September 30, 2019

Room of the week:

Edie Fulton!

--
--
--
--

Let's fill these up!  Let me know of some ideas.

9th grader loves all his teachers

From a parent last Friday:
"I just wanted to let you know that my wife asked my son who his favorite teacher is this year. His response surprised both of us when he said he didn’t have one. He loves them all. If you could mention it to your staff, we would appreciate it."

You have such an effect on kids

The other day, a student told me that he respects a teacher so much that he thinks of that teacher as a second parent.  I'm proud that this student has such a high level of trust in one of our own. I'm obviously mentioning one relationship, but I'm sure this level of respect happens every day.  We all have such a chance to influence our kids in a positive way, and I'm proud of all of you for your dedication.


Great info from John Barkee 
(thanks John)

Just passing this along. Here is a pic of my DDP students starting the technical lettering unit.

I discuss the importance of neat, consistent lettering and the importance of it to properly communicate in a technical setting. I also discuss the role of the computer in the technical fields to letter/label most communications today, but I emphasize the importance of the the hand technical lettering skills for updating drawings in the field, use by small general contractors who don't rely on computers, and the spill over into other areas where they will find it very useful.

What John mentions here provides a good reason for us to make a serious effort and completing the Skills Win list.  We can consider input like John's and make/suggest adjustments based on that input.


From Missy's desk:

Linked above are opportunities from BOCES around Social Emotional Learning Standards, Literacy, and Math.

SEL Opportunity at BOCES               Math Teacher's Network           Literacy Leadership


Thanks for the great conversations on the early release day! 

September 23, 2019

Classroom of the week: 

Connie Adams

Great job Connie!!

Please note: If you're not seeing the picture here, please let me know.  I've been having some problems with pictures in this tool. 

PD schedule finalized for Tuesday
Please click on the title above for the PD schedule.  We have the meetings going until 3:00 since it's a faculty meeting day.  If you have any questions, please ask me or Missy. Thanks.



Board Report for September 25 meeting
Every month from September to June, Adam and I prepare board reports for the Board of Education.  These are public documents, so I'll share them with you when I get them done.  In the report, there are descriptions of several social media pages that we use.  Feel free to subscribe to those if you use Facebook or Instagram.


Remember to use work orders
Work orders help the tech and maintenance folks to keep track of needs, so make sure to use those.  From what I've seen this year, those systems are working well.


You Can't Hit Unsend:
How A Social Media Scandal Unfolded At Harvard
While in the car the other day, I caught part of this episode of Hidden Brain.  It's a very moving story about a Harvard hopeful whose life was changed because of something stupid that he decided to post on line.  It's worth a listen, and worth sharing.


Back to School Time
A moving clip from Sandy Hook Promise. A not so subtle reminder that the potential is still there.  Let's all keep an eye on every kid.


Castle Learning Webinar Series

This FREE 6-session series will introduce Teachers and Instructional Technology Support Specialists to using Castle Learning as well as include all the NEW FEATURES that have been added this past school year.

Applicable for: Grades K-12: Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, French, and Music. This is also a great resource for Special Education Teachers.

A certificate of attendance will be given with each session. NOTE: It is up to your school to offer any CTLE credit for your attendance. We do not offer CTLE credits at this time.


Each session below is offered this Fall on Tuesdays at 4pm and Wednesdays at 6pm.

September 24th and 25th: Student Center and Creating Classes

October 1st and 2nd: Creating Assignments using the Castle Questions and Keyword Search and How to Use Self-Assign for Class Activities

October 8th and 9th: Assignment Editor Screen, NEW Printing feature, and Assign to Students

October 15th and 16th: Students Answering CR Questions, Grading Constructed Response, Reports and Auto Mastery Retake Assignments

October 22nd and 23rd: Co-Teacher, Creating Folders, Share, Duplicate, etc. Linking assignments with Google Classroom and various LMS’s, and finding specific content area questions - ELA (Lit Sets, Reading Sets, Source Writing Essays), Spanish/French, Math Skills, Global/US History, and Science.

October 29th and 30th: Personal Content (Create/Edit Castle Questions, Attach Resources, Flashcards)

Spread the Word To Rock the Vote
Each year on the fourth Tuesday of September, National Voter Registration Day celebrates our democracy in the United States. Encourage your eligible students to register to vote so that they can take part in the upcoming primary and general elections in November—which is excellent practice for the 2020 presidential election.


NYS K-12 Kids Safe Online Poster Contest

The New York State Office of Information Technology Services’ is once again hosting the “NYS K-12 Kids Safe Online Poster Contest.”  The contest is open to all students in New York State public, private and home-schools.

This is a great opportunity for teachers to talk to students about being safe while on the Internet and while using computers and mobile devices.  The contest has five entry categories: Kindergarten–Grade 2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 and Special Education. New York State winners will be displayed in the 2021 NYS Kids Safe Online Calendar and entered into the MS-ISAC National Computer Security Poster Contest.

More information on the “NYS K-12 Kids Safe Online Poster Contest” can be found on the contest web page at https://its.ny.gov/2019-2020-kids-safe-online-poster-contest. Questions regarding the contest may be submitted to cyber.outreach@its.ny.gov.

Don’t miss out!  The contest entry deadline is December 9, 2019.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Jessica E. Smith
Strategic Planning and Program Management
Chief Information Security Office

Office of Information Technology Services
W. A. Harriman State Office Campus, 1220 Washington Ave., Bldg. 5, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12226
(518) 242-5020 | jessica.smith2@its.ny.gov
www.its.ny.gov


New Safety Folder
I made a new Safety folder in the Staff Share drive.  The first think in there is a letter concerning sex offenders from the sheriff.  There are phone numbers and links in that letter.  I also have the drill record for the year.

If you have any suggestions for folders or files to be inserted into the Staff Share drive, please let me know.


Literacy Leadership PLC Opportunity
From Beth Dryer at TST BOCES:
Colleagues,
I'm writing to share another professional learning opportunity that is focused on integrating SEL into ELA/academic literacy curriculum and instruction.

The Literacy Leadership PLC is intended to build teacher leadership capacity; consequently, the "ideal participant" is one who is eager to formally share their work/learning with colleagues in their home districts.

Check it out if you are interested; please pass the information along to others.
Registration will be available in Frontline by Friday (9/13).
Thanks for your time-
Beth

September 16, 2019

Hi,
I wanted to get this out sooner, but sometimes it gets so busy that a bunch of emails go out instead.  I'll do my best to get this out at least once per week, which helps keep the emails down to a manageable number.
Thanks,
Tim

Observations coming up:
We will be starting up observations soon.  As usual, we will have 2 observations - 1 announced and 1 unannounced during the school year.  For the announced observation, the pre-conference form needs to be completed along with a lesson plan and any artifacts you would like to submit.

All observations will be conducted through My Learning Plan (MLP).

I have linked a pre-observation form here for the announced observation.  You can choose to complete this form or fill out the form posted on MLP.  It is completely up to you which form you complete.  You simply have to fill out the MLP on line and click submit or fill this out and add it as an attachment.

Don't pay attention to the dates in MLP.  For ease of getting you access, we are opening up all the announced observations (meetings, observations, post observation forms).


PA system
First of all, sorry for the tests on Friday. We brought in the company to help us get the issues ironed out, and I believe we're set.  Please keep me informed of any ongoing issues.

Pictures - help to share the good news


Please remember that we have a "Pictures" shared drive.  This helps us to organize all the great pictures from year to year.  You have edit access to this folder, so feel free to add files.




Flu clinic:
The clinic in the middle high school will be held in the health office on Monday, September 30 from 2:00 pm- 3:00 pm.


Period by period attendance needed
Please remember to take attendance for each class.  This is very important.


Need to remove a student from class?
Hopefully it's not often, but every once in a while a student needs to be removed. It's always good to call the parent after you do so.  Get to the problem early to help the student (and the parent) understand your expectations.


Ask me or someone else to meet with you and a student
I've already met with two teachers along with students who have been having some problems in class.  Feel free to bring me, Cathy, Missy or anyone else into the picture to try and help.


Systems of Care in Seneca County - Meet and Greet
From Bob Ritter at Seneca County

Linked above, please find a Save the Date flyer for a networking event planned for November 6. The Systems of Care Committee has planned this event to bring together professionals who work with the youth of Seneca County. Systems of Care is a set of principles that recognizes that a network of people play important roles in the lives of our youth. Our youth is best served when these people work together to help youth in a person centered and family driven manner. What does that mean? It means we help the youth and family identify the strengths and challenges for the individual youth and “wrap” services and activities around that youth to foster positive development. We don’t just plug the youth into a service system.

By holding this event, we hope to bring professional together in a manner that promotes professional networking. We hope some of you will choose to join our committee and help us toward our ultimate goal of including and empowering families in this effort. The professionals who are being invited to this event include public service providers, school staff, law enforcement, private service providers, family support advocates, and more. Many changes have occurred in 2019 in youth services. You are sure to learn about some interesting developments of which you were unaware.

Please plan to attend this event and be prepared to share what you offer as well as learning about other services and opportunities. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Also, please feel free to share this flyer with your colleagues.

Bob Ritter
Coordinator of Children’s Services
Seneca County Mental Health
Phone: (315)539-1752


Tech Updates

Navigate Prepared
Next up on the "fix it" agenda is Navigate Prepared.  Mike is working with the vendor to get student and teachers lists updated. We'll have this up and running very soon, and I'll work with everyone so that they understand it.  It's not a mandatory thing, but I highly recommend it.  We're paying for it; we might as well use it to its capabilities.

Google Classroom Updates
Above is a link to an article about updates to Classroom.

Please check any web pages associated with you or your department.  If updates are needed, please communicate with Rob Hermanet.

Updates to work orders
South Seneca CSD would like to welcome you to ML Work Orders™ Software.  This is available by going to the "Staff" link at the top of the district website.
https://ny77.mlworkorders.com/Login.aspx

Your username is the same one you use to login to Active Directory. This is the username that you use to log in to other computers throughout the district.
Your password is the same one you use to login to Active Directory. This is the password that you use to log in to other computers throughout the district.
To learn more about ML Work Orders™ Software including easy-to-use, step-by-step procedures, please visit the online Help website at http://support.mlworkorders.com/.

GoGuardian Updates (from GoGuardian)
As you prepare for the upcoming school year, we are excited to announce that GoGuardian Teacher will have an interface update coming next week! The product may look a little different, but the functionality is generally the same and more intuitive than before.
We will be notifying teachers directly about the changes via in-app message and email. All help center documentation will be updated for the release. While we are working on new training videos, here is an instructional video detailing changes in the new interface.

Sneak peak video

Here are some of the improvements

• Ability to run commands directly from a student’s tile in screens view and from enlarged student screens
• Better visibility of commands (ex: Snapshot button is static, no hovering required)
• All live classrooms will appear in the main navigation
• Ability to scroll through timeline view with computer trackpad

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your customer success representative.

ASCD Free Teacher Resources