Updates -- 12 December 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday!

We'll remember this week as not only the foggiest ever at Marshall School, but also as one of the most uncommon, too.  Between rousing kindergarten dance and school band performances, a lovely holiday luncheon hosted by our cross-cat students and staff, the annual Festivus kick-off assembly, and a surprise visit from both CPS and FPD, we also investigated a stealthy, intentional floor-pooping in one of the primary-student bathrooms.  No kidding.

Never a dull moment at Marshall.  As always, thanks for hanging-in.  Sure do appreciate it.

A busy week ahead.  Much to do.  Seems we must never go gentle into a long holiday break...

Math Stuff
The folks at the district office are putting together a Math Instructional Resources Review Team that shall henceforth be referred to as the MIRRT ("Myrt").  This team will "review current mathematics materials and materials suggested for use in the district."  The team will report to the governing board in March.  It is the district's hope that the team will be comprised of two (2) teachers from grades K-5 from each school (one primary, one intermediate ideally) and the school principal.  They would also like to include SPED resource teachers and SEI teachers on the committee totaling some 45 members in all.

The K-5 MIRRT group will meet on the following dates and times:

• 08 Jan. 4:00-6:00 @ Christensen
• 29 Jan. 4:00-7:00 @ location TBA
• 12 Feb. 4:00-7:00 @ location TBA
• 05 Mar. 4:00-6:00 @ location TBA
• 10 Mar. 4:30- ??? @ FUSD district offices, Governing Board meeting

One FUSD Salary Advancement Credit (12 recertification seat hours) is available to participants.

I must submit committee members' names by 18 December, so please let me know ASAP if you're interested/willing to attend.

Click here to download

Also, the Arizona Department Of Education has released its AzMERIT Math Blueprint document.  It covers the percentage of domain/concept coverage and depth of knowledge (DOK) for the upcoming test by grade-level.  It may be helpful to you in planning your math instruction, scope, and sequence for the coming months.  You may download the document here.

Calendar

There will be no Blue Note on Friday, 19 December.

Week A

• Monday, 15 Dec.
• Magnet Monday Showcase, 2:10-3:10
• Tuesday, 16 Dec.
• Science Council, 4:00-5:00
• Thursday, 18 Dec.
• Faculty Meeting (schoolwide PBS committee), 7:45 in the Library
• Arnold class play, 9:10 in the Cafegymatorium
• PTO Cookie Walk, 5:00 in the Cafegymatorium
• Friday, 19 Dec.
• End of Grading Period 2 
• Magnet Monday Assembly, 9:00 in the Cafegymatorium
• Staff Holiday Gathering, 3:30 at Paulsen's house

• 20 December - 04 January, WINTER BREAK

Week B

• Monday, 05 Jan.
• PTO "Welcome Back" breakfast, 7:30 in the Library
• Magnet Monday, semester II electives begin
• Wednesday, 07 Jan.
• PTO meeting, 6:30 in the Library
• Friday, 09 Jan.
• Lockdown drill, 9:30
• Report Cards go home

Don't forget to remind your parents, friends, and neighbors about Tax Credit.  After the school office closes for the holiday break on 19 December, donations can still be received by the FUSD Business Office (or via the online system) on or before December 31. 


Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 05 December 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday-payday!

'Tis the end of a remarkably rainy week.  Thanks, all-y'all, for hanging in there with our stir-crazy kids.

Tax Credit
The first week of December is behind us, which means we're well into the final push of our annual tax credit campaign. I'm sorry to have to report that our receipts of donations at this point this year seem to be quite a bit down from years past. This is a concerning development.  Not only do our magnet programs depend on these dollars, so do all of our field-trips, many of our extracurricular materials, and a host of other capital items that we purchase each year using tax credit contributions.

Last year we raised over $40,000 in tax credit donations to our school from several hundred donors, more dollars and donors than ever before.  It was, hands-down, our best year to-date during my time in the front office.  But the bottom line is: we need to raise a equivalent amount of money each year in order to sustain all of the aforementioned programs and activities.

Thing is, I can't raise these dollars alone.  I can do robo-calls, and make Facebook posts, and create flyers to have you send home with your students.  But without you repeatedly reminding your students' parents, friends, neighbors, church-members, workout partners, etc. about this opportunity, we're sure to fall short.

Click to download

I've put more copies of our brochure and half-page tax credit flyer in the workroom, and I am hopeful that you will take a few of these with you over the weekend to pass along to folks you know.  Please remind them: this program works to the advantage of almost every tax-payer in the state and to the the advantage of all our students, too.

Likewise, many of us have used this letter to great advantage when reminding our family members and friends who are somewhat further afield throughout Arizona of the state's public school tax credit program.  Please feel free to download and revise/adapt the letter to your purposes.

Finally, during the last week of the semester, 15-19 December, I will be handing out brochures and flyers to parents during our morning intake time along with members of the Site Council.  It would be great to have a few of you out there to assist in this process, too.  Parents seem to appreciate this direct, face-to-face reminder to make their tax credit contribution to the school before the 31 December deadline.  Last year we saw a marked increase in the number of donations on the days when several of us were in front of the school in the morning distributing flyers.  If you'd like to brush up on your tax-credit spiel ahead of time, there's lots of good information to be found on the Marshall School Blog.

PBS

Click to download

Your Positive Behavior Support Committee has been hard at work since August to refine a few aspects of our current Tier 1 school-wide program, with an emphasis on revising our discipline referral processes and correspondent paperwork.  I am pleased with what they have developed.

