October 19, 2015

By Allan  

Loved

Hi Everyone,

Seventeen items of note this week:

• Potential Workshop Changes Coming – I was informed by Tasha Katsuda, the Federal Programs Coordinator, last week that our use of Title 1 staff during workshop Tier II time is not allowable per Federal Title laws. During Tier II workshop, all students are supposed to stay in their classroom for differentiated instruction (i.e. leveled group activities). Apparently Suzy Price made Chavez and Spring Creek change their Tier II models over this same issue when she was the Federal Program Coordinator, which is curious since Suzy was very familiar with Howard’s workshop model. I’m sure people have lots of questions, just as I do, but no changes are happening right away, though Tasha said we do need to change our schedule at the semester break. However, I’ve asked for more information regarding Title law in regards to this and also for the minutes breakdown for Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III (and whether writing is or is not part of the reading/literacy block). I’m not quite convinced this is a Title 1 supplement/supplant issue and I also wonder if it would be allowable to rename our workshop time as Tier III (if we said our Tier II leveled group time was during our 60 minute reading core), but given that other schools have had to change their Tier II workshop models, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to make this case. If we do have to make this change, which I unfortunately think is likely, what we’ll probably end up doing is having more Tier III groups for each grade level, either at currently scheduled times or at other times during the day. More to come on this as I continue working with Tasha.

• Halloween Costume Parade – It’s hard to believe we’re far enough into the year that I’m already sending this out. Attached is the Parade Map & Direction for our annual Howard Halloween Costume Parade. Details are in the attachment, but the quick version is that on Friday, October 30th at 1:00, Room 18 will start the parade train and will pick up classes as they walk through the school, ending out on the playground for our K-5 Thrill the World performance. Following the performance the parade will resume with Room 18 leading the way and everyone ending up back in their classrooms. Also note the rainy day parade route map and alternate 5th grade only Thrill the World performance in the gym if the weather does not cooperate.

• Synergy PM Attendance – Here’s a reminder for teacher to make sure you are entering your PM attendance into Synergy and not just the AM attendance. Our theory in the office is that teachers are getting busy and sometimes forgetting to enter PM attendance because everyone is entering attendance correctly sometimes but not always. Please double check that you’re getting both AM and PM when you’re entering daily attendance. I’ll let folks know this week if you miss the PM, so if you don’t hear from me that means you’re doing it right.

• PTO Meeting, Tuesday at 6:00 – The October PTO meeting will be this Tuesday, 6:00-7:00 PM in the library if any staff are able to attend. There was a huge turnout of staff and families for the September meeting. Hope to see you there!

• 4/5 Job Share Staffing Update – Stephanie, AJ, Lori and myself conducted interviews last Wednesday for our 4/5 job share position and hired Lois Patterson, who’s currently been subbing in the position. Lois most recently taught 6th grade math at ATA and she also holds endorsements in reading, math and ESOL. Please OFFICIALLY welcome Lois to the Howard team!

• CLC Staffing Updates – Howard parent Suzanna Fitch who’s been subbing as the 3.5 hour CLC EA, primarily working in kindergarten, has been hired permanently into this position. This is the position that Jessi held last year in the CLC before moving over into Life Skills, but please welcome Suzanna to the Howard staff!

On a related note, this leaves one 6-hour 1:1 CLC EA position (for a 3rd grader) to be filled, but ESS told me they conducted interviews for the position last week and hope to have the hire finalized this week with the new person starting Thursday.

