Aloha, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth Wright, one of our amazing SpEd EAs, is heading off to Juniper to work in a certified role there for the rest of the year. Elizabeth has been an amazing resource for our students the past 3 years, as her experience as a classroom teacher coupled with her calm and supportive manner have allowed our students to get support in a manner that is caring, consistent and predictable. It is another bittersweet farewell, as I’m always happy when people are in the roles that best suit them but am certain that she’ll be missed.
Special Programs has assured me that they are already searching for someone new to join our team, but in the coming weeks (hopefully it will be just days), there will be some shifting of Christina and Angie so we can be sure that the students in need of support are receiving it.
IMPORTANT: Canvas Things
- Mandy and Jane are sending individual emails to people who need specific Canvas support with their gradebooks/set-up. The things that they are supporting are district policies that MUST BE COMPLETED BY 1/20, so please be prompt in replying to their emails to set up a time to meet with them. Again, this is a MUST-DO.
- EVERYONE- Make sure your Canvas and Synergy gradebooks match. Do a spot grade check with 3 students. If they don’t match, please reach out to Jane or Mandy. DO THIS NOW! FOR REAL! RIGHT NOW! THIS MOMENT!
- New course shells for semester or quarter long classes will be pushed into your Canvas Dashboards on Feb. 2. Year-long class shells will not change. Directions for how to transition to a new term course shell or a new semester (for year long classes) can be found here.
Covid Safety
Test kits
We have test kits here, at a time when case counts are rising and testing opportunities are shrinking. If you feel symptomatic, think you have been exposed, or need some peace of mind, we can conduct a test here for you. We have to stay safe to stay open.
You may have noticed an uptick in the “C19” absence indicators in Synergy this week, more evidence that we remain in the thick of all things Covid-related. It is especially important that you ensure that you are reminding students of the need to adhere to the mitigation measures we have in place, particularly the PROPER wearing of masks. This is a safety issue that needs to be dealt with consistently and immediately. I have heard from some staff that they are reluctant to have this conversation with students for fear of damaging a relationship, to which I say that nothing shows you care about someone more than tending to their safety and well-being.
If there are students with whom you have had multiple conversations with about proper mask wearing or any other mitigation measure to no avail, please let Anne-Marie know.
If you need any supplies (hand sanitizer, masks (including KN-95 masks), please let Tami know and she’ll get you stocked up.
Please, refer to the district’s Covid dashboard and Superintendent Cook’s message from this past weekend for more information and review the below protocols.
YouthTruth Survey
The YouthTruth Survey opened on Monday, January 3rd for families, students, and staff. This survey is a great tool for us, made even more useful with a higher turnout from all of our stakeholders. This is a completely anonymous survey that allows us to get a better understanding for how staff feels in the areas of Engagement, Relationships, Culture, School Safety, and Professional Development & Support specific to our school and allows us to see how these indicators compare to other middle schools across the district, across the state, and across the nation. We reviewed the data from last year’s survey as we developed our School Design plan for this year. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. To take yours now, please visit the YouthTruth site and get started. See me with any questions you have, and thanks in advance for taking the time to provide honest (and actionable) input.
Lunch Time Supervision
As we head into winter, we’re going to have more days with Indoor Optional lunch and some days where the weather forces to have Indoor Mandatory lunches. We are down one lunch supervisor with Elizabeth leaving and we are doing all we can to ensure mitigation measures are in place at both of the lunch times.
I heard from staff this week about their concerns about the closeness of students at lunchtime, and I want you to know that we are working daily to remind them of the three-foot requirement and that it is certainly not without challenges. If you have constructive, solution-oriented feedback on how lunch might be improved, please connect with Anne-Marie.
We also have an unlimited amount of Lunch Supervisor positions available, so if you are interested in being paid in return for giving up even one lunch period per week to leverage your relationships with students in order to help provide a great environment, please let Anne-Marie know.
Fellowship Opportunity
The Educator Advancement Council, a division of ODE, is offering an amazing opportunity for racially/linguistically/ethnically-diverse educators to participate in a racial justice institute fellowship. Details can be found here. Applications are due very soon, so act quickly if you are interested!
Differentiated Instruction
Quinn Daly, one of the district’s TOSAs who is also a new teacher mentor, is hosting a course on differentiated instruction. As you have undoubtedly heard me say, here at PCMS, we value differences, which means we have to plan for those differences. This course will support you in providing differentiated instruction both in a virtual and face-to-face classroom settings. As a result of this class, you will come away with a better understanding of what differentiated instruction is and you will have created a differentiated instruction lesson you will be able to implement directly into your classroom this year. This course is run completely through Canvas, with a group share on the last day of the course. The dates of the class are from January 18th – February 22nd.
Certified staff can register on Performance Matters.
Educator Network Day
Wednesday, January 12, is an Educator Network Day, where you will collaborate with your colleagues at other sites. Full details and locations (please be sure to check if your team is meeting in-person or virtually) can be found on this week’s Secondary Instruction Blog.
Winter Weather Notifications
Copying-and-pasting from my email on Monday:
I’m a big believer that inclement weather days are like Beetlejuice, except the opposite. So I don’t say those two words out loud.
That said, please make sure you are signed up to receive text alerts regarding any adjustments to our schedule. Follow the links on this page.
https://www.bend.k12.or.us/district/news-events/news/2020/01/winter-weather-decisions
Helpful Links