To Do:

• I ask that you make an announcement regarding next year’s staff work hours during SIW on Wednesday, 1/23. Please do not communicate this message to anyone prior to next Wednesday afternoon as we want to coordinate its release district-wide as best we can. Additionally, after the SIW announcement, please send this message out to all of your employees so those who were present can have it in writing, and those who were not present can be informed. Lastly, after the announcement is made, please let me know of any questions that arise that you feel might be good to communicate an answer to a larger audience than just your building (coming from the district).
• Please provide your feedback to me by next Friday (1.25.19) on the following question: Would you recommend having our annual district Leadership Academy (building admin and ICCL leaders) this next fall on Aug. 7 or Aug. 14? (The question is being asked because we are trying to balance having it too early – and potentially excluding teachers who are out of town – or too late – and requiring a number of training days for admin when you are also working on getting your building opened up.)
• Please make verify that the gates (fences) around your building are locked during the school day. Let me know if you have any questions regarding this.
• Please reach out to me if you have any teachers (health?) who are teaching Stop the Bleed to students.  I am told that this is often in conjunction with Bend Fire. There have been some issues that we’d like to avoid in the future around this.

This and that:

• Blog writer Dan Rockwell recently wrote a  short article 96% Believe they are Good Listeners and that’s Baloney on his blog site Leadership Freak. I hope you take a few minutes to read what Dan had to say. I know I needed the reminders. Just prior to our recent break I was not a very good listener with some of your parents (and likely some of you – I am sorry!). I don’t like when I’m not a good listener. Reading Dan’s admonishments and encouragements have helped me remember the importance of being a good listener, especially in a role that often requires others to listen to me.
• The Attendance Area Review Committee has completed its work and passed on their recommendation report to Shay for consideration and final decision. Shay will be making an announcement regarding elementary boundary changes for next year sometime on Jan. 29. Although these changes do not directly affect your students, you may want to become familiar with the process and outcomes of this work as questions arise and to be prepared for a similar process to occur next fall for all MS and HS boundaries (for new HS opening in fall 2021).
• Earlier this week you were sent brochures to have in your office regarding high school options. You received an English version of these. I learned today that Spanish versions are now being printed and should be coming your way very soon as well.
• Here is some information regarding an essay contest sponsored by the American Legion. It is organized by grade levels and there is a cash prize for winners. Feel free to pass along as you see fit.

Reminders:

• No school on Monday for MLK Day. (And also Shay’s birthday!)
• At our next MS Horizontal meeting (Jan. 28) we will not be discussing chapters 7 – 8 of The Culture Code, so you do not need to read that section quite yet. Instead, we will be spending that time processing the information that Austin James collected from you during a site visit in the past number of weeks. Remember Tony Hsieh (downtown Los Vegas project from chapter 5)? He was quoted as saying: “I try to help things happen organically. If you set things up right, the connection happens.” (p. 64) He is also the one that spoke about the power of “collisions” – the belief that: “Serendipitous personal encounters are the key driver of creativity, community, and cohesion.” (p. 66) One of my goals for our time together on Jan. 28 is to allow for “collisions” to happen among you. (And taking a risk that my plan doesn’t crash and burn instead!)

To Do:

• [This is a partial repeat from my last TRIBE – assuming you have already spoken with Jon regarding any probationary teachers of concern.]  Please see the following reminder/To Do from Jon Lindsay regarding any 3rd year probationary teachers you have this year: Principals/Supervisors, it  is time to start thinking about the renewal/non-renewal process. If you have an employee that you don’t want to renew, then we have some work to do in this area before the public board meeting February 12th. Due by Jan. 21st: Probationary three letters of support.  We need to be hiring and putting the best teachers in front of students.  It is an important decision when moving an employee from probationary status to contract status.  After participating in the board process last several years, I have a better feeling for what the board is looking for in these letters.  The board takes moving a probationary employee to contract status very seriously.  They really want to know that each of you have specific reasons why each one of these employees should move to contract status.  Here is a spreadsheet of probationary three employees and the famous probationary letter from Matt. (Please don’t just change Matt’s name to yours as there will be some other obvious updates needed as well!)If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call – Jon.

