https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=3845
Hi All,
This week is National School Counseling Week and I wanted to give shout out to our rock start counselor, Ms. Jennifer! Since joining the Howard Team, Jennifer has become an integral part of our school, supporting students, staff and families. Be sure to give Jennifer a pat on the back this week to thank her (and to also make sure she never leaves us)!
Fourteen items of note this week:
• Wacky Wednesday – Movie/Book Character Day! – This Wednesday is the February Wacky Wednesday and the theme is Movie/Book Character Day. Please remind your students that costumes should be school appropriate (i.e. no weapons, weapon-like props, “gang” attire, masks or especially scary or gory costumes). And let’s see how how clever our staff can be!
• HM Journeys Updates & Training, March 13th – Most of the new HM Journeys materials were delivered last Friday and are being stored at the end of the 1st grade hallway. However, some of our materials are still at the warehouse. For grade levels who’s materials are here, you’re welcome to take and begin using your materials now, though we won’t do the official schooled rollout until next fall.
Now that HM schools have most all of their materials, there will be a PD session for teachers with the Houghton Mifflin trainers on the reinstated March 13th Professional Development/Planning day. Training for grades K-2 will be from 8:00-11:00 and the training for grades 3-5 will be from 12:00-3:00. They will be going over all the hard copy materials as well as getting everyone online access to the digital materials. If anyone wants to tinker with the online pieces in ThinkCentral now, just let me know and I’ll get you added and upload your class lists. I also wanted to say I remember teachers requesting additional prep time before next year’s school wide rollout, so I will plan to dedicate a good chunk of time at the May 1 and May 29 PD/Planning days.
• Effectiveness & Growth Cycle Contract Year 3 – Last Friday I conducted mid-year conferences with two teachers who are on Contract Year 3 of the Effectiveness & Growth Cycle and we noticed that a formal observation had been added to their TalentEd task lists. After emailing with HR, it sounds like the state changed what they are requiring of 4J and that this was supposed to have been there since the start of the school year. For some reason this wasn’t added until last month, so for those of you on Contract Year 3, this year of the cycle is pretty much the same as Year 1, with one formal observation and 3 informal observations.
• Student Care Team Referrals – We conducted our first Student Care Team meeting last week and it it was very helpful in directing resources to a family looking for help. We were also able to discuss a couple hypothetical situations with DHS representatives, which was also very helpful in a couple of couple student situations. For the family referred at this meeting, since we had a signed Authorization for Use & Disclosure of Information, DHS was able to do a lot of research ahead of time into family history and types of resources they would qualify or not qualify for. I really think our partnership with DHS’s Self-Sufficiency Program will be a valuable resource for us and our families.
If you have a student situation you would like to refer to the team, the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 24th. Common referrals, though not limited to, are:
• Death of a parent
• Incarcerated parent - concerns about recent incarceration or pending release
• Homeless or impending homelessness
• Unknown if open CW case but has concerns that were called in
• Domestic Violence
• Extreme behavior issues – additional supports needed outside of school
• Specific resource needed but unknown where to refer
• Medical concerns about the child or other familyLet me know if you’d have a family or situation you’d like to refer to the Student Care Team. Be sure to complete the Student Care Team Referral Form (PDF or DOC) and also be sure to fill out and get a parent signature on the Authorization for Use & Disclosure of Information (PDF or DOC) which will give DHS time to do preliminary work before the meeting.
• February PBIS Focus: Cooperation – The February PBIS monthly focus is Cooperation. The PBIS team created a PBIS/CFK Cheat Sheet that matches our monthly themes with corresponding Caring for Kids class meeting lessons. This is an easy way to tie the two activities together.
• Title 1 Walkthrough with Federal Programs Coordinator, Friday – Tasha Katsuda is visiting all Title 1 schools to conduct walkthroughs to observe reading core. She’ll be here on Friday between 11:00-1:00, so most grade levels are not doing core reading at this time, but I did want to give folks a heads-up that Tasha and I will be coming by classrooms during this window of time.
• Construction Updates – Attached are the minutes from the last Construction Progress Meeting. Most of the meeting was about inspections, permits and RFIs, but here are the highlights:
• Live Video Camera Being Installed – The district is installing an IP camera that will give a live video feed of the construction site. I’ll be sure to share a link to the camera once it’s live. The link will also be posted on the district website and I’ll post it on our website as well.
• Slab Mockup – A slab was poured by the east wing in the old gravel parking lot last week, which will be used as part of the building envelope mockup. This will be used to test our some of the building materials, but particularly the polished concrete and testing out different the color.
• February 13th PD/Planning Day – I’ll send the final agenda out later this week, but a good chunk of the PD time this day will be dedicated to going over Smarter Balanced. Robin, Shelly and I learned quite a bit about administering the assessments and one reason to do this earlier is that in order for teachers to have access to the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments, you need to be trained Test Administrators. Compared to the practices tests, the interim assessments allow teachers to check student progress throughout the year, giving information which can inform instruction and help students meet the new standards. Besides this topic we’ll have a few business items and the other large chunk of the meeting will be some planning around the new school. It may seem early to discuss moving logistics, but the new school is set to be completed in less than a year, so I’d rather start too early than too late. One piece I’ll share early is The Accessibility Manual, which contains the allowable accommodations, which are now called “Universal Tools” and “Designated Supports.” The term Accommodations is now synonymous with what we used to refer to as Modifications. same Let me know if anyone has additional agenda items or if you would like to share anything during the Staff Sharing portion of the agenda. Originally I had set up an ALICE training, which is the school shooter training that was in a Register Guard article this weekend, but 4J decided to start with middle and high schools and work their way down to elementary.
• EAST Request: Half Day Assignments – At HR’s monthly meeting with E.A.S.T. (the substitute teacher union) they was asked about whether the district supports Guest Teachers taking two-half day assignments (ie. Howard from 7:30-11:30 and North from noon-4:00). HR responded with a clear and resounding “yes”. There are fewer unfilled licensed absences but unfortunately it still happens and this is something that would reduce how often this happens. HR has encouraged guest teachers to take two-half day assignments if they can be coordinated well together and asked schools to support guest teachers in their willingness to accept two assignments in one day. I did clarify with HR that a few minutes late between jobs is okay, but subs are not to take an 8:00-12:00 job at one school and an 11:30-3:30 job at another, which is something we’ve run into a few times before.
• Two Minutes to Better Student Behavior – Here’s a short article from one teacher about her strategy for improving student behaviors, stating that “When you become closer with the kids who used to drive you crazy, you begin to understand why they’re acting that way, and your attitude changes.” However, my own editorial on this is that while agree with her approach, I’ll acknowledge it’s much harder to do this when you have 30+ students in your classroom.
• Four Black History Month Must-Haves – With Black History Month upon us, here is a Teaching Tolerance post that lists four things that will not only highlight black history but will strengthen those critical analysis skills that the Common Core State Standards highlight.
1. Begin with student voice and experience.
2. Educate students about the socio-political context.
3. Highlight the role other communities of color play in black history.
4. Introduce complex descriptions of key figures in history.• Five Essential Practices for Teaching the Civil Rights Movement – Does the civil rights movement resonate with your students? Teaching Tolerance’s guide, The March Continues: Five Essential Practices for Teaching the Civil Rights Movement, outlines key teaching approaches.
Practice 1. Educate for empowerment.
Practice 2. Know how to talk about race.
Practice 3. Capture the unseen.
Practice 4. Resist telling a simple story.
Practice 5. Connect to the present.• Website offers videos of space-themed stories read aloud by astronauts – If any of you are studying space, if you go to StorytimeFromSpace.com you can watch videos of astronauts reading stories from the International Space Station. Story Time from Space is a project sponsored by the Global Space Education Foundation, a nonprofit education foundation that works with NASA. The books are elementary picture books by Dr. Jeffrey Bennett and feature his dog, Max, as he goes on learning adventures in space. The first book is titled, Max Goes to the Space Station.
• Schedule of Events for the Week – See the Google Calendar for future events, but here are the events of note for the next two weeks:
February 2 (M)
Second Semester Begins
National School Counseling Week
8:20-9:10, Allan to Formal Observation
11:40-12:10, Allan Teaching Reading Group (Room 8)
12:30-2:00, OBOB Preliminary Battles
4:00-%00, Allan to Staff if Color Meeting (Ed Center)February 3 (T)
9:10-9:40, Allan to Formal Observation
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 7)February 4 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Movie/Book Character Day
7:30-11:30, Data Team Meetings (Staff Room)
8:25-9:05, Allan Teaching 1st Grade for Data Team Meeting
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)
4:00-6:00, Digital Learning Day (Ed Center)
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)February 5 (H)
7:30-8:15, Allan to IEP Meeting (Room 9)February 6 (F)
11:00-1:00, Title 1 Walk Through with Tasha
12:30-2:00, OBOB Preliminary BattlesFebruary 9 (M)
Reading and Math Progress Monitoring 8
12:30-2:00, OBOB Preliminary Battles
1:30-2:30, Allan to Title Coordinator & Principal Meeting (Ec Center)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
7:00-8:30, Allan to North Region 4J Parent Information Night: Smarter Balanced Assessment (NEHS)February 10 (T)
Regular DayFebruary 11 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to Construction Progress Meeting (Construction Trailer)February 12 (H)
Report Cards Sent Home
12:30-2:00, OBOB Preliminary Battles
2:30-3:30, Taking It Meeting (Staff Room)February 13 (F)
Howard PD/Planning Day – No School
Have a great week, everyone!
Allan
Anyone want to play some ancient educational software? Oregon Trail has returned on Archive.org, dysentery included!
