Important Information
Our Wednesday schedule has changed HERE is the updated version. The changes to the Wednesday schedule include:
Starting at 9:15
60 min teacher prep
60 min Targeted Intervention
24 min class periods
90 min SIW
Kathy has ordered large (11×17) color copies of our hybrid schedule for each of you. They should arrive in a few days.
This year, more than most, it is VERY important that all semester 1 (and quarter 2) grades are posted by the morning of Monday, Feb. 8. On this date all students who are moving from brick and mortar school into either BLPSO or district CDL will be dropped from your enrollment and Canvas Grade Pass Back will no longer be functional.
Here is an FYI regarding what attendance looks like in Hybrid and when calls home will be made:
- Teachers record attendance in Synergy for the students in person
- Continue to call parents informing them of their student(s) with an NPV code. The call will go out the next school day following the virtual class. The calls go out at 11:00 am.
- Students with an Unexcused or Unverified absence on a scheduled in-person day will get a call home on the same day as the scheduled in-person class
To Do
SLGG’s (Due February 26th)– SLGG’s are ready to go! They are now in TalentEd. Staff are required to have two SLGG’s, but the state has shifted the requirements for the year to allow room for focusing on student engagement, family engagement, and the social-emotional health of students. Academic goals may be considered. For those of you who want to know all of the expectations you can find them here. It has been recommended by the state and this committee that administrators collaborate with staff to establish school-wide goals. Teachers may also choose individual goals in collaboration with their administrator.
Reminders
Digital Check In & Out:
Below is more info from Paul Dean regarding contact tracing of students and staff. Today Stace spoke with Tami Pike and believes there is a strong possibility we will be required to sign in and out digitally, and very soon. In the interim, if you choose to use paper sign in and out, you run the risk of being required to retrieve paper tracing logs if requested by the district. This could happen outside of regular work hours. Using digital logs eliminates the possibility of retrieving paper logs outside of work hours.
Please note that student AND staff contact tracing is required for close contacts. The digital check out form has been modified, so please read it carefully as questions have changed. The links are at the bottom of this email; please bookmark them on your laptop and sign in and out from your classroom.
FROM Paul: Staff Contact Tracing
Please continue using your digital methods of checking-in and out each day. We are only requiring staff to log contacts with others that are BOTH 15 minutes or longer (cumulative over the course of the school day) AND if 6 ft of distancing could not be maintained during those 15+ minutes. Both of those must be true to be considered “in close contact” or an “exposure” (and should rarely happen for most employees).
Staff who have ‘close contact” with students must be logging that in such a way that they can report to a school nurse exactly who those students were even AFTER school hours. It will not be uncommon for a school nurse to contact a staff member outside of school hours and ask, “Who did you have close contact with on Thursday and Friday of last week?” Our ability to quickly answer that question will allow us to conduct thorough and timely contact tracing and reduce the number of people having to quarantine after a confirmed positive COVID-19 case.
LPHS Check In Link: https://forms.gle/AiR7JrtTJCV3ZPC39
LPHS Check Out Link: https://forms.gle/zXXVdT5jeExPnPXh8
Calendar Items
February 1st: 9th Grade Orientation (Cohort A), time 9AM – 12
February 2nd: 9th Grade Orientation (Cohort B), time 9AM – 12
February 3rd: 10th – 12th Grade Orientation (virtual) – This will be done through Advisory
February 3rd: Open Staff Meeting (Kelsey’s WebEx Room), 3:00 – 4:00 PM
February 4th: New Student Orientation (by appointment only), 10:00 – 11:00, 5:00 – 6:00
February 5th: No Students / Teacher Work Day / Grading / End of Semester
February 8th: First Day of Semester 2 — Student return in person! Cohort A (A – K)
February 9th: First Day of Semester 2 — Students return in person! Cohort B (L – Z)
February 15th: No School / Presidents’ Day
February 26th: SLGG’s are due
Instructional Practices
This week’s blog will feel especially timely: “Student have been Learning from Home for a Year. How do we Bring them Back?”
Knowing how long it’s been since teachers have unlocked their doors and welcomed a regular rotation of students into their classrooms, it feels worth recognizing that students are going to need some support getting back to “how they were” – and so will teachers. This week’s blog contains a small collection of articles discussing what students need from us: what we should remember about them, what we can do to make them feel safe, how we can help them navigate the transition successfully.
