Please continue to keep strict boundaries with these issues. While I want to be sensitive to family’s situations, I do want to keep a clear boundary between school issues and day-care issues. Accommodating the classroom placements due to pod organization is a very quick way to favor privilege and put our underserved populations further at risk with less support. We will likely consider some changes for siblings, but we need to draw the line there. I have held off on responding to most of our parents on this matter because I am waiting for a district level response to this matter.
Family Survey:
From what I understand now, there will be a survey coming from the district level now, so I will continue to sit on my hands on this one….
Canvas Training – as I mentioned in the email earlier – you will be using Canvas to receive training on the following topics;
Building relationships with students/families
Instructional priorities for Literacy and Math and Scope and Sequence for 20-21
Flexible grouping and providing just-in-time instruction in reading, writing, and math.
Learn how to utilize Lexia and Dreambox in the classroom and outside the classroom.
Optional overview for new hires of Wonders, Units of Study, Bridges, Number Corner, Forefront, and digital tools.
This is from the email Skip shared a few weeks ago and as you can see the curriculum material (Bridges) is targeted more for new hires in the optional section and you are not learning Canvas to use as your own teaching tool.
Grade Level Consistency and Teaming – While we were directed to create grade-level consistency during the spring, this is one area we [I] found really difficult to monitor and support. Pushing for consistency then really caused some struggle for some of you and for better or worse, I let it go. Moving into the fall, this needs to change and we all need to work on calibrating and creating consistency for each grade level.
Designing and sharing lessons as a team is a must-do. For example, if Amber creates a great 4th-grade math lesson, then I expect this to be used for all 4 classes. Start out together as a team and keep your pacing in sync. This will help alleviate a lot of those parent-pod and placement concerns and if we do it well it will cause sharing the burdens of lesson design & development in this virtual environment. It should be fairly easy to share videos, lessons, etc, from our core curriculum areas. I also think we should also consider this for Storyline as well. Once again this will alleviate those parent concerns because their placement in different classes will be less relevant with everyone doing the same storyline in the grade level. Please take a few moments to wrap your heads around this (I know some of you already have) and any challenges we need to address. Let me know your thoughts and questions. I realize this is a big ask, but I want to know what we can put into place to make it easier for you to make this happen.
ICCL Open Position – there is an open ICCL position. I would like to fill this position asap possibly by the middle of next week. If you are interested;
please email me and
please ask a colleague to complete the recommendation form (linked below) and email or send it to Candy Gellate HR.
I am going to further postpone our Secretary position. Since we don’t have students coming back to the building until the end of October at the soonest, the need to fill this position is decreased.
I had my closing date wrong for the teacher position, but I still want to move this one a little faster. The closing date is Tuesday the 11th. Some of our district-level leadership dates are also changing, so I need to work around those. The new timeline will be screening August 12th-14th. Interview window of August 20-21st. (unless something else changes on me!!!)
Student Services – similar to the Secretary position, this will be delayed so we can focus on the teacher position and start-up of CDL first.
Some great news! – thanks to Colleen Funderberg at Special Programs we will be able to see Jay around a little more as his time will increase.
Special Programs
Special Programs has pulled together a team of special education teachers and specialist to work on standards of practice and to help un-pack the July 2020 Comprehensive Distance Learning Guidance. The work of this team will help inform our fall training needs and district level guidance for students with disabilities during comprehensive distance learning
Special programs has formed an assessment and evaluation workgroup. The work group is tasked with studying recommended health and safety guidelines for in-person assessment and developing recommendations for in-person evaluations.
We cannot get involved in parent-led Pod situations. This creates some obvious liability not only for the district but for any of us individually if we get involved. I do not anticipate making class placement changes as a result of the pods. This does not need to be as urgent as it keeps getting presented; for most it’s a convenience issue not a safety issue. Do your best to keep a clear boundary between these issues.
Family Survey:
I still plan to send a survey to parents, but I won’t do this for another week or so. I am trying to get synced up with all the different levels of communication but it’s really challenging right now.
I am also holding off on a communication to families because there are still some items that are still not in alignment in terms of the board, district leadership and building leadership. These are tricky times and I want to be sure our communication is aligned with the rest of the district.
Clarifying Terms:
These different terms keep getting thrown around and I just want to provide a quick calibration for communication purposes.
Bend La Pine Online School (BLPO) – our district’s home school option – not Highland teachers.
Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) (what we will be doing this fall) \ With Highland teachers.
Short Term Distance Learning (what we did in the Spring 2020), shorter than 4 weeks.
Hybrid – This is what we hope to move into in the near future as COVID stats support the move. This will involve bringing back students part time in the building and part time at home learning.
CDL Fall 2020:
You probably already know these items, but I’ll share just in case;
EAs can provide webex instruction under direction of certified teacher.
Attendance is required will be taken daily (more details on what this looks like later).
Teacher Facilitated Learning – live webex, recorded, written instructions for lessons, etc.
Applied Learning – the activities students do as result of or in follow up to Teacher Facilitated Learning.
Grading and feedback are required and part of this model.
K-1 will continue to use SeeSaw
2-5 will continue use Google Classroom
Dreambox and Lexia will still be in play
District has some teams working on grade span expectations and best practices to be shared with us soon, but I anticipate we already have a pretty good handle on these.
The later start date should give us some breathing room, but I will still advise you to start slow and build momentum. Do not feel like you have to have everything mastered prior the start date.
Working as team and sharing videos and resources is a district-wide expectation. We have a ton of expertise already developed on our team, so let’s make a goal to work at sharing our lessons.
Staff Children:
You are permitted to bring your children to your room when you need to work from the building during CDL. Unfortunately they will need to be restricted to your classroom (and restroom) while on campus. As of right now, I do not have a solution for how to support you during Hybrid Model, but I want you to know I am thinking about solutions.
Students coming to the building:
My first priority is Kindergarten – hoping to create a process to have students meet teachers and possibly get some form of assessments done.
Next priority will be 2nd graders – need to get them to the building to learn the basics of the iPad for checkout.
1st graders – hoping to create an opportunity for students and teacher to me
Students with IEPs – I would love to see these kids get some needed in-person instruction if conditions permit.
