Wednesday Weekly Memo

Hi all,

Just a few thoughts as we come to the end of January and are hitting our stride in the school year. This is the time of year to get deep into practice as routines are established and there is no looming deadline for anything. Also a good time of year to reflect on your personal development goals to make sure you are moving forward with those. Let us know if you need our support for that.

We will be in the classrooms this week and next and will continue to do walkthroughs for all staff. Please remember that everyone is providing feedback to the para-educators, so please start doing this now if you haven't started already. Para educators know that the teachers and special educators (including SLPs) will be summarizing your performances in the next couple weeks. This can be a designated day, or simply a summary of things that happened all week long. We are trying to provide you with feedback before the final evaluation.

Teachers and paras should have met and developed goals by now. Please make sure we have a copy of these.

Please make sure you are gathering information continuously for TSGold through C4L Formative Assessment, Observations and other systems you may use, not just the few weeks before the deadlines. Your PLCs are supposed to be based on the data you are gathering, so please make sure this is happening. We will vary our visit times to your classrooms in case it’s just not happening during the time period we are visiting.

It is also that time of year that we start wondering what the configuration for next year will be. A few of you have shared your ideas around possible changes, mostly around classroom running times. We love these conversations, as we also get excited about new possibilities. Please know that nothing is decided and these decisions are not ours alone to make. If we say “I would love to do that” it does not mean we can make it so. We are doing behind the scenes work with building principals to understand needs around budget, enrollment and staffing.

We will spend time at a staff meeting in the future with a few options of how things might look and get input on what we think would be best for our kids in our program. We would like to work from kids needs first, then apply the staffing to that. When we do supervision meetings in March/April you can share with us if you see an opportunity for movement that you would like (less classroom, more classroom, different classroom).

We do not yet have a renewal application for the PDEG (PKX) grant, so keep sharing ideas with us on that (we must update renewal every year). We did start a google doc for items to purchase for the classrooms that can be shared across each district. You can link to it here

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vbWCAS-WgaDkrdZhgVTokdGvUH4FRZkur09odnDyjzQ/edit

Beware the full, blue, super moon! See you Soon!

This was sent out by the Department of Health. Just a reminder to stay home if you are sick and if you think it may be the Flu, get to the Doctor ASAP so that you can access Tamiflu when it is the most effective.

BURLINGTON – Flu is widespread across the state, and health officials want to make sure Vermonters know what steps to take to prevent becoming ill, and when to seek treatment.

Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD said that flu is on the rise in Vermont, and because the vaccine is less effective against the predominant strain of virus that’s circulating, it’s important that people know what to do if they get sick.

“The H3N2 flu strain is what we are mainly seeing in Vermont and around the country,” said Dr. Levine. “This version of the flu can result in more severe illness, with more severe consequences for some people, though even regular flu can be pretty unpleasant.”

It is not too late to get your flu shot, and this is especially important if you are someone at high risk of complications from the flu. People at high risk include: pregnant women, young children, adults 50 years and older, and people with chronic health conditions like asthma and diabetes.

“Some protection is better than zero protection,” said Dr. Levine. “While the vaccine is less effective against H3N2, it works well against other flu strains that are circulating. Getting vaccinated will also help those who have more trouble handling the flu if they were to get it, especially babies too young to be vaccinated and those who have weakened immune systems.”

Flu can hit older adults particularly hard. Vermonters age 65+ are encouraged to contact their health care provider to discuss getting vaccines that are designed to give older people a stronger immune response. Dr. Levine recommends that older Vermonters contact their doctor as soon as they suspect they may have the flu. “If you start having flu symptoms, talk to your doctor about antiviral treatment right away. Antiviral drugs are most effective within the first 48 hours of the onset of illness.”

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

The Health Department is recommending that Vermonters take steps to prevent flu and to know what to do if they become ill:

• Get vaccinated. Everyone over the age of 6 months should get a flu shot.

• Keep germs from spreading: Wash hands, cover coughs and sneezes, stay home if you’re sick.

• If you are at high risk of complications from flu, call you doctor as soon as you become ill.

Find more information about flu prevention and treatment: Healthvermont.gov/flu.

Have you used the C4L portal lately?

Now is the time to dig deeper into the Connect4Learning custom online portal, where teachers can plan lessons, administer formative assessments, connect with families, and track progress on the digital math activities.

Watch a tutorial of our portal!

The portal provides teachers with lesson management tools that help them organize and customize their daily schedules, upload and store student data and records, and access helpful curriculum resources. It also features unit-specific modules to support new concepts introduced and offers options for continuing activities.

And there's more for parents and caregivers! The family portal allows families to track children's progress and identify how best to support their learning.

Have questions? Fill out our contact form or call Travis Williams, Connect4Learning specialist, at 336-712-3486.

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The easier way to manage your class

The C4L Online Portal serves as an invaluable classroom management tool and features hundreds of helpful resources and tools to support teachers, families, and administrators.

How to Schedule Gmail Messages To Be Sent Later

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-schedule-gmail-messages-to-be-sent-later/

YOGA IN THE CLASSROOM

You’re Invited to a Free Yoga 4 Classrooms Training

Read the attachment for more information and check out their website at:http://www.yoga4classrooms.com

Through the framework of – Noticing, Mindful Choice, Practice, Reflection, Integration – you will learn how to empower your students and yourselves with increased self-awareness, the foundation for the development of skills of self-regulation and cognitive control.

Event Date: Saturday, March 24th – lunch is provided
Event Time: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm

Event Address: The Gym at St. Albans Town Educational Center
Cost: Free for faculty and staff within the Franklin and Grand Isle school system – please share with your colleagues
Contact us at (802) 524-8825 or info@risevt.com

This is a full-day (6 hour) workshop to be held on-site at St. Albans Town Educational Center, is open to the entire school staff within Franklin and Grand Isle County. Includes yoga cards, RiseVT implementation mentorship.

Please read the attached flyer for all of the detail. You can register at http://risevt.com/yoga.

Please register by March 9th!

2018 Mason’s CARE Training

Audience: Members of School-Based Education Support Teams or Targeted Teams Attending as a Team
Mason’s Comprehensive Assessment Recovery Effort (CARE) training opportunity for school members of education support teams sponsored by the Vermont Freemasons, Vermont Agency of Education, and Vermont Department of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs. This training is designed to provide strategies for the improved and efficient functioning of a school’s Educational Support Team or Targeted Team. The two-day workshop builds educators skills in identifying at-risk students and providing appropriate guidance. There is no cost to participants. There are two regional training opportunities. Participants only have to attend one two-day training. The North training will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 19 - 20, 2018 at Green Mountain Technical Center in Hyde Park. The South training will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 22 - 23, 2018 at the NewsBank Conference Center in Chester. Register for 2018 Mason's CARE Training. Learn more about the Comprehensive Assessment Recovery Effort Training Opportunity.
Contact: Sabine Baldwin at sabine.baldwin@vermont.gov

Recently the Maple Run Staff completed a Student/School Leadership Climate Survey. This is the comparison of how early education staff answered when compared to the rest of the Maple Run K-12 staff. We would like to do a survey for both FNWSU and MRUSD PReK staff that looks closer at the support you feel or don't feel that you are getting from staff within the FCECP program and the schools that you work in (if that applies) . We will be sending it in one of the next few memos.

The following data shots are quick pictures of where children are falling across all of the children in our 7 towns in MRUSD And FNWSU. Teachers are able to access this information for their cohorts of students at a classroom and individual level.