Week at a Glance

Below are some year end technology notes from Brad:

• If you choose to leave your laptop and/or iPad here turn it into the Media Center with power cord, charging cables and power bricks LABELED with your name so they can be updated. If you are signed into iCloud on an iPad you need to sign out! (Settings > iCloud > Sign out) For laptops, don’t just shut the lid – shut them completely down.
• Staff with laptops need to walk out the door for summer with Mojave installed on your Mac. Find it in Self Service.
• All classroom laptops (student use) and classroom iPads (student use) need to be brought to the Media Center to be updated over summer. If you want the same stuff back please label everything with your name.
• If you are leaving or moving classrooms: please leave projector remotes, classroom cords and cables and the document cameras in your room. These items may be unique to each room so it’s important they stay where they are. If you have questions about this please let Brad know.

Here is information from Lora Nordquist about the certified work days in late August.

Teachers: We will have information to you on Monday about SLGG year end meetings.

When do you feel we should have Open House? The last two years we have had Open House in late August prior to Labor Day and before that we used to host the event mid-September in the evening. We would appreciate your feedback via a short survey. Thank you for completing by Thursday, June 13.

Week at a Glance for June 10th-June 14th

Monday:

• 5th Grade Departs for Outdoor School
• 3rd – 4th Recitals 9:00-11:00
• PAW Celebration at 3:00

Tuesday:

• 3rd – 4th Recitals 9:00-10:00
• Check Out Document Available

Wednesday:

• Fire Drill likely
• Friday Specials Schedule
• 3:30 Dismissal (If you can remind families that would be wonderful!)

Extended Recesses :

• K-2^nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)
• 4^th      2:00-2:30
• 3^rd, 5^th  2:30-3:00  

• 5th Returns from Outdoor School

Thursday:

• 9:05 Promotion
• Golden Ticket Celebration at Lunches

Extended Recesses:

• K-2^nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)
• 4^th      2:00-2:30
• 3^rd, 5^th  2:30-3:00  

Friday:

• Assembly at 9:05

Extended Recesses:

• K-2^nd  10:15-10:45 (PM recess times remain the same)

• 2:00 Dismissal

Our .3 Interventionist position closes next week. At this point we are planning this position will be a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, morning position teaching Lava Read groups.

Duty Schedule June 10-June 14

Below is the original supervision schedule; I understand in some cases people are covering duty for those listed.

What a fun yet super busy and stressful time of year we are experiencing! We understand that the end to this year has some additional variables we are all navigating. We hope this might help.

As you know, Promotion is June 13th at 9:00. We are anticipating a huge crowd for this event! With space limited for seating, we are only inviting our 5th graders, the 1st grade hat designers/presenters, and family members to attend. We are working on a plan for class coverage for faculty that have 5th graders so they are able to enjoy the event.

The final Lion Pride drawing of the year will be at the all school assembly on the last day of school. This assembly will be at 9:05.

The feedback on the building map the ICCL Team designed was very positive! Thank you for taking the time to provide this. Here is our school floor plan for 2019-20.

The Ninja Warrior Game launches on Monday! Can’t wait to see Jake’s gym set-up for this year! We won’t be able to eat in the gym during this event so are planning to eat everyday outside next week unless the weather does not cooperate and we need to eat in classrooms.

Week at a Glance for June 3rd-June 7th

Monday:

Tuesday:

• No Staff Meeting

Wednesday:

• 8:05 ICCL Meeting
• 1:15 Kindergarten Dress Rehearsal
• 5:30 Kindergarten Program
• SIW: Work in Classrooms
• Final AR day

Thursday:

• 8:05 Kindergarten EBISS
• DIBELS Day
• PTO Meeting @ 3:45

Friday:

• The Lava Ridge Olympics
• Newsletter

A note this week of encouragement for you from Carole Nase…This isn’t a teaching tip this week.  It is an encouragement. A true story. During the toughest year of my life multiple things happened.  I was on bed rest for six months.  My daughter was born and put into intensive care. Three months later, I had a surgery that went bad.  I was put into intensive care.  It was one of those years when I was hit hard with stress. I was the lowest I have ever been physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  Rock bottom. One thing that really helped me during that time was writing down what I was thankful for that day.  Just a few things a day of what was going right.  That simple shift in focus gave me energy and I began to heal.  Sometimes in teaching, in life, we try so hard to improve, and to solve problems.  Sometimes we just need to stop and reflect on what is right and true and good.  It is in those quieting moments that I find rest.  In rest, I find strength. So my encouragement is just that you know that you are valuable.  You are making a difference.  There are many things that have happened this year that are good.  It is a purposeful shifting of our focus.  And with that, have a restful weekend.

