https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=3141
Hello Roadrunners,
It wasn’t perfect weather for the Tech Trot last week, but the weather this week looks like it should make up for it. Summer is fast approaching!
Sixteen items of note this week:
• Building Design Update – No meetings have happened, but the district and architects have been working on how best to provide non-gender specific restrooms for transgendered students and adults. The current plan (first floor and second floor) now includes one non-gender specific restroom in the knuckle of each wing on each floor, with the exception of the wing by the main office area. The goal is for transgender students to have access to a restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. These single stall restrooms will be available to any student, transgender or not, who desire increased privacy, regardless of the underlying reason.
• Spring Writing Work Samples – Attached are the K-2 and 3-5 writing prompts for the spring writing work samples. Be sure to carefully read the teacher script and directions before administering the assessment. Teachers may administer the assessment at anytime, but all student final copies will be due to me by the end of the day on Thursday, May 29th. Instead of doing a roving sub to provide teachers release time to grade papers, we’ll instead take part of the PD/Planning time on Friday, May 30th to grade papers, which is what I heard last year was the preference of teachers. Let me know if you have any questions.
• Work Sample Entry Into Synergy – Marlee sent an email to all licensed staff about Local Performance Assessments (formerly Work Samples) this past week, but I did want to remind teachers that work samples for 3rd, 4th & 5th grade Writing, Speaking, Mathematics Problem Solving, and Scientific Inquiry are all to be entered into Synergy. I also wanted to remind teachers that the contract allows you 12 hours sub time for “record keeping, assessment or planning related to standards based instruction.” Attached are TeacherVue directions Marlee emailed earlier on how to enter work sample information into Synergy.
• Kitchen Staffing Update – We’ve received our kitchen staffing for next year. Joan Koth will be returning as our Head Cook, with Laura continuing on as the five hour cook and Rene will be back to help in the afternoon for lunches, although I won’t be surprised if she ends up with a Head Cook position at another school. :)
• SPED Staff Update – If you didn’t hear through the grapevine last week, Jen will be staying onboard as our CLC teacher next year and our full-time LC position has been posted as a vacancy. Sandra has already applied for the LC job, so I’m sure she’ll be a strong candidate when ESS conducts their interviews for the position.
• Howard OAKS Scores – As much as I dislike standardized state testing, I thought I’d let folks know how we compare to other schools at this point. Although our overall passing rate seem low, mostly around the 50s in percentile of students passing, we’re actually at or above the state average 3rd through 5th in both reading and math, with the exception of math at one grade level where we’re 2% below the state average and 1% below the district average. Since testing isn’t finished, our scores and the state and district averages will likely fluctuate some, but for now we’re pretty much right in the middle of the bell curve for our overall passing rate.
• Fire Drill, Friday at 12:45 – With good weather in the forecast (and a few classes on field trips), we’ll plan to do our May fire drill on Friday, May 16th at 12:45.
• 2014-2015 Class Lists – Last year we simplified the class placement sheets, but I was thinking we could fit essentially all the same information on one sheet, which I think might save teachers time. Attached is the form (PDF or MS Word) to create your class lists on, although I’m certainly open to using last year’s half sheets or modifying this sheet if folks have suggestions. Class lists will be due to the office by Grading Day on Friday, June 6th.
• Writing Curriculum Adoption – The school district is adopting the writing program that is currently being piloted around the district and by several teachers here at Howard, Being a Writer, which is by the same folks who made Caring for Kids. More details on how it will rollout will be coming soon, but I did want to give teachers a heads-up that downtown has tentatively scheduled a half day training for teachers to attend on either June 23rd, 24th or 25th. They are working to be flexible within those days and will try and have options available for teachers who cannot attend.
• PRIDE Awards on Thursday, May 15th! – Please send your names to Lori for the bulletin board and get your awards to me no later than Wednesday, May 14th. Try to inform parents, as well, so that they can come if they are available.
• Non-ESS Licensed IEP Time Meeting Compensation – Many teachers attend IEP meetings during planning times or outside the workday. The EEA contract entitles classroom teachers to be compensated for up to four hours of additional pay. I wanted to remind teachers that the Non-ESS Licensed IEP Time Log will be accepted between now and June 6th, and can be found on the HR Forms section of the 4J website.
• More District Admin Updates – More changes downtown. Suzy Price has accepted a position in Springfield to be the Director of Elementary Eduction, which leave her Federal Programs Coordinator position vacant. It was definitely nice having a former Howard person in charge of Title 1 downtown, so we’ll certainly miss having Suzy down there in our corner.
• U.S. Department of Education study about Data-Driven Instruction – I know Howard has a history of piloting everything that comes down the pipe, but I’m inclined to decline participation given that we’re already pretty maxed out and that we’ll be even busier next year with getting ready to move into a new building. The short version is this is a DOE study focusing on supporting schools to use data driven instruction. Highlights include:
• Funding for a half time data coach
• Paid professional development and technical assistance
• Opportunity to establish an ongoing culture of data use.Although my sense is staff are busy enough, I did want to present the opportunity if my sense is mistaken. For 4J to participate, they will need 8 schools to be a part of the study. Let me know if you have questions or if think our school should participate, but I’ll plan on saying “no” unless folks tell me otherwise.
• Tech tools that are used to motivate student participation – Student engagement can be increased by combining meaningful instruction and motivational technology tools that are innovative, user-friendly and applicable to real-world situations, Nicolas Pino James, a teacher researcher and trainer, writes in this blog post. He describes four free Web-based tools that can be used to boost student engagement, including PosterMyWall, which enables students to create artistic, high-quality posters to be shared online or printed, and Screencast-o-matic, a tool that allows users to record their computer screens.
• How YouTube can enhance history learning in the classroom – Teachers can create a “virtual time machine” so students can experience history that they read about via video footage, documentaries and reenactments using YouTube, writes Katie Lepi of Edudemic. The Gettysburg Address, President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and other historical events are available for students to “relive” on the site, she writes, even if video had not been invented at the time. Lepi includes YouTube channel links that feature historical and educational content as well as tips for using YouTube content in the classroom
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for this week:
May 12 (M)
Spring Benchmarking window opens
Referral Free Window BeginsMay 13 (T)
8:30-4:00, iT3 Teachers to Year End Summit (Ed Center)
9:30-12:00, 4th Grade to Hult Center for BEST Strings Performance
2:30-3:30, Allan to Evaluation Planning Meeting (Room 10)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 4)
7:00-8:00, BEST Strings Academy Performance (Kelly MS)May 14 (W)
9:00, Monthly Book GiveawayMay 15 (H)
11:00-12:25, PRIDE Awards at Lunch
2:30-3:30, Teacher Collaboration Time
2:30-5:30, BEST Field Trip to Skate WorldMay 16 (F)
2nd Grade to the Zoo
7:30-4:45, 5th Grade to Air and Space Museum
12:45, Fire Drill
Only 24 more days until summer!
Allan
