The Middle Update 9/26/20

We have 4 weeks with our students under our belts and have gotten the chance to establish relationships with students and parents, as well as build routine and structure into our 2020 learning environment.  I have been in awe of how hard everyone has worked to make the learning experiences engaging and successful for our students.  We have had to look at things through a different lens and be creative in many instances.  I can't tell you just how much I appreciate the extra efforts that have gone into establishing what we have started.  

In times of busyness and stress, it really helps to have your "why" established deep into your core.  Your "why" makes those efforts worth it, and in having the opportunity to see and discuss your "why", it's no surprise that the well-being of our kids is at the core of why we do what we do...it takes a special person to dedicate their career to being a positive force/impact in the lives of others...helping to move the trajectory for some kids in a more positive direction.  It truly impacts the future of our communities.  Thank you doesn't seem like enough sometimes.

Resource of the Week

As we grow more comfortable with the format of our instructional delivery model this year, we now look to creating even more impactful learning experiences for our students.  The article this week shares some research about the impact of having students use questioning to develop a deeper understanding.  The article also gives some examples of how to incorporate this practice into virtual instruction.

"Using Student-Generated Questions to Promote Deeper Thinking" - Youki Terada

Close Contacts and Positive Cases

The spread of the corona-virus in both our state and county continues to be something that is at the forefront of the news.  In the Middle School, we have had students who have been a close contact to a positive case, but as of this writing no positive cases.  In those situations, a close contact to a positive case is ordered by the county to quarantine for 14 days starting with the day of last contact.  A "close contact" of a "close contact" is not required to quarantine.  There are situations where a person can be a "presumptive positive" before actually testing positive...this is when a person has been a close contact and has symptoms...this "presumptive positive" is treated as a positive case.  If we learn that someone at school has been a "close contact" to a positive case, we will communicate that information as soon as possible to the affected individuals.

The communication about these situations can be tricky.  There are HIPAA guidelines that we must follow to protect people's health privacy.  We are still working to ensure that we follow the HIPAA guidelines, and at times that can be frustrating for some.  One thing is for sure, if you have been a close contact to a positive case, you will be contacted as soon as that information is known.

As part of our standard procedures in the office, we keep a spreadsheet of absences that are due to illness...we monitor symptoms, close contacts, and keep tabs on if there are any trends happening within certain groups.  Calls are made home and we are working to be as thorough as possible in ensuring we know if there is corona-virus activity that is close to home.

Virtual Schedules

Our 8th Grade team piloted a Virtual Learning Schedule (8th) that allowed each CORE teacher to meet with each cohort group last Wednesday.  We are working to establish a plan that involves more structure for students and allows for more consistent student/teacher interaction in a virtual learning situation.  The experience from Wednesday went well for the 8th grade team.  The 7th Grade team will also pilot a VL Schedule (7th) this Wednesday.  We'll continue to reflect on the experience, working to provide the best learning experience for our students.  More conversation and planning will continue to happen as we learn more...the 5th and 6th grade groups, along with our Applied Class teachers continue to think about, discuss and prepare as well.  I appreciate each of your efforts to help us be ready for any learning situation that we could encounter in the coming months.

  

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-Teacher Conferences are right around the corner.  The conferences are scheduled for October 14th (4:00-7:30) and October 15th (2:00-7:30).  At this time, I'm not prepared to share exactly what those will look like (I'll know more after a meeting on Monday), but we can plan for having each teacher plan to meet with the parents of the students in their cohort, with special meetings set up for teachers that teach elective classes.  More information to follow....and it's important to note that Friday, October 16th is a No School Day.

Fire Drills

We are required to perform a monthly fire drill, even in the face of a pandemic.  We can modify how we do a fire drill, however, and that is what we'll do.  We'll conduct our Fire Drills on Tuesday, September 29th starting at 10:00.  I'll be sharing more details soon, however, the drills will involve certain groups heading out of their fire exit doors and to their locations at certain times.  We'll utilize the same exits (for the most part) that students enter and exit from now for their specific classrooms.  Here is a quick summary of locations to head to for each exit.

Door #4 - Should cross Cleveland St. and stay away from other groups.

Door #5 - Should actually exit Door #6 (North side of building) and head to fence away from other groups.

Door #12 - Should head out to an area in the field away from other groups

Door #13 - Should head out to an area in the field away from other groups

Main Entrance - 6th Grade groups should head out and left up to the field away from other groups.  8th grade should head left and proceed to the grassy areas near the sidewalk on the way to the HS away from other groups.

Livestream on Monday Morning

After the announcements, please join a Live Stream for a special Monday event.  

stream.meet.google.com/stream/d991963a-31b2-4057-b059-035e2961a916

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 9/20/2020

After three weeks of of our new learning environment there has proven to be many successes and challenges.  Some of the technology pieces, which we anticipated working smoothly in our planning, have been frustrating at times.  I am really impressed with our staff and the fact that despite the challenges and frustrations this "atypical" school year has provided, our dedication and focus on the well-being of our students has risen to the top and has helped us push through these challenges.  I, along with our students and families, so appreciate each of you and those extra efforts.

