Madison Middle School

By barsotti_p 　https://blogs.4j.lane.edu/madisonstaff/2022/12/16/december-16-2022/

Dear Madison Staff,

Here are this week’s updates:

MADISON INFORMATION       

• Staffing Update: We did EA interviews on Thursday and hope to have a new EA start soon after break. Mark Taylor in our new TSS and our new night custodian is Isabel Camarena.  If you see Mark or Isabel, please introduce yourself and give them the warm Madison welcome.
• January 3rd PD Day: January 3rd is a PD and Planning Day for all staff. PD is 5.5 hours and planning is 2 hours. This was supposed to be district led PD, however with the TOSAs deployed to buildings, the instruction department is giving the entire 5.5 hours back to building principals to plan. 
  • 8:00-8:30 – Time to read two article on being a Warm Demander
  • 8:30-noon – Madison PD Agenda
    • Socratic Seminar around the two articles
      • Safir Article
      • Oregon Teacher: Article from OSBA
    • Strategies for De-Escalating
    • ISLA ReBoot
  • Noon-1:00 – Lunch
  • 1:00-2:00 – ISLA ReBoot cont
  • 2:00-4:00 – Licensed Staff Planning Time

• IEP/504 Modifications: One of my jobs is to remind teachers about familiarizing themselves with accommodations for each student on a 504 or IEP at the start of the term. Grading Days and Teacher Work Relief Days were/are prime opportunities to ensure they understand their new students. And it is their professional responsibility to serve each student eligible for special education and ADA 504 on the first day of the term. Special educators might offer help in this area, but it is clearly the general educator’s responsibility to study up on each student in their new courses. Though many staff may be focused on the construction of Canvas Courses/Modules, it is important that they set aside time to focus on this required task at the start of each term.

• Canvas Expectations for all Middle School Teacher: All Middle Schools have the exact same expectation.  If you need additional time for this, you will have two hours of planning on January 3rd.                   
  • Homepage
  • Syllabus and Course Description
  • Use of the calendar,
  • Unit/Weekly Activities organized by module
  • Gradebook
  • Acceptance of assignment submission 
     
• Repeat Upbeat Survey: As of Thursday, 60% of our staff has completed the survey.  The survey closes at the end of the day today. The district wants that number a lot higher and is sending me reminders.  If you have not done it, please do it. Last Monday (December 5th), we all received an email directly from a third-party vendor, Upbeat, inviting us to share our experience as a member of the Eugene School District 4J. For more information on this process please review the district newsletter shared last week. Participating in this survey is an important opportunity to share your individual insight. The survey should take no more than 30 min to complete and we have set side Friday after the dessert potluck as a time to complete this important feedback. The data gathered will provide leaders with an important understanding of areas of strength as well as those that may need additional attention. Thank you for your attention to this task and please let me know If you need assistance in identifying a time to complete the survey. 

DISTRICT INFORMATION    

• Reminder – All Communication Subject to Records Request: I was part of a parent listening session of parents whose students receive special education services. Many of the families shared they had made a records request of all communications related to their students and shared some of what staff had said about them and their students in these communications. This includes all emails, documents, data sheets, etc where the student is being discussed. This is just a reminder that when emailing, texting, or writing about a student, please ensure your communication is professional and respectful. Additionally, we should never be photographing or videoing a student during a moment of difficulty or dysregulation. We spend a lot of time with our students and it’s easy to fall into more casual communication or express our challenges in ways that don’t reflect our work as professional educators. All of our communications are available to the public, parents and news organizations included, if they ask for it. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to talk more about this topic.
• School Choice Season is Coming: January brings school choice. Schools are required to host an online event and an in person event. We will hold both of our events on Tuesday, January 17. I’m doing an online session at 8:30am. If you or your class want to Zoom in and share anything with families, let me know! I’m doing the same presentation in person at 5pm. Again, if you’d like to join, parents love to meet and hear from teachers and staff. Linked here are the slides I used last year. I’ll update them, but let me know if you have any suggestions.
       
• Friday District PD Sessions Paused Until the Semester: The district is pausing district-led Friday PD sessions until after February 3rd. They’ve been converted to building PD days. 
      

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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND OTHER INFORMATION   

• Winter Break Reset: I really loved this blogpost from Chaia who blogs at All Things Exceptional about involving students in your reset after Winter Break. Her big takeaways are to have a class discussion about what was going well and what could be changed or reinforced with student, teacher, and support staff voices all included. She also gives reminders about making sure your expectations are clear, consistent, and flexible (meaning they adapt to the needs of you and your students).
  

Looking Ahead:

I hope you have a wonderful break!

Peter and Gina