Magnet School Policy and Waitlist Questions:
Students enrolling in the BLPO option will be allowed to keep their space at highland, however they are committed for the year. They cannot go back and forth.
Students enrolling in an outside home school option will not be able to keep their space at Highland.
If they enroll in BLPO but fail to complete the work, then they can lose their spot.
The new policy language will be re-evaluated in January.
Face Masks/Sheilds:
Our first shipment already arrived, so we should have enough of these for when the time comes. Shawna will work on distributing these and maintaining our supply when the time comes.
Working in the building;
The building is still being cleaned so if you can keep out for a little while longer it will help them finish. Some of your rooms are ready, but there are still quite a few that are not. I’ll let you know when all are ready. When you do come to campus;
Always maintain 6 feet between you and other staff.
Always wear a mask in the presence of others and when using community spaces such as the staff room, work room, etc.
Wash your hands often and especially before and after using any devices or equipment used by others (printer/copier, paper cutter, etc.). Use sanitizer if you cannot wash your hands.
Staff room – unfortunately we will not be permitted to gather in any numbers in the staff room for lunch, food prep, etc.
Looking forward toward Hybrid Model:
For when we have students returning to the building, I need you to start thinking about the following;
Be prepared to remove and store furniture that will not be used and/or interferes with desk arrangements (risers, shelves, etc.) Not everything will need to go, but there will be quite a few items we will need to store for awhile.
Surfaces to clean – “less is more” – everything at face level and below can catch and hold droplets and will need to be cleaned often each day. Reduce materials that are posted, taped and get your rooms to as much of an easy-to-clean state as possible.
Assigned restrooms – we have 3 sets of student restrooms so we will be assigning classrooms to specific restrooms. More on this when the time comes.
As of right now, PE, Music, Intervention, Lunch will all be occurring in the classrooms. (I am hopeful this can change, but right now the directives are to maintain the stable cohorts by moving specialists to them rather than moving students around the building.)
Classroom Cleaning – much of the daily cleaning will be falling on your shoulders. The district will provide some guidance on how and when but I just want you prepared for that reality (and I am sorry to add this burden).
No visitors or volunteers on campus. Exceptions are police, DHS, fire, etc. This will be challenging but the requirements are very clear. If we want to continue to use volunteers we will need to provide a drop-box system for them to pick up materials and drop them off.
Staggered starts – we will be looking at a staggered start for students to avoid any congestion and reduce mixing of cohorts.
Screening – there will be a screening process for entering the building and there will be a separate process when screening somebody with symptoms (for example, if a child starts to feel sick later in the day). We will get more training and details on this at a later date.
What about outbreaks or positive infections? Try not to worry about this, but know there will be several different avenues for us to follow when these happen. The worst case scenario is we completely shut down and again and revert to CDL, however the hope is we can reduce and isolate closures.
Staff Hiring
Please reach out to me if you are interested in and are available during the next couple weeks to be on the hiring committee for either the Secretary Position or the Primary Teaching Position. Unfortunately you will need to volunteer your time for this however I will cover your lunch as these will likely be full-days.
I am currently screening the Secretary applicants and hope to set up interviews in the window of August 19th – 21st.
The primary teaching position closes this Friday and I may ask for some help with screening as we will likely have a lot of applicants. Ideally, I would like to set up interviews during the window of August 24th – 26th.
These dates can likely shift as I have a number of district commitments that continue to shift as well.
I know I said I would send out some updates over the summer, but honestly given the progression of things, I think it’s far better that I waited until now. Even as I write this update, things are changing yet again, so I will stick to some of the more solid pieces of information for you.
First, if you have not already heard, Gary Timms is moving back to a building level position and Skip Offenhauser is taking over his role as Elementary Director. Also, Paul Dean is taking on a new district leadership position specific to the reopening of schools.
A few weeks ago, Skp and Paul met with all elementary principals and gave directives to make the All-In strategy work with our K-5 buildings. As you can imagine the sizes of our Highland rooms are challenging, so I was told to get creative and boy, did I get creative! I shared some this thinking with our ICCL team (Alicia, Marina, & Lorin) yesterday so they are aware of some of the things in the works. I explored utilizing different spaces of our buildings, reassigning classrooms, relocating different grade levels to other sites and I continue to advocate for staffing to support our needs. I am able to make several different scenarios (on paper) work while still observing the required space and cohorting requirements, but I will admit none of the scenarios are easy. Before any of you start to get anxious about any of this, just wait. As of this evening, I was told that I should hold off on further planning until after we get more information next week. Since things are about to change again, I will wait until I get this new guidance before I go any further with details for reopening next year.
Here are the things I can comfortably share;
Family Survey:
I do plan to survey our families to get some more hard numbers for who plans to return and who plans to participate in Bend-La Pine Online (BLPO) School . This will help with planning significantly.
Magnet School Policy and Waitlist Questions:
We did revise our Magnet School Policies to deal with these COVID-specific situations. Basically, the wait-list will be frozen and spaces will be protected should families choose the BLPO option (not other homeschool options).
BLPO:
BLPO is not Distance Learning and it is our district’s home school option. It’s actually been around for a while but it has not been highly publicized prior to this year. Please take a few minutes to scan this site to be informed. For more information go here; BLPO
Face Masks/Shields:
Some questions came up in the spring and early summer about face-masks and shields; our district is looking into providing face-masks and I believe they are looking into reusable/washable ones so you can have enough to rely on for a work week. We also apparently came into a decent supply of face shields, so these can also be an option if you prefer these (not just SLPs).
Teacher Math Books:
With the cohorting efforts, blend teachers will need the teacher’s editions for both grades. I believe we have most all of these needed books on campus, but we may need to order a couple more. We’ll work on this in the next couple of weeks. There’s much more to talk about regarding this topic, but just know that we should have the teacher’s editions covered.
Staffing Changes:
Last but not least, congratulations are in order for a couple of our teammates! As you saw from Lorin’s message she will be taking on the Assistant Principal position at Three Rivers which is awesome news, for Three Rivers and our district as a whole. We also want to congratulate Linda Gross as she reached a very difficult decision to retire this year. Please join me in congratulating and wish all the best for both Lorin and Linda as they take these next steps in their lives. With these two moving on, that leaves some big shoes to fill after they leave.