The global pandemic has been a traumatic experience in many ways for all of us, and we have seen much evidence of the effects of this trauma on our students as the start of the school year has unfolded.  Please keep a special eye out for signs that a student may be struggling with this or other trauma.  The efforts each of you make during the school day to connect and build positive, trusting relationships with your students make a huge difference...not only for the kids, but you can feel it in the overall culture of our school.  Our student services team is also equipped and ready to help any students in need.  

Resources of the Week

Our resource this week is targeted at our middle level learners...as we get to know them early in the year, it is oftentimes surprising to learn about the skills we need to teach them that we assume they would already know how to do...knowing how to send an simple email is one skill that came up this year for our 6th graders.  The article this week shares some of these key skills we need to focus on, especially while we have them in front of us.

"How to Help Middle School Students Develop Crucial Skills This Year" - Sarah Gonser

More information about effective online instruction continues to become available.  Good tips for all of us to know and understand in our environment in the article below.

"5 Research-Backed Tips to Improve Your Online Teaching Presence" - Youki Terada

COVID and Close Contact

Just like in a typical school year, a sense of comfort and routine has started to set in for all of us.  It's so important that we don't let our attention and focus on the guidelines designed to keep us all safe become lax.  If there is a confirmed case of COVID in our school, the contact tracers will ask questions about who has had "close contact" with the individual.  "Close contact" is defined as being within 6 feet of the individual for longer than 15 minutes (masked or unmasked...behind a barrier or not behind a barrier).  Also included is if anyone touched the individual or was in contact with respiratory droplets.  

In our typical work, it is very difficult to keep distance when working with our students...however, this is not a typical year or situation, so we, as adults, need to do everything we can to protect ourselves, understanding that keeping that distance may not be comfortable or as effective in working with students, but it will make a huge difference in terms of minimizing the chance of spread.  When there have been positive cases with people I know personally, it always seems like a surprise, so we have to think about anyone we come around as potential carriers of the virus.  

We also need to continue to hold our students to the same standards and be insistent on doing our best with the close contact guidelines.  Thank you all so much for your efforts in this area, as I believe we have been doing well...just want to make sure we continue those important efforts.

Posting Grades

We are three weeks into the first quarter and that is the time we typically have enough evidence to post overall progress grades for each standard.  Many teachers have done this already.  If you have not, please take a look at the evidence you have collected for your class in each standard and post an overall standard grade.  I will send a Infinite Campus Message out to parents on Wednesday indicating that grades are posted and can be viewed in IC.  

In a discussion with the 6th grade team, they thought it would be best for each cohort teacher to assign an overall "Follows Classroom Expectations" score for their group, rather than the subject teacher.  We added the option to assign a score for "Follows Classroom Expectations" in the Homeroom section.  The other Puma Pride standards that subject teachers should assign are one or both of the following: "Completes and Returns Work in a Timely Manner" and "Puts Forth Effort to Produce High Quality Work".  Applied teachers that actually meet with their students can also provide "Follows Classroom Expectations" feedback using the Puma Pride grades.

Virtual Wednesdays

As we are getting to know our students and their levels, many of you have really tried to use this time to meet with our virtual students.  This is a great use of time, and our morning times should really be spent working to set up either individual or group meetings with virtual students or students from other sections that we don't get the chance to see or work with.  We have utilized "office hours" and some students take advantage of these times, but setting up times to meet with students, while copying their parents on an email invitation, would help enhance the likelihood that students will attend those critical sessions.  Homeroom teachers can assist by reminders their students about meeting times with other teachers.

Some teachers have also began to explore the possibility of meeting virtually with students from other cohorts during class time.  Getting to know all of the students that aren't in our cohort group has proven to be challenging, so being creative and utilizing each other to provide the all important feedback to students is what we'll need to continue to work on.

Donuts

What a great turnout for our class color day.  It appeared that a huge percentage participated in this unifying effort.  It turns out that I'll need to bring donuts in for each cohort based on the fact that nearly every student participated.  My plan is to spread out this effort over the course of this week.  The plan will be to bring in enough donuts for each grade level on each day...Monday - 5th, Tuesday, 6th, etc.  If I have extras I'll try to cover as many Homerooms as possible.  Kwik Trip is going to enjoy this challenge :)

The Middle Update 9/13/2020

We have 2 weeks under our belt!  I am looking forward to having a rain free week (hopefully...).  We have started to get into a routine and a rhythm both throughout the school and in each classroom.  As all of us get more comfortable in our routine (kids included), it's a lot easier to let our guards down in terms of relaxing our safety expectations.  With all that is going on around us, each day, each minute is critical for us to ensure we are adhering to the guidelines that are designed to minimize the risk of spreading the virus.  We've sent a couple of students home already first thing in the morning after a teacher asked questions after noticing a student not well.  Face coverings, maintaining 6 feet of distance, not letting students mix with other cohorts, and staying out of school when symptoms are present remain critical to our efforts to educate our students while they are in the physical school building.  I appreciate your help and diligence in ensuring that we do a great job of this school-wide.  Hopefully, we can maintain what we started in terms of keeping the virus out of our school.

