December 3, 2020 RCSD Educator Blog

 Message from Jamey Schrey

Are you okay?

This question was the topic of a recent New York Times article by Megan Markle, that struck me as both easy to ask, but so often a missed opportunity.

I have tried to be emotionally intense for much of my life and not burden others with problems. My family joked that if asked, how are you, if I responded “fine,” something was amiss. I find that people who work in schools spend a lot of time lifting others, caring for wounds, listening to and supporting adults and children with stress, and then go home without taking the time or having the moments to unpack their suitcases of anxiety, sorrow, and disappointment.

After reading the Times article, I thought about who I was to answer the question honestly? While I believe that I am daily transparent and honest with my thoughts and stories, I also need to make sure that when I share or answer the question, am I okay, that the person is also ready to receive the honest answer. I believe I need to look to my “SMILE” friends, people that, after talking to them, leave you lighter, happier, and refreshed! 

Many of us are missing our colleagues and former students, missing relatives, missing the staff room, and missing things that brought us joy. We are tired and might be ready to declare #2021 the year of hope. I know I am. I am trying to not just “get” through December, but instead taking moments to celebrate what is okay, trying to acknowledge the days “I am” okay, and find smile friends that ask if I am okay.

Maybe each of us can work on being the Smile Friend to another person; it does not even have to be a close friend. Perhaps by asking a colleague the question, she/he will have a moment to be honest, and share some burdens. Maybe we can all end #2020, providing those around us with a little hope for #2021 as we wonder if we are okay.  The hope is that we will be.

That’s Awesome - be ready to Smile

It’s Okay not to be Okay - we are not alone

Glennon Doyle - New York Times bestselling author

Update on Independent Study

Why? I believe that understanding the why in situations assists us in better knowing how decisions are made. Teachers and office staff need to know that the state has changed the rules about Independent Study for this school year. This change mostly affects the schools that are in session.  Rather than be able to give families the packets of work when families sign-up for Independent Study, we now have to adhere to the rules that surround distance learning:

• Provide live engagement with both a teacher and peers

• Provide the minimum number of work minutes and document that work (ex:  4th-8th grade would have to provide live/independent work equaling 240 minutes each day)

• Track all the work for the minimum of minutes of work expected per day

Therefore, we will not be offering Independent Study, as prescribed by the state, because teachers are live with students all day are unable to fulfill the additional mandates. You can see how this is not a challenging task for districts continuing in distance learning.

However, the state also requires that schools provide continuing work to students at home ill, on vacation, etc. In middle schools, students have continued to utilize OTUS regularly, so it is not cumbersome to provide students with work. Elementary schools will need to give work to absent students focusing primarily on ELA and math. I ask that you try to provide similar work in ELA and math that is being done in the classroom. You are not required to make videos or provide pages of directions for the students. Along with ELA and math, you might plan in your PLC’s a bank of articles with questions, plan independent reading, etc. There is also an opportunity, along with utilizing OTUS, that families can have a one-time pick-up of materials.

Some students have to be quarantined or maybe out ill for quite a few days, and I know that educators want to support students in preventing more learning loss. I will leave it up to the individual teachers, PLCs, and sites to determine what is reasonable given the teacher’s time and necessary schoolwork to assign to students. I know this is time-intensive, and I appreciate your efforts in supporting students. It is one more thing that adds to your load. I know we all look forward to a time when just a few children are absent here and there.

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Elementary Updates

ThinkCentral Login Problems

If you are getting an error when trying to login through Clever to ThinkCentral, try clearing your cache.  This has seemed to solve many of the error message problems.

Clearing Cache Directions

Scoring for Benchmark Assessments in Otus

There have been questions about the way items are auto-scored on the Benchmark weekly assessments.  In order for us to set up an assessment within OTUS where we give partial credit on a question with more than one answer, we must use the points grading system.  This DOES NOT impact your gradebook, it simply allows us to give a student a “Basic” instead of the all-or-nothing “Target” or “Limited.”  There are a lot of questions regarding the scoring of individual items when teachers are looking at their students’ answers.  

In an attempt to explain this, please watch this video.  It will help you when examining student results. We believe it is important to be able to give partial credit to students and this is the way we have to set up grading on the backend in Otus to achieve these results. Sidenote: This usually only impacts 3rd, 4th and 5th grades, as the other grades don’t have questions with more than one answer choice.  Please reach out to Julie Murdaugh with any questions.

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Otus Updates

Missing Notification for Students in Otus

Otus made an update to make Late and Missing work more visible to students.  You can decide if you want students to be able to turn in work after you mark it missing.  Please see this post from Otus explaining more.  You can watch this 3-minute video that shows how teachers mark missing, what students see, and what parents see.  Hopefully, when there is an assessment "To Do" list it will be even more visible for students.

Advanced Assessment Type Added- Video Recording
Otus added a video recording option in their advanced assessment item options.  As a reminder students can also record video in rubric assessment.

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Additional Information

PIE Grant
The Roseville City School District (RCSD) Foundation established the Partners in Education (PIE) Grant Program to encourage, facilitate, recognize, and reward innovative and creative teaching approaches that increase student achievement and enhance educational opportunities in the classrooms and at school sites.  The RCSD Foundation's mission focuses on STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math enrichment.

Preference will be given to those applicants who request funding for any of these areas.

The RCSD Foundation will award grants up to $750 per individual teacher or $2,000 per grade level or departmental team.

PIE Grant Program applications are due by Thursday, December 17, 2020.

Please click on the link below to access the 2020-21 PIE Grant Application.

2020-21 PIE Grant Application

All documentation supporting your PIE Grant Application needs to be scanned and emailed to, OR shared via Google with, Renee Borowiak, rborowiak@rcsdk8.org on behalf of the Foundation. You may also send hard copies of your documentation in the district mail to the Superintendent's Office, attn: Renee Borowiak.