As for the hiring process; we will get positions posted soon and we will add these positions to our hiring for the fall. More details to come later.
Highland Staff Survey: This is a non-binding survey fo my eyes only. I am operating on the assumption that you all want to be back (even with some of the obvious concerns) however I would like to hear from you more directly. Please take a few moments to complete this survey.
I know this is not much in terms of an update for our fall reopening, but I hope it’s a start. I will be taking some vacation time Monday for a week to Lake McCall so I will not be easy to reach but you have my phone number if you want to try and reach me. You are also welcome to call our ICCLs, to bounce questions or ideas off them as well.
Also, I do apologize for sending this update so late on a Friday; that was not my original plan to send this so late in the night. Unfortunately, Ella took a prybar to the nose while helping me with a deck-reconstruction project this afternoon so our evening took a detour with a quick visit to urgent-care and she is the proud new recipient of 5 stitches across her nose. After a couple different ice cream flavors and her hall pass from deck work for the next 24 hours she is doing just fine now.
I hope you are all enjoying your summer and doing your best not to worry about the fall. I miss you and I look forward to working through this weird year of challenges whatever they may be. See you soon.
EOY Check Out – Please be sure to complete the virtual check out list from Shawna last week, also linked here.
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00 – I am keeping this on the calendar as I hope to get some news about fall on Monday afternoon, so I want the opportunity to share. If you scheduled conferences then that’s fine. I can circle back with anyone if necessary.
Grade Level Check-Ins (again I will keep these on the calendar, but if you as a team decide you don’t need these time or need to change, just let me know).
6/8 Kinder – 1:00
6/9 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:30
6/10 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
6/11 Thursday – 1st – 9:00
5th Grade Graduation – Wow – that was a lot more fun than I expected. An unexpected perk was a few minutes with each family to talk and say our goodbyes and enjoy the moment. It was like I got a string of mindful moments with just about everyone. Thank you to everyone for your work to make it happen and creating such a positive environment. If you didn’t get the chance to see the video it’s linked here; Video
Final Pick up Information:
Here is what I know about your plans (please feel free to correct or add details and I will update for everyone’s benefit);
K – Courtyard pick up
Hildebrand – Tuesday 6/9 8:00-10:00
Chambers – Tuesday 6/9 10:00-12:00
Striegel – Tuesday 6/9 12:00-2:00
2nd/3rd
Cross – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30 – Bus Stop area
Greene – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30 – Grass area west of gym
Howard – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30 – Playground
4th/5th
Green – Monday 8:30-10:30 & 3:00-5:00
Thomas – Monday 12:00-3:00
Vickery – Wednesday 8:30-10:30 & 3:00-5:00
Great PD Opportunity
I wanted to invite you to join educators and administrators across the Bend-La Pine School District who will be reading Classroom 180 over the summer. The author, Heather Forbes is the owner of the Beyond Consequences Institute . She has worked in the field of trauma and healing since 1999. She is an internationally published author and speaker on the issues that arise when children and young adults are impacted by trauma. Heather’s signature style is to bridge the gap between scientific research and real-life application. The purpose of this book study is to provide educators and administrators with a comprehensive framework to create, implement, and sustain a trauma-informed classroom. We will learn how trauma impacts the brain and how we can create an environment to support all our students during these uncertain times. (Note: You are responsible for the purchase of the book. Cost is 54.00) Draft of Classroom 180 Syllabus Registration link is coming soon in Performance Matters!
PTO Things to Ponder Results – we had 9 respondents and the items are ranked as follows;
Classroom Supplies Fund
Individual Classroom Storyline Fund
Release Days
All School Storyline Fund
Storyline Course
Storyline Consulting
John’s Two For Tuesday Tips;
Here’s how to archive and delete your Google Classroom class(es). If you archive classes, you can still access the assignments for re-use, but your past students will not see your class next year.
As we wrap up this incredible year of growth and change, enjoy these last special moments with your students, families, and colleagues…AND be sure to take a moment to set some self-care goals for this summer.
Summer projects in the works:
The English Choice Boards website is ready. The Spanish version of the website will be available soon. K-2 Choice Boards are available now in PDF for schools to print for those that require a paper copy. These Choice Boards are centered around the 4C’s (collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication) and provide students and families with fun, engaging activities that they can use to extend learning. Feel free to send the link to your families at conferences or in a classroom or school newsletter. A huge thank you to Kaelynn Adams, Lori Craft, Allison Harris, and Amanda Mattei for their time and creativity to make this possible!
Lexia and Dreambox will both be available over the summer. Here are links for professional learning to learn more about these programs: Dreambox and Lexia
Please let families know if they need help with Dreambox or Lexia they will need to contact the phone numbers listed on the Family Letters for Dreambox and Lexia
Power Up (middle school reading program) will no longer be available for K-5 students after June 30th. Please encourage use of Sora or the Deschutes Public Library.
The optional distance learning courses will be available on Performance Matters here next week. Here is a sneak peek at the options for OSU Cascades credit:
Providing “just-in time” Instruction for Gaps in Foundational Early Literacy Skills (2 credits)
Whole Brain Child Book Club (2 Credits)
How Math Teaching Matters (2 Credits)
Classroom 180 Book Club (2 Credits)
SIOP Refresher (1 Credit)
Sheltering Strategies for Remote Learning (1 credit)
Meeting the Needs of All Students: Differentiation is the Key (1 credit)
Daring Classrooms and Schools: Practicing Vulnerability, Relationships, and Dialogue as a Basis for Equity Leadership (Credits TBD)
Other optional distance learning courses that will be offered without credit:
Here is what I know about your plans (please feel free to correct or add details and I will update for everyone’s benefit);
K – Courtyard pick up
Hildebrand – Tuesday 6/9 8:00-10:00
Chambers – Tuesday 6/9 10:00-12:00
Striegel – Tuesday 6/9 12:00-2:00
1st –
Eriksson – Thursday 6/4 pm and Friday 6/5 am (bus drop-off)
Fetrow – Friday 6/5 1:00-3:00 (bus drop-off)
Gross – Friday 6/5 – 1:00-5:00 (west grass area by parking lot)
2nd/3rd
Cross – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30
Therrian – Drive-up destinations and times TBD.
