https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=5845
Hello Excellent Howard Staff,
If you missed the morning announcement last Thursday, congratulations to Allison, who was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Science Educator for Oregon last week. She’ll receive her award at the National Science Teacher Association Conference in Portland next week. Go, Mrs. Kreider!
On another topic, I have to say that I love all the student work going up around the building lately. All of the color is really making our building feel warm and welcoming, and a whole lot less institutional. Keep it coming!
Fifteen items of note for this week:
• Safety Week This Week– Our annual Safety Week is this week. The schedule will be:
• Monday, Oct. 31 – Fire Drill, 8:15
• Tuesday, Nov. 2 – Room Clear, time decided by teachers
• Wednesday, Nov. 2 – Lockdown/Lockout, 8:30
• Thursday, Nov. 3- Earthquake/Fire Drill, 1:15If there is rain during any of the outdoor drills, I’ll wait for a break in the weather and later that same day. Linked here are the first floor and second floor evacuation routes, along with where everyone should line up.
All of these drills are listed in the “Emergency Procedures Manual” which is the rainbow tabbed spiral notebook that should be clearly visible and/or posted in every classroom. We’re no longer using the Howard Red Binders and are instead using the standard 4J manual. With the exception of the lockdown/lockout drill, I won’t be making any announcement before the drills, so it’s okay for staff to prep your students before the drills take place.
The following reminders are a repeat from two weeks ago, reposted here to make sure everyone knows the plan for each of the drills.
For the Fire Drill, we’ll follow the plan I shared in earlier announcements after our debrief. See the updated Map of the Fire Evacuation Lines & Routes, which also includes the updated evacuation routes for second floor classrooms that were shared earlier. And as a reminder, here are the changes we made from our first fire drill:
• PE/Music now go to the playground
• 2nd & 5th Grade line up in one long line (not side-by-side)
• Yellow & blue wing classes exit courtyard gates closest to their side of the courtyard
• Lastly, make sure ALL students are silent during the drill.Room Clear Drill will happen at a time determined by classroom teachers and in cooperation with another classroom where students would go in the event of real room clear. Students should know the designated classroom they would room clear to in the event of an actual emergency, since in most cases the teacher would need to remain in the classroom while the rest of the students leave on their own.
For the Lockdown/Lockout Drill, per our ALICE training, we are no longer doing Code Blue and Code Red style of lockdowns. Instead, we follow the scenario that happened at North Eugene High School earlier this year, where they started with a lockdown (closed curtains, locked doors, account for students, sitting quietly in different parts of the room), which then moved into a lockout (classes resume as normal, curtains still down, all students & staff saying inside the building, all exterior doors remain locked). In both situations, office staff would activate the lockdown button, which will lock all automatic doors (the ones with badge readers) and will drop all blinds. Myself or other office staff would make an announcement informing everyone what is happening (i.e. “There is police activity in our area and as a precaution we are going into a lockdown. Check you emails for further details.”). And speaking of ALICE, the district is formulating a plan for schools to have designated reunification sites. Our Safety Committee last year talked about making an agreement with Trinity United Methodist Church on Maxwell, but right now we’re waiting for direction for downtown before we move forward on that.
For the Earthquake Drill, teach students to “Drop, Cover, Hold” meaning drop to the ground (so you don’t fall over), cover yourself by going under a desk (to protect yourself from falling objects, and hold onto the desk legs (so you stay under cover and don’t get bounced out). There are many resource on The Great Oregon Shake Out website, where you teach students about Drop, Cover, Hold and earthquake preparedness.
Please let me know if you do not have a manual or if you have any questions.
• Costume Parade & Thrill the World Performance – Another repeat from last week is that linked here is the Thrill the World map and directions. On Monday, the costume parade will start at 1:05 and the Thrill the World performance will happen 1:15ish. And remember to stay in costume at the end of the day for an all-staff photo at 2:15 in the library!
• Grace for Tardies on Rainy Days – I know I’ve asked teachers earlier to be consistent on marking tardies (Any student not inside the classroom before the 7:55 bell rings is considered tardy. Lori will record tardies starting after 8:00 and will give students a tardy pass.), but on rainy days when we are using the gym instead of going out on the playground, student release is a lot slower. To avoid a crush of students in the hall all at once on rainy mornings, we’re releasing students from the cafeteria first (which is a slow process in itself) and then we are releasing students from the gym, which means students will be getting to class later than normal on these days, so don’t worry about marking tardies on these days unless it’s obvious a student was playing around.
• Pride Assembly Nov. 10th – Not this week, but next week on Thursday, Nov. 10th will be our first PRIDE Assembly of the year to celebrate students who have exhibited Perseverance (“Never Quit”). We’ll hold two 25 minute assemblies, with a grade 3-5 Assembly 8:10-8:35 and a K-2 Assembly 8:45-9:10. See the linked Assembly Map and Directions and watch for an email from the PBIS Team for assembly details.
• Night Custodian Hire – John Quesenberry has been hired as our new 8-hour 12-month night custodian. John will hopefully start Thursday. We’ve scored a really good one with John. He’s worked as a custodian in schools for 30 years and was a lead custodian for 20 years in Woodburn. He’s decided to come out of retirement to work 5-6 more years, so we’re getting someone with great references who really knows the job. Please welcome John to the Howard Team!
• YouTube and Classroom Instruction – One item on the Elementary Principals’ Meeting agenda this Tuesday is in regards to limiting and/or cutting off access to YouTube for staff and students. Principals were asked the following questions:
• How does NOT having access to YouTube inhibit instruction?
• What are the risks of having open access? Benefits?
• If teachers have open access, does the benefit outweigh the risk?