As requested, I reached out to Jay Mathisen for clarification on the certified close of the year and grading day. Jay’s response is below and is similar to what we discussed on Wednesday. As I shared with you, I will be ready to finalize check-out for you on Friday or Monday, whichever date is best for you. Also, please let me know if there is anything I can do to make this unique end of the year go well for you.

Friday, June 14^th was the originally calendared last teacher day, the day when grades are typically entered.  Due to the decisions to make up some of the lost days of school, Monday the 17^th is now that day.  However, flexibility does exist for teachers who want to complete report cards, enter grades and other year-end duties to complete those tasks prior to Monday the 17^th as long as they check out with their principal.  In other words, the hours on the 17^th can be flexed with principal approval and check-out.

Remaining SIW schedule:

• May 29-Time for class list development
• June 5-Work in Classroom Time

Time! Often our most valuable asset…Your grade level has my support to use PLC time for the remainder of the year for items of your choice including working in your classrooms.

At Site Council we discussed some upcoming dates. I thought they would be helpful for you and potentially save you time checking the master calendar.

I learned this week that Chris Stoaks will be returning to other police duties at the end of the school year and will not be a SRO next year. I will keep you posted on who will be our SRO for 2019-20.

Week at a Glance for May 28th – 31st

Monday: Memorial Day Holiday-Enjoy!

Tuesday:

• 8:05 PLC Meetings
• 4:00 Celebration of our retirees and those off to new adventures at Worthy’s

Wednesday:

• 8:05 ICCL Meeting
• 12:00-1:00 Volunteer Luncheon in the Media Center
• SIW: Class Creation List Time

Thursday:

• No EBISS
• 8:00-4:00 American Fidelity in the Staff Room
• Commute Options PM presentations in Neighborhoods

Friday:

• Oregon Coast Aquarium Assembly 9:00-10:00 (K-2); 10:15-11:15 (3-5)
• 8:00-4:00 American Fidelity in the Staff Room
• 1:30 School Tour

Duty Schedule May 28-June 7

I talked with Brad Henry about House Bill 3427, the new tax on large Oregon businesses that Governor Kate Brown signed into law on Thursday. Brad shared that the dollars raised from this tax would be part of the 2021-22 budget and that the state is currently setting the rules for how school districts will be able to use these dollars. He shared with me that he predicts the district will be able to be use the dollars to support the big ideas Shay shared in his April 5th Budget email-smaller class sizes, increased health and safety services, more learning time, and a well-rounded education.

Our Instructional Tip of the Week is from Dyan…One of the eight components of features of SIOP is Building Background. One way to build background is to emphasize key vocabulary.  The most effective vocabulary development is closely related to the content.  Vocabulary should be presented in context, not isolation. 

Some techniques for emphasizing key vocabulary are:

• Contextualizing Vocabulary: choose vocabulary words that are important to understanding the lesson and present the definitions in context
• Vocabulary Self-Selection: students select vocabulary as individuals, in pairs, or in small groups. After learning the terms, students share their lists with the class
• Personal Dictionaries: created by students as an individual spelling and vocabulary resource
• Word Walls: are effective for displaying content words related to content
• Concept Definition Maps: structured webs that are used to explore more complex concepts. The center circle can be a broad concept such as “habitat” and the spokes leading of the circle may be organized to respond to questions such as, “What is it?”, “What are some examples?” and “Why is it important?”
• Word Sorts: used to categorize words or phrase that have been previously introduced
• Word Study Books: student-made personal books containing frequently used words and concepts. The teacher or class determines the words and definitions to include and how to organize the words (e.g., by structure, by concept)

Week at a Glance for May 20th – 24th

Monday:

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Math focused PLC Meetings
• 5th Grade Move Up Day (AM)
• 5:00 North Star Kindergarten Open House

Wednesday:

• 8:05 ICCL Meeting
• SIW: Ross Greene Seminar Share-Out
• 11:00 1st grade dress rehearsal
• 1st grade music concert @ 6:00

Thursday:

• 8:05 1st grade EBISS
• 4:00 Site Council

Friday:

• Culture of Care Student Survey
• Lion Pride Drawing at lunches
• Newsletter

Here is a copy of the job description for those interested in learning more about the primary responsibilities of an ICCL team member. People on this team are also part of Site Council and are not involved in personnel decisions (ie. this team is not involved in the development of our staffing plan or grade level assignments) except for potentially serving on interview teams. Please see me if you have any other questions. We plan to interview for our open positions in early June.

