Our EME Focus
- Tier 1 Instruction
- Belonging
- Define what it means to be an Art Focused School
Thought of the Week
Go First and Go Often
What does it mean to “go first”? I think the one thing you all know about me is that I listen to all ideas and adopt many of them. I challenge you to not hold your ideas in, but to “go first”. It is amazing the things we can accomplish with all our ideas combined!
I was very fortunate to have a leader who challenged me to act on my ideas, thoughts and beliefs and I went with it. It was uncomfortable at first, to say the least! I was nervous about what people would think. What if they think I’m stupid or worse yet, they don’t believe in me…but I was able to move past that and started to act and share a few of my core beliefs and ideas to make changes that were impactful both in and out of the school environment! Here are a few examples of some things I was allowed to do, or “go first” on because of great leadership. You already know my thoughts on homework, so it probably will come as no surprise that I went first on doing away with homework from a district level. I also went first on getting rid of the ”0” from a district level. These were not overwhelmingly popular right away, but after the numbers came in and people could see the impacts, in the end they were adopted across the district. I was able to, with the help of others, change the way teachers got their pay scale advancements. Instead of college credits, that teachers had to pay for, teachers came up with action research projects that we awarded credits for that went toward lane changes. No cost to the teacher, and benefits to the district though real learning while doing! Another fun way I was able to “go first” was the redesign of our PE curriculum. We went toward life long activities such as cross country skiing, snowshoeing, biking, curling, and kayaking. We were able to transition the budget to make those activities available to all our students!
So, what does it mean to “go first”? It means to act on your ideas and share them with the people around you. It means to be vulnerable and open to feedback. It means to make change that is meaningful and maybe even lifelong. It means to listen to that thing tickling your brain about how to make something easier for kids to learn, or how to create a system that makes things run smoother. It means to scratch that itch!
Here are some of the ideas that have come my way, from this staff, that we now do!
- Recess lines up under the overhang.
- Many, many ideas of how to better serve kids.
- Dot day
- Student helpers at breakfast
- New FYI system
- Painting a football field and turning the soccer goal (Coming Soon)
- Moving recess to the AB side
- New logo
- 30th year celebration for our families
- PD ideas (also coming)
- Too many more to name, and this is in just one month!
My challenge to you is for you to keep “going first” with that thing you have been thinking about in your class. Let’s figure it out together! You all have such excellent ideas, abundance of knowledge, and I want to see your ideas come to the light. I also challenge you to use this same language with your students. Tell them to “go first”. Everything we enjoy, love, use in this world is because someone went first!
Upcoming Details
MONDAY
- Admin Meeting 6:45-7:15
- Systems Leadership Team Meeting 2:30-3:15
TUESDAY:
- Elk Tier 3 Meeting 9:00-10:00
- Office Staff Meeting 10:00-10:30
- Fire Drill 1:30
WEDNESDAY:
- Picture Day!
- EA Meeting 8:15-8:45
- EME Sped Meeting 8:00-8:30
- SIW – Conference Prep
THURSDAY:
- MTSS/PLC – 2:30-3:10
- Thirsty Thursday 3:30
- BAM Metting 5:00-7:00 (Ben and Amanda
FRIDAY:
- None
UPCOMING DATES
- Earthquake Drill – October 24 @ 1:30
- No School/Conferences October 25-26
- Camille’s Birthday! – October 26
- Melissa Landolt’s Birthday! – October 31
Updates from Downtown
Things to consider before conferences.
Did the parent feel that the teachers:
- have their child’s best interest at heart
- get their child
- don’t judge them
- have empathy for any difficult situations
- are approachable and won’t get defensive.
- are flexible in creating solutions that meet the needs of their child.
- include them in helping their child succeed. (But they don’t feel like it’s all falling on their shoulders.)
- will help their child succeed
New Notes:
From TLC: October 11th Elementary TLC Update
From Curriculum, Instruction and Systems-Julie:
Important: Please put the following in your family newsletters before conferences
Would you like to learn more about EL Education-the finalist for K-5 Language Arts Curriculum?
Access materials digitally here
Provide feedback digitally here
From the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion:
- Halloween costumes: A reminder to be thoughtful as you prepare for any staff or team costume themes: avoid cultural appropriation or offensive caricatures or stereotypes. Some examples here. LEAD/Equity Coaches have shared with your school’s DEI-ICCL rep some resources for talking with students about this issue as well.
- International events and increased awareness: Please keep extra eyes and ears out for anti-Semitic comments or incidents right now. Our Jewish community is deeply impacted by recent international incidents and have indicated concern for increased bias incidents in this regard. Thank you for swiftly interrupting and reporting anything of this nature.
- Upcoming Office of DEI events: Thurs, Nov 16th: Our annual district-wide Latino Family Night will be November 16th at Pilot Butte Middle School. Dinner 5:30pm, Opening 6:00pm, Sessions 6:30-7:45pm. Please join us to welcome and connect with your Latino families! Feel free to invite your staff and families directly.
Conferences and Seesaw: For Teachers
- Please review your list of connected families and be prepared to help those who still have not connected
- Print copies of the instructions on how to connect and help parents sign up on the spotn
- Want more information or Seesaw how-tos? Check out this document
We made the District Blog!
A reminder that you can’t have rainbows (2!) without a little rain! Thanks for sharing Elk Meadow!
