In the afternoon (1:00-4:00), teachers will have a choice of several options to learn more about next steps in the use of Canvas. These trainings meet the contract requirements for District Directed Professional Learning.

These trainings are best experienced in person, as the Bend La Pine teachers/instructors will be able to guide you the steps to engage with Canvas in new ways. However, we realize that, for a variety of reasons, a synchronous, remote option via WebEx will meet some teachers needs; therefore, many courses will have that option.

During each of the courses (except for the invitational Grade Guardian course) you will receive information about Canvas-Synergy grade book set-up for this year. You will also receive the guidance for Canvas course expectations.

You do not need to register for the professional learning, you will only need to check in via Google form during the Canvas sessions.

Canvas for New Hires and Beginners

Facilitator: Dan Curfew

Location: Pacific Crest Middle School and La Pine High School Library

Description: This training is for teachers who are new to Canvas.  Canvas includes a variety of built-in course construction and management tools that can be customized to create unique and accessible teaching and learning experiences.  You will learn the basics of Canvas and have time to start building your courses

Canvas 201 – Leveraging Canvas to Increase Engagement

Facilitators: Leah Boon and Melissa Morris

Location: Cascade Middle School Library & WebEx (https://bls.webex.com/meet/leah.boon) 

Description: You’ve mastered the basics of Canvas — now you want to step up your game. This course will review the basics but go deeper with each so you can see how using the same tool in different ways can help scaffold learning and also build up to higher-order thinking skills and promote more engagement with your students.

Student Centered Voice and Choice

Facilitators: Lisa Meredith and Bekki Tucker

Location: Caldera High School  and WebEx (https://bls.webex.com/meet/bekki.tucker) 

Description: Learn how to make the shift of instruction to a student-centered approach where the role of the learner moves from receiver of learning to active participant.  You will learn about a variety of digital learning tools to enhance learning in Canvas. All of these tools promote the 4Cs for students: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. 

Equity and Canvas

Facilitator: Christie McCormick

Location: WebEx (http://bls.webex.com/meet/christie.mccormick) 

Description: Easy, readily applicable Canvas features you can use right now to make your classes more engaging and equitable, your grading easier and more accurate, and your life more fulfilling! (OK, at least a little less stressful?)

Creating Dynamic Canvas pages (HTML and Canvas)

Facilitator: Kathie Quick

Location: Summit High School (B22)

Description: There is so much more that can be done to design your Canvas pages! We will use the HTML editor to add more style and flexibility to the Rich Content Editor. Learn things like using custom colors and design features, adding buttons, and using tables to organize and style content.

Overview of Grade Guardian (for Counselors, Graduation Coaches, Student Success teams, Tier 2 Support Staff, administrators, and Special Education) 

This training is by invitation only. 

Facilitator:   Tanya Johnson of AspirEDU

Location:  Zoom 

Meeting ID: 883 7325 3588

See Principals for Passcode

Description:  The Canvas LMS contains a great deal of information that we may use to improve retention and graduation rates. Grade Guardian retrieves data on a daily basis to help identify at-risk students at your school. This training, for non-teaching staff,  provides a brief overview of Grade Guardian. Participants will learn how to navigate this tool to quickly identify students in need of additional supports. What’s more, Grade Guardian can be used to identify students in Canvas without parent “Observers” and to determine athletic eligibility.

For the last several years (minus the lost year to CoVid) Bend-La Pine has put on an amazing conference. The incredible teachers of Bend-La Pine share with their peers the beautiful work that they have been doing. Along with national level speakers, BLP teachers share the innovative work that happens in our schools every day.

We are excited to bring the Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference back again this year with over 30 educators sharing what they are doing in their classrooms every day.

You can register at this link. Click on the Sections tab part way down the screen to see the registration.

Interested in learning more about our keynote speakers? Here is a sample of their work.

Rick Wormeli on late work

Dr. Bettina Love on “co-conspiratorship” for equity

Next Wednesday, April 20th, marks the final Educator Network Day. This optional professional development and collaboration day gives you an opportunity to connect with teachers in a learning community to engage in issues important to your content.

You will be paid for your prep time. Content ICCLs will share timesheets at the training. Please return timesheets to Dean Richards in TLC or via email at [email protected].

Times 

(unless otherwise noted)

Middle School 3:15-4:30

High School 2:30-3:45

Secondary (MS & HS) 3:15-4:00

This week’s blog is written by Christie Boen, District Librarian. She has curated a list of resources and text that may be helpful.

When you Google Black History Month, you’ll most likely see the name, Carter G. Woodson, known as the “Father of Black History”. In 1915, he created the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Then in 1926, he started the first “Negro History Week” on February 7th. It wasn’t until 1976 when Black History Month was officially recognized. It was then that President Gerald Ford urged Americans to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

The theme for Black History Month 2022 is Black Health and Wellness. Some ways you can celebrate Black History Month:

• Support Black-Owned Businesses
• Learn About Noteworthy Black Figures and Their Contributions
• Donate to Charities That Support Anti-Racism Equity and Equality
• Purchase, Read, and Share Books by Black Authors
• Support and Learn About Black Women

History

There are a plethora of Black History resources out there, but you may not have time to curate them for yourself or your students. This is where I come in.  Below are some fantastic resources to get you started.