Close Contact

As we continue to learn more about how the virus spreads and quarantine/isolation guidelines, it's critical that we all have a firm understanding of the definition of "close contact".  In the event of a positive case, close contact will determine who needs to be quarantined.  Literally, anyone could be carrying the virus and we have to try really hard to keep that in mind as we go about our daily operations.  

Close Contact is defined by the CDC as:

"someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic clients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated."

Additionally..."includes persons with direct physical contact with a probable or confirmed case, direct care for a patient with probable or confirmed COVID-19 disease without using proper personal protective equipment"

Resource of the Week

A couple of resources within the Google Suite to share this week.  The first resource is a description of a chrome extension that is helpful in Google Meet.  More information below (Thanks Mrs. Morrissey for the contribution this week).  The second is a feature found in Google Calendar that utilizes the "appointments slot" (Thanks to Mrs. Rogness for sharing this contribution!)

Chrome Extension: Dualless

Split your screen to see both your students and what you’re presenting.

This Chrome extension allows you to split your screen so you can see your students as well as what you are presenting in your Google Meet. Once you have added the Dualless extension join your Google Meet, click on the Dualless icon, and choose how large you want each split-screen window to be. 

Now that you have selected your size windows, you can click “Present Now” in your Meet and select “A Window” and only choose the window you would like to share with students.  When you are done presenting you can close out of the presentation or end the meeting.  

Want to use it now?  Click Dualless Chrome Extension Link to go right to the extension and add it.  

Want to watch a video tutorial of how to use Dualless? Just click the video tutorial link to see how it works.

Appointments Slots within Google Calendar

"You basically open a slot or slots of time and can designate how long they are, then you can share the entire appointments page with families and let them sign up for a slot of their choice.  Then it automatically generates and sends a google meet reminder/invite with meeting codes (and they can use the call in feature instead if they want).

*This can help us meet with students and ensure they meet with us without anyone else popping in.  We would also know in advance who wants to meet with us and when."

Here's a place to learn more about how to use this feature in Google Calendar.

Grade Level Weekly Planners

I wanted to share an update about our weekly planners.  Each team is sending home a copy each week through Campus Messenger, but each week is also visible on our website.  I have received numerous emails from parents who expressed appreciation for this tool...I included a couple of quotes from some of those emails below:

"I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the Weekly Planner documents you shared! It's great for us parents that have kids transitioning from elementary to middle school. I want XXXXX to be independent and accountable on her own, but it's great to have this as a backup, especially on Wednesdays!"

"I am finding it a bit tricky to know as a parent what needs to be done and how involved I should be with middle schoolers.  The video was helpful to see on the website where I can go each week to get an idea of what they are doing and what assignments are due."

"Thank you so much for posting the Grade Level Weekly Planners.  I appreciate those so much.  I was looking for a way to stay on top of assignments with the boys, but didn't want to bother the teachers since they are incredibly busy.  These are great!!"

Extended Time Periods of Virtual Learning

If we are ordered to close our school for a period of time, we will need to have a plan/schedule ready to go for students.  I have gotten the chance to talk through this scenario with at least one member of each grade level team (except 5th) during some BW Meetings.  Once teams have discussed and are on the same page, we really should be sharing with students and even practicing on Virtual Wednesdays.  I am hopeful we can continue in-person for the rest of the school year...however, preparation is critical for the continuity of learning and our operations...we need to be ready to implement in a day's notice.

Collaboration

As we have gotten comfortable with the format of our day to day operations, we need to now look for ways to be creative about how we can get more collaboration opportunities for our students while adhering to safety guidelines.  If you have found some success in this area with your students, or are ready to try some innovative approaches, please reach out to me, so we can continue work to spread these important practices in all classrooms throughout the building.

Building Tight-Knit Communities in our Homebase Groups

It appears that our groups have gotten off to a great start in terms of building community.  Just watching the groups interact during their lunch break and while visiting classes, it's evident most kids feel comfortable in their groups.  We must continue our efforts in this area.  I am re-sharing the bank of activities we have collected as a resource with many ideas for how to be special in this area.

Homeroom Greetings, Shares, and Community Building Activities

Homeroom Picture/Class Color Day on Friday

During Homeroom early this week, each Homeroom should vote on a representative color for your group.  On Friday, we'll ask each Homeroom to wear a shirt that has their color as the primary color.  The Homeroom with the highest percentage of participation or every Homeroom that has 100% participation will be rewarded with donuts next Monday morning.  Please add your Homeroom's color to this DOCUMENT.  We'll be coming around on Friday to take socially distanced photos of each Homeroom group to be displayed on a bulletin board in the school.

