October 27, 2020

Honey-Do List- November

11/3/20          VOTE (If you have not already)

11/4/20           Completed reading of chapters 1 & 2 of "Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for                               Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy"

11/4/20           Volunteer to help with picture day

11/6 /20           Digital Picture and BitMoji to Jodi

Buzzing Along- Important Upcoming Dates

I have given up trying to figure "First" days out ****@@@@@!!????😠

10/27   8:30            Office Hours: Lexia Data

11/3                        Election Day

11/3     8:30            Office Hours: STMath

11/4     4:00-6:00   Professional Learning Session 1

Observations

• Grace Wai, elementary superintendent, and I may be popping in to observe one of your lessons. Grace is observing me, observing you...
• I have fallen behind this week on observations. It has been an oddly busy week with other small things taking up my time including a mandatory full day of PD.

BitMoji Office

• I am attempting to have a fun and interactive way for families to get the information   
• I have fallen victim to the BitMoji Craze and am working on a BitMoji Office. 
• Please feel free to play with what I have created so far
• This is my new thing when I can't sleep
• My new vision is for a BitMoji School. (I am mostly kidding, I think...)
• If you have a BitMoji Classroom I would love to link it to our office (Click on the ball in my office or Ms. Jen's name in the Gallery)
• If you do not have a BitMoji Classroom that is fine. 
• In order to finish this project, I need a digital picture of you. 
• If you have BitMoji I will take a copy of that too. (Check out Ben in the science room)

YouTube Channel

• I have also created a YouTube Channel as a way to share information with families. 
• If you are posting videos to YouTube or have videos that you are sharing with families please send them to me so I can add them to a playlist
• I would like to have playlists for each grade level and subject area.
• I am also going to try and record the family newsletter each week
• I think this is also where I am going to post my video celebrations of students

Professional Development

Paras are welcome but do NOT have to come to PD on 11/4.

Pre-Work for 11/4 PD

• We will spend our first PD session on 11/4 getting to know the origin of the Equity Framework and using it broadly as a lens to examine and plan for our current teaching
• In preparation, please read chapters 1 & 2 of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad.  This should take about 45 minutes.
• If you are crunched for time, focus on:
• bottom half of p. 22
• pp. 32-35
• pp. 43-61

You're The Bee's Knees

• Almost everyone signed into the teachers; side of Lexia after last week's Hive message.
• We have some super users that I want to shout out:
• Meredith
• Lindsay
• Danielle
• Noreen
• Though correlation does not equal causation these are the classrooms where the greatest number of students are approaching learning targets. 

Lexia

• As part of our Lexia Success Partnership, we have access to Lexia's National Live Online Professional Learning Series. 
• I will be participating in one of these to build my skills in leveraging the platform
• Please log in to MyLexia this week and click around to see all of the resources and information it provides. 

Lexia Learning’s National Live Online Sessions

Lexia Learning’s National Live Online sessions offer educators the opportunity to experience relevant, engaging professional learning in a virtual setting. With the guidance of an expert facilitator, educators will explore various topics related to Lexia’s blended learning model, product features, and classroom implementation recommendations. 

Following each professional learning session, participants will be provided with a self-paced Nearpod toolkit to support continuous learning and promote engagement with the resources shared during the sessions. 

To Register:

• Go to www.lexialearning.com/livepl
• Select and register for the session you want to attend. 
• If you are new to Lexia, we recommend a "Student Experience" session. 

• Password: livepL

• You will receive a confirmation email with registration and access information before the session. 
• You will receive a follow-up email to confirm your participation after the session. 
• Please save both emails as confirmation of your participation.   

Additional Learning Opportunities

Lexia Academy - provides self-paced courses about Lexia programs and Literacy Development/Topics. Access anytime in myLexia>>>Lexia Academy link (top right)

National Live Online - Register for 60-minute live PL sessions about Lexia Programs. 

Password: livepL

Open Access Virtual Sessions - Register for 45-minute live sessions or watch a pre-recorded session about using Lexia in Remote settings

Picture Day Volunteers Needed

• Mike Ritter, a Lee Academy Parent will be providing our families an opportunity to have a high-quality portrait taken in a COVID safe manner
• To increase convenience for families we will be photographing students on Saturday and Sunday 11/7 & 11/8
• Mike needs a volunteer or 2 to assist him with this project by doing things like holding the lighting filter so it does not blow away etc. 
• A comp day will be considered if you volunteer for the whole day
• Please let me know by Wednesday 11/4 if you are interested in helping out. 

