https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/chinn/?p=6061
Howdy Everyone,
I hope you’ve all stayed safe during the snowy and icy weather. I’m usually a snow-dance kind of person, but I’ll admit that by Friday last week I was ready for it to all be gone.
Thirteen items of note for this week:
• Adventures of the Tartar Patrol PreK-3 Assembly Friday at 9:05 – Linked here is an assembly map and directions for Friday’s PreK – 3rd Adventures of the Tartar Patrol Assembly at 9:05. If you’d like to explore any of the performance’s themes beforehand, on the Tartar Patrol booking page, click on the “Recommended Websites” and “Recommended Reading” links to find a variety of activities that will allow students to apply the content of the The Adventures of the Tartar Patrol to their own lives. You’ll find reading lists, videos, activities, and many additional resources for your classroom.
On a related note, I heard form enough people interested in the TaeKwonDo Demonstration Team Assembly, so I’ll be working with them to schedule that assembly for any classes who’d like to attend.
• Snow Days Rescheduled Events (Again) – We need to reschedule our rescheduled a few due to our ever growing number of snow days. Here are the updated dates:
• Roadrunner Tail Feather Reward (if needed) – If you didn’t hold your Tail Feather reward last Friday, feel free to find any date this week that works with your schedule.
• Birthday Lunches with the Principal, Friday – With so many kids absent last Friday, I moved the December birthday lunches to this Friday. Same plan as usual in the Community Room at lunchtime. Not linked here but attached in my email is a list of the December student birthdays.
• Lost and Found Clean Out, Friday – Since we only had the one day of school last week, new the last date for students and families to claim items from the list and found will be this Friday.
• Monthly Book Winers, Wed. Jan. 11th – This one gets to be the same. November and December Book Winners will be this Wednesday at 9:00. In the craziness of last Friday, I’m not sure a winner sign-up sheet got put out, but we’ll one out on Monday for teachers to write down your December winners.
• DATE CHANGE: SMART Notebook Training, Thursday at 2:30 – Kellyclare Gardner is going to offer an optional training for teachers Thursday at 2:30 in Carla’s room to review the SMART Notebook software (both beginner and advanced). There was a trainer on the Epson software here last month and he actually showed us a lot of new SMART Notebook features that even some of our pros here at Howard didn’t know about.
• Wacky Wednesday – PJ Day! – It’s everyone’s favorite spirit day this Wednesday where you get to wear comfy clothes all day long (though I’m guess most staff aren’t wearing their “real” sleepwear). Remember to set your favorite PJs, robes, slippers, and teddy bears aside so you can show your school spirit Wednesday.
• Teacher Observations – I’m going to try to get some formal and informal observations finished this week. If you’re someone who is on the formal observation cycle, let me know a date and time for me to come by. For informals, I’ll simply drop by for 10-20 minutes.
• Annual Safety Inspection Tuesday, Jan. 10th – This is also a repeat from last week, but our annual safety inspection is this Tuesday at 9:00. Please check your areas for the most common safety violations:
• Unlabeled spray bottles.
• 3-foot pathway to your exit doors. • Cord covers for all power cords in walk ways.
• Power strips plugged into another power strip.
• Use of any extension cords (long power strips are okay, just not extension cords)
• Items hanging from lights or the ceiling.Let me or Crystal know if you have any questions.
• January Care Team Referrals – The January Student Care Team meeting is in a couple weeks, which means that referrals to the team are due a week from this Friday. Please let me know soon if you have any student and/or family situations you’d like to bring to the team. It’s best if you can get a release form signed (PDF or DOC), but we can also bring “hypothetical” student situations if you cannot get a release form signed. Let me know if you have questions about the team or any potential referrals.
• Staffing Updates – Cassandra Baker, who’s been doing a Life Skills long-term sub job all year, has been hired permanently as a CLC 1:1 EA. Cass started her new position last Friday, so please congratulate her on now officially becoming a Howard staff member. This leaves vacant her position in Life Skills. Originally there was an EA from another SPED program who SSD was transferring to Howard, but they have now taken a leave for the rest of the year so SSD is posting for a Life Skills EA position. Besides this position, SSD is also in the process of hiring a 1:1 EA for a kindergartner in Kealy’s class. If you know of anyone who’d be good for these positions and who would make a nice addition to our awesome staff, please let me know and also encourage them to apply.
• Projector & Sound Issues Last Friday – Last Friday there were multiple classrooms where the projector and ceiling speakers were not working. Peggy seemed to be able to get projectors working, but speakers are still having issues. The Technology Department, Facilities, and the contractor are working resolve the issue which may have been the results of a few different things; a firmware update to AMX that was done on Thursday or possibly a lockdown that got tripped somehow Thursday night. Let me know Monday morning is your projector and sound are not working.
• 4J Radio Training Video – If you are someone who uses one of the district radios, the Facilities Department has asked that you watch this linked 4-minute 4J Radio Training Video.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day Resources – Martin Luther King Jr. Day is next Monday, so here are a few resources that may be worth checking out: Scholastic, National Education Association (NEA), and Education World. I also came across a simple timeline on BoingBoing that puts the long, long history of slavery into perspective.
• 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:
January 9 (M)
2:30-3:30, Allan to IEP Meeting (Conference Room)January 10 (T)
9:00, Annual Safety InspectionJanuary 11 (W)
Wacky Wednesday – Pajama Day
Wednesday Popcorn Resumes
9:00, November & December Book Winners (Conference Room)
2:30-3:30, PBIS Meeting (Rae’s Room, A101)
3:30, Allan meeting with Federal Programs Coordinator (Office)January 12 (H)
8:30-2:00, Allan to ILT Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Optional SMART Notebook Training w/Kellyclare Gardner (Carla’s Room, A204)January 13 (F)
9:05, PreK-3 Assembly – Adventures of the Tartar PatrolJanuary 15 (M)
No School – Martin Luther King Jr. DayJanuary (16)
8:15-11:15, Allan to Elementary Principals’ Meeting (Ed Center)
2:30-3:30, Staff Meeting (Volunteer’s Classroom)
6:00-7:00, PTO Meeting (Community Room)
7:00-8:00, School Choice Informational Meeting (Ed Center)January 17 (W)
No Title 1 Wednesday
8:20, Fire Drill
2:30-3:30, Grade Level Meeting Time
4:00-5:00, Allan to North Region Principals’ Meeting (NEHS)January 18 (H)
6:00-9:00, Howard Elementary Nights with the Ducks (UO vs CAL)January 19 (F)
7:30-9:00, Allan to 4JMAPS Meeting
8:40-9:05, Pre-K/KG/1st Chamber Music Amici Assembly
9:10-9:35, 2/3 Chamber Music Amici Assembly
9:40-10:05, 4/5 Chamber Music Amici AssemblyJanuary 20 (SA)
9:00-12:00, Elementary School Choice Showcase (Ed Center)
Keep your fingers crossed that all the snow and ice has melted off by Monday!
Allan