Family Bulletin Board in Office

The black bulletin board that is outside of my office is designed to share about our lives outside of school.  Our lives outside of school are very important, and I thought having a space dedicated to share your family photos would be a way for everyone to get to know each other better.  Feel free to post a photo of your family, you with special people or pets, or of you doing something you enjoy.  I envision that more may go up around the holiday season, but feel free to add if you'd like.  

Images from the Week

The Middle Update 9/7/2020

The first week is in the books.  I have enjoyed the interaction with students, watching talented educators do their thing, and just overall being back in school.  I have such an appreciation for each of you and your willingness to do go with the flow, talk through struggles, work towards solutions, and be all about putting kids first.  I can't thank you enough, and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to lead such a great team.  We learned a lot this week, will learn more next week, and continue to work on improving the learning experience for our students.   

Resource of the Week

In our resource of the week, I'll try to provide some tips and tricks that will help us continually improve our virtual teaching and learning skills.  This week's article is about providing our students audio feedback.  Typically in our responses, we write feedback to students...our article this week provides a glimpse into a study where teachers focused on providing audio feedback.  Thanks to Mrs. Walther for sharing.

"How (and Why) to Leave Audio Feedback on Student Work This Year, Whether During In-Person or Distance Learning" - Dave Stuart Jr.

Student Data and RTI

We have just started the process of getting to know our students...both personality-wise and academic skill wise.  Students took the STAR assessment this week in Reading and will take it soon in Math.  We'll be working as a larger grade level team (not just in departments) on analyzing this student data and planning for how we can close the gaps we will see for some of our students and enrich the learning for others.  Our structure will be different based on our different schedule, and our plans will certainly be creative.  We sent out some initial dates to start this process, but certainly adjust if those dates/times don't work for your team...just let me know.

School Activities and Special Days??

As we all get adjusted to a different way of doing things at school, I'd like to get some smart people together to map out a plan for some fun things that kids really enjoy that add to the culture of our school.  While the guidelines that we are following won't allow for a large group assembly watching pigs race in the gym...I think there may be some creative ways that we can still achieve a similar goal.  If you are interested in this type of discussion, please join me on Thursday (9/10) at 2:50 in the cafeteria. 

BW Meetings with Me

I'll soon be sending out invitations for Bi-Weekly Meetings with teachers.  The purpose is to have a consistent time for you to check in with me, and for us to utilize a time to talk about continuous improvement and what that looks like for you.  The intention is for the time to be between 10-15 minutes.  You should not look for me during this time, as I will come to your classroom or we can meet virtually.  If something comes up, I will work hard to notify you and reschedule.

Recap Video to Parents

I sent the following video out to parents at the end of the day Friday...wanted to give a quick recap of the week, but also to share how they can use our website to access important organizational materials for students.  If you have an idea of something to add to the site that would enhance communication for the school or your class, just let me know.

Images from the Week

It's Almost Game Time!!

I want to thank you for your efforts in preparing for this school year.  In a time that has most everyone experiencing a wide range of emotions, we, as a team, are about as prepared as we can be to execute our return to learn plan.  I am experiencing a little "pre-game jitters", but I am scared to think of what I would feel if we didn't have such an amazing team.  I appreciate each one of you so much, and am so thankful for the "all hands on deck" mentality we had preparing this building to educate our kids.  I feel very fortunate to be your Principal...thank you.

The post this week has some important information for further preparation as tomorrow morning is less than 24 hours away as of this writing.  There will no doubt be things that come up that challenge us...but having a solid understanding of our guiding principles for a safe re-opening of schools will help guide each of us in the moment as we have to make decisions....for those situations that are "in-betweeners or gray", please err on the side of safety and it's ok to say, "I will check for sure, but for now we'll ___________".  

Resource of the Week

Many of us were discussing how to best utilize groups of students for collaboration and rotate through them to give them enough feedback during our Wednesday morning session.  The article this week provides some thoughts and strategies for doing this effectively in a socially distanced world.

"Station Rotation in an Era of Social Distancing" - Catlin Tucker

1st Day Logistics

Students will be arriving in the morning on campus.  Buses will line up and won't let students off until we ask them to do so. (I'll be out by the buses)  Teachers should be in their classrooms.  Everyone else should be at their assigned morning location.  Students that walk to school or were dropped off will be let inside at 7:19 am by the door supervisors.  Once all of those students enter the building through their assigned door, we'll release the first bus, when those students enter the building, we'll release the next, etc.

Students should report to their classrooms when they enter the building.  

     -Students may have brought something they needed to return from last spring (textbook/chromebook/hot spot, etc.).  Those materials will need to be returned to the office, but please don't send them down with these materials right away in the morning.  Please email Robin if you have a student or two that brought back materials that need to be returned, and she will help coordinate that return sometime throughout the day.