We will meet together as a faculty on Thursday morning, 18 December, from 7:45 to 8:15 to roll-out and review the committee's new Discipline Data Form which we will use going-forward in place of the Incident Referral Form.

The committee will also hope to review with you components of Polk USD's excellent PBS intervention flowchart at their upcoming faculty meeting.  You're encouraged to have a look at it in advance of 18 December. It is my hope that we will all be able to use many aspects of this site as a resource from now on.

Workplace Injuries
It's tempting, sometimes, when you get hurt at work, to hope your injury isn't that bad.  Fortunately, sometimes your assessment is correct.  Unfortunately, sometimes it isn't.

Regardless of how, where, or when you were injured at work, it's absolutely essential that you follow the protocols below to report your injury if you are hurt on the job during school hours:

• Let the front office staff know you were hurt on the job.  
• Get Workers Compensation paperwork from Malinda.
• Have school nurse Gilmore assess your injury to determine if you require immediate medical attention.
• Call the Alliance "triage nurse" to report your injury (1-888-252-4689)
• Complete the Workers Compensation paperwork.
• Return the paperwork to Malinda when completed.
• Set up an appointment to visit the Alliance medical facility to receive care.

If your injury occurs at work "after hours" when office and nursing staff are unavailable:

• Seek appropriate medical attention immediately.
• When you are able, report the injury to me via email or telephone.
• When you are able, contact the Alliance "triage nurse" and report your injury (1-888-252-4689).
• On your next work-day, get Workers Compensation paperwork from Malinda.
• On your next work-day, complete the Workers Compensation paperwork.
• Return the paperwork to Malinda when completed.

New TPEC Committee
Human Resources Director, Herr Sauer, writes:

Hello everyone, the TPEC (Teacher Performance Evaluation Committee) is looking to schedule a meeting this February and is in need of location representatives.  The current TPEC members are welcome to return, however this is also a chance for those folks to tap someone else on the shoulder to participate.  The standard representation for the committee is one teacher and one administrator from each school.  In the case where the administrator is not available, that school is able to send two teachers.   I have asked school Principals to reach out to their staff to find volunteers to join the committee.  I encourage you to consider attending as we will review our current TPEC system and then look to the committee to identify potential future enhancements.  The expectations would be to attend a February and March meeting, with the possibility of an April or May meeting depending upon needs.   The meetings are typically in the late afternoon in the Admin building and last 60-90 minutes.  If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me directly, and if you are interested, please reach out to your Principal.  

It is my hope to be able to attend these meetings.  Please let me know if you are interested in (re)joining this important committee.

Calendar
Week B

• Tuesday, 09 Dec.
• Marshall Band Concert at MEMS, 6:00
• Wednesday, 10 Dec.
• Coe @ Elementary Admin, 7:30-10:30
• Friday, 12 Dec.
• Lockdown Drill: CANCELED

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 21 Nov. 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday-payday!  Happy belated Life Day!  Just two more work-days until we break for our long Thanksgiving weekend!

Looks like any change in the weather is still a long way off (maybe around 01 December?), so your Thanksgiving day should be splendid weather-wise, I think.

Hope you're able to spend your holiday with those you love while doing fun stuff together.  That's my plan.

Higher Order Critical Thinking Questions
During pre-conferences we discussed that this year I would be paying special attention to the kinds of questions you were asking your students during your evaluation-lesson.  I've found this endeavor fascinating and have enjoyed carefully scripting this portion of your lessons.  My notes in this regard, based on the questions I heard you ask during your observation-lesson, are included in the Questioning And Feedback portion of your first formal evaluation document. I hope you will spend a little time reviewing them.

We've discussed this in pre-conference, but I'd like to reiterate that the Innovating level of the TPEC rubric states:

Teacher provides consistent, immediate feedback to all students. Teacher uses Questioning Strategies that address higher order thinking and allow students to critically investigate the subject matter on a consistent basis.

Note the differences in wording between the Innovating and Integrating levels:

Teacher provides feedback to students. Teacher uses Questioning Strategies that on occasion address higher order thinking and allow students to investigate the subject matter.

Teaching our students to ask and answer critical thinking questions is an essential component to helping them become better prepared for their futures as rational and self-aware individuals.  In the article Inquiring Minds Really Do Want To Know: Using Questioning To Teach Critical Thinking, the author, Alison King, points out, "Good thinkers are always asking What does this mean?, What is the nature of this?, Is there another way to look at it?, Why is this happening?, What is the evidence of this?, and How can I be sure?"

In the aforementioned article, King has compiled a helpful table of examples of critical thinking questions.

Click to enlarge

As a rule of thumb, it's helpful to remember that "thought-provoking or critical thinking questions require students to go beyond the facts to think about them in ways that are different from what is presented explicitly in class or the text... Critical-thinking questions induce high-level cognitive processes, such as analysis of ideas, comparison and contrast, inference, prediction, evaluation, and the like."

Evaluations: Round 1

Pre-conference review and sign-off

This week I officially completed evals for all of our wonderful gen-ed certified classroom teachers, which means I have just our awesome SPED and other exceptional special-area teachers' evals to complete before we fully conclude Round 1 of formal teacher evaluations for the 2014-2015 school year.

I've watched so many excellent lessons and seen such an array of exceptional teaching throughout this process thus far this year.

