17-18 SV Weekly Message Archive

2017-18 Silicon Valley Weekly Message Archive

This page contains past Weekly Mentor Letters sent by the SV Leadership team. The most recent letter is at the top of the page.

5.24.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I am so deeply honored by all of the kind words, heartfelt cards, and tokens of appreciations you bestowed upon me yesterday. We have such a special community. I feel so loved by all of you and I hope you know how much I care for each of you as well. Thank you for such a beautiful send-off. Here is my personal contact information: emilyldavis@hotmail.com, (650) 644-6404. Please do keep in touch!

For those of you who were not able to attend our forum yesterday, we also introduced our new SV Program Director, Candace McIssac. Candace is a long time member of our community. She has worked in Alum Rock for the past twenty years as an elementary school teacher, instructional coach, and SC/SVNTP mentor. For the past three years, Candace has worked as Alum Rock's Academic Services Coordinator where she has overseen Induction mentors, designed and developed her district’s Instructional Coaching program, and provided principal support for curriculum implementation and coaching. We are honored to have Candace rejoin our team and I know you will enjoy working with her in this new role. Welcome back, Candace!

Please review the following announcements carefully.

1. MLP Completion (New-Action May Be Required) At our last forum on Wednesday, we had time to complete our Mentor Learning Plans using data from the PT survey and our sharing. If you have not yet done so, please take time to complete and share your MLP with Jamie or I before you go on summer vacation. We (SC/SVNTP leadership) will review your MLPs during the month of June and provide you with feedback.

2. Closing Out the Year with PTs (Reminder) At forum on Wednesday we discussed how we might bring closure to the relationships we have with our PTs. While we strive to keep teachers with the same mentor for two years, this is not always possible. Please do not make promises to your teachers regarding your support for next year and remind them that whoever is their mentor, they will be respected, pushed and cared for. Please also have PTs “kick you out” of their Google folders. This will leave them as the owner so they can easily share with whomever their mentor is next year (if they are PT1s) and will also save you from getting numerous messages everytime they do something in the folder.

If you are looking for some creative ways to make the most of those last few days, visit what to do on Lame Duck school days, ideas from Jennifer Gonzalez’s cultofpedagogy.com. The suggestions are organized low prep, medium prep, and long-term projects – SO HELPFUL!

3. SC/SVNTP Website (New) In order for the leadership team to update the website, Friday, June 8th we will be the last day you have access to the password protected pages of our website.

4. PT Recommendation to Clear Credential (Reminder -Action Required for Mentors of PT2s, ECOs, and PT3s): Two weeks ago, PTs completing Induction this Spring received THIS EMAIL from InJin Jun explaining the process for being recommended for their clear credential. Please take time to review the directions carefully with your PTs and support them in completing the process. If there is a PT on your list whom you think is NOT done (i.e. someone who missed a semester of Induction), please contact InJin immediately.

5. Purchasing Units (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please visit the teacher page of the website to review the process. (Scroll down to Credit and Credentialing Information). Let us know what questions come up for you or your teachers.
Once the PT has completed the unit form they may:

Return the form no later than August 1st to Patricia Isaak at the Santa Cruz COE
1. in person,
2. via scan/email to Patricia Isaak pisaak@santacruzcoe.org, or
3. by mail to the Santa Cruz COE 400 Encinal Ave. Santa Cruz, California 95060 Attn: Patricia Isaak.
As a reminder, August 1st is a HARD DEADLINE for applying for units for the 2017-18 school year. PTs may not request units retroactively.

6. SC/SVNTP Reimbursement Submission Deadlines (Reminder-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: If you have been to an observation, please make sure that the PTPD sheets are updated. ALL PTS SHOULD HAVE A STATUS LISTED FOR MGOS ON THE PTPD SPREADSHEET.
SV Colloquium: If you (Lead mentor) are requesting a PO for your district to get reimbursed, update the SV Colloquium Sheet or notify InJin. All purchase orders and reimbursement costs for Colloquium MUST be submitted before the end of May. If you are not able to submit reimbursement costs by the end of May, the SC/SVNTP cannot guarantee reimbursement. Please let InJin know if you have events after May 18th so we can work with you to submit all proper documentation in a timely manner.
Timesheets and Mileage Please make sure all timesheets and mileage forms* are turned in no later than Thursday, May 31st.

5.17.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

We hope you are all having a good week. Jamie and I have been enjoying joining many of your colloquiums and look forward to joining the rest of you soon. It is so lovely to see the teachers, hear their stories, and participate in the unique and lovely celebrations each of your teams has planned. Thank you for inviting us!

We have no forum this week, HOWEVER, we do have a makeup assessment day at the East Side UHSD Board Room from 8:30-12 pm. Thank you, East Side, for hosting!

We look forward to seeing everyone for our LAST forum of the year on Wednesday, May 23rd from 9 am-1:30 pm (note the time!) in the East Side UHSD Board Room. The final makeup assessment opportunity will be immediately following this forum beginning at 1:45 pm. Please see announcements below for important information you need to prepare for our last assessment day.

We look forward to seeing everyone there and celebrating the end of a successful year with you!

Please review the following announcements carefully. There are a lot of detailed and important pieces here!

1. Last Forum Prep (New-Action Required-READ CAREFULLY!): For our last forum on Wednesday, May 23rd, there are a few items that require your attention:

Programmatic Feedback Needed: Please take a few minutes to provide us with some feedback on a few key areas using this brief survey HERE. Please plan to complete the survey by May 25th. Thank you in advance for your good thinking!
Potluck Reminder: Have you signed up for the potluck yet? HERE is the link.
Individual Survey Data: On Tuesday next week, Jamie and I will email each of you an individual annual survey report. If you have 4+ PTs, you will receive an aggregated report of your own PTs’ responses. If you have 3 or fewer PTs, you will get a district/school report. We will review this data on Wednesday at forum, and you will use this data to support you with your end-of-year goal review.
Summer Book Exchange: Have a professional book in your library you are ready to pass on? Bring them to the last forum to share with other mentors and take a new book home to enjoy over the summer.
Transitions: Retiring? Moving to a new role? Let us know!
Prep for MLP Sharing: At our last forum, we will have 8 minutes to tell our MLP stories. Use handout HERE to guide you in planning. If not yet done with Beginning, Mid-Year goals and PGR, please make sure to complete before coming to forum. Will have time during forum to complete end-of-year goals.

2. PT RE Resubmits (Reminder – Action May Be Required): In alignment with our value of collaboration, the purpose of the resubmit is for teachers to respond to the feedback in order to give them another opportunity to reflect on students and their practice. Reflection should not be held back by “completing boxes” and is not how re-submits will be assessed. It is the project’s expectation that AoPs be delivered in person as the re-submit process can only be completed collaboratively between mentor and teacher. Just like with all of our conversations, a third of the conversation should be in the past and the rest, two thirds, should be reflecting on next steps for the future.

Remember, when we resubmit a folder,

The original STAYS in the PT2/ECO folder
A COPY of the RE with the necessary revisions is placed in the resubmit folder

Review the directions posted on our website for more details.
ALL resubmits should be in no later than Wednesday, May 23rd (our last forum)

3. PT Recommendation to Clear Credential (Update -Action Required for Mentors of PT2s, ECOs, and PT3s): Last week, PTs completing Induction this Spring received THIS EMAIL from InJin Jun explaining the process for being recommended for their clear credential. Please take time to review the directions carefully with your PTs and support them in completing the process. If there is a PT on your list whom you think is NOT done (i.e. someone who missed a semester of Induction), please contact InJin immediately.

4. Purchasing Units (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please visit the teacher page of the website to review the process. (Scroll down to Credit and Credentialing Information). Let us know what questions come up for you or your teachers.
Once the PT has completed the unit form they may:

Give the form to you (their mentor) BEFORE our last forum on May 23rd OR submit to the SC/SVNTP Office, or
Return the form no later than August 1st to Patricia Isaak at the Santa Cruz COE
1. in person,
2. via scan/email to Patricia Isaak pisaak@santacruzcoe.org, or
3. by mail to the Santa Cruz COE 400 Encinal Ave. Santa Cruz, California 95060 Attn: Patricia Isaak.
As a reminder, August 1st is a HARD DEADLINE for applying for units for the 2017-18 school year. PTs may not request units retroactively.

4. SC/SVNTP Reimbursement Submission Deadlines (Reminder-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: If you are still planning on going to an observation, please submit your MGO request forms to the district office before May 18. If you have already been to an observation, please make sure that the PTPD sheets are updated. ALL PTS SHOULD HAVE A STATUS LISTED FOR MGOS ON THE PTPD SPREADSHEET.
SV Colloquium: If you (Lead mentor) are requesting a PO for your district to get reimbursed, update the SV Colloquium Sheet or notify InJin. All purchase orders and reimbursement costs for Colloquium MUST be submitted before the end of May. If you are not able to submit reimbursement costs by the end of May, the SC/SVNTP cannot guarantee reimbursement. Please let InJin know if you have events after May 18th so we can work with you to submit all proper documentation in a timely manner.
Timesheets and Mileage Please make sure all timesheets and mileage forms* are turned in no later than Thursday, May 31st.

*Given we support teachers through the end of the school year, you may have June mileage to claim. All JUNE mileage is to be submitted to the office no later than June 10th. The SC/SVNTP is not able to guarantee reimbursement for mileage submitted after June 10th. Thank you.

5. Conscious Classroom Management (New – Action May Be Required): Registration is now open and free to all 18-19 SC/SVNTP Participating Teachers and mentors. Friday, Patti/Emily sent all PT1s and Steering Committee members the flyer and registration information. As noted on the FLYER, all educators are welcome to attend the learning, space permitting, for a fee of $40.

Professional Development Opportunities
6. Early Math Symposium Registration Open: Learn how you can foster mathematical discovery and development in young children! This year’s Symposium will feature three keynote speakers. Zachary Champagne, a math education enthusiast that has spent thirteen years as an elementary school teacher specializing in math and science will be presenting. Kevin Schafer will also be speaking; he has a background as a special education teacher, administrator, and national/state technical assistance provider with expertise in the areas of systems change and inclusive educational practices. The world record holder for paper aircraft distance, John Collins, will be presenting why paper airplanes are a great teaching tool and how to introduce an amazing variety of skills and topics using folded flight. The symposium will be held in Fresno on Friday, June 22. Those who cannot attend in Fresno will have the chance to register for a live broadcast. Registration closes on June 1. Register here: https://www.calstat.org/EarlyMathSymposium/

The Early Mathematics Symposium is a professional development opportunity jointly sponsored by the California Department of Education, the California State Board of Education, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, First Five California, WestEd, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and the California Early Math Project.

5.9.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who attended today’s Assessment Day. Because of the hard work of these folks, we have now completed the review of 222 REs. Another 142 have had at least a first read. Woohoo!

NOTE: All completed MET REs have been moved to a second tab on the Reading Assignment Spreadsheet labeled “Completed SV EOY REs 17-18”. This helps us more clearly see what is left to read and protects the read data of completed REs.
Please take a look at the Reading Assignment Spreadsheet and note if you have any PTs whose REs were found to be NOT MET. If we can get those submitted on Friday, great!

We look forward to seeing everyone again on Friday, 5/11 from 9 am-3:30 pm for our last Assessment Day.

LOCATION CHANGE FOR FRIDAY ASSESSMENT DAY!!!: We will NOT be meeting in Sunnyvale. Instead, we will be meeting at the East Side UHSD District Office Board Room (830 N. Capitol Ave. San Jose 95133).
Attendance: If you have any attendance issues on Friday, and you have not yet shared them with Jamie, please do so ASAP. We assign readers in advance and not knowing about an absence, for example, creates complications in the assignment process. Thank you for your communication.
Resubmits: A resubmit subfolder has been created in the 17-18 SV EOY RE Google folder. As a reminder, DO NOT remove REs from the original folder. Instead, you will resubmit the entire RE with adjustments to the Resubmit subfolder.
- Don’t forget to add the extension RESUBMIT to the title of the RE before submitting.
- Please ensure you bring back the AoP as resubmits cannot be reviewed without it! For more directions, please see the Assessment Day tab of the website.
- A resubmit day has been added to the calendar! Friday, May 18th, we will be in the East Side UHSD Boardroom from 8:30-12. If you have PTs who need to resubmit after this Friday, this is your option.
Please bring:
- Your lunch--there are not easy options for lunch close by
- Your fully charged laptop and charger
- Headphones and/or any other items needed for comfort during reading
- You-rested and ready to read
- Any resubmit AoPs (please review directions on the website about resubmits if you are unsure)

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Melissa Aguirre and WE NEED A SECOND PERSON!- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Sarah Yates and WE NEED A SECOND PERSON!- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Marissa Brown and Krisan Meyer-Fruit
Mehdi Panahi and WE NEED A SECOND PERSON!- Veggies
Emily Wilson and Mary Fran Lynch- Bread and Spread
WE NEED TWO PEOPLE!-Dessert

As you can see, we still have multiple openings for people to bring snacks this Friday, if you can. Use the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet to sign up.
Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. PT Recommendation to Clear Credential (New-Action Required for Mentors of PT2s, ECOs, and PT3s): PTs completing Induction this Spring will receive the email below from InJin Jun explaining the process for being recommended for their clear credential. On Friday, we will also give each of you a hard copy of this email and a list of the PTs whom we believe are eligible to be recommended for their clear credential. Please take time to review these directions carefully with your PTs and support them in completing the process. We often hear from PTs later who failed to follow these directions at their (and our) expense.

Hello Teachers,

You are almost at the finish line!

Once all of your Induction requirements are MET, including your attendance at Colloquium/Site Share, you will receive your Intent to File for your Clear Credential via DocuSign. This email will come from Injin Jun, titled “Please DocuSign: Intent to File.” Detailed instructions have been attached.

Review your Intent to File Form carefully. If any information is incorrect,

Notify SC/SVNTP immediately at ijun@santacruzcoe.org, as this information is used to recommend you to CLEAR with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).
Once SC/SVNTP receives your completed Intent to File Form via DocuSign AND verifies completion of all Induction requirements, you will be recommended by Santa Cruz County Office of Education to CLEAR your credential(s).

What to expect after Santa Cruz COE recommends you for a clear credential:

CTC will send you an email notifying you of the recommendation.
It is critical that you follow the instructions from CTC! You will be asked to:

Select the correct document title(s) that you are clearing.
Please remember you must have your User ID and Password for CTC to access the system. It is a good idea to log in before the CTC Notice email, to make sure all your information on your CTC Profile is correct. If you need to make any changes, you can do so online in your CTC Profile. Please see attachment for details on changing personal information.
Complete a Professional Fitness Questionnaire.
PAY the application document fee. This step is required for you to finish the application process to CLEAR. If you do not PAY within 90 days of recommendation, your application to clear gets voided from the CTC system and you will have to start the whole recommendation process again.

What to expect after completing the CTC application to clear your credential:

CTC will send you a confirmation of completion email.
- You will only get this confirmation email if you have followed all the instructions (listed above) and paid the application document fee.
- Typically, applications are processed within 50 working days from the date CTC receives the applications.
Check the status of your application using the “Search for an Educator” button on the Commission's website at www.ctc.ca.gov.

A few reminders:

All requirements listed on your CTC profile must be completed before you can be recommended to clear your credential(s) by Santa Cruz COE.
If you have successfully completed the requirements listed under your preliminary credential, please forward the results or proof of completion to ijun@santacruzcoe.org.
Santa Cruz COE cannot recommend you for a clear credential until all CTC requirements are completed. In some circumstances, when a teacher is bringing out of state or out of country experience, we may recommend to clear your credential through a paper application. If this is the case, you will be notified by SC/SVNTP. This will not affect your Induction status.

2. Purchasing Units (Reminder-Action May Be Required): PTs may purchase units for their work with you through University of the Pacific. This information is posted on the Teacher page of the website. You can bring PTs’ completed registration forms to any of our remaining assessment days/forums. There is no way for teachers to pay for their units online (it is not something that UoP offers) so, if you do not feel comfortable taking the teacher’s unit registration forms with credit card info or checks, feel free to direct PTs to turn those into Patricia Issak directly.

3. Snacks Sign Up (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Thank you for signing up for our End of Year potluck at our last Mentor Forum! There are still several open spots for both this day and our Assessment Days on 5/4 and 5/11. Please take a look at THIS spreadsheet and sign up for a treat to share. Our mentor community says thank you and yum!

4. SC/SVNTP Reimbursement Submission Deadlines (Reminder-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: If you are still planning on going to an observation, please submit your MGO request forms to the district office before May 18. If you have already been to an observation, please make sure that the PTPD sheets are updated. ALL PTS SHOULD HAVE A STATUS LISTED FOR MGOS ON THE PTPD SPREADSHEET.
SV Colloquium: If you (Lead mentor) are requesting a PO for your district to get reimbursed, update the SV Colloquium Sheet or notify InJin. All purchase orders and reimbursement costs for Colloquium MUST be submitted before the end of May. If you are not able to submit reimbursement costs by the end of May, the SC/SVNTP cannot guarantee reimbursement. Please let InJin know if you have events after May 18th so we can work with you to submit all proper documentation in a timely manner.
Final Mileage/Personal Reimbursements/Timesheets: Must be turned by our last forum.

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

5. Early Math Symposium Registration Open: Learn how you can foster mathematical discovery and development in young children! This year’s Symposium will feature three keynote speakers. Zachary Champagne, a math education enthusiast that has spent thirteen years as an elementary school teacher specializing in math and science will be presenting. Kevin Schafer will also be speaking; he has a background as a special education teacher, administrator, and national/state technical assistance provider with expertise in the areas of systems change and inclusive educational practices. The world record holder for paper aircraft distance, John Collins, will be presenting why paper airplanes are a great teaching tool and how to introduce an amazing variety of skills and topics using folded flight. The symposium will be held in Fresno on Friday, June 22. Those who cannot attend in Fresno will have the chance to register for a live broadcast. Registration closes on June 1. Register here: https://www.calstat.org/EarlyMathSymposium/

The Early Mathematics Symposium is a professional development opportunity jointly sponsored by the California Department of Education, the California State Board of Education, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, First Five California, WestEd, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and the California Early Math Project.

6. Social Justice Conference in Mathematics June 19, 2018 8:30am-2:30pm. $30/participant (Breakfast and lunch included). Develop an understanding of culturally relevant and social justice pedagogy in mathematics. Learn strategies for supporting students in developing a positive mathematics identify and becoming successful math learners. Click HERE for more information.

7. Administrative Services Credential Through CSUMB
CSUMB is offering two new programs starting in fall 2018. These include the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential + MA and the online Induction program. They also continue to offer the MA in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education. There is an information night on Wednesday, April 11th from 7:00-8:00pm to tell potential candidates about the new programs. Meeting will be held in Building 3, Tech Lab. Rm. 155 (Address: 3051 Divarty St., Seaside, CA 93955).

8. CA Teachers Summit On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out

5.2.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Our first assessment day is this Friday, May 4th from 9-3:30 pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. At our last forum, we spent a good chunk of time working to calibrate reading using the AoP. Here are two big understandings I think came out of that process:

Participating teachers are, with their mentor’s guidance, making progress towards mastery throughout their Induction process. This means PTs may not YET be masterful in their work when they submit their REs. Using the AoP, we are looking for evidence that the teacher is working through these inquiry cycles in a meaningful way with their mentor, trying new things, and making progress both in the practice and in their thinking. We can also use the AoP to give formative feedback that will help the PT and mentor take meaningful next steps on that journey.
We all have biases that color the way we read REs including areas in which we consider ourselves experts (or not), or personal experiences, or the lenses with which we see certain practices, groups of students, etc. Being clear about what those are and working to mitigate them as we read is critical to review in a fair and unbiased way. When we get stuck, we can go back to the language of the AoP and trust that will guide us to a less biased review.

If we can keep these in mind as we review, and I know we are going to have a great round of assessment through which we and our PTs will learn a great deal.

Please bring the following items with you:

A fully-charged laptop and charger
Headphones (if you want to listen to music while you work)
Any other items to help you read comfortably
Your lunch (or funds to purchase lunch during lunch break)
You- rested and ready!

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Judith Barnes and Krisan Meyer- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Gregg Margossian- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Alexia Ford and Rhonda McCarthy-Fruit
Mehdi Panahi and Lily Xu- Veggies
Rachel Bliss- Bread and Spread
Alexia Ford and Christy Mills-Dessert

We still have openings for another person to bring meat/cheese and one to bring bread/spread this Friday, if you are interested. Use the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet to sign up.

Looking forward to seeing all of you on Friday.

Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Planning (Reminders and Updates):

Attendance: Assessments Days are quickly approaching and are an all hands on deck activity.

