Friday Notes
Dare to be Different!
Blog: Just a Quick Thank You
Thanks for putting up with my little bit of craziness. I always want us trying something new.....genius hour projects....new tech initiatives.....blogs.....YouTube.....screen casts...you name it we have done it in the past 5 years. You have taken all of that and run with it. Compare us to anyone around and you will find that we have a group of innovative educators that are in it for their students. A group of educators that enjoy working with each other to make this a better place for kids. A group of educators that are flexible and willing to try new things. That is all I can ask for as your principal, and that is all I want as a leader. You do it every day, and I really appreciate it.
Enjoy these days leading up to break. These are the times our students need us more than ever.
Band Concert
Chromebooks
#1 - Review the document located at https://www.smore.com/eqcys. PLEASE PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE DROP OFF AND PICK UP PROCEDURES. You must drop off the cart after use (between 2:15-2:30), and carts need to be picked up the DAY BEFORE they are used (between 2:30-2:45)
#2 - YOU MUST have a system in your classroom to determine what kid is using what Chromebook. As I have mentioned previously, I would just number your roster and require students to use that Chromebook. Why? When we need to track down what happened to a broken computer, or pull a log of what a student accessed, we have to have the Chromebook cart # and computer #.
If you have any questions about any of this let me know.
Volleyball
Hand Sanitizer Reminder
We’re rapidly moving into the flu season and staff and students are beginning to spread germs. Teachers are breaking out the hand sanitizer. The district does not provide hand sanitizer nor is it included on the district supply list. We understand teachers frequently use hand sanitizer and should do so with direct supervision. Teachers should distribute hand sanitizer directly to their students and should store hand sanitizer in a secure location. Hand sanitizer contains a high level of alcohol and should never be ingested. Staff should closely monitor student’s use of the product. Please review this with your staff to ensure student safety. Please let me know if you have any questions.
What do I need to do in Canvas?
September Discussion
Genius Hour Planning (DUE ASAP)
October's assignment Genius Hour (make sure to taker a look...you will need to create a video)
PLC Notes (if you have not entered for this week, the assignment window is still open)
WE ARE LEADING THE CHARGE ON CANVAS AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT. Let's continue to have folks look to us as an example of a high functioning team that GETS THINGS DONE.
Job Spark
Worth a Read
I have always been enthralled of the idea of kids learning how to do TED Talks. They are short, they are engaging, and they are meant to be persuasive. There may be a couple of middle level standards that fit :)
Public Schools' Billion-Hour Teacher Absenteeism Problem *This is just a snippet of the article.
By David Griffith
As I document in Fordham’s newest study, Teacher Absenteeism in Charter and Traditional Public Schools, data from the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Education show that 28.3 percent of teachers in traditional public schools miss eleven or more days of school for illness or personal reasons. In contrast, the corresponding figure for teachers in charter schools is 10.3 percent.
While OCR describes these teachers as “frequently” absent, the report uses the term “chronically” absent, consistent with much of the initial coverage of these data. But regardless of your preferred adverb, research shows that teacher absenteeism matters: Specifically, a ten-day increase in teacher absenteeism is associated with the loss of about six to ten days of learning in English language arts and about fifteen to twenty-five days of learning in math. In other words, kids learn almost nothing—and possibly less than nothing—when their teacher of record isn’t there.
To put those numbers in perspective, imagine a hypothetical high school with 1,000 students and fifty full-time teachers. Based on the national average, we would expect about thirteen of those teachers to be chronically absent each year, meaning that between them they would miss at least 143 days of school. And on each of those days, each of those teachers would likely have taught about four to five classes with a total of perhaps 100 kids in them. So over the course of a single year at our hypothetical school, we would expect there to be at least 14,300 instances in which a student went to class but his or her teacher did not. (And that’s ignoring the impact of whatever absences were accumulated by the thirty-seven teachers who weren’t chronically absent.)
Now for the really eye-opening math: There are roughly 100,000 public schools in the United States, with over 3 million public school teachers and at least 50 million students. So every year, at least 800,000 teachers in the U.S. are chronically absent, meaning they miss about 9 million days of school between them, resulting in roughly 1 billion instances in which a kid comes to class to find that his or her time is, more often than not, being wasted (or if you prefer, about a billion hours of wasted class time, since students in the early grades don’t have “periods”).
Again, that number only reflects the impact of chronically absent teachers. When all teacher absences are included, the number of wasted periods is more like 2.5 billion. Even Will Shortz might blanch at the prospect of that many crossword puzzles. But, of course, the sheer scale of the problem also means that even a partial solution would yield enormous benefits for students.
Evaluation Timelines
Homework Document
Thanks!
Here is the link to next week: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1svUIOKZhffoUu0bgULeGEDk9Hz0mSggBI7XxKbiNDWc/edit?usp=sharing
Counselors Corner
Kyle McClarnon
All 6th Grade
7th Grade Last Name A-M
Sarah Ready
All 8th Grade
7th Grade Last Name N-Z
College Go! Week
College Go! Week is an annual statewide campaign designed to promote a pro-college atmosphere. During the week of September 25-29, special college spirit days are planned (9/25 College Hat Day, 9/27 College Sweatshirt Day), and staff is encouraged to attend. Don't forget your jeans!
There will be a door decorating contest open to all staff members. Decorate your door with the spirit of your Alma Mater, and be entered for a chance to win a $10 Starbucks or Subway gift card-winners choice! Doors must be decorated by Friday, 9/29.
Counselor Sign Up Process
Counselor Request Forms are now 100% electronic. Students can sign up to speak with a counselor from any device that has internet access. Chromebooks are set up in the office for students to make a request. Teachers: you can save this link on your computer or ipad, and students can sign up directly from your room! As always, if a student is in crisis they will be seen by a counselor immediately.
Child Abuse & Duty to Report
An individual who has reason to believe that a child is a victim of abuse or neglect shall make a report to DCS or local law enforcement immediately. This applies to every staff member in the building. Please review the Child Abuse & Duty to Report information by clicking here.
High Ability Identification Process
The high ability identification process is outlined here. This process applies to current 6th and 7th grade students; with placement decisions for the 18-19 school year. Recommendations can be made from now until January 12th. If you have questions, please see Kyle or Sarah.
UINDY Football
Safe Schools Training Due
The 2017 Safe Schools training has been submitted and you will begin receiving Safe Schools notifications through your email that you have online training courses to complete. The deadline for completing the courses is September 29, 2017. This is the annual online training for all staff members and should be completed as soon as possible. This year we will be sending out further training throughout the year so that we can cover more subjects. This will occur in November 2017 and February 2018. Please note it is not necessary to contact human resources or send completion certificates once you are finished as the system tracks and records completions.
If there are further questions please contact human resources.