Formal observation acknowledgement

I'm especially thrilled to have seen so many of you working through the early stages of familiarizing yourself and your students with EngageNY as a supplement to our Envision Math curriculum. I am likewise pleased that a number of you have reported to me your satisfaction with this new Core-aligned teaching resource.  I have every expectation that it will help us prepare our students for AzMERIT.

Please note: Many of you still need to sign-off on your TPEC pre-conference document and acknowledge your first formal evaluation.

If you have not completed both of these important steps, please log-in to your TPEC and do so now, as in right-now, without hesitation.

Calendar

There will be NO end-of-the-week Blue Note on Tuesday, 25 November.

Week B

• Monday, 24 Nov.
• Coe @ Kinsey for TPEC calibration mtg, 9:30-11:00
• Wednesday, 26 Nov.
• NO SCHOOL -- Thanksgiving Holiday
• Thursday, 27 Nov.
• NO SCHOOL -- Thanksgiving Day
• Friday, 28 Nov.
• NO SCHOOL -- Thanksgiving Holiday

Week A

• Monday, 01 Dec.
• Coe @ Admin Council, 11:00-4:00
• Wednesday, 03 Dec.
• PTO in the Library, 6:00
• Friday, 05 Dec.
• Canned Food Drive, 9:30
• Two-hour Professional Development -- CANCELED

Please acknowledge that you read this post

Updates -- 14 Nov. 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday.

'Twas truly the week of two Mondays, wasn't it?  Funny how four-day weeks always seem the longest...

Another chilly, blowsie weekend ahead, I think.  Stay warm and keep your hat on.

Elementary Prep Time
IBS has formed an elementary prep-time committee which will be meeting for the first time on 04 December at 3:45 PM at the district office.  I will attend, and it would be great if a couple of you were willing to come, too, to represent our school.  If you're interested, please let me know ASAP so I can forward your name(s) to the committee.  If we have more than a couple of teachers who wish to be a part of this group (which will likely meet regularly, if not weekly, for the next foreseeable period of time) we will conduct some sort of lottery or election to determine who will serve.

PBS Blue Tickets

Click image to enlarge

Please remember to use Blue Tickets to encourage all of our students to behave in safe, responsible, and respectful ways in our common spaces.  We've seen a bit of a dip in the number of tickets in the boxes of late.  Nevertheless, please remember: this program has demonstrated its ability to be of great value to our whole community.  It's essential that we continue to implement it every day.

Should you run out, new Blue Tickets are always available in the workroom.  Help yourself.  Our goal continues to be that we all hand out tickets to students we recognize doing the right things at a rate of 2-3 tickets per day.

Planning for Field-trips
Please remember, when planning to travel away from the school with your students, its considerate to inform special area and RTI teachers of your plans well in advance of the date.

Picture Retakes
As I've said before: It would mean a lot to me to have all faculty and staff present for our rescheduled staff picture at 8:00 on 19 November.

Calendar
Week A

• Tuesday, 18 Nov.
• Site & Science Councils, 5:00 in the Library
• FASTWorks, 5:30 in the Gym
• Wednesday, 19 Nov.
• Faculty/Staff picture, 8:00 in Fit Kids
• Thursday, 20 Nov.
• Faculty meeting, 7:45 in the Library CANCELED
• Friday, 21 Nov.
• Fire Drill, 10:00

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 07 Nov. 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday-payday!

How is it already November?

About holidays
You'll recall, in a recent Blue Note I relaxed our long-standing moratorium on Halloween costumes at Marshall.  You will also recall that I did so reluctantly and mostly because I was tired of fighting with folks about it.

Truth is, I've been fighting with folks about holidays at school for a long, long time.  I've never been a fan of bringing sectarian (ie: Christmas, St. Patricks, Easter) or non-political secular (ie: Halloween, Valentines, Thanksgiving) "holiday" celebrations into the school.  Personally, I've never been able to clearly see the purpose, especially when viewed within the context of the pluralistic, diverse community we purport to serve, and notwithstanding the fact that many of our members choose to hold widely disparate views of the aforementioned days.

I hope you will click-through to this article and read it

In a recent article, Holidays vs. Standards: Which Curriculum Rules Your School [pdf], the author Thomas Van Soelen, makes some compelling points about our compulsion to commingle non-school holidays with our curriculum.  Most profoundly, he asks, "What did you start with - the standards and then worked into the holiday?  Or did you start with the holiday and backed into the standards."  My guess is, most of the time, the latter is closer to the truth.  Van Soelen argues that this begets a "highly inauthentic" kind of teaching and a de-facto  "hidden curriculum" which should make us wonder, "If it wasn't [x] month, around [y] holiday, how would this assignment change?"  

It's a good question, and something I hope you will consider as you contemplate bringing "holiday" celebrations into the school.

Veterans Day
I can't tell you not to take next Monday, 10 November, off but I will hope to (persuasively) remind you that if you do, you will likely put any number of your coworkers and me in a bind as we scramble to try and cover for your absence without a sub.

The district is already pretty much tapped-out when it comes to subs for Monday.  So, at this point if you take Monday off, we'll either have to farm your kids out to other classes or one of us will need to step in for you.

2015-2016 DRAFT Calendars
Administrators were given three proposed draft calendars for the coming school 2015-2016 school year at our meeting on Monday.   We have been asked to solicit feedback from you as to which might be preferable.  Please have a look at each draft-calendar (and the key features of each) below (click the image to enlarge it) and then click-through to the survey (you will be asked to vote YES or NO to each of the three alternatives) to provide me with some insight into which you prefer.  

