Quote to consider:
Everyday focus on your purpose. Remember why you do what you do. We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget to focus on and enjoy daily the why that brought us to this work.
To Dos:
POWER STANDARDS: Ensure you have met as a content team to discuss and prioritize what standards will be covered this year. It is unrealistic to expect instruction of all the standards due to instructional time lost from the past year and a half. Please remove some standards and instead focus on going deeply into the ones your team selects to teach this year.
CONFERENCES: We have confirmed that conferences this fall will be virtual. We are working with the district on specific details and will communicate them to you all as soon as they are made available to us.
Click here for a staff survey to vote for your preferred conference schedule; votes must be submitted by 10/5 at 4:00pm.
Bits and Bobs:
CANVAS COACH CORNER: Hopefully all teachers have the AutoSync feature enabled on Canvas. This feature will automatically sync your grades with Synergy nightly at 6:00 pm. It is still strongly encouraged for teachers to check accuracy of grades between Canvas and Synergy on a regular basis. Check that your percentages match and grades are appearing in Synergy the same as in Canvas.
If you do not weight your grades, please check that you have them accurately unweighted in Canvas. Here is a video to show you how.
SRP VIDEO: During our 9/28 staff meeting, we watched the SRP 2021 What’s New video (6 minutes in length). It is required that all district staff view this video.
The main takeaway from the video is that the “Secure” protocol replaced the term “Lockout” from the previous SRP protocols. The protocols to conduct a Secure have not changed from the Lockout protocols, only the terminology as Lockout and Lockdown were often confused as protocols. Dave, Koop, and the safety team continue to work on updating our school and classroom emergency response signage. FYI: the updated SRP posters can be found here. These details will be shared with students in an upcoming safety focused advisory lesson.
CLASS MEETINGS: Thanks for hosting the admin team and grade level counselor for our first class meetings! For your reference, click the links to view the slideshows we reviewed with 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade.
THE DEN DIGEST: So far this year we have focused on supporting students with their emotional regulation and helped to get them back to class and learning in a meaningful way. We’ve practiced on their breathing. I know this seems like a basic skill but seeing it in practice with distressed kids is reaffirming to me that it really works. We have seen on several occasions this “basic” technique, regulate students’ brains and help them recenter to be able to express their needs. One specific strategy is “Nostril Breathing”. This video is kid appropriate and quick to learn. ~Beau Variel (Ext. 7272)
COMPOSTING: It’s happening at HDMS! The composer set up this week with “browns” and “greens” from Foods room scraps. Leadership kids will tend to turning and watering it, TAG kids are doing a little research on how to get the soil going, and Foods kids will continue to add the scraps. Awesome teamwork among the students! And science came running outside to say how excited they were that they can use it in Science lessons too! Curriculum, collaboration, and community coalescing for composting… cool!!! (That alliteration was for you language arts teachers!). See the HDMS Highlights section below for pictures.
Reminders:
SIW PD: Our next SIW PD is scheduled for 10/6 from 3:00-4:30pm; we will meet in Wendy’s WebEx and Dave will be in the media center for those interested in meeting there. Please continue to refer to this SIW and staff meeting document.
SCHOOL-WIDE CALENDAR: Continue to check the HDMS calendar linked at the top of the blog for upcoming events. Please email Kerri if you’d like a school-wide event added to the calendar and refer to this calendar prior to scheduling other events.
MASKING ISSUES REMINDER: For masking issues with students, BLS middle schools will be following this updated flowchart. As always, we will start with positive reinforcement, friendly reminders, and explicit teaching of the expectations with our students. As the flowchart states, if a student continues to struggle meeting mask expectations or if the masking issue turns to defiance, please refer them to the administrative team. For your convenience, we’ve created this letter home in English and Spanish as a starting point for staff for parent communication; feel free to use, make your own, or ignore.
High Desert Highlights:
