https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=13423
Hi Everyone,
My weather hopes were off by a day last week, but keep watching the weather forecast for Monday night and Tuesday morning!
Twenty-four items of note for this week:
• SPED EA Job Posting – HR finally got our 7-hour SPED EA Job Posting up. If you know of anyone good out there, tell them to apply by this Thursday.
• Grade Level Team Meetings, TUESDAY – The first two Tuesdays of the month on non-Staff Meeting weeks are dedicated Grade Level Team Meeting times. Teams should:
• Meet in their wing so specialists can connect if needed
• Take care of any needed team business
• Complete the Team Meeting Minutes Form (make a copy) and email it to holt_staf@4j.lane.eduThe Team Meeting Minutes Form can also be found on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• Student Support Team (SST) Meeting TUESDAY – SST will meet this Tuesday to screen potential referrals for SPED evaluations and for SST members to do monthly check-ins on students currently in the evaluation process. Use the Request for Student / Classroom Support Form to make a referral to the team. An agenda was emitted to staff earlier regarding the students who will be discussed.
• Wednesday PD: Equity & Inclusion Team – This Wednesday at 1:30 in the library, our Equity & Inclusion team is preparing a discussion and training for staff.
• School Choice Presentation WEDNESDAY @6:00 (Library & Zoom) – Downtown is having all elementary schools give school choice presentations, one on Zoom, one in person during school, and one in person in the evening. Our first one, on Zoom, will be in two weeks on Wednesday, January 10th, from 6:00-7:00.
Wed., Jan. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
Thurs, Jan. 25, 9:00-10:00 a.m. (Holt Library & Zoom)
• Fire Drill, THURSDAY @1:15 – Our January fire drill will be this Thursday at 1:15. Linked here is a copy of the Building Evacuation Map and the Fire Drill Line-Up Map. If we get rained out, I’ll reschedule for early next week.
• Wednesday PD: 100% Data Team Meeting, 1/24 – Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 1:30 in the library we will have our 100% Data Team Meeting to review winter benchmark testing.
• Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day, 1/26 – Friday, Jan. 26 is a Holt Spirit Day and this time it’s Wacky Hair Day! Tell your kids to create their wackiest and wildest hairdo or just wear their Holt spirit gear!
• Spirit Assembly 1/26 @8:20 – The January School Spirit Assembly is on Friday, Jan. 26 in the gym. The assembly will start at 8:20, but all classes should be in the gym by 8:15. Stay tuned for details!
• 1st, and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, 1/26 – Friday, January 26, 5:30-6:45pm is the 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Game Night. 5:30-6:10 will be math games in classrooms and 6:15-6:45 will be pizza and a raffle in cafeteria.
• Report Card, Grading Day, and Transition Day Info – Five items of note:
• Report Card Guidance – Linked here are last year’s Report Card Checklist, One Pager, and ELA Grade Level Guidance Sheets. I’ve asked if updated info is coming, though I think it’s only the one-pager that’ll need updating to clarify what I shared earlier about scores, that for mid-year grades a 3 means a student is on-track to meet end-of-year standards, not like last year where a 3 meant they had already met the end-of-year standard.
• Key Dates – Note the following dates:
Feb. 1 (H) – Grading Day
Feb. 1 (H) – EA Pathways PD, 8:30-11:30
Feb. 1 (H) – Classified Staff Meeting at 12:30
Feb. 2 (F) – Transition Day
Feb. 12 (M) – Report Cards Sent Home• Grading Day Expectations – The Holt Staff Handbook has the following expectations for Report Card Grading Day:
Licensed Staff – Grading day is a regular work day. HR allows teachers to work from home if you notify your administrator in advance, but be sure to plan ahead if you need to collaborate with any colleagues on grading. Please 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.
• Feb. 1 EA Pathways PD – The EA Pathways PD Email appears to be optional, since it says, “If you… would like to register.” The Conscious Discipline PD is probably a good one if you haven’t had it already, though the others look more Life Skills-focused. See LINK for more info.
• Feb. 2 Transition Day – Principals were given the following guidance on the Feb. 2 Transition Day, but the short version is this day is for ELA prep. Also, the Feb. 2 section that was shared with principals was left blank, so you are reading that part below right.
Reminder of No Meetings During the Week of Grading Day – As we are approaching the first Semester Grading Day, please take a moment to review your building meetings calendar and be sure to cancel any meetings you may have scheduled for the week of January 29.
• February 2: Transition Day – Additionally, we have previously shared that there was an acknowledgement during a June 2023 meeting with the Elementary Literacy team and EEA that 4J’s efforts to improve K-5 literacy require a significant amount of teacher prep time. One way the district can support educators in effectively providing this instruction is to communicate explicitly carved out time throughout the school year to prepare for each module. The dates available in the calendar for 2023-24 were/are:
✔️ Half day during August inservice week
✔️ Nov. 9 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Assessment and Conference Planning
Feb. 2
Apr. 12 – 3.75 hours of ELA Planning, 3.75 hours of Strategic Family Outreach
• Round 2 of Vector Training – Downtown asked principals to share the linked Vector Modules Email Communication with staff, but the short version is there are 78 minutes worth of online trainings for staff to complete by March 31st, so Licensed Staff will have two Wednesday PD times to complete the modules and classified staff will have feb. 1 and 2 to compete the modules.
• Staff Shout Outs! – We’ll share Staff Shout Outs at the start of Staff Meetings once again, so complete the Staff Shout Out Google Form to recognize or show appreciation for a colleague. The link can always be found on my blog and on the Holt Staff Dashboard.
