It’s the last blog of the 2022 year!!
Educator Network Day #2 is right around the corner- January 11th from 2:00-3:15.
The format will be the same as the November session. We will have host schools and classrooms. Grade-levels will meet together and collaborate around foundational skills. Lindsley Gehrig has put together another video to guide the discussion. Our host schools will be Jewell, Elk Meadow, Miller, Rosland, Lava Ridge and Bear Creek. If you are a host school please click here and ask teachers at each grade level in your building to be host teachers as soon as possible. Everyone else click here to see which school your staff will travel to. The district will provide a few snacks for each site. The materials for this Educator Network Day will be delivered to office managers. Office managers will need to distribute to host schools by January 10th. Thank you!!
Slide Deck from 12/13 Meeting: Click here for the Slide Deck from our Horizontal meeting on Tuesday. Two important links you don’t want to miss are the COREN slides from Kimberly Strong and the link to the Culture of Safety, Confidential Directory, from Lora. Reminder that all our slide decks can be found in the Elementary Admin Resources Drive, under Google Slide Decks from Meetings, 22-23.
June 20th Teacher Work Day The last day for students has been moved from Thursday, 6/15, to Friday, 6/16. The district needed to push back the teacher workday to Tuesday, June 20th, because of Juneteenth. Certified staff who have completed check out do not need to report on the 20th. This is consistent with past practice when we have had to extend the school year due to unexpected circumstances (i.e. snowmaggedon).
February 2nd Work Day/Inservice Day Thursday, February 2, was originally scheduled as an additional workday for all staff to prepare for a districtwide systems performance review. However, that process has been delayed. The district decided to keep this as a non-student contact day; however, it remains a paid day for ALL STAFF, certified and classified. For certified staff, the day will be divided into half site-directed inservice and half work time. Some classified staff will be required to attend inservice on that day (more details to follow shortly after the break). For other classified staff, it will be a building-directed work time.
What does half a day of site-directed inservice look like? The focus of this would be working around your school goals like Foundational Skills, School Design plans, Tier 1 instruction, Culture and climate work , PLC work to focus on these goals, training that your ICCL team has planned, professional book club, etc. You could also have some time for virtual training from Really Great Reading, Lexia and Dreambox as well. TLC will provide you with links to virtual training after the Winter Break. The possibilities are endless!
From Julie Please put this note in your communication with families as soon as possibleBend-La Pine Schools is reviewing the Language Arts curriculum for K-5 classrooms this year. Last year, we reviewed and adopted a foundational skills curriculum, Really Great Reading, to support teaching children how to read. This year we are reviewing the Language Arts curriculum, which will provide materials for reading, writing, listening and speaking. The committee of 25 elementary educators will meet regularly this year to review standards, materials and instructional practices. To guide this work, the committee developed Elementary Language Arts Core Beliefs. Families are invited to review the core beliefs and provide feedback by January 13, 2023. Read the draft core beliefs here and share your thoughts here.
From Sean We are seeking to help create more accessible outdoor and indoor spaces for students that experience disabilities by purchasing equipment and/or supplies with some grant money. We are limited, in that, we can’t fund any facilities improvements or construction. Think about equipment and supplies that would increase access to recess or other indoor spaces in your school that is not permanent and portable. Please complete this survey collaboratively as a School Admin/SPED team. We will review all submissions and be in contact with any questions or project ideas. Thanks
Also From Sean – Here are the latest Restorative Practices professional development offerings from Culture of Care for Bend La Pine Schools & partners: Winter 2023 PD
Introduction to Restorative Practices (Tier I/II)
- Description: Overview of fundamental theory and practices, including the Continuum, Social Discipline Window and Circle Planning & Facilitation. Open to Bend La Pine Schools Leadership & Student Support, RJE & Partners who have not attended yet.
- Texts Provided: Restorative Practices Handbook & Restorative Circles in Schools
- Schedule: A 2 part series, participants to attend both sessions.
- Tuesday, January 17th, 8:30am-12:30pm (Part 1) at the Environmental Center
- Thursday, January 19th, 8:30am-12:30pm (part 2) at the Brooks (Trinity)
Restorative Conferencing (Tier III)
- Description: A responsive process to engage with those who cause and experience harm, along with related community to bring about healing, facilitate reentry and repair relationships. Open to Bend La Pine Schools Leadership & Student Support, RJE & partners that have completed the introductory session.
- Texts Provided: Restorative Justice Conferencing
- Schedule: Thursday, February 16th, 9am-1pm at the Bend Ed Center, Board Room (#314)
Leadership Solution Circle (Tier I/II/III)
- Description: A monthly drop-in opportunity for district and building leaders to bring a
- challenge and get ideas/support from peers in a restorative setting.
- Schedule: 1:00pm-2:00pm on 2/9/23, 3/9/23, 4/13/23, 5/11/23, 6/8/23 (will start as virtual for first meeting)
Register for all opportunities here!
From Eric Powell – From Eric Powell: Hello All! Moving forward we will be linking all helpful documents & resources for discipline, restorative practices, and student conduct at this Google Site Link: BLS Restorative Practices Resource Guide. You can delete your prior bookmark for the one-page Restorative Practices ‘sheet’ that most of us have been using up until now. Thank you!
From the Bend Science Station for our k-5 teachers – Announcing an exciting professional development opportunity at the Science Station! Over the past few years, they realigned the Amplify curriculum for grades 2-5 to make it manageable and relevant for Bend-La Pine teachers. In addition, they designed POP Science, which includes a short sequence of NGSS-aligned, hands-on science lessons for each grade level. This January, they will conduct teacher “refresher” trainings on 2nd-5th grade modified Amplify units and on K-1 POP Science lessons. These HANDS-ON workshops combine interactive instruction and time to collaborate with grade-level peers. You will practice and walk away with specific lessons for your classroom. Even if you’ve done these workshops before, we encourage you to participate again.
Sessions run from 3-6 pm and will take place at the Bend Science Station on the OSU-C campus. You will be compensated by the district at the curriculum rate for your time. In addition, the Science Station will be offering food and drinks. Click here for a list of the sessions and dates then follow this link to up: Bend Science Station Amplify + POP Science Training – Google Sheets
Calendar
- Jan 3 – return to school
- Jan 4 – SIW – school discretion
- Jan 9 – Principal PD session 3-4:30
- Jan 10 – Elementary Horizontal
- Jan 11 – Educator Network Day
- Jan 16 – No School
- Jan 18 – SIW – teacher prep
- Jan 24 = Elementary Horizontal
- Jan 25 – SIW – school discretion
And Finally…
Studies have shown that watching a beaver eat cabbage can temporarily reduce stress by up to 70%. Take a moment to watch, relax and glide into the holiday season feeling a little lighter.
(Be sure to turn up your sound)