     -Some students may not be set up with an account yet.  These students still need to turn in an AUP form.  If a new student has an AUP or any other form that needs to come to the office, you may send them down right away in the morning.

     -The only other student that should be sent down to the office is a student that is not on anyone's list...if a students shows up that we are not expecting, we'll need to work that out in the office.

Announcements will begin at or close to 7:30

     -As students come in, go ahead and get them situated and in their locations, as you begin to learn more about them.  I'll get on the announcements for the Pledge and then I'll direct people to go ahead and join the live stream link - stream.meet.google.com/stream/82a2f99d-687e-440d-ab2e-1b90c167b57d - Once the live stream is complete, go ahead and continue with your plans.

Breakfast/Lunch Count Procedures (This is slightly different than what we discussed during our meeting)

     -Each teacher will have a laminated sheet of paper with a bar code for each student in their mailbox.  You should ask students who would like a school breakfast or a milk.  If a student wants a breakfast (white milk comes with), please circle their name.  If a student would like a milk only (white is only option), please write an M by their name.  Mrs. Jackson will come around and collect those sheets so the kitchen can prepare.  After you do this, you can go ahead and ask how many students plan to eat school lunch.  You can enter that information on the attendance page in Infinite Campus.  Breakfasts will be brought to the Homerooms each morning prior to the scheduled time for your grade.

Specials Drop Off and Pick-Up

     -Each Homeroom teacher should walk their group from their class to their first elective.  After the first elective is over, the elective teacher will walk with their group down the hall to their next area.  Either Mr. Schultz or Mrs. Graeve will be out in the downstairs hallway in between, and either Mrs. Serstad or Mr. Kartos - or Mrs. Cross or Mr. Digman will be out in the hallway near the lower ramp area.  The Homeroom teacher should then pick up their class from the at the end of the last Elective time.  We may have to iron out the "in-between" times so that we can sanitize high touch surfaces in between groups...

Recess Locations and Door Use

     -The Logistics document has been updated with Door #'s  to use for outside break time and social time over lunch break.  The map with locations and exit door #'s is below.

Homeroom Modification for Virtual Students

Last Thursday, we made a modification to our Homeroom grouping plan.  For our Homeroom lessons and meetings, our virtual students will meet via Google Meet together instead of joining a Homeroom group lesson that is taking place as an in-person group.  Mr. Schultz will lead the 8th grade virtual students, Mrs. Graeve the 7th grade, Mrs. Morton the 6th, and Mrs. Snyder the 5th.  The students will remain in the original assigned Homeroom groups for classes.  Homeroom teachers are "go-to" persons for our virtual students.

Student Restroom Use

Students should use the assigned restroom for their Homeroom class.  Restroom breaks are built into the schedule, however, a student may be released to use the restroom in the event a student really has to go.

IMC Tour and Book Check-Out

Each Homeroom group will have the opportunity to tour the new IMC and check out a book starting on Thursday, Sept. 3.  A group will not have their PE class on one of these days and instead will report to the IMC based on the rotation found in this document in the "IMC Rotations" tab.  Ebony will be leading the tours and check-out.  Students will remain in the IMC for the whole class period.  Rotations are also below:

8th Grade	Thursday (9/3)	Friday (9/4)	Tuesday (9/8)
7:45 - 8:28	Andringa	Odden	Moe
8:28 - 9:10	Mrnak	Frehner
7th Grade	Thursday (9/3)	Friday (9/4)	Tuesday (9/8)
9:10 - 9:55	Hecht	Williams	Walther
9:55 - 10:40	Johnson	Hendrickson
6th Grade	Thursday (9/3)	Friday (9/4)
11:50 - 12:30	Crawford	Kallungi
12:30 - 1:10	Weckerly	Rogness
5th Grade	Thursday (9/3)	Friday (9/4)	Tuesday (9/8)
1:15 - 1:52	Stangler	Wheeler	Wagner
1:52 - 2:30	Milewski	Larson

Couple of Manager Items that we Didn't Cover in our Meeting

Air Filtration Circulation Units - Please turn these off before you leave at the end of the day and on in the morning.  The units are efficient at the "Normal" setting.

Staff Lounge - Teachers may use the refrigerators and visit to purchase a soda during the school day, however, this area is not open for staff congregation during lunch times or after school to help prevent any staff to staff spread.

Hot Spots - Hot spots can be available for any student that does not have internet connection at home.  If a student has a question, they should contact the office.

Staff Meetings - We will meet virtually as a staff on Wednesday (9/2) afternoon starting at 2:30.  I'll send directions and an invitation soon.

Employee Handbook - Typically I do an Employee Handbook reminder slide in at least one of our Back to School presentations.  Please take a review of the Employee Handbook and see me with any questions.  I have the same interpretations of our policies as always.

