Author Archives: Wendy McCulloch

9.1.2020

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Video to consider

Thanks to Brad for sharing this funny, relevant, and inspiring video: Kid Superintendent. I encourage you to start your time diving into this blog post with a smile by watching this four minute video and allowing the message to seep into your mindset. Remember: “We need you here!”

To Dos

  • Please review our HDMS Work Teams here. Thanks to those who already signed up! It is an expectation that all staff sign up to be a participant in one of these five groups, so your voice can continue to support guiding our school.
  • Optional – If you would like to be a part of the District Focused Work Team, review them here and sign up if you’d like to participate.
  • If you are interested in supporting HDMS as a Canvas Coach, please email Wendy by 9/8.
  • Please pick up your copy of the HDMS Planner, in your box, so that you can use it and model your use for all our students, since they will have one as well.
  • Not Light, But Fire – Please pick up your copy of Matthew Kay’s book by the mail boxes. We are working on the details for a book club for interested staff, stay tuned for more details.
  • Staff shirts – We will pay for them, I just want you to select your size using this form [link updated].

Student support teams 20/21

  • Counseling Team:
    • 6th-Lynne Tat
    • 7th- Cathy Tash
      • Brettney Bryant while Cathy is out on 3 week medical leave
    • 8th- Joe Albano
  • SRC Team:
    • 6th- Jennifer Lashley
    • 7th- Megan Logan
    • 8th- Trish Havlin

Attendance

Here is a document that outlines the Attendance Requirements in CDL/Hybrid.

Technology Information

CANVAS

  • As you know, a requirement during Comprehensive Distance Learning is to record and post any lesson (launch at a minimum) you deliver on that day. You may choose to do this either as a pre-recorded video or by recording the lesson when you teach live during a WebEx class.
    • After consulting with legal counsel, student voice, student image, and student name are ALLOWED to be recorded and uploaded/shared within your Canvas classroom. So you may, if you choose, record the first lesson launch you deliver live in Webex (using your laptop’s screen recording application), save that recording to your desktop, and then upload to your Canvas classroom.
  • Here is an update on Canvas-related news.
    • We will share the district developed “Canvas Ready” module as soon as it is shared with us (likely early next week); this module will be delivered to students through their advisory. The HDMS advisory team is currently solidifying details for how we will deliver this info to students.

GOOGLE VOICE

  • Here are some instructions on how to set up Google Voice. There are also these instructions that describe how to enable call forwarding with your school phone. Either/both of these processes will need to be done individually, as there will not be a district process that will occur to make it happen globally. Additionally, you are able to make a call from your personal phone and disguise your number by first dialing *67 (followed by the phone number you are calling). It is our understanding that staff can use Google Voice for texting families should you choose to.

RESOURCES

  • The instructional technology team’s Remote Learning Tools webpage is continually updated and is full of helpful CDL tech info.
  • If you are new to BLS or need general tech info (eg: laptop, printers, doc cams, etc.), be sure to check out the BLS Tech 101 website.
  • HDMS’s district assigned technology coach is Christie McCormick. Reach out to them re: instructional technology support.
  • If you need general tech support, enter a ticket here or call 541.355.1200. Susan Kirkpatrick is our site IT tech.

Protocols

  • Here is an UPDATE regarding the distribution and collection of materials (between home and school). This document highlights changes that have been made from previous versions.
  • If a staff member feels ill after entering a school site, they are to isolate themselves within the building and immediately call Wendy.
    • I will text Tami Pike, Health Services Supervisor with the following information:
      • This is Wendy and I have a staff member feeling ill.   Please call me.  The staff member can be reached at [insert phone number].
      • Tami will call me and advise about our next steps.

Bits and Bobs

  • Optional, drop in office hours during CDL:
    • Admin team office hours in Wendy’s WebEx Room
      • This week: Friday (9/4) at 11:30am
      • Starting the week of 9/14: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8:00-8:45am
    • ICCL hosted office hours in Houslet’s WebEx room every Wednesday from 8:00-8:45am
  • HDMS Student Handbook 20/21: Here is a link to the draft handbook; all HDMS staff has been given rights to comment on this document. If you’d like, feel free to make suggestions using the commenting tool. Staff has until 9/8 to provide input. Once we have a finalized document, we will publish it on HDMS website. A huge shout out to Brettney for working diligently to create the first draft of the updated the student handbook!
  • Our ICCL Team is currently creating modules to use during Advisory. More to come. FYI: Students will receive instruction on our Virtual Learning Expectations document during advisory.
  • Synergy – Gina is working on balancing classes. This is proving to be more difficult than years past due to families removing students to do online learning. So just know that class list will be ever changing up until the 14th.
  • Thanks for everyone’s positivity, flexibility, and enthusiasm during our Welcome Back activities on Tuesday. Click here to view the slide show.
  • The “hot links” section on the right hand side of the blog has been updated for 20/21 school year. Please refer back to it often; we will add additional “hot links” as the year progresses.
    • An important “hot link” we added is the HDMS Teacher CDL Schedule. This internal schedule syncs with our community facing CDL schedule while also providing staff with more specific details/expectations regarding office hours, SIW, prep times, and Wednesday activities for students.
  • Conversational Spanish Class – to sign up for the class, please log into Performance Matters, select the Calendar icon at the top.  Chose the first class date, then pick your class option.  This will take you to “View Learning Opportunity.”  Select the “Section” tab and hit register. (See a recent email from Stephanie Bent for different levels of course)
  • The following is clarification of the workdays for classified EA positions prior to Sept. 14. During the week of Sept. 1 – 4, all classified (who aren’t on the clock yet) have one day of work to report in for. During the week of Sept. 7 – 11, classified EA (those who haven’t reported to work yet) folks have three days of work – specifically Wednesday – Friday.

