To Do:
SLGG’s and your Self Reflection are due this Monday, February 7.
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Equitable Grading Work: As we continue to support our secondary teachers to implement equitable grading practices, your leadership voice is imperative in messaging clear expectations.
As you have seen, our Canvas and Synergy teams are responsive and willing to dig in with your teams to support and problem. You are not alone in leading this work! The week of February 14, our Canvas team will resume sending school reports detailing grade book setup issues between Synergy and Canvas.
Here is a reminder of the expectations we have been pushing out this year. As several schools begin semester 2, this is a good time reinforce these with your teachers:
2021-22 Canvas and Synergy Grade Setup
Bend La Pine Canvas Expectations. Of special note here is that a course syllabus is required beginning semester 2 using the template selected by your school.
NEW TERM COURSE SHELLS: Remember to apply course settings in each new course.
*Enable nightly sync and synch every graded assignment. The intended outcome is that Canvas ALWAYS matches what is in Synergy. Parents and students should never wonder about their student’s grade.
*Apply 50% for missing submissions
*Assignment groups in Canvas match assignment categories in Synergy
*Grading scales (Canvas scheme and Synergy Grade Type) must match
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Science Safety information from our Secondary Science TOSA, Colleen Behrens: Scott Bojanowski, Marsha Baro and Colleen Behrens have been working to finalize science safety documents and procedures for the district. This information was reviewed with science teachers at the last Educator Network Day.
Please read through these two documents so you can support the management of science safety expectations in your schools. Science and Safety Update and Science and Chemistry Safety Library.
Science teachers must complete their Flinn training by June 4 2022. Here are their options:
Choose 1 Option
Day 190: Seven hours Flinn High School Laboratory Safety Course. Email certificate of completion to Science TOSA
Paid Time: Seven hours Flinn High School Laboratory Safety Course pays curriculum rate. Email certificate of completion to Science TOSA and she will email the timesheet.
Credit Option: Seven hours Flinn High School Laboratory Safety Course and a project through Bend-LaPine Course Catalog- Spring Term. Credit through OSU, Cascade. Email certificate of completion AND project for credit to Science TOSA.
Science Safety Support Team Members: SHS Callie Pfister; BSHS Casie Bullock; MVHS Andy Young; Realms Heidi Dixon; BTA@ MHS Missy Wikler; CHS Kathleen Glogau/Laura Gemignani; LPHS Suzanne Jones
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Information:
A note from Tami Pike about vaccination status: Remind staff that if they are not “up-to-date” with their COVID-19 vaccinations, they will be required to follow the quarantine protocol if they are identified as a close contact to a positive case (if they have not had confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from a lab, health care provider, or health department). You do not need to quarantine, if you have had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis from a lab, health care provider, or health department in the last 90 days. Quarantine guidelines
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From Dean: I wanted to let you know about the continuation of the optional Educator Network Day on February 9th. The intent of these collaboration spaces is for you to meet with other teachers to discuss and plan the issues important to you. These planning spaces are predominately run by teacher leaders and District ICCLs.
Teachers who attend the Educator Networks will be time sheeted for lost prep time. Again, these are voluntary meeting times with the agendas being set by BLS teachers.
Agenda and schedules can be found here.
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Updates from HR: Bend – La Pine Schools (BLS) and our Associations have signed a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the workplace. There is a provision for ten (10) paid COVID-19 hardship days and employees have the ability to request retroactive credit for absences that was applied against their sick leave. This provision extends to Confidential/BLAST employees as well.
To determine if you are eligible for the retroactive credit, we’ve created a form for you to review and submit if one or more of the categories apply to past leave.
The form is not necessary for leave that will be captured in the coming months as Office Managers have received instructions on how to code COVID-19 related leave moving forward
For staff submitting for retroactive COVID-19 credit, please do not send your school nurse the form for signature. The forms should be sent via district mail (not via email) to Tami Pike. Please include a copy of your submitted leave sheet.
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From Dean and our Secondary TOSA’s: As most of us move into a new semester and spend our time with report cards, it is also a time to think about all that students have worked on this year. Students have done analyzing, synthesizing, and processing. As teachers, you have done the same thing with all of their evidence of learning.
As we move the second half of the year, Science TOSA Colleen Behrens shares some ways to think about ways to think about how we provide students information beyond grades and what feedback is most beneficial for students. Feedback vs Feed Forward
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Alternative Credit Option: Our Grading and Credit in IKA- AR was recently updated by our board to include language that adds another option for alternative credit. Here is the added language:
*For the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, students may earn credit for a course in
which the student did not initially pass at semester / trimester, but did pass the following
semester / trimester. The original grade shall not be changed but course passage
denoted via alternative credit. A “P” for “pass” will be added to the transcript. This applies
to the courses in the same content area or sequence. For example, if a student did not
pass Semester 1 of Biology, but did pass Semester 2 of Biology; the student may earn 1
credit of Biology science credit. Or, if a student did not pass Health 1, but passes Health
2, the student may earn .5 credit for Health 1. Approval may be granted by the building
principal or designee.
This information has been shared with your grad coaches, counselors and curriculum secretaries. Dean and I can help with questions.
Calendar:
HERE is the calendar for meetings for the year
Here is a sample Learning Walk schedule you can use as a guide to plan that visit.
- February 7 – SLGG’s and your Self Reflection due (moved both back to account for the Canvas/Synergy clean up).
- February 8 – All HS Admin WS Cancelled
- February 8 – Principal Work Session; 8:00-9:30 @CHS
All admin retreat – June 27 and 28 (Monday and Tuesday). Let me know if you are not able to make those dates.