Are you interested in serving for the next two years as an ICCL? We have three open positions and will be interviewing for them in early June. A job description and details about the application process can be found here and in the Staff Portal by searching for “ICCL”

Save the Date! Or at least be ready to be flexible with some class time on May 24th. Earlier this year Bend La Pine Schools received a 1.5 million dollar grant, referred to as Culture of Care and like most grants involves some data collection. At SIW we will discuss the grant and a survey that our students will complete on Friday the 24th and how we will be communicating home about the project and survey. Interested in some advanced details? You can find it here.

Thank you for the steps you are taking to make sure that students in your class who are not to be photographed are never included in pictures that become public (ie Facebook, bulletin boards, etc). This can be especially challenging away from school on field trips if volunteers are taking pictures and potentially posting or sharing these photos on social media. With it being confidential who in your class should not be photographed it is ok to ask volunteers to not take pictures on field trips.

Here is the flyer with information on the May 29 the Walk or Ride to School event that Commute Options is leading. Tuesday through Thursday this week are the days we have been asked to keep track of the way students get to school. On Monday, Lybe will be sending an email with more information. Here is an example of the sheet we will be using.

Below are more of our grade level teams for 2019-20:

• 1st grade: Katie Van Horn, Robin Sanderson, Christina Kennedy, Katie Duval
• 2nd grade: Dawnelle Roth, Amanda Gylling, Trevor Caswell
• 3rd grade: Kirstin Winslow, Torree Abrams, Allison Barrett, and Jennifer Hamilton (or 5th depending on enrollment)
• 4th grade: Sarah Kamasz, Jason Kingrey, Michele Gottschalk
• 5th grade: Dyan Sultzer, Emily Curfew, Lisa Bangert

Week at a Glance for May 13th – 17th

Monday:

• easyCBM Window Opens
• 5:00 Outdoor School Informational Event in the Media Center

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Reading focused PLC Meetings
• Student Commute Tallies
• 3:00 April PAW Celebration

Wednesday:

• 8:05 ICCL Meeting
• Student Commute Tallies
• SIW: Culture of Care
• Kindergarten Open House @ 6:00

Thursday:

• 2nd grade EBISS
• Student Commute Tallies
• BBQ at Lunches

Friday:

• Next Lion Pride Drawing on May 24

Duty Schedule February May 13-24

Happy Staff Appreciation Week! Thank you for everything you do make Lava Ridge such a great place. I feel very fortunate to work alongside you everyday.

Our teaching tip this week is from Rachel and focuses on Building Background knowledge… “One of the ways that I like to build background in my lessons is to make sure that I review the prior lesson/content from a previous lesson, show a graphic organizer when appropriate, and then review the vocabulary in the context of what we are studying. An example would be using fraction tiles for a lesson on reading/counting rhythms. We built upon the knowledge of fractions to learn about a measure of music being like a whole fraction. “

We should be at a place late next week at which we are able to have a more definite plan for most of our grade level teaching assignments for the fall.  At this point our Kindergarten team has been set and will be: Donna Blankenship, Jessica Cromwell and Stacey Purtzer.

Here are the opportunities (challenges!) that we have been thinking through in setting our teaching assignments for next year. 

• Change from 26 classrooms this year to 20 classrooms in 2019-20 (25 grade level classrooms + 1 Interventionist classroom)
• The five teachers transferring to other schools teaching this year in the K-3 strand
• Interventionist position (ie Dawnelle) moving into a classroom position

I want to thank you in advance for the flexibility and positive mindset that has been so prevalent in the conversations I have had with many of you in the last two weeks.  For those who communicated on their preference sheet a desire to teach at Lava Ridge next year, we knew and discussed as a staff in mid-April that this is what would be involved. As a couple of people have voiced to me, “I will teach any grade level, I’m just happy to be at Lava Ridge next year”. That’s the spirit.

We are planning that most people will teach at one of the 3 grade levels they communicated they would prefer to teach at and if this is not possible, the grade above or below what they are teaching this year. 

A couple of questions surfaced after we evacuated the building on Wednesday during lunch time. We have not had a drill or evacuation during lunches this year so we were all presented with a great opportunity to learn and practice. Part of learning is making mistakes so please do not be hard on yourself if you did not follow or remember our protocol for evacuations during these times of the day. I am hopeful this document can help and you will see it also provides answers to the questions that were asked during SIW. Please talk with Lybe or I if you have any additional questions.

Please let me know if you might be interested in hosting a teaching intern next year. Thank you!