• New Building Updates – I didn’t get the minutes from the last Owner/Architect/General Contractor (OAC) Meeting, but below are a couple items of note:

• Input for Visual Communications Infographic Workshop – I’ll be attending a meeting this Monday on creating some displays to honor Howard’s history and also display features that would help the building be a teaching tool, so let me know ASAP if you have anything you’d like me to share. Attached is the agenda, but the four areas of focus for the meeting are:

i. The history of the Howard neighborhood and how it relates to the school.
ii. Technology Immersion. Technology is an integral part of the curriculum at Howard Elementary and the school is recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for its technology immersion program.
iii. Existing school items that are held in high importance with current staff. These items include existing cafeteria tile, roadrunner sign, wall hung rug, 5th grade classroom photos, etc. It’s not been decided what will and what will not be moved to the new school, however, these items need to be incorporated in some way with the new school either with the new Infographic design or by other, separate means i.e. wall hung or display case photos.
iv. The use of the building as a teaching tool. How can building systems and features be revealed to impart an understanding of the physical and environmental performance of the building and site?

For the last item, there are a number of good ideas on the Howard Pinterest page, such as marking degrees around door openings, multiplication tables on stairs, flying book displays and many others. I remember seeing some cool ways of measuring rainwater collection and other energy saving elements of new schools I’ll plan to share. Let me know if any of you have thoughts of what you’d like to see inside the building, in the courtyards, in the school garden, or other areas related to this topic.

• Wood Siding! – If you haven’t been out for a tour or out on the track lately, wood siding is now up across the back of the building and is also up in the courtyard areas. It’s looking pretty snazzy and partially gets at the more natural feel the design team originally asked for.

• Care Team Meeting Referrals – The Student Care Team will be meeting next week, so let me know if any of you have student or family situations you’d like to refer. If you can get a parent/guardian signature on the 4J Release Form (PDF or DOC), DHS will be able to do some research into the family and situation and see what services they would qualify for. One benefit of families going through the Care Team is that when they are referred for services or community resources, they will often get bumped to the top of waiting lists, whether it’s housing, family counseling or other services. Also know that you can refer “hypothetical” student or family situations if you’re unable to get a signed release form. We have one family referred, but we do have space for more.

• Yo-Yo Assembly Opportunity – We did this assembly a couple years ago, but the NED Show sent me an email that they are touring our area again this January. It’s a free assembly (with the understanding that we sell their yo-yos for a week) and is intended to empower students with the PBIS-ish N.E.D. message: Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best. Let me know your thumbs-up or thumbs-down vote by the end of the week. I’ll go with the majority vote and I’ll assume you’re neutral if I don’t hear from you. If you’d like more information, you can visit their website.

• EEF Grant Applications Due Next Week – Details were in an earlier blog post, but EEF Grant Applications and/or grant ideas are due to me by Tuesday next week on October 26th before Site Council. You don’t need to have the grant application completed, but do at least tell me your general grant idea. There are two $500 grants available and two $2,000 grants. So far I’ve heard from 5th grade who’s applying for their annual a $2,000 science field trip, Julie who’s writing a $500 OBOB grant, and Allison who’s coming up with something. Grants should be STEM, Literacy or Arts focused and EEF also looks for grants that serve the greatest number of students. Site Council will submit the rank order for our top four grants, though schools can submit more grants outside of those four, which individual donors can choose to fund. Let me know if you have any questions.

• Safety Committee Meeting Wednesday @2:30 – A repeat from last week, our first Safety Committee Meeting will be this Wednesday at 2:30 in the Library. This is an optional meeting, but if you’d like to attend my plan is for us to generate a list of topics for the committee to work on this year, both for the old building and the new. If time permits we can begin tackling some of these topics. I’ll plan to invite Renee Tobler, the North Region SRO, and/or the district Risk Manager to the next meeting to help problem solve various topics.

• McKinney-Vento Report 10-2015 – If you’re interested, attached is the district-wide October McKinney-Vento Student Report. Chavez has the most McKinney-Vento students of any elementary school with 26 students and Howard and River Road are the next highest with 23 McKinney-Vento identified students.

• Free Get Smart About Credit Classroom Presentations – Wells Fargo is taking part in the Get Smart About Credit initiative, where bankers are offering to do a free presentations to elementary age students. In October, young people across America will be introduced to the concept of responsible use of credit and how this can lead them toward a healthy financial future. This curriculum has been customized to serve students of any age. Wells Fargo bankers will supply all the necessary materials from their Hands on Banking financial education program which is completely non-commercial. If any teachers would like to have a guest speaker, simply email cobi.k.jackson@wellsfargo.com, and she’ll work with you to create an opportunity with your classroom.

