Joel's Journal- A Weekly Bulletin Paulo Freire — Education transforms people. People transform the world.

October 13th, 2013

Week of October 14th 2013

carlrogers

 

 

Hello Awbrey Park Staff,

Enrollment and Awbrey Park Staffing Stabilized: Currently, the total Awbrey Park enrollment is above 406. We continue to accept new enrollment packets in the office and have lost very few students over the last week. We were projected to have 425 students with kindergarteners counted full time. I spoke with Sara Cramer on Friday.  She stated that there will be no changes in our staffing this school year.  No FTE will be taken away or added. This is positive news for us. I am sorry it took so long to help teachers feel at ease about this.  The special session and other factors seemed to slow down the decisions made about staffing downtown.

State Report Cards – Here is the link to the latest state report cards. Awbrey Park improved in reading last year by about .3% and math rose by a little more than 5%. Science continued to rise by 3 % over the previous year. The report card includes a lot of new information if you are interested.  The state is trying to show growth in schools using newer formulas. Awbrey Park shines with these numbers. They considered us as a growth level 4 in academic achievement,  academic growth, and subgroup growth. The highest level of growth is Level 5. I see these numbers as positive and encouraging.  Last year, our hard work paid off. This is especially true in mathematics school-wide. Teachers and EA’s: We are doing an excellent job supporting our students. This report card gives us much to be proud of.

TED Talk from Rita Pierson:

ritapierson

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a TED Talk that is about 7 minutes that I find inspirational. Perhaps you will too.

 

Jog-A-Thon Collection on Tuesday and some other PTO News: There will be one more Jog a Thon turn-in on Tuesday. So far we have raised about $5000 with the envelopes turned in last week. The PTO goal was $10,000 so we are a bit short. This year, the PTO have three fundraisers planned. Jog-a-thon, Cookie dough/ Wrapping Paper in late October, and a Direct Drive Fundraiser in March. I asked that the PTO limit the fundraisers to three total for the year. PTO elections will be in November this year if you want to encourage one of your classroom parents to get more involved.

Study Group Dates and CLIC Team Dates orchestrated:  Christina and I met last week to organize the Study Group Sessions and the CLIC Meeting dates to not conflict. Check the Zimbra Cal for all the dates of both groups. The first CLIC (Collaboration and Learning Instructional Council) meeting will be this upcoming Thursday at 3:00 in Room 13.

On our first agenda:

1. Group norms: Joel shares a possible list.

2. ELA Common Core Planning and Communication- Sara and Lindsay report out on planning from Peggy Marconi Meeting.

3. Key Instructional Questions to discuss?

A. How do we continue to build “asset knowledge” and move away from “deficit thinking” of our students? How would the team like to make this happen?

B. How do we infuse equity into the Teacher Effectiveness and Growth Model or other school activities?

Nice Job on the Fire Drill: Our October Fire Drill was very efficient. We went from 4:31 in September to 3:39 last Thursday. Teachers are doing a great job helping students get to their line efficiently and quietly.  Thank you!

Background Checks and the New Online System:  Many parents have been interested in volunteering but have hit barriers to volunteering. Our new background check system is designed to be faster than the paper system. Still, it is a learning curve for many.  The district will be using both the paper and online system during this school year. Encourage families to use the online system to do background checks and the times to process should be shortened.

Parent Conferences: This week I completed setting up translation appointments with Spanish speaking families who need a translator.  At this time, all of these interpreting meetings will occur on Tuesday evening.  Jose Torres will be returning to do our interpreting.

Copiers Update: Please be gentle with the copiers. Our copy machines are pretty fragile these days. Soon, the district will be replacing our copiers but the date has not been set.  You may want to use print shop for more complex jobs until replacement of the copiers.

BRING Education Program in your Classroom – BRING Recycling works under contract with Lane County to provide free educational outreach to all Lane County schools. They have a licensed science teacher who will come to your classroom to show students how the stuff we use shapes the planet we share. If you’re interested, see the attached letter for details and then contact Brett Jacobs at brettj@bringrecycling.org Last year Brett did an excellent job teaching our students about recycling.

Looking for Lessons to Try in the Common Core ELA or Math? Try this quality site.

David Coleman is considered the main architect of the new Common Core Standards. He and the College Board have banded together to create a resource rich website for teachers and educators called: Achieve The Core Check it out and discuss one of the lessons with your grade level team.

 

Calendar for the Week

Monday, 10/14:

9:00-1:00, 2nd Grade Nearby Nature Field Trip,

11:00-3:00, SEED 2 Planning Meeting with Lindsay and Sarah in Room 13

Tuesday, 10/15:

8:00-4:30, Joel at Jon Saphier Training all day.

Wednesday, 10/16:

8:30- Joel in Goals Meeting

9:00- Joel doing informal observations.

Thursday, 10/17:

8:00 AM-  Joel in SRO Support and Safety Meeting with Sgt. Carl Stubbs in office.

9:00 AM- Joel doing informal observations.

11:00 AM- Joel in meeting with teacher on SMART goals.

Friday, 10/18:

Two kindergarten Trips to Hentze Farms (my favorite farm!) One AM and One PM.

 

Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Joel

 

October 6th, 2013

Week of October 7th Blog Post

pearlbuckquote

 

Hello Bulldogs,

Fire Drill Thursday @ 9:15- There will be one this Thursday. Ask Kristie if you need new green/red cards.

October 11th, State In-Service Day – This is a regular work day for Classified Staff, but it is a non-contract day for licensed staff, so only classified staff will be working in the building this day. That being said, I would encourage classified staff who have comp time coming to use it on this day, because the building will be a bit of a ghost town. I will be out at a training for much of the day. If you are planning to work this day, please connect with your primary cooperating teacher on how best to help out this day.

