AM Notes, October 4 2021

Good Morning All!
I hope you enjoyed the glorious weekend! Who doesn’t love Fall in Central Oregon?! On Saturday I finally got on my bike again after 6 weeks of rehabbing from my surgery, and on Sunday Michelle and I got up to No Name Lake up near Broken Top. It’s good to be alive! Here’s a look from No Name Lake:

A few notes to get you going:
1) SIW this week will be part Staff Meeting, part School Design work. We’ll start at 1:30 in Brian’s room.

2) Check-in meetings are this week. Please be sure you have your time written in your planner. Forgot already? Here’s the link: Check-ins. Things to think about for our meeting:
*Overall feeling at this point
*What are you most excited about at this point in the year?
*Schedule and how it’s working (or not working)
*How you’re feeling about your workload/cognitive load 
*Ideas you’d like to share
*Tier 1 LEAD activity-what activity have you chosen?
*Support you are needing during this first part of the year
*What do you need to feel more successful, happier, and/or more fulfilled?

3) As we enter week 5 of the school year it is extremely helpful for those in support roles (Haley and Sara) to know your daily/weekly schedule. As they are beginning to set up support groups, it’s crucial they know the best times to pull students from your class, or push in to support classroom activities. By the end of this week (or sooner) please be sure to send me, Sara, and Haley a copy of your schedule. A huge thanks!

4) As of this moment, Conversations (Amity version of conferences for those that are new) will be virtual. This could change if COVID numbers drop us from High or Substantial risk into Moderate or Low risk; at lower levels we would most likely offer a hybrid which would be in-person conferences for families that want it, and virtual for everyone else. The district will use numbers from the week of October 15 to decide. I will inform parents of this and I think it would be best to wait until October 18 to start sign ups for meeting times.

In terms of preparing for Conferences I will share some information with you at SIW. In terms of what days we will conference, I’d like to propose we do what we’ve done in the past–do conferences Wednesday and Thursday and take Friday off. I’ll check in with you at SIW.

5) Fall DIBELS is next week on Tuesday, October 12. Just know that at some point during the morning we will be pulling students from your class. A good time to shift to an independent activity!

6) We will have our first EBISS (student support) meeting on October 21. I will share the schedule with you next week. Brad will be covering your class during the 30 minute meetings.

7) Halloween update: Halloween falls on the Sunday after Conversations which means we have a 2 day week with students that week. It feels to me that we don’t necessarily have to do anything related to Halloween and instead should focus on what the Monday after Halloween should look like. Have a good think about it and share with others what you plan to do to accommodate comatose students that Monday morning. In the past we have done PJs and movies mixed with a variety of other not-so-demanding activities in the classroom. Would it be wrong to call it a Halloween Hangover party?

8) Pie fundraiser begins today! The only help we’ll need from you is sending the order forms home at the end of the day today (they will be delivered to you), and to collect forms as they are returned (by October 18). All the rest will be done by Friends of Amity. We’d also appreciate a reminder included in your weekly notes until the 18th. Thanks!

Upcoming
*October 7/8: Grade 4 hosts Community Time
*October 12: DIBELS, 8-11am
*October 14/15: Kinder hosts Community Time
*October 18: Pie orders are due
*October 21/22: Grade 2 hosts Community Time
*October 27-29: No School for students, Conversations (conferences)
*November 4/5: Grade 1 hosts Community Time
*November 4: Pies arrive-FOA to handle all logistics!

Here’s to a great week ahead!
Andy