This and that:

•  Thought I’d start off 2019 with a fun/quick article for you. The title is: 23 Teachers Who go the Extra Mile… but I reduced it down to be even less (than the 23). I happened to find this over the break and got a few chuckles from it – as well as a little “that’s a pretty good idea” thinking!  Hope you enjoy it!
• On Friday, January 4^th, the district sent a fire & life safety message in the Staff Spotlight to all staff, reminding them of several important practices. We want to emphasize two of these to all administrators:
  • Staff should check for any blocked or impaired fire/life safety devices in their classrooms or workplaces. If they have any potential issues, these are to be reported to administrators and/or staff custodians. These issues should be addressed as quickly as possible.
  • It is a violation of the law to alter, remove, or tamper with any fire safety components.
• I’m sure you have already worked your way through this with applicable employees, but wanted to provide you with some classified evaluation documents in one spot. Here is the Goal Setting form, the Self Reflection form, and the Evaluation form. As we near the mid-point in the year it might be a good time to review the Goal Setting forms you have collected to make sure you are gathering the types of evidence you need for completing their evaluation later this spring.
•  As you know, all public schools are required to have a Safety Committee. However, some of you may have questions regarding what this goals, purpose, and structure of this committee should be. Here is a short memo that provides an overview of (likely) all you need to know about safety committees. Please share this with whomever serves on your building committee.
• DHS is in the process of implementing a statewide Child Abuse Hotline which will be completed in April 2019, but it has already been started in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook Counties beginning on November 1, 2018.The reporting number has changed – it is:  541-693-2854 statewide.
  • They are working to correct some telephone line problems
  • There will be the ability for the caller to leave their return phone number in case they can’t wait for someone to answer
  • They are in the process of hiring 75% additional staff to handle these calls!
  • They have implemented an email address for people to send concerns/feedback to:
    • [email protected]
• I have mentioned in TRIBE previously that Dr. Ross Greene will be coming to central Oregon on May 17, 2019. It is not too early to consider going or sending a few from your building – It will definitely be worth it!  Please read and share this additional information regarding his visit.
• Just as an FYI… you’ll be without your counselor(s) all day on Jan. 25 due to our last secondary counselor training around the Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Plan (CGCP). I am very proud of the work and positive changes our building and district counseling program has seen due to the efforts and shifts our counselors have dove into over the past few years.

Reminders:

• MLK Day, no school on Jan. 21. (This happens to also be Shay’s birthday!)
• Don’t forget to participate in the student shadowing activity activity if you are at all able. The deadline to complete your shadow has been extended to Feb. 1 – so you have some additional time!  Here is a reminder of what you need to know to be involved: a description of the parameters for participating, some interview questions, and a Google form for your reflections. And don’t forget, the level with the highest percentage of building admin participation will receive a hosted happy hour at McMenamins. (I was able to complete my shadowing of a student this week and I appreciated the opportunity to put all of the other things that pull on my time aside and focus on the experiences and interactions of one of our struggling students for a few hours.)
• Stephanie Bent sent you an email earlier this week, but wanted to remind you that the ACT Aspire window is now open – and will be until 2/18/19. If a student needs to be added, you need to use their SSID number, not their district (Synergy) number. Questions? Contact Stephanie or Dave.

To Do:

• Andrea Wilson received an email this week from Aaron Henderson, Bend REI Outreach Coordinator. He was reaching out in order to see if there would be anyone interested in having REI bike techs come to schools in order to teach basic bike maintenance skills to students. You can reach Aaron at: [email protected] if you are interested in discussing possibilities of how this might look with him.
• Please see the following reminder/To Do from Jon Lindsay regarding any 3rd year probationary teachers you have this year: It is only December but it is time to start thinking about the renewal/non-renewal process. If you have an employee that you don’t want to renew, then we have some work to do in this area before the public board meeting February 12th. By Jan. 9th: Please have a conversation with me about any certified employee that you have some concerns about.  If you have a concern about an employee, we need to start making a plan for how to move forward with that person.  We may decide to start with informal supports or go to our formal process.    We have several options when we are talking about probationary employees of concern.  One option is to non-renew a probationary contract.  This is formally done at the Board Meeting in February.  If we decide to move toward non-renewal, we will need to have some discussions with the teacher, with the BEA, and with the board during Executive Sessions.  If you are having concerns with a probationary teacher, please make sure we talk about it.  Once a teacher becomes contract it can be a much harder process.I also need to know about contract teachers that you have a concern about.  You may only be supporting the person informally, which is great, but I still need to know about them.  If you have started the formal support system, which includes Focus Performance Review, Support Strategies, and/or a Plan of Assistance, you must contact me so that we can work through it together. Due by Jan. 21st:  Probationary three letters of support.  We need to be hiring and putting the best teachers in front of students.  It is an important decision when moving an employee from probationary status to contract status.  After participating in the board process last several years, I have a better feeling for what the board is looking for in these letters.  The board takes moving a probationary employee to contract status very seriously.  They really want to know that each of you have specific reasons why each one of these employees should move to contract status.  Here is a spreadsheet of probationary three employees and the famous probationary letter from Matt. (Please don’t just change Matt’s name to yours as there will be some other obvious updates needed as well!) If you have any questions, please feel free to give me (Jon) a call.

