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




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