Reisinger – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30
Greene – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30
Howard – Wednesday 6/10 – 12:30-2:30
4th/5th
Staggered times and dates during last week still TBD.
Class Placements:
Thank you for your hard work on this process. I know it’s a big step to use this program in place of the cards, but as you can now see it is still entirely under our control. We can always revisit the lists now that you have had an opportunity to sleep on it for a few days. Please remember that lists are always subject to change and they are not complete until we post in August. I know I seemed a little antagonistic during these placements and I apologize if this offended anyone. I am doing my best to play devil’s advocate and call out some of our practices that contribute bias and threaten equity. Many of you are citing “expectations” that are driving this, but it’s important to remember that you cannot control the expectations of others. You, as the professional, can control practices. Right now you are in a cycle of practices feeding expectations and expectations feeding practices. My hope is you can work with me to de-personalize the issue and reel back this cycle and the potential for any inequity for students, teachers and parents.
Staffing Update:
While my staffing plan is still technically on hold, I will share some staffing updates that I feel are safe to share for the moment:
Pat Stout will be retiring. Congratulations and you will be missed! Pat, I know you gave Highland far more than our allotted shared time and I cannot accurately express how grateful I am for your dedication and commitment to this staff and students.
Asha Dicharry will be our new SLP. Most of you already know Asha; her daughter, Eva is now in middle school and her son Cole is with us now. Asha also did some training and sub work for Pat over the past couple of years. She’s a familiar face and I hope you will join me in giving her a wonderful welcome to Highland.
I am pleased to let you know that Megan Truelson is returning next year as our school psychologist. Megan’s son, Walter, is also joining us as a Kindergartner next year. Megan joined partway through the year when Jim Mills left. Now that she is coming back to us, I feel she deserved another more formal welcome to the team.
I am sure you will join me in disappointment as I share that Sara Striegel will not be returning next year due solely to her temporary status. Sara, I speak for everyone when I say we enjoyed your time and your contribution to our community these past two years. You will be missed and we wish you all the best.
Although you probably already figured this out, just to make it more official; Anna Park will be returning to us after her two-year teaching experience abroad. I am sure you will enjoy reconnecting with her (in-person) in the next few months.
And once again in the interest of making it official; Ukiah Yeager-Woock is rejoining us after her leave of absence for the past year. We will also look forward to welcoming her back to the team in the fall (summer).
Heidi Thomas’s next step is still yet to be determined. I wish we could share more concrete information but the uncertainty with her position is tied to this budget uncertainty.
Last but not least, I am bummed to share with you that Elizabeth Meskill will not be returning next year. This was a difficult decision for her as she loves working with this team, but after a lot of consideration, she is putting her family first which is something we can all support. We will be working on hiring her replacement in August.
All these changes, whether somebody is leaving us or rejoining us, are causes for celebration. I started to talk myself into hosting a backyard gathering because I feel so strongly we should be coming together to celebrate each other, however I simply cannot bring myself to risk it. It also did not help that I woke up the other night to a nightmare of Gerry the Principal and his opening line was the following; “Did you hur bout that Urogon Purncipal?!?! He infurcted his ‘tire staff jus cuz he wanted to throw a party!!” (If you have not already seen Gerry the Principal – then you need to stop and do a quick search for him on FB or youtube, then the humor of this statement will hit home.) Anyway, please know this is not how I would like to see closure to this school year and I sincerely hope we can make up for it in the future somehow.
I might be able to fund a few people for the limited access for this – depending upon interest level. If interested and you are certain you will use it, please email me.
As you close out the school year think about what you have learned in the last couple of months. Take a moment to reflect and take several deep breaths!! What are some of the things you have learned that you will take with you as we move into next year? Take a minute to write yourself a note dated August so you can open it and remember the things you want to implement.
Summer projects in the works:
The Choice Boards website is not quite ready yet. We will send a link that you can communicate with families by June 10th. K-2 Choice Boards are available now in PDF for schools to print for those that require a paper copy.
Lexia and Dreambox will both be available over the summer. Here are links for professional learning to learn more about these programs: Dreambox and Lexia
Please let families know if they need help with Dreambox or Lexia they will need to contact the phone numbers listed on the Family Letters for Dreambox and Lexia
Power Up (middle school reading program) will no longer be available for K-5 students after June 30th. Please encourage use of Sora or the Deschutes Public Library.
Summer professional learning:
The optional distance learning courses that will be offered for OSU Cascades credit will be available for sign up on Performance Matters next week. Here is a sneak peek at the options:
Providing “just-in time” Instruction for Gaps in Foundational Early Literacy Skills (2 credits)
Whole Brain Child Book Club (2 Credits)
How Math Teaching Matters (2 Credits)
Classroom 180 Book Club (2 Credits)
SIOP Refresher (1 Credit)
Sheltering Strategies for Remote Learning (1 credit)
Meeting the Needs of All Students: Differentiation is the Key (1 credit)
Daring Classrooms and Schools: Practicing Vulnerability, Relationships, and Dialogue as a Basis for Equity Leadership (Credits TBD)
Other optional distance learning courses that will be offered without credit:
Know you can report anyone to me who is not observing these guidelines.
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00
Grade Level Check-Ins;
Kinder – Do you still want to meet on Monday at 1 or do you want a different time this week?
5/26 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:45
5/27 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
5/28 Thursday – 1st – 3:00
5th Grade Graduation – If you are interested in the nitty-gritty details feel free to check this out; 5th Grad Plans. I can provide a staff-specific one later if necessary.
Final Week of School – Please be sure to read the newsletter to families, so you see what they read about the final week. I have clarified the following;
Last day of instruction – Friday, June 5th
Last day of School – Thursday, June 11th
2nd-5th-grade iPads – These can stay home. Parents are officially notified in 5/22/20 Newsletter and there is a letter from Skip for families to read.
Class Placements:
Thank you for your work on the surveys. As of 6:00 pm Friday evening the first round is done and classes will be ready for examination next week.
