Magers Memo
September 13th
Sherwood Elementary will become a learning community where everyone is valued and respected. All staff members will build strong, positive connections with students so they can meet current and future challenges to develop social awareness, academic achievement, civic responsibility and personal growth.
Already Mid-Quarter?! Say what?!
I can't believe we are already starting week 6 of school! I can't tell you how proud I am to be a Sherwood Superstar and work with such a wonderful staff. Thank you for giving 120% every single day.
- The Sherwood Mothership is updated with your current roster and demographic information. Please take some time this week to enter your BOY information-we will be looking at this in team meetings soon. You can access the mothership here.
- All teachers should be sending a weekly newsletter to families, please remember to copy me on that email.
- All classes should have guided reading groups up and running.
- Please schedule Parent Teacher Conference at Open House. The dates are: October 21st-30th. Dinner will be provided on Tuesday the 22nd and Thursday the 24th. Please choose one of these dates to be your "late night". If you want specialty teachers to attend a conference please let them know ASAP, so they can mark their calendars. Since the district extended parent teacher conference week, you can schedule them at your convenience. Please ensure you are allowing several late times, to accommodate working parents.
- At our next staff meeting we will be discussing TST. You can access the TST forms here: TST Request for Assistance; TST Tier II Intervention Plan; TST Release Documentation
Below is an email I got from Penny Rector (HR) regarding absences.
As we plan for absences in the upcoming months, there are several dates which have, historically, proven to be a challenge as we work to fill the absences. To the extent possible, we ask that you please avoid scheduling events and absences for these days. We appreciate your assistance. Please let me know if you have questions.
- October 10-11 and 17-18 James River Assembly women’s conferences
- October 10-11 and 17-18 Fall break at area schools
- December 13 Local college/university graduation ceremonies
- Fridays during spring semester It would be extremely helpful if teachers could avoid/minimize scheduling assessment testing on these dates due to the high number of field trips and teacher absences.
- April 10 and 13 Friday and Monday around the Easter holiday
- May 1 and 15 Local college/university graduation ceremonies
Please join the Social Committee! Dues are $25 per teacher and $12.50 for support staff/part time staff! Please put checks in Tamra's mailbox!
Please let Nurse Julie know if you want to participate in the "Move your Shoes" challenge!
Fire Prevention Classes
Thursday, Oct 3, 2019, 09:00 AM
Sherwood Elementary School, South Golden Avenue, Springfield, MO, USA
FOUR JEANS DAY PASSES WILL BE AWARDED TO TEACHERS WHO JOIN THE PTA BY OCTOBER 2ND!
Next Week at a Glance:
- Crystal out for PL Advisory Meeting
- Amber Knight out PM
- Fundraiser Kick-Off-Morning Rise and Shine will be longer due to the fundraiser kick-off. Please plan to stay in the gym until at least 8:45 a.m. You will get packets to pass out to students. Please help us promote our fundraiser-this is our big fundraiser of the year!
Tuesday:
- Clark out AM-Evolving Leaders
- 5th grade field trip to the museum
- Sherwood Open House from 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.-dinner provided at 4:15 p.m.
Wednesday:
- Social Committee meeting @ 3:45 p.m.
Thursday:
- Clark out for AP Cadre AM
- Happy Friday!
- Mid-Quarter
- H Lab Attendance Celebration 2:30 p.m.
Please Include in Newsletters:
I will be adding this to the Sherwood Shine and making Connect 5 calls, but please help spread the word by also including in your weekly newsletters.
As Dr. Jungmann mentioned this week at SLT, we need your help in spreading the word as well. At the link below you will find resources you can use. Included are a letter to parents, which could also be adapted to use as a website post, social media posts for Facebook and Twitter, an automated phone call script, and some different graphics you can use.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NSwFvvw6UZ8xaO_Nd8RPYW_Vy3rLMk6W?usp=sharing
Thank you for your assistance in encouraging our families to KEEP THE FLU OUT OF SCHOOL and STUDENTS IN SCHOOL.
Additional Resources
District’s website post: https://www.sps.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=1305&ViewID=6446EE88-D30C-497E-9316-3F8874B3E108&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=11720&PageID=1
Health Services flu information page: www.sps.org/flu
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM BRUCE DOUGLAS:
Protect is the District’s information security awareness campaign. Our goal is to raise awareness about the steps we can all take in protecting confidential information and our identities. This year we will establish common language and understanding about information security. Each month we will bring relevant news and updates to our leaders.
