Westwood Weekly
Staff Newsletter - Week of February 3-10, 2020
Shout-Outs!
- I would like to, once again, appreciate the support you all give to each other when the going gets tough. Without a sub for 3 days, the E1 students were shuffled, and you took in your extra students graciously. Special thanks to Michaela for taking the whole bunch, and making the most of a difficult situation! Also, special thanks to Joni for taking A2 students on Friday afternoon! We have an awesome team!
- Thanks to Christine and Marie for supporting our Valentine's Gram Sales!
- Thanks to Virginia and Marie for stepping up to teach after-school intervention!
- Thank you to everyone who coordinated activities and volunteers to make the 100th Day of School meaningful for our students!
- Thank you to Virginia for setting up the Granada High School ASL Class visit, and thanks to everyone who welcomed them into your classrooms! We all benefit from these partnerships!
- Thank you to Christine and Megan for agreeing to support our parent-led effort to start an after-school Book Club for our students!
- Thank you to Michaela, Jill, and other staff members who attended and helped support the Bingo & Pasta Feed event on Friday! Fun was had by all you attended!
Highlights this Week!
This Week:
-Fund Education Week!
-Post On-Demand Writing Assignment Window Opens
-Grades 1-2 Math Priority Standard Assessment Window Opens
-Grades 1-5 ELA Priority Standard Assessment Window Opens
-ELPAC Summative Assessment Window Opens
-i-Ready Diagnostic 2 Window Closes on Friday
Monday
-Interim IEP Meeting for Noemi GM (1:20, B2)
-Initial IEP Meeting for Caydence C (2:30, D6)
Tuesday -
-Kindergarten Registration (-12, 1-3)
-Annual IEP Meeting for Makayla B (2:30, D6)
-Annual IEP Meetin gfor Santiago RL (3:30, A4)
Wednesday -
-Community Coffee (7:40-8:00, Courtyard)
-Soul Shoppe Workshops
-Care Team Meeting (10:30-12:00, Office)
-Teacher Discretionary Day
Thursday -
-Nancy at TK-12 Principal's Meeting
-Triennial IEP Meeting - Part 2 for Angela D (2:30, A3)
-Annual IEP Meeting for JJ T (3:30, B2)
Friday -
-Spelling Bee (1:00, MUR)
Upcoming Events:
2/10 - Teacher In-Service
2/11 - Family Valentine's Dance (5-8)
2/14 - NO SCHOOL
2/17 - NO SCHOOL
2/19 -STEM Fair - note date change
2/21 - Reading Challenge Ends
3/3 - Family Reading Night and Dr. Suess' Birthday Bash
This Week in AVID
The Frayer Model is a great way for our students to organize their learning, process new vocabulary, and review a larger concept. It also can be used as a prewriting strategy for elementary. Check out these templates and student samples from AVID Elementary Foundations. Secondary teachers can also use this strategy to support their students with summarizing texts.
Jeanne Johnson - AVID Instructional Coach
Google Classroom Add Code: 7uwcLg or eavk628
PBIS Information
It's not too late to turn in your Kindness Checklists for the Great Kindness Challenge! Students and classrooms with the highest rates of acts of kindness will win a prize! Also, Teachers have one more week to complete the Teach Kindness challenge - we still only have 4 teachers who have recorded their Reflection, and only 2 who have completed any of the activities (go 2nd grade!). We can do this!
Life Skill of the Month - Trust - Check out related lessons and activities in our Cool Tools for Schools resource.
Focus Area of the Week – Soul Shoppe: "I've Got Your Back" - Refer to our Handbook for the follow-up lesson.
California Healthy Kids Survey - STAFF SURVEY
The purpose of this survey is to obtain staff perceptions of student behavior and attitudes, school programs and policies, and the overall school climate as they relate to student well-being and learning. Your participation is voluntary. It is also very important. The information you provide will help guide district and school efforts to promote safety, enhance learning supports, improve student achievement, and reduce health risks that stand as barriers to learning.
Click here to access the staff survey.
Fund Education Week
California Healthy Kids Survey - Parent Survey Information
The CHKS links will be available for parents, and our 5th grade students starting tomorrow, 1/27. The information below will be shared with our families. Please encourage your students' parents/guardians to participate (one per household) - maybe offer an incentive upon completion. Our goal is to reach a >80% participate rate.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Some students will be taking the California Healthy Kids Survey soon. We want to hear from you as well. We would appreciate your participation in the a CA School Parent Survey (CSPS). Your survey responses are anonymous. This is an opportunity for parents to confidentially communicate their perceptions and concerns about the school and its environment.
MDUSD values the survey data for addressing the needs of students, improving the learning and teaching conditions, and addressing LCAP requirements. Each family is invited to participate in the CA School Parent Survey (CSPS) however, there should only be one survey participant per student.
Parents can access surveys in the following languages online or on paper: English, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Hindi, Korean, and Vietnamese. Your student’s school will put a link on their web page or you will be able to go to the district web page www.mdusd.org to access the surveys online.
Parents can access surveys in the following languages on paper: Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Farsi, Hebrew, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Tagalog, and Thai. Please let your school office staff know if you would like a paper copy of the survey in one of these languages.
If you have any questions about this survey or your rights contact Linda Pete; MDUSD Administrator, Student Services at 925-682-8000, Ext 4061.
Global School Play Day - February 5, 2020
*UPDATED* STEM Fair Information
Our STEM Fair is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19, from 6-7 pm (this may be extended to 7:30). Be sure to include this information in your classroom newsletters/communications.
Packets should have been sent home before the break. Projects are due in the classroom on Tuesday, February 18th. This will allow time for projects to be presented and graded before being transported to the MUR on Wednesday afternoon.
All students, Kindergarten through Fifth grade are invited to participate in the Westwood STEM fair but it is mandatory for every 4th and 5th grader. Students in grades 3-5 must use either the scientific process or engineering design process in creating their project. An explanation of both the Scientific Process and the Engineering design process is included in this packet. Models, collections, reports, and demonstrations are not acceptable types of projects for grade 3 through 5. Grades 3-5: Please choose eight projects from your class that you feel are the best and submit the names to me by 2:30pm on Tuesday, February 18th.
Students may work on a project with another child or in a small group with a maximum of three. Fourth and fifth grade classrooms will receive a packet for each child while grades K through three will receive a few. Please let us know if you need additional copies. Also, the package is available online and a Google Drive folder labeled "STEM Fair". There is a Spanish version available online also.
Grades K-2 will submit a class science or engineering design project to have on display. The district is encouraging classrooms to display their EIE units on STEM Fair night, highlighted with a project board in a sampling of student projects. One EIE unit per school site may be displayed at the district showcase on March 21st.
As usual, the top two finishers and an alternate will be chosen from grades 3, 4, and 5. These winners will be announced that are Westwood STEM fair on the evening of Wednesday, February 19th. These top finishers will be invited to participate in the annual District STEM Showcase being held on Saturday March 21, 2020.
Please contact Kelly or Melinda if you have any questions.
ELPAC
Dear Teachers,
The Summative ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessments for California) will be switching to a mostly Computer-Based ELPAC assessment. The administration window is from February 3 - May 31, 2020. Although we hope to be done by mid-March. As the time get closer, I will let you know when we will be testing at Westwood.
English Learners should use the online Computer-Based Practice questions to become familiar with the format and types of questions on the ELPAC.
TK, Kinder, 1st grade students are tested one-on-one on all 4 domains.
The Listening, Speaking, and Reading domain are administered by a district examiner individually using a computer. The Writing domain is administered individually by a district examiner using paper and pencil.
2nd Grade students are tested one-on-one on 3 domains, and in a group for writing only.
The Listening,Speaking, and Reading domains are administered by a district examiner individually using computer. The Writing domain is administered by a classroom teacher in a group setting using paper and pencil.
3rd - 5th Grade students are tested one-on-one for Speaking only.
The Speaking domain is administered by a district examiner individually using a computer. Students take the Listening, Reading, and Writing domains on a computer, administered by classroom teachers, in a group setting.
Both Computer-Based and Paper-Based ELPAC Practice Tests can be accessed online. The Computer-Based Practice Test has DFA (Directions for Administration) that should be used as a companion document to the online Practice Test. The DFA includes scripts and example test questions for giving the practice test to students.
Follow this link to access the DFA's for the computer based practice tests: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HY6OFfFI1VGBiGsl9GcDJUE3Ol5kZNst (The script is only really necessary for the Speaking domain.)
Here is the link for students & teachers to access the Computer-Based online Practice Tests: Practice and Training Tests: https://www.elpac.org/resources/online-practice-and-training-test/
If you would like to print out paper practice tests in order to focus on the task types, they can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AYQBGW5KEU4SuSRwKPu5jNUZy8u9dkkR
I am happy to go through this with you in person after school. I am also available to come to your class and do a lesson with your students. Just let me know!
Thank you for supporting English Learners!
Marathon Symposium - FREE PD!
MARATHON SYMPOSIUM --- FEBRUARY 22, 2020 --- REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!: The 2020 Marathon Symposium registration is now open. This one-day, "Bring Your Own Device" event will be held on February 22 at Valley View Middle School in Pleasant Hill. A $25 deposit, collected at registration, will be refunded when you check in to the event on that day. The link for registration and information can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/77653693287
This one day event was designed with several purposes:
- To build collaboration and communication between staff members in MDUSD and its neighboring schools/school districts in the areas of innovative, student-centered learning, including a focus on integrating STEAM into all curricular areas.
- To introduce and share resources from and between educators and other professionals who are using them now.
- To provide professional development that is fun and engaging, with hands-on and integrated activities that apply to various grade levels and areas of curriculum.
Megan Gerdts
Instructional Coach - Ed Tech K-12
Growing Up Asian in America: Art, Essay, and Video Contest
Staff,
Please share this information with eligible students and their families:
To whom it may concern:
My name is Ham Pham and I am contacting you from AACI, a Bay Area non-profit. I am emailing to share about our annual art, essay and video contest, Growing Up Asian in America (GUAA), for K-12 Bay Area students.
This year’s theme is: Why I Count! And in celebration of the contest’s 25th anniversary, we will be giving out 25 cash awards to students:
· One (1) $1,000 Grand Prize winner
· Ten (10) $500 Best in Class winners
· Fourteen (14) $250 Honorable Mention winners
We ask if you could pass along and distribute to any staff, parents or students interested. Entries are due on Friday, March 6, 2020 by 5p.m. and rules and submission instructions are included in the guidelines. To conserve resources, AACI is going paperless. We ask each individual organization please print in-house or e-mail the PDF guidelines (GUAA contest guidelines here or on our website: www.aaci.org/guaa.)
We appreciate your assistance in outreaching to students and look forward to receiving their entries. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.