Insights from Psychology and Neuroscience
(Originally titled “The Sciences of Teaching”)
“Teachers shape young lives and build young brains every day,” say Carol Ann Tomlinson (University of Virginia/Charlottesville) and author/consultant David Sousa in this article in Educational Leadership. “The more we know about the how and why of doing those two things, the more the learners in our care will benefit.” Tomlinson and Sousa summarize some of the key findings from the psychology and neuroscience of learning – and suggest how schools can tap them to continuously improve teaching and learning:
• Growth mindset – Learning is boosted when educators and parents are aware of their own mindsets, explain, teach, and reflect often with students on how growth mindset works, establish a conducive classroom culture, and empower students to control their own metacognition.
• Prior knowledge – Teachers must constantly connect what’s being learned to what students already know – and be aware of the variations in each student’s fund of knowledge. It’s helpful when learning units are built around big ideas and key concepts tied to students’ interests and insights.
• Social-emotional skills – Effective teachers cover knowledge and skills and link them to their emotional significance, crafting assignments that ask students to use knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.
• Diversity – The best schools are keenly aware of the panoply of differences in each classroom, make students partners in creating learning environments that work for them, and help students build on their strengths and work through their learning difficulties. It’s especially helpful when students have voice and choice in their learning.
Summer Learning Guidance – I might be able to fund a few people for the limited access for this – depending upon interest level. If interested and you are certain you will use it, please email me.
Julie’s Weekly Update from 5/22/20
We have learned some pretty cool things on this journey. One thing we have learned is that we had to pivot incredibly quickly to distance learning and that constraints can lead to remarkable innovation. “We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused.” Margaret Wheatley The productive struggle that all of us have gone through has led to creativity and innovative ideas. Think back to where we were on March 11th and where we are now….just WOW!! It is amazing to watch all of you and how innovative you have been. Thank you for all you do. You are very appreciated.
We want everyone to know that there are several committees working together thinking about different scenarios for what school will look like and what professional learning will look like in the fall and are awaiting more guidance from the state before making final decisions. Your administrator will communicate with you as more information becomes available.
Many of you are starting to plan for the summer and fall. Here are a few projects in the works for re-entry:
For the summer, we have teams working on:
Summer Choice Boards are almost complete!!! We have created a board with fun, engaging activities for families. We have built one for K-2 and one for 3-5. They will be available in English and Spanish. We will have these available to share before the end of our share at conferences.
Several classes for teachers will be offered for OSU Cascades credit this summer. You will receive information on this next week.
For the fall, we have teams working on:
An early literacy boot camp, diagnostic assessments, how to use Lexia in the classroom, identifying priority standards and creating a scope and sequence for literacy instruction and guidelines for literacy instruction moving forward.
Diagnostic math assessments with targeted lessons to meet whole class, small group, or individual needs based on the data. Including a new scope and sequence.
Dreambox will be available throughout the summer and next year for grades k-5!!
Lexia is still being negotiated for the summer and next school year. Stay tuned for a decision.
Know you can report anyone to me who is not observing these guidelines.
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00
Grade Level Check-Ins;
5/18 Monday K – 1:00
5/19 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:45
5/20 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
5/21 Thursday – 1st – 3:00
5th Grade Graduation – Thursday, 5/4 from 9:00-12:00. Drive-thru celebration. More details to follow.
Final Week of School – June 8th-11th. This week is designated for your end of the year conversations with families as well as any final pick up of materials for families. I am not sure how to best deal with any further need for picking up materials and I am open to your input – do you want to deal with it class by class, day by day? Or do you need a larger more organized day? Please send me a quick email with your preference or let’s talk during the grade level meetings this week.
2nd-5th-grade iPads – we did get confirmation these will be allowed to stay home for the summer. We should be getting a one-pager from Skip’s team intended for parents to provide some guidelines for summer use.
Class Placements: If you are not going to be able to meet the deadline this Wednesday 5/20, then let me know otherwise we will move into the next phase of this process the following week.
Report Cards:
Report cards are ready for you.
You will not be able to insert marks (on their report card entry window in Synergy TeacherVue) on the items displaying an ‘NA’ or ‘N/A’. These areas are grayed out on their views in Synergy.
You will not be able to insert or modify the Semester 2 Comment.
The marks of ‘P’ and ‘I’ are now available in the drop-down list that displays the available marks for the report cards.
My advice;
Look for any reason or cause possible to give the “P”.
If you are not comfortable with giving the “P”, then use the “NA”.
If I am being totally honest I am not sure any benefit comes from using the “I” on a report card at this time.
If you do use the “I” then it goes without saying that your end of the year conversation with parents should be focused on the justification for the “I”.
If the justification has anything to do with what you feel you are observing through distance learning or any lack of engagement then the “I” is not appropriate and you will find yourself in a difficult position to defend.
Question, Persuade, Refer
We will have staff training on QPR scheduled for February 2021, however, if you are interested…
The QPR Gatekeeper course is taught in a clear, concise format using the latest in educational technology and practices. The course takes approximately one hour to complete.
Key components covered in training:
-How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal.
-How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
-The common causes of suicidal behavior.
-The warning signs of suicide.
-How to get help for someone in crisis.
Trainings are provided by Certified QPR Instructors in Oregon. This training is being offered at no cost on the following dates:
“Without preparation or permission, we’re participating in the greatest social science experiment of all time,” says Andy Markowitz in this article in AARP Healthy Living. He suggests some ways this public health and economic crisis may influence behavior over time:
– Working from home – Having experienced it, many are taking to the experience.
– Seeing your doctor – Telemedicine was rare before Covid-19, but is widespread now.
– Shopping for groceries – Online purchasing saves time and aggravation.
– Staying in touch – Zoom happy hours and Facebook Live watch parties will endure.
– Wearing face masks – What was common in Asia is now more accepted in the U.S.
– Movies at home – Streaming Netflix and other platforms have proven themselves.
– Traveling by air – The experience will be different in a number of ways.
– Riding public transportation – Same here.
– Protecting your privacy – People may become receptive to electronic contract tracing.
– Washing your hands – The message is getting through.
“10 Things the Pandemic Has Changed for Good” by Andy Markowitz in AARP Healthy Living, May 4, 2020, https://bit.ly/3dB4cR3
Happy Mothers Day to all you moms!! I hope you took some time for yourself for whatever you need this weekend. You deserve it.
