May 19, 2014

By Allan  

Hi All,

This week is our last five day week for a while (there’s only one more this year!), so we can all look forward to a refreshing and well deserved three-day Memorial Day Weekend.

Twelve items of note this week:

• Job Expo Updates and Placements – I’m pleased to announced that following round one of the Job Expo, HR has placed Jennifer Harris as Howard’s counselor for next year and that Shelly Silver will be continuing on in her afternoon Title 1 role. Both Jennifer and Shelly had to go through the Job Expo process to continue in their positions.

With the newly added back staffing, the Job Expo is postponed until May 29th. A displaced teacher has been placed into what was our 0.5 FTE 1st grade facilitating position, which will become our full-time 1st grade position, but this may change with restored staffing across the district. I’ll keep everyone posted on this as the staffing process plays out.

• Back to Fundamentals (from Brianna Stiller) – Here is an email reminder from Brianna Stiller that was shared with principals, which I thought was worth passing along:

Back to Basics

This time of year, I have often send some nagging emails, reminding us all to breathe deeply and remember what works.  It’s like in golf:  When you are playing badly, they remind you to start by checking your grip, stance, ball position, and alignment, because 90% of the problems start with errors in one of those fundamentals.

We all know there is no huge mystery about how to manage behavior effectively.  Most of us are well aware.  What we don’t always do is check fundamentals when student behavior is going south.  So, if you or any of your fellow staff are struggling with end of year “Lame Duck” syndrome, check the following fundamentals:

1.  When is the last time I retaught my expectations?  If it was more than two weeks ago, do it again.

2.  How often do I talk to kids, or use physical prompts, right after they do something right, as opposed to how often do I look at or talk to them right after they do something wrong?  The ratio should be 4 or 5 to 1.  In well managed classrooms, where the rate of AET is over 85%, the ratio is often about 2:1.  In poorly managed classrooms, where rate of AET is less than 75%, it is often as low as 1:10.  I know this not only because of the research, but I observe in 2-10 classrooms per week and I always take this data.  Rarely is the ideal of 4:1 actually reached!

3.  Active Engagement; Opportunities to Respond:  How much of the total class time is the teacher talking; versus how much of the total class time are the students talking (talking about the content, of course!!!!!).  The percentage of time the teacher is talking should be less than 50% across activities.  For some types of instruction it should be more, and some less, but kids learn most when there are very high rates of active responding.

Whenever I have taught kids and had less than perfect behavior, I have never had to look beyond these three variables to figure out what was wrong.

End of Speech!!!!  Carry on!  You can each decide whether to send this to your entire staff — if you think it is a good reminder, do so.  If you think they will say “Oh no, not her again” I won’t be offended if you don’t.

Brianna

 

Brianna Stiller, Ph.D.
Positive Behavior Support Coordinator
School District 4J, Eugene, Or. 97402
(541)790-7816
stiller@4j.lane.edu

 

• Author Visit Assembly, Friday at 10:15 (KG) and 1:00 (1st-5th) – Julie has arranged for an author visit by this Friday for Kindergarten through 5th grade. The author, Matthew Wicks, was here last year and the kids really seemed to like him. Kindergartners will meet outside their classrooms with the author at 10:15. Grades 1-5 will meet in the gym at 1:00 for a presentation by the author. See the attached assembly map for logistical details.

• PTO Meeting, Tuesday at 6:00 – This Tuesday at 6:00 PM in the Library is the May PTO meeting. It’s always nice to have a staff rep or two there if anyone can make the time to attend. Hope to see you there!

• Friday, May 30th PD/Planning Day – A week from this Friday will be our final PD/Planning Day of the year. I’m still firming up some times, but for the morning PD, we’ll be scoring our spring writing samples, doing a short review of WordPress web designs and we’ll also discuss weather staff want to continue talking next fall about potential program changes along the lines of project based learning and/or working with Yong Zhao (though we’ll definitely still be teaching reading, no matter what Yong says). Classified staff are not required to attend the meeting, but folks are certainly welcome to attend if you’d like.

• Spring Writing Work Samples – A repeat from last week, but related to the above item, 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. Final copies will be due to me by the end of the day on Thursday, May 29th. Papers will be graded at the May 30th PD/Planning Day. Let me know if you have any questions.

• 2014-2015 Class Lists – Another repeat form last week, but attached is the class placement form for next year (PDF and MS Word) to create your class lists for the next grade level. Lists will be due to the office by Grading Day on Friday, June 6th.

• Even More District Admin Updates – Seth Pfaefflin has been hired as the newest Education Support Services administrator. Seth began his career as a special education teacher at Thurston Middle School, later coming to 4J as the head teacher and co-founder of the Path Finder program. He has served as an autism consultant and currently as a secondary consultant.

• OCEP Summer Workshops! – Kim Finch emailed principals this unique opportunity for teachers who want to create elementary marine science units designed for grades 3-5 this summer. These units will align to the Next Generation Science Standards. Teachers will need to pay their own registration, but you will receive lodging and meals, and optional credit through PSU. If you complete the teaching units and implement them next year, you will also receive an additional stipend. See the attached flyer for details.

• New science standards mesh with project-based learning – The Next Generation Science Standards that will guide the nation’s schools are well-suited to project-based learning, education consultant and blogger Andrew Miller writes in this post. He notes that the standards, which some states have adopted early, call for cross-pollination of subject matter, in-depth study and critical thinking, all of which are facets of PBL. Both approaches aim to develop awareness of the real-world effect of scientists’ work, he adds.

• Give the Kid a Pencil – What should you do when a student shows up for class unprepared—again? This teacher’s approach may surprise you. I found this a nice post from Teaching Tolerance about the type of classroom environment teachers can choose to set for students.

• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for this week:

May 19 (M)
Referral Free Window Continues
K-2 EasyCBM Spring Benchmark & Writing Samples, K – 5
8:30-1:00,3rd Grade to Mt. Pisgah
12:00-2:30, Allan to Title I Principal and Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Optional Staff Meeting Regarding the Revised Staffing Plan (Library)
3:30-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting
3:30-4:30, 5th Grade Teachers Meet with Kelly Teachers

May 20 (T)
8:30-4:15, Allan to Director of Technology Interviews [committee member, not an applicant] (Ed Center)
9:15-10:15, Kelly Students meet with 5th grade students (Cafeteria)
4:00-5:30, Allan to Staff of Color Affinity Group (Ed Center)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

May 21 (W)
BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) Scholastic Book Sale (Gym)
9:15-10:30, 5th Grade to Visit Kelly
2:15-2:45, All to End-of-Year Goals Meeting

May 22 (H)
BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) Scholastic Book Sale (Gym)
1:00-2:00, Referral Free Parties
3:00-5:00, 4J Retirement Celebration (Ed Center)

May 23 (F)
BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) Scholastic Book Sale Last Day (Gym)
10:15-10:45, Kindergarten Author Visit (Quad)
1:00-2:00, Author Visit (Gym)
2:00-5:00, BEST to Emerald Pool

Only 19 more days until summer (and five days until a nice three-day weekend)!

Allan

Frozen