Madison Middle School

By barsotti_p 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2021/11/13/november-12th-2021/

Hi Madison Family,

I hope you enjoyed the two day week with students and conferences. What a gift! Coming up is the last 5 day week of November.

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION         

• Staffing Update: Please join me in welcoming Larry Tonn to the Madison team. He will be filling in for Jim until we can get a permanent day custodian.  Larry is a retired custodian that cannot say “no.”  Please introduce yourself to him.  If things are not getting done the way Jim did them, please let him know and I am sure he will fix it.  Also, I would like to officially welcome Julian Kane to Madison as our new 7th grade science teacher.  I hope he will start sometime this week.  You will recognize Julian because he has been Cody’s student teacher this Fall.  I am super excited to have him be an “official” staff member.
• FOCUS Slides: Slides. 

• Leadership Plan: The leadership was emailed to teachers on Friday for you to vote and then submitted to HR.
  

DISTRICT INFORMATION                               

• Reminder About Trade Time for Classified Staff: For classified staff, trade time is occasionally earned when staff come in earlier, stay later, or miss a break due to student need or meetings. If you miss a break, especially lunch, due to responding to student need, please let me or your cooperating teacher know immediately and we will work to ensure you get your break that day. Any additional time you work outside of your contract hours needs to either to be documented for extended contract or used as part of trade time. Technically trade time is supposed to be made up the same week it is accumulated. If you work an extra 15 minutes on Monday, then we should work to have you either arrive 15 minutes later or leave 15 minutes early that week to make up that time. If you are consistently earning trade time, please connect with me as this should be a rare occurrence. The OSEA contract states: Trade Time. Trade time is equal time exchanged within the same workweek. Trade time is available by mutual agreement of the supervisor or building administrator and the employee. Employees who are scheduled to take trade time but are unable to do so must notify their supervisor by the next business day and record the actual hours worked on a timesheet.   

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• Repeat: A Note About Thanksgiving: As Thanksgiving approaches, keep in mind that student conceptions about this holiday often come from classroom activities around the First Thanksgiving as this article from NPR highlights. These conceptions of Native Americans can be both inaccurate and potentially damaging if students are presented with misinformation or “white-washed” versions of history. Additionally, we have students who identify as Native American or Alaskan Native in our school. We owe it to all our students and families to be mindful, accurate, and inclusive when teaching about Thanksgiving. When planning activities, be aware that what most of us learning in school about the “Pilgrims” and “Squanto” and the First Thanksgiving is both history and myth. Thanksgiving activities should not reinforce historical myths and/or stereotypes. If you’re planning on teaching around the topic of Thanksgiving, please either shift the focus to age-appropriate and historically accurate information or to a more personal focus on what students can be thankful for. Some resources on what to avoid and what to teach can be found at the National Museum of the American Indian, Teaching Tolerance and Education World. This Google Doc links to a ton of read aloud stories, primary resources, sites, and other information about Native and Indigenous Peoples. Here is a good article with a Native American Perspective on Thanksgiving as well as one on The True Story of the First Thanksgiving. Also the 4J Natives Program is available for classroom presentations year-round and can offer an accurate picture of Native American culture. See the next item for more details on that. Note: When I share resources like this, please do not hesitate to let me know if they are outdated or do not meet our standards for equity and inclusion. I recognize that despite my best intentions, I may at times share things that need to be updated. Additionally, if you have resources to share, please let me know.

Next Week at a Glance:

Five weeks until Winter Break and hopefully less until the ski season starts! On a person note, my oldest turns 15 this week.  There is probably going to be a new driver on the road.  My Jeep might be driving a little more crazy then usual and it will not be entirely my fault.

Peter and Gina