Professionals’ Day (formerly Secretaries’ Day)
Earth Day
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

April 23 (H)
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (that’s easy this year)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 24 (F)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

April 27 (M)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

April 28 (T)
10:00-11:00, Allan at All Admin Zoom Meeting
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 29 (W)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
1:00-2:00, Allan to HR Zoom Meeting

April 30 (H)
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting
4:00-8:00, Allan to Job Expo Zoom Interviews

May 1 (F)
PBIS Monthly Theme – Positive Attitude
Better Hearing & Speech Month
Transition Day (possible hazardous weather [pandemic?] makeup day)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families

If you didn’t catch them on social media, enjoy the videos below of last week’s Howard Roadrunner Parade.

Have a good week and remember to take care of yourselves!

Allan

 

From a Howard parent’s Facebook post

From David Nelson’s Ring Doorbell

Swift’s pan of all the cars getting ready!

April 6, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/04/03 21:19 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on April 6, 2020

 

Hello Everyone,

Well this week has been a rollercoaster! I included notes below from today’s Optional Staff Check-In Zoom Meeting.

Things continue to be very fluid and seem to change daily. In some ways I hesitate to send daily updates because things are so fluid and continue to change, but I also think a lack of communication is probably worse. Hopefully I’m not overwhelming people with information. Below are is the most recent plans and info.

Nine items of note for this week:

• Help for Tech Distribution Prep, Monday & Tuesday – Jyllian and I can use help Monday and Tuesday 8:00-12:00 pulling iPads from COWs and classrooms. Jyllian will actually be at River Road these days, but I’ll be here to help direct things and I can use help pulling devices, pulling chargers, putting names on iPads, and putting them in the STEAM Room alphabetical by last name. From there, Jyllian will inventory devices, wipe them down, add chargers, and bag & label them for pick-up. If you can help sign-up on the iPad Distribution Sign Up.

• Remote Learning: Time to Slow Down – Watch for a joint email from EEA and 4J Admin regarding slowing down the remote learning rollout. More information will be coming, but generally speaking, 4J had a far more intensive remote learning plan and after reviewing the ODE pivot, it’s a much smaller amount of “Teacher-Led” (reading, writing, math) time:

K-1: 45-minutes
2-3: 60 minutes
4-5: 90 minutes

And “Teacher-Led” does not mean Zoom meetings with students. It just means teacher planned activities. The state is also requiring “Supplemental Activities” and “Health & Wellness” learning, but those portions of remote learning will be led by students and families from a list of suggested activities they will be provided. Music & PE will likely go under Supplemental Activities and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) actives will likely go under “Heath & Wellness”

Still, this plane is most definitely being build while it’s flying, while school districts continue to get new guidance from the state, so stay tuned, but for now, enjoy a moment to catch your breath.

• Request for Teacher Leaders – Related to the above, the 4J Elementary ODE Team, made up of EEA Reps and building administrators (including myself), is working plan to meet ODE’s guidelines and expectations. Grade level team leaders (I’m leading the 3rd grade group) are looking for classroom teachers who might be interested in working in some capacity on this plan. The work can/may include: developing guidelines for their grade level in regards to minutes of teacher-led instruction, examples of supplemental learning opportunities, determining the essential standards the grade level should focus on for the remainder of the year, and sample lessons that follow the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) mandate from the state. Please note that right now this work is eligible for flex time per the union’s recommendation. There will not be extended contract for this work at this time. Let me know if you’d like me forward your name to be one one of the grade level teams.

• Student Packets – We now have packets for KG, 1st, 2nd, and 3-5 packets. The plan is they will be distributed at meal sites. However, this is a very fluid time, so that plan may change. Downtown is also looking for interested teacher leaders who are interested in developing future packets and if you have particular subject matter areas of expertise. See David Jacobsen’s emails (Email #1 and Email #2) for details.

• SSD Updates: Parent Communication & SPED Meetings – If you’re interested, Student Services Director Kat Lange sent a Parent Email and an SSD Teacher Email regarding steps being taken to be in compliance with SPED meetings and deadlines. More details about this will be coming as we wait on state guidance.

• Zoom Security – We are hearing many concerns about privacy and access with teachers using Zoom. Downtown asked principals to share the following link regarding best practice in using this platform with students. Following these precautions, Zoom will be instrumental in maintaining student connection to the school community. Here is another good link.

• Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meetings at 2:00 (MWF) – I’ll plan to hold an Optional Howard Check-In Meeting Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays at 2:00. I’ll cut back from daily meetings to three days a week. I’ll continue to follow-up with an email summary each meeting. See the email or the building calendar for the Zoom Meeting link and phone number.

• Online Version of Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Program – The Ems are launching an online version of Sluggo’s Home Run Reading Program. If you’re interested in your classroom participating, see the above link for details as well as the 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:

April 6 (M)
Begin Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)
8:00-12:00, iPad Collection & Prep for Distribution
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 7 (T)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)
8:00-12:00, iPad Collection & Prep for Distribution if needed
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 8 (W)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 9 (H)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous)
8:00-12:00, iPad Distribution – Last Names A-L
1:00-5:00, iPad Distribution – Last Names M-Z
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 10 (F)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous or maybe Synchronous)
8:00-12:00, iPad Distribution – Last Names A-L
1:00-5:00, iPad Distribution – Last Names M-Z
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 13 (M)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous & Synchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 14 (T)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous & Synchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 15 (W)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous & Synchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

April 16 (H)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous & Synchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals

April 17 (F)
Continue Daily Remote Learning (Asynchronous & Synchronous)
11:00-12:00, Free Meals & Meal Deliver for M-V Families
2:00, Optional Howard Check-In Zoom Meeting

As always, please do not hesitate to call, text, or email me if you have questions or if there’s anything I can help you with.

Allan

 

March 9, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/03/07 22:31 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Arts, Equity, Grants, Literacy, Technology, Video  |  Comments Off on March 9, 2020

 

Howdy Roadrunners,

You may have lost an hour this weekend, but this will cheer you up. There’s only two weeks until spring break!

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• 2020-2021 Staffing Updates – We have tentatively received an additional 1.5 licensed FTE from SIA (Student Investment Act, formerly SSA) funds. This is tentative pending final board approval and then approval by the state, but downtown is comfortable sharing these draft allocations. Principals will submit two staffing plans. One with SIA staffing and one without. I shared last week this FTE can be used for:

• Facilitating teacher for a “walk to read” model for grades 1 & 2

• Class size reduction for a single grade (grades 1 or 2)

• Class size reduction with blended grades(1/2 blend)

• Limited use for reading intervention

I shared with EA Supervisors and Licensed Specialists on Friday the two plans that incorporate this 1.5 FTE, adding a class at 1st grade and adding 0.5 FTE to 2nd grade for walk to read. The difference between the two plans is 3rd or 5th grade getting the fourth classroom.

SIA PLAN 1: Four classes at 1st, 4th, 5th
K – 25, 25, 25
1 – 19, 20, 20, 20 (SIA 1.0 FTE)
2 – 21, 22, 22, 0.5 facilitating (0.5 SIA FTE)
3 – 26, 26, 27
4 – 21, 21, 21, 22
5 – 20, 20, 20, 21

SIA PLAN 2: Four classes at 1st, 3rd, 4th
K – 25, 25, 25
1 – 19, 20, 20, 20 (SIA 1.0 FTE)
2 – 21, 22, 22, 0.5 facilitating (0.5 SIA FTE)
3 – 19, 20, 20, 20
4 – 21, 21, 21, 22
5 – 27, 27, 27

This brings our total classroom count to what we have this school year, with 21 full-time gen ed classrooms. I’ll continue meeting with grade levels this week for input on these plans, but also feel free to email or talk in person with me if you’d like to share you thoughts on these or other potential scenarios for next school year.

Outside of classroom staff, we’re still waiting on ESSA, ESC, and the Student Behavior Support Coordinator allocations, which leaves our classified and non-classroom licensed positions a bit up in the air. I will update staff on this as soon as I get more information.

• 4J Coronavirus FAQs and NASP Talking to Kids about COVID-19 – Principals and secretaries were sent the linked Coronavirus COVID-19 Talking Points for when we encounter questions from families and I thought all staff might find this useful if you have anyone ask you about this. Should students want to discuss Coronavirus, linked here is a document from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) on Talking to Children About COVID-19, though the short version is to:

• Remain calm and reassuring
• Make yourself available
• Avoid excessive blaming
• Maintain a normal routine to the extent possible
• Be honest and accurate
• Know the symptoms of COVID-19
• Review and model basic hygiene
• Discuss new rules or practices at school

 

 

• REPEAT: March PTO Meeting, TUESDAY – This Tuesday at 6:00 in the Community Room is the March PTO meeting if any staff are able to attend.

• REPEAT: Literacy Night, Thursday – See last week’s announcements for details on Literacy Night. The schedule wasn’t on the flyer, so teachers should let students know the schedule for the evening:

5:30-6:00: FREE Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Open

Talk Literacy Night up to your students and get them pumped to attend!

• REPEAT: Literacy Night Staff Dinner – We’ll have a variety of pizzas and salads from Mezza Luna and also drinks for any staff working this evening.

• REPEAT: Classified Staff Help at Literacy Night – We could still use some more help on Literacy Night, 5:00-6:30ish. We can use help with setting up drinks, serving pizza, and then with clean-up. Trade time is available, which could be used the next day on Friday’s PD Day. Let me or Corianne know if any of you are available to help!

• CORRECTION: FRIDAY PD Day Info – Oops! I had the locations flipped for K-2/Music/PE and 3-5/SPED/Title, but the correct locations are on the schedule below. See the March 13 PD Email for details, but the short version is:

8:00-10:30: Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE(Holt)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title(Gilham)
8:00-10:30: Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30: Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00: Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

Linked here is a complete list of the K-12 PD Sessions for March 13, 2020. Classified need to register for trainings on TalentEd Develop (TED). Linked here are the TED Registration Directions.

My preference for part-time staff, both licensed and classified, would be for you to come to the afternoon training here at Howard if you can adjust your hours, but part-time staff can decide.

• Fun Friday! – Book Character Day, 3/20 – Not this week, but the last day before spring break is the March Fun Friday and it’s Book Character Day! Who will you dress as? Hermione Granger, Waldo, Katniss, Arthur, that mouse with the cookie, Khaleesi, Ignatius J. Reilly, Hester Prynne, or maybe just stick a Dr. Seuss Wocket in your pocket and call it good. Sooooo many fun choices! There’s a lot of great ideas here and here. I’ll dress like McMurphy if anyone wants to dress like Nurse Ratched! That or maybe we can get a group to go as Alex and his Droogs. I’m sure the kids would love it. ;)

• Roadrunner Awards Assembly, 3/20 – Not this week, but next week is the March Roadrunner Awards Assembly. The planned mid-show entertainment will be a Siegfried & Roy-like magic performance by Matt and myself if we can pull it off. See the linked Roadrunner Awards Assembly Map for details and teachers should get your awards to me to sign by the end of the week.

• 2020 ACE Award Nominations – It’sACE Awards& season! Howard has exceptional staff and volunteers who make a difference for students every day and are worthy of recognition. Now is the time to recognize them! Nominations can be made in five categories: teachers and licensed specialists, administrators and supervisors, classified staff, volunteers, and a special lifetime achievement award. Nominations are due by March 31st. Going by past experience, winners are usually selected when a staff gets together to nominate an individual with a flood of nominations, so let me know if staff want to coordinate anything. Linked here is the ACE Awards Email and the ACE Awards Nomination Google Form. One thought for the volunteer category would be to nominate Bruce “The Gardner” Campbell. Feel free to join me in nominating Bruce, but we can start a campaign to nominate others Howard folks as well!

• EEF Grant Proposals Due to Allan, April 27 – EEF Grant Applications are now open and grants need to be given to me by April 27th for Site Council to rank order our grant submissions. I don’t need the grant completely written out, but if you can give me a title and general idea of the grant, that’s enough for us to rank order them. The date to submit the completed grants is May 8th. Linked here is the EEF Email Sent to Principals, the 2020-2021 Grant Application Website, and here is the 2020-2021 EEF Grant Application. We can submit up to five grants in any amount up to $5,000 per application. EEF has modified their EEF guiding principles for grant funding to:

– EEF supports educational enrichment programs throughout 4J.
– EEF aligns its resources to help schools achieve their goals.
– EEF supports district-wide strategic initiatives.
– EEF values equity in educational programming and opportunities.
– EEF rewards exceptional and innovative ideas.

Additionally, EEF prioritizes requests that support educational enrichment, equity and/or access programs, and that impact the largest number of students possible. They are focused on the areas of:

• Literacy
• Arts
• STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, & Math)
• Career/Technical Education (CTE)

Let me know if you have any questions, want to bounce ideas off of someone, or would like help writing a grant.

• May/June Artist in Residence Schedule – Linked here is the Spring Artist in Residence Schedule, May 4 – June 5, for Bugs, Bones, & Botany: Exploring the Natural World Through Arts with artist Jess Graff. Mellissa cleaned up my previous draft schedule so it doesn’t interfere with OSAS testing, assemblies, and known field trips, but let us know if you spot any potential conflicts.

• Brevity is key to writing an effective email – Keeping your message brief and to the point is proper etiquette when writing an email. See this Forge Article for some other pointers for writing an email that others will want to read. (FYI – The irony of me sharing this in my long weekly announcements is not lost upon me, but hopefully the bolded headings make this a faster read for people when deciding which items apply to you.)

• Love Them First: Lessons From Lucy Laney Elementary – I haven’t watched the entire video yet, but what I saw was pretty great if you didn’t catch this in the latest 4J Office of Equity Update. You will be hooked in after the first few seconds – … leading with your heart, building relationships, holding students to high expectations but starting with “loving them first.”

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

March 9 (M)
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
11:55-12:15, Allan & 4th Team – Staffing Input (Upstairs Green Wing)
2:45-3:05, Allan & 2nd Team – Staffing Input (Ashley’s Room, RM25)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 3rd Team – Staffing Input (Allison’s Room, RM20)

March 10 (T)
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:00-10:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM26)
2:45-3:45, Allan to IEP Meeting (Allison’s Room, RM20)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)

March 11 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Development, Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
10:00-10:30, Allan Covering a Classroom
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Development, Cortez & Carpenter (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:05, Allan & KG Team – Staffing Input (Robin’s Room, RM3)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 1st Team – Staffing Input (Jasmine’s Room, RM11)

March 12 (H)
Newsletter Articles Due
8:00-5:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
8:10-8:55, BSU Meeting (STEAM Room)
9:00, February Monthly Book Winners (Conference Room)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 5th Team – Staffing Input (Suzy’s Room, RM9)
5:00-5:30, Staff Literacy Night Dinner (Staff Room)
5:30-8:00, Literacy Night

5:30-6:00: Free Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Reopen

7:00-8:00, Community Forums: Student Success Act Proposed Plan (River Road)

March 13 (F)
No School – Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-10:30, Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE(Holt)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title(Gilham)
8:00-10:30, Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30, Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00, Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

March 14 (SA)
9:00-12:00, OBOB Regional Battles (North Eugene High School)

March 16 (M)
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
8:15, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Conference Room)
9:00-11:15, Lawson to Museum of Natural and Cultural History

March 17 (T)
St Patrick’s Day
9:00-11:15, Niccum to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:45-3:30, PBIS Meeting (R&R Room, RM21)

March 18 (W)
9:00-11:15, Charpie to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:30-3:25, Ukulele Ensemble Performance (Lone Oak Assisted Living)

March 19 (H)
8:50-2:10, Kreider to Museum of Natural and Cultural History
2:45-3:30, TLT Meeting/Tech Training (Angela’s Room, RM24)

March 20 (F)
Fun Friday! – Book Character Day
Popcorn Friday!
8:15-8:45, K-5 Roadrunner Assembly & Tail Feather Reward (Gym)
10:30-12:45, Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – PLC (Library)

March 21 – 29
Spring Break

March 30 (M)
Classes Resume
EEF Grants Due to Allan
Cafeteria Waste System Training (Composting) Begins

We can do this! Spring break is almost here!

Allan

 

March 2, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/02/29 22:02 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Equity, Literacy, P.D.  |  Comments Off on March 2, 2020

 

Hi Everyone,

This week is Classified Appreciation Week, so I wanted to give a big ol’ thank you to Howard’s stellar classified staff. Your hard work, which often goes above and beyond what’s expected, plays a big part in what makes Howard such a great school. We have a rockin’ classified staff and you all are some of the best folks I’ve had the pleasure to work with! Look for some treats in your mailboxes this week, which is the least I can do to thank you all for everything you do, every single day. :)

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• 2020-2021 Staffing Info and Updates – Three staffing items of note:

• Classified SPED – SSD is sending me an updated allocation for SPED classified hours after I pointed out that our seemed unexpected low. I’ll share the revised allocation once I receive it.

• Student Investment Act (SIA) Staffing – This was being called Student Success Act (SSA), but is now being called SIA, but principals received guidelines for how the 1/2 reading support FTE can be used. When we get our allocation, it has to be used for grades 1 & 2, supporting literacy and creating smaller groups of students for reading instruction. Specifically the SIA plan has one of its strategies to support K-3 literacy with targeted class size reduction in grades 1 & 2 for teaching students how to read. The parameters for using this FTE are:

• Facilitating teacher for a “walk to read” model for grades 1 & 2
• Class size reduction for a single grade (grades 1 or 2)
• Class size reduction with blended grades(1/2 blend)
• Limited use for reading intervention

Once this FTE is allocated, which should be later this week, I’ll plan to share revised staffing scenarios.

