Peek at the Week
Week of 12/7/15
Calendar
Week of 12/7-12/11
12/7, 3-4pm SEL Team Meeting (Mr. Alexander's Room)
12/8, ILT Retreat Off Site (Ms. Smith- Teacher in Charge)
12/9, 1:40-3pm Writing PD, Rm. 10
12/9, SSC Meeting, 6pm (Ghazizadeh, Anderson, Witte)
12/10, 5:30pm Learning Spot Winter Showcase
12/11, 2pm Glenview PEC team meeting
Week of 12/14-12/18
12/14- 3pm Faculty Meeting (only need to attend if you DID not finish the district equity survey)
12/14-12/18- Parent Conference, no professional development on 12/17
Friday, 12/18- Movie Day (100 tickets)
Friday, 12/18- Save the Date: Glenview Holiday Staff Gathering
Friday, 12/18- FC Submissions Due
Upcoming Assemblies and Special Events
New Addition to Assembly Calendar:
10:30- Winter Orchestra & Band Concert, Auditorium
2016 Assemblies
2/5 Black History Month Assembly
3/3, Bay Area Children's Theater Performance of Aladdin
3/11 Stop Waste Assembly
3/18 Disability Awareness Day
Moving Minds- Instruction and Academics
2015-16 Oakland Unified Big Question of the Year
2015-16 Big Question
How are we aligning strategies for all targeted groups to ensure closing achievement gaps?
Professional Development this Week: Writing
Leads: Mr. Alexander, Ms. Brouhard, Ms. Morgan and Mr. Miller
Mindfulness: Mr. Granda (during the writing unit, mindfulness will be folded into the writing part of the PD, please do not plan anything for mindfulness this month)
Bring:
- Writing student samples (Low, Medium, High)
- Your Writing Journal
Outcomes for this Week's PD:
- Take time to deepen our own writing practice by writing to a prompt based on a mentor text
Look at Student Work for a L, M, H student to understand strengths and needs
Use the writing rubric to determine next instructional steps
- Prepare for conferring with our L, M, H students by identifying a compliment and a next step
- Identify patterns in our classes and grade level and use these patterns to inform unit development
Important Reader's Workshop Reminder
You can make this a mini lesson and then take time to clean out those bags/boxes and get everyone at the right level.
Need Books?
Need books?
Bulletin Boards- Get Ready for 2016
Bulletin boards are a visual representation of what you value in your classroom and can reinforce what you are learning when students stop to look at the board, ask each other questions. Students take pride in their work being up.
To Do by 1/6/15:
Please plan to have new bulletin boards up in your classroom and in the hallways that show the work you are doing in writing, toolbox or math (our most recent professional developments have been in these areas so it's a great way to demonstrate what your instructional shifts have been).
Report Cards Were Due on 12/4
SIRA- A message from Mr. Miller
Moving Bodies- Operations & Logistics
OUSD Equity Survey, Due by this Friday, 12/11
All staff are required to take the OUSD Equity Survey released by the Superintendent's Office.
At our 12/14 Faculty meeting, I will be providing time for staff to do this.
If you would prefer to take the survey on your own, please do so and indicate the date that you have taken it on the spreadsheet linked below (or email me if you can't access the spreadsheet!).
Staff that choose to take the survey by 12/11, will be excused from the Faculty Meeting on 12/14.
The following teachers are have completed the survey and are excused from the faculty meeting on 12/14:
Mr. Takimoto, Ms. Shreve, Mrs. Collins, Ms. Havenar, Ms. Plambeck, Mr. Wolfe, Ms. Bowers, Ms. Bri, Mr. Alexander, Ms. Sanchez, and Ms. Hubb.
If you have taken the survey and your name is not above, please enter the date you took the survey on the spreadsheet below or email me if you cannot access the spreadsheet.
Survey is here:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2235190/SEFAT-Oakland
Password for Survey is: OUSD2015
Glenview Spreadsheet is here:
Tour of Santa Fe, 12/2
January- Teacher's Lounge use after school
Moving Hearts
100 Ticket Challenge
All classes will aim to earn 100 tickets by 12/18. If ALL classes earn 100 tickets, we will have a whole school movie day on 12/18.
More info. coming on Weds. from the SEL team, but for now, have your students turn their tickets in to you and think of a great way for your class to count them (tallies? graph? chart? Missing integer problem?).
FC Notes from December Meeting
F.C. Concerns December 1, 2015
Next Round of Submissions: Due: 12/18, Tuesday, January 5 FC Meeting 3-4pm
Name: Marcelo Granda
Concern: I have been doing the janitor’s job in my classroom since nobody is sweeping it anymore. May we have a person to do this job please?
Solution:
Mr. Wood is our substitute custodian. The district has to go through the contract hiring process (seniority, etc.) for us to bring on a permanent employee. Mr. Wood has the cleaning schedule and should be doing the first floor, but if the cleaning isn’t happening, let Ms. Toller know and she can walk the sub. through your room to make sure the tasks are completed.
Mr. Wood met staff on Weds. at our PD. Please feel free to approach Mr. Wood and ask for what you need. He is happy to help, but still learning the ropes.
2. Name: Debbie Sullivan
Concern: Floors are not being swept. I have learning Spot in my class. Are custodians
suppose to vacuum rugs? If not I need a vacuum. Thank you.
Solutions:
Vacuuming:
Unfortunately the custodian contract indicates they only have to vacuum carpets, but not smaller rugs like the ones we have.
Options:
1) Request the vacuum from the custodian (it is locked up as it was purchased with PTA funds and was costly). Or we could move the vacuum to the office so it is more accessible to teachers? Let Ms. Toller know if this would help.
2) There is a donated vacuum in Mr. Witte's room now and one additional vacuum in the office that can be adopted by a classroom.
3) Make it a classroom job (kids love to vacuum)
4) 11/30 Learning Spot has been contacted to ask them to vacuum and sweep daily. Learning Spot says they have been in communication with Ms. Sullivan and she now has a vacuum that they will use daily.
5) 12/1 Ms. Toller met with substitute custodian to review sweeping schedule. Custodian also checked in with all teachers on the first floor (where he is assigned to sweep).
3. Name: S. Ratto
Concern: Where is the Die-Cutter-hole punch for uppercase and lowercase letters? The PTA purchased the die cutter for staff to create bulletin boards etc.- Did it get sent to High St.
Staff Member Proposed Solution: Bring it back to Glenview. Store it in room 2.
Solution:
No one seems to know where the die cutter went. Ms. Toller and Ms. Morgan looked in several locations…..we will put in a call to the warehouse….
Crocker Highlands principal said we can bring our own paper and use theirs whenever needed.
4. Name___________________________________
Concern: We are having too many meetings. I am feeling overwhelmed and other teachers as well.
Staff Member Proposed Solution: We need more time to absorb what we have learned. More time for assessments (not all on our own time, and more time for report cards/conferences).
Solution: FC agrees! This has been an ongoing concern for teachers. We definitely have too much to do and too little time to do it in!
The early release days for professional development and the PLC that we have scheduled into our calendar was agreed upon by teachers last year when we developed the calendar. The shortened days and PLC times that we scheduled for professional development and collaboration were never intended to be prep. time or independent planning time. If we do not use them as PD and collaboration, they will revert to instructional minutes with students present.
When we create the instructional calendar for next year, if teachers would like to have fewer shortened days or adjust the PLC times to eliminate the additional professional development and meetings s, we can discuss returning to less shortened days, shift PLC, and keep our instructional minutes in place.
5. Name: Fowlkes/K Teachers
Concern: When 1st- 5th teachers bring their students out to afternoon recess early(before 1:40), they shorten kindergarten’s recess.
Proposed Staff Member Solution: Can they stay out longer instead of coming out early?
Solution:
Yes, students should stay out later instead of coming out early. This will be put in the Peek of the Week. Other ideas could be that teachers could bring their students out early, but need to go to the lower yard and supervise students until recess begins. Reminder: extra recess should be an exception not a daily part of the instructional day.
6. Concern: I am concerned that this (online FC form) is not anonymous. Can you tell me who I am?
Solution: No we can not! As long as you do not type your name into the online form, your submission will be anonymous. The online FC form goes to Mr. Takimoto through Google Forms. There is no email address that is connected to this and no way for us to track it.
7. Concern: Schedule for turning on furnace on cold days. It would be great if it is turned on as soon as custodian arrives and off at ten. Hopefully that is enough time for heat to reach room 1 and not overheat other rooms too much.
Solution: Mr. Wood will turn on the furnace when he arrives at 6:30am. Several days last week one of the furnaces was not working. This was called in daily by office staff and the technicians came to work on it. Several times It was deemed that the furnace was "empty" i.e. had no water in it. It was filled and worked again in the pm, only to not work again in the morning. We will continue to monitor.
8. Name: Bart
Concern: I am concerned about lunch. Several children don't have time to finish eating and have to finish in the classroom and it uses up class time. Are other people feeling or experiencing this?
Possible Solution: Start the first grade eating sooner?
Solution: Ms. Toller will review the lunch schedule with Ms. Eva and Ms. Erica and the new cafeteria lady, Ms. Jennifer. The new cafeteria employee is still getting to know students and this has backed up the line. We may need to let the classes in earlier while Ms. Jennifer gets up to speed. FC members didn't indicate this was a problem for all K-1 classes so a class meeting is also suggested so that students understand they need to eat during eating time. Ms. Toller will also ask Ms. Eva to continue doing the first few minutes of lunch quiet so that kids get started on their lunches.
9. Name: Matt Takimoto
Concern: Occasionally students are released to lunch before there is a yard duty on the yard.
Possible Solution: Check the yard before teachers leave unsupervised students. If you are sending your class out, send a scout to see if there is an adult. Call the office if there is no supervision on the yard. If you are on yard duty, please be on time!