Reminders

  • Please continue to consider the needs of our Spanish speaking students and families. As you know, the challenges of navigating the language barrier is exacerbated during CDL. Be sure to utilize our Spanish Speaking Family Liaison Liz Vargas and partner with our ELL team of Wiebe and Aleksey. Links for translation/interrupter requests can be found under the “hot links” on the right hand side of the blog.
  • During distance learning, please send all behavioral and/or social emotional concerns via email to all of the following: the student’s grade level counselor and the admin team (McCulloch, Kennedy, and Petersen).

Lasting thought:

Know that YOU are the right person for this job, in this time, for OUR students!! We are here to support and are in this together!

8.28.20

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QUOTE TO CONSIDER

Every next level of your life will demand a different you.

STAFFING UPDATE

  • Lauren Houslet will be our ICCL leading PBIS/Advisory work
  • Lynne Tat will be our ICCL leading Family Outreach/Communication

HDMS Master Schedule 2020/2021 found here

HDMS student Comprehensive Distance Learning schedule found here

Remote Learning Tools web page

Synergy Access for Teachers Timeline 20/21

Students switching between Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL)  (i.e. hybrid) and Bend-La Pine Online (BLPSO): This information is likely most applicable to our counseling department, but we want the whole staff to be aware of BLS’s stance on students switching between CDL and BLPSO. See this document for more details.

PROTOCOLS:

  • If you are coming to the building, you must use only the front entrance. On the shelf in the vestibule you will need to complete the protocol paperwork and adhere to all safety agreements listed. HDMS Building Contact Tracing Protocols – Staff to Staff 20/21. Protocol found here.

Middle School Teacher Standards of Practice can be found here. We will dig into these in depth during our staff welcoming back activities. Additionally, we encourage you to chat with Brad and Jane as they represented HDMS teachers on the district level team that created these standards.

The need for translation (and possibly interpretation) is going to kick into high gear here very soon. Translation requests should be requested at least 5 days before it is needed. Remember that communication with families at your school should be sent in both Spanish and English. Please spend a few moments reviewing this Language Access Plan – as well as sharing it again with your staff. (The contact for interpreter and translation requests this year is Kelly Marty.) Also, here is a copy of the latest ELL Dept. Newsletter.

PACKET PRINTING PROCEDURES:

  • Teachers submit documents to print shop by Tuesday of each week.  Make sure teachers select the next day for Date Order Should Be Shipped.  All documents should arrive to our school by that Friday.  
  • Teachers will need to email Stacy/Gina specifying which documents go to which class/grade.
  • Stacy/Gina will have packets ready to be mailed by the following Tuesday. 
  • Students should receive materials by mail on Thurs/Fri.
  • Students will screen shot their paper packet and submit to teachers for grading

WebEx has some changes coming our way that we are hoping will be in effect Sept 1st.  The biggest is the addition of breakout rooms.  The instructional tech team will be putting together a list of the changes along with tutorials for them. Stay tuned!

During distance learning, we will not be using our digital behavioral input/tracking form. Please send behavioral and/or social emotional concerns via email to all of the following: the student’s grade level counselor and the admin team (McCulloch, Kennedy, and Petersen). We will likely implement an updated behavioral form if/when we move to hybrid learning.

6.12.2020

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Quote to Consider

“Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision and change.” ~Richard Branson

To Dos Before Summer

  • Once you have submitted all your grades, please connect with Gina to let her know that you are done, so that she can double check everything on her side.
  • Log in to Talent Ed and make sure you have no outstanding tasks in your folder.
  • Here is the most up-to-date 2020-21 work calendar for certified staff.
  • Make sure to review Canvas information and create a plan for yourself on which training dates you are planning on attending. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IIFhqRuD3cBXxMSZPP53JdhMSjXT9oeV1zLH0vB4uwk/edit?ts=5ee12ee5
  • The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) released its first round of guidance, Ready Schools, Safe Learners, Version 1, which will aid school districts across Oregon in planning the start of the 2020-21 school year this fall. ODE leadership has stated that the guidance is the first iteration and will likely change multiple times before the start of school year this fall.
    • We welcome you to review the full guidance from ODE at your convenience. You will find that it includes a wide range of guidelines for schools, including, but not limited to:
      • Physical distancing (minimizing contact within 6 feet with other people)
      • Hand hygiene (frequent washing with soap and water or using hand sanitizer)
      • Cohorts (conducting all activities in small groups that remain together over time with minimal mixing of groups)
      • Protective equipment (use of face shields, face coverings and barriers)
      • Environmental cleaning and disinfection (especially of high-touch surfaces)
      • Isolation of sick people and quarantine of exposed people
      • Meal service
      • Transportation
  • In the weeks to come we will be meeting with educators, health care leaders, and others to plan for a healthy return to school.
  • Our commitment to our students, families, and staff is to regularly communicate with you about this work. We plan to send updated information regularly. You can expect updates from our district on the following dates, if not sooner:
    • July 1
    • August 1
    • August 15

