For many of you I hope these days of conferences are ones where connections are made between family and school, as well as between students and learning. For all of you, know that I appreciate the dedication and heart for children that you bring to work every day. Your jobs are not easy and the impact you are making not always visible now… but you are making a difference. I think you for that.
I am sending this email today as I will be attending the OSBA conference tomorrow and Saturday in Portland. If you need anything please don’t hesitate to contact me by cell (if you need me right away) or email (if you would like me to respond later this weekend).
Jim
This and That:
- I liked the mental image of this quote and thought it was worth sharing: “On the difference between formative and summative assessments, Hattie quotes Bob Stake of the University of Illinois: ‘When the cook tastes the soup, it is formative; when the guests taste the soup, it is summative.’”
“The Effective Use of Testing: What the Research Says” by John Hattie in Education Week, October 28, 2015 (Vol. 35, #10, p. 28, 23), www.edweek.org
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- Here is the agenda for our Horizontal meeting Monday afternoon at Pacific Crest. A couple of things to know/think about prior to our meeting:
- A recurring item that we will start with each Horizontal is “Bright Spots.” Nothing for you to prepare, but I’d like to spend a few minutes allowing you to quickly share something that you are proud of that is happening in your building. It could be three words or three sentences. When I think of “Bright Spots” I think of a positive that stands out in the midst of the chaos, the frantic pace of our work, or when all else wasn’t working… this thing did.
- We’ll be talking about “8th Grade Celebration Expectations.” Please be ready to share out what the expectations are for 8th graders at your building.
Your Feedback Requested:
- Similar to last year, OSU-Cascades is hoping to provide their teacher candidates with an opportunity to meet and mock interview with BLS administrators on President’s Day (Monday, Feb. 15, 2016). This is a great opportunity to have a first hand look at potential candidates if you know of an impeding opening at your building. Of course, this will only work if we provided enough administrators to make this possible. Therefore, I need a rough number of folks who would be willing to spend a good chunk of a day (I believe it was all morning – through lunch last year) for this effort. Please let me know if you would be willing to work with teacher candidates on Feb. 15. If I don’t hear from you then I will assume you will not be available.
- Spring conferences (for Bend middle schools) are scheduled on April 14 (12 –8 pm) & 15 (8 – 12pm) according to our district calendar. I have heard from some of you regarding changing these conference days so there is not a requirement for staff to come in at all on Friday. If you are interested in this scenario playing out in your building, I ask that you speak with your staff about this as an alternative schedule instead: April 13 (4 – 8pm), April 14 (12 – 8pm) and no staff report on Friday. In this situation the morning of April 14 would be their contracted 1/2 day grading workday. If your staff is in agreement, you may use this schedule instead. Please do not make other modifications to days or times outside of these. Andrea will change the district calendar posted on our website to reflect this change, but this does not mean you must change if your staff prefers to keep the original schedule. Let me know if you plan on using this modified (not working on Friday) schedule. Give me a call if you have any questions or need clarification regarding this.
New Information:
- I have been made aware of a resource for schools/teachers called “Expeditions Pioneer Program” that I want to pass along. The website (https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions/) offers the details you need to find out further information about this free “virtual reality platform made for the classroom.” Check out the webpage and see if you think one or more of your teachers would like to apply for a chance at an expedition coming to your school!