This and that:

• Apple has created a video around the question of: “Have you ever made something wonderful but were too afraid to share it?” You may have recently seen this video/commercial, but I thought it was worth sharing with you as we head into this holiday season. I think there could be a number of applications to your work as leader of educational professionals and young learners – and I’ll let you make those connections for yourself, rather than tell you what they are for me.  However, I one I do want to pass along is as a personal “thank you” for giving of your gifts daily to those you lead, work with and serve. This week was another great reminder for me of the great work you do in your interactions with students and families!
• As a heads-up, Skip Offenhauser is days away from opening up the application window for additions to the adopted or supplemental Health curriculum. Our district offers rich social emotional health and wellness curriculum throughout all levels, including video and speakers, for teaching and learning. Only those persons and materials approved by the Health Advisory Committee should be in front of our students. For example, suicide awareness, alcohol, vaping, tobacco cessation, sex trafficking, sexuality, etc. materials must be approved for use as well any guest speakers on these topics. If teachers have materials or speakers that they would like to see approved, please have them share these resources with Skip and the team.

Reminders:

• I communicated this last week as well, but wanted to put it back on your radar in case you were planning on doing some reading over the break… At our next MS Horizontal meeting (Jan. 28) we will not be discussing chapters 7 – 8 of The Culture Code, so you do not need to read that section quite yet. Instead, we will be spending that time processing the information that Austin James collected from you during a site visit in the past number of weeks. Remember Tony Hsieh (downtown Los Vegas project from chapter 5)? He was quoted as saying: “I try to help things happen organically. If you set things up right, the connection happens.” (p. 64) He is also the one that spoke about the power of “collisions” – the belief that: “Serendipitous personal encounters are the key driver of creativity, community, and cohesion.” (p. 66) One of my goals for our time together on Jan. 28 is to allow for “collisions” to happen among you. (And taking a risk that my plan doesn’t crash and burn instead!)
• We are officially back on Jan. 7, 2019!
• We will not be having a Leadership meeting in January.

To Do:

• Actually, this is going to be a “no need to do right now” item. At our next MS Horizontal meeting (Jan. 28) we will not be discussing chapters 7 – 8 of The Culture Code, so you do not need to read that section quite yet. Instead, we will be spending that time processing the information that Austin James collected from you during a site visit in the past number of weeks. Remember Tony Hsieh (downtown Los Vegas project from chapter 5)? He was quoted as saying: “I try to help things happen organically. If you set things up right, the connection happens.” (p. 64) He is also the one that spoke about the power of “collisions” – the belief that: “Serendipitous personal encounters are the key driver of creativity, community, and cohesion.” (p. 66) Well, we are going to attempt to set up the conversation at our next Horizontal to provide an opportunity for you to “collide” with one another!
• You might want to add this to your calendar and begin spreading the word… Dr. Ross Greene, author of books that include: The Explosive Child, Lost at School, and Raising Human Beings is coming to Bend on May 17, 2019. I have not personally heard Dr. Greene speak, but know a few who have and they cannot stop saying great things about him and his philosophy around working with children/youth. No price for this training has been confirmed, but I know it is important for the organizers that people/schools can afford to send a number of folks to hear him.

This and that:

• As you know, we have recently asked staff to weigh in on three options around their start time for next year. At a District Leadership Team (made up of classified, certified and administrative employees) meeting earlier this week we took a first look at the results and reviewed all of the comments. Here are the survey results from middle school staff that we reviewed. You are welcome to discuss and/or share with others at this point, but know that no decision has been made yet. If all goes well, a recommendation will go to Shay by the end of January. One thing that stuck out to me was that the option receiving the most votes has staff finishing her/his work day only 5 minutes after students are dismissed. This is difficult for me to believe is a viable option because this does not seem to be enough time between kids and staff leaving. However, I believe the message is strong (especially considering the second-highest work time option) that MS folks would like a longer work time prior to student arrival each day. [If you’d like to see what the elementary or high school staff had to say just let me know and I’ll send you their results.]
• As you have likely read by now, Governor Kate Brown has released her recommended budget. This year the Governor’s Recommended Budget includes clear priorities to better fund k-12 schools. Still a long way from being approved, it is nonetheless welcome news to have funding Oregon schools closer to the national average (QEM) than it ever has been in recent memory. Here are some highlights of the Governor’s Recommended Budget.
• Here is a gut-checker that I recently read in a newsletter that Kimberly Strong sent out (ESD Chronic Absenteeism): One major driver for chronic absenteeism is disengagement from school. In fact, the Chronic Absenteeism Report put out by the Chief Education Office in 2017 noted that when asked if they could change “just one thing” about school, 75% of students interviewed said they wanted improved relationships with teachers.  (Stevens and Kim-Gervey 2017). I don’t like reading things like this – because I know this is something that can be fixed if/when we become aware of it.
• Mini Observations- We are fast approaching the first “deadline” for mini observations. Please remember that by winter break you need to have the following completed:
  • Probationary: 2 observations (one formal)
  • Contract teachers on evaluation year: 2 mini observations
  • Contract teachers not on evaluation year: 1 mini observation
  • In addition to completing these, please be sure you are recording them in Talent Ed.

Reminders:

• Gary Timms may seem like a mild-mannered, easy-going, “nothing rattles him” kind of guy.  That is what I used to think about him too. But, this student shadowing activity challenge has him on the edge. He is very concerned that MS building admin will have a higher percentage of “shadowers” than his elementary folks so he is really laying it on thick with them. I think he is even using crying emojis in his recruiting efforts! Here is a reminder of what you need to know to be involved on the winning team: a description of the parameters for participating, some interview questions, and a Google form for your reflections. As a reminder, here is the deal: the level with the highest percentage of building admin participation will receive a hosted happy hour at McMenamins. So let’s show others we at the MS level are empathetic and concerned about student equity by spending some time shadowing a student!
• District SIW is next Wednesday, Dec. 19.
• Those attending the CONNECT training – it is both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, starting at 1:15 at PCMS.

To Do:

• At our Leadership meeting on Monday I’ll be asking you whom from your building will be attending the CONNECT Training next week. Again, we are hoping to have one admin and one counselor from every building attend if possible. If you are not able to make this training, we plan on having another later this year. If you’ve forgotten what this training is about, here is what I’ve communicated in previous TRIBE posts: Please mark your calendar for an upcoming CONNECT training from 1:15 – 3:15 on both Dec. 18 & 19. The intended audience is MS building admin and counselors.  I hope to have one MS admin and counselor attend from each building.  Here is more of what this training will be about: Engage and build capacity for key members of our school community to respond to suicide. The goal of suicide postvention training is to promote healing and reduce risk of future suicides. Participants will become competent and confident to respond to suicidal incidents across the lifespan. They will use a community-based approach for early recognition, skill-building, and to promote healing and reduce risk after a suicide.
• If you knew me well, you would know that I like to compete. To win. In full disclosure, I am getting a little soft in my old age as I don’t make Christie play another game of cards with me (like I used to) if she happened to beat me the first time. But I hope this “contest” gets you going a little bit like it has me. Jay spoke at Leadership on Monday about a “student shadowing activity” that we are encouraging school administrators to be a part of. Lora has also emailed you a description of the parameters for participating, some interview questions, and a Google form for your reflections. Now here is the deal: the level with the highest percentage of participation will receive a hosted happy hour at McMenamins. And, to be honest, I all but guaranteed the MS level as winners already. Which probably ended up as a quote on some elementary and high school bulletin boards as motivation for them to participate. So let’s show others we at the MS level are empathetic and concerned about student equity by spending some time shadowing a student!