Supporting Secondary Instruction
Advisory
Starting Semester II, we will be running Advisory every Wednesday from 9:44 – 9:59 (15 min). Please see our Advisory list HERE. The names highlighted in yellow are our grade-level leaders. This team will be connecting with you regarding Advisory plans and activities.
Canvas
The Canvas Support Team wanted to help with your transition from Semester 1 to Semester 2 in Canvas. We have created a “checklist” for you as you work this week to conclude Semester 1 and work to set yourself and classes up for Semester 2. Note that we are not checking or asking for anything at this time. Instead, this is put together solely for yourself to help you out.
On this checklist you’ll notice that there are things to do if you have a year long course and a semester course. These are different and ask for different things. Year long courses will find your double checking and updating a lot, but that the transition is minimal. Semester courses is going to find yourself doing a lot of similar set up you did way long ago in September. So we wanted to help remind you of what you did! 🙂
For the most part, you know how to do all of this and this is just a helpful reminder of all the clicks you need to make.
Please view the checklist and make sure you are ready for next week!Let your Canvas Support Person know if you need additional help!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DPjde9kq-CEZTHpn7t2KMWPOQMIchcP3koKat9CqvvE/edit?usp=sharing
Athletics / Activities
Sped / 504 / LEAD & Equity /HU (historically underserved)
From Juan Cuadros (TLC) and Kinsey Martin (DEI):
Happy February–did you know that Black History Month begins today?
We encourage teachers to incorporate a variety of diverse experiences and perspectives into their classrooms throughout the year. February is one of many great opportunities to do that. HERE, you will find resources and tools that could support your professional practice in this area.
More information on our district approach, including student and family perspective from our recent listening sessions, is available on our Excellence and Equity webpage and in the recent Superintendent message. If you have questions or would like support, please reach out to your building administrator or let us know–that’s what we’re here for!
Mental Health / SEL
Relationships in the Classroom:
Each week we will highlight one of our Top 10 Behavior Coaching Tools for reducing challenging behavior. This week, our topic is RELATIONSHIPS, something many of you are likely feeling the importance of as we move into in-person learning.
Who does the student connect with in the building?
- Teacher – Student Relationships are important for learning. As we know from Hatte’s Visible Learning Research, they accelerate student achievement with an effect size of 0.52, which falls well into the zone for optimal results.
- For students who have experienced trauma, Teacher- Student Relationships are important for survival. The brains of students who have a safe and trusting relationship with their teacher experience reduced toxic stress and have the opportunity to heal, and eventually, learn. Moreover, creating a family culture in the classroom, fostering positive student – student relationships, and establishing teacher – family partnerships increases resilience and growth for all students.
- Determine a regular check in routine for students to have with a safe trusted adult. Build in increased school community time such as having “jobs” around the school, helping younger students, etc.
- Tools: 2 x 10 Strategy; Therapeutic Dosing Article, Friendometry.com
- Tools for Relationships: Include Limbic Brain Breaks
NEUROSEQUENTIAL MODEL – The Power of Relationships and Connection
Relationships: Stress, Trauma, and the Brain: Over the next several weeks, we will be highlighting Dr. Bruce Perry’s work, The Neurosequential Model in Education. Dr. Perry’s work is based on an understanding of the structure and sequential nature of the brain, which can help educators increase their students’ engagement in learning and mitigate behavioral problems. In this video Dr. Perry talks about how relationships are essential to human life and student connections. Research demonstrates that when teachers establish a true empathic connection with students, they are able to engage and reengage students in learning, and actually heal and grow children’s brains. Dr. Perry discusses the important role relationships have in learning, and gives us practical ways to do this in the school setting. The video is 7-minutes long and will change how you think about your students.
CASEL SEL TOOLS – As Students Head Back To School
As we begin to transition from distance learning back to in-person learning, SEL remains as important as ever. This is the perfect time to re-examine our efforts to make needed adjustments and refocus on supportive relationships, equitable environments, and the academic, social, and emotional development and overall well-being of all students and adults.
Safety
As our schools are reopening for in-person instruction, our district wanted to take a moment to share details about what to expect when there is a positive COVID-19 case in a school setting. They know many of you may have questions about the process and they want to help explain so that the steps are clear. Please see this attached LETTER.
Here are two documents that I wanted to share with staff. One has to do with proper storage of disposable masks. The other are directions of how to put on and take off a disposable respirator mask (KN95).