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Please remind your staff to not come to work if they are feeling ill <\/strong>(even if it is just a case of the sniffles). If they do come to work and end up having to test for COVID – and test positive – then contract tracing kicks in and likely will place additional staff into a quarantine situation. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next Wednesday morning I am planning on providing you with step-by-step instructions for your teachers<\/strong> (for both Canvas and Synergy) to follow regarding both the P\/NG and “no zero” grading changes. Many of your teachers will have already completed much or most (even all?) of these steps by then – which is great – but want to make sure you have (prior to SIW next week) all of the steps necessary for teachers to take that will maintain smooth and accurate grade reporting. ________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n At our Horizontal last Tuesday, I raised the question of whether our MS Hybrid schedule actually needed to be the “second semester MS schedule<\/strong>.” I’ve discussed this with Patty G. and she assures me that making the change in Synergy (that she would make) between which classes occur daily in the CDL schedule and the Hybrid schedule is a relatively easy one (I need to give her a week’s notice) is very doable. Therefore, we do not need to move to our Hybrid schedule until it is time to do so. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is a 2020-21 evaluation update<\/strong>… Although not quite finalized yet, I wanted to provide you with an idea of what to expect for this year. By state law, all probationary teachers are required to have two formal observations (pre meeting, observe, post meeting). You will need to still do this. Additionally, plan on one mini for probationary teachers. For contract teachers, plan on doing three minis for teachers on eval cycle and two minis for teachers non on cycle. Additionally, the domains\/standards that you’ll be asked to report on (summative eval) will be greatly reduced for this year. This will be true not only for teachers, both other certified specialists as well (counselors, psychs, etc.). It is the target to get you all of the final details on this prior to the holiday break. ________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you are likely aware, Deschutes county is now categorized as being in “extreme risk” level<\/strong> by the state due to our increase and large positive Covid cases. Here is a chart<\/a> that outlines what this means to our county. Although K-12 schools are exempt from these restrictions, we are using these guidelines to inform our district decisions around safety protocols. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a document that would be good for you to read and have knowledge of – but not necessarily share to a broader audience (think “have in your back pocket”). If and when you are asked about whether your school is meeting required instructional minutes for CDL<\/strong>, this is a document <\/a>that Dean Richard and Paul Dean put together to outline how every BLS middle school is meeting this requirement. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second Disciplinary Literacy training for\u00a0new hires<\/strong>\u00a0will be\u00a0January 13th<\/sup>\u00a0from 2-4<\/span>.\u00a0 Please prioritize the attendance for your staff.\u00a0 This training will focus on metacognition on the Habits of Mind and Habits of Interactions within specific academic disciplines.\u00a0 If you have questions please reach out to Dean Richards. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found this interactive article<\/a> out of the New York Times<\/span> on the Marine Corps basic training depot<\/strong> in San Diego very hopeful. (Years ago, as a HS counselor, I spent a week learning about the process a new Marine recruit goes through – so also found many of these photos and descriptions to be fondly reminiscing.) They have been able to keep the spread of coronavirus under wraps, and that brings me hope that with our precautions and plans in place – we’ll be able to also when kids return to school. (Obviously, we do not plan on having our students sleep at our schools, so I recognize there are some big differences in our situation.). _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n This may likely not be occurring, but wanted you to have this guidance just in case… If any (2 or more) staff members need to travel together in the same vehicle<\/strong> for work-related purposes, then all staff should wear a mask during the entire travel time (and then follow mask protocols after that as well). Let me know if you have any questions on this. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have two minutes for a little perspective-check<\/strong> or a reminder of all that we have to be thankful for (I needed it), then here is a short video<\/a> highlighting a SPED teacher from Phoenix-Talent School District that lost her home in this fall’s fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m looking forward to seeing you next Tuesday at 2:00 for Horizontal<\/strong>. And, we have a special guest coming! \ud83d\udc4f. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Katie reminded us all yesterday (via email), we have our rescheduled Equity and Excellence training<\/strong> (with Courney from BRYT) this next Wednesday from 3:00 – 4:30. Here is the Zoom link<\/a> to access the training. And, don’t forget to have your homework <\/a>completed! _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likely you have already… but it not, please share both the MS 2020-21 Grading update (Spanish<\/a> and English<\/a>) and the MS Hybrid Schedule (Spanish<\/a> and English<\/a>) with your staff and parent community. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n At our Horizontal earlier this week Michele C. led us through an example of Webex best practices<\/strong> that could be used by teachers within the virtual classroom. Here is a link<\/a> to the one-page overview of what was shared. _________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TO DO: Please remind your staff to not come to work if they are feeling ill (even if it is just a case of the sniffles). If they do come to work and end up having to test for COVID … Continue reading THIS and THAT:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
REMINDERS:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n