This and that:

• Assessment is often part of the conversation (rightfully so) when considering whether students have learned what they have been taught. Assessment can also be broken down into two major categories, formative and summative. Although this article is specifically addressing questions or prompts that a science teacher can incorporate into her/his lesson, I would challenge you to read it with the question of: “How might a teacher in any discipline plan lessons where they ask questions with an eye on assessing student learning?”  I believe this article provides a practical outline for the types of questions/prompts that can be asked to formatively assess student learning (and applied outside the walls of a scientific environment).
• Here is a “hot off of the presses” announcement: The Bulletin’s Newspapers in Education Program is very excited to announce free access to the digital edition of The Bulletin and to our new NIE Program webpage for registering teachers (and for their students) in Central Oregon’s public school districts.  We will still continue to provide the print edition delivery option, as well, until further notice.    In order to participate and receive free access to the digital edition, teachers will need to register (it takes less than five minutes) at the following link:  https://www.bendbulletin.com/WhyNIE . [Note: the link will only be usable in class.]  If teachers currently receiving print copy deliveries would like to register for the electronic version of The Bulletin, they may do so by registering through the new registration page, as well.  Accordingly, we will stop the print deliveries based upon their request.The webpage will allow teachers to:
  • receive the daily Bulletin newsletter highlighting top stories of the day
  • digital access to that day’s electronic edition of The Bulletin and Bulletin archives for student research purposes
  • access The Bulletin webpage which contains Classroom Shortcuts (broken out in sections for quick content access), Teacher Resources, Key Common Core Standards (correlating the use of informational text/newspapers to key standards), and the latest local Education News.

   

Reminders:

• Monday we’ll be having our Horizontal meeting at PBMS starting at 3:15. Please have chapters 4 – 6 read in The Culture Code.
• Don’t forget to “send” home the SBAC opt-out information that was included in last week’s blog post.  Unfortunately, we have not yet received back the Spanish version of the district letter that we want to make sure is a part of this communication. We will provide that to you as soon as we receive it.

To Do:

• As you are well aware, SBAC Opt-Out letters need to be “sent” to parents every year… and the deadline for doing so is next week, or as soon as you can after. You may send these letters in whatever format you typically use to communicate with parents. (If you typically send an electronic communication to parents, you may also send this Opt-Out letter in that format. If you are planning a parent communication prior to the holiday break, you do not need to send a separate communication just for this Opt-Out letter, you may include it in your scheduled memo to parents.) When you send the Opt-Out form (Spanish, English), please also include this district created cover letter along with it. (The Spanish version of this letter will be provided to you as soon as it is available next week.) NOTE: this cover letter is currently signed “Your Principal” at the end. I recommend replacing this with your name to make it more personal.
• Here is a reminder from an email I sent to you late Friday prior to Thanksgiving:“Due to the changes to student start times in the coming school year, it is likely that many employees will see  changes in their regular work day start and end times.  The District Lead Together (DLT) team discussed the issue and is seeking to listen broadly to employee preferences and related suggestions.  This team is made up of teachers, classified staff and administrators.  This group focuses on issues that impact student learning and employees as a team.  Please take a few minutes to share your thinking with this group by completing the 2-question survey below.  The student start and end times for the 19-20 school year are:

*Elementary – 8:00 – 2:30

*Middle – 8:45 – 3:40

*High – 8:45 – 3:45

 A bit more detail is included in the survey introduction.  Thanks for your help.”

 Here is the link to the middle school survey.

This and that:

• I wanted to give you a heads-up on my crazy schedule next week. On Monday (Dec. 3) I will be in Salem all day for an AdvancED Advisory Board meeting. If you need to reach me, please send a text and I will get back to you as soon as I have a break. Also, Wednesday – Friday I’ll be at the Law Conference in Eugene. I will be more likely able to take a call or get back to you quicker from a text during these days.
• And speaking of parents opting their child out of SBAC, the state is clear that this Opt-Out form only applies to the math and ELA assessments. This form does not exempt a student from taking the science SBAC. The only way for a parent to opt their child out of science is for them to write you a letter stating that for “religious” or “student disability” reasons, they do not want their child to take the science assessment. I would suggest you plan on having all students take the science assessment; providing the opt-out option if asked for it.
• You likely have had a few conversations by now regarding next year’s change in start time. Regardless of where you stand on this change, I appreciate your support for the move when talking with your stakeholders. Last month there was an article in Education Week around this topic that I’d like to share with you – just so you have some additional talking points (or simply to share the article with those you come into contact with) when you get pressed as to why we would consider such a change.
• You may have received an email on this, but if not, here is some info on a School Safety Training you may be interested in attending – or sending others from your school:

What: One day workshop on School Safety presented by national expert Dr. Jeffrey Sprague.

When: Monday, December 10th, in Redmond, OR

Duration: 8:30 am – 2:30pm

Workshop Goals and Agenda

The goal of this workshop is to present state-of-the-art information and empirically supported practices to the process of making schools safer, and to discuss questions and possible solutions in the local schools and communities. The following topics will be addressed within this workshop:

• History and Overview of Approaches to School Discipline, Safety, and Mental Health
• Screening and Identifying Behaviorally At-Risk Students, including Threat Assessment.
• Improving School Climate, Safety, and Student Health via Universal Prevention.
• Preventing and Responding to Bullying and Peer Harassment in the School Setting.
• Supporting Antisocial and Potentially Violent Youth.
• Evaluating School Safety Efforts and a view to the Future

Reminders:

• Next Monday, Dec. 3, we’ll be having a short Leadership meeting, starting at 3:15, followed by our holiday gathering immediately after. (Jay sent out an email to all yesterday with the Leadership agenda.)
• Here is a reminder from the previous TRIBE post: Have you ever thought of utilizing a Co Teaching model of instruction at your school? Would you like to know more about how you might get started or what is necessary to make this happen?  If you are wanting to learn more, here is some information regarding a PD opportunity for you and/or teams of teachers from your building to attend. (The initial meeting/informational session will be held on Dec. 11.)

To Do:

• I know that a few of you are working on lowering your chronic absenteeism rate, but may not know all of our MS that have this as a focus. If you are working on strategies to lower your chronic absenteeism rate, please let me know. If you haven’t started working on this yet, but are interested in tackling this issue also let me know. There are some funds available around this work and I’d love to tell you more about it!
• [I know I sent this one to you last week also, but thought it was worth sending again!] Would you share this PD opportunity with your science teachers – or better yet, let a few of them know that you’d like to pay for them to attend? The Oregon Science Teacher Association is hosting an introduction to Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional model on Nov. 30 at Redmond HS from 8:00 – 3:00.  The cost is only $160 per teacher. Check out this flyer for more information on this great opportunity!
• [This is also a repeat from last week, but I am adding a heads-up now that I’ll be asking at our Horizontal on Dec. 10 whom – if any – from your building will be attending this training.] Please mark your calendar for an upcoming CONNECT training from 1:15 – 3:15 on both Dec. 18 & 19. The intended audience is MS building admin and counselors.  I hope to have one MS admin and counselor attend from each building.  Here is more of what this training will be about: Engage and build capacity for key members of our school community to respond to suicide. The goal of suicide postvention training is to promote healing and reduce risk of future suicides. Participants will become competent and confident to respond to suicidal incidents across the lifespan. They will use a community-based approach for early recognition, skill-building, and to promote healing and reduce risk after a suicide.

This and that:

• This week I wanted to share a short article with you that was written by a local teacher (last year taught at COIC in Bend, this year is at a school in Crook County) and featured in Teaching Tolerance. This was published as part of their “Why I Teach” series in which educators are provided an opportunity to share their personal story behind why they teach. I believe we grow in empathy when we hear another’s story. I also believe it is a gift we receive when others are willing to share their personal story with us. One that we can return when we become vulnerable ourselves, letting others see the unpolished side of what makes us who we are. This article is entitled: “When a Student Picks up a Book.”
• The first Central Oregon regional cohort of  School Retool (Stanford’s d.school fellowship) occurred last year and we’re gearing up for cohort 2. The cost of the fellowship is $2500/administrator. We have secured funds to cover $1000 of that cost. Bend-La Pine School District will cover $1000 (for up to 10 participants). This leaves an approximate cost of $500/participant remaining for the principals to cover from their building budgets. This is a great price for a very worthwhile PD opportunity. Here is additional information on what School Retool is all about if you are interested. Applications are due no later than Sunday, November 25th. If interested, apply HERE.
• Have you ever thought of utilizing a Co-Teaching model of instruction at your school? Would you like to know more about how you might get started or what is necessary to make this happen?  If you are wanting to learn more, here is some information regarding a PD opportunity for you and/or teams of teachers from your building to attend. (The initial meeting/informational session will be held on Dec. 11.)

Reminders:

• No school next week. (You knew this, right?!) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Safe travels if you’ll be on the road. My mom used to tell Christie and I that she’d prefer that we arrive late and safe, than try and push against the natural or human elements in getting to their house quickly – and I hope the same for you.

To Do:

• As a follow-up from last week, we have learned that DHS does not want any paper copy of abuse referrals. They only want a phone call. However, please continue to fill out the reporting form, keep one copy, and send one copy to Jody in the Office of School Support.
• Here is a great opportunity from the Cascade Culinary Institute at OSU-Cascades. This is worth a read and consideration of how you might make a connection with them.
• Would you share this PD opportunity with your science teachers – or better yet, let a few of them know that you’d like to pay for them to attend? The Oregon Science Teacher Association is hosting an introduction to Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) instructional model on Nov. 30 at Redmond HS from 8:00 – 3:00.  The cost is only $160 per teacher. Check out this flyer for more information on this great opportunity!