District/school-based mentors: The expectation is attendance both Fridays. If NOT able to attend let us know in advance. If you are also able to come on Wednesday, please let us know.
Contract Mentors: The expectation is attendance at either 1 full day or 2 half days. Please let Jamie know when you will attend.

b. Organizing REs for Submission

Naming Convention: Folders should be named in this way: 17-18 LastnameFirstInitial ProgramYear EOY RE (ex: 17-18 BrownJ PT2 EOY RE)
For more information on compiling REs and the review process, please refer to the Assessment Day Tab of the website.

c. Submitting REs

Emily invited to join the EOY RE Submission Folder last Friday. Remember, this folder contains sensitive information, so DO NOT share it with your PTs or others. You are responsible for uploading REs to this folder.
Make sure to mark on the Reading Assignments Spreadsheet in the folder when you submit your PT’s REs. This is how we know an RE is ready to be reviewed. We will work Thursday afternoon to assign readers, so if there are any changes in submission dates, please make them before that time or alert Jamie/Emily to those changes.

d. ECO Submissions: Per the ECO agreement/acceptance email, ECO REs need to be submitted on the first Assessment Day, May 4th.

2. SC/SVNTP Reimbursement Submission Deadlines (New-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: If you are still planning on going to an observation, please submit your MGO request forms to the district office before May 18. If you have already been to an observation, please make sure that the PTPD sheets are updated. ALL PTS SHOULD HAVE A STATUS LISTED FOR MGOS ON THE PTPD SPREADSHEET.
SV Colloquium: If you (Lead mentor) are requesting a PO for your district to get reimbursed, update the SV Colloquium Sheet or notify InJin. All purchase orders and reimbursement costs for Colloquium MUST be submitted before the end of May. If you are not able to submit reimbursement costs by the end of May, the SC/SVNTP cannot guarantee reimbursement. Please let InJin know if you have events after May 18th so we can work with you to submit all proper documentation in a timely manner.
Final Mileage/Personal Reimbursements/Timesheets: Must be turned by our last forum.

3. Annual Survey Complete- (Update): Thank you for all of your hard work to ensure our annual survey was a success. We were able to reach our goal of 70% response rate for Site Administrators. Yay! During our last forum of the year, we will review SC/SVNTP data, district/school data, and you will have your own reports to review as well. We look forward to sharing highlights and considering next steps based on this data set.

4. Purchasing Units (Reminder-Action May Be Required): PTs may purchase units for their work with you through University of the Pacific. This information is posted on the Teacher page of the website. You can bring PTs’ completed registration forms to any of our remaining assessment days/forums. There is no way for teachers to pay for their units online (it is not something that UoP offers) so, if you do not feel comfortable taking the teacher’s unit registration forms with credit card info or checks, feel free to direct PTs to turn those into Patricia Issak directly.

5. Snacks Sign Up (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Thank you for signing up for our End of Year potluck at our last Mentor Forum! There are still several open spots for both this day and our Assessment Days on 5/4 and 5/11. Please take a look at THIS spreadsheet and sign up for a treat to share. Our mentor community says thank you and yum!

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

6. Social Justice Conference in Mathematics June 19, 2018, 8:30am-2:30 pm. $30/participant (Breakfast and lunch included). Develop an understanding of culturally relevant and social justice pedagogy in mathematics. Learn strategies for supporting students in developing a positive mathematics identify and becoming successful math learners. Click HERE for more information.

7. Administrative Services Credential Through CSUMB
CSUMB is offering two new programs starting in fall 2018. These include the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential + MA and the online Induction program. They also continue to offer the MA in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education. There is an information night on Wednesday, April 11th from 7:00-8:00 pm to tell potential candidates about the new programs. The meeting will be held in Building 3, Tech Lab. Rm. 155 (Address: 3051 Divarty St., Seaside, CA 93955).

8. CA Teachers Summit On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs, and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources, and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out!

4.25.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I wish, at this busy time of year, that I could take each of you out for coffee, my treat. Alas, our time is short, so this admiration letter to all of you will have to suffice for the time being:

I want you to know how much I adore working with you. Your teachers are incredibly lucky to work with you each week. Even if they don’t always show you or tell you how much they appreciate you, know that they do (or will later!) and that their practice is better from having spent time with you. Their students are so lucky, too. Most new teachers never get a mentor like you and, as a result, the students have to suffer through a year with a teacher who is learning their craft without strategic support. They would thank you, too, if they knew! Please know you are an inspiration to me, to each other, and to so many others each and every day. You are smart, talented, a great leader, a gift to our community, and just all around amazing. Thank you!!!

I also want to give a great big shout out of thanks on Administrative Professionals Day to Patricia, InJin, and Laurie without whom our program would not function. We appreciate you!

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing you all this Friday, April 27th, from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension, for our last forum before assessment days. This is a really important forum, so please make all efforts to be in attendance. We will spend the majority of our time calibrating on the AoP. We will also work on our MLPs and learn from Greg Adler about how to coach teachers to address sensitive current events.

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Jenna Bryon- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Stephanie Tyson- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Geinah Nierrah-Fruit
Rhonda McCarthy- Veggies
Paul Kilkenny- Bread and Spread
Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau-Dessert

Not sure if/when you are signed up to bring snack soon? Able to bring something? Please check the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet. There are still many open spots for upcoming assessment days.

Looking forward to seeing all of you on Friday.

Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. Last Few Days For The Annual Survey!!!- (Updates (in red)-Action Required):

PTs Who Have Not Yet Completed the Survey: HERE is a list of PTs who, as of this morning, have not yet completed the Annual Survey. Please work with them to ensure they complete the survey before it closes THIS FRIDAY April 27th.
Site Administrators Who Have Not Yet Completed the Survey: HERE is a list of SAs who, as of yesterday evening, have not yet completed the Annual Survey. Please do encourage them to complete the survey before it closes THIS FRIDAY April 27th.

A few reminders:

Each survey invite contains a unique link. This helps us know who has/has not taken the survey. Please DO NOT forward your survey link to anyone else and remind your PTs not to do so either. If someone else uses your link, the new responses will overwrite yours.
If someone cannot find their survey invitation:
- FIRST, take a look at the PTPD Spreadsheet. What email address is listed for the PT? (This is, by the way, why we asked you to carefully check those email addresses).
- Then, check if the email in their junk, trash, etc.)
- If you still cannot find it, please contact Patricia Isaak: pisaak@santacruzcoe.org. Patti will send out a reminder invite as well as any people who have requested a resend on Sunday, April 22nd.
As a reminder, PTs who have not completed the survey will not have their End-of-Year REs reviewed.

2. Helping teachers address sensitive current events in the classroom (New): This Friday, East Side mentor, Greg Adler, will lead a module on helping teachers address sensitive current events in the classroom. We are excited to learn from him! In advance of this module, he has shared this note and resources: “How do teachers address sensitive current events in the classroom? Are they prepared for what can be difficult and uncomfortable conversations? How can we prepare them for the difficult headlines that might greet them on their way to school on any given morning?”

LESSON PLANS:

What can we learn from the Stoneman school shooting? PBS Newshour Lesson Plans : News for Students and Teacher Resources http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/daily-videos/stonemanschoolshooting/

The Reckoning: Teaching About the #MeToo Moment Has #MeTOO touched your community or school? Have your teachers responded? https://sharemylesson.com/blog/teaching-about-metoo-moment

“I Was 11 on 9-11” : A student tells what it was like Scholastic Lesson Plans for All Age Groups https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/i-was-11-911/

ARTICLES:

UC History Social Science Project Blog : We Can Do Better… Message not limited to history or social studies classes http://chssp.ucdavis.edu/blog/charlottesville

Teacher Reflection: Why I Will Not be Teaching about … I thought this article link has relevance for all teachers … and by extension all students. https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/why-i-will-not-be-teaching-about-charlottesville

Gun Violence Study Uses Math to Compare Policies Huffington Post article adds a science and math element to this debate – (A STEM lesson?) https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/02/gun-violence-study-scientists-math-firearm-deaths_n_3691087.html

Op-ED: Charlottesville, ISIS & Us Thomas Friedman’s Op-ed on who we really are seen firsthand at US military bases abroad https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/opinion/charlottesville-isis-us-syria.html?mcubz=0&_r=0

PD RESOURCES:

Ten Ways to Fight Hate An approach to recent events & practical ideas that go beyond teaching about specific events https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/ten_ways_to_fight_hate_2017.pdf

Guidelines for Discussing Difficult or Controversial Topics Univ. of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching http://www.crlt.umich.edu/publinks/generalguidelines

MANAGING HOT MOMENTS IN THE CLASSROOM https://www2.humboldt.edu/diversity/sites/default/files/Managing_Hot_Moments_in_the_Classroom-Harvard_University.pdfs

3. Colloquium and Site Share Guidelines (Repeat): Directions for planning and running Colloquiums and Site Shares are now located on SV Mentor Page of website. Please make sure you review these carefully as you finalize plans.

4. PTPD Spreadsheet Updates Needed (Repeat-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: Something needs to be entered into Column M (Yes, No, or Unsure) ASAP. Our deadline to submit POs for reimbursement at the COE is the third week of May. Without this information, we cannot accurately budget.
Colloquium/Site Share: As PTs attend these events, please mark their attendance in either Column O or P. Please do NOT enter info until attendance at these events has been verified.

5. Assessment Day Planning (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Assessments Days are quickly approaching and are an all hands on deck activity.

District/school-based mentors: The expectation is attendance both Fridays. If NOT able to attend let us know in advance. If you are also able to come on Wednesday, please let us know.
Contract Mentors: The expectation is attendance at either 1 full day or 2 half days. Please let Jamie know when you will attend.

6. Organizing REs for Submission (Update): A number of mentors have asked about naming conventions for End-of-Year REs. We will review this at our next forum on April 27th, however, I am frontloading a few items here, in case you are ready for them:

Updated Naming Convention: Folders should be named in this way: 17-18 LastnameFirstInitial ProgramYear EOY RE (ex: 17-18 BrownJ PT2 EOY RE)
For more information on compiling REs and the review process, please refer to the Assessment Day Tab of the website.

7. Purchasing Units (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Last Monday, you should have received an email with information about how PTs may purchase units for their work with you through University of the Pacific. PTs should have received the same email on Tuesday. This information is also posted on the Teacher page of the website.

There is no way for teachers to pay for their units online (it is not something that UoP offers). If you do not feel comfortable taking the teacher’s unit registration forms with credit card info or checks, feel free to have them turn those into Patricia Issak directly.

8. Snacks Sign Up (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Thank you for signing up for our End of Year potluck at our last Mentor Forum! There are still several open spots for both this day and our Assessment Days on 5/4 and 5/11. Please take a look at THIS spreadsheet and sign up for a treat to share. Our mentor community says thank you and yum!

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

9. Social Justice Conference in Mathematics June 19, 2018 8:30am-2:30pm. $30/participant (Breakfast and lunch included). Develop an understanding of culturally relevant and social justice pedagogy in mathematics. Learn strategies for supporting students in developing a positive mathematics identify and becoming successful math learners. Click HERE for more information.

10. Administrative Services Credential Through CSUMB
CSUMB is offering two new programs starting in fall 2018. These include the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential + MA and the online Induction program. They also continue to offer the MA in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education. There is an information night on Wednesday, April 11th from 7:00-8:00pm to tell potential candidates about the new programs. Meeting will be held in Building 3, Tech Lab. Rm. 155 (Address: 3051 Divarty St., Seaside, CA 93955).

11. CA Teachers Summit On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out!

4.18.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well this Wednesday. There is no forum this week and we will miss you! We will be together again next Friday, April 27th for our last forum before assessment days! I know you will use the extra time this Friday to help teachers bring closure to their Spring Inquiries.

Once we have completed Inquiry work for the spring, sometimes teachers ask us whether they will continue working with us until the end of the year. The answer is, yes! The state is clear that we need to continue to meet with teachers an average of not less than an hour a week until the end of the year, AND, this is a great opportunity to support teachers in taking on a topic you haven’t yet had a chance to tackle, building on inquiry findings in their last units, and in ending the school year well both for themselves and their students. Have fun!

Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. Your Help Needed with the Annual Survey (Updates (in red)-Action Required):

HERE is a list of PTs who, as of this morning, have not yet completed the Annual Survey. Please work with them to ensure they complete the survey before it closes on April 27th.

A few reminders:

There are unique surveys for mentors, site administrators, PT1-2s, ECOs, and PT3s.
Each survey invite contains a unique link. This helps us know who has/has not taken the survey. Please DO NOT forward your survey link to anyone else and remind your PTs not to do so either. If someone else uses your link, the new responses will overwrite yours.
If someone cannot find their survey invitation:
- FIRST, take a look at the PTPD Spreadsheet. What email address is listed for the PT? (This is, by the way, why we asked you to carefully check those email addresses).
- Then, check if the email in their junk, trash, etc.
- If you still cannot find it, please contact Patricia Isaak: pisaak@santacruzcoe.org. Patti will send out an invite to any people who have requested a resend on Sunday, April 22nd.
I will attach lists of those who have not yet completed the survey to next next week’s message as well.
As a reminder, PTs who have not completed the survey will not have their End-of-Year REs reviewed.

Finally, have YOU taken your survey yet? Please make sure to take time today to complete that process.

2. Colloquium and Site Share Guidelines (New): Directions for planning and running Colloquiums and Site Shares are now located on SV Mentor Page of website. Please make sure you review these carefully as you finalize plans.

3. PTPD Spreadsheet Updates Needed (New-Action Required): As we finish the year, please take time to ensure the PTPD Spreadsheet has the following fields completed for your PTs:

MGOs: Something needs to be entered into Column M (Yes, No, or Unsure) ASAP. Our deadline to submit POs for reimbursement at the COE is the third week of May. Without this information, we cannot accurately budget.
Colloquium/Site Share: As PTs attend these events, please mark their attendance in either Column O or P. Please do NOT enter info until attendance at these events has been verified.

4. Assessment Day Planning (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Assessments Days are quickly approaching and are an all hands on deck activity.

District/school-based mentors: The expectation is attendance both Fridays. If NOT able to attend let us know in advance. If you are also able to come on Wednesday, please let us know.
Contract Mentors: The expectation is attendance at either 1 full day or 2 half days. Please let Jamie know when you will attend.

5. Organizing REs for Submission (Update): A number of mentors have asked about naming conventions for End-of-Year REs. We will review this at our next forum on April 27th, however, I am frontloading a few items here, in case you are ready for them:

Updated Naming Convention: Folders should be named in this way: 17-18 LastnameFirstInitial ProgramYear EOY RE (ex: 17-18 BrownJ PT2 EOY RE)
For more information on compiling REs and the review process, please refer to the Assessment Day Tab of the website.

6. Purchasing Units (Update-Action May Be Required): On Monday, you should have received an email with information about how PTs may purchase units for their work with you through University of the Pacific. PTs should have received the same email on Tuesday. This information is also posted on the Teacher page of the website.

There is no way for teachers to pay for their units online (it is not something that UoP offers). If you do not feel comfortable taking the teacher’s unit registration forms with credit card info or checks, feel free to have them turn those into Patricia Issak directly.

8. Looking for Contract Mentors for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting is now on EdJoin as well.

9. Snacks Sign Up: Thank you for signing up for our End of Year potluck at our last Mentor Forum! There are still several open spots for both this day and our Assessment Days on 5/4 and 5/11. Please take a look at THIS spreadsheet and sign up for a treat to share. Our mentor community says thank you and yum!

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

10. Social Justice Conference in Mathematics June 19, 2018 8:30am-2:30pm. $30/participant (Breakfast and lunch included). Develop an understanding of culturally relevant and social justice pedagogy in mathematics. Learn strategies for supporting students in developing a positive mathematics identify and becoming successful math learners. Click HERE for more information.

11. Administrative Services Credential Through CSUMB
CSUMB is offering two new programs starting in fall 2018. These include the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential + MA and the online Induction program. They also continue to offer the MA in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education. There is an information night on Wednesday, April 11th from 7:00-8:00pm to tell potential candidates about the new programs. Meeting will be held in Building 3, Tech Lab. Rm. 155 (Address: 3051 Divarty St., Seaside, CA 93955).

12. CA Teachers Summit On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out!

4.11.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing you this Friday, April 13th from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley for our next forum. All materials will be posted to the website by Thursday, We will be discussing the following topics:

Problem Pose/Problem Solve
Formative Assessment to Support Teachers - led by Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau!
Mentor Learning Plan/ECO Work Time
Reflecting on Growth and Looking Ahead: Closing out ILP Goals and PGR
Symposium Share - led by Andralee Pervorse and Jamie Brown!

Please bring:

Your fully charged laptop
Earbuds to watch videos
Your Mentor Learning Plan
Your Conversation Guide binder

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Shana Riehl- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
WE NEED SOMEONE TO SIGN UP!- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
WE NEED SOMEONE TO SIGN UP!-Fruit
Angelica Estrella- Veggies
Paul Kilkenny- Bread and Spread
Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau-Dessert

Not sure if/when you are signed up to bring snack this Spring? Able to bring something this week? Please check the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet. There are still spots for upcoming forums and assessment days as well.

If you are on break this week, enjoy your time off! Please make sure you review the posted materials and let Jamie or me know if you have any questions.

Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. The Annual Survey is Now Open! (Update): On Sunday, Patti sent all mentors, participating teachers, and site administrators the annual survey via SurveyMonkey. Thank you to everyone who has already completed it! Please continue to encourage your PTs to take the survey before it closes on April 27th.
A few reminders:

There are unique surveys for mentors, site administrators, PT1-2s, ECOs, and PT3s.
Each survey invite contains a unique link. This helps us know who has/has not taken the survey. Please DO NOT forward your survey link to anyone else and remind your PTs not to do so either. If someone else uses your link, the new responses will overwrite yours.
If someone cannot find their survey invitation (after looking in their junk, trash, etc.), please contact Patricia Isaak: pisaak@santacruzcoe.org. Patti will send out a reminder invite as well as any people who have requested a resend on both Sunday, April 15th and 22nd.
I will attach lists of those who have not yet completed the survey to next two week’s messages.

2. Assessment Day Planning (New-Action May Be Required): Assessments Days are quickly approaching and are an all hands on deck activity.

District/school-based mentors: The expectation is attendance both Fridays. If NOT able to attend let us know in advance. If you are also able to come on Wednesday, please let us know.
Contract Mentors: The expectation is attendance at either 1 full day or 2 half days. Please let us know when you will attend.

3. Organizing REs for Submission (New-Action May Be Required): A number of mentors have asked about naming conventions for End-of-Year REs. We will review this at our next forum on April 27th, however, I am frontloading a few items here, in case you are ready for them:

Folders should be named in this way: 17-18 LastnameFirstInitial EOY RE
For more information on compiling REs and the review process, please refer to the Assessment Day Tab of the website.

4. Purchasing Units (New-Action May Be Required): Due to a recent change in UCSC policy, we are no longer able to partner with them to offer units for Induction. However, we have good news on this front. Through a new partnership with University of the Pacific, we are able to offer more units--4 semester units instead of 5 quarter units--for $280. On Friday, during forum, we will discuss the process for purchasing units further.

5. Looking for Contract Mentors for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting is now on EdJoin as well.

6. Sub Requests for Mentor Guided Observations (MGOs) (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please update columns L, M and N in the PTPD Spreadsheet making note of MGO sub requests. This information is critical for budget development. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

7. CA Teachers Summit. On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out!

3.28.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy sunny Wednesday! I hope you are getting outside and enjoying the warm weather. This would be a great week to have some walking meetings with your teachers. Everyone needs a little sun and exercise, especially at this busy time of year.

Our next forum will be Friday, April 13th from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. There is NO forum on April 6th (I’ve heard a few questions about this). Please look carefully at the schedule at the end of this message at the locations of a few meetings has shifted. These are indicated in red.

Next week, our team will be on Spring Break, so there will be no weekly message. Enjoy your well-deserved time off as well!

Please carefully review the announcements below for those relevant to your situation:

1. Lesson Plan/Unit Plan Templates (New-Action May Be Required): We recognize that, in some schools and districts, there is a specific template teachers must use. We do not want teachers to do double work in creating lesson plans! While we strongly suggest PTs use our unit/lesson planning template, if a PT is using a different template, they may submit their version in lieu of our template. HOWEVER, please check in with leadership to ensure all key planning elements are included in their plan before submitting for assessment day.

