Week of January 22

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Higgs and Hook
Monday 1/22  Non Work day
Tuesday 1/23: 
Wednesday 1/24
Thursday 1/25: 
Friday 1/26:  Staff work day - no students

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Levy and Mahoney
Monday 1/29  Resiliency Part 4.  9:00 -noon
Tuesday 1/30: 
Wednesday 1/31
Thursday 2/1: 
Friday 2/2: 

Really Big Thanks....To Lex, Diane, and Jessica for hosting a lab classroom and to Asheley for facilitating the process.  A Lab Classroom is an opportunity for teaching colleagues to practice, share and reflect upon new learning and those of us fortunate enough to participate grew professionally from this experience.  Lex, Diane, and Jessica... you are examples of quietly amazing teachers and I appreciate your willingness to open your classrooms and your thinking processes to us.


Holidays and Personal Leave
Here is a memo from the district office:

This is a reminder to all staff (certified & classified) that you are required to obtain approval when taking personal leave around holidays (only personal leave requires this prior approval). The District's procedure is as follows: 

1. Staff member writes email to his/her supervisor asking permission for time off occurring before/after a holiday.

2. If the supervisor approves the time off, the supervisor forwards the email string to the Superintendent for their approval. 

3. Superintendent will send reply back to staff member, supervisor and copies Shelley Hanzen, who tracks sub numbers on those dates.

4. Staff member secures a sub & enters time off in Absence Management (Aesop)

​Under Section 1 Article III of the Master Articles it reads: 

G.     If an employee needs to use personal leave before and/or after a holiday, the reason must be stated to and approved by the building administrator and is subject to final approval by the Superintendent of Schools.  If an employee requests personal leave which impacts flex time, then the employee will arrange opportunities to make up missed time with his/her Supervisor which could include working on a flex day.

How to Stop a Bully

Maybe a video for 21st Century Skills

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Fehling
Monday 1/15 Martin Luther King Jr.
Tuesday 1/16: 
Wednesday 1/17
Thursday 1/18: 
Friday 1/19

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Higgs and Hook
Monday 1/22  Non Work day
Tuesday 1/23: 
Wednesday 1/24
Thursday 1/25: 
Friday 1/26:  Staff work day - no students

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Levy and Mahoney
Monday 1/29  8:00 Staff Meeting
Tuesday 1/30: 
Wednesday 1/31
Thursday 2/1: 
Friday 2/2: 

Week of January 8

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Cooley and Doering

Monday 1/8  PD day: 8:00 staff meeting, Agenda Here
Tuesday 1/9: 
Wednesday 1/10
Thursday 1/11: 
Friday 1/12: 

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Fehling

Monday 1/15 Martin Luther King Jr.
Tuesday 1/16: 
Wednesday 1/17
Thursday 1/18: 
Friday 1/19:  


Academic Conversations
Here is a quick video that shows a teacher teaching students how to engage in academic conversations:

Week of December 11, 2017

Bus/Parking lot duty:   Smith and Gaynor

Monday 12/11: 8:00 Faculty Meeting (nuts and bolts and 21st Century check in) 8:30;  9:00 Department meetings
Tuesday 12/12: 
Wednesday 12/13 
Thursday 12/14:   Holiday Dinner for students
Friday 12/15:  

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Beck and Clark
Monday 1/1 New Year's Day
Tuesday 1/2: 
Wednesday 1/3 
Thursday 1/4:  
Friday 1/5:  

Week of December 4, 2017

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Meeks 

Monday 12/4  Kaiser at PBEC
Tuesday 12/5:  Kaiser at PBEC
Wednesday 12/6 Kaiser at PBEC
Thursday 12/7:   Kaiser at PBEC  Holiday dine-in and conferences  3:00 - 7:00
Friday 12/8:  Celebration Assembly 11:15

Bus/Parking lot duty:   Smith and Gaynor

Monday 12/11 Faculty Meeting 8:00
Tuesday 12/12: 
Wednesday 12/13 
Thursday 12/14:   Holiday Dinner for students
Friday 12/15:  

Conferences
Conferences will be December 7th from 3:00 -7:00 PM.  I will not be here, so I'm asking for everyone to take personal responsibility for being in the commons to greet parents as they come in, if you aren't conferencing in your room.

Celebration Assembly
Please talk to your students about the celebration assembly this week in your 21st Century Skills classes.  Some things to teach to... Parents/families will be in attendance, please be gracious hosts, listen politely, enter and exit the gym calmly, clap appropriately, show respect for all the students and speakers.  Anything else...

Volunteer Opportunity
Skyway Elementary is putting together a pretty large community event that will take place on the evening of December 15th.  They have already reached out to Skyway staff and parents as well as Lake City Church for volunteers.  The links to view details about the event and to sign up are below.
I am signed up to volunteer on the evening of December 14th.  If you would like to volunteer either on your own or with some students, here is the link to sign up:  http://lakecity.church/feedchildren/

Week of November 27, 2017

I feel so blessed and fortunate to be part of Venture High School and the amazing work that happens here.  The work you all do is so much more than teaching. You care about kids, their families and their lives and the power of that caring opens up possibilities that might otherwise be impossible.  We all, individually and collectively, maintain a hopeful vision for each of our kids through times when they struggle to see potential in themselves.  I am so thankful for each of you!   I wish for you a Thanksgiving break that renews your strength and refreshes your spirit.
Happy Thanksgiving! 


Bus/Parking lot duty:  Levy and Mahoney

Monday 11/27:  8:00: Staff meeting- bring your School-Connect curriculum  9:00 - 12:00:   Resiliency III Training with Teresa Hurliman; 12:30 Math meeting
Tuesday 11/28:  
Wednesday 11/29:
Thursday 11/30:   
Friday 12/1: Last Day of Trimester

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Meeks 

Monday 12/4  Kaiser at PBEC
Tuesday 12/5:  Kaiser at PBEC
Wednesday 12/6 Kaiser at PBEC
Thursday 12/7:   Kaiser at PBEC  Holiday dine-in and conferences  3:00 - 7:00
Friday 12/8:  Celebration Assembly

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Meeks 

Monday 12/11 Faculty Meeting 8:00
Tuesday 12/12: 
Wednesday 12/13 
Thursday 12/14:   Holiday Dinner for students
Friday 12/15:  

Welcome Miller Gregory Meeks

Week of November 13, 2017

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Higgs and Hook
Monday 11/13: 7:00 Library Cross district Collaboration - Bring concerns, thoughts, suggestions for our 21st Century skills class.  This is a school day!
Tuesday 11/14:  
Wednesday 11/15:  Kaiser out - Data Summit II
Thursday 11/16:   
Friday 11/17: 

Week of November 20 - Thanksgiving Break

Bus/Parking lot duty:  Levy and Mahoney
Monday 11/27: Resiliency III Training 9:00   Please be ready to begin at 9:00
Tuesday 11/28:  
Wednesday 11/29:
Thursday 11/30:   
Friday 12/1: Last Day of Trimester

Holidays
It's time for my annual reminder that the holidays are often stressful and not fun for our students.  As families reach the limits of their emotional and physical resources, kids can become the casualties of dysfunctional coping mechanisms.  Hence, the unhappy memories.  Mix in the teenage tendency to believe everyone else has a better life than they do, add a sprinkle of unstructured time and a smattering of disrupted routines, and teachers become the collateral damage of 140 hijacked amygdalas.  

A few things to remember:

1. Don't make assignments based on the assumption that holidays are fun for all.  Don't ask them to reflect on, refer to, or tell stories about past holidays, plans for current holidays etc.  
2. This doesn't mean that you have to avoid festivity.  However, focus on themes that are non religious and common to most cultures.  Please don't add to anxiety with gift exchanges etc.
3. Keep your schedules as normal as possible.  Giving anxiety-ridden, stressed-out students free time is not helpful.  Unstructured time is not a teacher's friend.  Consistent and predictable routines serve to calm the amygdala and free up the frontal cortex for learning and decision making.
4. We already have reduced time at school.  It's really important to use every minute to learning advantage.  We can't show movies in their entirety (copyright laws, or something like that)  Activities should be tied to standards and learning objectives.

Lock Down Drill

The lock down drill went really well.  We rattle doors, opened some doors to make sure kids were hunkered down and quiet.  And it went pretty well.  

IMEN Visit

I wish I would have video'd the IMEN student interviews.  Five students were interviewed and they RAVED about how helpful their teachers were and how much they loved their classes.  When asked what they would change about the school, ALL of the kids said they would change nothing - everything is working well for them.  Kudos to all of you for creating a safe and accepting learning environment for all of our kids.  You guys are the BEST!!!