Social Committee Dues – It’s time to replenish our Social Fund. We’ll stick with the same amounts and allocations that have been used in the past; classified pay $15 and licensed pay $25. Please direct your dues to Melody (and then to Kristie) as soon as possible. This year, we will reinstate the use of social committee funds for helping out if someone is very sick or has a loved one pass. Thank you!

Conference Scheduling is in the works –Kristie is working on the forms to schedule Parent/Teacher Conferences. She will have them ready to go out in the Monday Mailer on 10/14. We are asking that parents return them to Homeroom Teachers by Thursday, October 18th. I am contacting Spanish Speaking families and scheduling with the interpreter this week. Our Spanish Interpreting schedule will be 5-8 on both Tuesday and Thursday.

Sub Plans Guidelines from HR – HR asked principals to pass along the attached file, which is a list of suggested information/items that teachers should consider when preparing lesson plans for Guest Teachers. With the goal being seamless transition and a successful day when regular staff are out, it is important that substitutes receive the best information possible.

Getting Boys to Read – In this article in The Reading Teacher, Frank Serafini addresses boys’ chronic underachievement in reading and has some helpful suggestions for getting boys interested in and also the characteristics of books that appeal to boys, which are:

• Focused on plot, not drama and emotions;
• Visually appealing, for example, magazines and graphic novels;
• Practical, with information boys can use;
• Main characters boys can easily relate to;
• Funny, with elements of mischief and slapstick.

Criticism of The Common Core: Not everyone is thrilled with the Common Core.  Though it does create a more rigorous  national curriculum, there are many who believe that the test will be very difficult and passing rates will be in the 30’s when we get to Spring 2015. As a result, many feel that this new test will dishearten our young children and parents. My stance in a nutshell is that I appreciate the level of rigor that Common Core brings to our students, yet I am concerned that it understates creativity, a mainstay of American education.   This radio segment begins to explore some people’s concerns that we will most likely hear about from the Awbrey community in the future.  If you can  take the time to listen to this 20 minute segment from NPR, it is well worth the time. “Understanding the Common Core:” Radio Link

Title 1 Newsletter – If you’re curious what’s happening in Title 1 from the district perspective, here is the latest Title 1 Newsletter that went out to all Title 1 Coordinators and principals.

Equity and Diversity Link of the Week: 

If you have not heard Geoffery Canada speak, you need to watch this video. He is a passionate, fiery speaker who deeply understands education. Enjoy this Ted Talk if you have time to watch it or save it for later.  It is thought provoking.

Schedule of Events for the Week –

October 7 (M)

12:00-1:30 -2nd Grade Firefighter Visit

6:30- 8:00- Awbrey Park PTO Meeting
October 8 (T)

12:00-1:00 PM- Joel meets with Andrew and UO about possible Easy CBM Project

3:00- 1st Grade Team Goals Meeting in Arwen’s Classroom

4:00-6:30- Joel to Equity Committee at the Ed Center

October 9 (W)
Walk+Bike to School Day

3:00- 4:00- Intermediate Data Meeting

3:00- 4:00 – 1st Grade Student Support Meeting

October 10 (H)

9:15 AM- Fire Drill

11:00-  Joel with Teacher  in Goals Meeting

1:00-2:40- Joel doing walkthroughs.

October 11 (F)
State In Service – No Students
Regular Workday for Classified Staff
Non-contract day for Licensed Staff

Enjoy another short week!

Joel

September 29th, 2013

Week of September 30th, 2013

teaching-matters

Hello Awbrey Park  Staff,

 

Now that we’re in our fourth week of school, the school year definitely feels like it’s in full swing. It’ll be nice to have a shorter week with students and work on professional development this week and next.

Several items of note for this week:

October 1st Staff Meeting- We have many things to cover in this meeting. First, we will begin our journey in understanding the Smarter Balanced Test our students will need to complete in less than two years. Please bring your laptop to the staff meeting  to take this sample test. We will also cover some new systems we have in place.  

Here is our agenda:

Connections: Morning Meeting Protocol-

1. Smarter Balanced Practice Test
2. PBIS New Referral and Harassment, +Stop Walk and Talk- Kristen
3. IPBS Overview- Tami, Jason, Joel, and Kristen
4. IIPM/ IPBS Dynamic- Joel and Andrew
5. Leadership Plan Discussion and Vote- Whole Staff,  Joel shares grade level names.

 

Oct. 4th PD Day, 8:00-11:30, Room 13 – Below is the agenda for Friday’s professional development day. Sarah Grace and Lindsay Gietter will be leading our work in the Common Core this year. In addition, Kathy Luiten (SDS) and Peggy Marconi of the Oregon Writing Project will be working with us.

Classified staff are not required to attend this PD, so please connect with your primary cooperating teacher beforehand on how you can help this day.

Time
October 1 Take smarter balanced practice test
8:00 Overview of the common core
8:10 ActivityRead and rank the 6 shifts in order of how hard to implement
8:30 Resources / Website Review- Give time to explore
8:45 Shift: Informational Text*What percentage of your unit is Informational and what percent is Narrative*How can we increase the informational text?  What can we kick out/ add??
Shift: Text Dependent Questions*Take a story- look at your questions.  How can you improve your questions
9:45 Break
10- 11:30 Informational Mentor text Lesson Link between informational text and argumentative writing

Goals Meetings in October- Please make a time to meet with me this week. Send an email when you are available or stop by my office. I must meet with all licensed staff to complete goals including specialists. The district has set a deadline of October 31st. I would like to complete goals by Halloween as well. Please use the SMART Goal Setting Worksheet to build your SMART Goal Plan. All fields are suggestions, not required to complete but are there as a guide for you. You might want to refer to the Elementary PD Course Catalog provided by the Instruction Dept. in your goal worksheet.

