The almost back to school update...

 

Are you ready?!! I know, I know, you're probably laughing at that.  I'll share with you that personally, my family enjoyed a week-long trip to Manasota Key, Florida, got an adorable new puppy, read books for pleasure, and enjoyed some professional learning. One of the books I read I just have to share with you...a couple of years ago a good friend reached out to me to connect with me with her former student, Murphy, who was a young lady with autism and also struggled with anxiety and depression and wanted to share her story to help teachers.  Murphy published her book last year and I finally got to read it. While written at such a young age, she was very vulnerable in sharing her stories and shared some tips that really had me reflecting and felt some personal gut punches as I reflected on some of the students that I know I could have done more. I share with you the tips from her book HERE. I believe her 12 tips here are a must read, especially as we start a new school year and get ready to make connections and build relationships! If you'd like to borrow this book, just let me know!

Some Notes for InService Week:
*There are still some location details to be made, but I'll keep you posted next week. 
*I'm working on individual communications regarding those of you that have multiple places to be. 
*Plan for professional attire to welcome families at Open House on Thursday, but aside from that all comfy clothes/tennies are encouraged. :)

Lots of "Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

• I believe the master schedule with duties and everything is completed. You can find it HERE or in the DMS DHS Staff Shared drive < 2021-2022 folder, then the spreadsheet for 21-22 MS HS Master Schedule. This has been reviewed by multiple people about 8 million times so I hope that it is mistake-free, but I make no promises! :)

• There will not be any training time designated to learning how to use the new copiers and phones so please make sure to take some time to review the how-to resources on our Staff Resources Page. Don't remember how to find that awesome resource? The step-by-step directions of how to access it are here:  https://bit.ly/3xGf6i2. Then go to the Technology tab
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Thank you so much for sharing your updated learning targets with me. Our goal was to have them all updated in PowerTeacher Pro before your return. The bad news is, that didn't happen.  I am not kidding when I say our tech department has been working a gazillion hours a week with updating our technology infrastructure with the renovation (I just thought technology meant my laptop, but think of all the wiring that must go in for wifi, synced clocks, new PA system, cameras, etc.). They literally have not stopped working.  But, we will make sure that any new/revised learning targets are in once we get started so you can start giving student feedback by the end of the 2nd week. The good news is, you will have your Employability Skills and Work Habits to give behavior feedback on. 
  
  
• On your own learning. Just a reminder that you'll need to: Complete Bloodborne pathogens which came to your inbox from Safe Schools. Your completion certificate goes to Kimi Pasewald in the District Office. 
  
  
• We are having a reboot with Educator Effectiveness/Effectiveness Project after being on hold last year.  Last year felt like several years, so we recognize how "foggy" you may feel about details of SLO, PPG, surveys, and last year's new teachers never even got introduced to any of it! For this reason, I will have a screen recording that will be shared this week with all certified staff in the district. There will be scheduled trainings throughout the year to introduce and support you on each step of Educator Effectiveness.  New this year, we are going to implement a new method for observations that are more meaningful for you.  More details to come on that later.