Harwood Staff Blog update, January 29, 2021

Just a "few" more Pivots and we will be there..whereever there or whatever there is or is not..  

 

Team Harwood; 

This summer we declared our “word” of the year to be pivot.  Our declaration came from the ongoing changes and uncertainty of COVID guidelines and protocols.

As we officially begin our second semester and cusp the halfway mark for the year we want to refine and clarify our definition of pivot.  

The needs of our community continue to change based on feelings, emotions, needs, timing of the year, and the current scope of COVID.  To that end, PIVOT is the intentional and responsive consideration of the feedback and needs of our community and consequent revision or change to our plans.

We want to acknowledge the fatigue that has again set in as we wrap our 4th week back from break and express our continued gratitude!

Thank you for providing constructive feedback and assuming the best as we move forward. 

In partnership,

Meg, Duane and Laurie 

Gratitudes for the week:

• Dana for her tireless support and advocacy of her students.

• Mel for creating space that makes students feel safe  - seen, heard, respected and understood.

• Chelsea for continuing to be thorough, thoughtful and supporting our community in being more effective. 

• Ellen for her continuous work to develop and improve TA for what is best for students.

• Amanda and Tracy for working diligently to keep our students healthy.

• Thank you to Eric and John for being our everready Johnny on the spot interventionists (even though Eric is a 504 case manager now.. )  

• For Liz Hepp and her ever positive and committed attitude towards all she does.

• For Susan Laskaris for her amazing abiltiy to juggle a variety of sharp objects, fire torches and chainsaws at the same time.

Curious  

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Plans for February break	Please reach out and let Duane, Meg and/or Laurie know if you will need to quarantine after February break so we can plan accordingly.	Meg, Laurie or Duane
Flex block rubric	Reporting directions will be in your mailboxes on Monday. Here is the rubric that will be used for all students in all Flex Blocks.  Students must self-assess once during each 5-week session.  You may ask students to do this more frequently. There are still a few roster updates happening.  Thanks for your patience through the weekend!
Next surveillance testing date	The next testing date will be February 9th	Allison Conyers
Are we allowed to bring food treats for Valentine’s day celebrations in the building?	As has been the case with food during COVID in general  - please refrain from bringing in any Valentine food treats.	Allison Conyers

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Plans for February break

Please reach out and let Duane, Meg and/or Laurie know if you will need to quarantine after February break so we can plan accordingly.  

Meg, Laurie or Duane

Flex block rubric

Reporting directions will be in your mailboxes on Monday.

Here is the rubric that will be used for all students in all Flex Blocks.  Students must self-assess once during each 5-week session.  You may ask students to do this more frequently.

There are still a few roster updates happening.  Thanks for your patience through the weekend!

Next surveillance testing date

The next testing date will be February 9th

Allison Conyers

Are we allowed to bring food treats for Valentine’s day celebrations in the building? 

As has been the case with food during COVID in general  - please refrain from bringing in any Valentine food treats. 

Allison Conyers

Caring 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Free Meals For Children 18 & Younger	Did you know you can get free breakfasts and lunches for your children 18 and under? That includes littles not yet enrolled in school! Sign up for meals here.  Free meals are not only for families in need, and you won’t be “taking away” a meal from someone in need if you decide to get a meal for your child(ren).   Please take advantage of this wonderful benefit, the more meals served, the better it is for the HUUSD Food & Nutrition Program.	Paul Morris
Teacher Advisory	As you know; next Week Flex Blocks begin! Please be sure to support your students to know what their schedule is. Please reach out to Lisa T if you or they have any questions.  All School MLK Activity The sophomore class council group have been working feverishly to get the bulletin board going. I hope you have noticed the beautiful drawing at the center of the board.  This activity is intentionally designed to be flexible in regard to timing. Our hope is that you will all be able to participate in the activities by February 12th to provide time for the students to complete construction of the collective mural. We do want you to know that the papers you will need for the day 2 and day 3 activities will be available next week. On Monday you will receive red, white and blue squares and yellow stars to respond to the first question. By the end of the week the remaining papers will be available for the questions for the third activity.  One final extra piece you might want to share with students is Amanda Goman’s amazing poem We wanted you to have this information for your planning.  Once your group has completed the papers in TA please leave them in Rachael or Ellen’s mailbox.  Questions? Feel free to contact Ellen! Questions of the Week What was the best thing you learned during the first semester? What do you hope to be an expert about at some point in your life? Why? If it is raining or too cold to go outside, what activity do you like to do? What’s your plan for surviving a zombie invasion? What do you wish we taught at school that we don’t? Do you have something special that picks you up when you feel down? What is it?

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Free Meals

For Children 18 & Younger

Did you know you can get free breakfasts and lunches for your children 18 and under? That includes littles not yet enrolled in school! Sign up for meals here.  Free meals are not only for families in need, and you won’t be “taking away” a meal from someone in need if you decide to get a meal for your child(ren).   Please take advantage of this wonderful benefit, the more meals served, the better it is for the HUUSD Food & Nutrition Program. 

Paul Morris

Teacher Advisory

As you know; next Week Flex Blocks begin! Please be sure to support your students to know what their schedule is. Please reach out to Lisa T if you or they have any questions. 

All School MLK Activity

The sophomore class council group have been working feverishly to get the bulletin board going. I hope you have noticed the beautiful drawing at the center of the board. 

This activity is intentionally designed to be flexible in regard to timing. Our hope is that you will all be able to participate in the activities by February 12th to provide time for the students to complete construction of the collective mural. We do want you to know that the papers you will need for the day 2 and day 3 activities will be available next week. On Monday you will receive red, white and blue squares and yellow stars to respond to the first question. By the end of the week the remaining papers will be available for the questions for the third activity. 

One final extra piece you might want to share with students is Amanda Goman’s amazing poem

We wanted you to have this information for your planning. 

Once your group has completed the papers in TA please leave them in Rachael or Ellen’s mailbox. 

Questions? Feel free to contact Ellen!

Questions of the Week

1. What was the best thing you learned during the first semester?

2. What do you hope to be an expert about at some point in your life? Why?

3. If it is raining or too cold to go outside, what activity do you like to do?

4. What’s your plan for surviving a zombie invasion?

5. What do you wish we taught at school that we don’t?

6. Do you have something special that picks you up when you feel down? What is it?

Connected 

Topics	Information/Links	Tasks/Point people
Upcoming Dates	DATES  02/01 - Quarter 3 & Flex block begins 02/03 - NO Staff meeting - time to complete grades and comments Middle School staff will meet from 8:10 - 8:40 - Duane will send a link and agenda  02/05 -  Progress reports to families and students. 02/08 - Send Transcripts to college 2/22 - 3/2 - No School - Winter Break 03/04 - Black cohort day 03/05 - Gold cohort day Please note the cohort day switch when we return from February break!.	Duane and Laurie, Meg
Q2 and Semester 2 grades	JumpRope slideshow All updates must be completed by Friday, February 5 at 8:15 am. This includes delivering a printed copy of Q2/S1 scores for each class to Susan. Please DO NOT enter any Q3 scores until progress reports have been completed on 2/5 - watch for an email!	Lisa T
Teachers for Summer Session	Summer Session in the past has been a successful and worthwhile time for students and for teachers! Although this is in the very early stages of planning and details right now are slim - - please reach out to Lisa Therrien if you are interested in being part of the Summer Teaching Team.	Lisa T
Lunch Coverage Q3	Lunch Coverage Make sure to click on Quarter 3 tab!	Duane
Staff Meeting 2/3 agenda.	Gift of time to independently complete grades and comments.  JumpRope slideshow Staff Meeting Calendar	Meg, Duane and Laurie
Staff Meeting Time decision	Please note that Harwood school specific staff meetings will be held from 8:00 - 9:00 based on recent survey data.  This will not be the case for Rebecca Haslam’s meeting which will still be held from 3 - 4. (March 17)  Please refer to the staff meeting calendar linked above.  Please see Laurie, Duane and/or Meg if you have questions or concerns.
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)	Taggert and Justin

Topics 

Information/Links

Tasks/Point people 

Upcoming Dates 

DATES 

• 02/01 - Quarter 3 & Flex block begins

• 02/03 - NO Staff meeting - time to complete grades and comments

• Middle School staff will meet from 8:10 - 8:40 - Duane will send a link and agenda 

• 02/05 -  Progress reports to families and students.

• 02/08 - Send Transcripts to college

• 2/22 - 3/2 - No School - Winter Break

• 03/04 - Black cohort day

• 03/05 - Gold cohort day

Please note the cohort day switch when we return from February break!.

Duane and Laurie, Meg

Q2 and Semester 2 grades

• JumpRope slideshow

All updates must be completed by Friday, February 5 at 8:15 am. This includes delivering a printed copy of Q2/S1 scores for each class to Susan.

Please DO NOT enter any Q3 scores until progress reports have been completed on 2/5 - watch for an email!

Lisa T

Teachers for Summer Session

Summer Session in the past has been a successful and worthwhile time for students and for teachers!

Although this is in the very early stages of planning and details right now are slim - - please reach out to Lisa Therrien if you are interested in being part of the Summer Teaching Team.

Lisa T

Lunch Coverage

Q3

Lunch Coverage

Make sure to click on Quarter 3 tab!

Duane

Staff Meeting 2/3 agenda.

Gift of time to independently complete grades and comments. 

• JumpRope slideshow

• Staff Meeting Calendar

Meg, Duane and Laurie 

Staff Meeting Time decision 

Please note that Harwood school specific staff meetings will be held from 8:00 - 9:00 based on recent survey data.  This will not be the case for Rebecca Haslam’s meeting which will still be held from 3 - 4. (March 17)  Please refer to the staff meeting calendar linked above.  Please see Laurie, Duane and/or Meg if you have questions or concerns.  

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)

Taggert and Justin