Emergency Sub Plans – A reminder to teachers that two days worth of “Emergency Sub Plans” should be available in your teaching space. You do not need to have this submitted to the office but it should be ready to go. This folder should contain at a minimum:

• A daily schedule, current seating chart, recess/lunch/bus or other duty
• Procedures for arrival/dismissal, classroom rules/routines, school procedures
• Lesson plans and the location of materials needed for the lessons
• Bell schedule
• Map of school including the locations of helpful staff members
• Pertinent information regarding children that need medication, have special needs, or receive special services
• Names of responsible students who can be counted on for assistance
• Important characteristics of the class

Teachers may also include special assignments or projects that a substitute could use if a lesson does not go as planned. The inclusion of “canned” lessons is also suggested in the event of an unexpected illness or emergency on the part of the teacher.

Papa’s Pizza Student Incentive Award – Papa’s Pizza is offering achievement awards that can be given to students for good behavior or reaching other teacher set goals as an incentive. The students receiving the awards can redeem them at Papa’s Pizza for a free mini pizza. If you you’d like some of these for your class, please let me know by end of the week how many you’d like. Papa’s said they can provide them all school year long. I have several in my office already.

Willamette Resources and Educational Network in the West Eugene Wetlands – WREN offers classroom outreach programs and field trips for students of all ages. Programs are designed to engage students in hands-on, minds-on learning, meet Oregon State Content Standards, and provide an interpretive approach. For more information contact Susanna Hamilton at 541.338.7046 or susanna@wewetlands.org

This Week’s Links on Racism and Equity in Schools:

This first link is a video by a very sharp radio host who speaks on topics of interest to him.  He has also done a 10 minute TED Talk on the same topic.  What I enjoy about the video is the way he approaches interrupting racist comments.  I have found this video is really helpful to remember when having those difficult conversations.  The second link ties in nicely with our current study group that Christina is running with staff.  It is from on one of my favorite new blogs called Brain Pickings.  Angela Duckworth and Paul Tough have done some very interesting research on the topic of grit (self-discipline) with students.  Find some time to read it this week. It is well worth it.

jaysmoothpic

How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist, a video by Jay Smooth

 

 

 

Wisdom from a MacArthur Genius: Psychologist Angela Duckworth on Why Grit, Not IQ, Predicts Success

 

Schedule of Events for the Week 

September 30 (M)
TalentEd Self Assessment Due

12:00-12:30, Student Support Meeting in the Conference Room (Joel, Kristen, and Family)

2:30-5:00, Joel and Melissa to Title I Principal and Coordinator Meeting (Ed Center)

October 1 (T)

3:00-4:00, Staff Meeting, Room 13

October 2 (W)

3:00-4:00, IT3 Meeting (4th and 5th), Room 11

3:00-4:00,  Primary Data Meeting, Room 13

October 3 (H)
Jog a thon

3:00- Joel in Goals Meeting with Teacher
October 4 (F)
8:00-11:30, Awbrey Park Professional Development – No School

Have a nice four day week!

Joel

September 22nd, 2013

Week of September 23rd, 2013

Hi Everyone,

There are several items of note for the week:

paulocoehlochildquote

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

September 15th, 2013

Week of September 16th, 2013

Hi Everyone,

We all survived our first week of school! That was sure an intense week.

ruthwat

• Beth Shershun will be our Cohort 2 Leader with Jon Saphier – Christina Powell will continue as a member of Cohort 1.  Between these two teacher leaders, there will be much information shared and supported by our staff. My work with Saphier has been high quality and helped me tremendously to think about instructional practices and teacher support.

• Math Support on the 4j Instruction Website –

Many of you are busy planning your instruction in mathematics this year.  I want to remind you of a resource the instruction has created to be of value to you as you do this work.  The http://www.curriculum.4j.lane.edu/ pages are an invaluable resource provided to you to help you in your planning.  This page in particular will help you with math but there are several other resources available to you. In addition, the ESC at Howard Elementary has posted very detailed pacing guides that match our current school year.  You may want to take a close look at these to see if they match our needs. All documents are in Pages.

PTO Meeting Sign-Up and Involvement – The first PTO meeting came and went. I appreciated all the teachers who have volunteered to sign up for the future meetings. Kristie has updated all the dates on our Awbrey Park  Parent and Community Calendar if you would like to put them in your datebook. There are still a couple slots open if you would like to attend. I completely understand people wanting to find balance between home and work, but it’s still nice if we can show support for the parents volunteering their time to support out school. Hope to see you there! This weekend, our PTO ran  the parking at the EWEB Parking Lot. They raised over $2300 to directly support classrooms with this event!

Tardies & Attendance – Please remember that Kristie will not give out any Tardy Slips or begin recording tardies in Synergy until after 8:45, so for any student arriving in the building before then, teachers will need to mark them down as tardy and ask students to come with a tardy slip. For teachers new to the building, our staff agreement is that students are to be marked tardy if they are not inside the classroom before the 8:25 bell rings. We are trying to get students to class as quickly as possible so our students do not miss our on Morning Meeting.  In addition, please be more flexible on breakfast in the classroom. Except for the late bus issues, the majority of our students

• TAG and 504 Students – I am your TAG and 504 Coordinator. Next week, I will share a list of TAG identified students to teachers as I figure out Synergy and access our ESIS. If you have any TAG identified students in your class, you will receive an email from me this week with more detailed information. Feel free to send any TAG or 504 questions my way.