The following quote really struck me;
“Distance learning requires us to be humans in an inhuman situation. We can’t simply provide lessons and assessments; we have to bridge this digital gap and carry some sense of humor and goodwill and community through the cold wiring. If we’ve succeeded in even a modicum of that task, we owe that to the success in the months prior when we created something special. A school family. A community that could rely on itself, that could flourish even in isolation.”
Daniel Parsons in “I See Education and Humanity in ‘Full Bloom’ in My Covid-19
Not-so-fun-thought: Just think…we could be starting SBAC today! Let’s take a moment to enjoy that small silver lining….although, if I am being honest, I would happily trade the inconveniences of SBAC testing over remote learning any day.
Staff Appreciation: It felt weird not to jump in and participate this past week with all the other schools, but please know this is not forgotten and our PTO has never disappointed our staff in this area. You are sooooo appreciated and there is an army of parents who are incredibly emotional that their opportunity to express their appreciation is tainted by COVID-19.
PTO Update – the PTO board met last week so I thought I would share some information from the meeting;
First, they wanted me to express their deepest appreciation and share virtual hugs with all of you.
The giving campaign fund is sitting with approximately $19,000 remaining in the budget. During this emergency time, the bylaws freeze almost all budget/spending decisions until a time when normal school operations pick back up. Any outstanding bills can still be paid, but there will not likely be any new requests and this remaining balance should not be treated as an unrestricted fund.
There is a strong likelihood that we may need to suspend 2020-2021 Giving Campaign until a time when it feels appropriate. Right now all schools are directed not to fund-raise and this also suggested for parent groups as well. When to start that process is really questionable until the economy picks back up. Starting too early would show really poor form and could cause long-term damage to the effort, so it’s a tricky situation.
The board also made the decision to postpone elections of new officers until a time when this can happen safely. Fortunately, everyone is agreeing to stay on with their current positions until a successful transition can happen.
Social Distancing reminder whenever on campus.
Stay 6 feet apart.
Wash hands often.
Wipe down the surfaces you use.
Know you can report anyone to me who is not observing these guidelines.
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00
Grade Level Check-Ins;
5/12 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:45
5/13 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
5/14 Thursday – 1st – 3:00
5/15 Friday – K – 1:00. Changes to Mondays @ 1:00
Class Placements: Thank you so much for you input on this process and I really appreciate your openness and willingness to this new program. After meeting with each of your teams, I will make some final adjustments to our characteristics. Once this is done, you should receive an invitation to complete your student surveys (these are virtual cards). You should have your parent input forms ready on Tuesday. I will also send a separate email to summarize the meeting input refected in the process. All in all, I feel we did a great job streamlining and calibrating our characteristics, so I think you will be happy with it. My hope is we can put a deadline to complete the student surveys by Wednesday 5/20. If you think this is going to be a difficult deadline, then let’s discuss. We can be flexible.
TAG Letter– This is just FYI – This letter was sent to parents of third grade TAG students last week. The district will see how many commit to the program before sending invites to anyone else. We are still in holding pattern in terms of identifying students who still need a 97th %ile or above on a standardized test. If you have parents asking about this, please talk to me or encourage them to talk to me so I can explain our situation. (a.k.a., it’s a pickle!)
National Boards- National Board certification recruitment has begun! Heather and Michele, working alongside OEA and TSPC, have 3 virtual recruitment sessions set for May. If you have teachers who are interested in pursuing National Board, please share the OEA flyer that is in the google folder. There are also several resources available for you. Teachers who are “shoulder tapped” by an administrator are more confident and eager to grow their professional learning in this way and become teacher leaders in their buildings.
1) HB2763 will reimburse teachers for the cost of certification once they certify
2) OEA has a grant to support teachers of color and novice teachers (first 5 years) in their pursuit of NB certification
3) MidOregon Credit Union is offering zero interest loans for our candidates in order to support in the upfront cost.
Last Week of School Draft Plan – June
Remember what I wrote last week??? Well forget it. On to the next plan…TBD
The following factors have changed on me;
We may not have to collect iPads. This is still not a 100% decision-made, but it is likely.
I cannot invite students to the campus.
You are going to be providing end of year conversations for your families, so you will likely need the time to make this happen.
Distance Learning Resources
Paraeducator Professional Development webpage- The HDESD is excited to share the Paraeducator Professional Development webpage, compiled by the Culture of Care Coaches (link below).
For leaders and administrators, there is a catalogue of opportunities at the top of the page, that allows you to view the comprehensive list of PD in the event you want to plan and organize specific content for certain programs/staff. In addition, there is a Professional Development Reflection Document that can be used by staff.
All of the content is then divided into categories on the webpage, with a variety of resource links/videos for paraeducators to access. It will be updated weekly with new resources/links.
In this National Geographic article, Julia Sklar reports that many K-12 and university teachers are finding remote instruction more exhausting than in-person teaching. Cognitive scientists say that virtual interactions are more taxing on the brain – because we’re trying to make up for the copious information we get, without knowing it, during face-to-face interactions.
When we’re physically with others, we’re listening to the words, but also picking up dozens of non-verbal cues – facial expressions, whether the person’s body is facing us or slightly turned away, their fidgeting, perhaps a quick inhalation as a prelude to an interruption. “These cues help paint a holistic picture of what is being conveyed and what’s expected in response from the listener,” says Sklar. “Since humans evolved as social animals, perceiving these cues comes naturally to most of us, takes little conscious effort to parse, and can lay the groundwork for emotional intimacy.”
During a video call, seeing people from the shoulders up, very few of these cues can be perceived, which puts much more cognitive load on listening to what’s being said. We search for non-verbal cues that can’t be seen, and eye contact on the screen can be disconcerting if held too long, which would seldom be the case in a face-to-face conversation.
“Multi-person screens magnify this exhausting problem,” says Sklar. “Gallery view – where all meeting participants appear Brady Bunch-style – challenges the brain’s central vision, forcing it to decode so many people at once that no one comes through meaningfully, not even the speaker.” One psychologist called this attempt to multitask “continuous partial attention,” like trying to cook and read at the same time. A regular telephone conversation is much less taxing because we’re only expecting the voice and we’re not looking for visual cues.