The Middle Update 8/22/2020

 

Resource of the Week

I've enjoyed the conversations this week with teams about the logistics and practicality of carrying out online lessons, taking advantage of face to face time, while also working to involve our students who are working from home.  The resource this week provides some guidance on many strategies that educators have used to reach involve and reach all students.  The strategies appear to be very practical for the model we will be utilizing.

"Active Learning in Hybrid and Physically Distanced Classrooms" - Derek Bruff, Vanderbilt University

All District In-Service

The In-Service Schedule has been shared.  Please keep taking a look at the online version, as a couple of things have been adjusted in the last week, and may be adjusted as the day draws nearer.

Re-Opening Logistics

I have enjoyed the many meetings, conversations and planning sessions that have taken place over the summer, especially during the last week.  Make no mistake, what lies ahead will be challenging, and filled with setbacks and triumphs.  One thing I enjoy seeing the most, is the optimism and success that comes after facing and working through a challenge that seems insurmountable at first.  Thoughtful, critical, and collaborative discussion by talented people make that happen.  It's the "Perseverance" part in action of what we are going to be stressing with our students as part of "The Puma Way".

Below are a couple of key, critical documents that contain the nuts and bolts part of our re-opening plan.  Please take time to review prior to our time together on Tuesday.  

For the In-service, we will have one Middle School Staff Meeting per day that will take place in the PMS Cafeteria space.  For our first meeting, we will meet socially distanced and face to face.  For the next two meetings, staff will have the choice to join either in person (distanced) or virtually.  There will be a great deal of time for planning.  Grade level teams will need to meet, along with department aligned teams.  Great teamwork will be needed now more than ever to carry out our plan successfully.  I will be sharing a sign-up sheet for those times for anyone wanting to meet with me during these times....team or individual.

2020-2021 Back to School Inservice Schedule

2020-2021 Schedule - includes Specials rotation plan - We will need to utilize A, B, C, D, and E days for grades 5, 7, and 8...and A, B, C, D days for grade 6

2020-2021 Logistics - includes entry/exit information, recess times/locations, restroom assignments, etc. 

Letter to Parents about Logistics - We emailed home this letter on Saturday morning, and we plan to mail it at the beginning of the week along with other specific information about entry/exit assignments, COVID-19 symptom information, etc.)

All Back to School Communications that we have sent home

I can't wait to see all of you!  Enjoy your weekend!!

The Middle Update 8/15/2020

We are almost ready to officially embark on the interesting, unique, exciting, unprecedented journey of kicking of the 2020-2021 school year.  We continue to receive and review up-to-date guidance from the DPI, DHS, and CDC as we plan for the coming school year.  One thing is for sure, we will utilize Google Classroom as the hub for our instructional materials and lessons for all students, so that we can be flexible with how we move our students forward in their skills.  Thank you for the continued conversations about our plan...your perspective and input is critical to executing our plan.

 

Resource of the Week

Google Classroom and Meet have become critical parts of the way we educate students virtually.  Google plans to implement some enhancements to both platforms that will help educators be even more effective with these tools.  Take a look at what is to come.

"More Details on what's coming to Meet and Classroom" - Google blog

 

Instructional Model

When the reopening of schools guidance came out earlier this summer, the ability to be flexible was emphasized strongly.  This guidance was a strong, key factor in us choosing to move forward in the manner that we are planning.  As of this writing, we are scheduled to begin seeing students on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with Wednesdays being a Virtual Learning Day.  

The board approved this plan, but also the ability to move into different models depending on recommendations from health experts.  Districts are still expecting DHS to provide some more specific parameters as to how schools should open based on the health data specific to each school's location.  Moving forward, we should be expecting to be flexible and move to any of the following models as we move throughout the 20-21 school year:

Fully In-Person (5 days per week)

Hybrid (In-person 4 days per week)

Hybrid (In-person at 50% capacity, Half meets MT, W virtual, other half meets RF)

Fully Virtual 

I believe by using Google Classroom as the main hub for posting our instruction, and utilizing Google Meet to confer with students virtually (even while in the same building), we will be set up to move in and out of models as seamlessly as possible.  We will refine our practices and get better every day.  Our intent is to be able to provide feedback, assess, hold students accountable, just as we would under "normal" school conditions...ultimately seeing the same type of growth in student learning as we would normally expect.

Logistics for Staff to Plan Around

The routines that we work to establish will definitely need more discussion and refinement as we learn from the experience of executing a different type of plan than we are accustomed.  As a staff, we all must be strong models and have high expectations for our students in following the health protocols put in place to protect the health of everyone.  To be effective, we must all be strong and consistent in this area.  I will continue to work on the communication with families for what our expectations for students and families will be (I sent out two videos so far, and plan to, at least weekly, leading up to the start of school)...emphasizing staying home if feeling sick at all, proper face-covering etiquette, and important hygiene practices and expectations.  In our "Open House" meetings, this will need to be emphasized by each teacher in the conversation with the family.