• SPLASH Grant – As in the past, the City of Eugene is providing SPLASH curriculum this school year along with grant funding for instruction in science. “SPLASH! K-8″ is a curriculum for grades kindergarten through 8th grade. Attached is an overview of the program. It includes contact information for new or replacement materials. All materials are free to teachers in Eugene.

Participating schools can receive a grant of $1,000. Schools are encouraged to use some of the money for the purpose of science/storm water education. If you choose to participate, let me know the following information:

• A brief summary of how you plan to use the SPLASH curriculum
• Names of participating teachers
• Number of students who will be involved in the SPLASH curriculum and their grade levels

Please let me know by the end of the week if you are interested.

• District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – A quick reminder that all staff must review the policy memo and sign & return the acknowledgement form to in my box no later than Friday, September 27th.

• Emergency Sub Plans – Teachers, I encourage you to prepare an emergency sub plan that is in your classroom available to the substitute. This is not a policy but it is good practice. The office will only provide keys to your room when a sub comes for you.  You should include plans for one day minimum. It’s not a bad idea to include two days of plans. This folder should contain at a minimum and be placed in a conspicuous place for any sub to find:

• A daily schedule, current seating chart, recess/lunch/bus or other duty
• Procedures for arrival/dismissal, classroom rules/routines, school procedures
• Lesson plans and the location of materials needed for the lessons
• Bell schedule
• Map of school including the locations of helpful staff members
• Pertinent information regarding children that need medication, have special needs, or receive special services
• Names of responsible students who can be counted on for assistance
• Important characteristics of the class

• Safety Week, September 23 – September 27th – I’d like to again hold a Safety Week at the end of this month to practice all of the most common safety drills. I think this is a good way to bring awareness to staff, students and families about the various safety procedures. The schedule for Safety Week will be:

Monday, Sept. 23- Fire Drill, 9:00
Tuesday, Sept. 24 -Room Clear, time decided by teachers
Wednesday, September 25 – Lock Down , 9:00 AM
Thursday, September 26th Earthquake/Fire Drill, 9:00 AM

Claire and I have been revising the procedures over the last week. We will be posting the calendar / and procedure for you in your boxes before the end of the week. All of these drills are listed in the “Emergency Procedures Manual” which is the rainbow tabbed notebook that should be hanging in every classroom. Please check in with Kristie to ensure that your red/green attendance card is accurate and that you have the proper information on your clipboard.  Kristie is posting accurate maps for you on the clipbords this week. Also, check with Larry if you are missing your red lock down key from it’s spot in your room.

• Free Space and Astronomy Resource – Find attached a flyer from Rick Kang about classroom presentations related to Astronomy and Space. They are free to schools in the Eugene Springfield area. 4th or 5th grade would probably be the best match.

• Emerald Empire Reading Council Workshops – ORA/EERC is offering another year’s worth of workshops for staff around literacy and reading instruction. See the attached workshop calendar and membership information for more details.

• Oregon Reading Association’s Patricia Gallagher Children’s Choice Picture Book Award – ORA nominates 5 picture books each year and encourages Oregon educators to read them to their students. Student then vote for a favorite at the end of the year. This year the theme for all five books is creativity and innovation. Our local council, the Emerald Empire Reading Council, can loan sets of these books to staff along with a 128-page packet of teaching strategies and activities aligned to the CCSS. Staff can email Karen Antikajian at kantikajian@cvcable.net to check them out. For more information and to see this year’s five books, here’s a link to their (very old school) website.

• Schedule of Events for the Week

September 16 (M)
K-5 Fall Easy CBM Testing Begins
10:15 -11:00, Joel Meets with Tasha Katsuda for Teacher Effectiveness Model Support Meeting (Got a question about it? Bring it by and I’ll ask her directly before 10:15.)

September 17 (T)
11:30-3:30, Sarah Grace and Lindsay Gietter out to meet with Kathy Lutein about the SEED 2 National Writing Project Grant

2:30, Joel out to appt. downtown.

3:00, First TLT meeting in Room 13

September 18 (W)

2:00, Joel meets with Peggy Marconi in office about planning SEED 2 Grant.

3:00, September PBIS Meeting

September 19 (Th)
Talk Like a Pirate Day!

September 20 (F)
9:00, Meeting with Kim Kauffman about ELL

Equity Link of the Week:

peggymcintosh

The following article (Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, by Peggy McIntosh )includes one of the most famous articles on White Privilege that came out over 20 years ago.  I first read this article in my multicultural education course in 1997. This version also includes another article and some specific actions that we can try to be mindful of as a staff as we consider how race impact our classroom. I will provide a hard copy of it in your boxes this week. Even on the second day of school, we already had an issue of race come up amongst a few students at the bus zone. It is very important that we as a staff are comfortable to talk about race with our students and help them navigate this difficult topic.

 

Have a great first full week of classes, everyone!

Joel

September 8th, 2013

September 9th, 2013

Hi Everyone,

Here we go! The First Week of School is upon us.

dahlquote

Here are several items of note items of note for this week:

September PBIS Focus_ Learn School-Wide Expectations:  The first monthly PBIS focus of the year is to learn about all of the school environments. Please review all the expectations for each space in the settings not in the classroom.

CFK First Week:  During the first week of school and second, I would like to join your Morning Meeting. I will be wandering through classrooms in the first and second week to assist you or co-facilitate if you like. I may be photographing some meetings too.

Supervision First and Second  Week of School – All available staff should help supervise in the morning near the cafeteria and the bus zone.  Also, as agreed in our staff meeting, please swap the PM supervision between primary and intermediate so that primary teachers can assist on the buses the first weeks of school.

