Thursday Thriller
March 4, 2021
SHOUT OUT!
Not only do they take care of business in the office but outside too! Armida and Jen are stellar at the cross walk! Ashley held the fort down inside! THANK YOU to our secretaries for all of the many hats they wear!
NUS-n-BOLTS
1. Here is a google doc
for GNN
announcements. Please add your ideas, announcements and of
course if you would like to do GNN. :D
2. Conferences -please
let me know if you would like me to attend at any specific time
3. We will let
students in the building at 11:40 vs 11:35 for the PM
session. This gives certificated staff the 59 mins based on the
Final MOU. 30 minutes for a duty free lunch and 29 minutes of
planning.
4. Appreciate the
presence in the hallway and all of you at your stations for passing
times! GREAT JOB!!!
5. Elementary
schools are having school pictures. Not sure I want to do school pictures
just because we will turn around in the fall and have them again. Do you
have particular thoughts on this? I don't know if Will could take student
pictures and combine them into grade level for a 'yearbook'? That
is a big lift worth a conversation. Will is the new District 21st Century
Coordinator!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! We still get Will half time here at
Garrison so a huge win-win for all!
6. Terri and Jacob
have paperwork that needs to be completed with our help in order to follow the
GEAR UP Grant. If you receive a Certificated Effort Turnaround Report
please complete it on time and turn it in. Ask questions if you need
help.
7. Caleb is going
to be having his 2nd period choir class in the commons. Students have to
be 9' apart vs 6 feet in order to sing. Roger is able to have his
students play their instruments. This is great for our music
program!!! PE...we are still waiting and hoping to use equipment soon.
8. Certificated
Staff Classroom Budgets and Orders-each certificated staff has $125
that can be used or rolled over to the next school year. If there are
materials that you need that exceed your classroom budget come talk to me.
There is paperwork on your end to complete but we can usually find a way to
help you.
9. Nate, Nate and
Adam will be checking their caseload of students and their grades each
Friday. They will be reaching out to you if a student has a D or F.
If a student is in your class and receiving an F you must contact the case
manager and problem solve with them. Here is the Google
Doc of caseloads. This is sensitive information and
confidentiality is a must.
10. The 3 week time
period is up on March 11th (March 10th since there is no school on the 11th).
Families will make the choice to come back to in-person or hopefully,
WWONLINE. When you have a substitute please remember that students still need access to your class that in quarantine. However that may look is up to you. Here is the Google
doc of students who are quarantining and Zooming for 3 weeks. In addition, we
have set up some para time for students who are in quarantine to check in
with.
11. There are a ton of Google
Docs and information coming from me. Beth had a great suggestion to try
and find a way to keep the information in one spot. Any
suggestions? A google classroom that I set up for staff? I already
have it. I just don't use it. :(
12. Bulletin
Boards -Thursday the 11th NJHS students are going to work on
decorating bulletin boards in the hallways. Paras will be doing the same
(NJHS students will be in the library, 6 plus feet apart, not sharing materials
and under my supervision...scary right?! LOL). IF you want to claim
a bulletin board by your classroom, please staple a note to it indicating that
you will be taking care of decorating it with student work or whatever your
ideas may be.
13. Rachelle has
accepted a para position at the pre-school. We wish her
well!! Congratulations!!! Next week Michelle will have
a para sub in Rachelle's place. The position will be posted to
hire.
14. Maria Garcia,
Sharpstein Principal, is co-chairing the new Blue Zones Project. Here is
some information: https://info.bluezonesproject.com/home
if you are interested and would like to join this committee or want more
information, please reach out to Maria. mgarcia@wwps.org
SOMETHING to PONDER
Back on January 6th we looked
at some of our school data. Attendance, F grades, students of poverty
failing, and/or passing. Not to necessarily solve the problem but to
begin dialogue around equality, inequality, who is failing and why? What
does an F mean? These were a few of the questions that came out of our Jam
board and discussions. In addition, in our Grading for Equity book
group we have wrestled with some of these same questions. What does
grading for equity truly mean? What does it mean for my practice and
beliefs?
Here is an article from
Educational Leadership around inequality. Believe me nobody wants to ever
believe that they treat others differently, unequally or have biases that negatively influence how class is taught, students are graded or even how we look at improvement. It's okay! We ALL HAVE
BIASES. Uncovering them is that first step. Talking about it with
your colleagues is another step in the right direction. To ignore or do
nothing is malpractice.
Would love to know your
thoughts after reading this article. Hope you find a gold nugget.
Is
Your Approach to Continuous Improvement Colorblind?
Little Humor
This is from one of a 6th grade
student Kenroy Brown:
His mom April teaches at
Berney.
I asked Kenroy after his
first couple days of school and he said "The teachers are EVEN better in
person!!!"
I can say that a lot of
students feel this same way. GREAT JOB!!!!!