Note: the "floating holiday" date could "float" to almost anywhere on the calendar.  

Also note: In the interest of full-disclosure, I have already voted for Draft #3.

Start: Aug. 4 (Tues)
FDOS: Aug 6 (Thurs)
Fall Holiday: Oct. 15 & 16
"Floating Holiday" Mar. 28
Snowday Makeups: Apr. 27-29 & May 9-11
LDOS: May 26 (Thurs)

Start: Aug 6 (Thurs)
FDOS: Aug 10 (Mon)
Fall Holiday: Oct. 16
"Floating Holiday" Mar. 28
Snowday Makeups: Apr. 28-29 & May 9-11
LDOS: May 26 (Thurs)

Start: Aug 11 (Tues)
FDOS: Aug 13 (Thurs)
Fall Holiday: Oct. 15-16 
"Floating Holiday" Mar. 28
Snowday Makeups: Apr. 28-29 & May 9-11
LDOS: June 2 (Thurs)

The survey may be accessed here.

Marshall-only 301 opportunity
Cheryl Paulsen and Kristin Hulls will lead two 301 classes for Marshall staff only on 12 Nov and 19 Nov. The classes will be 3 hours each and the content will be based on Daily 5 and CAFÉ. 

Daily 5 is a management system for reading. CAFÉ is a piece of Daily 5 that focuses on reading strategies. 

Per the instructors, "For the first class we will focus on the following topics. These topics have been requested by Marshall teachers who plan to begin implementing Daily 5 in their own classrooms this year or next. 

• What standards are being met through Daily 5?

• Stages of Implementation 

• Value of Daily 5 

• Daily 5 Schedule 

• Classroom Organization 

• Modeling of Daily 5 

• Overview of CAFÉ 

The second class will be a practical make and take time for the teachers to collaborate, develop lesson plans, and make materials to implement Daily 5 and CAFÉ in their classroom."

You must register online to take this training.  The course number in TrueNorth (TPEC) is 48882.

Per Gretchen Markiewicz, [Teachers] will need to choose 301 pay or salary advancement when they register. There is also an option for seat hours for folks who may not be able to do either 301 or advancement.
Teachers will need to print certificates from TNL and attach these to their logs when they submit them (this is a new procedure). They will also need to write the course title, date, and number of hours on their log in the category called, “School Site/Magnet”.

Hallways
Please remember, one of our school-wide PBS expectations is that students will demonstrate safe, responsible, and respectful behaviors in the hallways.  This is essential to our ability to conduct classes undisturbed throughout the school day. But it is especially important to teachers whose classrooms are located near our outside doors where students enter and exit the building to and from the playground, the portables, and the heritage garden.  The noise level in these high-traffic areas when students are not exhibiting the behaviors we desire can become quite intolerable.

Please review our PBS hallway expectations with your students and please insist upon them at all times.

Calendars 
Week B

• Tuesday, 11 Nov.
• NO SCHOOL -- Veterans Day
• Wednesday, 12 Nov.
• Coe @ Elementary Admin, 7:30-11
• Thursday, 13 Nov.
• Thanksgiving Luncheon (please see lunch schedule)
• Friday, 14 Nov.
• Spelling Bee
• Billy Weldon on-site to speak with classes about veterans

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 31 October 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday!

A seriously blowsie weekend ahead, I think, but with the wind comes our first good chance of flurries, too.

Love snow.

Thanksgiving Lunch
Flyers went home this week advertising our upcoming annual Thanksgiving Luncheon which will take place in a couple weeks on 13 Nov.

Yet another crazy day at Marshall. Dawn and Erin T. will be on the playground during all lunch periods. Please plan accordingly and make note of the revised lunchroom schedule for the day.

• Kindergarten: 10:50-11:10
• First grade: 11:15-12:05
• Second & Third grades: 11:55-12:35
• Fourth & Fifth grades: 12:25-1:05

Picture Retakes
Please make a note: It would mean a lot to me to have all faculty and staff present for our rescheduled staff picture at 8:00 on 19 November.

United Way
If you care to make a donation to the United Way this year, please contact Malinda at your earliest convenience.

Veterans' Day
If you would like to have Billy Weldon speak to your class about Veterans' Day, please let Malinda know and she will add you to his schedule.

Bus Evacuation Drills
We will call for your classes by grade level beginning at 9:00 on Wednesday, 05 Nov. to conduct the first of our required annual bus evacuation drills.

Texting While Working
Everyone, but especially general aides and paraprofessionals who provide close-at-hand assistance and support to students, should refrain from texting/telephoning during the workday except in emergencies.  Thanks.

Calendar
Week A

• Monday, 03 Nov.
• Coe @ Admin Council, 11:00-4:30
• Wednesday, 05 Nov.
• Bus evacuation drills, 9:00-10:00
• PTO meeting in the Library, 6:30-7:30
• Thursday, 06 Nov.
• Academic Improvement Committee meeting in the Library, 3:45-4:45
• Taiko drumming performance at FMS gym, 5:30-6:30
• Friday, 07 Nov.
• Taiko drumming assembly at FMS gym, 9:30-10:15

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 24 October 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy payday-Friday!

The weekend promises to be gorgeous, weatherwise.  Hope you're able to get outside and enjoy it.