Proposal for Friday Folders to become Monday Folders School-wide:  I would like to propose that we begin using Friday Folders on Monday as a school-wide communication tool. We will discuss and decide on this in the staff meeting on Tuesday as a group decision.  Important messages to families get lost or communicated when we spread out messages over several days. During the first week, it is ok to send a folder home before Monday.

Register Guard Newspapers in Education Program – The Register Guard provides free newspapers to classrooms (Wed. – Fri.) and are now adding free access to their Register Guard e-Edition. See the attached letter for details, but you can call or email them if you’d like to sign-up. (541) 338-2310 nancy.guardino@registerguard.com

EEF Grants – The Eugene Education Foundation hasn’t made their official announcement for this year’s grants, but they did send an email to principals saying that the process will likely be the same as in the past (each school being allowed to apply for two $500 grants and two $2,000, or for one $5,000 grant). And if you’re wondering how the EEF grant reviewers decide what gets funded, they look for grants that do the following:

• Serve the greatest number of students.
• Broaden students’ educational experience.
• Lend direct, immediate support to instructional activities and services.
• Support other efforts that are expanding educational opportunities.
• Encourage completion of a student’s education.
• Support the mission and goals of School District 4J.

The Site Council meeting on September 5th we created a ranking of possible grant ideas.

Here they are:

1. Let’s hear a story- multicultural storytelling  (2000.00)

2. Active Awbrey Park Kids- A way to help our students be active year round. (2000.00)

3.  Student Council Leadership Project To Prevent Bullying and Harassment at Awbrey Park- (500.00)

4. College Ready Kids! – Creating a school wide college and career readiness  event week at AP. (500.00)

Synergy Security Issue – CIS has asked principals to remind staff there is a lot of new data we all can see in Synergy and that all information in Synergy is confidential and shouldn’t be shared outside of school.

Title 1 Newsletter – If you’re curious what’s happening in Title 1 from the district perspective, here is the latest Title 1 Newsletter that went out to all Title 1 Coordinators and principals.

Classroom Newsletters –  I’d love to have copies of classroom newsletters when teachers send/email them home. I encourage you to think about sending some of your newsletters home electronically if you have not started to do so. Of course, many of our families still need paper if they do not have an active email. I prefer the electronic version this year. This helps me keep up to date on what’s happening in classes, and also lets me know details of any class activities.

Reading Visits in your Classrooms – Please let me know a time that I can come into your classroom for 15-20 minutes to read a story to your class and introduce myself to your students.

Staff Meeting Agenda for September 10th

Agenda:
1. Monday Folder Decision 5 minutes
2. Scholastic Week Decision 5 minutes
3. Andrew ESC Procedures for the year. 5 -10 minutes
4. Leadership Proposal from Joel – Discussion, Vote in October. 10 minutes
5. Announcements and upcoming events- Moon Festival, Jog-a Thon, Hot Diggity Dog -5 minutes

Schedule of Events for the Week

September 9 (M)

Planning Day

10:00-11:00, All  playground supervisors in Room 13 to review agenda supervision plan.

12:00-1:00, Open House in Cafeteria/ Gym and Classrooms

September 10 (T)
First Day for Students

3:00- 4:00, September Staff Meeting

September 11 (W)

Early Release Day

September 12 (H)

3:00-4:00, Q&A Session for New Staff (Room 13)

6:00-8:30, Hot Diggity Dog Event

September 13 (F)
1:45-2:15, Welcome back to school assembly

Coming up…. Fall Benchmarking -September 16th to 20th Moon Festival on September 20th and Jog-a-thon October 3rd

 

Equity and Diversity Link of the Week: This year I will be including a thought provoking article or blog entry to keep us thinking about equity and diversity in our building throughout the year.  

For Whites Like Me: An Open Letter to White Parents

 

Have a great first week of school everyone!

Joel

 

 

August 29th, 2013

August 29th

Hello Awbrey Park Staff,

Here’s the first edition of my weekly announcements. For new staff, and as a reminder to returning staff, it’s my intention with these announcements to share informational and business items here rather than at staff meetings or multiple emails sent throughout the week. Typically, I send these out on Sundays and my hope is for staff read them by Tuesday evening.

Some items of note for this week:

2013-2014 Schedules and Calendars – I will be sharing several calendars and schedules for staff on Wednesday during the application period of our training.  Mostly, I will share the building Master Schedule, Lunch/Recess Duty Schedule , PE/Music, Kindergarten EA Schedules, Assessment, Data, and IPBS Team Schedules. Classified staff will receive these at the Friday meeting in the AM.

Teachers:  Once you receive the master schedule, I appreciate any feedback on specific content you will teach. This will help me greatly as I plan informal walk throughs and other Teacher Effectiveness Model Appointments.

We will need to create our Library Schedule, Staff Supervision Schedule and Coffee and Conversation schedule in pre-service week.  Look for sign up sheets in the Staff Lounge.

Hiring Updates – Hiring has been very busy in the district in the last week. Kendra Brummett will be teaching kindergarten in the AM session. The ESS Dept. has changed our Pschool Psychologist to be Karen Apgar. In addition, we are interviewing  for the head cook position this Friday. Debbie McDowell and Alexa Hackett will be in the CLB as EA’s this Fall. Please welcome all of these wonderful folks to Awbrey Park!

Sept. 4th District Teacher Training, 8:30-3:30 at SEHS

I’ve gotten the schedule for the Sept. 4th district training day. Classified staff are not required to attend, so please connect with your primary cooperating teacher beforehand on how you can help this day.

Be sure to bring your laptop. Please come with a fully charged laptop (required) and iPad (optional). I will be bringing our school improvement plan, some cohort data from easy CBM. I will also bring a skeleton of the pd work and collaborative time we have to help you plan professional practice work.