2. The Annual Survey is Coming..Soon! (Update): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence.

The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out on April 9th via SurveyMonkey to all stakeholders.
There are unique surveys for mentors, site administrators, PT1-2s, ECOs, and PT3s.
Each survey invite contains a unique link. This helps us know who has/has not taken the survey. Please DO NOT forward your survey link to anyone else and remind your PTs not to do so either. If someone else uses your link, the new responses will overwrite yours.
If someone cannot find their survey invitation (after looking in their junk, trash, etc.), please contact Patricia Isaak: pisaak@santacruzcoe.org
Throughout the survey window, we will be sharing with you lists of who/has not taken the survey. Thank you in advance for your help to ensure all stakeholders (including you) complete the survey in a timely manner.

3. Colloquium/Site Share Update (New-Action May Be Required): LEAD MENTORS, please pay careful attention to this announcement:

We know the time for Colloquiums and Site Shares are fast approaching. Please make sure you have confirmed locations and dates and invited key stakeholders (including Jamie and I) to attend.
Recording participation: Recognizing this is often the last program requirement fulfilled, and we want to make sure we are accurate and timely in recording this data in the database. Injin relies on the information in the database to support her in moving forward with sending out Intent to File forms. Holding these pieces in mind, we are proposing the following protocol:
1. Patti will provide EACH lead mentor with sign in sheets for Colloquium
2. At the conclusion of Colloquium, lead mentors take a picture/scan the completed sign in sheets and email them to: Patti, Injin, and Jamie.
If the teacher engages in a Site Share, the mentor is to take a picture/scan of the CAL or other note-taking tool used to guide the share, and email the CAL to Patti, Injin and Jamie. Please make sure the CAL has the names of teachers and others in attendance.
Lead mentors fill in the PT/PD Spreadsheet, with dates, recording Colloquium/Site Share attendance. This serves as a double check for mentors and alerts us to any PTs that need to make up Colloquium – we ask that mentors only record the date to indicate attendance, if a PT did not attend Colloquium/hasn’t yet completed the Site Share, the cell would remain blank.
Lead mentors give Jamie or Emily hard copies of the sign in sheets/CALs to be turned in to Patti as soon as possible.

4. Photos for our Website (Reminder–Action May Be Required): We are in the process of updating SC/SVNTP materials and our website and we need photos of children in diverse school settings. If you are so willing, please share any photos you have of the kids you love enjoying school. Please make sure you have permission to use these photos if there are other people’s children in them! Thanks.

5. Looking for Contract Mentors for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting will be out soon on EdJoin as well.

6. Sub Requests for Mentor Guided Observations (MGOs) (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please update columns L, M and N in the PTPD Spreadsheet making note of MGO sub requests. This information is critical for budget development. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Below are a few professional development opportunities you/your PTs may be interested in attending:

7. CA Teachers Summit. On July 27th, the 4th annual CA Teachers Summit (hosted by New Teacher Center, CSUs and the AICCU) will bring new and seasoned teachers together at 30+ locations across the state to strengthen our teacher network, share resources and experience what it looks like to personalize learning for themselves. Come and bring your teacher colleagues! Registration is now open, so register today before your preferred site is sold out!

8. Region V Community of Practice Social Justice in Mathematics Conference. This conference is a a great opportunity to be inspired by strong Math leaders speaking on the subject of equity of access for students to all levels of Math instruction. Please pass on to your Math instructors, coaches/mentors, and K-5 faculty.

Upcoming Events:

SC/SVNTP Annual Survey April 9th-27th
Mentor Forum April 13, 2018 9:00-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley
Last Steering Committee April 23, 2018 (Wednesday) 9:00-11:00 at Morgan Hill District Office Board Room (Lead Mentors check with your representatives about their plans to attend!)
Mentor Forum April 27, 2018 9:00-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension
Assessment Day 1 May 4, 2018 9:00-3:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension
Assessment Day 2 May 9, 2018 (Wednesday) 9:00-3:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension (all available mentors)
Assessment Day 3 May 11, 2018 9:00-3:30pm at Sunnyvale ES Board Room
Last Mentor Forum/Celebration May 23, 2018 (Wednesday) 9:00-1:30pm at East Side UHSD Board Room

Have a great rest of your week,
Emily

3.21.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday, and happy Spring! I am enjoying the rain and the green that are so rare in our area and hope you are, too. As I drive around, I find myself distracted and staring at the emerald hills, the suddenly purple and white trees, and the intermittent yet brilliant rainbows. Luckily, they haven’t distracted me enough to cause a car crash….yet...but I do have to focus hard to keep my eyes on the road! Spring is always such a powerful reminder for me of how just a little rain, a little nourishment, a little encouragement can have dramatic effects. As you work with your teachers this week, take note of where there is new growth to dazzle you or where there might be a little encouragement needed to get a teacher or student blooming. Make sure you also take a little time to sit back and enjoy the rainbows that result from all your hard work! Oh, and do keep your eyes on the road. No crashes, please, before assessment days!

Our next forum is not until April 13th, so enjoy the extra time in the field to begin wrapping up those inquiries and providing just-in-time support for all the “stuff” that happens in the Spring. Jamie and I wish you wonderful Spring Breaks and look forward to seeing you soon. Let us know if there is any support we can provide during this last push!

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:
1. Photos for our Website (Update–Action May Be Required): We are in the process of updating SC/SVNTP materials and our website and we need photos of children in diverse school settings. If you are so willing, please share any photos you have of the kids you love enjoying school. Please make sure you have permission to use these photos if there are other people’s children in them! Thanks.

2. Teachers Missing Meetings/Leaving (Reminder-Action May Be Required): We’ve had a lot of teacher movement occurring this year and thought it might useful to share a few quick reminders:

If a teacher misses two meetings with you, please let Emily know ASAP so we can follow our protocols to head off challenges on this front.
If a teacher misses more than 4 weeks in a semester, they are not eligible to participate in Induction that semester. Please let Emily know ASAP if this occurs. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is dismissed, transfers, or leaves, please let Emily know ASAP. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is planning to go out on leave at the beginning of next year, please also let Emily know so we can update our database with this information.

3. Spring Visits (Reminder): During the month of March, Jamie and I are visiting with each of your district/school Steering Committee Representatives and leadership teams to review our partnership in 17-18 and plan for 18-19. If there is anything I should know prior to that visit, please contact me.

4. Looking for Contract Mentors for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting will be out soon on EdJoin as well.

5. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders.

Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

3.15.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

We will start today with a note from Melissa Roberts: “Friday at our last Combined Equity Forum, we will have the opportunity to share with our book group our equity journey thus far. In preparation for the day, please bring an artifact of practice that supports you in sharing your journey. In addition, continue to reflect on the question, “In what ways did your book support you/your teachers in deepening your equity work? (Reflect on how the book/your book study group discussion corroborate, deepen, and/or challenge your thinking or practice).

I also invite you to make time between now and Friday morning to do something fun! Maybe you treat yourself to a special coffee (or other beverage), maybe you take a walk, maybe you squeeze in a phone call to your best friend. Such small gifts to ourselves support us in staying charged and engaged in the work. As some of you already know, I love to sing and dance in my car. It’s true. There is something about turning up the radio to an unhealthy volume and singing loudly that brings me joy. If you don’t already partake in this practice, I encourage you to give it a go. I’m including two of my favorite songs for inspiration.
Superstition
Float On
Drive safely and see you Friday!”

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Combined Forum, Friday, March 16th 8:30am-3pm (NOTE THE START TIME) (Update – Action May Be Required ). Materials will be available on the web no later than the Thursday afternoon prior to forum.
Friday’s agenda includes:

Connector – Staying Engaged
Overview and Announcements
Storytelling
Coaching Practice
Book Study
Closing and Feedback

Reminders:

Carpool if possible, and give yourself plenty of time to drive to Santa Cruz as roads may be wet
Plan to bring your own lunch
You will have time to share your equity journey work this year. Please bring artifact(s) to share that might help you to tell the story of your 4A’s equity journey with your PT(s).
As part of book clubs we will be creating posters of your learning around the question, “In what ways did this book support you/your teachers in deepening your equity work? (Reflect on how the book/your book study group discussion corroborate, deepen, and/or challenge your thinking or practice). Consider bringing a quote, passage, visuals/images that could contribute to answering this question.

2. Photos for our Website (Reminder–Action May Be Required): We are in the process of updating SC/SVNTP materials and our website and we need photos of children in diverse school settings. If you are so willing, please share any photos you have of the kids you love enjoying school.

3. Teachers Missing Meetings/Leaving (Reminder-Action May Be Required): We’ve had a lot of teacher movement occurring this year and thought it might useful to share a few quick reminders:

If a teacher misses two meetings with you, please let Emily know ASAP so we can follow our protocols to head off challenges on this front.
If a teacher misses more than 4 weeks in a semester, they are not eligible to participate in Induction that semester. Please let Emily know ASAP if this occurs. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is dismissed, transfers, or leaves, please let Emily know ASAP. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is planning to go out on leave at the beginning of next year, please also let Emily know so we can update our database with this information.

4. Spring Visits (Reminder): During the month of March, Jamie and I are visiting with each of your district/school Steering Committee Representatives and leadership teams to review our partnership in 17-18 and plan for 18-19. If there is anything I should know prior to that visit, please let me know.

5. Looking for Contract Mentors for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting will be out soon on EdJoin as well.

6. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. There are two items we need your help with today:

Evaluator info needed: Thank you to everyone for getting this information completed! Woohoo!
Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

7. Sub Requests for Mentor Guided Observations (MGOs) (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please update columns L, M and N in the PTPD Spreadsheet making note of MGO sub requests. This information is critical for budget development. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Below are Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

8. Social Emotional Learning Guidelines and Resources: The California Department of Education (CDE) has joined the Collaborating States Initiative, a group of eight states that share information, best practices, and promising tools and ideas in the interest of building strong Social Emotional Learning in schools across their states. The Collaborating States Initiative is hosted by the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning. With the support of a group of expert advisors, CDE will be working to develop a plan for the best ways to implement good Social Emotional Learning practices in California schools. Most recently, CDE has released new guiding principles for teaching social and emotional skills, a tool to help educators ensure students have the skills they need for success in school, careers, and in the community. The new guidelines and more resources are available on the CDE’s social and emotional learning webpage.

9. Conscious Classroom Management - Tips from Rick Smith and Grace Dearborn Taking Random Calling to the Next Level: What to do when kids say, "I don't know." When posing questions to your class, you can use random calling, instead of taking volunteers, to increase attention and participation. You can use an app on your cell phone to select students at random, you can go old-school and use popsicle sticks in a jar with students' names on them, or you can do strategic random calling, where you call on the students that seem the least engaged. But however you choose to do it, you need to be ready for students not knowing the answer and students saying, "I don't know." Click here for 3 ideas you can try tomorrow that will help you keep kids firmly, but gently, on the hook for participating during class discussions, even when they "don't know.”

Don't forget to check out our newsletter archive for tons of other great ideas for the classroom, including better ways to "check for understanding" after giving directions.

3.7.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday. I hope you are all finding some time to get out in the beautiful sun today before the rain returns tonight.

Jamie and I have started our Spring Visits this week, and I wanted to share two trends I am hearing. First, know that your districts love you and the work you are doing. They see your value and the impact you are having. Keep up the good work!

We are also hearing a trend around non-reelects occurring due to challenges related to CSTP 6-Professionalism. While dress and interactions with others are sometimes cited, we are hearing more about (mis)use of social media, funding sites, etc. as well as appropriate communication with parents and administrators. CSTP 6 is a harder topic for an inquiry, but it doesn’t mean we can’t/shouldn't help teachers think about these critical pieces. When I was at Stanford, we would actually do a social media audit with teacher candidates--where do you show up on the internet? What would employers, parents, and students see if they searched for you? Might be worth doing with your folks now. What other ideas do you have for supporting teachers around CSTP 6?

We have no forum this week, but will be back together with our broader community at the Santa Cruz COE next Friday, March 16th for our last combined forum of the year from 8:30am-3pm (NOTE THE START TIME!).

Plan to bring your own lunch as there are few options close by and our lunch time is limited.
You will have time to share your equity journey work this year. Please bring artifact(s) to share that might help you to tell the story of your 4As equity journey with your PT(s).
As part of book clubs will be creating posters of their learning around the question, “In what ways did this book support you/your teachers in deepening your equity work (Consider how the book/your book study group discussion corroborate, deepen, and/or challenge your thinking or practice)?” Consider bringing a quote, passage, visuals/images that could contribute to answering this question.
Attendance for the full day is expected for all mentors. If you know you cannot attend, please contact Emily in advance as your absence creates logistical challenges. East Side mentors, please let me know your plans, specifically, thanks.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Self-Paced Learning (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Just as a reminder, as part of the self-paced learning module, you had a chance to review mid-year survey data. Part of the directions were to find time to look at this data with your team. If you haven’t done so yet, please take time to do so soon! If there are questions about the data, please ask Jamie or Emily. We are happy to consult with you! Also, if you haven’t provided feedback on the self-paced learning, please take time to do so soon. Thanks.

2. Photos for our Website (New–Action May Be Required): We are in the process of updating SC/SVNTP materials and our website and we need photos of children in diverse school settings. If you are so willing, please share any photos you have of the kids you love enjoying school.

3. Teachers Missing Meetings/Leaving (Reminder-Action May Be Required): We’ve had a lot of teacher movement occurring this year and thought it might useful to share a few quick reminders:

If a teacher misses two meetings with you, please let Emily know ASAP so we can follow our protocols to head off challenges on this front.
If a teacher misses more than 4 weeks in a semester, they are not eligible to participate in Induction that semester. Please let Emily know ASAP if this occurs. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is dismissed, transfers, or leaves, please let Emily know ASAP. An Exit Form needs to be completed for this teacher.
If a teacher is planning to go out on leave at the beginning of next year, please also let Emily know so we can update our database with this information.

4. Spring Visits (Reminder): During the month of March, Jamie and I are visiting with each of your district/school Steering Committee Representatives and leadership teams to review our partnership in 17-18 and plan for 18-19. If there is anything I should know prior to that visit, please let me know.

5. Contract Mentor Plans for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): CONTRACT MENTORS- Jamie sent an email yesterday to all current contract mentors inquiring about your interest in continuing to mentor next year. Please let her know as soon as possible. ALL MENTORS-if you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting will be out soon on EdJoin as well.

6. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. There are two items we need your help with today:

Evaluator info needed: Thank you to everyone for getting this information completed! Woohoo!
Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

Writing Our Future" Out Loud, sponsored by the National Writing Project, via an opportunity to publish online through this link: bit.ly/writingourfuture, which opens Feb. 27, after the film is presented on PBS. More resources are at: www.shareyourlearning.org.
Facing History as Ourselves: https://www.facinghistory.org/ (Professional development and teaching links)
Teach.kqed.org: (free, online p.d.)

10. Conscious Classroom Management - Tips from Rick Smith and Grace Dearborn Taking Random Calling to the Next Level: What to do when kids say, "I don't know." When posing questions to your class, you can use random calling, instead of taking volunteers, to increase attention and participation. You can use an app on your cell phone to select students at random, you can go old-school and use popsicle sticks in a jar with students' names on them, or you can do strategic random calling, where you call on the students that seem the least engaged. But however you choose to do it, you need to be ready for students not knowing the answer and students saying, "I don't know." Click here for 3 ideas you can try tomorrow that will help you keep kids firmly, but gently, on the hook for participating during class discussions, even when they "don't know.”

Don't forget to check out our newsletter archive for tons of other great ideas for the classroom, including better ways to "check for understanding" after giving directions.

2.28.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy last day of February! I don’t know if you feel like I do, but it seems to me that time is just flying by this semester. As I look at our calendar, I see that we have only four more forums before Assessment Days which begin on May 4th. That means we have only nine more weeks...and at least one of those is Spring Break! I do not share this with you to make you panic. Rather, it is intended as a reminder that we need to make the most of every encounter we have left this year with teachers. At this point in the year, you should be deep in Inquiry Cycles--looking at data, planning and observing lessons, and looking at data again. This can be a joyful process, full of curiosity, growth, and learning--if we do it right. I encourage you to spend some time mapping out the path between now and the end of the year with your teachers to make sure you have enough time to meaningfully engage in each of these pieces and avoid “paperwork completion” mode. Please know that Jamie and I are here for you, should you have any questions. We know you’ve got this!

We are looking forward to seeing you this Friday from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley for our next mentor forum. The agenda will include the following items:

Self-Paced Learning Discussion (Bring your notes. Don’t forget to complete the feedback form!!!)
Positioning Teachers To Put Their Goals Into Action
Lesson Planning Break Out Groups (ECO Mentors, there will be a breakout option for you during this time. Please bring your ideas for artifacts of teacher practice that you and your teacher may use as part of their ECO portfolio to share with others)
Strategic Post-Observations
1. Have a Talent/filming/observation tech tip that others might benefit from hearing? We’d love to have you share briefly during this module! Let Jamie know if you have something to share

Please plan to bring:

A fully-charged internet ready device
Your conversation guide binder
Self-paced learning notes
ECO mentors-bring ideas for artifacts of practice

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Carly Sturm- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Chanmi Chun-Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Adriana Bellini-Fruit
Laura Gordon Reska - Veggies
Judith Barnes- Bread and Spread
Tawiah Burroughs-Dessert

There are still vacant slots on the snack sign up list this Spring. Please take time to add your name. Not sure if/when you are signed up to bring snack this Spring? Please check the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. It’s the end of the month! Has your mileage been submitted? (Reminder-Action May Be Required):

Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the 2017 form. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form for 2018 is now available on the Office Forms tab of the website. Please use this new form for all mileage from Jan. 2018 forward.

Other mileage reminders:

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

2. Last Combined Equity Forum in Santa Cruz (New-Action May Be Required): Our last Combined Equity Forum of the year will be in the Tech Room of the Santa Cruz COE on March 16th from 8:30am-3pm (NOTE THE START TIME!). Plan to bring your own lunch as there are few options close by and our lunch time is limited. Please also carpool if at all possible. As part of this forum, you will have time to share your equity journey work this year and meet with your book club for the last time. Attendance for the full day is expected for all mentors. If you know you cannot attend, please contact Emily in advance as your absence creates logistical challenges. East Side mentors, please let me know your plans, specifically, thanks.

3. Spring Visits are Beginning (Reminder): During the month of March, Jamie and I will be visiting with each of your district/school Steering Committee Representatives and leadership teams to review our partnership in 17-18 and plan for 18-19. If there is anything I should know prior to that visit, please let me know.

4. Contract Mentor Plans for 18-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): CONTRACT MENTORS- Jamie sent an email yesterday to all current contract mentors inquiring about your interest in continuing to mentor next year. Please let her know as soon as possible. ALL MENTORS-if you know anyone who might be interested in being a contract mentor next year, particularly in Special Education, please do connect us. A job posting will be out soon on EdJoin as well.

5. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. There are two items we need your help with today:

Evaluator info needed in preparation for the survey: If you have not yet entered evaluator info into the PTPD Spreadsheet. Please do so ASAP. We cannot send the survey out without this info!
Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

6. Sub Requests for Mentor Guided Observations (MGOs) (Reminder – Action May Be Required): Please update columns L, M and N in the PTPD Spreadsheet making note of MGO sub requests. This information is critical for budget development. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

7. ECO Candidates (Reminder): Some of you have asked about hyperlinking. THIS short video explains how to hyperlink documents within the ILP. THIS short video will show you how to download and upload the ECO toolkit. THIS video explains how to set up the End-of-Year ECO RE folder for submission. The ECO AoP can be viewed HERE.

Below are Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

8. ELA/ELD Framework Implementation Support for Teachers, Instructional Coaches, and Administrators: The CA Department of Education’s Common Core Team has released a collection of resources fully aligned to the ELA/ELD Framework. Visit the new webpage at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/elaeldfwresources.asp and explore the compilation of videos, implementation tools, and reports containing clear and useful recommendations to help implement California standards and ELA/ELD framework-aligned teaching including:

Over 250 resources organized around the five key themes: Meaning Making, Effective Expression, Language Development, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills
Over 80 resources with an English-learner focus
Over 60 high-quality videos from reputable sources

9. Rollout Events for the History–Social Science Framework: The CA Department of Education is co-sponsoring rollout events in several locations in conjunction with the California History–Social Science Project, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and other organizations. See below for a list of scheduled rollout events. Register early—these rollout events fill up quickly. These one-day conferences provide a full-day examination of the instructional shifts, updated and expanded content, aligning history–social science instruction with the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, and inquiry-based instruction across grade levels.