Lockdown Drill
A fine job was done by all during our first lockdown drill of the school year today. Thanks!  

It was so quiet and still in every corner of the building during the drill, the only sound I could hear as I walked the halls checking doorknobs was the thunderous beat of the Taiko drums from across the street.

Halloween

As you know, next Friday is Halloween.  As a father, husband, child-at-heart, I love Halloween.  It's a heck of a lot of fun!  

But, as an elementary school principal, I've come to hate the non-holiday, if only because of the pressure it puts on me to take what can only be described as a most-Grinch-like position on the day and how we as a school acknowledge it.

Over the past four years, the following has been my published policy on Halloween at Marshall:

1. Unless class Halloween parties are aligned with standards and instruction, they're probably not the best use of instructional time. 
2. If Halloween parties are aligned with standards and instruction, they must not impact or interrupt other school programs, schedules, or special classes, including but not limited to RTI.
3. For safety reasons, children (and teachers) should not wear Halloween costumes at school. 

But, I'll be honest, I've grown tired of fighting with teachers and parents about this.   So this year I am going to amend Marshall School's Halloween Policy #3 on a trial basis.  For the record, I'd like to say, I am not at all crazy about this change in school policy, and that I believe it unnecessarily complicates what has otherwise been a very reasonable approach to this non-holiday.

Nevertheless, for one year only, our policy will be as follows:  

Teachers may choose to allow their students to wear costumes at school on Halloween.  However:

• If costumes are in any way unsafe students will be required to remove them.  
• No attire may be worn which would in any way impede the student from moving safely and quickly out of the building in the event of an alarm.
• If students do not have a change of clothing, they will be required to stay in the office until parents arrive.
• Costumes must not obstruct vision or movement or in any way present a hazard to the student or other classmates. 
• Masks may not be worn outside the classroom. Ever.
• No fake knives, swords, or guns of any kind may be used as a part of any costume. 
• Such items will be confiscated and may result in disciplinary action including but not limited to suspension from school.
• Costumes must not be overly gruesome and overtly violent.

Also, please keep in mind: many of our constituents find the celebration of Halloween to be offensive, contrary to their religious beliefs, or just a distraction from what should otherwise be a normal, productive day of school.  In planning to incorporate Halloween into your teaching next week, should you choose to do so, I expect that you will recognize and honor each individual's position on this issue and their right to hold it.  You may not choose to exclude from instruction students who choose not to recognize Halloween.  Please keep in mind: a separate-but-equal instructional program for such students is most often neither.

If you do choose to recognize Halloween next week, your students must abide by all of the aforementioned policies.  Note: it is your responsibility to communicate the aforementioned policies and expectations to your students and their parents and to provide acceptable accommodations to all who choose to abstain.  

Likewise, it is your responsibility as the classroom teacher to enforce these policies.  I cannot possibly review the safety of each students' costume as he/she enters the school building in the morning.  If you choose to allow your students to wear costumes on Halloween, you must be diligent about doing the work of ensuring each child's costume is safe and compliant with all school's policies.

Morning Duty

For the record, I am going to republish below the email that I sent to all faculty and staff earlier in the week:

Because I am now on the playground (rather than at the bus lane) every morning at 8:15, it’s come to my attention over the course of the past few weeks that a number of staff members have arrived at their assigned duty each day well after 8:20.  And some have failed to arrive at all.
 The morning playground is a very complicated place. It is perhaps the most complicated activity that occurs at Marshall School.  Some 500-600 kids can be found on the playground most mornings, two to three times the number of kids that we supervise during any given lunch period, and five or six times the number of kids you might supervise during a grade-level recess.
 Because of the sheer number of students, every assigned staff member’s presence on the morning playground is absolutely essential.  Likewise, it’s essential that every assigned staff member arrive at his/her duty on time.  Each minute you’re late for duty, as the number of students on the playground increases by the minute, you place an undue burden on your cohorts.  Two or three people (as was the case this morning) cannot adequately supervise 500-600 kids on two separate playgrounds.  In the absence of a morning Fit Kids staff member at the present time, even one absence or a few minutes of tardiness is felt all the more.
 Please remember: you are not to assign your substitute or your student teacher to do your morning duty for you.  If you have planned to be absent you must make arrangements with a cohort to trade duties (and, naturally, you must then remember that you traded).  If your absence is unplanned, you should notify me as soon as possible so that I can do your duty for you.
 Also please remember: The assignment of a before or after school duty is in policy (G-4600).  It is also a component of your TPEC evaluation.
 Most importantly, your performance of your assigned duty in a timely and responsible manner is an essential component in our school’s ability to provide a safe environment for all of our students at all times.

Calendar

Week B

• Wednesday, 29 October
• ADE SEI Audit, all day
• Friday, 31 October
• Chili Cook-off, 12:45-1:30 in the Library

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates -- 15 October, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Happy (almost) Wednesday-Friday!

I hope you're able to complete your conferences and begin your long "holiday" weekend as soon as possible on Wednesday afternoon.

Click to
download flyer

Hoop Shoot
Ryan, a former fifth-grade student of mine, stopped in at the front office other morning to drop off flyers for the upcoming Elks National Hoop Shoot Free Throw Program which will take place at the MEMS Gym on 15 November at 8:00 AM.  He left a couple flyers with us, which I've put in the workroom.

If you care to distribute additional flyers to your students, please download more here.

Curiously, when I asked Ryan how old he was now, he told me that he will be 33 years old soon.  Which is puzzling, because I am only going to be 48.

I really don't understand that math.

Parent Involvement
Paulsen and Ronn have stepped down as Parent Involvement Coordinators.  I continue to be grateful to them for the awesome effort they put into getting childcare up-and-running for Connect To School Night.

Hulls, Fugett, and Shaw will take over as Parent Involvement Coordinators.  Working with the PTO to get our first-ever Cookie Walk Read-a-thon off the ground on 18 December will be the first item on their list.

Calendar
Week A

• Tuesday, 21 Oct.
• Science Council, 4:00 in the Lab
• Wednesday, 22 Oct.
• FMC/Fit Kids Heights & Weights, all day
• Thursday, 23 Oct.
• Faculty Meeting (teachers grades 2-5 only), 7:45 in the Library
• Galileo training with Dr. Hagstrom
• Friday, 24 Oct.
• Lockdown Drill, ~10:00 [procedures]
• Two-hour Professional Development CANCELED

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 10 October 2014

Hello everyone, 

Happy Friday-payday! 

Parent-Teacher Conferences
We end the first grading period today and, of course, dive head-first into conference season on Monday afternoon.  I hope you're stoked to meet with your parents again and that you're looking forward to following up with them about their progress working at home toward the goals you set together at Connect To School Night.

Third grade teachers, please remember to distribute the Move On When Reading letters and correspondent informational brochure to parents during your conferences.  Please reiterate to them, this letter is purely precautionary and does not mean that their child will surely be retained.  Letters have been sent to parent of students who were in the FFB and Well Below Average categories on their most current AIMSWEB baseline test.

Teachers at all grade levels, please deliver a copy of your conference schedule to the office ASAP.  We get a gagillion calls during conference week asking, "When's our conference again?"  It's super convenient for everyone when we can just look on your schedule sheet and give them a quick answer.

Afternoon specials are canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday.  If you have specials on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the special-area teachers will be contacting you (if they haven't done so already) regarding your schedule next week.

I've put a supply of our Magnet Programs brochures in the workroom.  Truth is, these brochures are a bit stale at this point (for instance, they make no mention of a number of our new Magnet Monday programs). But rather than have them destined for the dumpster, I'd like to move these out of storage and into the hands of our parents and supporters.  I'm hopeful they will serve as a reminder to our parents of the great things we do with their tax credit contributions each year (our annual campaign will begin in earnest in November).  Please take as many of these brochures as you like and disperse them to your parents as you are willing/able to during conferences.  I am hopeful that we will have an updated, redesigned, and reprinted brochure in the very near future.  

Finally, please review our schedule for the coming week:
Conferences will occur on Monday, 13 October, Tuesday, 14 October, and Wednesday, 15 October. As we have done before, we will serve sack lunches each of those days.  

On Monday and Tuesday we will release at 12:25.   

On Wednesday, we will release at 11:10.  

Our Wednesday our lunch schedule will be as follows:

• 9:35-9:55 -- K-1 eat lunch 
• 9:55-10:15 -- K-1 on playground 
• 10:00-10:20 -- 2-3 eat lunch 
• 10:20-10:40 -- 2-3 on playground 
• 10:25-10:45 -- 4-5 eat lunch 
• 10:45-11:05 -- 4-5 on playground

Calendar
Week B

• Monday, 13 Oct.
• 12:25 dismissal for Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Tuesday, 14 Oct.
• 12:25 dismissal for Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Wednesday, 15 Oct.
• Coe @ Elementary Admin mtg, 7:30-10:30
• 11:10 dismissal for Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Thursday, 16 Oct.
• NO SCHOOL -- Fall Holiday
• Friday, 17 Oct. 
• NO SCHOOL -- Fall Holiday

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 03 October 2014

Hello everyone,

Site Council Reports
Among the responsibilities of the Marshall School Site Council (in addition to its required oversight of the school-wide Continuous Improvement Plan and the expenditure of tax credit funds) is to both monitor and develop plans to increase student achievement at Marshall.

As a part of this process, in recent years, the Council has requested that our RTI Specialists report to the council twice yearly on current AIMSWEB benchmark data.  RTI will make its first report to the Site Council at our 14 October meeting and again on 10 February.

This year, in addition to reports from RTI, the Council would also like to hear reports from the other committees at Marshall School whose focus is on student achievement and well-being: Academic Improvement, Safety, Parent Involvement, Green Events, and PBS.  It is the Council's intent to meet with the membership of each of these groups during the coming school year to hear from them a report on their plans and progress, especially as to how the work of each committee pertains to increasing or enhancing student achievement at Marshall.

Members of each of the aforementioned committees should plan to attend the Site Council meeting at 5:00 in the Library on the following dates:

• 14 Oct. RTI
• review benchmark testing scores 
• 18 Nov. Academic Improvement 
• review Continuous Improvement Plan
• 13 Jan. Safety & Parent Involvement
• 10 Feb. RTI
• review benchmark testing scores 
• 10 Mar. Green Events & Science Council
• 14 Apr. PBS

Spelling Bee
I have received information about the annual Coconino County Spelling Bee from the County Superintendent's office. If you are interested in coordinating this effort at Marshall, please let me know and I will pass along the information I've received to you.