• Staffing Slide Show – Linked here is the 2020-2021 Staffing Information Slide Show (also on the Staff Shared Drive) I shared with licensed staff at Friday’s Early Release PD meeting. This includes updated SPED counts by grade level, which we noticed were off at Friday’s meeting. The original numbers I shared were off because the case manager report Synergy I ran included students who are currently in the evaluation/eligibility process, so some students had multiple case managers, which inflated grade level numbers for next year’s 2nd and 5th graders. Also, those students did not show up on the separate Synergy “SPED Combined” report since they are not yet officially identified. The “SPED Combined” total will still differ from the grade level counts because I left the students in the process of being identified, even though they may not be found eligible, but I thought staff would want to know the possible number of students coming.

• BJ Blake Covering for Allan, WEDNESDAY – Oops! I accidentally included this in last week’s announcements, but meant it for this week’s announcements. That’s what I get for trying to be ahead of the game. Anyhow, retired 4J administrator BJ Blake will cover for me this Wednesday  while I catch up on some formal observation write ups. I’ll still be in the building, but will be hiding in the STEAM Room or the Looking Glass office while BJ does the kid wrangling for the day.

• Library Happenings – Library items of note from Ms. Hopkins:

Book Fair info:

– Book fair flyers will be in our mail boxes on Monday please send home in Friday folders this week. Please Please
– Also in your mail boxes will be:

• Hall passes- one pass per student, send bus kids in the morning :)
• Guidelines for the book fair
• Gift certificate (different than last year)

I would like to start something new (if possible) for kids bringing cash to school for the book fair. A suggestion by an awesome teacher :) If they bring cash from home it should be accompanied by a note from a parent, an email to the teacher, or a sign order form from the back of the flyer. We are unable to accept checks. A better option than cash is the Scholastic e-wallet.

e-wallet video (English and Spanish)

Our online book fair opened on Friday may be accessed through the Book Fair Home Page Link as well as the e-wallet.

Please be sure to sign up for the preview next Friday March 6th. The sheet is in the office. If we can’t fit you in on Friday we can do a few on Monday, just let me know.

Staff are welcome to stop in after school on Thursday March 5th for sneak peek :)

I will have the teacher wish baskets set up, please select a few books you would like to add to your classroom library. I believe staff will be able to purchase books on Thursday & Friday after school also.

I would be wonderful if you happen to send classroom info home to parents to include a promotion for our Book Fair :)

Have a great week!

Julie

• REPAT: Kona Ice Fundraiser, THURSDAY – The North Eugene Kona Ice (i.e. shave ice) food truck will park out front after school this Thursday and Howard will get 20% of all sales. I’ll make an announcement at 2:00 for any bus riders who brought money for a shave ice to come out early so they can eat before getting on the bus, but teachers should have kids show you their money and make sure it’s only bus riders going out. I’ll be outside to supervise. And remember, Kona Ice said ALL STAFF GET A FREE SHAVE ICE!

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release PD is designated for math PLC Time, but teams this week can meet on your own and not in the library. I need to meet with David Jacobsen, the 4J Federal Programs Coordinator, at this same time to approve the direction of the Howard Title 1 Budget. Teams should still compete the team meeting notes: Google Shared Drives > Howard PLC > your grade level > PLC Meeting Notes Template

• March PTO Meeting, Tuesday, March 10 – Not this week, but next week on Tuesday, March 10th at 6:00 in the Community Room is the March PTO meeting if any staff are able to attend.

• Literacy Night, Thursday, March 12 – I’ve seen lots of classes making their way through our school-wide reading of Hidden Figures and making some cool related projects to share with families the evening of Thursday, March 12th. Corianne and I are going to try doing sign-ins out front this year, so classrooms won’t have to manage these.

We’ve already advertised Literacy Night in the March newsletter, but we’ll also send home the linked Literacy Night Flyer in Friday Folders this week. We’ll also continue our traditional free pizza and cookies for families.

For folks new to Howard, Literacy Night is a family involvement event to help encourage families to be part of their child’s education, as well as helping to build community, promote literacy, and giving kids a chance to show off what they’re doing at school. New folks should talk to their teammates about what kinds of projects and activities you might put out during the classroom visit time. For schedule for this evening will be:

5:30-6:00: FREE Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Open

Talk Literacy Night up to your students and get them pumped to attend!