March 22, 2018, San Diego
April 16, 2018, Stockton
April 25, 2018, Riverside
May 22, 2018, Sonoma
May 24, 2018, Humboldt
August 2, 2018, Shasta

Registration and additional information is available on the CDE History–Social Science Web page at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

2.21.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I wanted to start today with a note from our director, Melissa, “This time of year is about getting our teachers out of their classrooms and into the rooms of veteran teachers can provide a boost of motivation and inspiration. As a community, we’ve talked about the impact watching veteran teachers in action has on moving new teacher practice forward. We also know that scheduling can be extremely challenging, particularly when districts are faced with an extreme shortage of substitutes. While it is always our goal to take teachers out to visit other schools, there are other ways to broaden teacher perspective. For instance, your teachers could watch a colleague on campus, observe you model a lesson or perhaps view a video of another teacher implementing a specific strategy your teacher is interested in. Whichever method you employ, remember our purpose is to support the teacher in addressing their ILP goals. For further mentor inspiration, check out the MGO debrief Emma captured where her PTs connected observation evidence to the CSTP. Thanks Emma!”

For those of you on Winter Break this week, I hope you are enjoying the time away!

Please do not forget to work on your self-paced learning modules. They are posted on the Forum Materials page of the website. The expectation is that you will complete this process before our March 3rd forum and will bring your notes to that forum to share. Please let Jamie or I know if you have any questions.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Forum Planning for 2018-19 (Reminder-Action May Be Required): We are working on finalizing the 18-19 calendar now and need some input from you. Please take a few minutes to complete this 6-question Forum Planning Survey by March 1st. Thank you for your feedback!

2. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. There are two items we need your help with today:

Evaluator info needed in preparation for the survey: If you have not yet entered evaluator info into the PTPD Spreadsheet. Please do so ASAP. We cannot send the survey out without this info!
Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

3. ECO artifacts for 3.2.18 Forum (Reminder-Action May Be Required): If you are a mentor supporting an ECO this Spring, this announcement is for you. At our next forum we will have time again to meet and support one another. Please bring your ideas for artifacts of teacher practice that you and your teacher may use as part of their ECO portfolio to share with others. Thanks!

4. Sub Requests for Mentor Guided Observations (MGOs) (New – Action May Be Required): Please update columns L, M and N in the PTPD Spreadsheet making note of MGO sub requests. This information is critical for budget development. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

5. ECO Candidates (Reminder): Some of you have asked about hyperlinking. THIS short video explains how to hyperlink documents within the ILP. THIS short video will show you how to download and upload the ECO toolkit. THIS video explains how to set up the End-of-Year ECO RE folder for submission. The ECO AoP can be viewed HERE.

Below are Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

6. Online Resources Developed by one of our mentors!: Former East Side Coach, Christine LaMontagne, has asked me to share three resources with you that she is working to develop:

A blog called The Varsity Classroom to provide resources for teachers that are not strictly education/research-based, but pull inspiring ideas about learning from skills-based disciplines such as sports and the arts. Her focus is on collaboration and reflection.
A Facebook group for Instructional Coaches and Mentor Teachers to network, ask each other questions, learn mentoring practices from other disciplines, and share best practices! This group is for all teachers-- full/part time coaches, mentors, and teachers who work with student-teachers, teachers who are thinking of mentoring: Instructional Coach and Mentor Teacher Community
A Facebook group for New Teachers called New Teacher Community in hopes of creating a space for learning the same way I experience it as a newbie in blogging and website design.

Please take a look, share with teachers and let her know if you have any feedback, she would love to hear it!
She also wanted me to let you know how much she misses being a part of the Mentor Forums and hopes to be back soon!

7. Webinar: Social Emotional Learning and Literacy in Science: The Secondary Literacy Partnership (SLP) has partnered with the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd to co-sponsor a mini-series of webinars and online extension activities focusing on disciplinary literacy and social-emotional learning. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 28 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. It will focus on science and helping diverse students participate successfully in the complex literacy practices required of the California Next Generation Science Standards. Learn how educators can build literacy skills within a collaborative classroom context that supports all students to engage with academically challenging text, take a problem-solving stance, persevere, and succeed. Register for this webinar at: http://bit.ly/SLP-02-28-18.

8. ELA/ELD Framework Implementation Support for Teachers, Instructional Coaches, and Administrators: The CA Department of Education’s Common Core Team has released a collection of resources fully aligned to the ELA/ELD Framework. Visit the new webpage at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/elaeldfwresources.asp and explore the compilation of videos, implementation tools, and reports containing clear and useful recommendations to help implement California standards and ELA/ELD framework-aligned teaching including:

Over 250 resources organized around the five key themes: Meaning Making, Effective Expression, Language Development, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills
Over 80 resources with an English-learner focus
Over 60 high-quality videos from reputable sources

March 22, 2018, San Diego
April 16, 2018, Stockton
April 25, 2018, Riverside
May 22, 2018, Sonoma
May 24, 2018, Humboldt
August 2, 2018, Shasta

Registration and additional information is available on the CDE History–Social Science Web page at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

2.15.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy mid-week! It was lovely to see so many of you at our 20th annual New Teacher Center Symposium earlier this week. There were so many powerful keynotes and presentations and we will take little time at our next forum to share these with our broader community. If you were able to attend, and would like to share something at forum (short, informal, no pressure!), let Jamie and I know. We’d love to have your voice in the room.

There is NO FORUM THIS FRIDAY. Instead, we will engage in self-paced and differentiated learning focused on reviewing the mid-year survey data in relation to your MLP, and Culturally Responsive Instruction. These materials will be posted on the forum materials page of the website no later than Friday morning. I will send an email out letting you know when they are posted. You will have until our next forum on March 2nd to complete this learning opportunity. Let me know if you have any questions.

For those of you on Winter Break next week, enjoy the time away!

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Forum Planning for 2018-19 (New-Action Required): We are working on finalizing the 18-19 calendar now and need some input from you. Please take a few minutes to complete this 6-question Forum Planning Survey by March 1st. Thank you for your feedback!

2. The Annual Survey is Coming (Update-Action Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. There are two items we need your help with today:

Evaluator info needed in preparation for the survey: The following mentors have not yet entered evaluator info into the PTPD Spreadsheet. Please do so ASAP. We cannot send the survey out without this info!

Helena Manley
Maureen Chen
Primavera Hernandez
Steve Sinclair
Jenna Bryon
Judith Barnes
Angelica Estrella
Mehdi Panahi
Paul Kilkenny
Susan Sakaguchi
Laura Gordon-Reska
Leo DeMarco
Midge Siegfried
Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau
Mandy Lau

b. Prep your PTs for the survey: Let them know when the survey will be sent to them. They should be on the lookout for an email from Patricia Isaak via SurveyMonkey. Must take the survey or End-of-Year RE will not be read. Keep in mind Spring Break schedules to ensure it is completed.

3. ECO artifacts for 3.2.18 Forum (New-Action May Be Required): If you are a mentor supporting an ECO this Spring, this announcement is for you. At our next forum we will have time again to meet and support one another. Please bring your ideas for artifacts of teacher practice that you and your teacher may use as part of their ECO portfolio to share with others. Thanks!

Below are Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:
4. Webinar: Social Emotional Learning and Literacy in Science: The Secondary Literacy Partnership (SLP) has partnered with the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd to co-sponsor a mini-series of webinars and online extension activities focusing on disciplinary literacy and social-emotional learning. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 28 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. It will focus on science and helping diverse students participate successfully in the complex literacy practices required of the California Next Generation Science Standards. Learn how educators can build literacy skills within a collaborative classroom context that supports all students to engage with academically challenging text, take a problem-solving stance, persevere, and succeed. Register for this webinar at: http://bit.ly/SLP-02-28-18.

5. ELA/ELD Framework Implementation Support for Teachers, Instructional Coaches, and Administrators: The CA Department of Education’s Common Core Team has released a collection of resources fully aligned to the ELA/ELD Framework. Visit the new webpage at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/elaeldfwresources.asp and explore the compilation of videos, implementation tools, and reports containing clear and useful recommendations to help implement California standards and ELA/ELD framework-aligned teaching including:

Over 250 resources organized around the five key themes: Meaning Making, Effective Expression, Language Development, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills
Over 80 resources with an English-learner focus
Over 60 high-quality videos from reputable sources

6. Rollout Events for the History–Social Science Framework: The CA Department of Education is co-sponsoring rollout events in several locations in conjunction with the California History–Social Science Project, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and other organizations. See below for a list of scheduled rollout events. Register early—these rollout events fill up quickly. These one-day conferences provide a full-day examination of the instructional shifts, updated and expanded content, aligning history–social science instruction with the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, and inquiry-based instruction across grade levels.

March 22, 2018, San Diego
April 16, 2018, Stockton
April 25, 2018, Riverside
May 22, 2018, Sonoma
May 24, 2018, Humboldt
August 2, 2018, Shasta

Registration and additional information is available on the CDE History–Social Science Web page at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

2.7.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I seem to be on a teacher leadership kick lately and today is no different. On Monday, I had a chance to present to the Council of Chief State Schools Officers about the importance of teacher leadership in school and student success. Recently, NTC and Dr. Richard Ingersoll (Penn) conducted research together on the key elements of teacher and school leadership that make the most difference in student outcomes. Consistently, we found that when teacher leaders are empowered, great things happen for kids. You can read the full report HERE, if you are interested. Over the last year and a half, we have been working to increase the partnership between mentors and site administrators around teacher induction. This report confirms for me the importance of that partnership. When you and site administrators are on the same team and working with teachers on the same goals, great things happen for that teacher and for the students of that teacher. Great things also happen for that school leader who sees increased value in distributed leadership and, as a result may look for ways to bring in other teacher leaders in similar ways.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to check in with site administrators yet mid-year, now is a great time to do it. As you meet, keep in mind how you are modeling the power of collaboration across all these domains. You may have more of an impact than you think! Thank you, as always, for leading from the middle.

There is no forum this week, so I hope you will enjoy the extra time in the field. By now, you should be moving into Inquiry work. As you do so, please keep in mind the conversations and learning about authentic inquiry we had at our last forum (Thank you, mentors who shared!!!).

Keep the work authentic
Help the teacher to engage in an inquiry that stems from a place of genuine curiosity
Keep the interaction of goals, student strengths and needs, school goals, and the teacher’s will/skill at the heart of your coaching moves
Above all, keep it about the learning and not about a checklist of tools to complete

Enjoy! I look forward to seeing some of you at Symposium next week.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Has you submitted your January mileage yet? (Reminder-Action May Be Required):

Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the 2017 form. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form for 2018 is now available on the Office Forms tab of the website. Please use this new form for all mileage from Jan. 2018 forward.

Other mileage reminders:

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

2. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. Please help us prepare to send out this survey by making sure the evaluator information on the PTPD Spreadsheet is updated.

3. The Mid-Year PT Survey (Update): Thank you for supporting your teachers in completing the survey! The survey has now closed. Leadership will review the results and at an upcoming forum share our findings with you.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

4. Webinar: Social Emotional Learning and Literacy in Science: The Secondary Literacy Partnership (SLP) has partnered with the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd to co-sponsor a mini-series of webinars and online extension activities focusing on disciplinary literacy and social-emotional learning. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, February 28 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. It will focus on science and helping diverse students participate successfully in the complex literacy practices required of the California Next Generation Science Standards. Learn how educators can build literacy skills within a collaborative classroom context that supports all students to engage with academically challenging text, take a problem-solving stance, persevere, and succeed. Register for this webinar at: http://bit.ly/SLP-02-28-18.

5. San Jose Area Writing Project Saturday Seminars: Jane Gilmore, former SC/SVNTP mentor, invites you and your PTs to join! Jane writes, “We especially want to emphasize that mentors can attend one seminar for free when they are in attendance with a teacher they support and that we are revamping our PLC to get teachers units for lesson planning. This is also a great way for new teachers to complete a veteran teacher observation! Our own Jamie Brown will be leading the February session on K-2.” See HERE for more info.

6. School Ambassador Fellowship Applications Open: Apply now for the Department’s 2018-19 School Ambassador Fellowship Program. This program enables outstanding teachers, principals, counselors, librarians, and other school-based professionals interacting with students on a daily basis to bring their expertise to the Department and expand their knowledge of the national dialogue on education. In turn, fellows facilitate the learning and input of other educators and community members. As in previous years, applicants may choose to apply as Washington Fellows -- a full-time appointment where fellows are based in residence at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- or as Campus Fellows -- a part-time appointment where fellows collaborate with the agency while maintaining their regular school responsibilities in their home communities. The application deadline has been extended to Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

1.31.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

We are looking forward to seeing all of you this Friday for mentor forum. As usual, we will meet from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. We will focus on inquiry in a myriad of ways as well as begin thinking about colloquium planning. Our agenda will be as follows:

Connector (Led by Steve Sinclair)
Mentoring Through the ILP (Led by Sarah Gerlinger and Jamie Brown)
Mentoring Through the ILP Break Out Groups
- Mentoring for Equity in the Inquiry Cycle (Led by Raquel Topete)
- Exploring Ways to Use the Spring AoP to Backwards Plan (Led by Jamie Brown)
- Using the Inquiry Visual with PTs (Led by Sarah Gerlinger)
- Supporting ECOs (Led by Emily Davis)
Colloquium Mentor Panel and Planning

Thank you in advance to all the mentor leaders who are contributing to making this day a success. We are excited to learn with you.

We will also have two visitors joining us from the Arizona K-12 network. Please give them a warm welcome. I would like to give a huge shout out to Sarah Gerlinger and Kristina Chmelka from Los Altos School District who are allowing our visitors to shadow them at work tomorrow. Thank you for your leadership!

Please bring the following items to forum:

Laptop, fully charged
Conversation Guide Binder
Your Inquiry ideas and questions
Your January mileage?

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Jenna Bryon- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
We need someone to sign up!!- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Sarah Yates-Fruit
Anna - Veggies
Melissa Aguirre- Bread and Spread
Dianne Kintana-Dessert

There are still a number of vacant slots on the snack sign up list this Spring. Please take time to add your name. Not sure if/when you are signed up to bring snack this Spring? Please check the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet. There are still many open spots for upcoming forums.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. It’s the end of the month! Has your mileage been submitted? (Reminder-Action May Be Required):

Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the 2017 form. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form for 2018 is now available on the Office Forms tab of the website. Please use this new form for all mileage from Jan. 2018 forward.

Other mileage reminders:

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

2. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. Please help us prepare to send out this survey by making sure the evaluator information on the PTPD Spreadsheet is updated.

3. Spring Visits are Coming (New-Informational Only): Each February/March, the SC/SVNTP leadership team meets one-to-one with each district/charter within our consortium to reflect on 2017-18 and begin planning for 2018-19. If there is anything you feel Jamie and I should know as we plan for these meetings, please contact Emily.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

4. San Jose Area Writing Project Saturday Seminars: Jane Gilmore, former SC/SVNTP mentor, invites you and your PTs to join! Jane writes, “We especially want to emphasize that mentors can attend one seminar for free when they are in attendance with a teacher they support and that we are revamping our PLC to get teachers units for lesson planning. This is also a great way for new teachers to complete a veteran teacher observation! Our own Jamie Brown will be leading the February session on K-2.” See HERE for more info.

5. School Ambassador Fellowship Applications Open: Apply now for the Department’s 2018-19 School Ambassador Fellowship Program. This program enables outstanding teachers, principals, counselors, librarians, and other school-based professionals interacting with students on a daily basis to bring their expertise to the Department and expand their knowledge of the national dialogue on education. In turn, fellows facilitate the learning and input of other educators and community members. As in previous years, applicants may choose to apply as Washington Fellows -- a full-time appointment where fellows are based in residence at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- or as Campus Fellows -- a part-time appointment where fellows collaborate with the agency while maintaining their regular school responsibilities in their home communities. The application deadline has been extended to Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

1.26.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

My apologies for the lateness of the weekly message this week. I’ve been travelling for work with NTC and am a bit behind.

We have no forum this week, so I hope you will find the extra time today useful. At this point in the year, you are probably finishing up mid-year goal reviews/revisions with PTs and mid-year check-ins with Site Administrators. Perhaps, you are even beginning to look at student pre-assessment data that, along with the PT’s goals, will help you to triangulate on an inquiry question. Thinking about how we really craft effective inquiry that connects teacher goals and curiosities, site goals, and student strengths/needs will be the focus of our forum next week. I look forward to diving in deeper with you on this important topic at that time.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Mileage Forms Now Updated (Reminder-Action May Be Required):

Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the 2017 form. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form for 2018 is now available on the Office Forms tab of the website. Please use this new form for all mileage from Jan. 2018 forward.

Other mileage reminders:

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

2. The Mid-Year PT Survey is Open (Reminder-Action May Be Required): On Monday, 1/22, PTs received a short 8 question survey from SC/SVNTP. While a response is not required, this short check in is a critical piece of data we use to make determinations about Spring work. Please encourage your PTs to complete this survey (it will take less than 10 minutes) before the survey window closes on 2/2.

3. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. Please help us prepare to send out this survey by making sure the evaluator information on the PTPD Spreadsheet is updated.

4. Spring Visits are Coming (New-Informational Only): Each February/March, the SC/SVNTP leadership team meets one-to-one with each district/charter within our consortium to reflect on 2017-18 and begin planning for 2018-19. If there is anything you feel Jamie and I should know as we plan for these meetings, please contact Emily.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

5. San Jose Area Writing Project Saturday Seminars: Jane Gilmore, former SC/SVNTP mentor, invites you and your PTs to join! Jane writes, “We especially want to emphasize that mentors can attend one seminar for free when they are in attendance with a teacher they support and that we are revamping our PLC to get teachers units for lesson planning. This is also a great way for new teachers to complete a veteran teacher observation! Our own Jamie Brown will be leading the February session on K-2.” See HERE for more info.

6. School Ambassador Fellowship Applications Open: Apply now for the Department’s 2018-19 School Ambassador Fellowship Program. This program enables outstanding teachers, principals, counselors, librarians, and other school-based professionals interacting with students on a daily basis to bring their expertise to the Department and expand their knowledge of the national dialogue on education. In turn, fellows facilitate the learning and input of other educators and community members. As in previous years, applicants may choose to apply as Washington Fellows -- a full-time appointment where fellows are based in residence at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- or as Campus Fellows -- a part-time appointment where fellows collaborate with the agency while maintaining their regular school responsibilities in their home communities. The application deadline has been extended to Wednesday, February 14, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

7. Fulbright-Hayes Seminars Abroad 2018: The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides short-term seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities to improve their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. In 2018, summer programs will be offered in Ecuador, India, and Poland. A total of 48 awards are available (sixteen per program). The program covers airfare, room and board, and program costs. Teacher participants are responsible for a cost-share of $600. Applications are due by February 2, 2018.

1.17.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the long weekend. On Monday, I spent some time rereading some of Dr. King’s speeches as well as the modern commentary on her legacy as I am sure many of you did. His words have not lost their relevance since he spoke/wrote them 50 years ago. One of my most favorite quotes of his is, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” I am keeping this quote in my mind as we gather for Friday’s equity-focused forum and continue to consider the important role we as mentors and coaches can play in addressing this danger described by Dr. King as it manifests itself in schools. I look forward to our time together.

Combined Equity Forum will be held from 8:30-3pm (notice the difference in start and end times!) at Independence High School, C Commons Area (555 North Jackson Ave., San Jose, CA 95133). Note that this address is not the main address for Independence HS, but will take you to the parking lot closest to the room we are using. See this annotated MAP for further information about how to find this location. Please plan to arrive no later than 8:10 to ensure you are able to park, find the room, and get settled so we can begin promptly at 8:30am.

It is our continued expectation that all mentors will attend these important forums and be present for the entire day. If this is not possible, please let me know in advance.

Please bring:

Your lunch
Your artifact that reflects your work on equity: We are building on our prior forum that focused on raising awareness and are now going deeper and building out a plan of action. To support our learning, your artifact should be something that you will use with a teacher, or group of teachers, to engage and sustain a conversation around equitable teaching practices such as a an SC/SVNTP tool, a district protocol/assessment, agenda or site/district data, just as examples. We will be using these artifacts to support our learning.
Your equity book club book
Electronic devices are welcome and not required. We will provide hard copies of all necessary materials. Materials will also be available on the web no later than the Thursday afternoon prior.
Your open mind ready to fully engage in this important work

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Judith Barnes and Melissa Aguirre- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Amy Demetria and Sarah Yates- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Steve Sinclair and Midge Siegfried-Fruit
Judith Barnes and Lily Xu- Veggies
Steve Sinclair and Jenna Bryon- Bread and Spread
Steve Sinclair and Kara Tham-Dessert

As a reminder, we will have close to 100 people at this forum, so please plan accordingly.

Not sure if/when you are signed up to bring snack this Spring? Please check the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet. There are still many open spots for upcoming forums.

See you soon.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Mileage Forms Now Updated (Update-Action May Be Required):

Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the 2017 form. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form for 2018 is now available on the Office Forms tab of the website. Please use this new form for all mileage from Jan. 2018 forward.

Other mileage reminders:

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

2. The Mid-Year PT Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): On Monday, 1/22, PTs will receive a short 8 question survey from SC/SVNTP. While a response is not required, this short check in is a critical piece of data we use to make determinations about Spring work. Please encourage your PTs to complete this survey (it will take less than 10 minutes) before the survey window closes on 2/2.

3. The Annual Survey is Coming (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Each year, SC/SVNTP asks all mentors, Participating Teachers, and Evaluators to complete an annual survey about our Induction program. All PTs are required to take the survey as part of their Spring Required Evidence. The survey will be open from April 9-27 and will be sent out via email to all stakeholders. Please help us prepare to send out this survey by making sure the evaluator information on the PTPD Spreadsheet is updated.

4. Spring Visits are Coming (New-Informational Only): Each February/March, the SC/SVNTP leadership team meets one-to-one with each district/charter within our consortium to reflect on 2017-18 and begin planning for 2018-19. If there is anything you feel Jamie and I should know as we plan for these meetings, please contact Emily.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

5. San Jose Area Writing Project Saturday Seminars: Jane Gilmore, former SC/SVNTP mentor, invites you and your PTs to join! Jane writes, “We especially want to emphasize that mentors can attend one seminar for free when they are in attendance with a teacher they support and that we are revamping our PLC to get teachers units for lesson planning. This is also a great way for new teachers to complete a veteran teacher observation! Our own Jamie Brown will be leading the February session on K-2.” See HERE for more info.

6. School Ambassador Fellowship Applications Open: Apply now for the Department’s 2018-19 School Ambassador Fellowship Program. This program enables outstanding teachers, principals, counselors, librarians, and other school-based professionals interacting with students on a daily basis to bring their expertise to the Department and expand their knowledge of the national dialogue on education. In turn, fellows facilitate the learning and input of other educators and community members. As in previous years, applicants may choose to apply as Washington Fellows -- a full-time appointment where fellows are based in residence at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- or as Campus Fellows -- a part-time appointment where fellows collaborate with the agency while maintaining their regular school responsibilities in their home communities. The application closes January 31 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

7. Fulbright-Hayes Seminars Abroad 2018: The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides short-term seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities to improve their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. In 2018, summer programs will be offered in Ecuador, India, and Poland. A total of 48 awards are available (sixteen per program). The program covers airfare, room and board, and program costs. Teacher participants are responsible for a cost-share of $600. Applications are due by February 2, 2018.

1.8.18 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy New Year! I hope all of you have enjoyed time with your loved ones and well-deserved rest over the break. Personally, it was lovely to spend time with my husband and girls hiking, ice skating and other fun adventures. That time is precious to me as it helps me regain some much-needed balance and perspective so that I can come back to our important work energized and focused. I hope you have had a similar experience.

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing each of you next Friday, 1/12 for our first forum of the new year. We will be at UCSC-Silicon Valley from 9am-12:30pm. Agenda topics will include:

A New Year’s Toast/Connector
Overview of the Spring Required Evidence
Revisiting Our Mentor Learning Plans
Early Completion Option (Break Out Session for Mentors supporting teachers who received this status)

Immediately following forum, we will have our makeup Mid-Year RE Assessment. If you have a teacher who is (re)submitting, the expectation is that you will stay to help read. We’d love to have others join to read as well, if you are available! As you know, many hands make light work.

Please plan to bring the following items to forum:

Your fully charged laptop
Headphones (for MLP work time)
An artifact from your Winter break (e.g. a picture, ticket stub, video, etc.) to share during the connector.
Your Conversation Guide binder
Your MLP- what is a question you have for others about your goals/process?
Any AoPs for teachers resubmitting Mid-Year REs

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

No one signed up- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
No one signed up- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
No one signed up-Fruit
Lisa Stone- Veggies
Jessica Lura- Bread and Spread
Jessica Lura-Dessert

Everyone, please take a moment to review the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet. There are MANY vacant spots that need to be filled both for our 1/12 forum and later this Spring. Thank you for helping us eat well while we learn and work together! To add, our SV Mentors are expected to provide treats for our 1.19 Combined Forum, since SC Mentors provided snacks at our 10.20 Combined Forum.

Welcome New Mentors! As you may know, Discovery mentor, Dale Jones, recently accepted a position as principal in Union School District. Beginning in January, we will have two new mentors from Discovery-Judith Barnes (welcome back!) and Jenna Bryon. We are excited to have you join us!

Goodbye, Brittany! We are also passing on the exciting news that Brittany Rykels, Alum Rock mentor, will be spending the rest of her year concentrating on NGSS rollout in her district and so will no longer serve as a mentor to new teachers. We are so proud of this new leadership role you are taking, Brittany! We will miss you.

Jamie and I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Make-Up Assessment Day (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Immediately following forum next Friday, 1/12, we will hold our makeup assessment day. Please make sure all REs (whether first time submissions or resubmissions) are submitted to the proper subfolder in the shared 2017-18 SV Mid-Year RE folder and that you have updated the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments spreadsheet to indicate the folder has been submitted and is ready for review. Please review the guidelines below for resubmissions:

Guidance for Talking With PTs About Resubmits: In alignment with our value of collaboration, the purpose of the resubmit is for teachers to respond to the feedback in order to give them another opportunity to reflect on students and their practice. Reflection should not be held back by “completing boxes” and is not how resubmits will be assessed. It is the project’s expectation that AoPs be delivered in person as the re-submit process can only be completed collaboratively between mentor and teacher. Just like with all of our conversations, a third of the conversation should be in the past and the rest, two thirds, should be reflecting on next steps for the future. Think of this as an opportunity to launch into thinking about how your teacher will focus for next semester.
RE Resubmit Protocol: If you have a PT whose folder is found to be NOT MET yet on Assessment Day, please follow the steps below

Leave the PT’s folder in the original submission folder (Do NOT delete it).
Review the feedback on the AoP to determine what needs to be done before resubmitting.
Work collaboratively with the PT to capture deeper reflection as indicated in the feedback.
Make additions, etc. in a different color on the tools in the PT’s original folder. - This is the folder that the PT owns.
Re-download a copy of the PT’s entire Mid-Year RE folder with the revised tools. Rename it using the following naming convention: 2017-18 BrownJ Mid-Year PT2 RE RESUBMIT
Upload the revised RE to the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Resubmission subfolder (in our 17-18 SV Mid Year RE folder).
Update column Q on the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments to indicate the date the folder has been re-submitted and is ready to be reviewed.
Bring the paper AoP back on 1/12. The RE CANNOT be reviewed without this document.
The resubmit will be reviewed and the AoP returned to the mentor after it has been assessed.

2. Assessment Day Reading Folder (New): Once all REs have been completed on 1/12, we will remove the shared 17-18 SV Mid-Year RE Google folder from everyone’s Drive. If you have questions, please reach out to Emily or Jamie.

3. Mileage Updates (New-Action May Be Required): Please review the announcement from InJin below-

Please remember to submit your mileage forms on a monthly basis. Even if you miss a month, please submit a separate form for each month.

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit both the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org.

b. From the Santa Cruz COE: Effective January 1, 2018, the standard mileage reimbursement rate for the use of a vehicle will be 54.5 cents per mile for business miles driven (up from 53.5 cents in 2017). Please submit any mileage reimbursement for 2017 as soon as possible using the existing form for 2017. Please do not combine 2017 & 2018 reimbursement requests or they will be returned unpaid. A new pink form will be coming soon for 2018. Continue to keep track of your mileage in the same way on the blue form.

4. ECO Candidates (New–Action May Be Required): Prior to the Winter Break, all ECO candidates received an email from me regarding the status of their candidacy. Mentors, you were cc’d on this email. The leadership team decided that each acceptance letter would include a suggested area of focus for the spring. These areas were established based on the references submitted by you and the PT’s site administrator(s), as well as what Jamie and I found in the RE. Please know that noted areas of focus are suggestions meant to assist you in providing targeted support to further deepen each teacher’s practice. Teachers granted ECO status will also receive a copy of the End-of-Year RE. At our next forum on January 12th, we will spend time reviewing this new RE and how to guide teachers to identify and gather evidence to support their ILPs. I also sent a separate email to each ECO candidate’s site administrator/evaluator letting them know if their PT met the requirements for ECO status. Please let me know what questions come up for you.

5. Spring Survey is Coming (New-Action May Be Required): Annual survey open in April. Help by making sure PTPD Spreadsheet is updated, especially evaluator information. We use this to send out the survey.

6. Spring Visits are Coming (New-Informational Only): (Feb and March)

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

CPR Class: CDRC will be offering a CPR class in the evening in January and will open it up to all COE folks, teachers, child care providers, foster parents (and interested community members.
The dates are Tuesday, January 9 and Thursday, January 11 from 5 to 9 pm. This will be a two-part class and participants must attend both sessions in order to receive their certification card. It will take place at the County Office of Education. Please call CDRC for more information and to register. 831-466-5820. There are also CPR classes offered in Spanish… The fliers are attached.
Sita Moon, Coordinator
Child Development Resource Center
Phone: (831) 466-5826
Email: smoon@santacruzcoe.org
Website: http://www.cdrc4info.org/

12.12.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Tuesday! I am sending out this message early because we have our optional Assessment Day tomorrow and I want to make sure you have all the necessary information. Jamie and I would like to begin this week by expressing our appreciation to all of you for such a successful first day of Assessment last Friday. As you can see from the Reading Spreadsheet, we had an overwhelming majority of REs submitted last week. While we did not get to all of them, we made a significant dent in them. I know we will successfully completing all reading by the end of the day this Friday. Great work all! Let’s keep it going.

We are looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13th. We will be at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension from 9am-3:30pm tomorrow. If you can join us for some/all of that day, we would all be most appreciative of your time and reading skills. No need to let us know if you are coming ahead of time, just drop in and we will put you to work. If you do choose to come, please note that we are not providing snacks or coffee, so please plan to bring anything you want to eat or drink.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you on Friday, December 15th from 9am-3:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension for our final day of Assessment. On this day, it is imperative you let me know if you cannot attend as we assign readers for REs in advance. Thank you for your attention to this.

Please bring the following items:

Bring laptop/charger
Headphones
Lunch
Anything else you will need to be comfortable for a day of reading
Sample completed AoP and any other guidance documents we have provided
Any resubmit AoPs that need to be reread.

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Helena Manley- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Ranen Bhattacharya - Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Geinah Nierra-Fruit
Debra-Gail Martin and Laura Gordon Reska- Veggies
Marissa Brown and Primavera Hernandez- Bread and Spread
Christy Mills and Midge Sigfried-Dessert

There is STILL room for a second person to sign up for both kinds of protein and fruit! Please do add your names to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

See you soon.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Preparation Information (Reminder review carefully): Our first Assessment Day is THIS FRIDAY. We have updated the 17-18 SV Assessment Day tab with all the materials you might need to help you with this task.

Assessment Days are 9-3:30pm on the following days:
- Wednesday, December 13th (optional)
- Friday, December 15th (required)

Contract mentors, please let Emily know before Friday, December 1st which day(s) you will be in attendance. We ask that you attend one full day or two half days. All other mentors are expected to attend at least 12/8 and 12/15. If you cannot attend one of these dates for some reason, the expectation is that you will notify Emily in advance and will attend on 12/13.
Last week, you were invited to join a Google Folder entitled 2017-18 SV Mid-Year RE. This is where you will upload complete PT mid-year REs for review.
Make sure to add the date you want the folder read on the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments spreadsheet contained in that folder. If there is no date, the folder will NOT be read.
Please DO NOT share this folder or this link with your PTs as it contains sensitive PT and student information. It is the responsibility of the mentor to submit PT REs.
Many of you have asked if it is ok to share the new Assessment of Formative Progress (AoP) with your PTs before Assessment Days. The answer is yes! Please feel free to do so. It may be useful to do a self-assessment of the RE before submitting to ensure all items are ready to reviewed and to support the PT in reflecting on their work to date.

2. RE Resubmit Protocol (New-Action May Be Required):
If you have a PT whose folder is found to be NOT MET yet on Assessment Day, please follow the steps below

Leave the PT’s folder in the original submission folder (Do NOT delete it).
Review the feedback on the AoP to determine what needs to be done before resubmitting.
Work collaboratively with the PT to capture deeper reflection as indicated in the feedback.
Make additions, etc. in a different color on the tools in the PT’s original folder. - This is the folder that the PT owns.
Re-download a copy of the PT’s entire Mid-Year RE folder with the revised tools. Rename it using the following naming convention: 2017-18 BrownJ Mid-Year PT2 RE RESUBMIT
Upload the revised RE to the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Resubmission subfolder (in our 17-18 SV Mid Year RE folder).
Update column Q on the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments to indicate the date the folder has been re-submitted and is ready to be reviewed.
Bring the paper AoP back on 1/12. The RE CANNOT be reviewed without this document.
The resubmit will be reviewed and the AoP returned to the mentor after it has been assessed.

3. Guidance for Talking With PTs About Resubmits (New-Action May Be Required): When an RE has been established as a not met yet, this is not a reflection on your mentoring, it’s a learning process and opportunity for deeper reflection about the relationship between instruction and student outcomes.

In alignment with our value of collaboration, the purpose of the resubmit is for teachers to respond to the feedback in order to give them another opportunity to reflect on students and their practice. Reflection should not be held back by “completing boxes” and is not how resubmits will be assessed.

It is the project’s expectation that AoPs be delivered in person as the re-submit process can only be completed collaboratively between mentor and teacher.

As you prepare to meet with your teachers, reflect on the feedback and what mentor move to make that will have the greatest impact on the teacher’s practice. Carefully consider the feedback provided in the AoP and use it to create an entry point for next steps. Below are some sentence stems to support these conversations.

The feedback on the AoP highlights that student strengths and needs were not addressed. Let’s re-familiarize ourselves with the data in your RE and compare that to what we know about the students today (now).

According to the submitted data and thinking about where your students have been and/or where they are now, let’s identify where you want them to go/grow (in the next weeks, days) and plan a lesson together that supports where they are going.

Your Knowing, Students School and Community tool did not clearly demonstrate reflection on learning about student, school or community. Let’s revisit the tool and spend some time capturing what we know now and where we want to go.

In thinking about your inquiry what is an upcoming lesson that builds on your learning?

Based on the strategy you implemented in your inquiry in what ways have your case study students grown as a result?

Just like with all of our conversations a third of the conversation should be in the past and the rest, two thirds, should be reflecting on next steps for the future. Think of this as an opportunity to launch into thinking about how your teacher will focus for next semester.

ALL resubmits should be in no later than 9am on Friday, January 12th.

4. Talent Update for Android Users (New): There was known bug and a new version was released on November 27. Below is the message they sent to all Talent users.

Dear Torsh TALENT users,
We are excited to announce that the Google Play store has released the updated version (0.1.5) of our T Uploader app. This version of the Android mobile app has corrected issues related to recording, saving, and uploading new videos on mobile devices running Android 7.0, and higher.
At your earliest opportunity, please update your T Uploader app and make sure you are using version 0.1.5. For the best experience using T Uploader, please use the most updated version of the app available.
We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate everyone's patience as we worked to get the app updated in the Google Play store. If you have any questions or run into any further issues, please don't hesitate to contact us by emailing us at support@torsh.co.
~Courtney Williams, CEO
5. 2017-18 Participating Teacher Professional Development Spreadsheet (PT/PD Spreadsheet) (Reminder -Action May Be Required): Thank you mentors for updating the PT/PD Spreadsheet with Launch dates and evaluator contact information.In order for us to refine our working budget for 17-18, we ask that you complete column L regarding Mentor Guided Veteran Teacher Observations. If you do not yet know if your teacher will need a sub, please type in “unsure”.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

6. New Teacher Center’s Annual Symposium (Reminder-Quick action required!): Each year, our partner organization, New Teacher Center hosts an annual symposium that draws participants from all over the world. This year, it will be held in Burlingame, CA from Feb. 11-13. More information about the Symposium can be found HERE.
We are pleased to again be able to offer a limited number of 1 and 2-day registrations at a discounted rate for SC/SVNTP mentors. The one-day rate is $210 and the two-day rate is $400. You will need a special code in order to register and will need to complete your registration by the early bird registration deadline of December 18th. If you are interested, please consult with your district/school to find out it they will sponsor your registration. Then email me letting me know which day(s) you plan to attend. I will send you a registration code you can use to register.

7. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (Reminder): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but pre-registration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

8. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Reminder-Discount Offered!) 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured. The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students.
For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link:
https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/
If you call and ask, they are offering scholarships for 50% off

12.6.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Our SC/SVNTP Leadership Team had the chance to present this week at the California Induction Conference in Fresno. We enjoyed connecting with other program leaders as well as being inspired by speakers such as Dr. Anthony Muhammad. Dr. Muhammad opened his session on closing the achievement gap with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “The world’s problems begin with the belief that some human lives are more valuable than others.” He reminded us that the job of public education is to provide access and equity for ALL students. And, while we have done a good job fighting to ensure access, we are a still a long way from winning the fight for equity in schools. He encouraged us to remind ourselves about the why of our work--Our belief that all children have the right to have their gifts and talents cultivated through the process of education, and that all children can learn and become educated. When we begin to lose our urgency to see these promises carried out in schools, when we begin to get comfortable with a system that has predictable outcomes for students, we are contributing to the maintenance of an inherently inequitable system.

Our work with teachers is so incredibly important because we can help teachers to (re)connect with this promise that they (and we) have made to all students, and to help them develop the knowledge, skills, and will to ensure they are able to see this promise through. While we still have work to do as a community to ensure we are educated on this topic and are taking on this urgent challenge head on through the weekly trusting conversations we have with teachers, I thank you for continuing to keep equity front and center in your work and want you to know that it makes a difference for teachers, students, and our communities.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you this Friday, December 8th, from 9am-3:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley for our first Assessment Day. Thank you for the tremendous work you have done to support teachers in learning about and addressing the needs of their students. As stressful as it might be going into the day, we always learn so much and deepen our mentoring practice.

Please bring the following items:

Bring laptop/charger
Headphones
Lunch
Anything else you will need to be comfortable for a day of reading
Sample completed AoP and any other useful documents from last year

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snacks this week:

Nancy Pinkel and Carly Sturm- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Gregg Margossian and Joanne Yinger- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Judi Schierling-Fruit
Ranen Bhattacharya- Veggies
Greg Adler and Amy Demetria- Bread and Spread
Stephanie Tyson and Diane Kintana-Dessert

There is STILL room for a second person to sign up for Fruit and Veggies! Please do add your names to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

Assessment Days are all-hands-on-deck activities. If you are not able to attend on Friday, you must let Emily know ASAP as we assign REs to be read ahead of time. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Preparation Information (Update-Please review carefully): Our first Assessment Day is THIS FRIDAY. We have updated the 17-18 SV Assessment Day tab with all the materials you might need to help you with this task.

Assessment Days are 9-3:30pm on the following days:
- Friday, December 8th (required)
- Wednesday, December 13th (optional)
- Friday, December 15th (required)

Contract mentors, please let Emily know before Friday, December 1st which day(s) you will be in attendance. We ask that you attend one full day or two half days. All other mentors are expected to attend at least 12/8 and 12/15. If you cannot attend one of these dates for some reason, the expectation is that you will notify Emily in advance and will attend on 12/13.
Last week, you were invited to join a Google Folder entitled 2017-18 SV Mid-Year RE. This is where you will upload complete PT mid-year REs for review.
Make sure to add the date you want the folder read on the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments spreadsheet contained in that folder. If there is no date, the folder will NOT be read.
Please DO NOT share this folder or this link with your PTs as it contains sensitive PT and student information. It is the responsibility of the mentor to submit PT REs.
Many of you have asked if it is ok to share the new Assessment of Formative Progress (AoP) with your PTs before Assessment Days. The answer is yes! Please feel free to do so. It may be useful to do a self-assessment of the RE before submitting to ensure all items are ready to reviewed and to support the PT in reflecting on their work to date.

2. PT Agreements (Urgent Reminder – Action May Be Required): All PTs must sign the PT Agreement in order for their RE to be read on Assessment Day. Please check the PT/PD spreadsheet, column H, to see that your PTs have all signed their Agreement. (Thank you Patti for inputting this data!) If you still have a PT that needs to sign the Agreements, support them in doing so this week.

3. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications (Reminder-Action May Be Required): As a reminder, Mentors of ECO candidates were sent a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status on Monday, November 6th. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let Emily know what questions come up for you.

4. 2017-18 Participating Teacher Professional Development Spreadsheet (PT/PD Spreadsheet) (Reminder -Action May Be Required): Thank you mentors for updating the PT/PD Spreadsheet with Launch dates and evaluator contact information.In order for us to refine our working budget for 17-18, we ask that you complete column L regarding Mentor Guided Veteran Teacher Observations. If you do not yet know if your teacher will need a sub, please type in “unsure”.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

5. New Teacher Center’s Annual Symposium (Reminder-Quick action required!): Each year, our partner organization, New Teacher Center hosts an annual symposium that draws participants from all over the world. This year, it will be held in Burlingame, CA from Feb. 11-13. More information about the Symposium can be found HERE.
We are pleased to again be able to offer a limited number of 1 and 2-day registrations at a discounted rate for SC/SVNTP mentors. The one-day rate is $210 and the two-day rate is $400. You will need a special code in order to register and will need to complete your registration by the early bird registration deadline of December 18th. If you are interested, please consult with your district/school to find out it they will sponsor your registration. Then email me letting me know which day(s) you plan to attend. I will send you a registration code you can use to register.

6. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (Reminder): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but pre-registration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

7. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Reminder-Discount Offered!) 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured. The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students.
For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link:
https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/
If you call and ask, they are offering scholarships for 50% off

11.29.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Can you believe Friday is the first of December? Assessment Days are right around the corner and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you are feeling a bit stressed. As we’ve discussed in forum, It’s important to hold a healthy attitude about teacher assessment. Please remember:

We are focusing on teacher engagement in the processes and their reflection and attention to student strengths and needs, not filling in boxes.
A “Not Met” is not the end of the world. Sometimes it is useful for the teacher, and there are always second chances
Breathe – you got this!

Please make note of the multiple resources we've included to support you and your teachers in finalizing Required Evidence.

We are looking forward to seeing you at forum next Friday, December 1. Our focus will be on Assessment Day Preparation. All materials will be posted online by Thursday. Our topics will include:

Problem Pose/Problem Solve
Assessment Day Prep
Break
Differentiated Assessment Day Prep

A few notes to help you prepare for this forum:

Jamie is going to be by herself at this forum. If you can plan to come a bit early to help set up or stay a bit afterwards to help clean up, it would be much appreciated!
Please bring a case study PTs’ RE to review for Assessment Day Prep

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Shana Riehl- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Steve Sinclair- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Midge Sigfried-Fruit
Mary Fran Lynch- Veggies
Kristina Chemelka- Bread and Spread
Andralee Pervorse-Dessert

Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

As always, the expectation is that mentors attend all forums. If you are not able to attend, please reach out to Jamie or me and let me know in advance. See you soon!

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Preparation Information (Repeat): Assessment Days are quickly approaching and many of you have asked for details about preparing PT folders, submission, etc. We have updated the 17-18 SV Assessment Day tab with all the materials you might need to help you with this task. We will cover processes for reviewing REs next Friday at forum.

Assessment Days are 9-3 on the following days:
- Friday, December 8th (required)
- Wednesday, December 13th (optional)
- Friday, December 15th (required)

Contract mentors, please let Emily know before Friday, December 1st which day(s) you will be in attendance. We ask that you attend one full day or two half days. All other mentors are expected to attend at least 12/8 and 12/15. If you cannot attend one of these dates for some reason, the expectation is that you will notify Emily in advance and will attend on 12/13.

Next week, you will be invited to join a Google Folder entitled 2017-18 SV Mid-Year RE. This is where you will upload complete PT mid-year REs for review. We will discuss how to add folders and how to complete the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments spreadsheet contained in that folder at Friday’s forum. Please DO NOT share this folder or this link with your PTs as it contains sensitive PT and student information. It is the responsibility of the mentor to submit PT REs. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Many of you have asked if it is ok to share the new Assessment of Formative Progress (AoP) with your PTs before Assessment Days. The answer is yes! Please feel free to do so. It may be useful to do a self-assessment of the RE before submitting to ensure all items are ready to reviewed and to support the PT in reflecting on their work to date.

2. PT Agreements (Reminder – Action May Be Required): All PTs must sign the PT Agreement in order for their RE to be read on Assessment Day. Please check the PT/PD spreadsheet, column H, to see that your PTs have all signed their Agreement. (Thank you Patti for inputting this data!) If you still have a PT that needs to sign the Agreements, support them in doing so this week.

3. Talent (New – Action May Be Required): Torsh Talent sent this message earlier this week:
Dear Torsh TALENT users,
We are excited to announce that the Google Play store has released the updated version (0.1.5) of our T Uploader app. This version of the Android mobile app has corrected issues related to recording, saving, and uploading new videos on mobile devices running Android 7.0, and higher. At your earliest opportunity, please update your T Uploader app and make sure you are using version 0.1.5. For the best experience using T Uploader, please use the most updated version of the app available. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate everyone's patience as we worked to get the app updated in the Google Play store. If you have any questions or run into any further issues, please don't hesitate to contact us by emailing us at support@torsh.co.
~Courtney Williams, CEO
If you are having trouble uploading videos, know that what we need in the RE are your and the PT’s annotations. If you cannot make these work in Talent, you may submit these annotations as a Google doc.

4. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications (Reminder-Action May Be Required): As a reminder, Mentors of ECO candidates were sent a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status on Monday, November 6th. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let Emily know what questions come up for you.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

5. New Teacher Center’s Annual Symposium (Reminder-Quick action required!): Each year, our partner organization, New Teacher Center hosts an annual symposium that draws participants from all over the world. This year, it will be held in Burlingame, CA from Feb. 11-13. More information about the Symposium can be found HERE.
We are pleased to again be able to offer a limited number of 1 and 2-day registrations at a discounted rate for SC/SVNTP mentors. The one-day rate is $210 and the two-day rate is $400. You will need a special code in order to register and will need to complete your registration by the early bird registration deadline of December 18th. If you are interested, please consult with your district/school to find out it they will sponsor your registration. Then email me letting me know which day(s) you plan to attend. I will send you a registration code you can use to register.

6. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (Reminder): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but preregistration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

7. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Reminder-Discount Offered!) Please see the note below from Wendy Baron, SC/SVNTP founding director, NTC Director of SEL, and founding 1440 Multiversity Faculty Member:
I wanted to let you know about an amazing conference that will be happening at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley over MLK weekend (Jan. 12-15, 2018). Ellen and I are featured speakers, and we have just an amazing line up of presenters and keynote speakers—all focused on Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life.

Here are some of the details. Tuition for the conference is $495. Anyone from NTC (this includes SC/SVNTP mentors and coaches) has $150 discount, bringing the registration price to $345. For those who can commute, there’s no need to pay for accommodations. Instead, there’s a fee of $330 for all meals, use of the 1440 Multiversity facility (spa, fitness center, hiking trails), and includes yoga, meditation, qigong classes and an evening drumming circle. And, they are offering a few scholarships (50% off registration) if someone calls and asks! Here is the link about the conference:https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

We are hoping that many of us from our community can join for these 3 days. And, we would be grateful if you could spread the word about the conference. The speakers will bring together our focus on the Optimal Learning Environment, SEL, equity, culturally responsive practices, and meeting the diverse needs of all learners! What is being added to this conference is an additional focus on the health and wellbeing of students and educators. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Warmly,
Wendy

11.21.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

As we approach Thanksgiving, I want to pause and express my gratitude for the privilege of working with educators like you each and every day. The knowledge and skill you possess, the gracious and positive attitude with which you tackle your work and interact with one another, and your drive and leadership to improve teaching and learning outcomes for your teachers, their students, your districts/schools, and our community is unparalleled. You truly are an awe-inspiring group and I look forward to each chance I have to spend time with you. Education in Silicon Valley is stronger and better because of your presence. On behalf of our entire community, I thank you.

I hope each of you will take the well-deserved rest that the next few days bring to pause, reflect, be grateful, spend time with your loved ones, and recharge your batteries before we push on to the end of the semester. Enjoy.

Our next will be held on Friday, December 1 from 9am-12:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley. Our focus will be on Assessment Day Preparation. The New Mentor meeting will be held BEFORE forum from 8:30-9am in a room nearby.

While this date is more than a week away, I wanted to give you a heads up on a few items related to this forum:

Jamie is going to be by herself at this forum. If you can plan to come a bit early to help set up or stay a bit afterwards to help clean up, it would be much appreciated!
We ask that you bring a case study RE from one of your PTs to review with a partner on this day. It does not have to be complete. Consider bringing one you have questions about so that you can get some good feedback from your partner.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Preparation Information (Update): Assessment Days are quickly approaching and many of you have asked for details about preparing PT folders, submission, etc. We have updated the 17-18 SV Assessment Day tab with all the materials you might need to help you with this task. We will cover processes for reviewing REs next Friday at forum.

Assessment Days are 9-3 on the following days:
- Friday, December 8th (required)
- Wednesday, December 13th (optional)
- Friday, December 15th (required)

Next week, you will be invited to join a Google Folder entitled 2017-18 SV Mid-Year RE. This is where you will upload complete PT mid-year REs for review. We will discuss how to add folders and how to complete the 2017-18 SV Mid-Year Reading Assignments spreadsheet contained in that folder at Friday’s forum. Please DO NOT share this folder or this link with your PTs as it contains sensitive PT and student information. It is the responsibility of the mentor to submit PT REs. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Many of you have asked if it is ok to share the new Assessment of Formative Progress (AoP) with your PTs before Assessment Days. The answer is yes! Please feel free to do so. It may be useful to do a self-assessment of the RE before submitting to ensure all items are ready to reviewed and to support the PT in reflecting on their work to date.

2. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications (Reminder-Action May Be Required): As a reminder, Mentors of ECO candidates were sent a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status on Monday, November 6th. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let Emily know what questions come up for you.

3. Mentor Learning Plan (MLP) (Reminder-Action May Be Required): Next Friday we will again have time to develop our Mentor Learning Plans as part of choice independent work time. If you haven’t done so already, please make sure that by the end of Friday’s forum you have completed the following items:

Share your MLP with Emily
Self-Assess on the Continuum of Mentor Practice
Complete Part A of the MLP

4. Participating Teachers (PTs) Missing More than Two Meetings? (Reminder-Action May Be Required): When teachers begin to make a habit of missing their appointments with you, it can be especially challenging to engage in our work in an authentic and meaningful way. If you find yourself working with a teacher that has missed two meetings in a row, please reach out to leadership for support.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

5. New Teacher Center’s Annual Symposium (Reminder-Quick action required!): Each year, our partner organization, New Teacher Center hosts an annual symposium that draws participants from all over the world. This year, it will be held in Burlingame, CA from Feb. 11-13. More information about the Symposium can be found HERE.
We are pleased to again be able to offer a limited number of 1 and 2-day registrations at a discounted rate for SC/SVNTP mentors. The one-day rate is $210 and the two-day rate is $400. You will need a special code in order to register and will need to complete your registration by the early bird registration deadline of December 18th. If you are interested, please consult with your district/school to find out it they will sponsor your registration. Then email me letting me know which day(s) you plan to attend. I will send you a registration code you can use to register.

6. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (Reminder): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but preregistration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

7. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Reminder-Discount Offered!) Please see the note below from Wendy Baron, SC/SVNTP founding director, NTC Director of SEL, and founding 1440 Multiversity Faculty Member:
I wanted to let you know about an amazing conference that will be happening at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley over MLK weekend (Jan. 12-15, 2018). Ellen and I are featured speakers, and we have just an amazing line up of presenters and keynote speakers—all focused on Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life.

Here are some of the details. Tuition for the conference is $495. Anyone from NTC (this includes SC/SVNTP mentors and coaches) has $150 discount, bringing the registration price to $345. For those who can commute, there’s no need to pay for accommodations. Instead, there’s a fee of $330 for all meals, use of the 1440 Multiversity facility (spa, fitness center, hiking trails), and includes yoga, meditation, qigong classes and an evening drumming circle. And, they are offering a few scholarships (50% off registration) if someone calls and asks! Here is the link about the conference:https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

We are hoping that many of us from our community can join for these 3 days. And, we would be grateful if you could spread the word about the conference. The speakers will bring together our focus on the Optimal Learning Environment, SEL, equity, culturally responsive practices, and meeting the diverse needs of all learners! What is being added to this conference is an additional focus on the health and wellbeing of students and educators. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Warmly,
Wendy

11.15.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Jamie and I have been enjoying our time in the field engaging in coaching cycles with mentors over the last several weeks. Personally, I love the opportunity to get to know each of you in a deeper way, to understand your context, and to see mentoring in action. I always come away more energized about our common work and with tons of new ideas. Thank you to everyone who has opened their practice so willingly for us so far. I look forward to visiting with many more of you this year. If you haven’t yet had a chance to go and observe another mentor at work, I encourage you to do so at some point during the year. I encourage you to do so as I know the experience will be positive for you as well!

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing all of you this Friday, November 17, for our next forum. As a reminder we will NOT be at UCSC-Silicon Valley. Instead, we will be at the East Side Union High School District Office in the Boardroom (830 N Capitol Ave, San Jose, CA 95133) from 9-12:30pm.

The agenda will include the following topics:

Connector led by Judi Schierling (Thanks, Judi!)
Assessment Day Overview and Differentiated Prep Options
Differentiating Coaching by Will and Skill

Please bring the following items:

Your charged and ready laptop
Headphones for independent work time
Skill/Will materials from Fall Breakfast, if you were able to attend
Anything you might need for assessment day prep

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Susan Sakaguchi- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Chanmi Chun- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Nancy Pinkel-Fruit
Sarah Gerlinger- Veggies
Tawiah Burroughs- Bread and Spread
Andralee Pervorse-Dessert

Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

As always, the expectation is that mentors attend all forums. If you are not able to attend, please reach out to Jamie or me and let me know in advance. See you soon!

We’d also like to extend a special thank you to Brittany Rykels for leading last forum’s connector. We salute your willingness to plan and present a wonderful module for our group. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. You’ve set a positive example for others to follow this year. Thank you! If you would like to help plan and lead a connector, closure, or another module, please sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Assessment Day Preparation Information (New): Assessment Days are quickly approaching and many of you have asked for details about preparing PT folders, submission, etc. We have updated the 17-18 SV Assessment Day tab with all the materials you might need to help you with this task. We will cover some of these items this Friday and next Friday at forum.

2. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications (Update-Action May Be Required): As a reminder, Mentors of ECO candidates were sent a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status on Monday, November 6th. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let Emily know what questions come up for you.

3. Equity Book Groups (Update-Action May Be Required): We are still waiting on a few books to come in. We will bring what we have on Friday. Each book group made a plan for reading before the next Combined Forum on 1/19/18. Please see the BOOK GROUP list and connect with someone in that group to get that reading assignment. For some groups, there is a “point person” who was designated to give this communication (see list below).Thank you, mentors! Please contact this person if they are in your group. Those people are:

Kristina Chmelka
Adriana Bellini
Emma Veltri
Sherri Kilkenny
Leo DeMarco
Christy Mills

4. Participating Teachers (PTs) Missing More than Two Meetings? (Reminder-Action May Be Required): When teachers begin to make a habit of missing their appointments with you, it can be especially challenging to engage in our work in an authentic and meaningful way. If you find yourself working with a teacher that has missed two meetings in a row, please reach out to leadership for support.

5. Office Forms Update (Repeat): Some forms are excel documents that, when you attempt to print them, can have many pages. Before printing one of these forms, please adjust your printer settings to fit the document all on one page. If you need support with this, please reach out to one of us.

Below are a few Professional Learning Opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

6. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (New): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but preregistration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

7. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Update-Discount Offered!)
Please see the note below from Wendy Baron, SC/SVNTP founding director, NTC Director of SEL, and founding 1440 Multiversity Faculty Member:
I wanted to let you know about an amazing conference that will be happening at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley over MLK weekend (Jan. 12-15, 2018). Ellen and I are featured speakers, and we have just an amazing line up of presenters and keynote speakers—all focused on Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life.

Here are some of the details. Tuition for the conference is $495. Anyone from NTC (this includes SC/SVNTP mentors and coaches) has $150 discount, bringing the registration price to $345. For those who can commute, there’s no need to pay for accommodations. Instead, there’s a fee of $330 for all meals, use of the 1440 Multiversity facility (spa, fitness center, hiking trails), and includes yoga, meditation, qigong classes and an evening drumming circle. And, they are offering a few scholarships (50% off registration) if someone calls and asks! Here is the link about the conference: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

We are hoping that many of us from our community can join for these 3 days. And, we would be grateful if you could spread the word about the conference. The speakers will bring together our focus on the Optimal Learning Environment, SEL, equity, culturally responsive practices, and meeting the diverse needs of all learners! What is being added to this conference is an additional focus on the health and wellbeing of students and educators. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Warmly,
Wendy

8. New Teacher Center’s Annual Symposium (New): Each year, our partner organization, New Teacher Center hosts an annual symposium that draws participants from all over the world. This year, it will be held in Burlingame, CA from Feb. 11-13. More information about the Symposium can be found HERE.
We are pleased to again be able to offer a limited number of 1 and 2-day registrations at a discounted rate for SC/SVNTP mentors. The one-day rate is $210 and the two-day rate is $400. You will need a special code in order to register and will need to complete your registration by the early bird registration deadline of December 18th. If you are interested, please consult with your district/school to find out it they will sponsor your registration. Then email me letting me know which day(s) you plan to attend. I will send you a registration code you can use to register.

11.9.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying some true Fall weather and the lovely rain. First, I want to thank everyone who attended this week’s Fall Breakfast and who worked hard to bring members of their school and district teams with them to learn. The feedback was very positive. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Looking ahead, we only have 3 1/2 weeks (not counting Thanksgiving week) until our first Assessment Day. As you work through the high-leverage processes that make up our Required Evidence with teachers, I encourage you to pay particular attention to the opportunities for reflection that are woven into each process. As you know, our bigger goal is to support teachers in learning about best practices, implementing these with support, and reflecting on them. These opportunities to stop and reflect on around student learning and actionable next steps are critical to making these in-the-moment coaching opportunities become transferable learning that have long-term impacts on teacher practice.

We do not have forum this Friday. At our next forum (next Friday), we will begin preparing for Assessment Day and review the revised Assessment of Progress (formerly the Assessment of Completion) rubric we will use when reading REs. As a reminder, this forum will be at the East Side UHSD District Office Board Room located at 830 N Capitol Ave, San Jose, CA 95133.

Enjoy your well-deserved long weekend!

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Office Forms Update (New-Action May Be Required): Timesheets and mileage forms have all been updated on the web and are now “printer friendly.” Please make sure to discard all old forms and use the new forms that have been posted. Thank you!

2. Early Completion Option (ECO) References due Friday, December 8th (New-Action May Be Required): On Monday, 11/6, I sent all mentors of ECO candidates a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let me know if you have any questions.

3. Mentor Learning Plan (MLP) (New-Action May Be Required): Next Friday we will continue to think about and develop our Mentor Learning Plans. If you haven’t done so already, please make sure before Friday’s forum you:

Share your MLP with me
Self-Assess on the Continuum of Mentor Practice and complete Part A of the MLP

4. Assessment Day Scheduling (New-Action May Be Required): Assessment Days are 9-3 on the following days:

Friday, December 8th (required)
Wednesday, December 13th (optional)
Friday, December 15th (required)

Contract mentors, please let Emily know before Friday, December 1st which day(s) you will be in attendance. We ask that you attend one full day or two half days.

5. Setting Up Mid-Year REs for Submission (New-Action May Be Required): As we prepare RE submissions with our PTs, you may want to begin by renaming the folder you will submit. The naming conventions for PT folders are as follows: 17-18 PTlastnameFirstinitial PT year Mid Year RE (Example: 17-18 RobertsM PT1 Mid Year RE)

6. 2017-18 Participating Teacher Professional Development Spreadsheet (Update -Action May Be Required)
Thank you mentors for updating the PT/PD Spreadsheet with Launch dates and evaluator contact information.

In order for us to refine our working budget for 17-18, we ask that you complete column L regarding Mentor Guided Veteran Teacher Observations. If you do not yet know if your teacher will need a sub, please type in “unsure”.
Colloquium dates should NOT yet be filled in on the spreadsheet. Colloquiums happen at the end of the year and the spreadsheet will be used then to mark attendance. If you have filled in this column, please remove this information.