Traveling in the Time of COVID

• People may be planning their holiday travel for Thanksgiving so this is a good time to remind everyone of the State's travel requirements. 
• This is NOT a city or district policy it is a State Mandate and must be followed. 

State Mandate

All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, are required to:

• Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival, unless you are visiting from a lower-risk state designated by the Department of Public Health.
• Quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.
• If your COVID-19 test result has not been received prior to arrival, visitors, and residents must quarantine until they receive a negative test result.
• For example, if you leave Rhode Island on 11/28 you must be able to produce a negative COVID test from no later than 11/25. 
• If you leave Rhode Island on 11/28 you can be tested on 11/30 (or any day after that) BUT you must remain in quarantine until you have a negative test result in hand. 
• You can choose not to be tested and must remain in quarantine for 14 days
• Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.

District Protocol

The District's protocol for employees impacted by COVID applies in the following manner:

• Employees with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, awaiting COVID-19 laboratory results, and employees identified as a close contact of a person with laboratory-confirmed COVID-I9.
• If you do not have a negative test result in hand you are awaiting COVID laboratory results. 
• You may not return to in person work until cleared to do so pursuant to public health guidance. 
• Public Health Guidance = Negative Test or End of 14-day Quarantine

Required Notification to the District:

• Send an email to your supervisor (me), OHCLeaves@Bostonpublicschools.org AND covidreporting@bostonpublicschools.org
• Complete the Certification of Self-quarantine/Self-isolation form.  
• Completing this form will initiate the period of isolation/quarantine. 
• Employees may have more than one period of isolation. Use this form for each instance. 
• Complete the Employee Request for Emergency Paid Sick Leave. 
• Completing this form provides access to paid time under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. 
• This is a one time benefit for each employee. 
• In the unfortunate circumstance where a staff member has to quarantine a second or third time, the employee will be allowed to use their own accrued time off to remain in a paid status.  
• This benefit is available through December 31, 2020. 

Returning to work: 

• Employees must submit a clearance note from their treating medical doctor or evidence of a negative test result. 
• Complete this form to submit your medical clearance/negative test result. 

Summary:

• There is 1 State form that needs to be filled out to acknowledge travel
• Massachusetts Travel Form 
• There are 3 emails that must be sent to notify the appropriate people about your circumstances
• OHCLeaves@Bostonpublicschools.org 
• covidreporting@bostonpublicschools.org
• jfortuna@bostonpublicschools.org
• There are 2 Forms that must be filled out to access your benefits from the District
• Complete the Certification of Self-quarantine/Self-isolation form
• Complete the Employee Request for Emergency Paid Sick Leave. 
• There is 1 form to be completed to return to work
• Complete this form 

Literacy Footprints

Sarah sent the following in an email today:

• Be on the lookout for an invitation from Pioneer Valley Literacy Footprints to a digital reader account.  This account will allow each of you access to an online library of leveled digital texts that you can share on your screen for 1:1 reading, small groups and whole group lessons.  
• Sometimes these invites go to junk or spam mail - so check there if you don't see your invitation. 
• Every classroom teacher has an account and grades K2-3rd have a para account to share between paras.  Chris, Jackie, Lizbeth and David - check your BPS emails for the invitation.  
• Sarah recommends creating a password for the account that you and your para partner can easily remember (something like: Reading123!)
• Sarah is working to make all teachers have access to all books (right now it's just by grade level), in the meantime. She pasted the following message from Pioneer Valley that provides some helpful next steps: 

• Log into your account and look for the Professional Learning tutorials, which include helpful videos on Introduction to the Digital Reader, Assessing Students Remotely, Using Word Study During Guided Reading, Beginner Steps, Running Records, and more.

• Explore the SUPPORT tab located on their Digital Reader dashboard to find dozens of FAQ and in-depth answers

• Explore the SUPPORT tab located on their Digital Reader dashboard to watch several helpful How-To Videos

• Use the search function in the SUPPORT center to help find answers to their questions

• Log into their RESOURCE CENTER, either from the Literacy Footprints homepage OR from the tab on their Digital Reader dashboard. Within the Resource Center, they will find dozens of instructional videos to support guided reading instruction, a folder of downloadable resources for teaching, and access to track students' progress monitoring and assessment.

