Quote to consider:
‘The river never drinks its own water. The tree never tastes its own fruit. The field never consumes its own harvest. They selflessly strive for the well-being of all those around them. ~Mewari proverb, India
To Dos:
POSITIVE FAMILY POSTCARDS: Please complete some positive family postcards to be sent to students’ families. The postcards, student address labels, and directions are in the upstairs staff lounge (between choir and art rooms). To reach our goal of all HDMS students’ families receiving a postcard by the end of February, each staff person will need to complete an average of 15 postcards.
DIAMONDBUCK BLITZ: Keep passing out Diamondbucks whenever you catch students doing the right thing! Watch out each week for the daily Blitz details from Dave.
NAEP INFO: Here is the list of the 8th grade students that were selected to participate in NAEP. Half of the selected students will take the assessment at 10am the other half will take the assessment at 1pm. The assessment will take place in the Media Center. Testing passes will be delivered to classrooms to remind and release students to the Media Center at their designated time.
BLACK MINDS MATTER: Set aside some time to read and reflect on this article from Learning for Justice. Consider this quote: “Too often, I’ve met teachers who feel like it is the obligation of the student to change themselves, to bend and shift in order to show up in spaces that aren’t designed for them. Teachers [must] understand that it is our responsibility to do the work to make sure our classrooms and school communities are safe and inviting and supportive of and reflective of all of the parts of all of our students.” See the end of the article for five action items we can all engage in.
STAFF SURVEY: It is time for our annual survey to gather information on your intent for next school year and your interest in teaching assignments. Please fill out this survey to ensure your voice is heard as we begin planning our Master Schedule for school year 2022-2023. Please complete by Feb. 22, 2022.
AVID TIP: The AVID tip of the week is found here. How might students benefit from engaging with content using this strategy?
ELL TIP: The ELL tip of the week is found here. As you know, of all the BLS middle schools, HDMS has the highest population of English language learners. Continuing to embed teaching strategies like these weekly ELL tips into our practice will have a profound impact on student learning.
Bits and Bobs:
CANVAS INFO: 2021-22 Canvas and Synergy Grade Setup and Bend La Pine Canvas Expectations. Of special note here is that a course syllabus is required for all teachers beginning semester 2.
New Term Course Shells:
- Remember to apply course settings in each new course.
- Enable nightly sync and sync every graded assignment. The intended outcome is that Canvas ALWAYS matches what is in Synergy. Parents and students should never wonder about their student’s grade.
- Apply 50% for missing submissions
- Assignment groups in Canvas match assignment categories in Synergy
- Grading scales (Canvas scheme and Synergy Grade Type) must match
WEB CONNECTIONS: Tuesday, February 15th, 8th-grade WEB leaders will be excused from their advisory to join their 6th-grade webbies advisory.
WEB leaders will have all the supplies they need and come prepared to have fun and connect with their webbies. Thanks for everyone’s support with WEB. Please click here to view the list of WEB leaders and the advisories they will be joining.
COVID SICK DAYS: Updates from HR- Bend – La Pine Schools (BLS) and our Associations have signed a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on the workplace. There is a provision for ten (10) paid COVID-19 hardship days and employees have the ability to request retroactive credit for absences that was applied against their sick leave. This provision extends to Confidential/BLAST employees as well. To determine if you are eligible for the retroactive credit, we’ve created a form for you to review and submit if one or more of the categories apply to past leave. The form is not necessary for leave that will be captured in the coming months as Office Managers have received instructions on how to code COVID-19 related leave moving forward. For staff submitting for retroactive COVID-19 credit, please do not send your school nurse the form for signature. The forms should be sent via district mail (not via email) to Tami Pike. Please include a copy of your submitted leave sheet.
BOOK STUDY OPPORTUNITY: The following is from Jeannie Bloom, Continuous Improvement Coach with the HDESD- COREN is currently reading Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity and hosting a virtual book study with teams from different schools in Central Oregon. One of the authors, Dr. John Krownapple, leads us through discussion and exercises one week and then we (COREN) hold breakout discussions with each team the next week. The book study is completed within a 2-month span. It has been interesting to hear teachers share their experiences with each other and to have them brainstorm ways to increase belonging in their school. We are thinking of starting a 2nd book study (likely this fall) and aiming to gauge interest. Note: There is a $700 stipend for participating and an opportunity to earn a graduate-level credit. *If interested, please let Nole know.
STAFF MEETING: Thanks to those who were able to attend the staff meeting this past Tuesday. For your reference, here is the slideshow we covered.