• Literacy Night Staff Dinner – We’ll once again provide a meal for all staff working Literacy Night. I’m planning to order a variety of pizzas and salads from Mezza Luna and also some drinks. If you’d like to suggest a particular pizza or salad, just let me know!

• Classified Staff Help at Literacy Night – A couple folks have already spoken with me, but we could use about 6-8 classified staff members to help set-up, serve, and clean-up in the cafeteria for Literacy Night. We could probably also use some help with sign-in this year. If you’re able to help, I can offer trade time for the PD day the next day. Just let me or Corianne know if you’re able to help.

• REPEAT: March 13th PD Day Info – Principals were sent a March 13 PD Email to share with staff. See the link for details, but the short version is:

8:00-10:30: Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE (Gilham)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title (Holt)
8:00-10:30: Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30: Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00: Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

Linked here is a complete list of the K-12 PD Sessions for March 13, 2020. Classified need to register for trainings on TalentEd Develop (TED). The complete list of session were all entered as of Friday. Linked here are the TED Registration Directions.

There are 8 hours worth of activities this day, but classified staff only need to work your regular work hours. There will be some PBIS/Behavior Framework activities for all staff in the cafeteria 1:30-4:00, though we’ll likely end well before that. My preference for part-time staff, both licensed and classified, would be for you to come to the afternoon training here at Howard if you can adjust your hours.

• How You Might Be the Best Part of “That” Student’s Day – Think about “that” student in your classroom. You know, the one that always acts out. Maybe your class is the only place they get food, the only place they can learn, and the only place that someone even recognizes that they’re there. See this Bored Teachers Article for some excellent reflection and inspiration.

• Teaching Black History in Culturally Responsive Ways – Black history is American history, and it should be taught throughout the year across the curriculum — not confined to just February. See this Edutopia Article for more on this topic.

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

March 2 (M)
Classified Employees Appreciation Week
Statistics in Schools Program for 2020 Census – SIS Week
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
PBIS Monthly Theme – Safe Bodies
Read Across America
3:45-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)

March 3 (T)
Book Fair Delivery
2:45-3:30, PBIS Meeting (R&R Room, RM21)
6:00-7:00, Howard Kindergarten Round-Up (Library)

March 4 (W)
Walk+Roll to School Day
BJ Blake Covering for Allan
9:00-1:00, OSEA Site Visit (Staff Room)
11:00-10:00, PTO Papa’s Pizza Fundraiser (W11th Location)
2:45-3:45, Equity Team Meeting (Imelda’s Room, RM7)

March 5 (H)
Book Fair Set-Up
8:45-11:30, Niccum to Corridor Play (NEHS)
2:00-3:00, Kona Ice Fundraiser (Front of School)
2:45-3:05, Allan & KG Team – Staffing Input (Robin’s Room, RM3)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 1st Team – Staffing Input (Jasmine’s Room, RM11)

March 6 (F)
Popcorn Friday!
Book Fair Student and Staff Preview
8:00-12:00, Allan to HR Early Pool Hire Committee (Ed Center)
1:30-2:00, EA Supervisors Meeting – Staffing Input (RM26)
2:05-2:20, Allan Meeting w/Specialists – Staffing Input (RM26)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – PLC (Teams Decide)
2:30-3:30, Allan Title 1 Budget Meeting (Ed Center)

March 8 (SU)
Daylight Saving Time

March 9 (M)
PTO Read-A-Thon Continues
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Dev., Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Dev., Cortez (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:05, Allan & 2nd Team – Staffing Input (Ashley’s Room, RM25)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 3rd Team – Staffing Input (Allison’s Room, RM20)

March 10 (T)
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:00-10:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Ed Center)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Dev., Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Dev., Cortez (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM26)
2:45-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Allison’s Room, RM20)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)

March 11 (W)
Title 1 Progress Monitoring Day – No Groups
8:00-6:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
9:10-10:25, Human Growth & Dev., Rock & Calliahan (STEAM Room)
11:00-12:15, Human Growth & Dev., Cortez (STEAM Room)
2:45-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Eval Committee Meeting (Ed Center)

March 12 (H)
8:00-5:00, Book Fair Open (Library)
8:10-8:55, BSU Meeting (STEAM Room)
2:45-3:05, Allan & 4th Team – Staffing Input (Carla’s Room, RM27)
3:30-3:30, Allan & 5th Team – Staffing Input (Suzy’s Room, RM9)
5:00-5:30, Staff Literacy Night Dinner (Staff Room)
5:30-8:00, Literacy Night

5:30-6:00: Free Pizza & Cookies (Cafeteria)
6:00-6:45: Visit Classrooms
6:30-8:00: Book Fair Reopen

7:00-8:00, Community Forum: SSA Proposed Plan (River Road)

March 13 (F)
No School – Professional Development/Planning Day
8:00-10:30, Licensed Tech PD
Grades K-2/Music/PE (Gilham)
Grades 3-5/SPED/Title (Holt)
8:00-10:30, Classified PD (Chavez & ATA)
10:30-1:30, Travel time, lunch, prep time
1:30-4:00, Behavior Framework (Howard Cafeteria)

March 14 (SA)
9:00-12:00, OBOB Regional Battles (North Eugene High School)

Have a good one, everybody!

Allan

 

January 20, 2020

By Allan  |  2020/01/18 21:41 Posted in Announcements, Articles, Literacy, Technology  |  Comments Off on January 20, 2020

Hello Friends,

There was a great turnout for the PTO’s Family Science Night and thank you to everyone who came to the event. If anyone got any pictures, please send them my way. I forgot to take any.

Thirteen items of note for this week:

• Staffing Updates – Brittany Holtz has been hired as our newest 1:1 CLC EA. She’s been subbing in the position for the past couple month, so you’ll probably recognize her when you see her working in the CLC or in Imelda’s classroom. Please welcome Brittany to the fabulous Howard team!

• REPEAT: Fire Drill, TUESDAY @1:15 – Tuesday at 1:15 will be the January Fire Drill, so please plan accordingly.

• REPEAT: Roadrunner Award Assembly, FRIDAY @8:15 – This Friday is the January Roadrunner Award Assembly. Be sure to send home invitations to families of your winners. The halftime entertainment for this month will be an all school photo since we’re already all sitting together. The PTO will give shirts to teachers next week. The plan will be for teachers to pass out shirts Friday morning (or put them on desks Thursday after school) and for students to wear their shirts over their clothes to the assembly. Linked Assembly Map and Directions for where to sit.

• Friday Early Release PD – This Friday’s Early Release PD is designated as a PLC work session. Grade level teams will continue their work from last week’s PLC meeting.

• REPEAT: Staff New Year Party, Jan 24 @5:30 – See Matt and Justine’s Email for details, but the Howard Staff New Year’s Party is this Friday. Mark your calendar and remember to sign up on the Google Pot-Luck Sign-Up Sheet!

• Report Card & Grading Day Notes – Five items of note regarding report cards and grading day:

• Report Card Resources – The 4J Elementary Report Card website (which I actually made) has been updated which has information on getting started, best practices for teacher comments, a link to the Report Card Bridge Document on how the simplified report card language aligns with the standards, as well as printing instruction and information on Synergy Grade Book.

Take special note of the Performance Key for grading students, where a 3 is the target, students consistently meeting grade level expectations (scoring in the 74.88-98.99%) and a 4 represents consistently exceeding grade level expectations (scoring in the 98.99%-100%).

• Report Card Send-Home Date&nbsp;– Report Cards will go home on Friday, Feb. 7th, which is a district-wide date to send these home.

• Print AFTER 1/30 – Report cards should not be run until at least grading day. Attendance and other updates will be run after school Thursday, January 30th. Attendance will not be recorded correctly if they are run prior to these updates.

• Report Card Grading Day, Licensed Staff – For licensed staff, report card grading day is a regular work day. HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator (me) in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Also, be sure to use this time for grading and not use it to run errands around town. Teachers are highly visible members of the community, so keep in mind public perception. HR has said that if working off-site on grading days is abused, we will not be allowed to continue the practice.

• Report Card Grading Day, Classified Staff – For classified staff, please mark your calendar for an EA Extravaganza on January 31st (Grading Day). Downtown is in the process of putting together the offerings and they will likely use TalentEd for registration, so stay tuned for more info in the near future.

• Howard is Fragrance Free – This was in a back-to-school announcement, but to remind everyone, Howard is a Fragrance Free Building, so do not wear any scents, body sprays, perfumes, or such at school. We have a number of students and staff with allergies who can have serious potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.