Articles to read and consider

  • The article Helping Students Discuss Race Openly in Education Leadership (ASCD) outlines several steps teachers can follow to ensure “safe classroom environments” where powerful discussions regarding race, class, privilege, and inequities can emerge. Although it is a few years old, the suggestions for teachers on how to connect these types of discussions into the teaching of standards – no matter the content area – definitely still fit in today’s world.
  • This article not only spells out experiences I’m sure our teachers and students felt this spring, but also provides some ideas to get better at (or avoid altogether) it not happening again. 5 traps that will kill online learning (and strategies to avoid them) is a practical set of reminders of what teaching should be – and should not be. This might be one to read now, then reread, if needed, in the fall as we think about what online teaching/learning should be.
  • Ed Week just published this article regarding how a school may look next year (a district team is working on a plan specific for us now – and will share updates with you as these become clearer). I thought it provides some ideas, although generic, that may fit within what we need to accomplish in the fall. The Socially Distanced School Day
  • If you are looking for a good read over the summer (or would like to recommend one to someone you know – no matter what age), then check out this list that our district librarian has compiled.

PASS Assessor Opportunity

The district is looking for teachers and administrators to participate as PASS Level Review Panel Assessors.  Every teacher in the PASS Program has to go through Level Review in the fourth or fifth year of the program.  It is important that the teachers in the PASS program are assessed by their peers.  We need 20+ teachers and administrators that would be willing to score materials for these teachers in PASS.  Successful applicants will receive training.  

  • You can find a job description and application materials at the link below.
  • After you have applied in Applitrack, send me an email so I can complete the electronic recommendation process. 
  • Applications are due by August 10th. 
  • If you have specific questions about the position, then please contact Michele Oakes.

Master Schedule

Below you will see the final draft of the 2020-21 master schedule. When undertaking a task like this, there are numerous ways to prioritize competing needs in order to arrive at the best possible schedule. While we do seriously consider teacher input about preps, sequence of classes and other requests, that is not our highest priority.

This year, we created a schedule with an Equity lens to prioritize the needs of our historically underserved populations, specifically, our linguistically diverse students (DI and ELL) and those who needed additional support classes through our AVID elective, SPED interventions and/or counselor study skills groups. In past master schedules, a 6th grade who was in our study skills wheel, was a DI student and who wanted a singleton music elective like a brass band class may not have been able to receive all of those selections. Similarly, a 7th grader needing ELL services, the AVID elective and who wanted a singleton orchestra class; or, an 8th grader who was a DI student, who was transgender requesting a walking PE class and also wanted a Foods 2 elective may not be able to access all of those classes.

Prioritizing the needs of these underserved groups while creating the master schedule has allowed us this year to serve all of those students’ needs. No schedule is perfect and we know that not every teacher was able to get exactly what they hoped for, but we excited to be providing opportunities for students who may have been compromised in the past.

Many thanks to Gina for all her hard work and constant tinkering to complete the schedule!

Virtual Learning

You probably did not have enough time to access all of the resources shared during the past three months on how to improve digital learning opportunities for students. A site that you may want to go back and review is the district’s Teaching and Learning @ BLS blog. In the likelihood that there will be some distance learning next school year, there are some great tips and ideas on this site.

Equity Book Club

A number of Bend-LaPine teachers including some from HDMS participated in a Equity Book Club this past year. We wanted to pass along some information shared by Kinsey Martin to the Book Club members.

If this is an area of interest to you, you may want to read the book over the summer and participate in the PD opportunity in August. Here is the info from Kinsey:

Matt Kay (the author of our last year’s Book Club book, Not Light But Fire) was going to keynote at our summer Innovative Teaching and Learning conference…which is obviously canceled.  

However, he has agreed to provide our district with his support and expertise, virtually!  He will present and discuss some equity topics as part of a two-day workshop offered as one of our district summer PD choices. 

Save the dates: August 24-25!  (University credit or PDUs available.)
The workshop is titled “Daring Classrooms and Schools: Practicing Vulnerability, Relationships, and Dialogue as a Basis for Equity Leadership.”  Half of the time will be Matt Kay presenting info and facilitating our discussion, and half will be collective learning based on Brene Brown’s work on vulnerability and courage, as well as some other resources promoting dialogue and relationships (teacher-to-student, and colleague-to-colleague).

Because this work helps deepen not only classroom practices around equity issues, but also our skills in general with courageous conversations together as adults (think true PLC work), I would encourage you to attend with your grade-level team, department, school leadership team, or even just another colleague.  

Anyway, just a heads-up, since I know many of you were excited to work directly with this author!  

I would love if you could share a bit with your team or building colleagues about our book club and this national speaker/author, so folks are aware of this opportunity coming to our district, and so we can maximize the number of staff who benefit from his expertise.  

Trauma Informed Practices

Another PD opportunity that will happen over the summer is below. Nole, Brettney and Paul will be attending and invite interested teachers to join us.

The regional Culture of Care Coaches are hosting a 2-day training with  Jim Sporleder (Paper Tigers) on August 20-21.

