Harwood Staff Blog update, October 13, 2020

 

.....a metaphor for some parts of the times we live in..  perhaps.  

Harwood team;

Thank you all for your thoughtful feedback, suggestions and curiorisites regarding the take aways from the staff and family survey and potential scheduling changes.

As we seek to foster a strong distributive leadership model and provide opportunity for voice from the entire staff we will be discussing the pros and cons of these two Wednesday Options in our Department Head (Operations); Student Wellness and Teaching & Learning on October 20th. 

We want to invite all of you in advance of  10/21 to reach out and connect with your colleagues on these teams to share any additional feedback you have.  Below are the members of each team and our running agendas.  

• Student Wellness - Laurie

• Melody, Chris L,Tara C, Ellen B, Jen D,  Jess D, Wendy M. Vicki H.

• Operations (Dep’t heads & Team Leaders) - Duane 

• Sally, Ryan, Becky Allen, Marcus, Katie, Andrew, Ellen, Chris Rivers, Chris, Chelsea, Wendy,  Kristi Mc, Jon P, Sarah I. 

• Teaching and Learning - Meg

• Andrew B, Jonah I, Lisa T, Becky B, Michael W, Erin D, Genevieve K, Shannon L, 

In partnership and with gratitude,

Laurie, Meg and Duane

Curious  

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Quarter and Semester end dates	Q1 = 11/13 Sem 1 and Q2 = 1/29 Q3 = 4/09	Meg, Laurie and Duane
If you have more more questions please add to our Q&A	We’re working hard to answer your questions - keep adding as more come up to Harwood MS/HS Q&A.	Laurie, Meg and Duane
October meal calendar	Meals calendar here.
Sports schedule	See this week’s schedule here.  Go Highlanders!

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Quarter and Semester end dates

• Q1 = 11/13

• Sem 1 and Q2 = 1/29

• Q3 = 4/09

Meg, Laurie and Duane 

If you have more more questions please add to our Q&A 

We’re working hard to answer your questions - keep adding as more come up to Harwood MS/HS Q&A.  

Laurie, Meg and Duane

October meal calendar 

Meals calendar here.

Sports schedule 

See this week’s schedule here.  Go Highlanders! 

Connected 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
ATTENDANCE UPDATE	Starting next Wednesday (10- 21-2020) attendance on Wednesday will NO longer be taken by TA.  Nancy will send out a question in order to manage attendance centrally.
Calling out reminder	In order to help Shannon secure coverage for you - please call in by 6:30 if you are out sick.	Shannon
Screening reminder	When completing your screener each morning - please remember to use your @huusd.org email address	Meg, Lauria and Duane
Sub folders	If you have not yet returned your updated sub folder to Shannon please update and return ASAP.	Shannon
10/14 Staff meeting	For the 2020-2021 school year staff meetings will be held on Wednesday’s from 3-4.  Please find this week’s meeting agenda here and you will receive a zoom invite from your grade level TA leader.   Objectives:The grade level TA meetings will begin the work toward preparing students for the November parent conferences.	Laurie, Duane and Meg
Zoom access increased	Want more features - see here for co-hosting, chat options and more.	Curtis
Confidentiality	Reminder to keep conversations about students private and behind closed doors to protect their privacy.
Nurse	Reminder of nurse protocol - call down and bring a pass
Mock Election support	In preparation for the national election and our mock election at HUHS which will take place on Wed, October 28,  the  department has collaborated to produce a Voters Guide to the 2020 Election, that  contains materials for ALL TAs and students to learn about the  upcoming election.There are sections on the following topics: Norms for Having Political Discussions How Do I Register to Vote? I Got A Mail In Ballot...Now What?  How Do I Vote By Mail? Who Can Run For Office? How Is A President Selected? Additional Resource Links ( include info on the candidates running for state office in Vermont, questions about the electoral college and much more)	History Dep’t

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

Starting next Wednesday (10- 21-2020) attendance on Wednesday will NO longer be taken by TA.  Nancy will send out a question in order to manage attendance centrally.  

Calling out reminder

In order to help Shannon secure coverage for you - please call in by 6:30 if you are out sick.

Shannon 

Screening reminder 

When completing your screener each morning - please remember to use your @huusd.org email address

Meg, Lauria and Duane

Sub folders

If you have not yet returned your updated sub folder to Shannon please update and return ASAP.   

Shannon

10/14 Staff meeting 

For the 2020-2021 school year staff meetings will be held on Wednesday’s from 3-4.  Please find this week’s meeting agenda here and you will receive a zoom invite from your grade level TA leader.  

Objectives:The grade level TA meetings will begin the work toward preparing students for the November parent conferences.

Laurie, Duane and Meg 

Zoom access increased 

Want more features - see here for co-hosting, chat options and more.  