7. Talent (Update - Action May Be Required): This update was sent out by Torsch. Please read and be advised.
Dear Torsh TALENT users,
Some of our users have reported issues recording and uploading files with the current version of the T Uploader app (0.1.4) which was released March 2, 2016. Our developers are troubleshooting the issue and will be submitting various bug fixes to Android for approval. We are awaiting the new release of our T Uploader app to be available and approved. We will notify everyone as soon as it is released in the Google Play store and available for download.
There are two current issues awaiting a fix 1) recording is ended immediately after starting, which creates an empty video file and 2) opening the empty video files can cause app crashing. Please notify us at support@torsh.co if you are experiencing any of these issues. This issue may be affecting the most recent versions of Android OS version 7 and above. If you are using a mobile device running Android 7 or a more recent version, please use the following workaround when recording video using your smart device:

Use your native camera app on your device to capture all videos. Do not use the T Uploader app when recording. This will ensure that your video is saved on your device.
Once recording is complete, import those videos into the T Uploader app for upload to TALENT.

Since you are importing videos from your phone into your T Uploader app, uploading may become sluggish because the resulting file is usually very large. You may also run into data capacity issues since importing the video into the app requires the video to be duplicated. To resolve this, recordings that have already been uploaded to TALENT, and other temporary, or cached files can be deleted from your device.

Please stay tuned for a new update which should be available within the next few weeks. Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve these issues. Please contact us at support@torsh.co if you have any questions or concerns!

8. Participating Teachers (PTs) Missing More than Two Meetings? (Reminder): When teachers begin to make a habit of missing their appointments with you, it can be especially challenging to engage in our work in an authentic and meaningful way. If you find yourself working with a teacher that has missed two meetings in a row, please reach out to leadership for support.

11.1.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy November 1st! Time is flying along and we are now just five weeks (including Thanksgiving Break) from our first mid-year assessment day. I thought we might start this message with a note from our fearless director, Melissa:
This is the time of year when I find myself working especially hard to balance being responsive to immediate teacher needs and ensuring that RE processes are getting done! Upon reflection, I do wonder how much of my need to “get things done” contributes to the mentality that the RE is a checklist of tasks to complete. As mentors we know the processes we engage in with our teachers is not something that stops after the RE is submitted, or when credentials are cleared. Our goal is to foster culturally responsive instructional practices that focus on students and that teachers employ throughout their career. This Friday during forum we will have sanctioned time to reflect on our mentoring practice and consider how we might further enrich teacher and student learning by setting our own professional goals.

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing everyone this Friday, November 3rd from 9-12:30am at UCSC-Silicon Valley for our next forum. The agenda will include the following topics:

Problem Pose/Problem Solve led by Brittany Rykels
Leaders Set Goals: Mentor Learning Plan (MLP)
Effective Feedback: Video Annotations

Year 1 mentors, per the message you received earlier from Jamie, the new mentor meeting will be help BEFORE forum from 8:30-9am.

Please bring the following items to forum with you:

Download the new Mentor Learning Plan (MLP) HERE. Load it to your Google Drive and share it with Jamie
A video in Talent for you to review and practice annotating
Headphones for viewing your video

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Greg Adler- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Marissa Brown- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Steve Sinclair-Fruit
Eleni Malkos- Veggies
Jeannie Son-Bell- Bread and Spread
Abigail Soriano -Dessert

Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

As always, the expectation is that mentors attend all forums. If you are not able to attend, please reach out to Jamie or me and let me know in advance. See you soon!

Please carefully review the following announcements for those relevant to your situation:

1. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications due Friday (New-Action May Be Required):

If you have a PT who is planning to apply for ECO status, please remind them that complete applications should be sent via email to me no later than this Friday. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mentors of ECO candidates, Monday, November 6th you will be sent a reference form to complete for each teacher applying for ECO status. The information you share in the reference is not shared with your teacher. References will be due no later than Friday, December 8th. Please let Melissa know what questions come up for you.

2. Fall Breakfast (Update): Our Fall Breakfast is fast approaching. Participants join us for a delicious breakfast and a free morning of learning at the beautiful Microsoft building. Topics will include a brief overview of the SC/SVNTP and research on 5 key mentoring practices that support teacher growth, followed by a choice of two breakout sessions: 1) Effective Environment (using our new tool) and, 2) Tailoring Supports For all Teachers using a Will/Skill matrix. These sessions are applicable for those who support new and all teachers. So, we need your help!:

HERE is the link to whom has registered for Fall Breakfast as of 1pm today. Our numbers are low at this point, so please take time over the next few days to personally invite site administrators, coaches, district office staff, union representatives, and colleagues from outside our consortium to join us. There is still time to register and your personal invite goes a long way! Thank you for your support in helping make this event a success.
If you have not yet registered yourself, please click here to register.
Here is the flyer again:

3. Equity Book Groups (Repeat-Action May Be Required): If you missed our Combined Forum on 10/20, you will receive your book at the next Mentor Forum this Friday, November 3rd. Each book group made a plan for reading before the next Combined Forum on 1/19/18. Please see the BOOK GROUP list and connect with someone in that group to get that reading assignment. For some groups, there is a “point person” who was designated to give this communication (see list below).Thank you, mentors! Please contact this person if they are in your group. Those people are:

Kristina Chmelka
Adriana Bellini
Emma Veltri
Sherri Kilkenny
Leo DeMarco
Christy Mills

Review this first: HERE are "Talent Tips" to support you and your teachers with getting started in Talent, uploading and sharing videos, and annotating.

Check the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet for the email listed. This is the email address the Talent invitation was sent to
Search the email account for the invitation sent from Torsch Talent
- Check Spam/Junk folders
If the teacher has an account/was sent a link and now can’t find it, use the directions in this document HERE to support you and your teachers with getting started in Talent, uploading and sharing videos, and annotating.
If you are still having trouble, let Patti know.

7. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Below are a few professional learning ppportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your teachers:

8. Young Writer’s Program (Repeat): The Santa Cruz County Office of Education and the Young Writer’s Program is sponsoring a free workshop for educators on Working with ELLs. It will be held on Saturday, November 4th from 10am-1pm at the Santa Cruz County Office of Ed. Registration is due by Nov. 2nd. Please see the FLYER for more information.

9. Improving School Outcomes Through Student Centered Learning & Teaching Symposium (New): Friday December 15, 2017 The symposium, Friday, December 15th, is open nationally and locally to administrators, teachers, caregivers, parents and students. There is no cost for this event but preregistration is required. To register for the in-person meeting or the live broadcast, visit the California Services for Technical Assistance and Training Web page athttp://calstat.org/ImprovingSchoolOutcomes. There is limited seating at 300 for the in-person meeting. The live broadcast will have unlimited capacity. We also encourage groups to watch the symposium live and engage in the training sessions. Each session will be filmed and video archived. The symposium is organized by the CDE One System Serving the Whole Child Initiative (http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/onesystem.asp) and the Council of Chief State School Officers Innovation Lab Network (http://www.ccsso.org/What_We_Do/Innovation_Lab_Network.html).

10. 1440 Multiversity Conference (Update-Discount Offered!): Please see the note below from Wendy Baron, SC/SVNTP founding director, NTC Director of SEL, and founding 1440 Multiversity Faculty Member:
I wanted to let you know about an amazing conference that will be happening at 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley over MLK weekend (Jan. 12-15, 2018). Ellen and I are featured speakers, and we have just an amazing line up of presenters and keynote speakers—all focused on Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life.

Here are some of the details. Tuition for the conference is $495. Anyone from NTC (this includes SC/SVNTP mentors and coaches) has $150 discount, bringing the registration price to $345. For those who can commute, there’s no need to pay for accommodations. Instead, there’s a fee of $330 for all meals, use of the 1440 Multiversity facility (spa, fitness center, hiking trails), and includes yoga, meditation, qigong classes and an evening drumming circle. And, they are offering a few scholarships (50% off registration) if someone calls and asks! Here is the link about the conference: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

We are hoping that many of us from our community can join for these 3 days. And, we would be grateful if you could spread the word about the conference. The speakers will bring together our focus on the Optimal Learning Environment, SEL, equity, culturally responsive practices, and meeting the diverse needs of all learners! What is being added to this conference is an additional focus on the health and wellbeing of students and educators. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Warmly,
Wendy

10.25.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

We open today with a message from Jamie, “ It was fantastic to participate with during our full day of learning at our Combined Equity Forum on 10/20. For new mentors, we built a foundational understanding of equity and culturally responsive teaching. For returning mentors, we used data and Singleton’s compass to build a coaching scenario that was roleplayed with an intentionally planned equity lens. I want to acknowledge that this is hard work, and, like our deputy superintendent, Faris Sabbah, said when he visited on Friday, ‘Your teachers are extremely lucky to have such passionate mentors and coaches to lead with this important equity work, in order to support the success of all students.’ We look forward to continuing this equity focused collaboration at our second Combined Forum on January 19th.”

Fall Breakfast is Coming! We look forward to seeing all of you at our annual Fall Breakfast on Tuesday, November 7th at Microsoft 1065 La Avenida St, Mountain View, CA 94043 from 8:30am-11am (notice the start and end times!).
The purpose of the Fall Breakfast is to:

Forming/deepen connections with district/charter and other partners around our common goal-ensuring all students have access to a high quality teacher
Illuminating and sharing critical aspects of the mentoring/coaching work done in SC/SVNTP that are useful for others to know and use in their work
Having great conversations about teaching and learning over a delicious breakfast

We encourage all mentors to attend and to bring their district teams. If you have not registered, click here to do so now. Please share the flyer and encourage others to come with you.

In order to welcome guests as they arrive, we ask that you arrive no later than 8:15am. Breakfast will be served at 8:30am and the program will begin at 9:00am. In addition to providing an overview of our program, we will be offering two break out sessions, one in which we share the Effective Environment tool, the other will focus on a schema for identifying and providing differentiated supports for teachers at varying levels of will and skill. You are welcome to attend either break out session, and we ask that you consider being strategic about accompanying any district leader(s) that you may want to connect with further. The program concludes at 11am. Please reach out to Jamie or Emily with any questions.

Please closely review the announcements below and let me know if you have any questions:

1. Equity Book Groups (New-Action May Be Required): If you missed our Combined Forum on 10/20, you will receive your book at the next Mentor Forum on Friday, November 3rd. Each book group made a plan for reading before the next Combined Forum on 1/19/18. Please see the BOOK GROUP list and connect with someone in that group to get that reading assignment. For some groups, there is a “point person” who was designated to give this communication (see list below).Thank you, mentors! Please contact this person if they are in your group. Those people are:

Kristina Chmelka
Adriana Bellini
Emma Veltri
Sherri Kilkenny
Leo DeMarco
Christy Mills

2. Kathy Hogan’s Celebration of Life (Reminder): As many of you heard, our longtime mentor colleague, Kathy Hogan, passed away on September 28th. Many of you have reached out about her service. A celebration of her life will be held THIS Sunday, October 29th at the Campbell Community Center Orchard City Banquet Hall-Building F (1 W Campbell Ave C-31, Campbell, CA 95008). A reception will be held from 5-6pm and the celebration will be from 6-8:30pm. HERE is the invitation. Please do share these details with others who may want to join in celebrating Kathy’s life.

3. Participating Teachers (PTs) Missing More than Two Meetings? (Reminder-Action May Be Required): When teachers begin to make a habit of missing their appointments with you, it can be especially challenging to engage in our work in an authentic and meaningful way. If you find yourself working with a teacher that has missed two meetings in a row, please reach out to leadership for support.

4. Mileage Clarification (Reminder):

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.
Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org

4. Conscious Classroom Management (Repeat): If, you or your teachers were not able to register for our final CCM session, and you would still like to attend a CCM event, please see the note from Grace Dearborn below about another (paid) opportunity:
“If you have any folks who would like to attend a training with me, but weren’t able to get into this one, I have a pay-per-seat training coming up in San Jose on Nov 4th. It's 9am to 3pm. It is appropriate for new and veteran K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators. Below is a link to more info and attached is a flier. Please feel free to share far and wide. There is ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT to receive early-bird pricing. For more info or to register: www.consciousteaching.com/fall17

5. Young Writer’s Program PD Opportunity (New): The Santa Cruz County Office of Education and the Young Writer’s Program is sponsoring a free workshop for educators on Working with ELLs. It will be held on Saturday, November 4th from 10am-1pm at the Santa Cruz County Office of Ed. Registration is due by Nov. 2nd. Please see the FLYER for more information.

6. Talent Updates (Update): Torsh Talent is a password protected video capture, annotation, and sharing system to which all mentors and participating teachers have access. Please make sure your teachers are all able to log in to Talent.
HERE are "Talent Tips" to support you and your teachers with getting started in Talent, uploading and sharing videos, and annotating.
If your teachers can’t find the email inviting them to Talent:

Check the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet
Review the email listed. This is the email address the Talent invitation was sent to
Search the email account for the invitation sent from Torsch Talent
- Check Spam/Junk folders
If you are still having trouble, let Patti know

7. PTPD Spreadsheet (Reminder-Action May Be Required): The 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet is now up and running. Thank you to everyone who went in and double checked PT information and have helped to populate that sheet. Here are a few next steps:

Lead mentors: Record orientation and launch dates for the PTs in the district in Column K. This should have been done by LAST Friday, 10.20.
- If a PT has missed orientation, please record the date in which it was made up with a mentor. Please send a copy of your Orientation/Launch sign in sheets to Jamie (digital or turn in at forum).
All Mentors: Add MGO information in columns L-N (as needed across the year) and add evaluator info in columns Q-S, This should have been done by LAST Friday, 10.20.
Thank you!
All Mentors: input the changes in the pink column but to be sure to alert Patti Isaak pisaak@santacruzcoe.org so that she knows to change it in the database.

8. Mentor Guided Observation Reminder (Reminder):

When setting up a Mentor Guided Observation, please also alert the principal in the veteran teacher’s school that you and your PT will be coming to observe. Principals appreciate this heads up and it also lets them know they have a great teacher on site who is being visited! When you schedule the MGO, please also let the veteran teacher know you will be alerting his/her principal as well, so there are no surprises on that end either. Thanks, Jeannie, for the great idea.
When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).
Reminder to please fill in the MGO Recommendation Spreadsheet with your recommendations for teachers to visit on MGOs! Mentors are looking now, both in and outside their districts, for folks to visit and this spreadsheet can be incredibly useful. Thanks.
Please remember to add PT MGO information to the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet as well when you take teachers to visit.

9. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

10.18.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday! I want to share an article that Mt. Pleasant Mentor, Leo DeMarco, shared with me this week. There is great power in our words as coaches and this article really speaks to this important tool we have. I hope enjoy it as well. Thanks, Leo!

We look forward to seeing all of you this Friday, October 20th, for our first Combined Equity Forum at the Santa Cruz COE from 8:30am-3pm (notice the start and end times!). The purpose of these combined forums is to:

Give us a chance to connect with our entire SC/SVNTP mentor and coach community
Have extended time to focus on learning how to coach for equity--a core value of the SC/SVNTP

These are not optional forums for any mentors in our community, therefore the expectation is that everyone will attend for the full day.

Here are a few important reminders about Friday:

Please carpool, if at all possible.
Please plan to arrive between 8:00-8:15am to ensure you are able to find your room and be ready to go when we start at 8:30am.
Returning mentors (Year 2+) will be in the Tech Room (Downstairs). New mentors (Year 1) will be in the Ocean-Pacific Room (2nd floor).
Electronic devices are welcome, but not required. We will provide all materials in paper form
Lunch is on your own for this event. Please plan to bring your lunch (something that does not need to be refrigerated) as there will not be enough time to go out and there are few places close to the COE.
For returning mentors, please bring data you have collected from one of your PTs (i.e. observational data, ASW, IAP, etc.) that might be a good entry point for an equity conversation.You will use these to create some coaching scenarios during Friday’s forum.

If you are unable to attend, it is important you let me know immediately.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Please closely review the announcements below and let me know if you have any questions:

1. Kathy’s Service: As many of you heard, our longtime mentor colleague, Kathy Hogan, passed away on September 28th. Many of you have reached out about her service. It will be held Sunday, October 29th in the afternoon (exact time TBD) at the Campbell Community Center (1 W Campbell Ave C-31, Campbell, CA 95008). I am waiting on confirmation of the time and will let you know as soon as I have that important detail. Please do share these details with others who may want to join in celebrating Kathy’s life.

2. Participating Teachers (PTs) Missing More than Two Meetings? (New- Action May Be Required): When teachers begin to make a habit of missing their appointments with you, it can be especially challenging to engage in our work in an authentic and meaningful way. If you find yourself working with a teacher that has missed two meetings in a row, please reach out to leadership for support.

3. Mileage Clarification (Update from Injin):

If you are logging HOME as the starting point, please show a subtraction of your non-reimbursable mileage. Otherwise, please log from your first site if you prefer not to calculate by subtracting your non-reimbursable mileage.

Traveling to UCSC or SCCOE for forum is still considered travel from home to work, if you are traveling to UCSC or SCCOE over the hill or it exceeds your usual daily commute, only then can you subtract your non-reimbursable mileage.
All forms are available on the Office Forms tab of the website.
All mentors will submit the Blue Mileage Claim form AND the Pink Mileage Reimbursement form.
Please review the Mileage Guides (located on the web with the other office forms).

Direct any questions you have to Injin at ijun@santacruzcoe.org

4. Conscious Classroom Management (Update): This past Saturday, we held our last CCM session at East Side UHSD. We had 90 teachers and mentors in attendance. It was wonderful to see them go from sleepy at 8:30am on an October Saturday morning to jazzed over the course of the session. Please do check in with teachers who attended and help them to follow up on what they learned during these sessions.

If, you or your teachers were not able to register, and you would still like to attend a CCM event, please see the note from Grace Dearborn below about another (paid) opportunity:
“If you have any folks who would like to attend a training with me, but weren’t able to get into this one, I have a pay-per-seat training coming up in San Jose on Nov 4th. It's 9am to 3pm. It is appropriate for new and veteran K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators. Below is a link to more info and attached is a flier. Please feel free to share far and wide. There is ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT to receive early-bird pricing. For more info or to register: www.consciousteaching.com/fall17”

5. Talent Updates (Update): All PTs are now enrolled in Talent as well. If a PT is having trouble finding the welcome/enrollment email, please:

Check the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet
Review the email listed. This is the email address the Talent invitation was sent to
Search the email account for the invitation sent from Torsch Talent
- Check Spam/Junk folders
If you are still having trouble, let Patti know

6. PTPD Spreadsheet (Update-Action May Be Required): The 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet is now up and running. Thank you to everyone who went in and double checked PT information and have helped to populate that sheet. Here are a few next steps:

Lead mentors: Record orientation and launch dates for the PTs in the district in Column K. This needs to be done by THIS Friday, 10.20.
- If a PT has missed orientation, please record the date in which it was made up with a mentor. Please send a copy of your Orientation/Launch sign in sheets to Jamie (digital or turn in at forum).
All Mentors: Add MGO information in columns L-N (as needed across the year) and add evaluator info in columns Q-S by THIS Friday, 10/20. Thank you!

7. Mentor Guided Observation Reminder (Reminder):

When setting up a Mentor Guided Observation, please also alert the principal in the veteran teacher’s school that you and your PT will be coming to observe. Principals appreciate this heads up and it also lets them know they have a great teacher on site who is being visited! When you schedule the MGO, please also let the veteran teacher know you will be alerting his/her principal as well, so there are no surprises on that end either. Thanks, Jeannie, for the great idea.
When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).
Reminder to please fill in the MGO Recommendation Spreadsheet with your recommendations for teachers to visit on MGOs! Mentors are looking now, both in and outside their districts, for folks to visit and this spreadsheet can be incredibly useful. Thanks.
Please remember to add PT MGO information to the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet as well when you take teachers to visit.

10.11.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday! I hope this message finds you well. This week’s quick resource comes from Mindful Schools. We all love to be listened to, so HERE are 7 Mindful Practices that we can use deliberately in our mentoring/coaching work that help teachers truly feel heard and supported by you. These same practices can also help students feel heard and supported by their teachers. How might you use this graphic in your work and/or encourage teachers to use it in their work?

We have an exciting announcement to make! Mountain View-Whisman Mentor, Vern Taylor, is now the new Assistant Principal at Graham Middle School! We are so excited for you, Vern, and know Graham Middle is getting a great new administrator. Congratulations! Please know we will miss you at forum. Please come and visit from time to time.
This also means we have a new mentor who will be joining us beginning on November 1. Please welcome Christi Schwoob to our community. We are very excited to have you join us soon.

We do not have forum again this week (we miss you!), so please closely review the announcements below and let me know if you have any questions:

1. Conscious Classroom Management (Update-Action May Be Required): Our last CCM session will be at East Side UHSD THIS Saturday. The following email went out to those registered for CCM in Silicon Valley.
Hello, Teachers.
This is a reminder that you are registered for Conscious Classroom Management at East Side UHSD on Saturday, October 14th at 8:30 am.
This event is full and several people are waiting for an opportunity to register. If you cannot attend, please let me know and I will cancel your registration.
Thank you,
SC/SVNTP
Please do check in with those registered and confirm they plan to attend or have let us know they are not planning to attend so we can take others off our waitlist. Thanks!