Awbrey Park will be in Room 410 (see the map) all day with Spring Creek staff and the trainers for the various topics will rotate between rooms. The 400 hall is half way between the auditorium and the library.  Our schedule for the day will be:

Our schedule in rm. 410
8:30-9:30 Synergy
9:30-10:30 Synergy Gradebook
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-11:45 Smart Goals Training
11:45-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:30 SMART GOALS/ Joel shares schedule.
1:30-2:30 Talent Ed Training
2:30-2:45 Break
2:45-3:45 Overview of Teacher Effectiveness Model

For staff who have already taken the optional TalentEd/Perform training, HR has provided a menu of options for teachers:

• You may assist your colleagues during the training session as they acquire new skills.
• You may begin completing your self-assessment within TalentEd/Perform.
• You may begin writing your SMART goals, exploring Gradebook and/ or Synergy.
• You may explore the Teacher Effectiveness and Professional Development Growth website for additional resources.

• District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – This came out sooner than normal, so I’ll send it out now. Attached is the updated Back-to-School Memo . All staff must review the memo and sign & return the acknowledgement form to Kristie no later than Friday, September 27th. I’ll place hard copies of the acknowledgement form in staff mailboxes. There are not a lot of changes the over previous year’s memo.

• PE and Music Semester  – We will have PE with Lisa Chinn teaching PE in Fall and Music with TBA in the spring. Sara Cramer is interviewing candidates this week.

• TSS Support Model –The district,as a result of budget cuts, has changed the TSS support model and here’s how it will work for this year. David Nelson will be in the building Monday and Wednesday afternoons, 12:30-4:00. If you require technology assistance, send an email to 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu . If it’s urgent, put “URGENT” in the subject of the email. CIS will also have a Help Desk available at x7777.

• Counselor Schedule – Kristen will be doing 3rd Grade Facilitation from 8:00-12:00. She will be able to support students in a counseling manner  12:00-4:00 each day.  Please respect this time slot so she can concentrate on academic instructional interventions and Title Math support for the 3rd grade team.

• enVisions Math Materials – Now that we are fully implementing Investigations, please bring any extra eVisions student book or teacher guides to the office. We can sell these to companies like Follett to help supplement our school budget.

• 13/14 Classroom Funds –  I have decided to minimally increase classroom funds to $100 for this school year. Though we had an overall reduction in our budget, I feel that $75 is not adequate for classroom supplies. In addition,  the goal of our October Jog-A-Thon is to raise money for adequate classroom supply money.  The PTO and I have discussed a goal of creating a $200 supply fund with your classroom named in each account.

• Google Drive Forms for Teachers – I have included a Google Form to our user agreement.  It is on the backside of the user agreement. This year, we have asked that only our 5th grade parents and students sign off on Google Drive access. Here is the attached permission form (K-5)  This form must be resigned annually.

Classroom location changes:

Our new SMART Reading Zone will be Room 12.

ELD Support with Kim Kauffman will be in Room 22 near TSS Support.

3rd Grade Christina Powell will be in Room 8.

The Secretary’s (Melinda’s old office) Office will be  converted into a conference room and confidential work space. Cum Files will remain in this space and the lock will be keyed to be a regular classroom key soon.

The old conference room will now become a business office for Kristie to have uninterrupted financial work time.

You may also notice the high quality craftsmanship of Claire’s husband Ray. He helped us move our furniture and create a very positive and efficient new workspace for Claire and Kristie. There will be future office improvements I will keep you updated on soon.

 

Schedule of Events for the Week –

Monday, September 2nd

Labor Day (Holiday)

 

Tuesday, September 3rd

Licensed Staff Return – Planning Day

 

Wednesday, September 4th

8:00-3:30 Required Training for Teachers

South Eugene High School Room 410

 

Thursday, September 5th

School Improvement Day at Awbrey Park

7:45 Coffee and Pastries served in the staff lounge

8:00-11:00 Teacher Pre-conferencing on goals meeting with Joel or planning

11:00-12:00 Optional Synergy Teacher Trouble shooting session

12:00-12:30 Yumm Bowl Lunch under the oak trees

12:30-4:00 Planning Time

Friday, September 6th

8:00-10:15- Back to School Meeting (Classified and Certified) and Caring for Kids

Kick- Off in Room 13

10:30-12:00 It3 Training for 3,4,5 (K, 1, 2 Meet Joel for conferencing or planning)

12:30-4:00- Equity and Access at Awbrey Park: A conversation about achievement and race. – (Classified and Certified) in Room 13.

Monday, September 9th

Planning Day

12:00-1:00 Open House

 

Tuesday, September 10th

The First Day of School, a full day

8:25 Classes Begin – Dismissal at 2:40

 

Thursday, September 12th      

6:00-8:00 PTO Hot Diggity Dog Open House and Dinner Event Teachers available in their rooms from 6:00-6:3

 

Friday, September 13th

PBIS Welcome Assembly in Gym – 1:45 – 2:10

 

Enjoy your last moments of Summer!

Joel

June 2nd, 2013

Week of June 3rd

Hi All,

We’ve made it to our final full week of the year!

• Schedule of Events for the Rest of the Year – Here are the big events of note for the next week and a half:

June 3 (M)

9:00-11:30, Field Day – Two Sessions k-2, 3-5
2:30-5:00, Joel to Elementary Principals Meeting

June 4 (T)

11:00-1:00, Brittenham’s  3rd Grade Class to Emerald Park
12:45-1:40, Reading Train Assembly

3:00-4:00, Final Licensed Staff Meeting -Agenda includes: The Wrap Up of Collaborative Practice Project, Looking forward to 2013-2014, and a celebration of our accomplishments.
June 5 (W)

8:45-10:45- Intervention Planning Meeting (Melissa’s Classroom)

11:50-1:20, Last Ultimate Bulldog Recess

June 6 (H)
Last Day for Kindergarten

8:30-1:45, 5th Grade at ESTC

June 7 (F)
Grading Day – No Students

4:00- ?, Staff Social at Melissa Davies’ House

June 10 (M)
Last day of school
Last day for classified staff

9:00-10:00, 5th Grade Breakfast
“Grab & Go” Sack Lunch Schedule

10:55 1st grade

11:10 2nd grade

11:20 3rd grade

11:30 4th grade

11:40, Dismissal

12:00-4:00, Staff Checkouts with Joel

June 11 (T)
Grading and Conference Day – No Students
7:30-3:30, Staff Checkouts with Joel

Some items of note for this week:

• Year End Checklist & Checkout Sign-Up Sheet – Claire will be putting a hard copy of the Year End Checklist in teacher’s mailboxes on Monday. There will also be a checkout time schedule in the staff room to sign up and do a checkout with me.

• Summer Computer Check-Out – Related to the above, if you are planning to checkout any laptops, iPads or other technology over the summer, be sure to complete the district Technology Equipment Checkout Contract and return it to me.

• Site Council Vacancies:  Next year there will be several site council vacancies for teachers and for parents. We will have three teacher vacancies and two parents vacancies. In addition if you have interest in being a classified representative please also let me know.

• Intervention/ Scheduling Planning Meeting Agenda for June 5th:

We will meet in Melissa’s room on Wednesday, June 5, at 8:45 am.
The Agenda:
~How will IIPM and Data Meetings look next year
~determine the building schedule including supervision, lunch , and recess (stagger recess for grades 1 and 2)
~draft a Tier 3 schedule for each grade level including Extended Kinder Block/look at data if needed
Questions we’ll want to discuss
1. Can we continue an Inclusion Model and in what grade levels?
2. What will services look like  for Math, Writing, ELA?
• Last Ultimate Bulldog Recess:
The last ultimate is going to be ice cream sundaes on Wednesday, June 5th. It will take place at 11:50-1:20. Students will be going straight from lunch to having a sundae outside.1st and 2nd will be at 12:00, 5th at 12:25 and 3rd & 4th at 12:50

Four and a half more student days!

Joel

 

May 19th, 2013

Week of May 20th

Hi everyone,

We have 13.5 days left of school.  Here are some of the events ahead for the week.

Schedule of Events for the Week – Penny Drive for James continues, Book Fair all week in the library

May 20 (M)

8:00-11:30- Kristen out at Counseling meeting in the AM.

10:00-1:30- Edgewood Penpals visit Mrs. Harter’s Class

2:00-5:00 -Joel to Principal’s Meeting

May 21 (T)

8:00-11:30-Kristen out at ESC meeting in the AM.

7:00-5:30- 3rd Grade Field Trip to Hatfield Science Center

9:00-10:30- 5th Graders visit Madison

3:00-4:00-Green Team Meeting in Room 21

3:00-4:00- TLT Meeting in Room 15, Mrs. Harter’s Room

3:45-6:00- Joel to 4J Equity Committee Meeting

May 22 (W)

9:00-11:45- 2nd Grade- Ms. Shershun to Raptor Center

2:00-3:00- Joel and Kristen work on class placements.

6:00-7:00- 5th Grade Parent Night at Madison

May 23 (H)

9:00-11:45- 2nd Grade  Dr. Reynolds/ Mrs. Solberg to Raptor Center

2:00-3:00- Joel and Kristen Visit Classrooms to present Pride awards.

May 24 (F) 

8:00-4:00- IIPM Intervention Planning Meeting

Some items of note for the week:

4J Teacher Resources – Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, PD and more – Here is a very useful link to the 4J Curriculum Website that some of you might have seen at recent trainings. Besides having the CCSS sample tests, it also contains all of the information that was previously housed on the various district wikis (ESCs, Math, ELA, etc…). Please note that you cannot access this site  from home unless you are connected to a 4J network, or VPN. If you do not have VPN installed you can get it from the Network Services VPN page.

Year End Checklist – Yes,  the school year  is winding down quickly.  The end-of-year checklist is found on briefcase under School Info. -Then Schedules.  It’s pretty much the same checklist that’s been used in the past, but please let me know if you have any questions.

Report Cards- You have probably heard by now that report cards will be sent home this year.  We will be compiling all report card documents together to be put inside envelopes. Melinda and the office staff have already grouped and organized the envelopes for classroom use. Postage will vary depending on the amount of docs required to send home. We will be sending these out after the June 11 work day.

Last days of school: I encourage you to post a calendar of the last days of school in your newsletters. Some parents have been asking about June 10th really being the last day. Reassure them that it is a half day after a three day weekend.

Recess and Lunch Time Transitions: Some parents who have come by the school have been concerned by the somewhat disorderly transitions made by students during lunchtime. Teachers, please work to support lunchtime staff by entering the cafeteria to lead lines to classrooms. This helps in the orderliness of the transition process.

Also, please remind students about playground behavior- sharing equipment, and name calling.  We have had a spike in name calling incidents in the last week, especially in the tire swing area furthest from the building. Supervisors, see Kristen’s emails about the specifics.

The Effective Teacher Link:

Here is a link about technology again. This link has a great visual that reviews several reflection thoughts to try when thinking about a new technology in the classroom. I am sure that many of our teachers already think through these thoughts when trying something new with students, but it is great to see it as a visual.

 

Hope you all have an excellent week.

