Madison Middle School

By barsotti_p 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2022/02/04/february-4th-2022/

Hi Madison Staff,

We’re officially over halfway through the school year! It seems to have gone so quickly and slowly all at the same time. Info is short and sweet this week.

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION (Replace Staff Meeting)

• FOCUS Slides
  • In the Focus survey, many commented that they’d like a more uniform way to check in with students on Monday. We’re including an assignment grid that you can use to document what students are working on that week. As you discuss with them what’s happening for the week, you can fill it in on a digital copy of the slide, print out your own copy and fill it out under the doc camera, or create your own grid on your board. Students may not know everything they’re working on on Monday; you can revisit the grid throughout the week to fill in important info. You’ll see a prompt to revisit the grid on Thursday.
     
    We’re starting a new art activity next week – stop motion animation. The activity will be introduced on Wednesday, then students will have a chance to use a storyboard on Thursday to do some planning for their animation, which they’ll begin to film the following week. In the survey, some teachers commented that there wasn’t enough time for the previous art activity; we’ll add a little more time for this one!
• Staffing Update:  We are very lucky that our second night custodian should be starting on Monday.  We have been without one since before the pandemic started.  His name is Jason Hilliker.  When you see him, please introduce yourself and welcome him to Madison.
• AVID Summer Institute is back! In order to revitalize our AVID program, following CDL, we are excited to be able to send a team of 6 to sunny San Diego June 26th-29th to continue building knowledge and excitement around moving toward school-wide AVID best practices. If you are interested in joining the Madison Site Team, please let Gina know right away! She needs to get names to the district coordinator. Flights, a shared hotel room, and a per diem for meals will be paid be the district. 
• Sub Plans: Canvas has been a good tool that most of us are using when we are going to be out building (both scheduled and unplanned).  We are running into a people problem with the tool.  Subs do not know the students who have behavior plans, IEPs or go by different names than in synergy.  The office will still include the synergy attendance reports with the student’s legal names but tell the sub to use the seating charts for attendance.
  • In your sub folder, please include:
    • Seating chart with preferred names and legal last names
    • Students with IEPs
    • Students with Behavior Plans
• DeadNaming: Do you know what this is? I did not 36 hours ago.  I had to google it because it is happening at our school.  The quick version of the definition is that students are using birth names and gender to be mean.  One reason this is happening more is because subs  are calling out legal names when doing attendance – hence the need for seating charts with preferred names.  We are going to start making announcements about this and there will be a Focus lesson in the coming weeks.  I am mentioning it because I want you aware and to interrupt it and if needed get admin involved.
• Tardies: I am having a hard time motivating students to get to class (especially after lunch).  Remember that you can (and I encourage you) to give minor referral for tardies for any student who has been late three or more times to your class.
• Supervision: The supervision schedule has been updated in the Zimbra calendar.  Please check it and be out in the halls supporting the students.  Also, if you are out of the building on the day you have supervision – please put supervision in your sub plans.  Think back many moons ago, your commons met and established a schedule for supervising the commons during passing periods.  Please revisit that document and update any new teachers to the plan.
• Distraction Challenge: Our students rocked round 1, I think we have been to everyone’s first periods.  In a couple of classes, it was harder for the teacher to stay focused than the students.  You know you are 🙂 Now it is time to keep elevating the distractions.  Our plan is to continue the challenge the rest of the year.  We have had some requests for certain periods and we will work to honor those requests.

DISTRICT INFORMATION                               

• Administrator Staffing News: Here are some updates from downtown.
  • Morgan Christenson, Title IX Administrator: Morgan Christensen, principal of Kennedy Middle School and Chinese Immersion, has been temporarily reassigned through Spring Break to help resolve the backlog of Title IX and Sexual Harassment investigations. This is usually Dawn Strong’s role, but she has been overseeing Covid safety. Morley Hegstrom, a retired administrator, will step in to help support Kennedy.
  • Brooke Wagner, Asst Superintendent of Instruction: Brooke Wagner has been named the new Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, replacing Dr. Jose Salgado, who left the role earlier this year. Brooke had been serving as the Temporary Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services this year and was an elementary school director the past 5 years.
  • Melissa Goff, Temporary Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services: Melissa Goff, who was most recently the former superintendent of the Greater Albany School District, will serve as the temporary assistant superintendent of administrative services. Previously, this was Superintendent Vandercar’s role before she was named Interim Superintendent and it is held as temporary during her interim appointment. 
• TAG Newsletter – Here’s some information and resources for supporting TAG students (and all students) in classrooms. February’s newletter focus is on Mental Health

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION       

• Repeat: Black History Month Resources – February is Black History Month, so I wanted to pass along this list as a starting point for resources. There are, of course, many other resources available; Rethinking Schools, the Zinn Education Project, and Facing History and Ourselves to name a few. (All credit to Allan Chinn for compiling these resources.)Info on BHM origins:
  • Awesome Video: How Black History Went From a Week to a Month
  • Article: Black History Themes
  • Article: The Man Behind Black History MonthOn Teaching:
  • How to Be an Anti-Racist White Educator
  • What Anti-Racist Teachers Do DifferentlyBlack Youth Leaders and Activists:
  • Past: Youth in the Civil Rights Movement
  • Present: Young Black Activists, Young Black Leaders and Creators Making History Today, Amanda GormanBlack History Month 2021
  For 2021, the BHM theme is The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity. There’s obviously such a wealth of resources to work with here, but these are a few books related to this theme:
  • Read-aloud: Me and Mama
  • Sony Animation: Hair Love
  • Read-aloud (there are a bunch of other great ones on this YouTube channel): We MarchLesson plans, etc.:
  • Virtual History Journeys
  • PBS Learning ResourcesKeep in mind that black history and teaching the story of historically of marginalized groups should be a year round-activity and not just a sidebar or novelty to the American history typically taught in U.S. schools. It should be viewed as a central part of the American story.

Next Week at a Glance:

I hope you have a great week!

Peter and Gina