Staff Update
Monday, October 12th - Friday, October 16th
Week at a Glance
- No School - Report Writing Day
Tuesday, October 13th
- Amanda Out at De-Escalation Training (Elizabeth covers breakfast)
1:15 PM - 5:15 PM: Wednesday Planning and Professional Development
Wednesday, October 14th
- Amanda Out at De-Escalation Training (Elizabeth covers breakfast)
Thursday, October 15th
- Amanda Out at De-Escalation Training (Elizabeth covers breakfast)
- Michelle Out in the Afternoon
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM: FSC Parent Mindfulness Workshop
Friday, October 16th
- Michelle, Anna, and Lila Out (Kirsten covers breakfast, Chelsea covers lunch for Lila)
- Amanda Out at De-Escalation Training
- Elizabeth Out for the Morning at Compliance Training (Brooke covers Oak for lunch/recess if needed)
Saturday, October 17th
- 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM: The Schools We Want: Bank Street Symposium
- 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM: Second Compass Jazz up Your T Shirt Event
This Week's Events
Wednesday Planning and Professional Development
Report Writing: Timeline of Important Dates and Google Drive Storage
It's report writing time! Over the next few weeks, we will write narrative reports describing the learning and development of all of our lovely Compass kids. Here are a couple of important pieces of info to make the process go more smoothly (this info can also be found here in the "15-16 November Report Templates and Resources folder):
The Report Writing Process: Navigating Google Drive
- Take the following route to get to your students' report folders: "Students" --->"Student Reports and Records"---> "Class of (5th grade year of your students)" ---> "(student name)"
- Click into your student's folder. In each student folder, right click and select "new folder" to create a new folder. Name the folder "15-16.(student's full name) Nov. Reports."
Creating Reports
- The report templates and "what to include" document can be found using the following route: "Students" ---> "Student Reports and Records" ---> "Progress Report Templates" ---> "15-16.November Report Templates and Resources.
- To make a student report, make a copy of the report template and title it the following:
- Co-Teachers: 15-16.<student name> Nov. Progress Report
- Sara: 15-16.<student first and last name> Nov. Music Progress Report
- Kirsten: 15-16.<student first and last name> Nov. Sustainability Progress Report
- Drag the file into the student's folder.
Report Writing Tracker
- in the "15-16.November Report Templates and Resources" folder, you will find report writing tracker spreadsheets. These spreadsheets will be used to communicate between teachers, Brooke, and Michelle when specific reports are ready for review, revisions, or printing. Click here to see the class progress report tracker, here for the music tracker, and here for the sustainability tracker. In the spreadsheets, each class has its own spreadsheet. When finished a blurb, please enter "YES" or "Y" into the box next to the child's name in the first column entitled "<blurb name> Finished?" The same will be repeated in the other columns to see the progress. If you have any questions or feedback about the tracker, please let Michelle or Brooke know.
Report Writing Calendar
Below is a calendar of important report writing dates. Something that's not yet included are some blocks of time over the next few Wednesdays for report writing. We have a Jaimie visit soon and a Studio in a School art session as well, and we are awaiting some emails to firm up the Wednesday schedules. As of now, plan for 4-5 hours of in-school report writing to be given over the next couple Wednesdays. Later this weekend, you will receive some calendar invites to these report writing events.
Friday, October 23rd at the latest: three Exemplar Reports are due
Wednesday, November 4th: One hour during Wednesday time to finalize reports and proofread co-teachers' reports
Friday, November 6th: First drafts of reports are due
Friday, November 13th: Final drafts of reports are due
Please let Michelle and Brooke know if you have any questions!
Announcements
When a Staff Member is Absent
If your co-teacher is absent:
Breakfast: The co-directors will arrange for someone to bring up your class from breakfast. There is no need to email.
Morning Recess: If your co-teacher is absent, please make sure to stay in the yard or Camel Park for morning recess. We will do our best to provide you with another adult to help you with supervision. If there is more than one classroom with a co-teacher absent, coverage will first be given to classrooms without supporting paraprofessionals. In the rare instance when there is not another adult available for coverage, we will assist in coordinating morning recess times and locations with another classroom and the co-teachers will supervise the two classrooms as a team of (at least) three adults.
Lunch/recess transition: If your co-teacher is absent, we will arrange for the person supervising your class during lunch/recess to accompany your class downstairs to lunch and upstairs from recess.
Throughout the day: If you need support or a bathroom break, please text Brooke, Michelle, or Todd and we will come to your assistance.
If you are a staff member with breakfast duty: If you have a foreseen absence, please email Elizabeth, Lila, Sara, or Kirsten to see if coverage can be arranged.
If you are a staff member with lunch duty: Amanda, Brooke, Chelsea, or Michelle will cover your lunch duty. You do not have to email to find coverage. Here are the days that each person is responsible for:
Amanda: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Brooke: Tuesday
Michelle: Thursday
Chelsea: Will cover as needed
If there is more than one person for lunch duty out, the back up people will fill in even if it is a day they are not assigned.The Co-Directors will arrange the coverage.
If you are a staff member with bus duty: The main office will coordinate someone to cover your bus shift upon notification of your absence. You do not have to email to find coverage.
Materials Ordering
1. Email Michelle and Brooke with your request and the reasoning for why you need the material.
2. Michelle or Brooke will either approve the request or deny the request. If approved, Michelle and Brooke will point you towards a few websites or vendors that may have the product.
3. When you have selected the item that you want, send an email to Arian with the three co-diretors cc'ed. In the email subject, start the subject with the word "ORDER." In the body of the email, include the following information:
- Item Name
- Item Number
- Quantity
- Price
- Link:
- Destination: who the order should go to when it arrives (e.g. The oak class, materials room, etc.)
4. Arian will notify you that the order request was received and when the order is placed.
Appreciations
Interesting Events and Reads
Events:
The Schools We Want: Bank Street's Inaugural Symposium
Saturday, October 17th from 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM
In 1916, Bank Street was founded by a group of teachers and researchers who were, in the words of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, “trying to find out what children are like and how schools can be made places for them to grow in.” On October 17, we will continue that pursuit with a day of exploration and conversation, marking both the inauguration of our eighth president and the launch of our Centennial celebration.
The day will begin with a panel discussion addressing urgent questions around identity, integrity, and social justice. For the rest of the day, Bank Street faculty and alumni as well as visiting scholars will convene morning and afternoon workshops on a broad range of related topics. There will be opportunities for discussion, hands-on activities, music, a museum visit, and reflection on the enduring values that infuse our work.
***This event is highly recommended!! The morning and afternoon workshops look like they would be very applicable to the work we do. If a group ends up going, it would be great to report back on your findings***
Reads:
Forget the Common Core, Finland’s youngsters are in charge of determining what happens in the classroom.
Bank Street Occasional Paper Series: Constructivists Online: Reimagining Progressive Practice
In this issue of the Occasional Paper Series, educators reimagine progressive pedagogy within the framework of digital pedagogy and online practice.
Why We Still Struggle to Integrate Our Schools by Shayla Reese Griffin
Lifting as We Climb: A Progressive Defense of Respectability Politics by Randall Kennedy
From Paul: "I'm excited about this because Brian and I have already been discussing it together. I'm not endorsing it but I think it's worth thinking about together."
And a companion response to Lifting as We Climb: What Randall Kennedy Misses About Respectability Politics and Black Lives Matter by David A. Graham
I agree with Paul and Brian's and wonder if there is a structure for reading and discussing articles together. It would be interesting to hear others' thoughts. Maybe some casual lunchtime discussion groups could form for interested folks?