Peek at the Week
August 24, 2020 Vol. 1
Edgelea Staff Binder
Please click on the Padlet link below to find out the following:
- District phone numbers and Edgelea extension phone numbers
- District Calendar
- Important Dates including data meetings, pacing guides, and assessments dates
- Student Handbooks in English and Spanish, PBIS Handbook
- Technology Resources,
- EL, Dyslexia, and other resources
WOWSER!
What a whirlwind first week....OK two days...but it felt like a week. You were all wonderful and amazing. Thank you for stepping up and pitching in and helping wherever you were needed. I appreciate everyone who worked early and stayed late. The first two days are behind us and we have a wonderful year ahead of us. I am 100% convinced that we are better and stronger than we were last year at this time. We have all become a lot more technology savvy and better problem solvers. We appreciate the little things in life such as a warm smile, sharing dinner with our families, visiting relatives, caring for others, and persevering even when it is tough.
The Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Romer observed that "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste." COVID-19 could be remembered as months of painful inconveniences, not being able to leave your home except for a necessary run to a grocery store or pharmacy, and being sequestered with immediate family members for seemingly endless days. Could there be a tiny sliver of the silver lining so that this event would not be wasted? I think so.
Some teachers are actually saying this has been the very best start to a school year ever. Some teachers are surprised my their own appreciation of the structure and high expectations for the students but it is making instruction easier.
We are constantly learning and evolving. No two days in education are ever the same. We will look back on this year and we will take away some good life lessons and I know we will all appreciate the sweet smiles of our kiddos (without masks) so much more than ever before!
We hope you enjoyed your box of Girl Scout cookies. The whoot-whoot cart will be around this Friday for treats for the staff.
Smile under those masks...You will feel better!
Use your smile to change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile. ~Connor Franta
I’ve been reminding myself to smile, even if no one can see it. It’s a proven fact that smiling helps people cope in times of stress and lowers heart rates. If ever the world needed to take their anxiety down a notch, it’s now. Bonus: Smiles are contagious.
Read the links below to understand the value in smiling beneath your masks.
What if.....
What if we all sent a photo to Deb Davidson and Heidi Herron of ourselves with big smiles on our faces. Deb, Heidi, and I will work on doing something fun with them. We might make a smiling bulletin board display or maybe smiling buttons for each of us to wear. I'm thinking on it. Please send your photo to Deb and Heidi. We will surprise you with something happy and fun. If you have a creative idea....send that to me, too.
Deb Davidson ddavidson@lsc.k12.in.us
Heidi Herron hherron@lsc.k12.in.us
Ana Ave aave@lsc.k12.in.us
I'm excited to see all of your beautiful, smiling faces!
Calendar of Upcoming Events
August 25-28: Wida testing for Kdg. Schedule TBD by Brenda Ward.
August 25-26: Ana at Hiatt for Cognitive Coaching Training
August 27: HOUSE Colors meeting 3:15 in library
August 20- September 18: TRC-BOY for grades K and 1
August 20-September 18: NWEA for grades K-4
September 8: Begin Positive Action Lessons
September 11: Standards Cycle 1A ends
September 15: Staff Meeting 3:10-4:10
September 17: Data Meetings Grades K (10:40-11:20) 2nd (11:35-12:15) 4th (12:15-12:55)
September 18: Data Meetings Grades 1st (11:10-11:50) and 3rd (11:55-12:15)
September 25: Positive Action Surveys Due
October 1: SIG meeting 3:15-5:15
March 8-19: IREAD test
Upcoming eLearning Days
On August 26 and September 2 we will have two practice eLearning days. The district's purpose of the eLearning days is to help students, staff, and families be prepared in the event that we would have to shut down and go to eLearning. This could happen to a single classroom, an entire school, or the whole district.
Ideally, every child will take home their iPad on Tuesday, August 25th. If you need help setting up iPads, please let Kelly Johnston, Mandy and I know. We will do our best to find Title 1 staff or others to assist you.
For the 26th and 2nd – Expectations will differ between grade levels. Upper grades (2, 3, 4) should be trying to do a live lesson or prerecorded lesson in front of their kids. They will need to complete an assignment and maybe a quiz and turn it in via Canvas. This will help to get them used to the format in the event that we all have to switch to eLearning. For Kindergarten and first grades, iPads should to go home. One activity might be just logging into Canvas and responding to a question of some sort. Maybe post a video of yourself teaching a lesson and adding a worksheet on the 2nd week. I really think our younger kids will need to start smaller and grow into it and we cant expect them to do 5 hours worth of “real” instruction at that point.
My hope is that this gives our younger ones and their parents the exposure to Canvas and the elements that a teacher might use during the year but not overwhelm them.
All teachers should make sure they have an efficient way to communicate with each individual parent in the event of eLearning. Please try it out on week 1 of eLearning (this might end up taking two weeks). After you have successfully reached each parent, please turn your contact list into Deb Davidson.
HOUSE COLORS
Many staff members have already selected their "HOUSE COLORS" and have turned in t-shirt sizes. If you have not, please see Deb Davidson and select your house color. We will be ordering staff T-Shirts on Wednesday, August 27.
In late September, we will have students in each of our classrooms, do a sorting of houses. They will select their colors, too.
It would be awesome if we had our staff teams do a video introduction to their House Color for the classes to watch. For example all of the YELLOW House would get together and create a fun, welcoming 2-3 minute video. The classroom teachers would play the videos for the classes on HOUSE Sorting Day.
If you are interested in being on the HOUSE COLORS COMMITTEE to help create our school plan, please join me on Thursday at 3:15 in the library. Everyone is welcome!
SPIRIT DAYS
Arrival and Dismissal
Wow! What a difference one day can make. Day one was rough but Day two was FANTASTIC!
Day 1- We had so many parents without car tags ( since we had no open house when we usually distribute them), the new parking lot, and new walkie talkies made for a hectic combination. HOWEVER, with great teamwork and in true Edgelea fashion, we united and the second day was amazing.
I sent out a few examples of wonderful emails we received from parents praising the Edgelea staff after day 1. Thank you for building those strong relationships. It truly helps when times are rough because are parents know us and love us.
Quotes from some parent emails:
"First of all, I would like to say thank you for the care that you give the children. Teaching children is a noble profession and I feel very safe trusting my child in your care. I waited in the line yesterday and my wife and I had our own ideas on how things could be better, but it turned out that everyone got their kids safely and my son had a great first day back to school, so I applaud you and your team."
"And this is why I LOVE Edgelea!!! 💛 I knew I wouldn’t even have to call to ask about this. You & the rest of the staff are wonderful!
Thank you for all of your hard work & for navigating all of the new changes so gracefully! "
Positive Action Information from Kathryn Parthun
- I've created a PA canvas page for each school and one for all eLearning students. I am adding students on there for them to take their pre-surveys/post surveys. This is different than the staff Positive Action course that you and your teachers have been invited to.
- Paper copies of the presurveys are posted on the Teacher Canvas page as a back up that teachers can print off as a last resort. (Files > Pre/Post Survey Paper Copies)
- I'm pushing back the "due date" of students taking presurveys to September 25 (instead of the original Sep 4--hopefully that's a relief). But! The earlier it's done, the better.
- I've heard that some teachers are going to use this as a task to practice exploring Canvas. Good idea!
- I will share Unit 1 classroom digital links to all teachers via PA teacher canvas course. This may or may not be the same procedure for Unit 2 based on PA's speediness in converting their materials digitally.
- On my to-do list is to get a family introduction to Positive Action newsletter ready for you.
Epi Pin training
Teacher Contracts
From Dr. Layton:
Teacher contracts have been loaded into the LSC Portal. You will need to log in to the Portal, review for accuracy, print and sign your contract. Please return a signed copy to your building administrator or designee by the end of the day on Tuesday August 25. Below are instructions on how to log into the LSC Portal. Once you have logged into the portal you will click on Documents and then see PR Year 2020 Contract. This is your contract. After you click the Download button a box will appear and ask for a password. This password is the last 4 digits of your social security number. If you have an extra-curricular contract, you will see PR Year 2020 Extra-Curricular Contract as well. We will also need a signed copy of the extra-curricular contract if you have one.
To access LSC Portal go to the LSC webpage at www.lsc.k12.in.us and click on STAFF in the black bar, then click on Quicklinks and LSC Portal. If you have trouble signing in or setting up an account contact Dana Richardson in Technology at 765-772-4789 or dkrichardson@lsc.k12.in.us.
Please print your contract and place the signed copy in a white envelope ( I have a big stack of white envelopes on the corner of Tammy’s desk) . Please for confidentiality, place the contract in the envelope, seal it and put it in my mailbox. If you would rather, you can personally hand it to me or Mandy Fisher.