Madison Middle School

By gaston_e 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2019/09/29/september-30-2019/

Happy fall, y’all! 

• Friday Early Release PD: Building-Based – This Friday we will revisit our Big Deal-o-Meter to calibrate which behaviors are classroom managed and which are office managed. From there the Climate team will create a document detailing our decisions. This will become a guiding document for our ISLA work as well.
   
   
• Peter out Wednesday – Peter will be out all day at an Equity Academy cohort meeting/training. 
   
•  Staff Meeting Start Time 8am – While we work on getting consensus about our meeting start time, this week’s staff meeting will start at 8am and end at 8:45. Linked here is the tentative agenda. Amy will be our recorder.
    
• Repeat: iPads at Beginning and End of Day – As a reminder and if you weren’t able to join us at last Friday’s PD:
   
  • Picking up iPads – Students are expected to get their iPads first thing in the morning after they’ve visited their lockers. Students should not be asking to get into the carts after Focus time has ended. Carts will be locked after after Focus. If a student is on time to school and needs someone to unlock the cart because they didn’t get their iPad when they should have, that is a tech violation. If you’re unable to stop and unlock the cart for them, I would suggest either requiring them to do an alternative assignment or sending them to the office to get the cart unlocked. You will need to document that on the infraction google sheet.
     
  • Late Arrivals and Early Pick Ups – Students who arrive late will be escorted to the carts by an office aide. They have a cart key and will get the student’s iPad for them. Kids who leave early can drop off their iPad in the office when they leave and an aide will put it away for them.
     
  • Putting iPads Away – Students should not be dismissed early to put iPads away unless you are there to unlock carts and supervise. Some grade levels are unlocking carts after 5th period while others are unlocking at the end of the day – whatever works best for your team. 
     
  • Missing iPads – I took the iPads of kids who are missing tech agreements as well as the two kids whose iPads live in the office. For now, I will put a sticker over their number so you know those iPads are supposed to be missing. If kids’ iPads go missing, I am able to look them up in our fancy system to see which router they are connected with.
      
  • Cart Managers – I have trained the cart managers that were sent to me last week. Let me know if you want anyone else trained. I’ll plan on supplying them with treats this Thursday as a thank you 🙂
     
• River Walk – Thank you for your patience as we iron out all the details. We heard back from EPD about our route and discussed schedules with the elementary schools. Based on that feedback, we will likely be shortening the route and are playing with ideas about what kids will do when we return. I will share all the details as soon as we get them set. Here’s what we do know:
   
  • Lunch: We will have a BBQ lunch on the Awbrey Park Elementary field. We have decided to skip visiting the actual Awbrey Park. We may have the Awbrey Park 5th graders join us for lunch.
     
  • Prize Structure: Students will earn raffle tickets for fundraising and behavior. Everyone will get a raffle ticket in their envelope on day 1. There is a tiered structure for earning more raffle tickets based on how much you bring in in donations. Students earn 1 raffle ticket for every $5 they raise. Additionally, they earn more raffle tickets for turning packets in on time and teachers can give out raffle tickets based on student behavior during the river walk. Our goal is to ensure everyone gets to participate in the raffle regardless of ability to fundraise.
     
  • Prizes: The kids have given us an exhaustive list of things they’d love to earn. We will be sharing some of the raffle items with them at the kick-off assembly. Additionally, they’ll earn an extra Activity Night for raising $15,000 as a school. We’re thinking the class that raises the most money per student will get to pick the theme.
     
  • Themes for Focus Classes – check in with your Climate team leader, but we would love each Focus class to choose a theme for the River Walk. The class can dress up, build a “float” (ie: decorate a wagon or some other rolling device), choose and play theme music, choreograph parade moves, etc. Anything to build community and a sense of fun for the day. We will have the 5th graders at each school vote on their favorite classroom theme. The winner(s) will receive a prize (either more raffle tickets or some other group reward). Each class will need a box or container with a lid to collect their votes! 
     
  • Dates:
    • Thursday, Oct 3 – Kick Off Assembly at 9am
    • October 15 – Donation Turn in day one (5 extra tickets for turning in on this day)
    • October 17 – Donation Turn in day two (2 extra tickets for turning in on this day)
    • October 18 – River Walk all day, BBQ lunch at Awbrey Park elementary
       
• Repeat: Digital Literacy and Citizenship – the tech department has compiled a list of resources for teachers on digital literacy and citizenship. Some links will take you to Common Sense Media. You’ll have to log in to access some resources, but your google account will work.
   
• Repeat: Apple Classroom – Just a reminder that teachers should be using Apple Classroom to monitor student behavior when iPads are in use. If you need help getting Apple Classroom going, please contact Erin or refer to this guide for more information.
   
• Repeat: Grading and PD Day, Oct. 10 – The Oct 10 Building PD and Grading Day has been switched to a Grading Day in the morning (8-11:30) and district tech PD in the afternoon (12:30-3:30). The tech training will be at South Eugene HS. There will be a group session and then a break-out session. They are currently looking for presenters. If you have something you’d love to share with other teachers or a topic you are really desperate to learn about, please let me know!
   
• Repeat: CPR/First Aid Classes – We will pay for staff who want to get certified or re-certified in CPR and First Aid. Classes are held at Howard from 4-8pm. Class Dates for 2019-2020 Wednesday, September 25th; Wednesday, October 23rd; Wednesday, December 11th; Wednesday, February 26th; and Wednesday, April 29th. To sign up, please complete this form and give it to Mary. We are also working on getting a group together so we can have the training here. We need 12 staff members to hold our own training. Please let Mary know if you’d be interested.
    
• Repeat: ORSA Spanish Night for Juniors, October 3rd – The Office of Equity would like to get the linked fliers in the hands of our Latinx families and students (English flyer / Spanish flyer). October 3rd, 5pm-8pm, they will have seven colleges with Spanish speaking representatives as well as 1:1 supports for students with parents needing to fill out the ORSA/FAFSA for financial aid. This event is specifically for mixed status families needed Spanish supports and/or those who would like to speak to colleges directly in a smaller setting. Dinner and childcare will be provided. I will have a stack of fliers available in the office if you would like to send them home with Spanish speaking families.
    
• Repeat: EPD Community Awards – The North Region SRO, Nichoas Reich, send principals an email that this year he’s focusing on developing positive relationships with our students. One way he wants to do this is by introducing a student recognition program. Nick is kicking things off by presenting a Community Award Certificate to a deserving student at each North Region school on a bi-monthly basis. Each month we will ask staff to name two deserving students who exhibit courage, integrity, selfless acts of kindness, volunteerism, or any other characteristic we want to encourage. 
   
• Repeat: Duck Football Educator Appreciation  – The next home game at Autzen Stadium for the Oregon Ducks Football team is on October 5th and is their Educator Appreciation game! This 20% discounted ticket offer is for teachers, administrators, staff members, anyone with a passion for learning, and their respective family and friends. See this link for the offer.    
• Repeat: District Mandatory Policy Review for all Staff – DUE 9/30 – Linked here is this year’s District Back-to-School Memo, which covers a variety of district rules, policies, and guidelines. All staff must review the memo and sign & return the Check List Acknowledgment Form by Monday, September 30 to signify you have read and understand the memo.  Let us know if you have any questions. 
   
• Repeat: SELCO Creative Learning Grants DUE 9/30 – Don’t forget about SELCO Educator Mini Grants for up to $1,000 to bring creative classroom ideas to life. Applications are due September 30. Visit https://www.selco.org/community-giving/spark-creative-learning-grants for details and to apply. 
   
• Repeat: Talent Ed Self-Evaluation and Safe Schools Training – Just a reminder to complete your Talent Ed Self Evaluation and your Safe Schools Training. Talent Ed self reflection is due September 30. This is for all classified and certified staff.
   
• Middle School Misfortunes, Then and Now: One teacher’s take on how social media and technology have impacted students’ lives. She tells the story of a fictional student, Brian, and how one fall at school would have been treated in 2008 versus 2018. Based on our conversations Friday, this felt timely and a good reminder of how wide-spread use social media impacts kids. 
   
• News Sites for Kids – Here are some great news sites with content filtered or written specifically for students in middle and high school, as recommended by Common Sense Media.
  • The Learning Network from the New York Times
  • PBS News Hour Extra
  • Your Commonwealth – articles written by young authors from around the globe. 
  • CNN10 – The day’s news explained in just 10 minutes.
     
• About Erin – I forgot last week 🙂 A few fun facts about me: 1) My husband is also named Aaron. When we’re together we go by A and E or Erin girl and Aaron boy. 2) I have a 10 year old named Caitlin. She’s pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. She’s in Mr. Glassow’s 5th grade class this year – small world! 3) We have one not so bright dog, a Rottweiller named Gus, who pees on my carpet every time he sees our mean cat, Bear. We also inherited my brother’s cat, Quimby, who now lives in the guest room because Bear would like to see her dead as soon as possible. 4) We bought our home in Eugene semi on accident and mostly because it has a huge mural of the Disneyland castle in the guest bedroom and we thought that was a sign we belonged here.
   
  
   
• Schedule of Upcoming Events:

September 30 (M)
     3:45, Peter to MS Principal’s Meeting

October 1 (T)
     Regular Day

October 2 (W)
     8:00, Staff Meeting (Library)
     8:00, Peter out all day at Equity Academy

October 3 (H)
     9:00, River Walk Kick Off Assembly

October 4 (F)
     2:45, Early Release PD – Building Based PD
     3:30, Grade Level Team Meetings

October 7 (M) 
     Anne teaching Naviance – 7th grade Science classes all day
     Peter at PACE Threat Assessment training all day (downtown)   

October 8 (T) 
     7:45, TLC Meeting (conference room)
     9:00-11:00, Peter and Erin at All Admin Meeting (downtown)

October 9 (W) 
     Walk + Roll to School Day
     3:45, Climate Team Meeting
     4:15-6:15, FastBridge Reports Training (TBA?)

October 10 (H) 
     No School – Grading and Tech PD
     8:00, Progress Reports
     12:30, Tech PD (South Eugene HS)

October 11 (F) Tyler and Amanda’s Birthdays!
     No School – State Inservice Day (Day off for teachers)
     Regular work day for admin and classified staff
     8:30-11:30, Climate Team ISLA training (library)