Harwood Staff Blog update, January 15, 2021

Team Harwood;

As I walked the sports fields during gym class my junior year in High School, my best friend and I debated the approach of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X during the Civil Rights Movement.  We had been tasked with our first 20 page research paper and I had chosen MLK and the Montgomery Bus Boycott while she had chosen Malcolm X.  

Rich, full of hunger and naive conviction our discussions began to build the road ahead of us.  Years later I led an annual student trip to Washington DC and watched a monument to MLK slowly erected.  Finally completed, and 20 years after those initial debates I walked through the park with my best friend and together we stood in front of the wall above.  

Not yet consciously aware at the age of 17,  Mr. Bassett, our inspiring American History teacher directed our path in life to choose humanity.  Each year I think of him and the journey that has brought me to this point in my career and I am overwhelmed with gratitude and reminded of the power of our role as educators in the lives of our students.    

To those who have inspired and supported us along the way - and to the students who continue to do so each day.  

In partnership,

Meg, Laurie and Duane   

Gratitudes for the week:

• Lisa Therrien for her incredible work to bring Adaptive Scheduler to HUMHS

• Rachael Potts, Ellen Berrings, Kathy Cadwell, Paul, Sarah Ibson, Jonah, Elizabeth Managan and all the students who continue to lead the work around Race and Equity at HUMHS

• Chris Langevin for getting winter sports up in running.

• Chris Langevin for a third place national finish for Athletic Director who utilize amazing social media connections with their community.

• Taggert and Justin for their amazing and superb skills and keeping our information highways open and running smoothly

• Ellen for continuing to create engaging TA opportunities.

• For all of First Student drivers, monitors, directors and repair people for getting kids to and from school.

Curious  

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
What happens to TA when I’m absent on Wed?	If you’re out on Wednesday for TA please direct students to contact Nancy to let her know they are present.	Laurie, Meg and Duane
What to do about older seating charts..	You may keep all collected seating charts if you like - (good for pillow stuffing etc) however the recommendation is to keep 4 weeks of past seating charts available for review.	Duane
Q&A	Q:  RE: assignments being due at midnight. For some sites 11:59pm is the default time because it gives them the calendar day to complete their assignment - what is the concern about this? Limiting our communication with students between the times of 10p.m. and 6 a.m. what a policy approved by the board that came down from the AOE due to incidents that occurred in other VT schools.  Q:  How can I get my questions answered by Meg, Duane and Laurie? Join our virtual Monday Q&A at 2:50 or stay on the staff meeting Wed. at 4.  To date the questions asked at the Q&A have been mostly individual but if there are general questions be assured we’ll include them in the blog.
School Pictures	Picture retakes will be Tuesday, 1/19 and Friday, 1/22.	Nancy Myrto

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

What happens to TA when I’m absent on Wed?

If you’re out on Wednesday for TA please direct students to contact Nancy to let her know they are present.

Laurie, Meg and Duane 

What to do about older seating charts..  

You may keep all collected seating charts if you like - (good for pillow stuffing etc) however the recommendation is to keep 4 weeks of past seating charts available for review.  

Duane 

Q&A

Q:  RE: assignments being due at midnight. For some sites 11:59pm is the default time because it gives them the calendar day to complete their assignment - what is the concern about this?

Limiting our communication with students between the times of 10p.m. and 6 a.m. what a policy approved by the board that came down from the AOE due to incidents that occurred in other VT schools.

 Q:  How can I get my questions answered by Meg, Duane and Laurie?

Join our virtual Monday Q&A at 2:50 or stay on the staff meeting Wed. at 4.  To date the questions asked at the Q&A have been mostly individual but if there are general questions be assured we’ll include them in the blog. 

School Pictures

Picture retakes will be Tuesday, 1/19 and Friday, 1/22.

Nancy Myrto

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Continued support for our community in processing the attack on our Capitol	Please find a great resource for supporting these conversations in the aftermath of the crisis. Resource List for Teaching about the Jan 6 Event in Washington DC compiled by Kathy Cadwell https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_IE9zgwkcSy57DH8UKrG_Y_Kjn4zSjFrztk6ta8UPnU/edit
Reminders from our health office	It is important to make sure your mask covers both your mouth and nose at all times.  A mask that is worn “half covering your face”  is similar to how the USS Enterprise approached the USS Reliant (the first time) within the award winning 1982 film, the Wrath of Khan. As we all know it didn' go well for the Enterprise.  Shields Up when approaching other vessels is a standard operating procedure for Star Fleet (general order 12) As a reminder of this historic event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpYqWAIwFA	Amanda, Tracy and Kirk
Ensuring self care remains at the forefront in the midst of this all	Ten Percent Happier - Episode #313
High School TA Plans	A thought... I know some of you are still struggling with the check in process for asynchronous days. I am happy to work with you around this process. I just completed a workshop about executive functioning and the importance of co-regulation to support students in developing their skills. She offered a quote that really struck me, especially since we know many of our students are experiencing trauma to some degree: “When working with trauma impacted students, we must reach their hearts before we can reach their heads.” - Dr. Ken Ginsberg How can we make our check-ins effective and relevant in order to reach student’s hearts to make sure they are in a place to access their learning? MLK Activity In the next few weeks we will be rolling out an activity to honor MLK along with considering how we can make our Harwood and larger communities places where all can be heard, valued and respected. Please stay tuned to your email for the resources and description! A big shout out to the sophomore class council and Rachael for working on this plan!!! Questions of the week: What assumption have you made that ended up being incorrect? What do you think is your most creative ability? What was your best moment in the past week? Worst moment? If you had an extra hour every day that you could use for your own purpose, how would you use it? What is the last big goal that you accomplished? What is the best act of kindness you have ever witnessed?	Ellen
Professional development and conferences	Unfortunately due to budgetary constraints we are unable to approve professional development and conferences for the remainder of this year unless it is a three credit graduate class that occurs outside of the school day and if needed for licensure.    If you are seeking graduate work opportunities please remember that these courses can not be taken during school hours.	Laurie and Meg

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Continued support for our community in processing the attack on our Capitol

Please find a great resource for supporting these conversations in the aftermath of the crisis.

Resource List for Teaching about the Jan 6 Event in Washington DC compiled by Kathy Cadwell

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_IE9zgwkcSy57DH8UKrG_Y_Kjn4zSjFrztk6ta8UPnU/edit

Reminders from our health office

It is important to make sure your mask covers both your mouth and nose at all times.  A mask that is worn “half covering your face”  is similar to how the USS Enterprise approached the USS Reliant (the first time) within the award winning 1982 film, the Wrath of Khan. As we all know it didn' go well for the Enterprise.  Shields Up when approaching other vessels is a standard operating procedure for Star Fleet (general order 12)

As a reminder of this historic event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpYqWAIwFA  

Amanda, Tracy and Kirk

Ensuring self care remains at the forefront in the midst of this all

Ten Percent Happier - Episode #313

High School TA Plans

A thought...

I know some of you are still struggling with the check in process for asynchronous days. I am happy to work with you around this process. I just completed a workshop about executive functioning and the importance of co-regulation to support students in developing their skills. She offered a quote that really struck me, especially since we know many of our students are experiencing trauma to some degree:

“When working with trauma impacted students, we must reach their hearts before we can reach their heads.” - Dr. Ken Ginsberg

How can we make our check-ins effective and relevant in order to reach student’s hearts to make sure they are in a place to access their learning?

MLK Activity

In the next few weeks we will be rolling out an activity to honor MLK along with considering how we can make our Harwood and larger communities places where all can be heard, valued and respected. Please stay tuned to your email for the resources and description! A big shout out to the sophomore class council and Rachael for working on this plan!!!

Questions of the week:

1. What assumption have you made that ended up being incorrect?

2. What do you think is your most creative ability?

3. What was your best moment in the past week? Worst moment?

4. If you had an extra hour every day that you could use for your own purpose, how would you use it?

5. What is the last big goal that you accomplished?

6. What is the best act of kindness you have ever witnessed?

Ellen

Professional development and conferences 

Unfortunately due to budgetary constraints we are unable to approve professional development and conferences for the remainder of this year unless it is a three credit graduate class that occurs outside of the school day and if needed for licensure.   

If you are seeking graduate work opportunities please remember that these courses can not be taken during school hours.

Laurie and Meg 

Connected 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Inservice Schedule	Schedule and Agenda	Meg, Laurie and Duane
Classroom dismissal at the end of the school day	It is important to remember to keep students in your classroom at the end of the day. Students should be dismissed only after hearing the announcement from Nancy.	Duane and Laurie, Meg
One way circuit	Friendly reminder to honor the one way directions around the building and remind students as well.	Duane
Upcoming Dates	DATES  1/18 - Staff inservice 1/29 - Last day of Semester 1/Quarter 2  2/1 - Quarter 3 & Flex block begins	Duane and Laurie, Meg
Staff Meeting agenda.	Objectives:   To ensure clarity around the course registration process for 2021-2022 in order to effectively support our students To ensure readiness for TA in the coming weeks Running Agenda Zoom Information:   Meeting ID: 858 1626 1603 Passcode: 9M1Hus
Tech Updates	If you are interested in displaying content on our monitors, located in the main lobby, MS entrance and by the HS gym, contact hutech@huusd.org and we can help with that. (i.e. Powerpoint, message, pictures, student work)

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Inservice Schedule

Schedule and Agenda

Meg, Laurie and Duane

Classroom dismissal at the end of the school day  

It is important to remember to keep students in your classroom at the end of the day. Students should be dismissed only after hearing the announcement from Nancy.  

Duane and Laurie, Meg

One way circuit 

Friendly reminder to honor the one way directions around the building and remind students as well.

Duane 

Upcoming Dates 

DATES 

• 1/18 - Staff inservice

• 1/29 - Last day of Semester 1/Quarter 2 

• 2/1 - Quarter 3 & Flex block begins

Duane and Laurie, Meg

Staff Meeting agenda.

Objectives:  

• To ensure clarity around the course registration process for 2021-2022 in order to effectively support our students

• To ensure readiness for TA in the coming weeks

Running Agenda

Zoom Information:  

Meeting ID: 858 1626 1603

Passcode: 9M1Hus

Tech Updates

If you are interested in displaying content on our monitors, located in the main lobby, MS entrance and by the HS gym, contact hutech@huusd.org and we can help with that.

(i.e. Powerpoint, message, pictures, student work)