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Rather than an email. Rolling list. Catch up as you log in.
11/27/24 November Student of the Month
11/27/24 November Student of the Month
We’re looking for your help in identifying outstanding students in PreK, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades who embody the spirit of our school! Please take a moment to nominate students who stand out for their kindness, leadership, academic effort, or positive behavior using the form below:
Your nominations will help us celebrate and encourage the wonderful contributions of our youngest learners.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and support in making our school community shine!
Navigate360 EMS
Navigate360 EMS
Please get logged in to the Nav360 EMS system. Ask me (Sean) directly if you get stuck. 5 minute rule. If it takes more than 5 minutes, stop and ask for help.
Navigate360 EMS:
Website: https://ems.navigate360.com/login
App: https://help.navigate360.com/Getting_Started_Launching_EMS/ems-mobile-app
Username: For 95% of you, it is your district email.
Password: If you don't know it, use the "forgot password" option.
It's important to note that the Navigate360 EMS (Emergency Management System) app is entirely separate from Navigate360 eLearning (ALICE Training). While eLearning focuses on training modules and professional development, the EMS app is a dedicated tool for emergency management and safety protocols. Each platform serves a distinct purpose, so having access to both is crucial.
Setting up your Navigate360 EMS app or logging in from the website to activate your account is essential for ensuring you are prepared to access critical safety resources when needed. The app provides immediate access to emergency plans, response protocols, and important communication tools, all tailored to our school environment. By setting up your account, you ensure that you can quickly and effectively navigate any situation, whether it’s a drill or a real emergency. Taking a few minutes now to get set up can make all the difference in keeping our school safe and responsive.
11/26/24 Fire Drill Recap
11/26/24 Fire Drill Recap
Today's fire drill highlighted the importance of regularly testing our systems. One key finding was that one of the fire doors didn’t close as expected, which will be addressed immediately.
For those using the Navigate360 EMS app, we could view real-time attendance for staff and students. Additionally, our NAV360 VMS (visitor management) allowed us to see which visitors were still in the building. The EMS app's chat feature proved valuable, and in a true emergency, it would be an incredibly powerful tool. The app is also accessible via computer at https://ems.navigate360.com/.
Although I had cleaned up the rosters prior to the drill, I missed at least one, and Chimento at East received an emergency notification. I informed her it was a drill. This serves as a good reminder to double-check rosters before future events. I will continue to work on those.
Overall, the drill was a success and underscored the utility of our tools in ensuring safety.
What If This Had Been Real?
What If This Had Been Real?
In a true emergency, integrating I Love U Guys and ALICE strategies would be critical for ensuring the safety of everyone in the building.
Evacuation Protocols: Using the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) from I Love U Guys, staff and students would evacuate in an orderly fashion, following pre-designated routes. Ensuring doors like the fire door in question close properly is vital to containing potential threats like fire or smoke.
Accountability and Communication: The Navigate360 EMS app allows staff to mark attendance for others, such as if a teacher doesn’t have access to the app during an emergency. While this feature is helpful in ensuring everyone is accounted for, it is preferred that all staff have access to and use the app themselves whenever possible. This ensures the most accurate and efficient tracking of attendance, minimizing potential delays or errors in accountability. The app’s chat feature further enhances communication, allowing real-time updates and coordination among staff and responders.
Adaptability: If the situation evolved or evacuation was not possible, ALICE strategies could guide staff and students to make decisions such as moving to a safer area or barricading, depending on the threat.
These tools and strategies work together to enhance our preparedness and response capabilities. Drills like today’s are a reminder of the importance of practicing, assessing, and improving.
Week of 11/25/24
Week of 11/25/24
Tuesday: Fire Drill
We'll also use this as a test of our Nav360 EMS app.
Wednesday: Early Out, whole group, in Makerspace/Art Room, bring device.
FYI: I was able to update some settings in the Media Center catalog. For the most part, I will email overdue notices from now on. Please do send home the paper copies if you have them still. Stats below on Media Center circulation as of today:
11/19/24 General Updates
11/19/24 General Updates
Wednesday Early Out: Whole group in Makerspace/Art Room. Devices are not needed, we will be viewing some content whole group then releasing for team time.
Thursday Staff Meeting: Specific to annual goal setting requirements for licensed staff. You will want your devices for this.
Wit and Wisdom ELA Committee Update: Please see the update below. I want to highlight a few items in the "reminders" section:
Wit and Wisdom instruction must occur each day. I apologize if my statement, "OG is my focus this year," led anyone to believe that we aren't doing Wit and Wisdom. That was not my intention, and I want to clarify that both are important and will be part of our approach.
Instructional Slides: Although there has been considerable discussion around the use of Wit and Wisdom slides, I’m concerned this may be distracting from the main point. The larger focus should remain on the Year 1 Expectations set at the beginning of the year: "Teach the lesson as written with minimal adjustments, including supplemental resources (Wit and Wisdom strongly advises against using resources from TPT or similar sites)."
I cannot stress enough the value of utilizing Carol Copp as a resource to support our implementation. We may not have access to her support indefinitely, so I strongly encourage you to take advantage of it while it is available.
The ELA Committee met last night. Here are a few updates:
Celebrations:
The students are learning! Although writing has been hard, the growth has been amazing!
Exciting to see how it builds across the grade levels K-8!
Less copying and being able to work collaboratively with peers!
Rich vocabulary for students!
Equity among classrooms-students seeing what they are doing in their classroom, is what other classrooms are doing!
Great feedback from our parents!
Challenges:
Time to meet and plan with the curriculum
Shared texts among students is difficult
Pacing between classrooms has become too far apart
Bigfork feels disconnected to discuss grade level topics as they are a single section school
Reminders:
Please use the Wit and Wisdom slides. TPT slides, or individually created slides may not be used. This is important so we have equity among all of our K-8 classrooms in the district.
Wit and Wisdom instruction must occur each day. There is a lot of content to get through in a year!
The ELA Committee has future meetings set up, and will continue to discuss and reflect on what can be done differently for next year regarding the above items. It will be important that we all follow the integrity of the expectation document.
Please see linked Wit and Wisdom Expectation doc below (and included with this post)
Remember, we have Carol Copp as a resource to guide implementation! Also, please reach out to members of the ELA Committee: ELA Committee
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