4 Important things (please read before the end of the day)
1. I have received RMPs from some, but not all of you. Please deposit your RMPs into this folder. Please do this, even if you have shared/sent one before. I need an actual file in this spot, not a link. If you have your RMP as a Google Doc, then either make a copy and move that copy into this folder or download your document and place the download into this folder. I need you to do this before the end of the day tomorrow.
2. CPTs: I have created team folders for each PLC’s common planning time.
3. Sub plans. Now that objectives and structure are paramount, I am formally requesting that you use the departmental sub form when you are out, so that your objective and agenda for students is clear. The objective can be the same as the day before, but the work that students are doing — unless, of course, you are involved in a true emergency and your emergency sub folder must be used — should still align with the objective of your current lesson plan. Remember that this can be a simple copy and paste job (most of you already send me typed instructions that can be easily copied and pasted into the form), with your objective copied from the day before. Using this form also provides material that can be forwarded to a house office if a student is out and needs material for a 504 or IEP accommodation.
4. Ear buds in class: This is the policy in the latest handbook. I have italicized the part that was in question.
Ear Buds/Head Phones
Lisa brought up the issue of parental concerns and rights w/r/t phones and buds. That is a tough one, since it brings in a whole host of issues that we don’t normally issue cautions and the ability to opt out (as we do with, say, being photographed). Moreover, I’m not sure how we would handle that, in terms of enforcement in the broader context of school. However, the handbook gives you control over your classroom, so if parental input about phones and buds is something you want, you can either put into your RMP or send a note home that your class uses phones/ear buds in certain circumstances and, if that fact is problem for parents for any reason, they should contact you to make reasonable accommodations to their sensibilities.
I think that is the only way to handle the issue, if you think it is one you want to address. Again, remember, phones and earbuds in your classroom is your call. Heather rightly brought up the worry about kids moving from one classroom to another, where there are other rules. Kids need to learn to accommodate different rules in different environment. That’s a fact of life. HOWEVER, it will help if the teachers who allow classroom earbuds make sure to remind students as they leave your classroom that they must put their earbuds away and cannot take them out again until another teacher in her/his classroom says that they can take them out. That simple step might help.
1. I have received RMPs from some, but not all of you. Please deposit your RMPs into this folder. Please do this, even if you have shared/sent one before. I need an actual file in this spot, not a link. If you have your RMP as a Google Doc, then either make a copy and move that copy into this folder or download your document and place the download into this folder. I need you to do this before the end of the day tomorrow.
2. CPTs: I have created team folders for each PLC’s common planning time.
- You will find the folders in your Google Drive under “Shared Drives.”
- Within each folder you will find a master copy of an agenda/report list. Each week this needs to be copied and that weeks agenda/report will be deposited in the folder that says “agendas and reports.”
- There needs to be a facilitator each week who starts that document. During the meeting, someone will be the notetaker and put notes into the document, so that there is a record of the work of that CPT session and so that faculty who need to know what is going on in the CPT can look at it.
- Many of you are in one PLC for CPT, but teach a course or courses that fall under other PLCs. You have been given access to the other folders that you will need for those courses.
3. Sub plans. Now that objectives and structure are paramount, I am formally requesting that you use the departmental sub form when you are out, so that your objective and agenda for students is clear. The objective can be the same as the day before, but the work that students are doing — unless, of course, you are involved in a true emergency and your emergency sub folder must be used — should still align with the objective of your current lesson plan. Remember that this can be a simple copy and paste job (most of you already send me typed instructions that can be easily copied and pasted into the form), with your objective copied from the day before. Using this form also provides material that can be forwarded to a house office if a student is out and needs material for a 504 or IEP accommodation.
- Even if you use Google Classroom, you need to use the sub form, because substitutes do not have access to your Google Classroom. Neither does anyone walking through the classroom.
- I have updated the template so that it is in tabular form to make it easier to fill in the fields while you are typing. It is an Excel template (click here). Every time you open it, it will produce a new, untitled document.
4. Ear buds in class: This is the policy in the latest handbook. I have italicized the part that was in question.
Ear Buds/Head Phones
- Students must be able to hear the intercom and directives from staff at all times to ensure safety. For this reason students are not allowed to wear ear buds in school. Ear buds will be confiscated and not returned until the end of the school year or until a parent/guardian comes in to collect the article. The only exception to this prohibition applies to teachers who allow the use of ear buds in the classroom for educational purposes, but the ear buds must be put away before exiting the classroom.
Lisa brought up the issue of parental concerns and rights w/r/t phones and buds. That is a tough one, since it brings in a whole host of issues that we don’t normally issue cautions and the ability to opt out (as we do with, say, being photographed). Moreover, I’m not sure how we would handle that, in terms of enforcement in the broader context of school. However, the handbook gives you control over your classroom, so if parental input about phones and buds is something you want, you can either put into your RMP or send a note home that your class uses phones/ear buds in certain circumstances and, if that fact is problem for parents for any reason, they should contact you to make reasonable accommodations to their sensibilities.
I think that is the only way to handle the issue, if you think it is one you want to address. Again, remember, phones and earbuds in your classroom is your call. Heather rightly brought up the worry about kids moving from one classroom to another, where there are other rules. Kids need to learn to accommodate different rules in different environment. That’s a fact of life. HOWEVER, it will help if the teachers who allow classroom earbuds make sure to remind students as they leave your classroom that they must put their earbuds away and cannot take them out again until another teacher in her/his classroom says that they can take them out. That simple step might help.