10.14.22 Staff Blog

There is just a little bit of fall in the air!  Thank you for your hard work and flexibility as we move through these fall days.  I have seen and heard our students leaning into challenging work and improving their skills.  That is all because of you!  I saw our staff meeting the needs of students and providing an enriching experience through camp, even though conditions were not ideal. Just this week,  I saw community circles, robots, and Kindness Crew and I can’t think of a more amazing place to work. I hope this season will bring all of you the highlights of fall (whatever that is for you), and hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Quick Look:

Monday October 17	SLP IEP (L, 5th)
Tuesday October 18	TENTATIVE SST 8:05 (G, 5th)
Thursday October 20th	Community Meeting
Friday October 21st	Taproot Theater (school day visit)
Tuesday October 25th	SST (E, 5th)
Tuesday October 25th	SLP IEP (J, Journey)

*Looking ahead- November Conferences- Check out the ParentSquare sign up option for scheduling conferences!

CONFERENCE WEEK PTSA SPONSORED LUNCH: ACTION

PTSA will be providing lunch for staff during conference week.  Here is the menu:

Monday - Soup, Salad and Bread.

Tuesday - Taco Bar:

Wednesday -  Baked Potato and Chili Bar

Thursday - Order in Catering from Panera **Use THIS LINK  to order your Thursday lunch no later than 10.29.22. 

 (here is the menu) https://catering.panerabread.com/menu/category/111

Friday - Leftovers Day 

STAFF SHOUT OUTS: HELPFUL

Thank you so much for filling out a staff shout out! If you would like to recognize a colleague, please use the link at the top of the blog. Here they are for this week!:

It is such a blessing to work with Tamara. She is flexible in her teaching, open to new ideas, and always puts her students first. My teaching has improved so much from working with her!

Mackenzie is a Rock Star teacher. She creates a warm, organized, inspiring atmosphere for her students. I love working with her and feel so grateful that we're on the same team!

Melodee is not only a trusted friend, she is one of the best teachers I've ever met. Her instruction is systematic, sequential, and student-centered. I am inspired every time I'm in her classroom.

Sheryl teaches with enormous patience, empathy, and positive energy. She is one of the kindest people I know. She is simply a joy to work with.

EVALUATION: ACTION

Sign up for a pre-observation (comprehensive only), an observation (all), and post observation (comprehensive required, focused optional but is a good time for reflection and discussion about student growth goals). Please note in your description if this will be a pre, post, or observation.  Here is a link to the calendar for signing up: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/selfsched?sstoken=UUpnLVRIc0h1bnI0fGRlZmF1bHR8YTM3N2RhNjNhZjk3NGVhNGJiNGUxNjMzODc2ZTg1MjA

As a reminder, please make sure you give yourself enough time (especially comprehensive) to complete provided questions before we meet. If none of these times work for you, please email me so we can plan together. 

This link is provided in the Staff Handbook/Systems at the top of the blog, but in case you are looking for screencasts/resources for evaluation, here is a link with some evaluation resources:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bejZMLcqzMiISfyJ3nDYzE2DcK-VvBf3?usp=sharing

EVALUATION:HELPFUL

You have probably been receiving emails from the eVal system as I set up questions and observations in eVal.  Please know that I do these in advance for the whole year so you know what to expect.  Each observation listed in eVal signifies a time of year that we will need to meet.  

If you are on a focused cycle, I provided post questions for you to reflect on prior to our meeting but you do not need to submit them in advance.  They are there to guide our conversation after the lesson or in combination with a conference near an observation time (such as our student growth goal conference). I also provided the prompts for teacher evidence gathering so that you would have them available to you if you have unobservable components of your focus area and so that we can discuss artifacts at our final conference in May. 

If you are on a comprehensive cycle, I provided pre and post questions for you to answer before we meet regarding each observation cycle. Please know that these are intended to provide evidence  in areas that I do not observe in the classroom, and the intent is to fill in that evidence over the course of the SCHOOL YEAR. I am calling this out so that you recognize we have time to collect that evidence and not all needs to be completed at once. In that same spirit, I also provided the prompts for teacher evidence gathering so that you would have them available to you to add evidence of unobservable components as the year goes on so we can discuss artifacts at our final conference in May. I will be checking with you at about mid-year so that you remember to add teacher evidence.

For all, your student growth goal will be linked as an artifact under the observation in eVal labeled “student growth goal”.  This is often an area of confusion as there is a link on the left side of the teacher dashboard labeled “student growth goal”. Instead, please link your student growth goal form under the artifacts section of the observation labeled “student growth goal”.

Growth Goal Forms:

3.1

6.1

8.1 

Growth Goal Information

Growth Goal Upload Video

TECH TIP: HELPFUL

In case you missed the tech tip for this week, here is the updated tip for this week.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12dDuwuMWaTzM6O_OFvcwFyRUHKso2wxeWZyYYOMZyIQ/edit?usp=sharing

SBA SCORE SUMMARIES: HELPFUL

SBA score summaries will be going out from the district assessment office via ParentSquare this week.  We will also be getting hard copies that will go into student cumulative files.  Of course, results will be available for you to view in Homeroom.  I wanted you to know that families will be receiving the score reports in case you start getting questions about the score reports. 

CONFERENCE INFORMATION FOR K-5 TEACHERS FROM OUR INSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT: HELPFUL

Each fall the Teaching and Learning Department shares a guide for conferences. This year’s guide can be found by clicking this link:  Family Conferences Information Fall 2022

We have also received questions about whether conferences may be held on Zoom. We recognize that there are health and safety reasons why a person may choose to meet remotely and also that the continued opportunity to hold meetings remotely can increase access for members of our school community. If a parent requests a Zoom meeting, teachers may choose to offer this as an option, but a Zoom meeting should not be required of parents.

Family conferences are also a great opportunity to communicate proactively with families whose students qualify for Highly Capable services in the Primary Enrichment Program (PEP), literacy and/or math.  There is a quick checkbox form that can be completed by you or collaboratively with the family and/or student.  This form also defines for families common strategies for serving Highly Capable students.  PEP Service Description, Grades 2-5 Literacy Service Description, and Grades 2-5 Math Service Description.

 

K-5 TEACHERS- OSPI Structured Literacy Professional Learning Opportunity: HELPFUL

OSPI has partnered with Glean Education to provide a free course bundle of five on-demand courses on Dyslexia, Structured Literacy, Intensifying Instruction, Reading Fluency, and Serving Students with Dyslexia for educators, including school psychologists and teachers. Educators in Washington can earn clock hours for completing these courses. Learn more and enroll for free here.

Also, OSPI will be hosting a free expert webinar series throughout the year on topics such as Dyslexia, Structured Literacy, and MTSS. Find more information and register here.