Week of September 23rd, 2013
Hi Everyone,
There are several items of note for the week:
Thank you for the successful Moon Festival:
Thank you to CABA, our interns and the other OIIP interns, and the Awbrey Park Families who attended the Moon Festival! We had a very large turnout of Awbrey Park Families, the Chinese American community, and the greater Eugene community. This event was very enriching for our students and other 4j students.
Morning Announcements Shift to PM– With the business of Morning Meeting and all of the AM activities, it felt like we should move announcements to Monday afternoon. We did this so that that valuable instructional time and climate building is not interrupted. We will be running PAWS drawings/ Kingston Kiddos at 2:25 and any other announcements that need to happen. I’d also like to get some feedback about the Pledge of Allegiance. I am not sure when teachers fit this in, but I know each of you do it. Would you like to have Pledge of Allegiance all at once on Monday afternoons?
Family Outreach and Community Building Ideas: This year, I am hoping to reach out to our community further by sharing our vision. Two ideas that have been brought up are:
1. Doing a mural in the school that shares our vision.
2. Doing a Family Portrait Project much like Cesar Chavez does. If you’d like to share other ideas, please pass them on.
Jog A Thon Prizes:
Students were sent home with their Pledge Envelopes last week. Please talk up these prizes in class.
These are our prizes and Incentives for the year :
- Bulldog Recess! For everyone who turns in an envelope (even if there is nothing in it) and participates by walking around the track.
- Principal for the Day! For every $50.00 you collect, you will be entered in a drawing for Principal for the Day. There will be 5 winners. These students will shadow me and I will help them do several activities throughout the day.
- Pizza Party! For the class who runs the most laps. This will be funded by PTO and meet school guidelines for health.
- Barnes and Noble Gift Card ($10) For the top boy and girl runner of each grade level.
- Shoe Keychain There will be random prize drawing for everyone who brings in any money.
Picture Day is Tuesday: Remind your students that Picture Day is Tuesday. Claire and Kristie will work with you to finalize the schedule.
TalentEd Self Assessment Due Monday, Sept. 30th – HR has set a deadline of September 30th for teachers to complete the Self Assessment in TalentEd. Principals do not have access to view what you enter (just that you completed it), so it really is a true self reflection, but it does need to be completed by the end of the month. Let me know if you have any questions navigating TalentEd. It is OK to save and submit the self assessment. The only one to just save in this process is the goals section. Please contact me to set up a time to review your SLGO/ Professional Practice Goals. We will need to have those completed building-wide by Halloween. I encourage you to work together in grade-level / intervention teams to write these goals.
Safety Week begins Monday– Larry, Claire and I will be monitoring the weather this week to ensure that we do not have our September evacuation drill in the rain. Most drills were set for 1:15 PM except for Room Clear which you should run yourself. You should have received all materials last week. Let Claire, Kristie, or me know if you need a new map. Please make sure you know where to line up outside and teach your students that location sometime on Monday. The numbers have shifted a little bit.
EEF Grants – I will be writing the EEF Grants this week that our Site Council agreed upon in early September. These are our grants that we plan to submit in priority order:
1. Storytelling for all Awbrey Park Bulldogs
2. Awbrey Active Kids- extending fitness into June with a consultant.
3. College Ready Kids- A week-long celebration of college preparation during the school day.
4. Student Council Leadership Project- Ending harassment and bullying at Awbrey Park
• 2013 Oregon Inservice Bulletin – Attached you will find the 2013 Oregon Inservice Day Bulletin — a list of many different inservice opportunities for the October 11th Inservice Day. This is a non-contract day, not a furlough day, so staff may choose to attend a training this day or not.
• UO International Cultural Presentations for Classrooms – The International Cultural Services Program is once again making their student ambassadors from across the globe available for the 2013-2014 school year. Since the program’s inception almost 30 years ago, ICPS participants have brought cultural diversity to our community through group presentations, panel discussions, and demonstrations of regional dance, music, food and many other forms of cultural expressions. This program is K-12 and is offered free of charge. If you would like to invite an international student to speak to your class, please contact ICSP at (541) 346-1333 or at icsp@uoregon.edu. More information can also be found on the ICSP website.
• Put Central America on the Map in Schools – For Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), “Teaching for Change” has launched a campaign to encourage and support teaching about Central America. They have collected lessons, book lists, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers. See their website for resources and information.
• District Mandatory Policy Review Due Friday, Sept. 27th – A quick reminder that all staff must review the District Policy Memo and then sign & return the acknowledgement form to my box no later than Friday, September 27th.
• Do students benefit from field trips? – Even as many schools scale back on field trips, a new study shows that such “culturally enriching” school field trips, such as a trip to art museums, can yield academic benefits for students. One recent study of students who visited an Arkansas art museum found, among other things, improvements in students’ knowledge of and ability to think critically about art and improved “historical empathy.” The study found that 82% of students who saw Norman Rockwell’s “Rosie the Riveter” remembered the painting was about the role of women joining the workforce during World War II
Schedule of Events for the Week –
September 23 (M)
Fire Drill at 1:15
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principal’s Meeting (Ed Center)
September 24 (T)
Room Clear Practice All Day- Please contact Claire or Kristie to verify that you have practiced.
1:30-2:00, Goals Meeting with a teacher in my office.
4:00-6:00, Joel to Equity Meeting (Ed Center)
September 25 (W)
Earthquake Wednesday and Evacuation Drill at 1:15
1:30-2:30, Joel in a Downtown Meeting with HR
September 26 (H)
Lock-down Drill Wednesday at 1:15
No Site Council Meeting due to meeting in Early September.
September 27 (F)
First Bulldog Recess
September 30 (M)
TalentEd Self Assessment Due
Have a great week, everyone, and think sun!
Joel