• Discovery Education Resources
• Blacks in Oregon (OSLIS – Oregon Encyclopedia)
• Black Biographies (World Book)
• Newsela Resources
• 86 Videos

Best Books of 2021 by Black Authors

Trailer for Instructions for Dancing

Trailer for Concrete Rose

Classroom Guide and Trailer for Born on the Water

Trailer for My Day with Panye

Trailer for Your Mama

Depending on your own identity and experiences, and those of your students, these topics can be sensitive to navigate.  Use this checklist from the LEAD Cohort to prepare appropriately, and/or reach out to a LEAD representative for collaboration. 

Happy New Year!

Next Wednesday is the second Educator Network Day. As you have likely heard from your administrators, this required training will be similar to October’s date. Teachers will be meeting in content area groups to discuss issues important to your discipline. While the agendas vary based on content, all will give some time to the upcoming Canvas syllabus requirement for second semester.
You can find a brief agenda and the location (all will have a virtual option) in the link below.

Agenda and location here

As we attempt acclimation to a new school year, educators, students, and families continue to experience changes and conditions that are unexpected and unwanted – to hold the unknown as a chronic state instead of a “fun Friday” freedom. Equipped with nervous systems designed to operate briefly at crisis response (also known as “surge capacity”) levels, days can feel like weeks and each month, a year. Chronic exposure to unmanageable and unpredictable stress is at the heart of what makes the pandemic a slow-moving, traumatic experience for everyone involved with schools.

BRYT is honored to work with BLS coaches and leaders to support school-based Student Success teams in developing an intensive intervention for some of the district’s most seriously struggling students and families.  At the same time, we recognize that all students, families, and educators are experiencing significant challenges, and teachers are facing the realities of dysregulation every period of every day.  Dr. Bruce Perry’s core message is instructive in this regard: if we are to work with students in a way that fosters their ability to reason and reflect (critical for internalizing, retaining, and applying new knowledge), we first need to make sure that they are emotionally regulated and able to relate to their teachers and each other.  Here is our mantra for this work:

Nourishing Wellness & Modeling Moderation: Educators are dealing with more challenges and stressors than ever. While healthy levels of stress help us grow and become stronger, we cannot expect to work effectively and sustainably with students over the course of this school year if we are not afforded the time and resources to take care of ourselves and each other. Wellness doesn’t just happen—it depends on leaders and educators alike to set and sustain intention, making it not just okay, but an integral part of a systematic culture of care among school staff. As we work to support the students in front of us every day, we must also continue to increase our awareness of how systems either promote wellness or perpetuate disease and suffering, especially for those who are marginalized with less privilege and power—and as we increase our awareness, we can and must continue to engage in the kinds of uncomfortable reflections and conversations that address the inequitable distribution of wellness that too consistently characterizes our communities. When educators are cared for, a culture of care is then naturally extended to students and their families.

Fostering Connection: Consider integrating consistent, semi-structured non-academic check-ins with all students. These might happen in the context of advisory programs, or on a rotating basis during class. It is essential that all educators understand each school’s mental health infrastructure and referral process, in order to know exactly how to access support for students. Based on observations and information collected in check-ins, educators can provide basic support and care to students facing mild challenges. When there is heightened concern for wellbeing (perhaps due to a sudden change in behavior, appearance, or function) teachers can quickly notify administrators and support staff.

Create Predictability and Enable Agency: After so much inconsistency and time away from school, many students continue to be disoriented. Ongoing focus on orienting students to people, places, and routines/use of time is critical—even when it feels like they “should” be fully oriented and even if this means pushing back against pressure (whether real or internalized) about the need for academic catch-up. Providing achievable opportunities for students to choose how they engage with learning offers a sense of control. Additionally, this is the time for all educators to expand their tactics for helping themselves and students regulate emotionally through consistent rituals and routines, movement breaks, mindfulness, intentional transitions, and integrated SEL skills.  For those interested in broader understanding and tactics, Dr. Perry’s team provides many resources.

In building relationships and fostering powerful connections, entire communities benefit. When our interactions are full of compassion, grace, and hope, there is profound potential to heal, strengthen, regulate, and create belonging—whether it’s holding a door, negotiating an extension on an assignment, or reassuring an exhausted parent or colleague that they are not alone.

Welcome to the first Secondary Instruction Blog of the 21-22 school year!

The best thing about this year is that we get to start the year with student’s faces (at least the top half of them!) We all are working hard to stay safe, maintain our distance, wash hands and teach at the same time. It is quite a task – and one many of us never, ever expected.

Technology is continuing to play a crucial role in the education of our students. Two daily platforms that you are interfacing with are Synergy and Canvas. We wanted to start out this year with a quick blog post to remind you of the supports the Instructional Technology team has put together.

Synergy

Many of you have been using Synergy for years and feel really comfortable with it. New teachers just getting started in our district should know about “Synergy for Teachers”.  This website is your one-stop-shop for gaining knowledge about the grade book tools available within Synergy.  At the top of the site, you will see links to specific resources for grade book, Teacher Vue, report cards, and commonly used reports.  Synergy For Teachers is just one of the many resources that can be found in the  Tech101 resource found in our staff portal.  Or, better yet, bookmark this link right now!

Canvas

Canvas continues to be the required student learning platform. Resources for students, including all assignments should be posted here. This is especially important right now as students are quarantining and need access to relevant resources and to know what assignments are due. As most of us know from last year, the best way to understand Canvas is to use it. To support you, the Instructional Technology Team has created a one-stop shop for Canvas Training and Resources. Your schools also have Canvas First Responders who can provide you with additional support and answer questions.