• Second Step Pacing Guide – As a reminder, I wanted to re-highlight the Second Step Pacing Guide. If you are behind, use the guide to make sure you’re at least hitting each topic area.
• OSHA Cheat Sheet – Some folks asked for an OSHA Cheat Sheet, so there’s one with the key questions that could fit behind your badge that answers the key questions an OSHA Inspector might ask:
• Summer School at Holt – I was emailed last week that Holt will again host SEAL and KITS this summer. KITS needs 4 classrooms and SEAL needs up to 15 classrooms. We’ll decide which rooms will be used in the spring after staffing, once we know if anyone is moving classrooms and such. Doesn’t sound like it’s an option to move it to another school again, but I’ve at least asked for them to consider starting earlier since August is such a time crunch between summer programs ending and regular school starting.
• 4J Discipline Matrix – Downtown is finally ready to roll out the 4J Discipline Matrix, which provides a guide for majors, minor, and guidance on how to respond to different situations. I’ll plan to go over this at a future Wednesday PD, but if you want a preview, linked here is the Holt Discipline Flowchart for Teachers, which is actually a generic district template except for slide #3 where I added some Holt specific information, the 4J Minors/Major Behavior Definitions for Staff, and for lower minor incidents there is the Revisiting/Strengthening Classroom Climate & Practices and Implementing Classroom-level Interventions documents. Here’s a link to the 2023-2024 Behavior Matrix (longer version) that was shared with principals and if you’re interested, here’s the Admin Behavior Matrix Slideshow that was presented to building admins last week. Do note there are a lot of link buried within these documents, but most of them link back and forth between each other and there are also several links that are still locked down and even I don’t have access to them yet, so hopefully that gets fixed soon.
• Principal Focused Upbeat Survey – Thought staff might be interested to know principals were told on Friday we will get to do an Upbeat Survey to give feedback on district administration. Maybe this will be extended to classified and licensed staff at some point?
• New WalkerTracker Challenge – There’s a new WalkerTracker Team Challenge January 21-27 if you want to join the Holt Team. I find it fun to compare how many steps different folks are getting on the team. Download the app (iOS or Android) or go to the 4J WalkerTracker Website to sign up.
• District Admin Updates – Angi Meyer, Associate Director of Risk and Asset Management, emailed principals she has accepted a position in Beaverton working with Keri Skinner. No word whether they will hire someone or will restructure. One restructure emailed is that Karen Apgar will take over 504s and Della Thomas will focus on her South & Churchill SSD ElementaryAdmin position.
• Optional Research Survey ($150 Drawing) – If you’re interested, here’s a University of Washington Study where if teachers fill out their 10-30 minute Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Survey and you’ll be entered into a drawing for $150.
• 4 Ways to Use AI in Implementing Restorative Practices – Artificial intelligence can be an effective tool in implementing restorative practices by tailoring the approach to the situation. See this Edutopia Article for details, but to save you a click, they are:
1. Create Restorative Reflections
2. Compose Customized Social Stories
3. Generate Discussion !uestions for Restorative Circles
4. Build Creative Social and Emotional Learning Lesson PlansThis article suggests using ChatGPT, but I’ve found that MagicSchoolAI is more education focused.
•Repeats & Reminders – See prior announcements for details:
• Draft Two-Year Calendar Feedback (2024–25/2025–26) – I’d encourage everyone to do the 24/25 and 25/26 Draft School Calendar Feedback Survey. See last week’s announcements for the feedback I submitted.
• Jan. 2 PD Feedback – If you haven’t already, fill out the Classified PD Feedback and Licensed PD Feedback for the Jan. 2 PD.
• Jan 2 PD Slides – Here’s a link to the Jan. 2nd PD Resources Erin Gaston emailed earlier.
•Schedule of Upcoming Events – See the Holt Staff Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
January 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. DayJanuary 16 (T)
ELD/Speech/Counselor/Library Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
12:15-12:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
2:45-3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings
2:45-3:30, SST Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)January 17 (W)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – Equity & Inclusion Team
6:00-7:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
7:00, School Board Meeting (Zoom)January 18 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
1:15, Fire Drill
2:45-3:30, Leadership Meeting (Kelsey’s Room)January 19 (F)
11:45, OBOB Practice (Library)
1:15, OBOB Practice (Library)
2:45, Latino Family Night Planning (Ball’s Room)January 22 (M)
SPED/Inst. Coach, Staff Room Duty
8:00, Morning Announcements (Zoom) Pledge Sign-Up
11:00-11:30, OBOB Battles (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)January 23 (T)
8:45-9:20, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Parks)
9:20-10:00, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Ayres)
10:15-10:45, Student Council (Reich’s Room)
10:40-11:10, Conscious Discipline Guest Speaker (Henrich)
2:45-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Calming Room)
4:00-5:30, Allan to All Admin Meeting (Zoom)
6:00-7:30, Conscious Discipline Parent Course (Library & Cafeteria)January 24 (W)
easyCBM Winter Benchmark CLOSES
11:30-12:00, OBOB Battles (Library)
1:30-2:30, Wed. PD – 100% Data Team Meeting (Library)January 25 (H)
8:50-10:35, Book Nook (Cafeteria)
9:00-10:00, School Choice Presentation (Library & Zoom)
2:45-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Room)January 26 (F)
Holt Spirit Day – Wacky Hair Day
8:20, School Spirit Assembly (Gym)
11:00-11:30, OBOB Practice (Library)
11:30-12:00, OBOB Practice (Library)
5:30-7:00, 1st and 2nd Family Math Night (Classrooms & Cafeteria)
-5:30-6:10 Math games in classrooms
-6:15-6:45 Dinner & raffle in cafeteria
Think snow, everyone!
Allan
