October 2, 2020

Elementary Admin Friends – I received fewer phone calls from you this week than ever before.  This tells me you are beginning to dial in your plans and are ready to bring kids back into the building or you’ve realized that calling me isn’t really that helpful.  Whatever it is, keep up the great work and keep up the collaboration across sites. Your colleagues are truly your best resource.  Remember, this is a team effort and no one person has all the answers or has figured out all the problems of the world – except maybe Ned (ask him to share his plan)

Now for the firehose…

IMPORTANT FOR YOUR CALENDAR…Horizontal this week has been cancelled because our first Leadership is this coming Wednesday (not Monday) at 3:30 in Lora’s Webex room. Here is a list of dates for this year’s Leadership (all admin) and Excellence and Equity Collaboration (all admin – focus on equity) meetings.

LIPI students and lunches…When your school begins LIPI, you will have students on your campus around lunchtime. We would love to make sure these students have a lunch available to them. Please complete this document for your school so nutrition services will know how many lunches you’ll need on a daily basis. (Obviously, if your numbers change be sure you notify nutrition services so there are not extra or not enough meals.). 

Childcare… We’ve been working with Bend Park and Recreation Department to provide both a 2- and 3-day option during balanced/hybrid instruction, beginning October 26th (or later, if the district has not yet transitioned to balanced/hybrid instruction by that date). These options will be significantly less expensive than the full program.. BPRD hopes to be able to provide care for kindergarten students as well, if they are children of staff members or siblings of other program participants. Look for a survey coming out early next week to gauge staff interest in this option. I am still waiting to hear back from Park and Rec on the form I created.

Observations and Evaluations… I mentioned briefly during Horizontal that a work group will be coming together to provide guidance on 20-21 observations and evaluations.  We should have information to share from that group soon.  Until then, don’t think you can’t start your mini-observation process.  One thing you could do would be to sit in on a team planning meeting.  Look at their schedule.  Compare it to the recommended schedule from our standards of practice. Engage in a conversation around what is working well and what challenges still exist. 

Something to pass on to staff… Each fall, SELCO awards grants of up to $1,000 to K-12 educators at accredited schools throughout Oregon. If you have a creative classroom idea we can help with, we’d love to hear it. To accommodate educator’s needs, this year’s application period is now open and runs through October 31. Visit selco.org/SPARK to learn more.

Conferences…  there have been lots of inquiries about conferences. I know they are coming up soon.  Stay tuned for more information their status.

Ready Set LearnThis document is one that I’d suggest you print, save on your desktop, and share with your entire staff. It provides important communication regarding Covid and outlines step-by-step processes to many of the questions/scenarios you are likely receiving or wondering about.

New OHA document… this OHA document is one that I had not seen before, but found to be one that provides nice details around requirements for in-person instruction. (Remember, test positivity rates has temporarily been removed as a metric due to Oregon wildfires.). 

LIPI and Lunches… When your school begins LIPI, you will have students on your campus around lunchtime. We would love to make sure these students have a lunch available to them. Please complete this document for your school so nutrition services will know how many lunches you’ll need on a daily basis. (Obviously, if your numbers change be sure you notify nutrition services so there are not extra or not enough meals.)

Stuff from TLC

Weekly update…  Julie has been sending out a weekly update to certified elementary staff.  However, we realized that this email list does not include admin.   We want to make sure you are seeing this information so you have been added to her distribution list. Something that is in the TLC note this week is this survey.  To promote collaboration we want teachers to share the cool things that are doing.  If you know of a teacher, or a better yet, a team that is doing something great please encourage them to fill out the survey.

New Webex features… If you didn’t hear, some new WebEx features were recently released. The biggest feature was the addition of breakout rooms – this is a great way to engage students in classroom discussions. Make sure your staff knows about this link.  This page is a great place to learn about WebEx – lots of resources and tutorials.  Additionally, if you are interested in offering an optional training for your staff please reach out to an instructional technology coach. 

  • John Craft: Buckingham, Amity Creek, Juniper, Westside Village, North Star, and High Lakes
  • Brenna Frost: Elk Meadow, Ensworth, Highland, Ponderosa, Silver Rail, Miller
  • Dyan Sultzer: Bear Creek, La Pine Elementary, Lava Ridge, Pine Ridge, Jewell, Rosland, Three Rivers
  • Christie Boen: Mountain View, La Pine Middle, La Pine High and Library support

Dreambox and Lexia… Some teachers have heard from parents that they are doing something different than Dreambox and Lexia.  While this isn’t necessarily bad we want to make sure those other supplemental programs are done in addition to Dreambox and Lexia not in place of.  There are very important reasons we picked those Lexia and Dreambox that parents might not be aware of.  The analytics from these systems help teachers make instructional decisions and personalize instruction.  If questioned by parents here is something teachers could say or send:

There are a ton of great supplemental reading and math programs out there and many of them were considered by the district.  However the supplemental programs we adopted, Lexia and Dreambox, complement our core reading and math programs well and provide us with valuable information to provide instruction in a more personalized and strategic manner.  The reports from these systems provide teachers with detailed information which allows them to identify each student’s strengths, learning gaps, and skills to focus on. It’s ok If other supplemental math and reading programs are used. However, these programs should be in addition to the recommended minutes for Lexia and Dreambox not in place of.

YouTube Information… In the TLC update John Craft included information on YouTube and using video during instruction.  I am including it in my blog so you see what was communicated to teachers.  YouTube has become so common that we sometimes forget that we need to venture carefully when using this site.