October 23, 2020

Honey-Do List- October/November

10/16/20      Bulletin board picture due

Buzzing Along- Important Upcoming Dates

I have given up trying to figure "First"days out ****@@@@@!!????😠

10/27   8:30            Office Hours: Lexia Data

11/3                        Election Day

11/3     8:30            Office Hours: STMath

11/4     4:00-6:00   Professional Learning Session 1

School Calendar

• The District has finally established a 20-21 school year calendar. 
• You can find the calendar here

Election Day

• No Matter what happens ith COVID numbers Tuesday 11/3 wil be a fully remote learning day. 

Building Being Open

• The building will be open on Monday 1/26 from 9-4
• The building will be open from 9-3 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays starting 10/27 and moving forward throughout the entire period of fully remote learning

Teachers and Families

• Teachers may work from the building during these three days
• Teachers may invite families to the school during these days for material replenishment, book exchanges, technology help, running records, 1:1 student assessment as long as all social distancing protocols are followed including the wearing of masks.

Special Education Testing

• Any special education testing can be completed during these days. 
• Evaluations must be pre-arranged and scheduled. 
• You must provide me a copy of your schedule on the Friday before the week that the testing will occur so that I can share it with central office. 

MAP Testing

• I understand that we having testing fatigue. The platform, the internet etc. have all been incredibly frustrating

• The District has made the following adjustments to the assessment timeline:
• MAP testing window extended through October 30 to allow for schools to assess all students.  (It was previously set to end 10/23)
• BPS Interim 3 is an OPTIONAL assessment to be given in May
• Current assessment windows for Interims 1 & 2 moved back to allow for teaching and learning time between the MAP and Interim windows.  Schools may always opt to give the interims during the original window, if they have scheduled for the existing assessment calendar.

Supports for Remote Testing:

• MAP Remote Assessment Resources
• Common Challenges and Fixes for MAP Growth
• Assessment Hotline:  (617) 635-8066

In-Person Testing

• I am willing to conduct 1:1 in-person testing at the school building on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 
• This will be ideal for those students whom internet or lack of computer skills have made testing difficult or impossible. 
• Please reach out to the families in your classroom who would benefit from this and schedule a time that works for them.  
• Given that it would be completed 1:1 in a relatively empty but clean school building the risk to students and families is minimal.

Technology

Slow Applications

• We may have uncovered the root of the issue with the applications that you are all using so well.
• Monday night Google released a software update that caused a "huge" download onto student machines. 
• This could have resulted in the speed and connectivity issues that we were seeing
• Please ask families to reboot their child's Chromebooks. 
• If the issues persist please provide me with some additional information such as time of day, specific applications and any error messages that were received

Parent Videos

• I know that there are a few families that are having a really hard time accessing applications.
• Watching this video series, each video is approximately 3 minutes long, in order may be helpful for families:

REMOTE LEARNING FAMILY SUPPORTS

English | Español

GETTING STARTED WITH CHROMEBOOK

English | Español

LAUNCHING CLEVER

English | Español | عربى | Kabuverdianu | 中文 | Français | Kreyòl | Português | Afsoomaali | tiếng Việt

ENGAGING WITH SEESAW

English | Español

ZOOM 101

English | Español

Additional Parent Facing Resources

• Clever: Clever, or the BPS Digital Backpack, is a “portal” where you can access many online learning apps used by the district or your student’s school or classroom teachers. Your student's Clever portal will have apps in all major content areas. Go to www.bostonpublicschools.org/backpack and log in using your BPS Gmail and password. 
• Review How to Access Clever at Home or watch an interactive Clever Login Tutorial.  
• Google Classroom: Google Classroom is an online classroom where students can access resources and assignments shared by their teachers. Go to classroom.google.com and sign in with your BPS Gmail and password.
• Review How to Access Google Classroom from Home, a website with videos in English, Español, Portugués, and Français.

Chromebooks

There is not really an update this week

Resources

• The "dosage" (how much time students spend on activities) for Lexia and ST Math are critical for the pograms to be successful in helping to move student progress.
• Each of these is a research based platform that has proven that they are successfuul if students are spending the time that they need to.

