JAGUAR JOURNAL
Week of May 18th
PLC’s/Zoom Meetings for the Week of May 18th:
Monday, May 18th:
10:00 - Fourth Grade Zoom
12:00 - Pre K Zoom
3:15 - BEST Zoom Meeting
Tuesday, May 19th:
9:00 - First Grade Zoom PLC
10:30 - Kindergarten Zoom PLC
Wednesday, May 20th:
10:00 - Fifth Grade Zoom PLC
12:00 - Second Grade Zoom PLC
Thursday, May 21st:
9:00 - Specials Zoom PLC
10:00 - Third Grade Zoom PLC
Friday, May 22nd:
Congratulations to Angie Raley! Angie was recognized (via zoom) today as NCE's Bus Driver of the Year!
Updates/Reminders:
Staff Video - Hope you enjoy segment seven...our last staff shout out video! This will be coming out in the weekly call on Sunday evening! Thank you all for helping us make this happen!
Instructional Assistant End of Year Evaluations - An instructional assistant evaluation must be completed for every instructional assistant that works with your class and/or team. If the assistant works with more than one teacher on your team, complete a joint evaluation. Please email/share your feedback on the IA evaluation tool to Carla/Eddie by June 1st. Teachers will ONLY be sharing the feedback with Carla and Eddie. This is different from previous years. This is a new tool and only Carla and Eddie will be holding the evaluation conference with IAs. Teachers will NOT be meeting with IAs. Please ask if you have any questions as this is new for all of us. Once we review the teacher feedback, we will reach out to instructional assistants to schedule a time to meet via Zoom to review the End of Year Evaluation.
Certified End of Year Evaluations - Carla and Eddie will be scheduling End of the Year Summative/PDP conferences with all certified staff by the first week in June. If the required number of observations were not completed prior to school closure on March 16th we will use a modified evaluation form for our summative. If the required number of observations were completed, we will proceed with the summative evaluation in NCEES. Carla/Eddie will share your summative evaluation or the consolidated evaluation form with each of you prior to our scheduled meeting. Individual meeting times will be scheduled by the end of next week.
Planning for 20-21: It is almost time for me to begin working with the district office on allotments for next year. Please let me know ASAP if you are planning to retire or resign so that I can plan accordingly for filling vacancies. Even if you are just considering a change it would still help to know. My goal is to give you information about next year as soon as possible and this information is always helpful when planning.
PTA Check Reimbursements Deadline!! Please turn in receipts/requests for PTA funds by May 31st. Requests for things purchased from May 31st - June 7th - need to be turned in by June 10th.
Class List Work in PLC’s during week of May 26th - Please work to schedule a time to work with your grade level to divide students into possible classes for the 20-21 school year using the class list guidelines. Eddie will send the recording sheet to each grade level team next week. All grade levels should have students in a first draft version by June 8th.
Virtual Talent Show - We are looking for video submissions for a virtual talent show. It can be as big or small as you make it. You can tell a joke, sing a song or do a cartwheel. The video will be posted for staff, parents and students. If you are interested in participating, please respond to this form. Please respond even if you already did (I've changed some questions). If there is enough interest, I will send a due date for video submissions. Mr. Joe
At Home Learning Updates:
Please continue communicating updates and information with your families each week when you send home your at home learning plan. Please send families your email and at home learning plans by 8 am each Monday morning.
Packet Information: Our final round of packets will be mailed on the morning of May 26th and will last through the last day of school. Please let us know by Thursday morning, if your grade level needs help with copying. Copying packets is essential work for at home learning. Please email Carla/Eddie if you need to come in to work on this effort. We want to ensure that the building will be open and that we will not have too many people working at the same time. Thank you for your help making at home learning work for all our kiddos!
Grading Document - This document was created for guidance on grading. Our elementary template should be approved and shared with teachers by 5/25. Classroom teachers will need to complete this template for families and turn them in to the office for mailing by June 10th. The office will mail to all families on or before 6/12.
End of Year Math Assessments: You all have been working very hard to teach new math material to your classes over the past few weeks. We want you to know that teachers have the ability and choice to assign the iReady diagnostic, iReady standards mastery assessments, STAR, or schoolnet to their classes as a way to determine growth. We know we may not be able to have all kids participate, but it may be a good way to see growth on new material and determine gaps for next year. These end of year assessments are NOT a district or school expectation -- it is 100% a PLC decision. We’d really like for PLCs to decide together if this is something your whole grade level might like to do in the last few weeks of school. Please add it to your agendas to discuss first before assigning anything to your class.
Resources:
Using Your iphone as a Document Camera: Thank you Lynn Harrington! Here is Lynn’s Screencastify video showing how you can turn your iphone into a document camera to use in your instructional videos.
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard App: Thank you Grace Knaus! Here is Grace’s video on how to use the ShowMe App which is an interactive whiteboard that you can use in instructional videos.
Learning A to Z Webinars: If you are interested in furthering your understanding of how to implement and use all the many Learning A to Z resources, they are continuing to offer webinars. Check out their virtual resources page to learn more.
iReady Webinars: iReady is offering a webinar series to dive into specific topics that are relevant to the current state of remote learning in North Carolina districts. If you are interested in learning what their webinars are and registering, follow this link: .i-Ready At Home National Webinars
DPI Instructional Design Principles for Remote Teaching and Learning: DPI and the Friday Institute created an instructional framework for Remote Teaching and Learning. It has a great visual and guidelines to follow for online teaching; and it discusses expectations for things like time, communication, engagement, equity, collaboration, and feedback. Here are some of their key points and as a school we are doing a great job with these principles!! Keep it up!
You should not assume students will be spending the traditional hours or the same amount of time on learning as when they are in the classroom.
Having regular and predictable opportunities for families and students to connect with their teachers and schools is key.
It is important for educators to design instruction with choice and flexibility, especially when considering student populations that typically have additional support while in school.
The key is trying to ensure that students are collaborating and connecting with each other multiple times each week through thoughtful, yet simple lessons.
Educators will need means to assess (even if not through graded tests) how students are progressing in their learning. Regular and timely feedback will play an important role in guiding students in their instruction
Zoom Updates:
Most of us have noticed that our Zoom meetings have seemed to have more connection issues this week than ever before. Emma Braaten says the company is pushing out updates and that could be why we are having more Zoom connection issues than normal. If you have gotten an email from Zoom about updates, please just follow the steps in the email to do the update. If you have not gotten an email, please do one of the following to see if these updates help:
When you end a Zoom meeting, if you have been getting this image popping up, please click the blue “Update” button in that pop up and follow the steps.
If you have not gotten an email or have not yet gotten the update message popping up after ending a Zoom meeting, please do these steps:
Click on the Zoom "app" on my MacBook's dock.
Click on the profile picture in the top right, and from the drop down menu find "check for updates."
Do any updates that are listed.
STAR Updates:
Over spring break, STAR did a MAJOR update. The entire site looks VERY different and there are a few new reports. There is a new URL to use to log in and you will also need to update your password. You will not be able to access STAR until you do this. Please read through the STAR Updates document to see the new URL, learn how to update your password, and to look at some of the new reports. Then log into STAR to change your password and explore the new site to gain familiarity. Changing your password may not be as easy as the document makes it seem. Mandy had to go through multiple steps, see below:
If you are not prompted to change your password or if you are not allowed in with your old username and password then you will need to click “forgot password”.
The first time you do it, Renaissance MAY then do an email confirmation. You will need to go and confirm your email.
Then you may need to go back to STAR and do “forgot password” a second time to actually reset your password. You’ll get another email asking you to “click here” to update your password.
After updating your password, you should be redirected back to the Welcome Page (the login page) and be able to log in to see the site.
Work From Home Info:
Stay at Home Orders - If you need to do something essential (handing out laptops, creating/passing out packets,helping with food distribution,etc), coming into the building is ok. We will continue working to limit building entry to only school employees carrying out essential duties. Please talk to Carla if there is a need for anyone else to come into school with you. We are not allowing the public into the building at all. Our building will continue to be open for staff needing to do something essential from 7:00 - 3:3O daily.
Building Hours/Staff Reporting Sheet - The building hours are 7:00 to 3:30. If you plan to come into NCE, please know that custodians will be alarming the building at 3:25 daily. Please continue to complete this form each day. This form is linked into the NCE Staff page under the At Home Learning Section.
Here are more At Home Work Opportunities - see the opportunities that were shared from the district.
Building Protocols:
- Effective immediately, building access will be limited to staff members who must be onsite to perform job duties (Cafeteria folks, custodians, office personnel, and those authorized to work on packet copies).
- Eddie and I will need to authorize employees every time you need to come into school. These determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis and only as needed. If you have a compelling reason for needing to visit campus, please email us ahead of time and wait for a response before coming, . If authorized to come into the building, please follow the worksite protocols above. Beginning Monday, May 11th all employees should clock in upon arrival and out upon departure when they access a district facility (e.g., school building, Central Services, Maintenance and Transportation). This will not be a change for classified staff who are use to clocking for payroll purposes. However, it will be new for many certified employees. The purpose of clocking right now is to maintain a record of building access and will not be utilized for payroll purposes. Certified and Classified Staff will clock for building access purposes only. A protocol document that includes time clock directions is below. Certified Staff, If you are unsure of your log in/password, it is the same log in/password that you use to get into your Payroll Portal.
- Preventive protocols that should be followed: PROTOCOLS TO DETER THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.