Harrison Park Post

  Installment #7 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break"- This is the last installment. Take a deep breath you are almost there. I am hoping you were able to spend a little extra time this week preparing for for our return next year. Preparation this week will definitely pay off!   Remember to set out your best pajamas tonight. Celebrate community tomorrow in your classrooms. Take a moment to find joy in our students. I am looking forward to the next two weeks, but as we know many of our students are facing the break with anxiety of the unknown. For that reason embrace the moment. Clean up your room throughout the day, tidy your piles and put things together so they are ready for you to leave. At 3:30 leave...go enjoy some time with your colleagues (I heard this was at the Over & Out @ 8115 SE Stark). If you were not able to get those loose ends tied up stay a bit and wrap them up with a nice bow and then leave as soon as you can. Take a moment when you are lea...

Sorry for the late entry. I left  work around 7:00 and realized I had not sent out communications.  Tomorrow we will have visitors from the architecture firm who will be doing the work on Harrison Park for the conversation. They should be here from approximately 11:15-1:00. Just letting you know.  Installment #6 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break"- Tomorrow (or today if you are reading this on Thursday morning and I hope you are) spend time planning for January 3rd when we return. What do you need for your community circles? What copies might you need? Do you need some supplies? Prep now for our return. Have a solid plan in place for Monday. Think now about how you will welcome students back. We hope you use a lot of time at the beginning of the week rebuilding your community. Retool the things that are bogging you down right now in terms of expectations. Investing time in SE learning and needs upon our return will pay off from January until March. We will be s...

Emily sent this out just a bit ago, but all Harrison Park Staff and Community Partners should be sure to take a succulent and watch it grow. You all make a difference. Tomorrow we will have sweet treats available for staff from 10:45-? in the main work room. Please be sure to practice COVID practices.  There should be more than enough, but if you are someone that gets to grab treats early be sure to be mindful of the middle school team that won't make it in until almost 1:00.  Thursday we have one final surprise.  Installment #5 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break"- Start making a pile of things that need to go to work on Friday. I know many of you plan to do special things with your students. Try to get that knocked off your list tomorrow so you can relax on Thursday evening! Tomorrow spend some time recycling and taking care of those pesky little paperwork things that always seem to come up at the last minute.  I will try to email out to staff late tonigh...

The  duty schedule for Friday is being looked at by a few other sets of eyes. I will be communicating with people directly tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest individual schedules for those who need to support the festivities. If you currently have a morning, after school, lunch or recess duty those will remain in tact for Friday. ESL, Reading, Intervention, Special Education, Specials teachers, and EAs will all be put on the Carnival rotation.  I am trying not to put Tavares, Danelle, Tami, Emily and myself on the schedule if at all possible for Friday so we can respond to student needs. Additionally, Tom will be available for calls as well. We will be able to potentially offer a roving person to give teachers short bathroom breaks. This is the hope, but in the event we are short subs this will not be available.  Installment #4 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break"   - Tomorrow and Wednesday are devoted to checking things off that to do list. Chip at it a lit...

 Monday the 13th Tuesday the 14th Staff Meeting @ 3:30 Wednesday the 15th Midweek Dessert Bar 10:45-4:30  ILCT @ 3:30 Thursday the 16th Safety Team Meeting @ 8:00 (note day change) SEGC  Meeting 6-9 (Available on YouTube) PAT Boundary Change Forum/Input Session @ 4:00 (I will get details as this has changed) Friday the 17th Annual Winter Carnival All Day (See Schedule) No Specials, ESL, or Reading for K-5 students All Probationary Evaluations Due Lunch Service This Week- Jarvis, Holt-Seavy, Steeves, DaRosa I hope you were able to accomplish a lot this weekend around your homes and got some fun in as well. This week will drag on and fly by at the same time. Hold on tight a well deserved break is coming.  We have talked about this recently but it bares repeating. Keep things as consistent in your classrooms this week as possible. Time and time again we have learned our students do best when there is a schedule and they know what to expect. Avoid down time, free time, c...

  Installment #2 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break" - Last night's advice was to get your personal stuff accomplished this weekend to take it off your plate for next week (and also sprinkle in some fun). Today's advice is to make a list tomorrow (or today if you are reading this on Friday)  of all the things you need to accomplish next week at school. Do this during your planning time before you leave. LEAVE THE LIST AT SCHOOL. On my list I would put everything I know I need to get done so when I leave next Friday I won't continue to have those nagging thoughts in the shower, or in the middle of the night, during Winter Break about what I didn't get done. My list as an 8th grade LA teacher looked like this: Finish grading all late work Update student proficiency cards Organize desk Go through room and clean it up Have students clean out file folders  Plan for the first week back Get the novels for next unit from book room Buy cereal for cereal par...

 A lot going on here this afternoon, but it is 5:40 and things are much calmer. We have a steady stream of people coming in for the clinic, but sadly not the big lines we saw this summer. Thank you to the staff that shared their spaces. I hope things are put back to "normal" for tomorrow morning, but am not sure what the end of the night will look like. Installment #1 of "How to Make the Most of Your Winter Break" - I am going to offer a few installments over the next few days of advice. I want all staff to take the two weeks of Winter Break completely off. This means doing absolutely nothing work related. I going to work one day over the break tackle my out of control email box, but plan on spending the rest of the break simply enjoying the things that keep me going (and I will bank that day for the summer).  I found that the weekend before Winter Break should be spent preparing for the crazy week ahead. My advice for today is think about what you can accomplish ar...

 I don't have any items of major importance, but will share a few things that came out from the district today.  WINTER HOLIDAYS: DECEMBER DILEMMA OR TEACHING OPPORTUNITY The ADL provides educators with guidance and resources during this festive time of year to help consider how to be inclusive of the many holidays celebrated by people from different religions, cultures and races. This time of year is often spent with family and friends, connecting with our faith or culture, giving and receiving gifts and enjoying special foods and treats. However, this time of year—especially in schools and whether it's in-person, online or hybrid—can be a time where some children can feel uncomfortable, excluded, insulted or marginalized. Every November and December, public school students, parents, teachers and administrators face the difficult task of acknowledging the various religious and cultural holiday traditions celebrated during that time of year. While there are appropriate educa...

PLCS will take place this week! Monday the 6th Tuesday the 7th Staff Meeting @ 3:30  Wednesday the 8th Vaccination Clinic @ Harrison Park 3:30-7:00 SEGC Open House 6-8 Thursday the 9th Friday the 10th No Reading Groups (Progress Monitoring) Cafeteria Service this week - DaRosa, Steeves, Holt-Seavy, Jarvis I hope you are enjoying this weekend. I wanted to share that several district people were in the building this week and commented on our building and staff. "I have been in a lot of buildings lately and there is just a different vibe here. It seems like your staff is really holding things down." This was not directed at me, but rather everyone in our building. I want to make it clear they did not diminish the stress and loads you are carrying, but rather highlighted how graciously you are managing. I concur!  We still have our "normal" flareups and situations, but we are all improving in our ability to address needs and respond. Thank you.  I failed to welcome My L...

We have most of our support staff in a training from approximately 9:30-10:30 tomorrow. Please be aware there will be support available for emergencies only (safety). If there is something that needs to be addressed that is not an emergency during this time please email or text the appropriate staff so they may respond as they can.    Teachers please be sure that you are picking your students up from lunch, and dropping them off, on time. Remember to set those timers. The additional five minutes for lunch is to ensure travel time.  Bleachers near the baseball field and edge of playground are now off limits. They are not safe and we have reached out to Portland Parks and Rec for next steps. Until they are removed or repaired students need to remain off of them.  If you have not done so please turn in your conference data. We have found some graphic pictures in the library. These were drawn recently on several items. If you have found drawings that are sexual in n...