Lexia

• Core5 automatically provides weekly recommended usage targets between 20 and 60 minutes that
• update monthly, which adjust based on a student’s likelihood of reaching benchmark in the
• program.
• The week of 10/12 only 45% of our students met their usage requirements. 
• Please sign on to MyLexia, in Clever, at least 1x per week to monitor your students' progress through the program, current skills that they are struggling with, grade level that they are working at, and progress towards usage targets. 
• I believe that by leveraging this program mindfully and intentionally we can accelerate our students' reading progress. 
• Lexia should be a daily part of your students' asynchronous work. 
• Every student should be using the program
• Shout out to grade 2 who had all but one of their students sign on last week. WooHoo
• During my office hours on Tuesday, I will be demonstrating what reports are available to you in Lexia. 

ST Math

These are the weekly targets that show typically what it takes for students to address all of the standards within a grade level over one school year.

• K0/K1                    40 minutes and 30 puzzles
• K2 & 1st grade    110 minutes and 80 puzzles
• Grades 2 &3        120 minutes and 90 puzzles
• Seeing Details About Students' Usage

During office hours next Tuesday (11/3) I will be reviewing the FAQ Doc and reports in ST Math

Professional Development

Pre-Work for 11/4 PD

• We will spend our first PD session on 11/4 getting to know the origin of the Equity Framework and using it broadly as lens to examine and plan for our current teaching
• In preparation, please read chapters 1 & 2 of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Gholdy Muhammad.  This should take about 45 minutes.
• If you are crunched for time, focus on:
• bottom half of p. 22
• pp. 32-35
• pp. 43-61

Thank-yous

• Sam, Zoraida, Nee for banging out the At-Home Learning Kits as Quickly as Possible
• Keri for optimally using outdoor learning spaces and letting me listen to the sounds of K2 students learning.
• Sarah for taking the lead on Cultivating Genius and letting me be a thought partner in the work
• Stephanie for being willing to take a risk in front of the team and start an important conversation about how we can mix things up to make it better for kids
• Rose for suggesting the flexibility in schedules for material distribution to families
• Sam for thinking up ideas to keep families connected to the community and provide support

October 16, 2020

Honey-Do List- October

10/8/20        Special Education Learning Plans Completed

10/9/20        School Facing Schedules to be uploaded into Lee Academy 20-21 Folder

10/15/20      Goals entered into TeachPoint

10/16/20      Bulletin board picture due

Buzzing Along- Important Upcoming Dates

10/22/20.                     Hybrid B in-person learners K0-3 First Day

10/26/20.                     Hybrid A in-person learners K0-3 First Day

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Fluency Screener (K2-2)

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Growth (3)

Professional Development

• All PD will be virtual this year
• The current ETWA agreement calls for 30 hours of PD. I am thinking we scale that back to 20 hours. 
• I propose we start the work after all the first days of school my proposed start date would be 11/4
• We would meet from 4-6 on basically the First and Third Wednesdays of the month (this shifts in January and February)
• Our work will be around Cultivating Genius (book study and implementation)  and the Racial Equity Handbook. 
• We placed two copies of the Cultivating Genius book (It's blue) in each classroom over the summer

Huddles

• We would restart the operational huddle virtually that would be on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 8:40-9:10

Family Communication

Expectations

• Please have a personal check-in with each family at least once a week. This can be a text (use talking points), at pick-up for hybrid students, or an old-fashioned phone call. 
• Please log these weekly communications under support notes in Panorama
• If a family lets you know about a health concern please let Sam know immediately so she can begin the appropriate health protocol 

Health Protocols

• Our health protocols continue to work
• We are continuing to be transparent with what is happening here. Within our locus of control. 
• Our building continues to be safe

An Example

• Student A started illness symptoms on 10/12 after apple picking.  
• Parents thought it was allergies (The student has a known history of allergies and had missed a dose of daily med).  
• The student felt better with Tylenol and Motrin so the student came to school for MAP testing Wednesday 10/14.  
• On 10/15 he spiked a fever to 102.  
• The student went to the pediatrician on 10/15 for evaluation and COVID test.  
•     Day 0: 10/12 (day symptoms first appeared)
•     Off isolation: 10/23 (only if fever free w/o meds and feeling better)
• The above is assuming the student has a positive test.  
• If the student has a negative test, then the student can return to school after being fever-free for 24 hours and feeling better.  
• If an alternative diagnosis is made, such as strep or acute ear infection, then Sam will collaborate with Student A's Primary Medical Doctor regarding return to school.  
• Staff who were identified as close contacts (only 1 person) have been advised to quarantine until we know the result of his COVID test. 
• Given how quickly we responded to information this staff member's family is not at risk of being infected 
• The likelihood of the staff member having contracted COVID is minimal because they remained masked as did the student. 
• This was a good teaching opportunity with the family, as he should not have come to school for testing if he had any recent symptoms on the checklist (even if they presumed allergies).  

At-Home Learning Kits

• The majority of the materials have arrived. 
• We will begin assembling these kits by grade level next week
• Student kits for our EL and SWD will have headphones included
• Putting the kits together is labor-intensive and the resulting kits are large
• Thank you, Sam and Zoraida for starting this project. 
• We will pick it up again next week and work on it as we can. 

Chromebook Update

The Current Situation

Students

• The following students had broken Chromebooks with no Loaner device available to them
• Matthew Martinez Orozco
• Angel H. 
• Alexis Perdomo Gonzalez
• Malloy Williams
• Lesly Peguero Lugo
• Nathanael Lewis
• Zahmanie Carty Woods
• Each of these students has now been assigned a loaner Chromebook. 
• Families were contacted via TalkingPoints and advised that they could come to the school anytime between 9-4 so far no one has come
• If one of these students is yours please advise the family that there is a laptop available for them. 

Paraprofessionals

• We also have a limited number of laptops available for paras to use when they are working in the building
• We must leave them in the building because we do not have any loaner devices for students that need them and it seems each day someone needs one
• We also do not have surplus Chromebooks for students that may be newly assigned to our school
• As we start to build a surplus and repaired Chromebooks are returned to us we will assign Chromebooks to paras permanently. 

Something Fun

• Please give me a 2-1/2 by 3 1/2  photo of yourself for our Welcome bulletin board.
• When we finally have more students back I think it will be a fun visual 

October 9, 2020

Honey-Do List- October

10/8/20        Special Education Learning Plans Completed

10/9/20        School Facing Schedules to be uploaded into Lee Academy 20-21 Folder

10/15/20      Goals entered into TeachPoint

10/16/20      Bulletin board picture due

Buzzing Along- Important Upcoming Dates

10/22/20.                     Hybrid B in-person learners K0-3 First Day

10/26/20.                     Hybrid A in-person learners K0-3 First Day

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Fluency Screener (K2-2)

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Growth (3)

Office Hours

Ellen Office Hours

• Ellen has offered to hold office hours if people think that they would be helpful. 
• She is assigned to our building on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
• Please let her know if you think this would be helpful. 

Jodi Office Hours

• I have been sloppy about office hours because it has been such a hit or miss thing and I am not impeccable with a schedule. 
• What has worked well is if you give me a heads up that you will be joining. 
• If it is an urgent matter please text, call, or Facetime if for some reason I am not online. 

Family Communication

Talking Points App

• Please transition from using your personal cells to contact families to using TalkingPoints
• I have noticed greater two-way communication with our multilingual families since I have started using the app.
• I am partially convinced this is because of the better quality translations
• Using this app may also help to establish some boundaries with families and keep your phones from dinging and buzzing at 10pm 
• This will also help to protect you from any liability issues that might arise from using your personal cell.
• The district is providing it we should take advantage of it.

Tech Hotline

• I am not a good help desk support person. I lack both the patience and knowledge. Not a good combo. 
• If your parents need tech support for software and application issues that you cannot resolve quickly please have them call

OIIT Help Desk: 617-635-9200

  

Transportation Hotline

If parents are experiencing problems with transportation please have them call the transportation hotline:

Transportation Office: 617-635-9520

Do NOT provide parents with the help desk or principal hotline numbers that we have access to. 

Logging Communication

• The district is transitioning away from logging communication in Aspen. 
• Please familiarize yourself with this chart about what communication to log where. 
• Once we become familiar with Panorama you will really enjoy using it for the ease and simplicity of seeing everything in one place 

Protocol for Visiting the Nurse

If one of your students needs to visit the nurse please follow this protocol:

• Do NOT take your child directly to the nurse
• Call the office. Zoraida or I will call/walkie talkie Sam to make sure that she is free
• If it is a student exhibiting any of the COVID symptoms this provides Sam an opportunity to put on her nursing gear 
• Escort the student to the nurse's office for any first aid issues: bleeding bandaids etc. 
• Escort the student to the medical waiting area for any illness related issues
• If Sam is busy in the medical waiting area with a student. and you have a student that needs first aid. I will meet you in the Nurse's office to administer the band-aid, ice pack, etc. 

Shout out

• We all know that we have the BEST nurse in the district who will work tirelessly to keep our students and us safe. 
• I also need to shout out to the K2 team who has worked the system the way it is meant to because of their excellent communication we have the awareness of situations and Sam has been able to follow up to do her job.
• One student was not feeling well at school. Amelia Chase followed the above protocol. Sam dismissed him to his mom and he is currently in quarantine at home because the family chose not to have him tested. 
• Another student was not present in school. Stephanie Lividini followed up with mom who told her his symptoms. Stephanie reported to Sam who called mom and began the quarantine timeline because the family chose to not have him tested. 
• Sam has a calendar in her office of who started quarantine and when. 
• We are lucky that our community is a community. We work so well together to do what is right for kids and keep each other safe. 
• This is EXACTLY how it is supposed to work  

MAP Testing

• At our staff meeting, that was hijacked with politics, we were supposed to talk about MAP testing. 
• ODA has made a video for parents to assist in understanding the text-heavy documents that they wanted us to send home.
• Here is that video.
• Please use TalkingPoints to text the video to your parents prior to beginning the assessment. 
• I will also include this video in the parent facing blog "The Buzz" 
• Is there someone who would be interested in rerecording in Spanish?
• If you are interested in coming into the building on a Wednesday to administer the test to students who may have difficulty accessing from home. Please let Keri and me know.
• Ionic cleaning does not happen until 5:00 PM on Wednesdays and Fridays
• In an attempt to lighten the load for teachers I have been doing some behind the scenes work:

MAP Fluency

• Student passwords are set they are the same by grade level:
• K2:         1234
• Grade 1: 12345
• Grade 2: 123456
• Unfortunately, students will have to type in their email addresses as their user name
• Thank you Keri for being a pioneer and trying the assessment out with a few friends.
• One of the things we learned was that the adaptive reading test may not have been accessible for many of our K2 friends. 
• For this assessment window, we have assigned all students the Foundational Reading Skills assessment. 
• During the winter and spring windows, we may assign tests specific to where we know our students are at.  

MAP Growth

• I have set up testing sessions for each classroom. 
• They are named Frank_Growthreading and Abelson_GrowthReading
• When you are ready to actually test your class
• Log back into your MAP account
• Click Manage Test Sessions
• Click Show under the “Saved Test Sessions” bar,
• Select the test session you wish to use 
• Please use the proctor quick guide
• Section 2 of this PowerPoint could possibly be used with students the day of testing
• I am going to try and determine how to add the students' IEP accommodations into the platform over the weekend. 

At-Home Learning Kits

• The majority of the materials have arrived. 
• We will begin assembling these kits by grade level next week
• Student kits for our EL and SWD will have headphones included

Chromebook Update

The Current Situation

• We currently have 8 Chromebooks that are out for repair
• These students need loaner Chromebooks while they wait
• We have 2 new student registrations
• We need 13 Chromebooks for Paras
• We have 35 Chromebooks that have reached their end of life. 
• End of life means that the Chrome operating system will no longer update
• Some of the results we have seen for end of life machines are many of the machines will not accept Clever badges (tough with 3-7-year-olds)
• Some machines will not hold a charge

The Good News

• We will be receiving a delivery of 15 Chromebooks on Tuesday. 
• The Beethoven School provided us with 2 Chromebooks today for our new students
• This will allow us to provide loaners for those students who have computers out for repair
• We will also have some available for paras to use when they are in the building. 
• The reason I cannot distribute to paras for home use is if we have a student who needs one I need to have some in the building to provide them.
• We will also have a very limited number on hand for students whose computers can not handle the MAP testing. 
• I am confident that there will be a subset of the 35 older machines that will not be able to handle MAP testing

Something Fun

• Please give me a 2-1/2 by 3 1/2  photo of yourself for our Welcome bulletin board.
• When we finally have more students back I think it will be a fun visual 

October 2, 2020

Being Real

• Some of you may have noticed that my mood has been a little off.
• I am struggling with my feelings about the lack of support and understanding of the work of schools on almost all fronts
• Thank you to Sam and Jen for jumping in today when I needed you. 
• I apologize for my less than joyful attitude because you need (and deserve) me to be relentlessly optimistic and show my pride and admiration for who you are as people and as professionals all of the time regardless of what I am struggling with.  
• I know you are all peddling as fast as you can too. I need to be there for you and I am. 
• I just wanted you to know that it is not you, it is me if I seem a little short-tempered.  
• I appreciate the grace that you always provide to me.

Honey-Do List- October

10/6/20        Review MAP Documents linked below

10/8/20        Special Education Learning Plans Completed

10/9/20        School Facing Schedules to be uploaded into Lee Academy 20-21 Folder

10/15/20      Goals entered into TeachPoint

Buzzing Along- Important Upcoming Dates

10/5/20.                       High Priority in-person learners Group A-First Day in person

10/7/20     3:00 PM    Staff Meeting (Link below)

10/15/20                      Hybrid B in-person learners K0-K2-First Day

10/19/20.                     Hybrid A in-person learners K0-K2 First day

10/22/20.                     Hybrid B in-person learners 1-3 First Day

10/26/20.                     Hybrid A in-person learners 1-3 First Day

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Fluency Screener (K2-2)

10/5-10/19                  Assessment window open for MAP Reading Growth (3)

Staff Meeting

• We need to have a staff meeting on Wednesday so we can be all in one place for some important topics:
• After Action Review on First 4 Days of School with Students
• MAP Assessments
• We will work together to create a predictable schedule of staff meetings and professional learning moving forward now that we are getting opening under our belts

MAP Testing

• Map Testing is going to be a heavy lift, heavier than anticipated both for teachers and families
• Please take time to review these documents prior to our meeting on Wednesday
• Keri and I attended office hours and are working on a plan to have in school times for students to take the assessment in the building if wanted by families and they feel safe to do so. 
• We will be looking for volunteers to supervise at least 3 classrooms to make this happen. 

K2-2

Map Fluency Testing Overview with Embedded Links

Grade 3

Map Growth Remote Testing Slide Deck with Embedded Links

Special Education Learning Plans

• Earlier this week, Ellen Blackburn, our new COSE, shared the following information with you about Special Education Learning Plans last week
• These Plans are a DESE mandate for all students that have an IEP. 
• Ellen began the plans for us but needs your input to complete the following portions
• Page 1: Document the dates and times when the school  obtained parent/guardian input regarding the proposed differences in the provision of special education services in a remote and/or hybrid model
• Page 1: What should the parent expect in the way of regular, ongoing communication from their child’s special education team members?
• The last entry on the document: Please describe how accommodations and modifications may be different in the settings described above
• Please complete these plans by 10/8 (district deadline)
• Contact Ellen directly with any questions

Staples Discount Cards

• If you were in the building today you have received an envelope with the Staples Gift Cards and letters in your families home languages 
• Each card has been individually registered to a student. (Check out the tiny numbers. It was not my favorite task of the week!)
• The rest of you will receive these on Monday when you are here 
• They must be used in a store before 11/30 and the $50 must be spent all at one time
• There is not a good distribution plan. 
• Ideally, I would distribute with supplies but we do not have those yet 
• I am asking you to reach out to your families and determine how they would like to receive these cards and help to get them in their hands. 
• If you give me an individual envelope with a student's name on it and the letter in the proper language. I will keep it in my office for parents to pick up if that works for them.  

Cameras

• Most of you received a really cool camera in your classroom to help with in-person and remote instruction if that is a choice you make. 
• This will allow you to show things like your whiteboard etc. 
• It provides you with a greater range of motion while teaching making you less attached to your laptop. 
• It is a pretty easy and intuitive set up but here is a link for the video on how to set the camera up and connect to Zoom 

Optimistic Closing

It has been AMAZING having kids back. 

• LJ is here with us and feeling loved. What we do is important for kids. Sometimes we are their happy place. 
• DJ, feet firmly planted, in the hall steadfastly refusing to leave the building after picking up his supplies from Lividini. He wanted to stay in school. We create a fun and exciting place to be
• HR finally spoke to me. She sings Elsa songs sometimes when she washes her hands. Sometimes we have to learn to be patient to find the joy (this took a year)
• Govi saying every time the boys are in the bathroom "pull up your pants in the stall". We are teaching important life lessons. 
• There are not a lot of kids here but the hallways are echoing with laughter. We and our students are small but mighty.

THANK YOU! I see you. I hear you. I believe in you even when sometimes it is hard to believe in yourself.