OSP Connected
September 2019-Office for School Performance-Volume 31
Message from Dayle
As DJ was talking about his behaviors in elementary and high school he talked about how the behaviors were not about the teacher- the teacher was just the person in the room at the time. And, he encouraged the teaching staff to get themselves out of the way of their processing, to set their ego aside, so they could think clearly about the student. He encouraged the staff to work hard to avoid exclusionary practices and instead teach school appropriate behaviors and build relationships.
I appreciated their talk a lot and wrote down a bunch of quotes to keep me thinking this year. And, I want to share one with you as you start your year.
"If you are a grown person and you know how important my education is, you would do whatever you could do to keep me in the classroom," he said. It is a great reminder of our ability to see a larger picture and a longer timeline than our students.
Which brings me to summer graduation. This summer we had our first HSD summer graduation where a majority of the 36 graduates who finished this summer attended a celebration with family and friends. In full regalia, the graduates in attendance learned that WE have you. Despite challenges and seemingly firm timelines and limited resources, we had staff that stepped up and helped these students finish their thirteen year journey so many of YOU were a part of. Amazing!
Let this be the year that we do things that feel different for us but are good for kids. Commit to implementing one new approach or practice that will help you be THE person for a student! Our students need us to stay focused on them, keep ourselves out of the way, and support their success.
HSD Focus 2018-2019
INSTRUCTION: The Year of Implementation
HSD's instructional framework, based on the 5 Dimensions of Teaching & Learning, provides a structure to successfully implement high quality instructional practices for all students. As we begin the fourth year of our 5-year strategic plan, we will be focusing on Purpose, Engagement, Assessment and Classroom Environment & Culture. For the second year, all licensed teachers will be evaluated with the 5D+ Rubric for Instructional Growth and Teacher Evaluation which will connect our instructional framework with the teacher evaluation tool. The + in the rubric relates to collaboration and communication which is an emphasis that we have as a district through our PLC work. This rubric is a growth oriented tool that helps educators understand what good teaching looks like.
Based on our strategic plan goals and our available resources, the 2019-2020 school year will be there year of implementation. With this being the 4th year of our strategic plan, it is time to focus on the implementation of the professional development, structures, and systems that we have all learned for the last three years. You will find less pull-out professional development this year, and instead more in-building and embedded support.
Our Summer Summit, held on August 22nd, included over 70 presentations focused on the implementation of best practices in order to meet our strategic plan goals. We had almost 300 staff members attend this year. If you were unable to attend, we encourage you to review the 2019 Summer Summit Brochure for all the sessions included over the course of the day. Through the link on the top of the brochure, you have access to the presentation materials. Think about how you can use this information to support implementation in your classroom or even connect directly with some of these experts to spark additional collaboration.
As always, visit the Teaching & Learning page via MyHSD to access additional information and support around our instructional framework.
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS: Conscious Discipline
Almost 300 HSD staff members attended our Summer Summit on August 22nd and had the opportunity to hear from our inspirational keynote speakers, Donna Porter (“Miss P”) and her former student DJ Batiste. Miss P and DJ spoke of the difference that one single adult can make in a student’s life. After years of constant suspensions and trouble with the law, DJ was introduced to Conscious Discipline in a single moment, by his beloved teacher, Donna Porter. To learn more about and view videos of Miss P and DJ, visit their website.
CAREER & COLLEGE READY: Increasing Awareness
This school year, one of the school board goals around Community is to increase awareness of Career and College Pathways (CCP) among all staff, students, and families. Within our OSP Career and College Pathway team, our goal is to connect with 400 teachers and classified staff, as well as 400 students and family members, particularly at the middle school level, by spring 2020. Our intention is to increase the familiarity of our strong CCP systems, structures, and coursework that are in place for students to access in high school, so that they can make choices that match with their interests. As a part of this work, we have developed a screencast for parents, students, and HSD staff members to have a broader understanding of CCP in the Hillsboro School District. In the next few months, you will see a variety of CCP marketing materials to help communicate the great opportunities that students have in the Hillsboro School District. For more information please view the screencast and refer to the CCP Program one pagers; be on the lookout for additional marketing materials coming soon.
Career & College Pathways (CCP) Videos- Teachflix
Supports for Teachers Teaching a Split Grade Classroom
1. Teacher Leader Support: Each split grade will has one or two teacher leaders who have taught in split classroom with success and will be available for supports such as mentoring, responding to planning questions, curriculum problem solving, and observations. These teacher leaders will be compensated for this support.
2. TOSA PD Support: A small team of TOSAs will develop and facilitate a menu of PD supports. The focus will be guided by the survey needs and continuous feedback cycles.
We are currently updating the Split Classroom Teacher names. As soon as we have it updated, teachers will receive an email with the name of their teacher leader and the menu of PD for the year. Feel free to reach out to Arcema Tovar, tovara@hsd.k12.or.us, with any questions.
Language Arts Adoption Update
This fall our elementary schools will be piloting two language arts adoptions: American Reading Company and McGraw Hill.
This has been an extensive process that started with Amy Blakey and her team in the fall of 2018. The FAQ sheet has been updated. In addition, a Language Arts Communication Plan is in place. To refer to previous steps that have occurred in this process, please refer to the 2018-19 LA Adoption Timeline. Finally, all information, including slides of past and future presentations can be found on the HSD LA Adoption website.
Tech Teach Grow
The Tech Teach Grow site is intended to support educators with technology integration in the classroom. Historically, authentic tech integration has been met with many challenges whether it be a shortage of tech, tech that does not work, lack of training or awareness of updates and changes.
Through the passing of the HSD bond, Technology Services has worked to improve our wireless infrastructure, deployed teacher PCs, projectors, document cameras and sound systems in classrooms as well as Dell 2-in-1 mobile devices for teachers. Every school site also received an allotment of Chromebooks in an effort to put devices in the hands of our students.
While the infusion of tech in our schools addresses many of the foundational challenges of tech integration, the Tech Teach Grow team is here to help with tutorials, ideas for integration, productivity and updates using the new bond technology. We focus on G Suite and apps that function in the Google ecosystem as well as apps for iPads and tablets.
Learn What’s Next…
Follow this link to #TechForward>> were you will find crowdsourced feeds of tech integration ideas, info & updates organized by application. These feeds are constantly curated to provide you with the ideas for tech integration that work with the HSD tech in all our schools!
Follow Us On Twitter: @TechTeachGrow
District Transportation Update
Coffee Conversations - The Student Voice (Episode # 9)
As a Student Services Department, we know you will have students in your schools and classes that have disabilities and we know that you have what it takes to help them reach success! We love to help, so reach out anytime. We also asked some students what works for them and invite you to hear their voices at the link below. Below the student video, you can also watch our first Coffee Conversation of the year starring High School Special Education Teacher Jen Burger, which has some great, easy tools for supporting students with disabilities.
Remember you can see all the Coffee Conversations in the Student Services online handbook.