• 4J Concussion Policy & Procedure – As a reminder, linked here is a one page document called Concussion-What Teachers Should Know. I’ll be placing hard copies of this in staff mailboxes on Monday, but know that 4J’s Concussion Policy & Procedures requires us to take extra precautions to check students when we suspect a head injury and need to assess if it is a potential concussion. In most cases, if we’re unsure, we want parents to make the decision.

• PLC Meeting Finds – Here’s two useful finds that came out of last week’s PLC meetings:

• Journeys Links in One Document – Tired of going to ThinkCentral for the teacher’s guide, audio, weekly tests, lessons, the student reader, vocabulary cards, leveled readers, etc? See this Journey’s All-Grade Links Document which contains easy to access links to EVERYTHING! Credit for this document goes to Awbrey Park teacher Patrick Chesterman, who I had the pleasure of working with at YG.

• New LearnZillion Math Games Location – If you’re having trouble finding the LZ games, we figured out it’s been moved to the 4J Differentiation Page. The path to get there from the 4J LearnZillion Website is go to first click the unit of study > Supporting Task with Differentiation, Games, and Technology > 4J Differentiation Page > LINK TO ALL, which will take you to the LZ Differentiation Google Folder.

• PTO Meeting Updates – Linked here is the January PTO Slide Show presentation from last week’s PTO meeting and here are two items of note:

• Science Night Success – The PTO Family Science night was a huge success with 174 people in attendance.

• Dickie Jo’s & Dickie Yo’s Fundraiser 2/19 & 2/20 – Eat at Dickie Jo’s and/or Dickie Yo’s Valley River Center location Feb. 19-20, and 25% of your bill will go to Howard! Show the linked Fundraiser Flyer to participate. It includes a voucher for a free dessert!

• District Admin Updates – Three district admin updates. One, Lavinia Page will be principal of Corridor Elementary School next year as they relocate to North Eugene High School. Lavinia has served as an assistant principal since 2016, splitting her time between Corridor, Yujin Gakuen and Holt, following nearly 20 years as an elementary classroom teacher. Two, Tom Piowaty, current principal of Corridor and Yujin Gakuen, will next year continue as principal of YG as they transition to its new location at Kelly MS. And lastly, Londa Rochholz, principal at McCornack, has decided to retire, leaving a vacancy at that building.

• Real-life examples boost fraction understanding – Using representational drawings or concrete examples from daily life can help students make sense of fractions, writes former teacher LauraMarie Coleman. In this article she gives an example of asking students how they would divide a giant chocolate chip cookie to share and making a bar drawing to visualize the problem.

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

January 20 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 21 (T)
Benchmark Testing Continues
8:15, Allan & Julie Meeting w/District Librarian (Office)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)
3:30, Allan Meeting w/Rob Hess (Office)
6:00-7:00, North Eugene School Design Open House (NEHS)

January 22 (W)
Vision Screening (Community Room)
Newsletter Articles Due
2:45-3:30, Student Care Team (Conference Room)

January 23 (H)
2:45-3:30, TLT Meeting/Training (Angela’s Room, RM24)
5:00-6:00, BEST/YMCA Parent Night (Cafeteria & Gym)

January 24 (F)
Popcorn Friday!
7:55, Howard T-Shirts Passed Out
8:15-8:45, K-5 Roadrunner Assembly & Tail Feather Reward w/School Photo (Gym)
10:30-12:45, January Birthday Lunches With the Principal (Community Room)
2:30-3:30, Early Release PD – PLC (Library)
5:30-8:30, Staff Holiday Party (Mellissa’s Party)

January 27 (M)
Benchmark Testing Continues
School Choice Visitation Week #2
10:00-1:00, Rest & Return Room Opens (RM21)
2:45-3:30, Site Council (Conference Room)

January 28 (T)
8:15-11:30, Allan to Elementary Principal Meeting – Gaston Covering (Ed Center)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, RM26)
3:30-5:30, Allan to Truancy Hearing (Office)
6:00-7:00, School Choice Evening Presentation & Tour (Library)

January 29 (W)
Last Day of Tailfeather Challenge
9:15, School Choice Visitation Tour
10:30-7:00, 4J New Teacher Institute (STEAM Room)

January 30 (H)
7:00-8:00, BEST Strings Concert (Kelly MS)

January 31 (F)
No School* – Grading Day (possible hazardous weather makeup day)
In District School Choice Closes
K-8 EA Extravaganza
8:00-12:00 or 12:00-4:00, Allan to District PLC Principal Meeting (Ed Center)

Have a good week y’all!

Allan