• Sensory Processing Awareness Month! – Rachel let me know that October is Sensory Processing Awareness Month. Follow this link for some terrific articles on “Discussing Sensory Needs: A Guide for Parents and Teachers,” “10 Calming Sensory Strategies for Schools,” “Getting to the Bottom of Sensory Behaviors” and “30 Sensory Strategies to Help Kids Pay Attention.” There’s even a free ebook titled “Sensory Processing 101.” And related to Sensory Processing Month, Linda L. sent me a video that Katie shared with her that’s a nice video titled “Autism Awareness for Elementary School Students,” which teachers may find useful for sharing with students.

• Questioning for learning, questioning for life – Increasing the use of student questioning can be highly successful when an entire faculty is committed to the same goals, but does not require a schoolwide effort. Through some simple but highly engaging strategies, any educator can promote inquiry and meaningful questioning. In this blog post on Inservice, Josh Patterson and Ashley Roberts offer strategies that can be utilized as stand-alone practices and activities just as well as they can be woven into a larger inquiry-based unit of study

• Oregon Was Founded As a Racist Utopia – Oregon is often thought of as a progressive state, but our state has a long history of racism. When Oregon was granted statehood in 1859, it was the only state in the Union admitted with a constitution that forbade black people from living, working, or owning property there. It was illegal for black people even to move to Oregon until 1926. “Whites Only” signs frequented Oregon businesses just like Jim Crow southern states. And if you thought Eugene might have been immune, take a look at the photo detail of what’s on the side of Skinner’s Butte in this 1921 photo that was posted on the Eugene Reddit recently. Oregon’s founding is part of the forgotten history of racism in the American west that’s covered in this revealing article.

• 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:

October 19 (M)
Progress Monitoring Week 2
BEST Starts
9:00-10:30, Allan Meeting the PiVOT Infographic Consultants (Office)
12:15-2:00, Casey the Firedog Visits Kindergarten
2:30-5:00, Allan Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
4:30-5:30, Allan to United Way Kick-Off (Ed Center)

October 20 (T)
10:00-11:00, Allan to LEL Training (Ed Center)
12:20-12:45, Safety Patrol Training (Library)
2:00-5:00, Cookie Dough Pick-Up (Gym)
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Room 1)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Library)

October 21 (W)
9:00-1:00, Kindergarten to Detering Orchards
9:00-11:00, Allan to OAC Meeting (Construction Trailer)
2:30-3:30, Safety Committee Meeting (Library)

October 22 (H)
2:30-3:30, Taking it Up Meeting (Staff Room)

October 23 (F)
Picture Day
9:15, Allan Meeting with UO Student (Office)
11:00-12:00, Allan Touring South Lane SD Design Team of New Building

October 24 (S)
Weekend Cookie Dough Pick-Up (Gym)

October 26 (M)
2:30-3:30, Site Council (Staff Room)

October 27 (T)
9:30-11:30, Kreider’s Class to Maude Kerns

October 28 (W)
9:00-11:00, Allan to OAC Meeting (Construction Trailer)
10:00-11:00, Allan Doing All Admin Risk Management LifeRaft Webinar (Office)
1:30-2:30, PBIS Meeting (Room 21)
2:30-3:30, Care Team Meeting (Staff Room)

October 29 (H)
9:15-11:15, Zimmerman’s Class to Maude Kerns

October 30 (F)
10:45-12:40, Birthday Lunches with the Principal (Library)
12:30, Robin and Allan meeting with Tasha
1:00-2:00, Halloween Parade & Thrill the World (Playground)

Have a good week, everyone, and enjoy the excellent Calvin & Hobbes story arc regarding school picture day!

Allan

 

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