Calendar
Week A

• Monday, 06 Oct.
• Coe @ Admin, 11:30-4:00
• Wednesday, 08 Oct.
• Walk To School Day, 8:00-8:45 (meet at Armory on Thorpe Rd.)
• Thursday, 09 Oct.
• ALL faculty picture, 8:00 in Fit Kids room
• Friday, 10 Oct. 
• End of first grading period 
• special area grades due 12:00 PM

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Updates - 26 September 2014

Hello everyone,

Happy Friday, happy pay-day, happy belated autumnal equinox.

TPEC TEAR and TPPP
Teachers received two copies of their TPEC TEAR reports this week, the second of which contains revisions of AIMSWEB scores and should be an accurate picture of your performance based on your TPEC evaluation and student achievement data last year.  Please refer to the 301: Program Info Packet that you were given at our first faculty meeting for clarification on how these scores will be applied to your compensation.

In a nutshell, of the $1000.00 total award that is available to teachers, 75% (up to $750.00) of it is called the Individual Component of the Teacher Performance Pay Plan (TPPP). For this component:

• You will receive 30% ($300.00) if you are listed as Innovating on your TPEC evaluation or 20% ($200.00) if you are listed as Integrating. 
• There is no award for teachers listed as Applying or Emerging on TPEC.  
• You will receive 25% ($250.00) if at least 85% of all your students (if you worked as a team, this means all of the students in your team's cadre) showed growth on the measure(s) you chose during your TPEC pre-conference last year.
• You will receive 15% ($150.00) if between 70-84% of all your students (if you worked as a team, this means all of the students in your team's cadre) showed growth on the measure(s) you chose during your TPEC pre-conference last year.
• There is no award for student achievement below 69% growth.

The remaining portion of the Individual Component of the TPPP is the Professional Responsibility Component which is an all-or-nothing 20% ($200.00) for teachers who complete "a minimum of thirty hours [of eligible activities]... during the school year."  A non-exhaustive list of eligible activities can be found in the packet.

For the record, the remaining 25% of the TPPP award (up to $250.00) is based on district and school letter grades.  Because we are a C school in a B district, you will receive 10%, or $100.00, for this part of the TPPP.

TPEC sign-offs

Pre-conference review and sign-off

You will need to sign-off on this year's TPEC evaluation in two places.

First, you'll need to review and sign-off on the details of your pre-conference.  You should do this soon.  If you've had your pre-conference already, you can do it now.

Formal observation acknowledgement

Second, after your first (and/or second) formal observation(s), you'll need to log-in and acknowledge the evauation, too.

There's a link to TrueNorth Logic in the sidebar of this blog.

Post Conferences
I have blocked out the 2:00-3:30 timeframe on Friday afternoons to conduct post-conferences with you following your formal evaluation(s).  I have scheduled three observations a week between now and December, so this block of time should allow for three 30-minute blocks to meet with each of the teachers evaluated in a given week.

A post-conference is not required to complete your evaluation, but I think it's a good idea, especially if you hope (as I do) to view your evaluation as part of a formative, professional-growth process.  Following your formal observation, please correspond with me to let me know if you'd like to sit and talk about your evaluation.  In reply, I will let you know what time between 2:00 and 3:00 to arrive.

Review of Amendment
I posted an Amendment of our Professional Expectations on the Blue Note earlier this week.  Most of you have complied with my request to review and acknowledge it.  Thanks.

Please remember: if you choose to adjust your start-time to 8:20, you must work until at least 3:50 in order to fulfill your contractual obligations.

If you have not already done so, please correspond with me if you are unable or unwilling to assist with recess duty at 8:15 so that I can arrange my schedule to be outside with students until you arrive at 8:20 on the morning you are assigned duty.

Connect To School Night sign-in sheets
Do you have sign-in sheets from Connect To School Night?  If you do, please deliver them to the wire in-box outside my office door.  I'd like to hang on to them. Thanks.

Findlay Honda
If you refer a friend or relative to Tyler at Findlay Honda and they purchase a vehicle Findlay will donate $100.00 to Marshall School.

Calendar
Week B

• Monday 29 Sept.
• Coe @Admin, 2:00-4:00
• Wednesday 01 Oct.
• FMC/Fit Kids Heights & Weights, all day
• Friday 03 Oct.
• Mustang Gallop, all morning
• Coe @ Admin 2:00-3:30

Please acknowledge that you read this post.

Amendment of Expectations

Hello everyone,

Here's a curious thing that's recently come to my attention:

FUSD School Board Policy G-4600 states:

All professional staff members shall report to their duty stations on time each workday and shall, as scheduled, be available there until the designated time(s) they are scheduled to leave.

FUSD School Board Policy GCL-R states:

Elementary Schools: The teacher workday is from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day.

However, FUSD School Board Policy GCL states:

The professional work day for staff members shall be: Elementary from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  

Additionally, FUSD School Board Policy GCL states:

Elementary teachers shall decide their own arrival and departure times (based on a seven and one-half [7 1/2] hour workday.

Finally, FUSD School Board Policy GCL-R also contains this policy as well:

Teachers will not be required to supervise students until fifteen (15) minutes before class time. 

As you know, in FUSD the school-day bell schedule is set district-wide and, at present, runs from 8:35 until 3:20 each day.  

As you likewise know, as a part of our Professional Expectations document, which you all were asked to sign at the beginning of the school year, I have asked that you arrive at work no later than 8:15 and that you be present at work until 3:45, in order to be in compliance with your 7.5 hour contracted work-day.