Week at a Glance for May 6th – 10th

Monday:

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Staff Meeting

Wednesday:

• SIW: March for Students

Thursday:

• No EBISS
• Luncheon provided by Classified Staff (Soup and Salad from Olive Garden)

Friday:

• ICCL Meeting @ 8:05
• Lion Pride Drawings at lunches
• Newsletter

Below is the schedule PTO has set for Staff Appreciation Week:

• Friday, May 3rd: 3:45pm to 6:00pm – Door Decorating
• Monday, May 6th: Theme – You Make Us Bloom
  • 7:30am to 8:25am – Door Decorating 
  • 7:45am-8am – Staff Potluck Breakfast coordinated by PTO provided by parents
  • 8:25am to 8:55am: EA Appreciation Station
• Tuesday, May 7^th: Theme – Teachers Are Noteworthy
  • 8:25am to 8:55am: Teacher Appreciation Station
• Wednesday, May 8th: Theme – My Teachers A Treat
  • 8:25am to 8:55am: Office & Specials Appreciation Station
• Thursday, May 9^th: Theme – Teachers Brighten Our Rainbow
  • 9am to 11am-ish – Treat Cart, We will be going around to Staff offering them a treat from our Appreciation cart
  • 8:25am to 8:55am: Cafeteria & Janitors Appreciation Station
• Friday, May 10th: Theme – Supply Them with Thanks
  • 8:25am to 8:55am: Appreciation Station for any Staff a student wishes to recognize

Our Teaching Tip this week is from Stephany Dasen and focuses on engagement strategies that encourage student collaboration.   She included 7 strategies that she uses on this worksheet: Consensus Map, Two stay, one stray, Agree-Disagree Line, Four Corners, Gallery Walk, Snowball Discussion, and Inner/Outer Circle Activity…” I use various types of engagement strategies to promote collaboration and classroom discussion. These support speaking and listening standards as well as help all language learners. These strategies are great for all academic activities as well as social emotional learning & getting to know you activities.”

The OPB story about the efforts taking place in kindergarten classes in Central Oregon (including Lava Ridge!) to develop Growth Mindset and Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) dropped! The story can be located here.

We are adjusting the after school duty locations at the Main Entrance slightly. Either Dawnelle or I will be heading down to Egypt to make sure students are safely crossing the raised crosswalk closest to the front parking lot. We will now have 1 person stopping traffic for those using the crosswalks in the parking lot and 1 person by Egypt doing the same. If you are one of the other staff members in this area, your assistance with reminders to students about walking bikes/scooters and to dog owners is so appreciated! We also sent an email to families this week re safe crossing of Egypt…”Does your Lion cross at the intersection of Ranch Village and Egypt?  We are encouraging all walking and riding students who cross at this intersection to instead use the raised crosswalk on Egypt that borders our campus.   After crossing the street, students can then walk up the south side of the street to Ranch Village.”

Week at a Glance for April 29-May 3

Monday:

• Walking School Bus Begins!

Tuesday:

• 8:05 PLC Meetings
• 1:30 School Tour

Wednesday:

• 8:05  ICCL Meeting
• Golden Ticket Celebration at Lunches
• SIW: School Design Team Meetings

Thursday:

• 8:05 EBISS for 3rd grade

Friday:

• Next Lion Pride Drawing on 5/10

Congratulations to Paul Galvin and family who have decided to travel next school year! Paul is taking a leave from his position for the year. Enjoy!

Duty Schedule February April 29-May 10

Our instructional tip this week from Carole is very timely and focuses on the importance of teaching our students (even those in non-state testing grades) academic testing vocabulary…This is critical for our 3rd-5th graders as we prepare them to take the SBAC.  Recently I pretested 4th and 5th grade ELL’s on 30 academic testing vocabulary words.  The average score was a 43%. The lowest score was a 16% and the highest was a 73%.  The 4th grade team is using the SBAC materials from Jenn Montoya to teach strategies and together we are working to teach them the vocabulary that they need.  Words such as summarize, illustrations, predict, identify, context, and comprehension were the ones that they missed the most.  Even if we all have taught these words, they may not really know them. We are investing time to be sure that they understand what these words mean.  I have a word list if you would like it.  Dyan has a word search from Cate Hill with pictures and definitions of common testing vocabulary.

We have a Walking School Bus starting on April 29! Commute Options has hired April Frey one of our Lava Ridge parents to drive (ie walk!) this route with our Lions. Here is the flyer we will be routing to families. Even more information can be found about Walking School Buses at this link. April will also have a table set up after school next week in front of the school with information for families.

When will we know grade level teaching assignments for next year? As soon as possible. At this point it looks like we might be able to have all of these determined in the next 2-3 weeks. It could be longer too, and as soon as a grade level(s) team is set I will let you know.

Week at a Glance for April 22-26

Monday:

• March PAW Celebration @ 3:00

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Writing Focused PLC Meetings

Wednesday:

• 8:05  ICCL Meeting
• SIW: PLC Time

Thursday:

• 8:05 EBISS for 5th grade

Friday:

• Lion Pride Drawings at lunches
• Newsletter

Our teaching tip this week is from Stephanie Dasen and focuses on her use of Classroom Discussion to reach all learners. In John Hattie’s research this has a very high (.82!) effect on student learning…In Math I evaluate student’s formative assessments and I find a common misconception.  We discuss this as a group.  I set up sentence frames and use class nonverbal signals such as “I agree”, “I have a different opinion”, and “Please explain because…”.  This gives students an opportunity to discuss their thinking and correct their mistakes.  

Thank you so much for making sure that Pam, Amber and I are aware of those times when you might have special guests (not regular volunteers) coming to your classroom. You are the best! This sets everyone up to be able to best meet the needs of these individuals with directions to classrooms, potentially double checking they have completed the District background check requirement, and most importantly, so in the event of an emergency we know who is on site.

Week at a Glance for April 15-19

Monday:

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Math Focused PLC Meetings

Wednesday:

• 8:05  ICCL Meeting
• Poetry Day!
• 9:05 3rd grade bicycle helmet assembly
• SIW: District SIW

Thursday:

• 8:05 EBISS for 5th grade
• Central Oregon Symphony visits PM music classes

Friday:

• Lion Pride Drawings at lunches
• Central Oregon Symphony visits PM music classes

Duty Schedule February April 15-26

Carole recently attended the English Language Alliance conference and shared with me this week information that continues to support how important it is to maintain rigor for our struggling students. This came from a workshop, “Scaffolding Mathematical Tasks- Making tasks accessible for English Learner while maintaining rigor”

From the presentation, “There is a difference between scaffolding and modifying.  A scaffold is a temporary support provided to students to help them achieve a learning goal.  A modification changes the learning goals, standards and expectations for students. 

Here are some examples of scaffolding

• *chunking skills
• *start simple-build complexity
• *gradual release of responsibility
• *talk time/processing time
• *Build background- pre-teach vocabulary, visual aids, connect with student’s lives.

Here are examples of modifying

• *reduce the difficulty of assignments
• *reduce the reading level
• *change the standard addressed
• *change the learning target
• *change the grade level materials used
• *change the difficulty of the task

How can we be sure our scaffolds are maintaining rigorous standards? Build a toolbox.  Here are some tools to start with.  Connect to prior knowledge. Start with a simple skill and move on.  Give visual representations and models.” Carole is planning to share additional tools in the future.  

Pam has been organizing and purging the upstairs storage area. If you have any questions about the storage of curricula, please ask her. Thank you!

As you look around Lava Ridge it is becoming more difficult to tell that we are one of the oldest elementary schools in Bend! Thanks to bond dollars and thoughtful accounting by Pam we have been able to upgrade our classrooms, lighting around campus, and begin to update some areas in the office. More updates are on the way! This summer we are having the carpet in the Music room replaced, new asphalt spread in the parking lot between Lava and Sky View and on the South Playground and new chairs delivered for the Staff Room and other parts of the office. We are making progress! We still have updating to do in the Media Center, Main Office and other areas of the school and plan to keep saving our nickels for updates, so Lava continues to look marvelous!

A note of thanks to Trevor, Jenn, and Amber for being part of the interview team that met with candidates interested in being our next Office Manager on Wednesday and Thursday. We had 29 applicants for this position and our team met with four outstanding people. As interview teams are needed we will continue to include (if possible, depending on the time of year) certified and classified members of our staff and also be thoughtful of the size of the team. Over the years, I have tried (and will continue to do so) to include a variety of people on these teams (ie. not just ICCLS or the first people to respond to an email of who would like to be on the team, etc) to meet applicants interested in joining our staff. I will have an update for you next week on the Office Manager position.

Week at a Glance for April 8-12

Monday:

Tuesday:

• 8:05 Reading Focused PLC Meetings
• 1:30 School Tour
• Book Fair Family Night until 8:00

Wednesday:

• 8:05  ICCL Meeting
• SIW: Conference Prep
• 4:30-8:00 Conferences 4:30-8:00; Dinner provided by PTO at 3:30

Thursday:

• Newsletter
• Conferences 4:30-8:00; Pizza Dinner ready at 3:30

Friday:

• No School…Enjoy!