“Anyone who stops learning is old.” – Henry Ford
Check In / Check Out – friendly reminder….that’s it, just a friendly reminder. (=
SEL/Culture of Care: SEL Ticket – Here is the Social and Emotional Concerns Ticket – If you have concerns about a student use this to alert us at the same time. For example, if you have a student “attending” but not engaging fully in lessons. Also, if a parent reports some behavior concerns while participating to you, then this is a great place to ask for help. This is not taking the place of EBISS, it’s a add-on we felt would be useful in this virtual environment.
EBISS – We are going to move our first round of EBISS meetings until after Thanksgiving Break. I really want to be present for these initial meetings and the timing prior to break is not working, nor do I feel it’s appropriate given our time in CDL versus in person instruction. I will be meeting with Julie Walker and Colleen Funderberg to discuss this in more depth on November 10th.
Also, in the interest of transparency, I am very intentionally trying to put some time and space between our old EBISS habits and our new ones and COVID has provided a convenient pause on that process. Our new EBISS needs to spend far more time in Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction. We have a tendency to skip straight to Tier 3 (and even create a Tier 4), escalating needs and ignoring the strengths of students. While I understand this is all intended in the spirit of support and concern, there are long-term, sometimes irreversible impacts on these students we just don’t see at the elementary level. We need to dial back the urgency and the speed and take our time. I hope that helps with some of the mystery I am creating…
MyOn – I was told to provide a plug for MyOn, so here it is…Go MyOn! See post below from Benna.
October 28-30 – Just a quick reminder there are no conferences – Wednesday through Friday are “normal” days.
Wednesday 10/28 – no Instructional Team Meeting- Lexia training – See schedule below;
- 11:30-12:15 All staff Lexia
- 12:15-1 Kinder
- 1-1:15 break
- 1:15-2 1st
- 2-2:45 2/3
- 2:45-3:30 4/5
Communications Audit Results – click here to take a look at the results. This just gives a good bird’s eye view of what we are doing to communicate with our families. (Update as of 10/24 – I added all teachers as editors so you should be able to see results now.)
Credit card purchases: There seems to be a misunderstanding about this rule so let’s clear that up. Personal Credit Cards = Bad; School Credit Card = Good.
Employee Reimbursements:
- Please use the school credit card when possible and only use personal credit cards occasionally. Shawna is happy to load a credit card for you.
- When using a personal credit card, please make sure the credit card does not earn any type of reward (air miles, points, cash back).
- Violating this policy might be construed as “personal financial gain” under Oregon Ethics rules.
- If an employee uses a “perks” card by mistake, please let Shawna know so we may resolve.
Inviting other students to join your groups or class? ….please be sure to communicate with their teachers and ensure there are no conflicts…We want to encourage this cross-class participation however let’s be sure to avoid conflicts with their primary responsibilities.
Tech
- myON Digital Library is coming soon!
- Teachers will have access to myON on 10/21 and students will have access on 10/28.
- Everyone will access myON through Clever.
- Optional drop-in trainings, covering some basic myON features:
- Today, 10/21 @ 1:30. Join our Webex: https://bls.webex.com/meet/dyan.sultzer
- Friday, 10/23 @ 1:30. Join our Webex: https://bls.webex.com/meet/anna.schmitt
- Monday, 10/26 @ 2:15. Join our Webex: https://bls.webex.com/meet/dyan.sultzer
- Tuesday, 10/27 @ 2:15. Join our Webex: https://bls.webex.com/meet/dyan.sultzer
- Today, 10/21 @ 1:30. Join our Webex: https://bls.webex.com/meet/dyan.sultzer
Keep in mind that these optional Webex meetings will all cover the same material. No need to attend more than one Webex. Please notice the time change for 10/26 and 10/27. A prior blog post listed the wrong Webex time for those dates.
These Webex trainings will last approx. 30-45 minutes.
Take care and please reach out with questions.
Brenna Frost
YouTube News from Amy Tarnow – As of October 26th, 2020, teachers of students in grades K-8 will have the ability to individually approve YouTube videos. This will allow these teachers and students to more predictably access educational content that might live outside of our strict filter setting. With this power comes a great responsibility. The approving teacher’s name will be associated with videos that they approve, and these videos will be visible for all students in Kindergarten through 8th Grade, not just that teacher’s students. For that reason, teachers need to be careful NOT to approve a video unless it directly supports instruction and learning goals for students. More information and directions on how to use this feature are contained in this blog post from our Instructional Technology Team:
School Photos – you can pass this information along to parents in your next regular communication:
We are excited to be working with a new photography company for school picture days this year, Dorian Studio. Founded in 1914, Dorian Studio is family owned and operated and headquartered in the northwest.
We will be reaching out to families with picture day information after we return to a balanced/hybrid or all-in teaching and learning model. Look for an update from us in January with more information.
From Becky in IT – The student support line, 541-355-8700 has been successful with helping students with their iPads, thanks to your staff, instructional coaches, site technicians and IT helpdesk folks.
The calls coming to the 8700 line have reduced to 15 or less per day and are now specific to school sites. Beginning November 2, 2020 we will return to the typical model where these calls will go directly to the schools for support. The helpdesk will no longer receive the calls or voicemails. The phone number, 355-8700 will still be used by families. If needed, your tier 1 support staff member can continue to reach out to your site technician or the helpdesk for support.
Here is a simple Tech Help Flow Chart that shows how a student can get help with their iPad.
Families should continue to work with their internet provider to help with equipment, network or internet issues. Calls are currently going to your tier 1 support staff member’s phone line. We will continue to use this phone line.
WEBEX is OUT I wish I had the same creativity as Ned over at Pine Ridge. Please take a few minutes to watch this very important instructional video for the next time WebEx goes out. WebEx Out Drill.mp4.