Interestingly, says Sklar, video calls can be a boon for people for whom in-person conversations are challenging – for example, many with autism. However, for others on the spectrum, video calls can be disconcerting because of sensory triggers such as loud noises and bright lights.
It’s possible, concludes Sklar, that “Zoom fatigue will abate once people learn to navigate the mental tangle video chatting can cause.” In the meantime, one trick is turning off your camera and concentrating just on the words, saving video images for when they’re really necessary – or when we want warm fuzzies from a loved one. Another idea is using a phone for a chat and walking around. There’s evidence that meetings on the move can improve creativity.
“‘Zoom Fatigue’ Is Taxing the Brain. Here’s Why That Happens” by Julia Sklar in National Geographic, April 24, 2020, https://on.natgeo.com/2Wxl0BI
Julie’s Weekly Update from 5/8/20
Once again you have traveled through the week with resilience and grace. Below are some resources and ideas to support you in the coming weeks:
“We are not just working from home…We are at home during a crisis trying to work.” Through the HDESD Culture of Care Coaches, learn how to create an online Wellness Circle for your school team.
“Any time we are presented with change, our stress response is activated.” – Bruce Perry
Join Bruce Perry during his office hours M/W/F at 11:00 a.m. to learn more about Trauma and the Neurosequential Model in Education. A thought provoking journey through Virtual Education. Bruce Perry Office Hours Webinar
More resources from Bend La Pine Behavior Coaches and Culture of Care Coaches:
Here are some ideas to engage students in some fun activities to keep them coming back to meetings during this warm weather. Continue to add your ideas to this document.
Know you can report anyone to me who is not observing these guidelines.
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00
Grade Level Check-Ins;
5/5 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:45
5/6 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
5/7 Thursday – 1st – 3:00
5/8 Friday – K – 1:00
Storyline Team Update – After careful consideration, the storyline team decided to postpone RK until Spring 2021. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty around what our fall will look like, so we feel this gives us the best shot at creating the RK experience we want for our students. This means you can start to wrap your heads around planning for either individual or grade-level storylines for the fall and winter.
2020-2021 School Year – There are lots of ideas swirling around about what the start of next year will look like. Technology and the speed of sharing information is not a helpful factor right now. Getting information quickly can be helpful, however, getting information before it’s necessary and possibly before it’s even accurate can be incredibly anxiety-provoking. I, personally, am wrapping my head around multiple scenarios between the range of all-online and back-to-business-as-usual, but I do not advise you to think that way (if you can stop yourself). My suggestion is to wait until we have a clear direction. I promise as soon as I have that direction I will share it with you. In the meantime, my advice to you is the following;
Continue to challenge yourself to improve your use of instructional technology. Add tools to your toolbelt.
Improve & enhance lesson delivery. Move from live instruction to pre-recorded instruction.
Create work, assignments, problems that are universally challenging and accessible. Think back to our work with math and mutliple-entry points.
Streamline methods for students submitting work for your evaluation and feedback.
Refine methods for student-self-evaluation of work. Goals, Rubrics, Peer-feedback partnerships.
Now that you know RK is not happening; consider storylines that could potentially be successful online.
Work on teaming. You have strong teams here but you still work in quite a bit of isolation. You can share lesson-creation. You can co-evaluate student work. You can divide and conquer to save time.
Learn how to leverage Dreambox, Lexia, and other similar programs. The teacher dashboard can tell you a lot about how your students are progressing.
All these actions will serve you well regardless of how the Fall scenario plays out.
Class Placements: We were able to secure an online program to do this process. I will talk to you in your grade level team check-ins this week about this process.
Last Week of School Draft Plan – June
This is a rough draft, so please feel free to help me refine it and offer up suggestions;
My hope is we could have all or most all teachers out for each day to provide a fun send off for each group of students.
For your exchange time (listed below), each teacher would divide your given time slot into 10-minute time segments and ask families to sign up to a specific time frame to help limit numbers.
Students will be invited to come with their parents.
Families will come with iPads, bricks, library books, etc.
Their belongings will be in a paper bag in the gym (similar to May 1st).
I would like to create a path or “walk of inspiration & celebration” – after students drop iPads etc. and pick up their things the exit walk would require them to stop by any number of staff members there to say goodbye and provide an inspirational quote or image or something fun for them as they depart. We can space these out on sidewalk, grass area and/or courtyard depending upon how many stops we want to create in the path.
I will provide instructions to parents about the where and when, as well as reminders to maintain social distancing.
I will also be sure to make it clear they can come at the time when it makes the most sense to them for the families with siblings.
There will also be a handful of parents who will need an alternative time, so I will be sure to accommodate their needs.
6/9 Tuesday – K-1 Day
8:00-9:00 Fetrow
9:00-10:00 Eriksson
10:00-11:00 Gross
11:00-12:00 Hildebrand
12:00-1:00 Striegel
1:00-2:00 Chambers
6/10 Wednesday – 2/3 Day
8:00-9:15 Cross
9:15-10:30 Therrian
10:30-11:45 Resinger
11:45-1:00 Greene
1:00-2:15 Howard
6/11 Thursday – 4/5 Day
8:00-9:30 Vickery
9:30-11:00 Martinson
11:00-12:30 Thomas
12:30-2:00 Green
Distance Learning Resources
Synchronous versus Asynchronous Instruction
In this article in Education Week, Mark Lieberman says teachers across the U.S. are facing a novel question: When and how often during the school day do my students need to see me? In other words, how much of daily instruction should be synchronous and how much asynchronous? Lieberman gathered ideas from several experts:
• Don’t waste students’ time. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to do a 15-minute lecture live,” says Susan Patrick (Aurora Institute). Asynchronous communication (e-mails, text messages, videos) is efficient for basic instruction, launching a discussion, and setting deadlines. Synchronous communication (a videoconference) works best for discussions, sharing ideas, brainstorming, and spontaneous conversations. A big advantage of asynchronous lectures is that students can watch at their own pace, rewinding if necessary or watching more than once to fully grasp the content.
