OSP Connected
November 2021-Office for School Performance-Volume 53
Message from Dayle
The end of the quarter is next week. Yep, believe it or not we are a fourth of the way through the year. It is great being back in schools, connecting with students and seeing them engaged in learning. As I talk with staff and students, however, there seems to be a sense of pressure – pressure to catch up, pressure to get “back to normal”, pressure to achieve - that needs to be addressed.
Now is not the time for that pressure.
For the last eighteen months we all experienced an unprecedented global pandemic. Some families lost loved ones, jobs, or experienced extreme hardship. Others were less impacted, mostly experiencing a lack of interaction outside the home. But as we are discovering, almost every student and adult is having to put in a lot of effort to transition back to a full, in person school day. Waking up on time, commuting, sustaining social interactions and building the stamina for school is challenging for all of us.
At the same time, staff and students are very aware of how much learning acceleration needs to happen for our littlest nonreaders, math skill building for our intermediate students and credit attainment for high school students, to name a few. Many of our students missed out on learning school readiness behaviors and experiencing opportunities for developmental milestones and now need that support and instruction. I am thankful our staff is urgent about these things because they are important for our students’ academic and long term success.
All of this could create a sense of pressure but I encourage you to let that feeling slide past. The truth is it will take more than just this year to create a new normal. We will need more than this year to address the impact the pandemic has had on our students and the adults who care for them.
So how do we let that pressure go? First, celebrate the small wins, whether that is increased attendance at school, a first complete sentence in writing, or better control of student responses to classmates who frustrate them. Take the time to build relationships and connect with students and with each other. Remind ourselves that we will not fix anything in the short term; time is the variable here and growth takes time. Tell pressures that now is not the time for their presence in school and your classroom. Creating a new normal for ourselves as we interact and learn is enough work for now.
Recovering Learning Through Assessment
Asking students to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter is critical to the learning process; assessments are the essential link between teaching and learning. As we are nearing the end of Quarter 1 and the end of the assessment windows, this is the essential time to evaluate whether the educational goals and standards of the lessons are being met. Doug Fisher, in his Rebound Playbook, emphasizes the importance of not engaging in deficit thinking when analyzing assessment data. It is important that, as educators, we reflect on our mindset and biases about students due to low scores or not showing enough growth. Instead, we should reflect on the shifting of practices, structural factors and experiences that accelerate student learning for the community that we serve. If you would like to learn more about this topic, please click on this link. We also have a few Rebound books available on a first come first serve basis. Please email Stefany Moreno or Tiago Dias for a copy.
Paid Professional Development Opportunity
We have begun a series of professional development after school sessions based on teacher feedback. Thank you to those that have attended the sessions. Please see the playlists below to learn more about them. We encourage you to attend! Extended contract is available for those engaging live in the PD.
Teacher Resources: Teaching & Learning 2.0
Link to site: Teaching & Learning 2.0
Climate & Culture: The Power of Relationships
Research shows that students who feel safe and supported by adults at school are better able to learn. There are a few core principles that define all of human development. The first is malleability, the unique property of the brain to change in response to relationships and experiences. Neural tissue is the most susceptible to change of any tissue in the human body. When children are born, their brains are not fully developed. The development of the brain actually continues into young adulthood. It is relationships and experiences that drive the development of the brain. If children have the experience of adversity they will have uneven development of foundational skills, like self-regulation, relationship skills that are prerequisites for more complex skills like perseverance and self-direction. These are the children who are at risk to fall further and further behind. But what’s most interesting is that a child can become a productive and engaged learner from any developmental starting point as long as we intentionally build those skills.
Leading Change in HSD
Speaking My Truth With Deeper Discourse
How We Talk About What is Important . . . Is Important . . .
Changing our discourse means we look at our fundamental beliefs, behaviors and the ways we express our experiences and understandings.
Our language frames our conceptual understanding which shapes our beliefs.
Our beliefs influence our actions, which can either reproduce or transform results and outcomes.
By changing and deepening our discourse:
we become clearer about our fundamental thoughts and feelings;
better define problems, successes and failures;
uncover the foundations of the status quo which need to change;
calibrate our collaborative commitment;
inspire and motivate our ideas into action.
Source:
Oregon Center for Educational Equity (OCEE) Deeper Discourse and Speaking My Truth.docx.pdf
Commemorations: Native American Heritage Month
We want to take this opportunity to recognize and highlight the beautiful and diverse cultures of Native American and Alaska Native communities this month and beyond. Visibility Saves Lives (Visibilidad Salva Vidas) and can be seen as the first step to establishing and maintaining relationships with our Native students. It is important as educators that we work towards integrating in and elevating Native American, Alaska Native, and Indigenous culture year-round. Lessons and resources in the following link can fall under one or all of the distinctions of equity.