• Would you be willing to take on and work with staff to mitigate the risk?The feedback I’m planning to give is that staff MUST have YouTube access to support instruction in a variety of subject areas. For students, removing access to YouTube is acceptable. Let me know if you have agree/disagree or have additional thoughts on this you’d like me to share.
• November PBIS Focus: Appreciations – The November PBIS monthly focus is Appreciations. The PBIS team created a PBIS/CFK cheat sheet that matches our monthly PBIS themes with corresponding Caring for Kids class meeting lessons, which is a nice way to tie the two activities together.
• Thanksgiving Classroom Reminder – As we enter November, I though I should send out my annual reminder regarding howThanksgiving is taught in classrooms. Keep in mind that student perceptions of Native Americans often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving. The conception of Native Americans gained from such early exposure is often both inaccurate and potentially damaging. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learned in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the “First Thanksgiving” is a mixture of both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should avoid reinforcing historical myths and should avoid stereotypes (ie. NO warbonnets). It’s best to shift the focus away from the “First Thanksgiving” and instead focus on items children can be thankful for in their own lives and on their families’ celebrations of Thanksgiving. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at Teaching Tolerance and Education World. Here is a good article with a Native American perspective on Thanksgiving. Also, the 4J Natives Program is a resource that is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture.
• New Building Updates – Here are the items of note regarding our new building:
• Classroom Temperature and Electronics by Thermostats – Be aware that if you have anything that plugs in near your thermostat, it will make your classroom colder. A mini-fridge, a fish tank, a computer, or other electronic device near a wall thermostat will make the thermostat think your classroom is warmer than it really is and will consequentially turn off your heat. No one has to move these things if you don’t want to, but as the weather gets colder, you’ll want to move these items away from your thermostat.
• Projector Interactivity Fix – Besides needing to download the Epson Projector Driver onto your laptop, making sure no number lines or other things are blocking the Touch Unit’s laser diffusion ports and the projection surface, and toggling the setting from “writing mode” to “mouse mode,” it was discovered by Tech Department staff in Suzy’s Room that the cords from the wall to the projector stick out too far and are causing a shadow that’s interfering with the interactivity. The Tech Department is having the contractor check all of the projectors in the building to fix this problem, which should finally make the interactive boards work as they are supposed to.
• BRING Recycling: Education Program – BRING Recycling works under contract with Lane County to provide educational outreach to all Lane County schools. This service is provided free of charge. BRING’s Education Manager will come to your classroom and show your students how the stuff we use shapes the planet we share. They do this through classroom presentations and unit specific lessons tailored to the individual teacher’s needs. They can also take students on tours of the Glenwood Central Receiving Station, Short Mountain Landfill and the BRING Planet Improvement Center. Students come back from these field trips with a new understanding of what impact their trash has on the local community and, by extension, the impact that all peoples have on the world’s environments. All lessons leave the kids with concrete actions they can take today to begin making a positive change. See the linked BRING Teacher Outreach flyer for more information.
• Teacher Goals Entry Into TalentEd Due – I’ll be pestering teachers on Monday who haven’t entered their goals into TalentEd by then. Linked here are the shared building goals if you’d like to use these.
• District McKinney-Vento Student Data – October 2016 – As an FYI, linked here is the District-Wide October McKinney-Vento Student Report for October, which places Howard with more homeless students than any other elementary, middle, or high school in 4J.
• ASCD Express: Powerful Lesson Planning – When lesson planning, we can often feel locked into determining “What’s the content and how am I going to cover it?” noted author Grant Wiggins. Planning, he claimed, shouldn’t be about what book you are reading but rather “how students are different when they’re finished reading it.” In the latest issue of ASCD Express, they share promising approaches to student-centered planning that balance required content and allow lessons to follow students’ questions and enthusiasms.
• Where Do Teachers Turn for Tech Help? Not the Help Desk (Much) – No real learning here, but I found this article from THE Journal interesting and I think it’s likely true for our school. Research shows that teachers prefer to rely on one another to get solutions to technology problems than they do on technology department staff.
• 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 31 (M)
Safety Week
8:15, Fire Drill
1:05, Costume Parade – Classes to Field
~1:15, Thrill the World Performance (Kelly Field)
2:15, Staff Photo in Costume! (Library)
3:00, Allan to Garden Education Program Meeting (A205)November 1 (T)
Ewok Appreciation Day
Room Clear Drills (done at time decided by teachers)
7:50-11:45, Data Team Meetings (Title 1 Room)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
4:00-6:00, Elementary Math Curriculum Open House (Ed Center)November 2 (W)
No Title 1 Wednesday
8:30, Lockout/Lockout Dill
8:50-10:30, Casey the Fire Dog in KG
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (Spring Creek)November 3 (H)
9:00-11:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
1:15, Earthquake/Fire Drill
2:30, Allan to Evaluation Planning Meeting
4:00-6:00, Elementary Math Curriculum Open House (Ed Center)November 4 (F)
6:00-7:00, PTO Family Night – Spaghetti Feed (Cafeteria)
7:00-8:00, PTO Family Night – BINGO (Cafeteria)November 7 (M)
2:30-5:00, Allan to Pay Grade Evaluation Committee Meeting (Ed Center)November 8 (T)
Election Day
2:30-3:30, IPBS Meeting (Mellissa’s Room, B203)November 9 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Favorite Sport/Team Day
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (Madison)November 10 (H)
8:10-8:35, PRIDE Assembly, 3-5 (Gym)
8:45-9;10, PRIDE Assembly, K-2 (Gym)
11:45-12:15, 1st Grade Music Assembly (Gym)
12:20-12:50, KG Music Assembly (Gym)November 11 (F)
No School – Veterans Day
And for those of you with trick-or-treat age children at home, the office candy disk does accept donations from The Switch Witch.
Allan