• Don’t go overboard with synchronous teaching. Overly long live classes can be overstimulating for students and maddening for teachers. “Expecting students to be glued to their computers all day is especially unrealistic in households with more children than devices,” says Lieberman. “So relying too much on this approach could contribute to equity gaps, with students who have easy access to technology getting an edge over those who don’t.”
• Asynchronous learning allows flexible pacing. Teachers can use a variety of approaches: an interactive game, a practice quiz, a supplementary video. Students can feel a kind of ownership of their learning that’s not possible in classroom settings, feeling less rushed by their classmates and able to go over material at their own speed.
• Give parents clear direction. There are big differences in how parents should be working with elementary students (lots of structure) and what’s appropriate for high-school students who might, for example, choose to do all their English work on Sunday and all their math on Monday.
• Synchronous learning can be informal. Teachers might conduct virtual office hours, inviting students to join them between certain times, or arrange for an optional lunch chat. Real-time class meetings or kick-offs for the day are especially helpful for younger students.
• Choose the best modality for different subjects and lessons. English might be best taught asynchronously when students are doing a lot of thinking and writing on their own. Math, on the other hand, might lend itself more to synchronous instruction, when students need to ask questions and get real-time help.
• Asynchronous doesn’t mean absent. Because some students won’t take the initiative to get in touch, teachers need to be systematic about setting up individual video or phone check-ins, perhaps several times a month for each student.
• Teaching is different for the time being. Effective synchronous teaching can be powerful, but it’s often difficult to engage students at the level of in-person classes, and this frustrates teachers. For many, online teaching is more facilitative. “You’re not leading through the learning process,” says Illinois curriculum director Jennifer Kolar Burden, “you’re guiding them, you’re pointing them in the right direction, you’re letting them explore on their own.”
“Virtual Education Dilemma: Scheduled Classroom Instruction vs. Anytime Learning” by Mark Lieberman in Education Week, March 30, 2020, https://bit.ly/2VKeJn0
FOX IN SOX | Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre BeatsWes Tank raps Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s book “Fox in Sox” over Dr. Dre’s legendary hip hop beats for “What’s the Difference” and “Let Me Ride” with much due respect to the flows and styles of Dr. Dre, Eminem, Xzibit and Snoop Dogg. All words and illustrations belong to Dr. Seuss. All instrumentals belong to Dr. Dre. This cultural mashup was …www.youtube.com
Wow! We are hearing wonderful ideas from everyone! You are all so inspirational! From delivering meals to students to creating an engaging WebEx lesson. Great job!
As the weather gets nicer it will be harder and harder to keep our students engaged and coming back. As coaches, next week we will begin working on a list of engagement ideas and passion projects to work on for the last few weeks of school. What have you been doing to keep students coming back to meetings and sharing their work? Share them here!
If you haven’t seen this latest Bridges resource, we recommend using it for future planning because it identifies crucial lessons for this spring. Bridges is also working on a plan for how to best support students with missed math content in the Fall. So, take that task off your plates for right now!
If you missed the trainings this week, the recorded sessions are located here:
Remember to check out our FAQ pages for updates and questions answered.
One reminder that has been added recently is the importance of keeping up on your computer and iPad updates.
**All computers need to be updated to macOS Catalina Version 10.15.4. To verify the version of your computer, simply go to Apple icon (top left) – about this mac – You will see the info. Plan on this taking time…mine took around an hour to complete the update.
**Your iPad should be iOS 13.4.1 Version. Go to: iPad – Settings – General – Software Update.
Know you can report anyone to me who is not observing these guidelines.
Community Work Area – If you use the library as a community work area, this is just a friendly reminder to observe the social distancing guidelines above.
Homework Reminder (HW from 4/15):
Streamline – work on ways to streamline your delivery of instruction and your time preparing the instruction. It’s OK to reduce or pull back to make things easeir on both you and your families. I do not have concerns about not providing enough learning for our families, and in fact, more of my concerns about providing too much and making parents (and students) feel badly about what they are doing or not doing.
Dreambox – great work, this can be such a powerful tool for this kind of enviroment and we have a really good percentage of students holding a good weekly average. If you are interested in what this program can tell you about your students, let me know.
Cancel a morning or afternoon – hopefully you followed my suggestions and did this. If you did then you should notice a few things;
The world kept moving and your kids are still OK.
You control your schedule rather than your schedule controlling you.
I can say with 99.999999% confidence your students and parents appreciated the break as much as you. Although there are benefits to this hybrid schooling, it’s still hard at home – please never forget this.
Now for your grade on this assignment – due to the COVID-19 meteorite that impacted our society you will not receive a letter grade, but rather you will receive a Pass/Incomplete mark. You hold yourselves accountable and assign the grade you see fit. Too soon, for this kind of sarcasm?!?!
Staff Appreciation – FYI – our PTO will be supporting a week of staff appreciation however it will be postponed until the first week of June. Also, just as an FYI I communicated the following message with our PTO board as we discussed plans for staff appreciation;
“I speak for our whole team when I say that we know this is a unique year and while we love the appreciation, we also recognize this as an appreciation of our entire community, not just our own work as educators. This brings a different definition and spin to the “it takes a village…”.”
Meetings:
All Staff – Wednesday 3:00 – No agenda from me – Wellness Circle will be led by Amy Yilik.
Grade Level Check-Ins – NO GRADE-LEVEL Check-Ins with me this week. I will pick up with our schedule next week. I am available if you need me my phone or email, and of course, if you want me to join your grade level meeting I will, but I am just trying to put some time back into your calendars.
Next Week:
5/6 Tuesday – 2nd/3rd -2:45
5/7 Wednesday – 4th/5th- 1:00
5/8 Thursday – 1st – 3:00
5/9 Friday K – 1:00
Hot Spots – so far it appears that our families have overcome the internet and wifi barriers nicely, however if you get the impression we missed somebody please let me know so we can apply for a hot spot for them.
Class Placements – good news! I am about 96.83245% certain I have secured a program to allow us to do this virtually! More details coming soon. The parent input forms were made avaialbe to parents via a google form survey to reduce any paper copy exchanging. We [Shawna] and I will take care of putting these together for your after submission.
Dyslexia Letter- We are not required to send the second round of Dyslexia letters this spring.