For the record, I would like to point out that I have, as your principal, made every attempt to abide by Board Policy GCL where it states:

On Fridays, or on days preceding holidays or vacations, staff members may, with prior approval of their principal and upon dismissal of students and the discharge of professional responsibilities, be permitted to terminate their work day prior to the normal departure time as stated above.  The building principal may, at his discretion, authorize staff members' early departure on such days when they have discharged their duties.

And Policy GCL-R which similarly states:

An employee who has received prior permission from the principal or immediate supervisor may be excused from arriving late to work or departing early due to special circumstances that are short-term in nature.  An employee who has an actual documented emergency may be excused from arriving late to work or departing early.  The employee must contact the supervisor as soon as possible to provide notice of the emergency.

In view of all this, I will no longer require you to be present at the school from 8:15 until 3:45.  You may choose to arrive at 8:20.  However, if you do so, please note that your end-of-day departure time must be similarly revised to 3:50 in order to remain in compliance with your contracted work-day.

On your established morning-duty day, I will appreciate it if you would be willing to be on-site for your once-per-week morning recess duty at 8:15.  However, if you are unwilling or unable to do so, I will perform the five extra minutes of this duty in your stead.  If this is the case, please arrive for your duty no later than 8:20.

For the record, I have revised the language in our Professional Expectations document to state:

Faculty members are expected to be at work from 8:15 until 3:45 or 8:20 until 3:50.

If you elect to change your "shift" from 8:15-3:45 to 8:20-3:50, let me know, in order for me to be prepared to start recess duty five minutes prior to your contractual arrival time on the day of your once-weekly duty assignment.  Sending me an email to this effect will suffice.

Please note: this amendment of my expectations has been reviewed by the Superintendent. 

If you have persistent questions about these policies, please feel free to bring them to me.

I hereby acknowledge that I received and read this post.

Updates - 18 September 2014

Hello everyone,

In the midst of the tragedy we experienced this week I found myself profoundly moved to see, at every turn, our entire community collectively drawn together in order to reach out compassionately toward one another, especially toward our most deeply saddened members and a family in the throes of profound grief.

That part of this tragic business was quite beautiful.

The way Marshall rallied on Monday, parents, students, and staff together as one grieving community, was another confirmation to me of why I love this place and its membership.  Marshall is special, a place like no other.  That was proved to me again this week.

In view of the week we've had, it is truly my hope that you have a safe and relaxing weekend.

Connect To School Night
Thank you for completing the Connect To School Night reflection survey (and if you haven't yet, there's still time to do so).  I am pleased with the preliminary feedback you've provided.

Please have a look at the results by clicking this link.  The graphs are easy to interpret, but pay close attention to the comments at the bottom, too.  On the upside: I think you will see that, in general, most of you appear to have felt very positively about this event and that most of you would repeat it next year, with some of you hopeful to consider repeating it later in this school year.  On the down-side: Turn-out was less than we'd hoped for, but actually pretty darn close to par for a more-traditional Open House Night, I think.  Definitely a point-for-growth as we look at carrying out this event in the future.

I'd like us to discuss our first-ever Connect To School Night further as a staff, focusing on the feedback you've provided and with a view to developing our plans for doing it again (whether or not we choose to do it sooner or later).  We have begun to do so in your CTs this week, but I have reserved our 23 October morning faculty meeting for this purpose as well.

What's been especially cool is the amount of universally positive feedback I continue to receive from our parents on an almost daily basis since last Thursday, quite often from folks who otherwise rarely-if-ever seek me out for any reason.  Here's a great example:

Mr. Coe,
    In the wake of the tragedy that Marshall has experienced this week I thought I would share some good news with you.
    In the 14 years I have been in education and the 9 years I have been a parent of a student in the Flagstaff Public Schools I have never been a part of an Open House that has been as productive and meaningful as the one Marshall put on last Thursday evening. It was impressive to see how Marshall School is embracing the philosophical shift that is occurring in education right now and putting theory into practice. Marshall School took the idea of a true parent/school partnership and put into place a plan of action.
    It was obvious that a lot of time and energy was spent training the faculty and staff on presenting the student information to parents both delicately and inclusively. There are two elements from Open House that made an impression on me. One was the concept of parents looking at their student's data, making goals for their student's next benchmark, and then, and this is the best part, encouraging parents to commit to what they will do at home to help their student reach their goals. Secondly,knowing that some parents have the right intentions, but don't know how to help their students, the teacher utilized the Ipads and showed us a couple of educational sites and how they would work for us as parents. It's one thing for a school to provide a list of resources for parents. However, it's another for a school to take the time to demonstrate and utilize technology to help parents discover how a specific tool would work for their child.
    Lastly, I was happy and grateful for Mrs. ____'s willingness to take the time to walk parents through the entire process. It was obvious that she was well-prepared for the presentation. I am thankful my daughter has her as a teacher this year.
    Please share my thoughts as you see fit.
    Proud Marshall Parent,

Projectors
FUSD technician John McCooey has asked that you immediately notify the Help Desk (or if you have trouble with this, Malinda) to create a work order whenever you see the "Please clean filter" notice on your projector's screen.  Each day of delay in doing so threatens to turn your projector into a boat-anchor.

Calendar
Week A
Observation Calendar begins

• Monday, 22 Sept.
• Coe at Flagstaff Community Foundation awards, 10:00-12:00
• Wednesday, 24 Sept.
• Coe off, all afternoon (dermatologist)
• Friday, 26 Sept.
• Fire Drill, 10:00

Please acknowledge that you read this post.