A couple of staff expectations will be different as well.  Teachers will need to be ready and in our classrooms by 7:15.  We will direct students to go to their classrooms when they arrive, going through an assigned door that will have staff present.  Bus drop-off will be staggered and done one at a time (off of Cleveland St.), starting around 7:20.  This adjustment will move the typical staff working day to 7:15-3:15.  A schedule was shared earlier this week for how we will move throughout our day.

For Virtual Wednesdays, staff will be able to work from home.  The school building will be deep cleaned, however, the building will still be open for any staff that would like to work from school.  Staff should come in to school if there are concerns with home internet connection or to use your school phone for parent/student communication.  For Virtual Wednesdays, we'll start by having asynchronous lessons/activities planned and posted for students.  We'll spend some time on this as a staff during our time together prior to the start of school, but as of right now, I'm thinking Virtual Wednesday's schedule will look something like this:

8:00 - Each teacher Google Meets with Homebase groups for a Homeroom lesson/discussion and preview of the day's work

8:15 - 12:00 - Students work on asynchronous lessons.  Teacher/Student Meetings - meet with individual or small groups of students.  These meetings should be scheduled (using Google Calendar) with students and spent conferring with them and providing clarifying or growth-oriented feedback on their performance in class.

12:00 - 12:30 - Lunch

12:30 - 3:30 - Teacher Prep for Lessons/Assessing Student Work - Team or Department Meetings - Continued meetings with students - Students continue to work on activities.

Open House Plan

We will not host our typical 4:00 - 7:00 Open House on Thursday (8/27).  This time is typically a critical time for students to come in, find their bearings, and meet their teachers.  In its place we will work to create a virtual experience for our students and families.  Building strong, trusting relationships with students and their families is going to be even more critical than ever this school year.  We will plan to start building those relationships during the weeks before school starts.

Our plan will involve having each teacher schedule a Google Meeting with each student and his/her family that is assigned to their Homebase group.  Teachers that do not have a homebase group should work with the grade levels they will be working with, to join in some of these meetings for our students that we know are in need of strong school connections (see me if unsure).  These meetings can begin as early as this coming week, but a connection (google meet or phone conversation) MUST be made by the end of day on Friday, 8/28. (Please share your meeting log with me at some point prior to end of day 8/28)

We will provide a script for teachers to use for these meetings.  We must take time to get to know and learn as much as we can about each student and his/her family.  The goal is to establish a relationship with the family so communication throughout the year is comfortable and trusting.  I will communicate with families this week about what to expect, and share a sample script in the first part of this week.

Orientation Meetings

I plan to host virtual orientation meetings in the week leading up to school.  I plan to live-stream the meeting for families and posting the recording for anyone to access that couldn't make the live-stream time.  If anyone has any unique or exciting ideas that could enhance these meetings, I am always open to incorporating entertaining parts that will make this experience more enjoyable for families.

Before the start of school, each grade level team, with our all teachers included in some way, should send home some type of communication aimed at helping students/families know more about our staff.  This can be done utilizing any type of communication technique (video, blog post, letter, etc).  If a great idea came to your head while reading this, please send me your thoughts. :)

Homebase Groups

I shared Homebase group assignments on Friday afternoon.  We are finalizing and confirming the students/families that will be choosing the all-virtual option.  Students in green have had their choice confirmed by the survey.  There was a great deal of time spent reviewing/planning for these groups to be set up for success.  We plan to share student class assignments in the middle of this week by making them viewable for parents in Infinite Campus.

The conversations around the students in our groups is an indicator of the type of culture we have in our school.  We have discussed how our expectations for students, the words we use, our body language impact the ultimate success a student will have for us.  Our reaction and conversation around the students assigned to us makes a difference.  When reviewing the students, thinking..."I am going to be the difference for these kids"...or "I am going to help this kid have the best school year he/she has ever had" will help set the stage for successful outcomes.  Our mindset and approach is the difference...both in action and behind the scenes.  Some need our help/guidance more than others, and some sometimes show their needs in ways that are undesirable to us...but being the type of school we all want to be a part of requires a positive mindset from each of us about each student we will encounter.

I am most proud of our staff for taking kids that have struggled in other places, and helping facilitate a positive experience for them in Poynette.  A school setting can truly change the trajectory for a student.

Renovation Project

Sorry no pictures this week...We are getting close.  We hope to have all things moved back to their locations and ready to unpack towards the end of this week.  Please continue to communicate with me about building access this week.  The building looks so different...very exciting.

What lies ahead...

One things remains at the core of what we do, no matter what it looks like this school year...we get the opportunity to impact kids.  I am so looking forward to seeing kids again, talking with them, and helping them in this critical time in their lives.  Our kids need us.

Mrs. Crawford sent a quote that I thought was worthy of sharing (even though it's from a member of the Chicago Cubs)...I am excited to be on this journey with you and this team.

The Middle Update 8/7/2020

For me, this week has brought with it the pace that I'm accustomed to working while school is in session.  While preparation certainly has been happening each day throughout the summer, the calendar turning to August somehow has a way to shed a little bit of urgency to the planning process.  With that being said, thank you for all you have done to help in our 20-21 school year preparations.  Lots to share this week!

20-21 School Preparation Communications

We all understand that this coming school year will be different than we are accustomed.  With that being said, communicating the things that will be different with all stakeholders becomes so crucial.  This week we continued the communication with our families and students.  Communications are linked below.  This is just the beginning, as we will be sending weekly communication home throughout August...topics will include: hygiene, proper face-covering use procedures, typical school day, building renovations, etc.  If you are interested in creating or sharing any other resources (videos, handouts, etc), on any other topic you feel is important, just let me know.

Family Communication 8/4/2020 (video link embedded in letter)

Staff Communication 8/5/2020

Resources of the Week

The first resource is a Google Classroom tutorial.  This is a video shared by a teacher that shows how to set up and utilize Google Classroom effectively and efficiently.  Even though I feel pretty comfortable using Google Classroom, I learned some helpful tips from this video.

"How to Use Google Classroom for Remote Teaching" - New EdTech Classroom

Many questions from, well, basically everyone, center around protocols we'll use to determine whether someone needs to stay home, for how long, etc. if they have been around someone that is/was sick or experiencing symptoms.  We will be working closely with our health department with these issues, and the WI Department of Health Services has provided guidance linked below.  We certainly will be spending time in the coming weeks on these topics so everyone is on the same page.  Below is one resource that I thought explained the recommendations to follow.

https://dpi.wi.gov/sites/default/files/imce/sspw/pdf/Returning_to_School_After_COVID-19.pdf

DPI and DHS has shared that more guidance for schools to use around topics like, "how do schools determine if a school should close?" will be sent out for us next week sometime.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Many of you have taken classes or studied UDL.  Basically the philosophy of UDL centers around being clear with Learning Targets/Objectives for students, and being flexible with how students access the learning and ultimately with the way they share their learning/understanding.  With the online environment that we will be working in this coming school year, the principles of UDL become more important to consider in planning our lessons.  Click on the link below to learn more...

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/treatments-approaches/educational-strategies/universal-design-for-learning-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

A short video (2.5 minutes)...aimed at college educators, but key principles are key for all educators

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGQ_7K35ysA

Floating Inservice Days

Please communicate with me what you are planning for your 3 floating in-service days.  I may be able to facilitate a time for you to get into your classroom space sooner than August 24th.  We'll just have to work to arrange it.  Also, I'll be looking to schedule some time to meet with each teacher for a bit to plan for the coming school year, set goals, and talk through the plan.

Construction Update

The work continues to move along.  The big project around campus this week was the resurfacing of the parking lot.  A lot of progress was made, but we still anticipate the parking lot being closed for over a week or so yet.  If you visit either the MS or HS building, you'll have to park on the street.  Things are starting to take shape a little more each day.

The Middle Update 7/31/2020

It's the last day of July 2020!  That means the calendar turns to August and back to school mode begins to pick up a little more steam for all of us.  After meeting with multiple small groups of teachers this week, we have made some important decisions about the instructional mode we will utilize for the coming school year.  We have chosen a mode that allows us to follow the recommendations put forth in the guidance from DPI, Department of Health Services, and the CDC.  Our school day will be different, but like many things, provides us all opportunities for growth.  Thank you to all of you for the availability and willingness to engage in discussions...your input and feedback is critical to a good plan.

Resource of the Week
When looking at virtual learning, we need to focus in on what the best practices are for an implementation that will get students to thrive, instead of merely maintaining their current levels.

The resource provides information one way to structure our classes in a way that has proven to be successful for students learning both in-person and at home.  As we move forward, we'll be looking to implement both synchronous (conferring, dialogue, feedback from an adult) and asynchronous (recorded lesson, resources to read, etc).  This article provides information that will help our planning.

"Hacks for Helping Students Achieve in Class or From Home" - Heather Clayton Staker

Virtual Learning Planning
I have had many good conversations this past week about logistics and planning for the upcoming school year.  Next week, we'll work to refine our Virtual Learning Plan even further with a group meeting on Monday afternoon (let me know if interested).  Thanks to all for your input and feedback so far.  We'll keep working on and sharing information about our in-person instructional model and our virtual model.

Floating Inservice Days
With the calendar turning to August on Saturday, it's time to start thinking about Floating In-service Days.  The Floating Teacher In-service will be 3 additional days to be used between August 10 to August 31.  I'll be sharing more information about In-service logistics next week.  The official Poynette School District calendar can be found at this LINK.

Construction Update
The project continues to move along.  We saw ceiling tiles get dropped, flooring installed, and the parking lot is beginning the process of a transformation.  Things are starting to come together with a more finished look each day.  We still appear to be on track for an August 24th takeover of the building.