 

Best wishes,

 

Joel

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 12th, 2013

Week of May 13th

 

Hi everyone,

 

I hope you had a joyous Mother’s Day weekend.  I had time to relax with my children and enjoy this great spell of weather we are having. We have another very busy week.

Schedule of Events for the Week – Re-testing Week and  Last IIPM this Friday, Penny Drive all Week for James

May 13 (M)
1:00-3:30, Joel & Melissa to Title 1 Meeting (Ed Center)

May 14 (T)
8:30-4:00, North Triad iT3 Training
9:00-11:30, ELL Art Trip to UO Art Museum
2:30-3:30, Final PBIS Meeting

May 15 (W)
Synergy Trainings in Room 13 through out the day.

May 16 (H)

9:30-11:50, 4th to Regional Track Meet at Sheldon HS

11:30-1:50, 5th to Regional Track Meet at Sheldon HS

May 17 (F)
8:00-3:00, IIPM Consult All Day

12:50-1:30, Tsunami Skippers from Seaside

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program –

Although it’s likely a corporate scheme to get people into their stores, here’s a summer reading incentive program that may be worth sharing with students and families. Kids read any eight books and record them on their reading journal. They then bring the completed journal to a B&N store and get to choose a free book from their selection on the Reading Journal list.

Brianna’s End of the Year Reminder about PBIS –

Here is an email from Brianna Stiller that was shared with principals which I thought was worth passing along:

 “I saw Karen Hardin today and she reminded me that in the past, I have usually sent some nagging emails out this time of year, reminding us all to breathe deeply and remember what works. It’s like in golf: When you are playing badly, they remind you to start by checking your grip, stance, ball position, and alignment, because 90% of the problems start with errors in one of those fundamentals.

We all know there is no huge mystery about how to manage behavior effectively. Most of us are well aware. What we don’t always do is check fundamentals when student behavior is going south. So, if you or any of your fellow staff are struggling with end of year “Lame Duck” syndrome, check the following fundamentals:

1. When is the last time I retaught my expectations? If it was more than two weeks ago, do it again.

2. How often do I talk to kids, or use physical prompts, right after they do something right, as opposed to how often do I look at or talk to them right after they do something wrong? The ratio should be 4 or 5 to 1. In well managed classrooms, where the rate of AET is over 85%, the ratio is often about 2:1. In poorly managed classrooms, where rate of AET is less than 75%, it is often as low as 1:10. I know this not only because of the research, but I observe in 2-10 classrooms per week and I always take this data. Rarely is the ideal of 4:1 actually reached!

3. Active Engagement; Opportunities to Respond: How much of the total class time is the teacher talking; versus how much of the total class time are the students talking (talking about the content, of course!!!!!). The percentage of time the teacher is talking should be less than 50% across activities. For some types of instruction it should be more, and some less, but kids learn most when there are very high rates of active responding.

Whenever I have taught kids and had less than perfect behavior, I have never had to look beyond these three variables to figure out what was wrong.

End of Speech!!!! Carry on! You can each decide whether to send this to your entire staff — if you think it is a good reminder, do so. If you think they will say “Oh no, not her again” I won’t be offended if you don’t.

Brianna

–
Brianna Stiller, Ph.D.
Positive Behavior Support Coordinator
School District 4J, Eugene, Or. 97402
(541)790-7816
stiller@4j.lane.edu”

A reminder about IEP Meeting Compensation –

Many teachers attend IEP meetings during planning times or outside the workday. The EEA contract entitles classroom teachers to be compensated for up to four hours additional pay. I wanted to remind folks that the form will be accepted between 4/26 and 6/7 and can be found on the HR Forms section of the 4J website.

This Week’s Assembly- Jump Rope Team, The Tsunami Skippers

Former Awbrey Park student, Stacey Dundas will be bringing her Tsunami Skippers to perform for us on May 17th. This will be a whole school assembly and will begin a little before 1:00 PM. Check out her website at   tsunamiskippers.com. It tells some history and what we do to get kids involved in the sport of jump rope!!

James’ Penny Drive

Each year our 5th grade student council plans and organizes a penny drive, choosing an organization to give to.  This year the money raised will be going to support James Dahl a 5th grader in Mrs. Tait’s class here at Awbrey Park.  James used to love swimming, riding his bike and going on field trips. Cheerful, quirky and lovable, he hoped to play “It’s a Wonderful World” on his ukulele like Jack Johnson, one day. But last year, his life was changed by sudden and unexplained seizures. Since then, his life has been full of ambulance rides, hospital stays, many tests, and different medications. Yet, his seizures have continued to be frequent and without warning. It’s been a frightening time for James and his family, but he has been brave through it all.

In the search for answers, James’ family, community and friends raised funds for him to travel to a special medical center at UCLA to get specialized testing.

The doctors at UCLA found out that his seizures are a result of an extremely rare disorder called Rasmussen’s. Only 1 in ten million people worldwide are known to have it. Rasmussen’s causes seizures and brain damage. James is suffering from damage to the right side of his brain. Surgery is the only cure. James will be going back to Los Angeles for brain surgery.  We want to support his surgery by raising as much money as we can through our penny drive.

 Our penny drive starts next Monday and will go for 2 weeks, ending on May 24th.  Yes, you can bring in money other than pennies.  We ask for pennies but all money works!

21st Century Learning Link:

Here is a link on “What 21st Century Learning should look like.”

I really liked the graphic and the ideas within it.  Those of you who had time to read the NETS Technology Standards will see many connections to this article.  Your creativity and inspiring ideas for student collaboration make a huge difference in our AP student’s education. Keep it up! Take a look and click on the word map below.

21st-Century-Overview

 

 

 

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