ELECTRICAL WORK: FYI: CEC will be doing electrical system inspections at our school. You may see them doing some work on or near your site but it shouldn’t disrupt any part of the school day. This work will begin in the next few weeks and will last for several months. The CEC contractor and employees will be inspecting power poles, transformers, meters and other equipment. They will be driving vehicles identifying them as CEC contractors and will be wearing identification.
SCIENCE SAFETY INFO: From our Secondary Science TOSA, Colleen Behrens- Scott Bojanowski, Marsha Baro and Colleen Behrens have been working to finalize science safety documents and procedures for the district. This information was reviewed with science teachers at the last Educator Network Day. These two documents support the management of science safety expectations in your schools. Science and Safety Update and Science and Chemistry Safety Library.
Science teachers must complete their Flinn training by June 4 2022. Here are the options:
Option 1: Day 190: Six hours Flinn Middle School Laboratory Safety Course. Email certificate of completion to Science TOSA
Paid Time: Six hours Flinn Middle School Laboratory Safety Course pays curriculum rate. Email certificate of completion to Science TOSA and she will email the timesheet.
Credit Option 2: Six hours Flinn Middle School Laboratory Safety Course and a project through Bend-LaPine Course Catalog- Spring Term. Credit through OSU, Cascade. Email certificate of completion AND project for credit to Science TOSA.
Science Safety Support Team Members: SHS Callie Pfister; BSHS Casie Bullock; MVHS Andy Young; Realms Heidi Dixon; BTA@ MHS Missy Wikler; CHS Kathleen Glogau/Laura Gemignani; LPHS Suzanne Jones
MENSTRUAL DIGNITY ACT (HB 3924, 2021):
Last year about this time, Oregon passed the Menstrual Dignity Act designed to provide free menstrual products for all students. “Menstrual Dignity for Students means that all menstruating students, regardless of gender, age, ability, socioeconomic status have the opportunity for safe, dignified self-care. This program offers an antidote to the common narratives that say menstruation is something deserving of embarrassment and shame.” Starting next week Koop will be visiting sixth grade advisories to share this information and provide instruction on the Menstrual Dignity Act. Our goal is to share with students where they can find menstrual hygiene products at HDMS. You may have noticed the “Aunt Flow” machines are now installed in all of our “Girls” restrooms. Eventually ALL bathrooms will have menstrual hygiene products available to support ALL students. The “Aunt Flow” products are 100% cotton with no dyes or perfumes. The entire product is designed to be biodegradable. At HDMS we recognize this is a great start, as providing free menstrual products increases attendance for menstruators. With that will are also offering a variety of menstrual products that are available in both the Counseling and Main Offices.
For a quick overview of the MDA read the ODE One Page Summary.
Click here to view the google slide deck that will be used next week with the 6th grade advisories
Click here to view the google slide deck that will be used with 7th/8th grade advisories
Reminders:
SECONDARY INSTRUCTIONAL BLOG:
Last week Science TOSA Colleen Behrens shared information about feedback. This week we continue the theme with more information about feedback. There are several types of feedback that helps student learning.
As you look at the types of feedback, think about which type you are giving and see if there is value in varying the type.
Types of Feedback that Moves Learning Forward
2021-22 HDMS Safety Day
What: One day to review a variety of aspects of safety protocol with more depth and attention during the first 5-10 minutes of each class period.
Who: 1st-7th period teachers and all HDMS students.
When: TBD any Tuesday or Thursday in February and May 2022.
Why: To give all students and teachers equal opportunity to access and learn the 2021-22 safety protocols (given inconsistent presence in Advisory because of late buses etc.) and to ensure that we are allowing enough time to review safety protocol more in depth.
How:
- Staff will access THIS SLIDESHOW to review each aspect of the 2021-22 HDMS Safety Protocols.
- Each period will have a handful of aspects to review.
- In addition to review of the safety protocols, Safety Day will include a planned fire drill.
- There will be an opportunity to review the content and offer prizes another day. Advisors are strongly encouraged to use the Blooket unit linked on the last slides (coming soon) with their Advisory class the following day (2/25) and again the following week to combat the curve of forgetting.
VACCINE UPDATE: Are you ‘up to date’ on your vaccine? As we start to plan for making masks optional it is important that everyone reviews their vaccination status. The CDC is shifting away from the phrase “fully vaccinated” in favor of calling people “up to date” on their COVID-19 vaccines.
Up to date is defined as:
- Ages 18 and older: Boosted or completed primary series of Pfizer or Moderna within the last 5 months or completed the primary series of J&J within last 2 months.
- Ages 5-17: Completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines
Not up to date is defined as:
- Unvaccinated OR
- Has not completed the primary series of any COVID-19 vaccines OR
- (For individuals ages 18 and older) completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna more than 5 months ago and is not boosted.
High Desert Highlights:
