{"id":2834,"date":"2021-03-19T19:07:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T19:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bend.k12.or.us\/katie.legace\/?p=2834"},"modified":"2021-03-19T19:27:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T19:27:14","slug":"march-19-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bend.k12.or.us\/katie.legace\/2021\/03\/19\/march-19-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"March 19, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To Do:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael McDonald shared this study<\/a> on learning loss during COVID. It’s worth sharing and discussing with your staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out this read on challenging coursework<\/strong>: https:\/\/www.educationnext.org\/what-i-learned-in-23-years-ranking-americas-most-challenging-high-schools\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This read is particularly relevant as we were discussing this topic at last week’s Horizontal Team meeting. Equitable Access to Advanced Courses<\/a> is an area of HSS eligibility we are not currently meeting in our high schools. Some adjustments for next year’s forecasting would help in this regard, such as removing pre-requisites that include teacher recommendations or a certain grade in a previous class or test score.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speaking of access<\/strong> and fees<\/strong>: just a reminder that schools should not be charging any fees associated with a class in which a student is earning a grade.<\/strong> For example, we are not allowed to charge<\/strong> for a graphing calculator for a math class – they run about $165. Every student should be provided a calculator <\/strong>so each student has the tools to access the content.<\/strong> I suggest you purchase those calculators and make them available for students to check out of your library, similar to how we could check out books or iPads. After reviewing your budgets and seeing the huge amounts still left to spend, now is the time to stock up! Also, we are not allowed to charge for materials in elective classes<\/strong>. If a student wishes to do a project not related to a grade that they plan to keep, we can charge for those materials. Please have someone read through your curriculum guides and remove any such fees. Also, be sure to reinforce this fact with your staff.<\/strong> Please reach out if you have questions about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here is an important to do from Andrea<\/strong>: We are excited to revive our Excellence in Education event and are ready to start gathering nominations for employees who have knocked your socks off during the 2020-21 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are looking to honor a certified and classified staff member from each school and departments are also encouraged to nominate staff members.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nomination form is HERE<\/a> and due back to the Superintendent\u2019s Office by March 31<\/strong> (email to me, or paper copy works great)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you are well aware, we are not able to host large gatherings, so we are continuing to work on logistics of how to safely celebrate staff members, during the month of May\u2026stay tuned \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like nomination history for your school or department. Thank you in advance for your help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Please share this with your teachers:<\/strong> At the end of our professional development conversation with Doug Reeves <\/strong>Wednesday, he described the opportunity to participate in a problem of practice <\/em>series this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are interested in joining Doug Reeves and his team at Creative-Leadership-Solutions<\/em> as you work on a challenge, define a problem of practice, and test out interventions and ideas as you create an action research project, then sign up for the OSU-Cascades class.  It is a 2-credit class that is offered in Spring 2021 (see the syllabus<\/a> for dates and course requirements).  Registration <\/a>is currently open but will close on March 31st. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To register for the class, complete the registration and application form and upload them to this google folder.<\/a>  If you have attended a BLS-OSU Cascades class in the last 12 months, then you do not need to complete the application form.  There is an initial $35 application fee which will be billed by OSU-C once they receive your application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, we will compensate teachers for the five after school sessions (including May) and the time to prep for the May share out.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any questions, please contact Michele Oakes\u00a0 (michele.oakes@bend.k12.or.us<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update from Paul on the latest RSSL: <\/strong> There is not a whole lot of updated language in this week’s RSSL release of version 6.0.\u00a0 This short document <\/a>will provide the district’s stance on the primary changes related to cohorting, screening, and visual\/performing arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Happy Friday!\u00a0\u00a0The second edition of the\u00a0EdTech Bytes<\/a>\u00a0newsletter is here. Th post\u00a0includes…<\/p>\n\n\n\n