Teachers,

We are all discovering the real power of videos during distance learning! Videos have become a medium that is crucial in the delivery of instruction as well as a learning resource for both students and teachers. The use of videos has its own set of caveats, however. Here are a few clarification points as well as some suggestions surrounding the use of YouTube videos for instructional purposes with students. 

  • You can use YouTube, but there is no guarantee that the videos will be viewable by students. Even our Google Administrator cannot say, for certain, which videos will make it through and which will be blocked. Use at your own risk. There are no guarantees, unfortunately.
  • We should not be using any “YouTube rippers,” sites or applications that allow you to download YouTube videos or give links that take out advertisements. This gets into copyright issues that we need to avoid. If you would like to remove the side videos that appear, use the following URL modifier so the video opens in a window all by itself:
    • To force YouTube videos to open in their own single window, full screen, without suggested videos off to the side, without ads, etc. try this: When looking at a YouTube link, they all have the same general look such as: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOru6L22zoM
    • To force the video to play in a single screen, modify the url just slightly…
    • Add _popup directly BEFORE each question mark, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=HOru6L22zoM
    • This tip does NOT allow blocked videos through our filters though.
  • Other sources for content and instructional videos are:
    • Discovery Streaming. Staff and students have access to Discovery content through this link: bls.discoveryeducation.com. Teachers can even set up classes in Discovery and assign videos for students to watch when they log in.
    • PBS LearningMedia. Another free resources that even allows some videos to be downloaded and shared. Here’s a great post from our Teaching and Learning Blog showing how to use this resource.

Information from Paul…

Elementary COVID-19 Checklists Site Visits… A big shout out to all of our school safety teams and administrators who submitted their COVID-19 checklists.  Now that we have a little more breathing room before students, beyond LIPI, return to our schools, I’d like to visit your school and walk through your plans and support you any way that I can.  

Here is a google spreadsheet to select a time next week for me to drop in.  If you would also add it as an Outlook calendar invite, that would help me manage all of the visits.

The visit can be with just one administrator or you can add a couple of members from your school safety team if you’d like.

I’ve set aside next week for elementary schools only, so if our Roseland and La Pine elementary can select back-to-back times on a given day, that would be a big help.  Three Rivers, I already have you checked you off since Jim and I walked your site with you in August. 

New mask/shield language…The following language has been adopted by our district and will be shared in an All BLS Staff email on Tuesday from Katie.  See the CDC website for information that supports this decision

New Mask Requirement…A cloth, paper, or disposable face mask that covers the nose and the mouth is the requirement for all BLS students and staff with some exceptions. When exceptions apply, a face shield is permissible, but other safety practices should be implemented, such as more than 6 feet of social distancing and/or added ventilation of fresh air. The exceptions are described below:

1. For provisions applicable to staff/students protected by ADA or IDEA (details from RSSL referenced below).

2. For safety reasons, such as a bus driver whose glasses are fogging up when attempting to wear a mask under specific weather conditions;

3. For specific and time-limited instructional needs such as speech and language, LIPS reading group, ELL lessons or other examples when viewing a teacher’s or student’s mouth is essential to that portion of the lesson. As soon as possible within the lesson, masks should replace the shields;

4. For younger children moving into in-person education who exhibit severe emotional dysregulation when wearing a mask, staff should employ strategies to transition them from shields into mask wearing: mindfulness exercises, increase in the frequency of outdoor mask breaks, and other trauma-informed best practices.

5. People who are deaf or hard of hearing, or those who care for or interact with a person who is hearing impaired.

6. Other time-limited exceptions of short durations may be made with administrative knowledge.

A clear mask is an acceptable option, as is the use of a shield over a mask for added protection

Visitors – New policy

Only BLS staff and essential visitors are allowed to enter buildings beyond the lobby.  Examples of essential visitors are DHS, child protective services, law enforcement, student teachers and their supervisors, CASA advocates, Friends of Children mentors, cadet teachers and ESD service providers.  When in doubt whether a visitor is ‘essential’, consult with your Level Leader.

School Family Connections – Please add your school’s family connections team leader to this document so that the District Family Connections team can collaborate with your school on how best to serve students and families.  See Paul if you have any questions.

Level leaders will be coordinating with other district departments to send out weekly “All BLS Staff” emails regarding items in their blogs and other important reminders pertaining to the return to school planning process.

Band, Music/Choir, PE Standards of Practice – Juan Cuadros will be coordinating with elementary music, PE teachers and interventionists to develop learning instructional practices that include safety measures aligned with the ODE blueprint.  He will then do the same with MS/HS band, choir, PE teachers and interventionists.  

Questions/Concerns about COVID-19 related matters?…  Please share this flowchart with your staff.

Staying Clean…Many thanks to the dynamic duo of Nole Kennedy and HDMS lead custodian, Tim Bennett, for creating this “How To” video instructing staff on daily cleaning routines of desks/tables.  

Operation School Bell…The district has approved OSB’s plans to run their program outside with 2 tables and 4 people.  We would go up to a car that drives up, ask them sizes needed for socks and underwear and give them out.  Here are the details from Susan Heberlein and Vicki Jenkins:

We have determined specific sites and dates for our outdoor sock and underwear “pop ups.”  That would be great if you want to give the principals a heads up, but I will be e-mailing all to get approval from them.  Thanks for all your help! 

October 19 Bear Creek 11:00-1:00

October 20 Bend High  11:00-1:00

October 21 Elk Meadow 11:00-1:00

October 22 Three Rivers   11:00-1:00

October 23 LaPine High 11:00-1:00

And Finally…