In 2019, Senate Bill 13: Tribal History/Shared History became a law. As a result of Senate Bill 13, Oregon Department of Education in partnership with federally recognized Tribes in Oregon developed the Essential Understandings of Native Americans in Oregon. ODE has provided lesson plans to school districts and is providing professional development to teachers and administrators relating to the Tribal History/Shared History. These lessons target grades 4, 8, and 10 for implementation to begin. The goal is to work toward having a complete K-12 curriculum in the near future. Educators will be able to choose from 45 lesson plans to integrate into the existing curriculum. Subject integration will include English/Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Health/PE. The Tribal History/Shared History curriculum will cover the Native American experience in Oregon, including tribal history, sovereignty issues, culture, treaty rights, government, socioeconomic experiences, and current events. It will be historically accurate, culturally relevant, community-based, contemporary, and developmentally appropriate; and aligned with the academic content standards adopted under ORS 329.045.
Source: SB13 Tribal History/Shared History General Overview
In order to support this work, we have curated resources and are coordinating professional development opportunities to support our district’s implementation of Senate Bill 13. Please click here for access to more detailed information, resources, and lessons.
HSD Equity Policy: JBB.pdf
EAE Website (External-Public)
EAE Website (Internal-Staff)
#ThisIsEquityHSD
#EquityEverywhere
Coffee Conversations
This month, David Vickery, Morgan Quimby, and Nels Langbauer sit down to talk about their own dyslexia. As Hilhi administrators, these three are high achievers, excellent educators, and understand what it’s like to need others to support their way of thinking. Key take-aways for school staff include:
allow oral explanations of content,
allow redos and clarifying questions, encourage speech to text and spell check, and
provide hands-on activities when possible.
The bottom line message is that a person who experiences dyslexia is not broken and there is nothing to fix! “Accept how I think and find my strengths!”
CAREER & COLLEGE READY
Our O-ACE program was recently featured in the news. The article highlighted our efforts to diversify the pilot pipeline, and shows some pictures of our students having fun with hot air balloons while learning about air density. The full story is available at Pamplin Media.
Northwest Promise and Willamette Promise are in the process of finalizing a merger that will go into effect for the 22-23 school-year. This year Northwest Promise will be sunsetting their current offerings, and supporting the transition of our teachers and PLC’s into the Willamette Promise network.
In partnership with Willamette Promise, we are piloting a college credit opportunity in ED 200 and ED 220. Our Oregon Diverse Educator Pathway program will be connecting students with this supported asynchronous opportunity to capture 6 college credits through Western Oregon University.
Oregon Student Access Commision Scholarship (OSAC) Application opens this month! Over 500 Scholarships for Oregon students/residents, go to www.oregonstudentaid.org for information about the OSAC, Oregon Promise, and More!
Student Support Networks
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has updated its definition of SEL to be: the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.
For more tools and resources and to learn how SEL, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism all fit together please take a look at the following resources: HSD SEL Site, HSD Climate and Culture Team Site, CASEL Equity and SEL, CASEL Weekly Webinars
Dual Language: Exciting DLP Announcements!
We had the opportunity to come together at our first Elementary Dual Language collaboration of the year last Tuesday, October 19, where we reviewed our knowledge of our DLP foundations. Our next collaboration will be Wednesday, Dec 15, for secondary and Thursday, Dec 16, for elementary. We are also excited to share that our Middle and High School students will have the opportunity to participate in a contest to design our very own DLP log. Elementary students will be voting to select the winner! Lastly, we’re looking forward to sharing the amazing work from DLP staff and selecting an educator, student, classified or administrator to spotlight their work! If you would like to nominate someone please use this short form. Thank you for your dedication to our students!
Tech Teach Grow Team
OUR PURPOSE
Support educators with digital curriculum and technology integration in the classroom. Our hope is to provide HSD staff with tech integration ideas, info and updates via quick digital media that is easily accessible at your convenience. Everything we share works with current HSD tech. #TechForward>>
WANT A DIFFERENT RESULT? TRY SOMETHING NEW!
Tech Tip of the Week: The Tech Teach Grow team will be providing quick tech tips for staff each week through Monday Notes. The tips include updates and integration ideas that relate to the work educators do. Each tip has a brief written description, video/GIF and a way to access the tech integration TOSA team for support on digital curriculum or tech tool/app integration. We will also collect the tech tips for each week and post them here in OSP Connected.
We have begun a series of professional development after school sessions based on teacher feedback. Thank you to those that have attended the sessions. Please see the playlists below to learn more about them. We encourage you to attend! Extended contract is available for those engaging live in the PD.