Updates
· The Trusted Learning Environment (TLE) seal was developed by 28 school districts from across the country in collaboration with CoSN. The goal of the TLE is to show that a school district has taken measurable steps to ensure the privacy of student data. We have aligned the efforts of Protect with the TLE to build towards the goal of earning the seal. There are five TLE practice areas;
o Leadership practice is focused on the governance and use of student data. This starts with ensuring all leaders have an awareness of compliance requirements and making informed decisions.
o Business practice is focused on ensuring software contracts are vetted to ensure the protection of student data. This starts with establishing vetting procedures that all staff follow before utilizing software.
o Data security practice is focused on auditing data privacy and security practices. This starts with establishing policies and procedures to control access to data such as reviewing permissions within our software to ensure appropriate levels of access for each staff members role.
o Professional development practice is focused on staff training around privacy and information security. This starts with providing all staff resources about how they can best secure confidential information.
o Classroom practice is focused on implementing educational practices that are transparent with how data is used to impact instruction. This starts with delivering digital citizenship curriculum and teachers modeling appropriate use of technology with students.
· Visit the Protect website, https://www.sps.org/protect, on a regular basis to receive updates about information security and tips to protect yourself. This is also where we will publicly share how SPS handles student data and meets the compliance requirements of a public education agency.
· Our first poster campaign kicks off this week. We will utilize posters quarterly to raise awareness about information security. We appreciate the space in your work rooms!
· KnowBe4 is our security awareness training software used to proactively phish all staff. Our next campaign begins this month and we will provide the results to leaders in October. Staff that click through on a phishing email in the campaign will be assigned a video to provide more information about protecting themselves.
· October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Yes, it’s a real thing designed to ensure all Americans have the tools they need to be safe online. We will provide regular updates throughout October and we encourage everyone to join the conversation by using the Twitter hashtags #BeCyberSmart and #CyberAware.
In the News
- Louisiana Governor Declares State of Emergency After Ransomware Hits School System – Forbes
- Back To School For Scammers: Hackers Target Long Island School District With Ransomware – CBS New York
- Coordinated Ransomware Attack Hits 23 Texas Government Agencies – ThreatPost
- School of the Osage School District reports ‘potential’ data breach – KY3
Bruce Douglas
Director of Information Technology
Springfield Public Schools
417-429-6305
In Case You Missed It...Great ideas from our amazing OT-Marianne Hill!
I wanted to let you know that I am in the building on Tuesday mornings this year. You can find me in the Speech therapy room should you need to touch base or shoot me an email anytime.
As the dust is beginning to settle from the chaos of the beginning of the school year and you are settling into a routine, I wanted to offer some strategies to incorporate motor and sensory development opportunities into your classroom. Hopefully this will help not only the student(s) that doesn’t seem to be settling into a routine quite as smoothly, but to increase the engagement and development of all the learners in your classroom.
- Use a time timer to countdown to transition time to better prepare students for smoother transitions. Or use it when performing structured tasks. Some students who are struggling to complete a task just need the assurance that it won’t last forever.. There is also a digital version that can be used.
- Use a visual schedule to break down tasks to more manageable components to remember for a student who is struggling consistently during a particular part of the day. Or create one for the whole class to show the students what to expect. It works wonders for decreasing anxiety to have a visual reminder as to what is coming next and again, for those who struggle just to remain seated and focused, it gives reassurance that there is an end in sight.
- Offer a basket of fidgets during quiet time for students to choose from. For those students who need it with them throughout the day or may be tempted to throw, you can attach it with a clip to a belt loop. Remind all students that fidgets are a tool not a toy. Consider using a contract to discuss responsibility.
- Incorporate sensory stimulation by using your body to build sound into learning (e.g. clapping out syllables of words, stomping feet to count out the days on the calendar, snapping fingers while counting by 10s). Or tactile stimulation by having them trace letters or multiplication table on sand paper/ carpet squares; find a needed letter or number in a box of beans or rice to practice letter sounds or math problems. Remember the greater number of sensory pathways used to teach a concept, the greater the retention rate.
- Build movement into learning whenever possible. Set math fact flashcards out on the floor and make it a relay race to run, skip, jump, or gallop to pick one up and give an answer! Form the letter with your body as you learn the name or sounds of the letters. Tape sight word cards at various heights on the wall and have the child jump to touch them as you read them one by one.
- Keep a deck of kids yoga cards in the classroom. When students are getting restless or glossy eyed, allow a student to draw a card and have the whole class try out the pose together! Here are some yoga poses that can be done without even having to leave their seat.
- Be flexible with your seating and allow lots of options. Alternate seating options do not have to be expensive! Slightly inflated beach balls work great as an alternative to an air disc seat (and can be found at the Dollar Store); a large $3 ball at Wal-Mart placed in a milk crate is a great alternative to a ball chair; rectangle laundry baskets work great for little ones to define space, provide pressure and offer back support for sitting on the floor when reading. Find other ideas here. You can find a sample letter to send home asking for donations and also a contract with the students to remind them that privilege comes with responsibility here.
My job is to make your job easier J So let me know if I can help in any way, even if it’s just someone to bounce off ideas. In the meantime, continue shaping those little minds as only you can do.
Marianne Hill
Occupational Therapist
Springfield Public Schools
*Great minds think differently*