This and that:

• In this, the look at the last “question” in Jennifer Gonzalez’s 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Unmotivated Students, you’ll be asked to consider how instructional content is being made relevant to the learner. Likewise, are we asking our employees to perform worthwhile tasks – ones where the relevance is obvious? I certainly don’t ask myself this question often enough. Is it possible that relevance has an affect on building culture?
• And, just for fun, I’m also sending you this article about a retired teacher with no musical background who recently played for a high school band.  I hope you enjoy the article… and consider how you might have some of your kids make connections with an older generation. I have no doubt our kids can/will learn much and give much to others, including those less able to come to our schools and volunteer.
• Please mark your calendar for an upcoming CONNECT training from 1:15 – 3:15 on both Dec. 18 & 19. The intended audience is MS building admin and counselors.  I hope to have one MS admin and counselor attend from each building.  Here is more of what this training will be about: Engage and build capacity for key members of our school community to respond to suicide. The goal of suicide post-vention training is to promote healing and reduce risk of future suicides. Participants will become competent and confident to respond to suicidal incidents across the lifespan. They will use a community-based approach for early recognition, skill-building, and to promote healing and reduce risk after a suicide.
• School hours have been decided for next year. (There may be some small adjustments to this, but you can count on the following being your approximate start/end times with kids.)
  • Elementary will be 8:00-2:30 (8:00-1:00 on Wednesdays)
  • Middle School will be 8:45- 3:40 (8:45 – 1:55 on Wednesdays)
  • High School will be 8:45-3:45

  The District Lead Together team is currently working on a process to collect input in order to determine work hours for our employees beginning next year. This will likely involve the ask to have you provide time for your staff to complete a survey in the coming weeks. The basic question to answer around this is, do we want to continue having staff “on duty” 30 prior to and after classes, or does it make more sense at this time to make before or after school a longer chunk of time and the opposite (before/after) a shorter amount of time. I’ll let you know more once the survey has been created.

• I’m not sure if this is a reminder or not, but wanted to clear up any misunderstanding (because I was unclear) around the labeling of student absences this year. Last year, ODE published draft guidance suggesting that students should be marked absent for time spent traveling during the school day for extra-curricular activities.  Final guidance has not yet been published by ODE.  Therefore, in 2018-2019 we will submit attendance data using the same calculations that we have used for the past several years. In other words, this year student absences for school-sponsored events (e.g. music, athletic, or field trip travel) will be considered EXCUSED absences. Please touch base with your attendance secretary to verify this is how these absences have been categorized.

Reminders:

• Veteran’s Day – no school – on Monday, Nov. 12.
• BrightBytes survey opens next week (through Nov. 30).
• Thanksgiving break is Nov. 19 – 23.

To Do:

• Effective immediately, DHS will no longer be accepting faxed child abuse reports. We do not know yet whether they will be asking for a hard copy of reports still – but are hoping not as faxed copies are the best way to share these. For now, please share the “no more faxed copies” with your staff – and I’ll update you on this development as we learn more.
• Please share this (Ed Foundation) Classroom Grant info with your teachers: SAVE THE DATE!The Education Foundation for Bend-La Pine Schools announces the Classroom Grants timeline for grant distribution in the 2019-2020 academic year.  The grant process will open Monday, February 18, 2019 with a link to the online application form.  Grant applications must be submitted no later than Friday, March 22, 2019.  The grant application process is open to all educators in Bend, La Pine and Sunriver.  Once determinations are made, funded grants will be awarded in May 2019.  All educators will be sent additional communication by January and the online link in February.  Questions can be directed to Angie Cole, Allocations Committee Chair at:  [email protected] or (541) 318-3794  or Michelle Johnson, Executive Director, Education Foundation at: [email protected] or (541) 355-5660.  Requests for STEM, art, music & wellness projects will be accepted during the dates indicated and must complete all necessary forms for consideration.  In the 2018-2019 academic year, the Education Foundation funded over $89,000 in classroom grants — it’s highest award in 30 years of service to the K-12 educational community.  To learn more, visit www.engagedminds.org

This and that:

• This week you’ll be asked to reflect on Whether Your Words Contribute to a Growth Mindset or a Fixed Mindset, the fourth question from the article 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Unmotivated Students, by Jennifer Gonzalez. When you think about your staff, I have no doubt that you could identify those with a growth mindset and those whom lean towards a fixed mindset. Could any of Jennifer’s suggestions of how to develop more of a growth mindset work for you as you work with your staff? Does your school culture embody your overall staff mindset?
• Kerry Morton shared some information with me regarding a math conference sponsored by Teacher Development Group – whom many of you are familiar with. Here is a link for this conference that brings together math educators/specialists at the top of this field who share their work – based on the latest research.
• The BrightBytes survey window will open November 12^th and close November 30^th.  Skip will be sending out directions for students and teachers in two separate emails next week.  If you have any questions about how to administer this survey please let him know.  Remember, this survey is used by Shay in his report to the board regarding our Future Ready board ends.  Please ensure that students and teachers fully participate in this survey.
• I will be in Portland on Thursday afternoon and Friday for the OSBA conference. If you need to reach me, call or text me on my cell if it is urgent – or feel free to email if it is not as urgent.  I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Reminders:

• We have a Leadership meeting on Monday, starting at 3:15 in the board room. A bulk of our time will be spent in our smaller admin PD groups (that you chose at last month’s Leadership meeting).
• Veteran’s Day – no school – on Monday, Nov. 12.

To Do:

• Check out the new “TRIBE” logo (banner) across the top of our blog. Your next question may be, “How did you do that?”… to which I would answer, “I have no idea.”  If you know me well, you know that Christie receives much more joy in making things look eye pleasing than I do (hence I have nothing to do with our home decorating, but I do stake claim to our organized garage).  So if you want to know how you could do this with your blog, ask Christie to show you!
• Let me know if you need/would like a few additional MindUP books or chimes – as I have recently been gifted a small box full.

This and that:

• Dirk celebrated a birthday on Wednesday of this week. Happy Birthday to you Dirk!
• Principals, during my site visit with you this month (which may also flow into next month), I will be looking forward to talking with you regarding: your SLGGs, one thing you are implementing/modifying/thinking about in terms of culture, and what you are currently engaged in with your staff regarding the instructional practice you are focused on this year.
• This week’s reading takes a look at the third question in the series from 5 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Unmotivated Students article by Jennifer Gonzalez. In it, you’ll be asked to consider how you motivate students to learn. As you reflect on this, I encourage you to also ponder what you use to motivate your staff. Is it the same? Should it be different? How does this fit into the context of building school culture?
• Here is a FAQ regarding the Smarter Balanced Assessment that you may share with your stakeholders (e.g. staff at SIW, parents via newsletters, etc.). Let me know if you have any questions for concerns regarding this.
• The Health Advisory Committee is in need of members.  Skip Offenhauser needs at least one admin and one teacher from each level to help screen and recommend supplementary materials for Health instruction.  Here is the potential commitment for this year:
  • November – all committee meeting to review our screening process in the past and make recommended changes for the future (2 hrs)
  • January  – review submitted applications ( 2hrs)
  • February – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recommendations to school board (half day maybe a full day depending on the number of presentations)
  • March – update to supplemental materials master list based on school board approval (1 hr)

   

  That is the tentative schedule for this year.  For future years the predicted schedule would be to have three meetings:

  • Fall – review submitted applications and send invitations to present to the committee
  • Winter – listen to presentations, screen materials, make recommendations to school board
  • Spring – update supplemental list

  Please let Skip Offenhauser  know if you are interested in being part of this committee and/or if you have any teachers at your school who would like to be part of this committee. Teachers will timesheet their time after school and TLC will pick up the cost of any subs that might be needed.

Reminders:

• If you haven’t already done so (and likely most/all of you have), please spend some time training your students on how to find and use First Step – the reporting tool found on every student iPad. We have received numerous timely tips via this app and hope to continue to have students use this as a source to communicate concerns they may see or hear.
• Don’t forget to RSVP with Debbie Watkins for the reasonable suspicion training that will occur on Nov. 28 (2:00 – 5:00pm) if you are interested. See Debbie’s email (sent to you on Oct. 18, 4:00pm) for further details.
• Daylight Savings time ends on Sunday, Nov. 4.
• We have our next Leadership meeting on Monday, Nov. 5. The main focus of this meeting will be around connecting you with the PD topic groups that you selected (when you completed the survey) at our last Leadership.