Curtis 

Confidentiality

Reminder to keep conversations about students private and behind closed doors to protect their privacy.

Nurse

Reminder of nurse protocol - call down and bring a pass 

Mock Election support

In preparation for the national election and our mock election at HUHS which will take place on Wed, October 28,  the  department has collaborated to produce a Voters Guide to the 2020 Election, that  contains materials for ALL TAs and students to learn about the  upcoming election.There are sections on the following topics:

Norms for Having Political Discussions

How Do I Register to Vote?

I Got A Mail In Ballot...Now What?

 How Do I Vote By Mail?

Who Can Run For Office?

How Is A President Selected?

Additional Resource Links ( include info on the candidates running for state office in Vermont, questions about the electoral college and much more)

History Dep’t

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Rebecca Haslem feedback	Friday afternoon’s work was just one of a several sessions scheduled with Rebecca this year. Future sessions are scheduled during staff meetings, the next being on Nov. 11. The full schedule, including focus topics, can be found here. Please complete this form to give Rebecca Halsam feedback as she shapes her future sessions with us. Here again is the  resource folder that includes Rebecca's slide deck, four handouts, and a certificate of participation from Friday.  A more general resource list is here. Rebecca has left editing permissions wide open so folks can add to it when they come across something worth sharing. If you scroll down, you'll see an extensive list of additional readings at the bottom of that document.
TA plans for the coming week	This week the TA groups will be meeting during our Wednesday staff meeting time. The meetings will begin the work toward preparing students for the November parent conferences. It seemed timely this year to support students in writing a goal related to their well being for the year. To that end we will be using the Wellness Wheel in grades 9-12  as a springboard for developing a meaningful goal to insure that we all pay attention to self care. As TA groups you will have an opportunity to practice using the wheel to consider our own state of We must be sure to take care of ourselves if we are going to be able to be fully wellness and considering areas on which we might like to focus. present for our students. Your lead TA will be sharing this resource document with you. It contains links to all of the documents needed to prepare students for their parent meetings. You will note that this is a draft as I encourage your input in the meeting to refine the process and share your ideas! Your lead TA teachers will share your feedback with me. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you need any support with this activity or anything else related to advisory.  Middle School staff will meet to discuss options as it relates to family conferenes on grade level. Duane will send a zoom link during the meeting. Thank you for all you are doing this year to create safe, respectful spaces for your students through advisor	Ellen
Seniority list	Seniority list is posted in the staff lounge.  Please go by this week and initials next to your name.  Your name might appear in more than one place so please check carefully.	Shannon
Change of schedule FYI’s	Schedule changes starting on 10/26 are ONLY for k-6 Harwood will have a normal schedule on Wednesday 10/21	Duane, Laurie and Meg

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Rebecca Haslem feedback 

Friday afternoon’s work was just one of a several sessions scheduled with Rebecca this year. Future sessions are scheduled during staff meetings, the next being on Nov. 11. The full schedule, including focus topics, can be found here.

Please complete this form to give Rebecca Halsam feedback as she shapes her future sessions with us.

Here again is the  resource folder that includes Rebecca's slide deck, four handouts, and a certificate of participation from Friday. 

A more general resource list is here. Rebecca has left editing permissions wide open so folks can add to it when they come across something worth sharing. If you scroll down, you'll see an extensive list of additional readings at the bottom of that document.

TA plans for the coming week

This week the TA groups will be meeting during our Wednesday staff meeting time. The meetings will begin the work toward preparing students for the November parent conferences. It seemed timely this year to support students in writing a goal related to their well being for the year. To that end we will be using the Wellness Wheel in grades 9-12  as a springboard for developing a meaningful goal to insure that we all pay attention to self care. As TA groups you will have an opportunity to practice using the wheel to consider our own state of We must be sure to take care of ourselves if we are going to be able to be fully wellness and considering areas on which we might like to focus. present for our students. Your lead TA will be sharing this resource document with you. It contains links to all of the documents needed to prepare students for their parent meetings. You will note that this is a draft as I encourage your input in the meeting to refine the process and share your ideas! Your lead TA teachers will share your feedback with me. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly if you need any support with this activity or anything else related to advisory. 

Middle School staff will meet to discuss options as it relates to family conferenes on grade level. Duane will send a zoom link during the meeting.

Thank you for all you are doing this year to create safe, respectful spaces for your students through advisor

Ellen 

Seniority list 

Seniority list is posted in the staff lounge.  Please go by this week and initials next to your name.  Your name might appear in more than one place so please check carefully.

Shannon 

Change of schedule FYI’s

• Schedule changes starting on 10/26 are ONLY for k-6

• Harwood will have a normal schedule on Wednesday 10/21

Duane, Laurie and Meg