  • Day 1 is designed for a broad overview message about restorative justice and creating a culture of care.  This is open to anyone.
  • Day 2 is designed for building administrators and leadership teams to go deeper.

6.5.2020

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Quote for Consideration

“To hope is to give yourself to the future, and that commitment to the future makes the present inhabitable.” ~ Rebecca Solnit

Staffing Update

  • 1.0 World Language is posted and will remain open until June 30
  • 0.33 PE/elective is posted and will remain open until June 30
  • 6.33 Wellness EA is not yet posted, I am hopeful HR will approve this shortly.
  • Jon Williams has accepted a Sp Ed position at BSH starting in the Fall
    • Megan Logan will be transferred and will begin serving SRC at HDMS beginning in the Fall

Moving to Canvas

  • The district has decided to have grades 6-12 use Canvas as the main learning management system.
  • This adjustment will begin this Fall.
  • Please see the letter linked here with the ‘Why’, ‘How’ as well as the training and support options that are available starting June 17 to help our learning and transition to this new system.
  • Jo Myers attended a 3 day training on Canvas and Lisa Meredith has piloted it this Spring. They have both offered to support anyway they can as we all make this shift. Christie McCormick and Scott MacDonald will be offering their support as well.

Talent Ed – To-Do

  • All certified staff, Group A and Group B, please log into TalentEd and complete your 2019-20 BLS Self Reflection. 

Diamondback Discount: Last Call

Please use the Diamondback Discount code when ordering a meal from Sintra Cafe. We’ll close the discount on Monday, June 15th so take advantage of a delicious meal before then.

Eggs Over Email

Mac Training – To-Do

  • We have been asked to complete the MAC training on line before we leave for summer.
  • Please see the MAC training link that Mara recorded on Webex and the password along with the link to the online training.
  • It may be helpful to have two screens open so you can see the video and do the survey, or just listen to Mara in the back ground. 
  • Please reach out to Jamie Neill with any questions you may have.
  • This needs to be complete before you leave for summer.
  • https://bendk12.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/bendk12/recording/playback/b9b63a7fcf1d4bd391e4d8ffc1c8c715

District Covid Survey

  • This is our districts best attempt to learn more about what staff availability may look like as we head into next year and our feedback is important. 
  • If you have any specific questions about the “how to complete” these can be directed to Stephanie Bent.
  • If you have any questions about the survey itself, please direct questions to your association president, Lora, Jon or Debbie.
  • Please consider completing the survey by June 8th to ensure your voice is heard.
  • This survey is for classified and certified staff to complete.
  • https://forms.gle/zVgaNRiKyx9bxE3R6

HDMS Supply List

Bits and Bobs

  • You may have likely already read this article, but wanted to pass it along in case you haven’t. This is posted on the OSBA website and give some insight into what the state is thinking as they make decisions regarding the start of school in the fall. While providing some answers, please don’t miss this quote: ODE “would release its guidance for fall next week and plans to update its guidance every two weeks this summer and into the fall.” We live in interesting times…
  • Here is a local resource that has created educational videos that may be useful to science, music, art, and ELA teachers and can be adaptable for students of all ages. Following is information that was shared with me:
    • The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council coordinates The Upstream Project, a hands-on education program that seeks to connect youth to the natural world. Through outdoor activities in science, art, writing, and music, The Upstream Project works with k-12 students to help them learn about the rivers and streams throughout Central Oregon. Our goal is to help students develop a sense of place for our home watersheds.
    • Our activities are all listed on our education page. Here is the link to The Virtual Upstream Project on our website:  https://www.upperdeschuteswatershedcouncil.org/the-virtual-upstream-project

End of Year Celebration/Retirement

  • Please join the HDMS family virtually as we celebrate Suzanne King’s retirement!  We will meet in Nole’s WebEx room on Thursday, June 11th at 3pm to celebrate her amazing career.  At this virtual party, we will present a virtual send off, have time for interested staff to share memorable moments, and give Suzanne a parting gift.  We hope everyone will attend to ensure that she is sent into retirement with massive amounts of HDMS love.  Email Cathy, Nole, Paul, and Wendy if you have questions/comments about this party.  

Reminders:

  • PBIS:
    • Our latest (and last of the year) distance learning student recognition video has been (or will be soon) posted to the HDMS student google classroom.
    • Our final PBIS coffee hour for this school year will be Wednesday, June 10th from 7:30-8:30am in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the PE and SPED teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! Congrats to Lisa Meredith for winning this past week!
  • Admin Office Hours and ICCL Office Hours:
    • No further office hours are scheduled for this school year. Don’t hesitate to reach out via email to the admin and/or ICCL team members if you have questions/comments.

5.29.2020

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Quote to consider

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” ~ Bob Kerrey

Master Schedule 2020-21

Many thanks to Gina for her undying work in helping create a master schedule. Below is a snapshot of our near-final draft. The one big caveat is that the districts gets the anticipated money from the State that allowed us to create our last Staffing Plan. If that money does not come, and we are likely to know this by the end of June, then we’ll need to create an entire new master schedule with a reduced staffing allocation.

We also may need to make some changes if we notice a mistake or find an unresolvable problem. Please email Paul/Gina if you notice something about your staffing assignment that is in error.

Report Card Comments

We inquired if the district was going to update report card comments for Semester 2’s Distance Learning environment and their response was:

We are not going to add additional comments to the report card options beyond what we currently have. Comments we would add are very similar to what is currently available – minus the “online learning” phrase. Because there will be a message added to transcripts noting the school closure/pandemic this spring, I think people will be reminded that learning occurred via this format for the years to come.

Support Team Meeting Cancelled

Our regularly scheduled Tuesday at 11 am meeting will be cancelled. I (Paul) double-booked myself for a weeklong CPS – Level 2 training. We won’t plan on having another one so if you have any specific student/family concerns feel let me know.

Bits and Bobs

  • You may have recently heard that our school buildings/facilities will be open for summer programming starting June 15, as long as these groups/organizations follow ODE guidance, including social distancing. Boys and Girls Club and Park and Rec., in addition to our own athletic programs, will be the likely users of our facilities during this time.
  • The ELL Dept is partnering with Migrant Education to provide summer school for emergent bilingual students.  We have additional (limited) space in the program for ELL students who do not otherwise qualify for migrant ed services.  We are prioritizing students who:
    • Are credit-deficient and at risk of not graduating by Aug (seniors)
    • Are earning “incompletes” this spring in math or language arts (9th-11th)
    • Have a history of significant learning struggles, or are in the process of team problem-solving
    • Are K-2 students (early learning)
    • Have not made progress on language proficiency assessments (long-term ELLs)
    • Have parents/family who are unable to support academics at home
    • ELL/Language Specialists are working to identify and refer potential candidates.
  • Here is a short article out of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics from Santa Clara University entitled “How to build empathy in children.” This article puts a spotlight on psychologist Michele Borba – who was highlighted in a recent webinar by Character Strong. Check out these free resources.
  • Dean Richards will be supporting secondary schools next year as the “Secondary Coordinator of Professional Learning and Instructional Design.”  In this role he will be working on secondary multi-tiered systems of support, coordinating professional learning across the secondary system and supporting administrators on building instructional needs.  Dean says, “I’m excited to be able to work on instructional systems and school design plans to support student learning.”

Reminders:

  • PBIS
    • Our latest distance learning student recognition video has been (or will be soon) posted to the HDMS student google classroom.
    • Next PBIS coffee hour will be June 3rd from 7:30-8:30am in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the elective teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! Congrats to Brad Thompson for winning this past week!
    • The PE and SPED teachers‘ nominations are due on this document on June 3rd. They will record their own individual nomination video and we’ll edit it together.
  • ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing every Thursday from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in *Sharline’s* WebEx room.
  • Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm. Next week will be our last admin hours for this school year.

5.22.2020

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Quote to consider

The ‘work’ of life never stops. Kids aren’t alone in the learning, growing, getting better every day-ness of life

District ELL Information

DPO Grant Information

Drama Performance Information

We should have known better than to schedule a performance on March 13th! Right after all what could go wrong on Friday the 13th? Well, I guess we all know that story. So one production didn’t get to happen. However, as the saying goes, when one door is shut another door, window, virtual window opens. Or something like that. Your HMDS Theatre Program would like to invite you to our final performance of the year. This is an online production designed to be presented via a zoom like medium. Aptly titled, “10 Ways to Survive Life In a Quarantine” this script gives a light hearted glance in to the lives of our students during this time. Our performance will be broadcast via WebEx on Thursday May 28th starting at 7:00 pm. See the attached flyer for details on how to find the link. ~Koop

Other Information

  • Last week for mailing paper packets home will be the week of June 1
  • Last Admin Office hours will be the week of June 1

WEB Leader Selection

Congratulations to the newest group of HDMS WEB Leaders!  We had an amazing number of applications turned in and have heard great things about this cohort.  Check out the list here and share congratulations with any of these students you may see or connect with virtually. Thank you to all staff for the continued support of this amazing and impactful program!  

Reminders:

PBIS: 

  • Our latest distance learning student recognition video has been posted to the HDMS student google classroom; this week’s video is extra awesome thanks to Brad and Phoebe T!!!
  • Next PBIS coffee hour will be May 27th from 7:30-8:30am in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the LA and support staff teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! Congrats to Lauren Houselt for winning this past week!
  • The elective teachers‘ nominations are due on this document on May 27th. They will record their own individual nomination video and we’ll edit it together.

ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing every Thursday from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in Nole’s WebEx room.

Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm.

https://bendk12.webex.com/meet/wendy.mcculloch

We keep a weekly “live” document with notes that were shared out during the admin office hour sessions.  

Next week:

  • 5/25-5/29 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here
    • This document will be updated throughout the week
  • 5/18-5/22 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here

5.15.2020

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Quote to consider

“Sometimes hope is a radical act, sometimes a quietly merciful response, sometimes a second wind, or just an increased awareness of goodness and beauty.” ~Anne Lamott

Teacher Input for WEB Applicants

It is that time of year again where the WEB coordinators are in need of your help in selecting our new WEB leaders. They will be sending out a survey link to you all on Monday, May 18th and ask it to be filled out by midnight, Tuesday, May 19th . Further directions will be in the shared link that will be sent to you. BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR OUR E-MAIL MONDAY! IT IS CRUCIAL WE GET YOUR INPUT BETWEEN MAY 18th & 19th. 

Curriculum Orders: Last Reminder

Paul is coordinating curriculum orders for the 2020-21 school year.  You can view this document’s HDMS tab to see what was purchased last year.  Please email Paul by May 15th if you plan on making any purchases so that information can be input into the database. 

Master Schedule

We ran our first draft master schedule through Synergy on Thursday. Our success rate of students with complete schedules was 72%. We are aiming for a 93+% completion rate before finalizing it and then hand-scheduling students with holes in their schedules.

We were very happy that we were able to satisfy most all teacher/content team requests with the first draft but discovered some conflicts that prevented students from successfully loading; therefore, we are re-doing the master schedule for draft #2 in order to achieve a higher success rate. We know that some teacher requests will not be possible in draft 2 and beyond. Our goal is to hit the 93+% during Synergy runs this upcoming week and present a near-final copy of it in next week’s blog. Fingers crossed that we can do that.

Passing/No Grade

Thank you logging preliminary grades into our tracking document. This is for internal use only so that our support team has a better understanding of student progress up until this point in time. We will leave the document open through mid-day Sunday and then lock it down to prevent more changes.

Some teachers had requested a grading option of a “n/a” for quarterly classes where teachers have never met their students face-to-face. A “n/a” was not offered as an option by the Department of Education so it is not something that we can do as a school at this time.

Educator Appreciation Week Update

Due to the increase use of our district mailing service items are taking longer to get mailed out to folks. Our Educator Appreciation gift and cards are impacted. Please know that when you receive your card the voucher date that is printed has been extended, so please know that the voucher (see below) is still valid. Enjoy!

Reminders:

PBIS: Our latest distance learning student recognition video has been (or will be soon) posted to the HDMS student google classroom. Next PBIS coffee hour will be May 20th from 7:30-8:30am in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the math and EA teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! Congrats to Jane Aleksey for winning this past week! The language arts and support staff team’s nominations are due on this document on May 20th; we will either record their nomination video during the coffee hour or will have staff record their own individual video and edit it together.

ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing every Thursday from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in *Sharline’s* WebEx room.

Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm.

https://bendk12.webex.com/meet/wendy.mcculloch

We keep a weekly “live” document with notes that were shared out during the admin office hour sessions.  

Next week:

  • 5/18-5/22 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here
    • This document will be updated throughout the week
  • 5/11-5/15 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here

National Board Information

If you are interested in becoming National Board Certified please see the link below and reach out to Michele Oakes with any questions you may have.

5.8.2020

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SLGGs During Distance Learning

SLGGs have been waived for this year. No further work on them is needed. Feel free to refer to this page (taken from district guidance document shared previously) if you have any further questions.

Curriculum Orders

Paul is coordinating curriculum orders for the 2020-21 school year.  You can view this document’s HDMS tab to see what was purchased last year.  Please email Paul by May 15th if you plan on making any purchases so that information can be input into the database. 

Master Schedule

We are building the master schedule for next year.  Please double-check that our staffing assignments for you are correct.  Staff assignment spreadsheet.

HDMS Student Supplies for 2020

  • The AVID team spent time gathering input from staff and has a compiled a complete supply list for students to be prepared for the fall.  Families can purchase all materials for $25, prior to school starting.
  • That supply “package” will include:  Spiral notebooks and pocket folders for each class (graphing spirals for Math, Composition Books for Language Arts), and as well as a Pencil Pouch with the necessary supplies (pens, pencils, highlighters, etc.)
  • We are going to include our FAN Advocate, Jamie, to make sure that all students will have access to all the items they need to engage in the learning.
  • We are also planning some ideas on how to support staff having reserve supplies for students to use in their classrooms.  
  • The comprehensive “binder” will be adapted, and not be required as in the past. Students who function best with binders will be accommodated and supported, but binders are not required.
  • We are also in the process of creating the HDMS Planner to be more user friendly and “professional” looking. We will continue to develop this plan over the weeks and months leading up to our return to HDMS.

The Giving Plate Fundraising

Thanks to Laurie for sharing this opportunity for the staff to support a local charity doing great work in our community. See this flyer, this video, and the Go Fund Me page for more information.

WE Reduce Update

Please review this document and follow the bulleted suggestions when cleaning out your classroom to ensure it is setup for sustainability during school closure. Please put trash and recycling signs in your classroom in Kennedy’s mailbox.

Reminders:

PBIS: Our second distance learning student recognition video from the social studies and ELL teams has been posted to the HDMS student google classroom. Our next weekly PBIS coffee hour will be May 13th from 7:30-8:30pm in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the science and counseling teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! Congrats to Cathy Tash for winning this past week! The math and educational assistant team’s nominations are due on this document on May 13th; we will either record their nomination video during the coffee hour or will have staff record their own individual video and edit it together.

ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing.  Our next meeting is on Thursday, 5/14 from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in *Sharline’s* WebEx room.

Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm.

https://bendk12.webex.com/meet/wendy.mcculloch

We keep a weekly “live” document with notes that were shared out during the admin office hour sessions.  

Next week:

  • 5/11-5/15 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here
    • This document will be updated throughout the week

Previous weeks:

6th grader James D showing his teacher appreciation!

5.1.2020

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Quote to consider

‘Invest in relationships. Life is hard. None of us has the strength to do it alone. We need people to encourage and inspire us so we can encourage and inspire others.” ~ Simon Sinek

Appreciation Week

As you know, May 4-8 is Teacher Appreciation Week, a time to celebrate our classroom teachers, counselors, school nurses, and other certified staff members. Whether we are serving in person or remotely, I know our staff members care deeply about our students!

Please consider sharing a quick video, drawing, or photo saying thanks on Bend-La Pine Schools’ fun new webpage and the district will share with our community to spread the love and support folks feeling celebrated and appreciated.  Share your stories here

Arming/Disarming the Alarm

Please see this document that provides directions on how to arm and disarm the building’s alarm system. This document has also been added as a quick link on the right side of the blog’s home page. Let Tim know if you have further questions.

Annual Handbook

This year, we are getting creative with the production of our annual Family Handbook and Calendar, which is mailed home to families before the start of each school year. For the 2020-21 calendar, we are inviting students to submit artwork and photographs to be featured. Alandra is sharing this opportunity district-wide, but we also would like to invite teachers to share this opportunity with students (elementary classroom teachers, art teachers, photography teachers, or anyone interested!).

The theme is #BLSproud. What makes you proud to be part of your school or your school district? Share a piece of artwork or a photograph that conveys that sentiment.

Deadline: May 25, 2020

Students can use this link to submit artwork.

Questions? Contact Alandra

Staffing:

Due to the current situation our district is not expecting any SIA dollars. This means we are unable to expand staffing like we had previous hoped. Below are a few updates to note:

  • Fred Kent has accepted a position teaching Science at BSH. Julie McCabe will continue to teach Science at HDMS.
  • Suzanne King is retiring. We will be able to post a World Languages position as soon as our district is out of a ‘hiring freeze’.
  • Martin Wardle has had a temp .33 to support SS and electives. This will be posted once the ‘hiring freeze’ is lifted.
  • I hope to post an EA Wellness Support position, this is the spot that Brettney has served in this year.
  • Coaching openings:
    • 2 Head coaches for Volleyball
    • 1 assistant coach for Volleyball
    • 1 assistant coach for Football

Student Engagement

We’ve updated our HDMS Remote Learning spreadsheet to reflect student engagement stats for April 8 – 22nd.  Overall, students are doing a great job connecting  with their teachers. 

Above is the percentage breakdown for our 854 students.

Our Support team of counselors, behavioral EA, SRC teachers/staff, Life Skills teacher/staff, ELL teachers, Latinx liaison and admin team will be reaching out to the most disconnected students to try and get them to re-engage.

Thank you for taking the extra time to log non-engaged students as this is one method for us to not let needy students slip through the cracks. Our next window will close on May 13th when we’ll ask you to enter data again.

We have now successfully connected with all HDMS students and/or families to verify their safety and well being.

Please continue to access the HDMS Remote Learning Student Tracking Sheet and use the tabs on the bottom to sift through different subsets of students.

Culture of Care- Virtual Yoga

The Culture of Care Team (thanks, Elissa!) would like to invite you to join a Zoom yoga class on Tuesdays & Thursdays led by the amazing Lynda Beauchamp (teacher at REALMS). If you are uncomfortable with other people seeing you practicing yoga, you can choose to keep your camera and still have the value of practicing with a “live” class. (Contact Morrison for more info.)

Here is the information:

Tuesdays at 4:30pm – Vinyasa
Thursdays at 4:30pm – Gentle Flow

Join URL: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/180595688?pwd=TEJyWUFXVUp5QnNDWDN4WHhtbDhKQT09

Password: 997974
Venmo: Lynda Beauchamp@Lynda-Beauchamp if you would like to make a donation. 

Virtual Spirit Week

Information re: next week’s virtual spirit week was posted in the HDMS student Google classroom. See that post and/or this flyer for more information.

Reminders:

PBIS: Our first distance learning student recognition video from the science and counseling teams has been posted to the HDMS student google classroom. Our next weekly PBIS coffee hour will be May 6th from 7:30-8:30pm in Nole’s WebEx room. We will draw one staff winner from the science and counseling teams at 8:00am- must be present to win! The social studies and ELL team’s nominations are due on this document on May 6th; we will either record their nomination video during the coffee hour or will have teachers record their own individual video and edit it together.

Distance learning website: We are hopeful that our new HDMS distance learning site is the go-to resource for answers to questions from students, families, and even staff! The site is now fully translated to Spanish; a HUGE thank you goes out to Veronica for her hard work in translated so much information. Reach out to Nole if you see anything on the site that needs to be edited or updated.

ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing.  Our next meeting is on Thursday, 5/7 from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in Nole’s WebEx virtual meeting room.

Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm.

https://bendk12.webex.com/meet/wendy.mcculloch

We keep a weekly “live” document with notes that were shared out during the admin office hour sessions.  

Next week:

  • 5/4-5/8 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here
    • This document will be updated throughout the week

Previous weeks:

4.24.2020

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Please read this Equity and Access Considerations page. This is part update, part don’t forget, and part new information. Thank you for continuing to be the voice for those that may not have any other advocate right now.

Please review this guidance for materials distribution and pick up. This document is shared on behalf of your schools’ nurses and is an excerpt from a longer document produced by the National Association of School Nurses.

Dr. Bruce Perry is a neuroscientist that knows a thing or two about stress and how it plays out in people. During this COVID-19 Pandemic he is providing a number of resources (office hours and videos) free of charge.

Here is some information from Jackie Wilson, our district’s Sustainability Coordinator, regarding ways to save energy and be sustainable during our school shutdown.

One of my favorite comedians is Jim Gaffigan. This clip isn’t so much funny as it is a purely honest look from a parent during this time of remote learning.

Mini Observations
& Summative Evaluations Update

Group A: ‘On’ year- 6 total mini observations and a Summative evaluation

Group B: ‘Off’ year- 3 mini observations

Paul and I were able to complete most of the mini observations for both Group A and B prior to us moving to distance learning. 

At this time we will not be conducting any mini observations of staff teaching directly as part of our remaining mini observations.  Instead we will have a “check-in” with staff to inquire how they are doing with planning and instruction (perhaps via WebEx, or phone call, which ever staff are more comfortable with), but we do not plan on conducting any direct observations of teaching during this distance learning time.

We will reach out to you and schedule a time for us to do a ‘check-in’ that will count as our last mini observation for the remainder of this year for both Group A and B. 

Summative evaluations for Group A will be set up in a similar way. 

Please reach out with any concerns, clarification or questions.

Classified evaluations: These have all been postponed this year.

PBIS Update

The PBIS team is implementing a new strategy to reward students for being awesome. Each week one of the instructional teams at HDMS will have their turn to nominate students for being virtually safe, respectful, responsible, and kind that week. Each teacher in that team will nominate two students. Suggestions of things to nominate students for include: doing stellar work on an assignment, being respectful or kind during office hours or in Google Classroom comments, or to reward a student who has not been participating for starting to participate in distance learning.

The science team is first on deck and will be nominating two students per teacher the week of 4/27-5/1. More details on the PBIS plan can be found here.

To answer questions about this and to provide a social event for the staff, the PBIS team will host a virtual coffee/breakfast (optional) meetup in Nole’s WebEx room on Wednesday 4/29 from 7:30-8:30am.

PD Opportunity re: CPS

The Oregon CPS Project is offering a 2-hour Intro to Collaborative Problem Solving webinar on May 5th from 12-2pm Pacific Standard Time. Funding is provided by the Oregon Health Authority; there is no cost to attend. This is a broad overview, and all are welcome! The training will take place via Zoom. Registration is required in order to receive the webinar link.

FYI re: COID-19 Materials

We are asking that schools/teachers not produce their own COVID-19 materials… By video, electronic communication, paper, etc. The information around COVID-19 seems to change daily, and we want to utilize our county health partners and OHA, CDC, etc. for any information that is being shared out. 

For a Laugh

You may have already seen this video regarding video conferencing. It is painful, in a funny way, because of the truth that it holds!

MAC Survey

As you know, the district’s MAC survey was on Tuesday (4/21). Thank you for your time in completing this to help continue to fund this important service for our students and families.

Teacher Candidates 20/21

OSU is looking for Middle School placements for the following, reach out to Wendy if you are interested in hosting a TC:

  • 3 Language Arts candidates for fall placement
  • 3 Social Studies candidates for winter and spring placement

WEB- Choosing New Leaders

The WEB coordinator team needs your help!  We are going full steam ahead in our WEB recruitment process, trying to find amazing kids to lead our school through what is sure to be a momentous and different return to our physical school days this Fall! Please take the time to check the HDMS Staff Google Classroom post about WEB recruitment and fill in the Google Form provided with names of 7th graders you know would make great leaders at our school by May 1st.  THANK YOU SO MUCH! Check out the WEB section of the HDMS remote learning site for more details.

Reminders

Providing Printed Student Materials: We will continue to print paper materials and send these packets home to students weekly via the USPS. Please send Wendy/Paul these materials by noon every Tuesday.

HDMS Remote Learning Website: Our new remote learning website is live and has been sent out to families. Thanks to teachers for submitting their teacher links for this page; please contact Nole if you have questions, edits, and/or need support in this area. We are in the process of getting the entire site translated to Spanish. This site will continue to be updated if/when new distance learning information is shared.

Classroom clean out sign up: If you haven’t yet, please use this link to see more details regarding classroom clean out and to sign up for a day/time that works for you. This page has been updated with links to more specific checklists for end of the year check out and classroom clean out checklists. There is a table at the main entrance of the school with hard copies of these documents, boxes, and packing tape. If, for any reason, you are unable to clean out your classroom please contact Wendy & Paul.

ICCL Office Hours: Optional, drop-in ICCL meetings are continuing.  Our next meeting is on Thursday, 4/30 from 2:00-3:00pm. We will capture the discussion and update the meeting notes using this document. We will meet in Nole’s WebEx virtual meeting room.

Admin Office Hours: Admin office hours are now held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm.

https://bendk12.webex.com/meet/wendy.mcculloch

We will be keeping a weekly “live” document with notes of the celebrations and Q & As that were shared out during the admin office hour sessions.  

Next week:

  • 4/27-5/1 Admin WebEx office hours notes found here
    • This document will be updated throughout the week

Previous weeks: