Monday Morning Memo

Week of 9/14-9/18 

Week 2 has come to an end and I wanted to say that I am very proud of you.  I am also very thankful for your support in passing out the necessary supplies and materials to your students.  Each of you put a very big smile on their faces when they met you in person for the first time in a social distance manner. 

 

I know things are hard and I also wanted to say that I know you are doing the best that you can.  Your students and parents are doing the best that they can as well.  As we move into next week, I believe that we all will get better and you will find your groove.

 

Enjoy the weekend I look forward to a wonderful week 3.

Thank you everyone for your help in our distribution to all students!

Mrs. Sor's class had tremendous attendance in the first and second week.  Keep it up!!!

 

Open House-

• This will consist of each teacher having their own open house Wednesday, 9/16 @ starting at 5:00 pm. 
• Each teacher will be responsible to get the Zoom links to parents.
• Each teacher will need to share with me your open house Zoom links as well.
• Each teacher will be responsible to have at least 2 sessions to accommodate parents who have siblings. 
• The next Zoom open house will be at 5:30 for the last group of parents. 
• There will not be an initial whole group meeting. 
• I have set up times to do Coffee with the Principal covering the same items within the 3rd week of school in every classroom.

Student/Family Reach-out-

At this point, Marylin Obregon will be taking the lead in any technical issues that cannot be handled at the teacher level.  If you can't solve an issue at the teacher level, please connect the family to Marylin via email at mobregon@sandi.net.  

She will also be reaching out to families based on your recommendation who either have poor attendance, struggling with connecting to your lessons or need additional support from the school.  She and I will be discussing the direction we will be going with each of the families in need.  We will keep you informed on how we further support the families.

School Site Council Nominations/Elections-

• Cathy will be getting you the SSC and ELAC nomination ballots throughout next week.  It is critical that you send them electronically to your parents on the date that Cathy requests you to send them to your families.
• Please ask parents to send any completed nominations and election ballots to cvalenzuela@sandi.net.
• If you are on SSC as a teacher, Cathy will be contacting you to let you know when our meeting for September is scheduled.

 

Items needed to be shared with Armando by Wednesday of Next Week.

• Emergency Lesson Plans
• Regular Zoom Links for any instruction Monday through Friday
• Coffee with the Principal Zoom Links for your respective times
• PLEASE PASTE YOUR LINKS INTO THIS GOOGLE DOC. HERE IS THE LINK.

Music Prep-

I have been working on the schedule with Mr. Whiteside starting on Monday.  At this point, if you need to make any further changes, please let Mr. Whiteside know.  Here is the link to the Music Prep Schedule.  Please look at only the tab that says Whiteside/Lore.  Mr. Luch's schedule is much more complicated and will be done as soon as we can. Here is the link for the Music Prep Schedule.

*****NOTE******IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU EMAIL MR. WHITESIDE YOUR STANDARD ZOOM LOGIN LINK/CODES FOR BEFORE HIS SCHEDULED TIME IN YOUR CLASS.  YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO MAKE HIM A CO-HOST DURING YOUR MUSIC PREP-TIME.  PLEASE ALSO COMMUNICATE TO YOUR PARENTS THE TIME AND DATE YOU WILL BE HAVING MUSIC PREP IN ADVANCE.

Library-

Library will be on Thursday each week.  Lore will be reaching out to each of you to discuss what your time will look like and for scheduling purposes.  Please respond to her emails as soon as you can.  We are trying to get her time started this coming Thursday.

Violin-

Mr. Luch has needed to make a major overhaul of his program and it will take some time to get off the ground.  We will be sharing with parents an overview of what his program will generally look like at the coffees with the principal.  We will also be sending out a Google Form questionnaire to parents as well.  Thank you for your patience.

 

Canva-

This website is a great resource for high-quality templates for you to use for free if you have not done so already. Here is the link Canva.com.

 

 

DRA-

Eventually, we will learn how to administer the DRA soon.  If you wanted to take a look at the resources in advance, please click this link.

 

Online Tech Resource-

Hopefully the tech support issues will begin to lessen this week.  Please share this CPJMA Online Learning Resource webpage with your families to have a consolidated resource if in need.  Here is the link.

 

Important Upcoming Dates:

 

• M 9/14-ELAC/SSC Nominations sent out by teachers

• T 9/15- 2:30 Staff Meeting

• W 9/16-Cathy collects SSC/ELAC Nominations, Teachers send out official SSC/ELAC elections ballots to their families. Open House Session #1 5:00 and Session #2 5:30

• Th 9/17- Coffee with the Principal

• F 9/18- Coffee with the Principal, SSC/ELAC election ballots counted and election announcement sent by Cathy to families.

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Morning Memo (Actually Tuesday Afternoon Memo)

Tuesday, 8/25/20

As we move closer to instruction, I have purchased all teachers a copy of the Distance Learning Playbook. It is a great resource aligned to the Teacher Clarity work we have been doing. More information to come after the first weeks of school.

ILT-

As I met with ILT, someone mentioned that it would be a good idea to give a brief summary and a check-off list to help staff out.  By now, all ILT should have shared with you the slide-deck presentation for our meeting and informed you of the  ILT decisions.  Below is the summary and clarity of what needs to be done to make your to-do lists.

 Here is the link to the ILT Presentation.

Prep Days-

My hope has been that we have done a lot of the work before our prep days.  That being said, we will have a brief meeting on Thursday, 8/27/20 @ 1:30 pm.  It will consist of reminders, updates, and any clarification needed to have a successful start of your school year.   I may check in periodically to support, but the rest of the days are yours.

Welcome Letter-

During the meeting, I communicated that we will be sending a welcome letter to parents by Friday, 8/28/20 @ 4:00 each teacher’s welcome letter indicating who their child’s teacher will be.  Ideally, after you have sent me your welcome letter, we can upload it to School Messenger and send the welcome letters to your individual student’s parents.

*****Note-for any reason Powerschool is not able to communicate with School Messenger, Tra-Viecia will send you your parents’ email addresses and each teacher will need to send your welcome letter to your parents.*****

Content on Welcome Letter-

• Welcoming introduction

• Initial Zoom login information the first day of school and the entire week

• First-week schedule (due to trainings happening)

• 2nd week and on-going daily schedule for parents

First Day of school Monday, 8/31/20-

In an effort to connect with all students teachers will take roll on Monday manually (not on Powerschool because we don’t know the protocol) and email Cathy, Tra-Viecia, Marylin, and me the first and last names of who was absent.  We will reach out to them by email and phone.  We will continue to reach out to any family that has not connected with us.

Regular School Week-

As a school, we start at 7:40 am on a regular basis.  ILT has agreed that there is a school-wide asynchronous start composed of non-live instruction, office hours, independent work supporting cohesion, and alignment.  There is also an agreement to support our students and some working parents to start synchronous or live instruction at 8:20 am.  

We also agreed that there should be a common lunchtime to support siblings in different grade levels at our school.  When looking at the sample schedules from the district, It will help all staff create a schedule. 11:40-12:20 is a common time that people have shared with me and is a good option.  Please have your ILT grade level rep confirm with me that time works so we can finalize our schoolwide lunch time.

Week 1-

To support our parents who have siblings, we have agreed to start time for connecting with students and building community at 9:45 every day during the first week which is composed mostly of trainings for staff.

Supply Distribution-

ILT has agreed that each teacher writes down basic supplies, resources, and materials that are needed for students. Jesse will need to put the items in the classroom for you to bag up.  We cannot do assembly lines and have other people in your classroom, only you the teacher.

Important Dates:

Prep-Week

Thursday, 8/26-Fill out Google doc of basic materials, supplies, and resources you want to be distributed to your students.  Please indicate if you will be present for the distribution of materials.

Friday, 8/27/20-Jesse will approve the list of demands.

Monday 8/31/20-Wednesday, 9/2/20-Jesse will have your requested items on a table in your classrooms with enough bags to put the items in.

Wednesday, 9/2/20-Thursday, 9/4/20-Individual Teacher items bagged at school 

Monday, 9/7 (72 hours later)- Jesse will have the bagged items on a table ready to have on the basketball court by teacher.

Date of distribution:   2:30-5:00 (2.5 hours)

3rd-5th Grades - Tuesday, 9/8/20 1st- 2/3 Combo Grades - Wednesday, 9/9/20 TK-K Grades – Thursday, 9/10/20

Open House-This will consist of each teacher having their own open house Wednesday, 9/16 @ starting at 5:00 pm.  Each teacher will be responsible to have at least 2 sessions to accommodate parents who have siblings.  The next Zoom open house will be at 5:30 for the last group of parents.  There will not be an initial whole group meeting.  I will make time to do Coffee with the Principal covering the same items within the 2nd and 3rd week of school in every classroom.

Monday Morning Memo

Monday, 8/17/20

Site Access Protocols

If you would like to visit campus, please thoroughly review the Google Slide Deck and ensure that you follow the process and print out the appropriate documents each time you would like to be on campus. To ensure our safety, please comply fully with the included actions. Here is the link to the Site Access Protocol.  You will need it to access the documents you will need to sign and give to Jesse each day to would like to be on campus.

Resource to Access Sample Daily Schedules

As we create a quality online learning experience for all of our students, educators are to collaborate across grade-level teams and content areas to ensure GVC, common assessments, coordinated schedule, and consistent learning activities.

As we move closer to the beginning of school, the ideas of cohesion and alignment are more important than ever.  When considering schedules and knowing our start time, I am not only asking for cohesion in your grade-level expectations, but teachers working together to align their lessons and schedules as much as possible as well.  Below is a link to help you better understand how your daily schedule could look.

Here is the link to the Elementary Master Schedule Google Slides

Math Resources

What research has shown is that spending time on remediating the loss of learning from Spring is not nearly as effective as going deeper into concepts.  The shift in thinking is to give “Just-in-Time Support” (Here is the link to the research).  The district has updated its scope and sequence, support, and overall priority standards.  Below is the general description of the overall information on the website.

• 2020-2021 Alternative Year-at-a-Glance and Math Units that reflect a reduction of instructional minutes for this school year

• Google slide decks to accompany each lesson in the units

• Continuum of Priority, Supporting, and Extension Content Standards

• Priority Standard Explanations

• “Just-in-Time Support” suggestions

• One week of “Building a Math Community” that builds from Welcome Week

All of these resources are located on the Elementary Math webpage.

 Benchmark ELA (new adoption)

• Benchmark is available online now for teachers to explore materials and resources, review curriculum, and participate in self-paced orientation and overview modules. See LINK for more information about the self-paced modules. 

• Beginning on August 26th, these modules as well as grade-level specific training and training for teachers who have experience using Benchmark will be offered as part of the Beginning of the Year Professional Learning Series.  

• It is recommended that teachers complete the online modules, either on their own or as part of the Beginning of the Year Educator PD, prior to attending a grade-level specific training.  See job aid link for accessing Benchmark available now. 

HM Obsolete Materials

We ARE allowed to dispose of our obsolete HM instructional Materials. We MAY send them home with our students/families.  Please contact me before setting up a plan to distribute these items.

What to Expect the First Week of School August 31-September 4

The District has an amazing opportunity to provide professional learning for all of our educators. Our learning will be focused on the foundation of continuity, alignment, equity, and access across the entire district. Administrators and unit members will decide what is relevant and necessary to their assignment. 

Beginning the week of August 31st, the daily schedule for educators will include time to: 

• Host 60 minutes of daily live synchronous check-ins with students

• Attend two 90 minutes of professional learning sessions

• Participate in 90 minutes of planning and collaboration

August 31-September 4th 

Attendance in the professional learning series during the week of August 31-September 4th is required. Session times will be offered at 8:00 am, 10:45 am, and 1:15 pm. 

August 26-28

Optional sessions for some topics will be provided August 26-28th. The sessions will begin at 10:45 am and 1:15 pm and allow sites to schedule meetings to launch the school year at their site.

• Link to Flyer

• Informational Videos: Youtube   Google Drive 

• Link to Overview 

• Link to Schedule

Educators will attend one session in each of the following topics:

• Quality Online Teaching and Learning 

o Instructional Strategies 

o Technology Strategies

• Implementation of the Integrated Model

• Social, Emotional Learning and Restorative Justice Practices

• Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Practices and Ethnic Studies

• Standards-Based Grading and Feedback

• Implementation of IEP Services in Online Learning Setting

• PowerSchool IEP Management System

Educators will attend sessions in the following topics based on their Specific Level:

• Curriculum-Based PD: Benchmark (Elementary) and Amplify Curriculums (Middle)

Technology and Device Management

As you prepare your online learning environment, encourage students to sign into your online platform (Seesaw, Google Classroom, or Canvas) through Clever. In Clever, you will see a new section titled “Online Platforms.” Share this video with your class for how to sign into Clever.   

Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog. Somali, Swahili, Karen and Vietnamese coming soon.

For more information on Online platforms, curriculum, and tools for engagement view the document below. 

Online Platforms for Elementary

You are encouraged to start the year with clear expectations around device care, navigating your online platform, and digital citizenship. 

• Device care lessons can be facilitated using the provided presentation. Click here for Elementary.

• Detailed Digital Citizenship lesson plans are available for all grade levels at Common Sense Media. 

Tech Support

For technical issues reach out to the Help Desk at 619-209-4357. For curricular supports visit the videos and job aids available at bit.ly/sdusdteachersupport. On that site, you will also find contact information for the Instructional Technology Department. 

Each student will have access to a district-provided device. Students will check out devices from our school site. 

 

Special Education

Students with disabilities will receive live instruction from their general education classroom teacher, their education specialist and their related service providers via video conferencing in both whole group and small group as well as office hours to connect with teachers if they still have questions or need more support. Accommodations and assistive technology will be provided online as outlined in a student’s IEP.  Families can request a meeting with the IEP team to determine how IEP services will be delivered in online learning.

Food Services

Starting on Monday, August 31, Grab & Go meals will be served from 82 sites throughout the district including CPJMA. Here is a list of the Primary Serving Sites and the Satellite Sites/Schools they will be serving. Please direct the Satellite students and families to their designated Primary Serving Sites for meal pickup Monday through Friday.  Breakfast and Lunch will be served from noon until 2 pm. 

 

Monday Morning Memo-

July 27th, 2020

I hope you are taking this time to safely clear your mind and be with your family.  I have done some fishing with my family and visited the beach pretty often.  I also have been trying to cook new meals for my family.  As my test kitchen is not always successful,  there have been some times that we needed to get take-out after trying out one of my experiment dinners.  We celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary by serving them a wonderful social distancing dinner.  We also have celebrated my son's 12th birthday and one of his gifts was as surfboard which we are going to try today.  Hopefully, I don't break my back trying it out with him.

As you continue enjoying time with your family, I am also asking you to check the Monday Morning Memo frequently to be as up-to-speed with information that pertains to you, our school, and district.  Although it is your vacation time, I know there are some staff members who appreciate getting timely information about the beginning of the school year so they can be prepared as much as possible.  As I learn more information that is pertinent for staff, I will continue to post that information on the MMM periodically.

 

While we await the conclusion of negotiations with our various labor organizations and the updated guidelines and procedures related to our reopening (online and/or brick and mortar)- expected August 10th, I want to share some information, provide access to available resources and solicit your interest and availability to help complete upcoming projects.  

Planning Needs for the New School Year- Compensation Available

I imagine that you-like me- have many questions and ideas about how we can best support our students during the new school year. Crown Point has been provided a budget to pay staff for their time as we plan for August 31^st. Below I have included a list of problems which need solutions; great ideas; and tasks which we should address to launch the 20/21 school year in our most successful way. If you are interested in being a part of conversations, planning and executing these new ideas, please email me and let me know which (or all) you would like to support.  

• Cross School Alignment- Schedules (Daily schedule, Zoom schedule, Small Group,  Feedback, Assignment of work etc)
• Cross Grade Alignment- Instructional Practices, Activities, Resources etc
• Benchmark ELA Launch
• Math Standards Prioritization/ Identification of Best Instructional Resources (paper/digital)
• Establishing Classroom Culture/Strategies to Welcome our Students and Families to the new school year
• TK/K Incoming Assessment
• Professional Development Plan for 20/21 year
• Powerschool as a Grade Book
• Take-Home Materials (Benchmark consumable, math manipulatives?, Teacher welcome letter?, other?)
• Health and Safety guidelines
• Other- what else would you like us to think about?

As I hear from you about your interest and learn more about resources/timelines, I will schedule the opportunities for us to make this our best year, yet!

Tentative Timeline

Below I’ve included a tentative timeline of when I expect to have more information/be able to provide it to you and/or our families. Please know that this is my best thinking and that the pandemic has taught me that in 2020, all plans are subject to change J

August 10-Update from SDUSD regarding second week of school and additional health and safety guidelines

August 11/12- Tentative Optional Staff Update Meeting

August 11-21 Optional Planning meetings- SCHEDULE TBD-  (Certificated staff paid at non-classroom hourly rate- Classified Staff Paid at Hourly Rate)      

August 17-21- Tentative CPJMA Parent Input/Question Opportunities

August 24- Communicate reopening of school year plan to families which includes:

o    Bell Schedule

o    Health and Safety protocols and procedures

August 26-Certificated Staff Return

August 31-School begins

Access to Classrooms/Campus Cleaning

Jesse is busy cleaning our campuses. In the upcoming weeks, he will be using a new machine to sanitize our classrooms and other indoor locations on our campus. To allow him the time to clean and thoroughly sanitize, at this time, you are NOT allowed to visit campus. When this changes and we are allowed back on campus, I will update you. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Curricular Resources

ELA

·         SDUSD Adopted Benchmark for ELA. Attached to this email is a zip file which lists the materials teachers and students will receive. I hyperlinked their website. The physical materials have not, yet, arrived on campus.

Math

·         SDUSD Math Principles for Instructional Design

·         SDUSD TK-5 Math Content Prioritization for 20/21

Thanks for reading this long blog all the way to the end! J I hope that you are feeling refreshed and excited about the year ahead. There is a lot to do, but I am honored to do this work with all of you. Please feel free to reach out with any questions, wonderings, good ideas or funny stories.

See you all soon!

Monday Morning Memo

Week of 3/9-3/13

It was an extremely fun-packed week during Dr. Suess Week.  From throwing water balloons at the principal to an Oscar-nominated theatrical performance by a star-studded teacher cast, quality instruction continues to be alive and well!  Below are images of ELD in Kindergarten with rich mentor texts and rigorous number talks in upper grade.  All the lessons I observed connect to the common theme of Teacher Clarity as well.  I continue to be impressed with your hard work and high quality lessons.  Thank you!!!!

Strategic Focus of School:

Safe, Inclusive, Collaborative Culture

Teacher Clarity

Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

IDEAL STATE OF TEACHER CLARITY

1.   Students will be able to communicate (verbally, written,

demonstrate…) to you/others the learning intention

2.    Students will be able to communicate to you/others what it takes to be successful in their work

3.    Students will be able to connect the work to the learning intentions and success criteria.

4.    Students will be able to self-reflect and self-assess how they performed in the task and what they learned and communicate to you and others.

Number Talks

TK-1^st may have received some calendar appointments after Spring Break to working with Mrs. Mathy and me for Number Talks.  As we get back from Spring Break, I will be able to elaborate more.  Towards the end of April, Christina Casillas (interim Area-Superintendent) and other district staff will visit our entire school with the lens of number talks.  I can’t wait to show all the rich number talks you are having in all of our classrooms!!

ILT-

If you are on ILT, please reserve a full-day sub for Tuesday, 3/17/20.  During that day we will focus on Teacher Clarity in the morning and operational items later in the afternoon.  As always please bring a fully charged laptop.

Data Meetings*****Please note the Change*******

I will be scheduling data meetings with each one of you after Spring Break.  For this please be cognizant of collecting samples of your student work.  You will have an opportunity to share your lessons, the learning intentions and success criteria, and the student work that aligns with the learning intention and success criteria.  More information and dates to come!

Instructional Visit -  New Interim Area Superintendent, Christina Casillas Thursday, 3/19/20 from 8:00-10:00

As some of you already know, Kimie Lochtefeld has taken on a new career path in the Poway Unified School District.  That being said, our interim area superintendent, Christina Casillas, will be visiting our school on March 19th.

I look forward to showing her the high-quality instruction aligned with Teacher Clarity.  She will also come in with the lens of expectations, support, and intervention for Students with Disabilities and English Learners.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Week of 3/9-3/13

M 3/9-

T 3/10-STEAM Training 1st Grade

W 3/11-Certificated Prep

Th 3/12-Coffee w/the Principal, Picture Day

F 3/13-Deadline to input data into report cards, AEP TK-2

Week of 3/16-3/20 (Tra-Viecia prints report cards)

M 3/16-

T 3/17-ILT Full Day Release, SSC Meeting @ 2:30 in room 11,

W 3/18-Teachers send out academic award letters to parents, PLC

Th 3/19-Kiwanis Duncan, Area Superintendent visit @ 8:00 focus on ELD, Chillin with the principal

F 3/20-SST Day

Week of 3/23-3/27 (Minimum days all week for conferences)

M 3/23-

T 3/24-Awards Assemblies TK-2nd @ 8:00, 3rd-5th @ 8:45

W 3/25-Certificated Prep

Th 3/26-

F 3/27-

Week of 3/31-4/3 (Spring Break-school resumes 4/6)

Monday Morning Memo

Week of 3/2-3/6

As I continue to observe Teacher Clarity lessons in Shared Reading, I am extremely impressed with the efforts to shift the work onto the students.  As a school, you are all cognizant of the importance to have students collaboratively work together and communicate either verbally or in writing in alignment with the learning intentions and success criteria.  Thank you for your continued hard work maximizing your instruction!!!! 

 

This is an image of IMPACT PE in action.  I appreciate staff working together to have group PE.  We will finalize your schedules as of Tuesday afternoon.

Strategic Focus of School:

Safe, Inclusive, Collaborative Culture

Teacher Clarity

Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

IDEAL STATE OF TEACHER CLARITY

1.   Students will be able to communicate (verbally, written,

demonstrate…) to you/others the learning intention

2.    Students will be able to communicate to you/others what it takes to be successful in their work

3.    Students will be able to connect the work to the learning intentions and success criteria.

4.    Students will be able to self-reflect and self-assess how they performed in the task and what they learned and communicate to you and others.

Data Meetings

I will be scheduling data meetings with each one of you between now and the end of February.  For this please be cognizant of collecting samples of your student work.  You will have an opportunity to share your lessons, the learning intentions and success criteria, and the student work that aligns with the learning intention and success criteria.  More information and dates to come!

******Please note the change********Instructional Visit -  New Interim Area Superintendent, Christina Casillas Thursday, 3/19/20 from 8:00-10:00

As some of you already know, Kimie Lochtefeld has taken on a new career path in the Poway Unified School District.  That being said,  our interim area superintendent, Christina Casillas, will be visiting our school on March 19th.

I look forward to showing her the high-quality instruction aligned with Teacher Clarity.  She will also come in with the lens of expectations, support, and intervention for Students with Disabilities and English Learners.

Important Upcoming Dates:

Week of 3/2-3/6 (Dr.Seuss Week/Spirit Week)

M 3/2- Wear green-Dr. Seuss Assembly all school @ 8:00 in the auditorium

T 3/3- Wear your favorite hat-Presidential primary elections all day in the auditorium, staff meeting in room 11 @ 2:30 pm

W 3/4- Wear crazy socks- PTO Meeting @ 12:30 in room 11, Certificated Prep

Th 3/5- Dress up as what you want to be when you grow up-GATE Parent Meeting @ 5:00 in audtorium

F 3/6- Wear PJs-

Week of 3/9-3/13

M 3/9-

T 3/10-STEAM Training 1st Grade

W 3/11-Certificated Prep

Th 3/12-Coffee w/the Principal 

F 3/13-Deadline to input data into report cards, AEP TK-2

Week of 3/16-3/20 (Tra-Viecia prints report cards)

M 3/16-

T 3/17-SSC Meeting @ 2:30 in room 11, 

W 3/18-Teachers send out academic award letters to parents, PLC

Th 3/19-Area Superintendent visit @ 8:00 focus on ELD, Chillin with the principal

F 3/20-SSC Day

Week of 3/23-3/27 (Minimum days all week for conferences)

M 3/23-

T 3/24-Awards Assemblies TK-2nd @ 8:00, 3rd-5th @ 8:45

W 3/25-Certificated Prep

Th 3/26-

F 3/27-

Week of 3/31-4/3 (Spring Break-school resumes 4/6)