If, you or your teachers were not able to register, please see the note from Grace Dearborn below about another CCM opportunity:
“If you have any folks who would like to attend a training with me, but weren’t able to get into this one, I have a pay-per-seat training coming up in San Jose on Nov 4th. It's 9am to 3pm. It is appropriate for new and veteran K-12 teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators. Below is a link to more info and attached is a flier. Please feel free to share far and wide. There is ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT to receive early-bird pricing. For more info or to register: www.consciousteaching.com/fall17”

2. Talent Updates (Update-Action Required):

Mentor Accounts: All mentors are now enrolled in Talent. Please make sure you check/activate your account ASAP.
Participating Teacher Accounts: All PTs are now enrolled in Talent as well. Please check in with your PT2s to reactivate their accounts and to help PT1s activate their accounts. If a PT is having trouble finding the welcome/enrollment email, check the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet to determine to which address the Talent message was sent. Have them check spam as well. Let Patti/I know if there are any issues.

3. PTPD Spreadsheet (Update-Action May Be Required): The 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet is now up and running. Thank you to everyone who went in and double checked PT information and have helped to populate that sheet. Here are a few next steps:

Lead mentors: Record orientation and launch dates for the PTs in the district in Column K. This needs to be done by Friday, 10.20.
- If a PT has missed orientation, please record the date in which it was made up with a mentor. Please send a copy of your Orientation/Launch sign in sheets to Jamie (digital or turn in at forum).
All Mentors: Add MGO information in columns L-N (as needed across the year) and add evaluator info in columns Q-S by Friday, 10/20. Thank you!

4. Combined Forum Update (New-Action Required): Please plan to bring data you have collected from one of your PTs (i.e. observational data, ASW, IAP, etc.) to the combined forum that might be a good entry point for an equity conversation.You will use these to create some coaching scenarios during this forum.

5. Mentor Guided Observation Reminder (Reminder):

When setting up a Mentor Guided Observation, please also alert the principal in the veteran teacher’s school that you and your PT will be coming to observe. Principals appreciate this heads up and it also lets them know they have a great teacher on site who is being visited! When you schedule the MGO, please also let the veteran teacher know you will be alerting his/her principal as well, so there are no surprises on that end either. Thanks, Jeannie, for the great idea.
When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).
Reminder to please fill in the MGO Recommendation Spreadsheet with your recommendations for teachers to visit on MGOs! Mentors are looking now, both in and outside their districts, for folks to visit and this spreadsheet can be incredibly useful. Thanks.
Please remember to add PT MGO information to the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet as well when you take teachers to visit.

6. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Below are a few professional learning opportunities in which you, your colleagues, and/or your PTs might be interested:

7. New Teacher Center Webinar: Wellbeing In Stressful Times (Reminder): Wendy Baron, former SC/SVNTP Director and New Teacher Center co-founder and current Chief Officer for Social and Emotional Well-Being is hosting this free two part webinar. Here is the description of session 1: “We know the beginning of the year is stressful for teachers, school leaders, and students. Stressors not only stem from school and the classroom with exams, lesson planning, classroom management and classmates, but there are also many issues that originate at home that can negatively impact student learning. In this session, we’ll explore the types of stress and their impact on educators and students. We’ll then also experience a variety of strategies to reduce classroom stress, enhance student wellbeing, and ultimately, help students improve their attention, engagement, and focus on learning.”

Session 1: Dealing with Stress: How to Support You and Your Students
October 5 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.) (You can still view the recording by going to the registration page)
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times
Session 2: The Gratitude Classroom: Creating an Environment for Student Success By Promoting Wellbeing
October 12 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.) TOMORROW!
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times-2

For full session descriptions please view the registration pages, or the NTC Events page: newteachercenter.org/events

8. 1440 Multiversity Conference on The Art and Science of Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life (Reminder): 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured, including Marc Brackett from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Siegel, founder of Mindsight Institute, and New Teacher Center’s own Ellen Moir and Wendy Baron. Ellen will be facilitating a panel with teachers, leaders, and students from East Side Union High School District, which has been integrating SEL and health and wellness initiatives, and is very focused on culturally responsive instruction to ensure the highest levels of academic achievement for all students.

The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students. With Nadine Burke Harris, MD, we’ll explore the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) on physical and mental health. Linda Graham, MFT will talk about resilience and the brain, Pam Siegel, from the Center for Courage and Renewal will lead us in conversation about strengthening the adult community in schools, and Mike Kuczala will teach us how to create the kinesthetic classroom to increase student engagement, motivation, and healthy bodies. Ashanti Branch, who works with youth in Oakland, will bring his students for a video discussion of “The Mask We Live in” and Mark Wilding and Vivian Elliott from Passage Works will help educators learn about integrating mindfulness, cultural responsiveness, and social and emotional learning in the classroom. Sherrie Raven, representing CASEL, will support districts in developing a systems approach to SEL, and Sheila Walker, PhD from Johns Hopkins will help us leverage neuroscience to help our children thrive. These are just some of the offerings! In addition, participants will have opportunities to participate in early morning and late afternoon yoga, qigong, and meditation classes, as well as enjoy the incredibly beautiful 1440 Multiversity campus!

For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

10.4.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy October! I thought this week I would share a favorite 3 minute video of mine by Brene Brown on Empathy. I hope it resonates with you! How might you use this in your work?

Jamie and I will miss you this week, and we know you will find many uses for the time. By now, you should be working on goal setting and may be at the early stages of a Fall Inquiry or similar process with your teachers. This is a great time for Mentor Guided Observations as well. Enjoy your time!

Below are a number of announcements that require your attention. Please read carefully as we will not discuss these items during forum:

1. Conscious Classroom Management (Update): The following email went out to those registered for CCM in Silicon Valley.
Hello, Teachers.
This is a reminder that you are registered for Conscious Classroom Management at East Side UHSD on Saturday, October 14th at 8:30 am.
This event is full and several people are waiting for an opportunity to register. If you cannot attend, please let me know and I will cancel your registration.
Thank you,
SC/SVNTP
Please do check in with those registered and confirm they plan to attend or have let us know they are not planning to attend so we can take others off our waitlist. Thanks!

2. 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet (New-Action Required): A big shout out to Patti for her tremendous work on creating the PT PD spreadsheet! This spreadsheet is our common way of tracking all our our PT-Mentor pairs, as well as critical information about our PTs. The sheet is tabbed by district/school. PT1s are in white, PT2s are in blue, and PT3s are pink. Please:

Check that all of their PTs are present and their info is correct. If any changes, record in column J. (THIS MUST BE DONE BY FRIDAY! See Talent note below about why)
Add PT’s orientation/launch dates in column K (By Friday, 10/20)
Add MGO information in columns L-N (as needed across the year)
Add evaluator info in columns Q-S (By Friday, 10/20)

Thank you in advance for your attention to this important matter!

3. Talent Accounts (Update-Action Required):

Mentor Accounts: By now, all mentors should be enrolled in Talent. Returning mentors, your accounts remain active from last year and all new mentors have been enrolled. Please make sure you check/activate your account ASAP.
Participating Teacher Accounts:
- PT2s: Like returning mentors, PT2 accounts remain active from last year. Please work with them to check these accounts. Please note: PT2s CANNOT change their Talent emails UNLESS they have moved districts and that email was connected with their previous district. This is because, in order to change their email, we have to open them a new account and pay for the new account.
- PT1s will get email early next week with their enrollment info. In order to ensure we set up their account with the correct email, please check the PTPD spreadsheet for inaccuracies and make changes by the end of the week (see message above).

4. Mentor Guided Observation Reminder (Update-Action May Be Required):

When setting up a Mentor Guided Observation, please also alert the principal in the veteran teacher’s school that you and your PT will be coming to observe. Principals appreciate this heads up and it also lets them know they have a great teacher on site who is being visited! When you schedule the MGO, please also let the veteran teacher know you will be alerting his/her principal as well, so there are no surprises on that end either. Thanks, Jeannie, for the great idea.
When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).
Please also to Eleni for the reminder to please fill in the MGO Recommendation Spreadsheet with your recommendations for teachers to visit on MGOs! Mentors are looking now, both in and outside their districts, for folks to visit and this spreadsheet can be incredibly useful. Thanks.
Please remember to add PT MGO information to the 2017-18 PT PD Spreadsheet as well when you take teachers to visit.

5. Combined Equity Forum Update (Update): Thank you to everyone who so quickly responded to our new Equity Forum plan of book groups! We ordered everyone their first choice book today and will hand them out at our combined forum. If you did not have a chance to review and select a choice, we have ordered a few extra copies of each book and these will be available on a first come/first serve basis at our forum.

6. Mileage Update (Repeat): Thank you for your patience as we worked with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (SCCOE) to further align our mileage policy. All mentors will continue to submit the Blue Mileage Claim Form and the Pink Reimbursement Form. Please visit the Office Forms tab of the website (coming shortly!) to locate the Blue and Pink forms as well as the Mileage Quick Guides. You will notice there are two guides, one for full release mentors and one for contract mentors.
The purpose of mileage reimbursements is to compensate mentors for mileage driven that is in addition to what was customarily driven before taking on the job of mentoring at multiple schools. Please direct any questions to Emily or Melissa after forum on Friday.
*New mentors and contract mentors, we will go over the mileage forms in detail AFTER forum.

7. Electronic Signatures (Repeat): In order to complete your new mileage form electronically, you will need to include your signature. Simply typing your name will not be accepted by the business office. You can print and sign the document and then scan/email it OR you can sign it electronically. If you do not know how to sign a document electronically, below are links to two YouTube tutorials on how to do this using different operating systems.

Using Preview on a Mac (my favorite option)
Create and scan a signature to be added to any document
Create a digital signature in Word

8. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Below are a few professional learning opportunities in which you, your colleagues, and/or your PTs might be interested:

9. New Teacher Center Webinar: Wellbeing In Stressful Times (Update): Wendy Baron, former SC/SVNTP Director and New Teacher Center co-founder and current Chief Officer for Social and Emotional Well-Being is hosting this free two part webinar. Here is the description of session 1: “We know the beginning of the year is stressful for teachers, school leaders, and students. Stressors not only stem from school and the classroom with exams, lesson planning, classroom management and classmates, but there are also many issues that originate at home that can negatively impact student learning. In this session, we’ll explore the types of stress and their impact on educators and students. We’ll then also experience a variety of strategies to reduce classroom stress, enhance student wellbeing, and ultimately, help students improve their attention, engagement, and focus on learning.”

Session 1: Dealing with Stress: How to Support You and Your Students
October 5 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.) TOMORROW!!
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times

Session 2: The Gratitude Classroom: Creating an Environment for Student Success By Promoting Wellbeing
October 12 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.)
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times-2

For full session descriptions please view the registration pages, or the NTC Events page: newteachercenter.org/events

10. Free Online Professional Development Courses Through the Stanford Graduate School of Education this Fall (Repeat): Starting October 3 (YESTERDAY!), Understanding Language at the Stanford Graduate School of Education will offer three online professional development courses sponsored by the Gates Foundation and S.H. Cowell Foundation to impact instructional practice, programs, and policy in order to create more meaningful learning experiences for language learners. There are two strands available for participants – one focused on instruction and the other on leadership. The courses on instruction are Constructive Classroom Conversations: Improving Student-to-Student Interactions and Integrating Language Development and Content Learning in Math: Focus on Reasoning. The leadership course is California Leadership for English Learner Success. To register or for more information, go to http://ell.stanford.edu/courses or download the informational flyer at http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Fall2017_UL_onlinePD_flyer_webquality_v2.pdf.

11. Rollout Events for the California History–Social Science Framework (New): Join local teachers, administrators, and teacher educators for the first in a series of programs designed to introduce California’s History-Social Science Framework. These interactive and engaging one-day conferences across California offer time to collaborate with other educators, as well as state, regional, and local History–Social Science leaders. Rollout events are scheduled throughout the state and are a collaborative project between the CDE, the SBE, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and in partnership with the California History–Social Science Project. For more information and registration, see the events flyer or go the CDE Rollout Activities Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

13. 1440 Multiversity Conference on The Art and Science of Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life (Repeat): 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured, including Marc Brackett from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Siegel, founder of Mindsight Institute, and New Teacher Center’s own Ellen Moir and Wendy Baron. Ellen will be facilitating a panel with teachers, leaders, and students from East Side Union High School District, which has been integrating SEL and health and wellness initiatives, and is very focused on culturally responsive instruction to ensure the highest levels of academic achievement for all students.

The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students. With Nadine Burke Harris, MD, we’ll explore the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) on physical and mental health. Linda Graham, MFT will talk about resilience and the brain, Pam Siegel, from the Center for Courage and Renewal will lead us in conversation about strengthening the adult community in schools, and Mike Kuczala will teach us how to create the kinesthetic classroom to increase student engagement, motivation, and healthy bodies. Ashanti Branch, who works with youth in Oakland, will bring his students for a video discussion of “The Mask We Live in” and Mark Wilding and Vivian Elliott from Passage Works will help educators learn about integrating mindfulness, cultural responsiveness, and social and emotional learning in the classroom. Sherrie Raven, representing CASEL, will support districts in developing a systems approach to SEL, and Sheila Walker, PhD from Johns Hopkins will help us leverage neuroscience to help our children thrive. These are just some of the offerings! In addition, participants will have opportunities to participate in early morning and late afternoon yoga, qigong, and meditation classes, as well as enjoy the incredibly beautiful 1440 Multiversity campus!

For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

9.27.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday! I hope this message finds you and your teachers well. Jamie and I noted this last week that there seems to be an uptick in the number of challenging situations you and you teachers are addressing together. I thought it might be useful to share this blog post from Elena Aguilar on How to Coach a Teacher in Crisis. She writes:
1. Don't panic. Don't get sucked up by your own fears about your performance or worth.
2. Don't talk and talk and talk.
3. Don't make promises or predictions—not about what you can do nor about what will happen.
4. Don't go into fix-it mode.
She goes on to share what we can do in our role as mentors and coaches that is helpful. I hope you will find this resource helpful for you, in case you have a teacher who breaks down, is facing a serious challenge, or who just needs support getting through something hard. While I hope you do not have need of this information, please let me know if you use this process and if you find it helpful.

Jamie and I look forward to seeing all of you again this Friday, 9/29 from 9am-12:30pm (New Mentor Meeting from 12:45-1:15pm) at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension for our next Friday Forum. Our topics will include:

PP/PS focused on observation
Post-Observation Conversations
Lesson/Unit Planning
Analysis of Student Work/Inquiry Action Plan

As always, if you cannot attend forum, the expectation is that you will let Jamie and/or I know in advance. Thanks.

Please bring the following items with you to forum:

Your binder which should contain paper copies of tools and conversation guides--in particular, make sure you have your pre- and post-observation tools and guides from last time
Your Observation Note Taking Guide and Observation Notes from last forum
An observation data or pre-/post-observation tool you have completed with a teacher for PP/PS

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Melissa Aguirre- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Joanne Yinger- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Mary Fran Lynch-Fruit
Lisa Stone- Veggies
Rachel Bliss- Bread and Spread
Jeannie Son-Bell -Dessert

Want to volunteer for the snacks not yet taken this week? Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

Below are a large number of announcements that require your attention. Please read carefully as we will not discuss these items during forum:

1. Talent (New-Action May Be Required): Torsh Talent is a password protected video capture, annotation, and sharing system to which all mentors and participating teachers have access. We are incredibly grateful to an anonymous donor who continues to fund our access to this incredible technology. All returning mentor Talent accounts were rolled over from last year. You should still be able to access these using your same username and password.

NEW MENTORS: You should receive an email from Torsh Talent today inviting you to set up your account. Please take time before Friday’s forum to do so. We will use at least part of our New Mentor Meeting to answer Talent questions.
ALL MENTORS: HERE is a video we recorded last year with New Teacher Center’s Marc Dembowski walking step-by-step through how to sign in, set up your account, and use Talent. New Mentors and anyone wanting a refresher on Talent, please take time BEFORE FORUM to review this video and familiarize yourself with Talent as we will not be spending time during forum on this topic. Also, HERE is a quick guide for Talent. Both the video and quick guide are also posted on the Forum Materials page of the website.
Reminder all returning mentor accounts open. New mentors will be enrolled this week. Watch video and get account set up.
PARTICIPATING TEACHER TALENT ACCOUNTS: All PT Talent accounts will be set up by next Friday, October 6th. Please work with you PT shortly after this date to get their accounts set up, practice recording, annotating, and sharing video, and making sure they are comfortable with the system. They will need to use Talent to film their lesson as part of their Fall Required Evidence.

2. Request for Mentor Resumes (Repeat-Action Required by THIS Friday 9/29): The state is requesting that all approved Induction programs such as ours collect and submit resumes for each of our mentor teachers. Please send a copy of your resume to me NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH. If you have already completed this task, thank you! If you have not yet done so, thank you for your swift attention to this important matter.

3. Mentor Guided Observation Update (New-Action May Be Required): When setting up a Mentor Guided Observation, please also alert the principal in the veteran teacher’s school that you and your PT will be coming to observe. Principals appreciate this heads up and it also lets them know they have a great teacher on site who is being visited! When you schedule the MGO, please also let the veteran teacher know you will be alerting his/her principal as well, so there are no surprises on that end either. Thanks, Jeannie, for the great idea.

4. Observation Expectation Clarifications (New): We had some questions at our last forum about the SC/SVNTP’s expectations about observing teachers. Our expectation is that you meet with each teacher an average of not less than an hour per week. We define “meeting” as contact time with the teacher. This can include one-to-one meetings, small group meetings, or observation. Our expectation is that at least once a month, this “meeting” should be, at least in part, an observation of the teacher at work in their classroom. Ideally, observation should occur at least twice each month as part of your “meeting” time. These observation may include use of video. However, at least twice each year as part of your formal inquiry cycles with teachers, you must film an observation.

5. New Resource Page (New): We have added a new Resource Page to the website. This page contains items we are often asked for from you--The 1-page of CSTP, the full Continuum of Teaching Practice,the CA Induction Standards etc. We will continue to add videos and other useful resources here over time. Let us know your thoughts about this page and if there is anything you would like to see us add!

6. Conscious Classroom Management in SV is Full (New-Action May Be Required): We have 91 participants registered for CCM in Silicon Valley and have now closed registration. Thanks to all of you for spreading the word about this great FREE learning experience! There are still a few spaces left in Santa Cruz on Saturday 10/7, if you have any folks still interested.

7. Combined Forum Change of Plans (New-Action Required): Our leadership team has reassessed our plan for the Equity forum. Given how busy everyone is right now, we feel that asking you to plan and present a session may be too much right now. So, we are going to take a different track for this year. Instead of our “Equity Symposium” being in small breakout groups around content of your devising, we are going to create small break out choice groups around a range of books related to equity in education. Each day will still culminate in time to practice coaching using the concepts you are reading/discussing in your groups through our SC/SVNTP tools. Our hope is this will give us all the time and space to learn from equity experts beyond our group and from each other and to practice our small group facilitation skills.
In order to help us plan, please access this Google Form in which you can: 1) Review this list of books, and 2) select your top three choices. Please complete this process by Monday 10/2.
We hope you are as excited as we are to both be bringing back book study and using it as a chance to create diverse entry points into equity for our community.

8. Mileage Update (New-Action Required): Thank you for your patience as we worked with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education (SCCOE) to further align our mileage policy. All mentors will continue to submit the Blue Mileage Claim Form and the Pink Reimbursement Form. Please visit the Office Forms tab of the website (coming shortly!) to locate the Blue and Pink forms as well as the Mileage Quick Guides. You will notice there are two guides, one for full release mentors and one for contract mentors.
The purpose of mileage reimbursements is to compensate mentors for mileage driven that is in addition to what was customarily driven before taking on the job of mentoring at multiple schools. Please direct any questions to Emily or Melissa after forum on Friday.
*New mentors and contract mentors, we will go over the mileage forms in detail AFTER forum.

9. Electronic Signatures (New-Action May Be Required): In order to complete your new mileage form electronically, you will need to include your signature. Simply typing your name will not be accepted by the business office. You can print and sign the document and then scan/email it OR you can sign it electronically. If you do not know how to sign a document electronically, below are links to two YouTube tutorials on how to do this using different operating systems.

Using Preview on a Mac (my favorite option)
Create and scan a signature to be added to any document
Create a digital signature in Word

10. Observable Practices Year 2 Link (New): The CSTP Summary for Year 2 contained the incorrect Observable Practice link (it takes you to year 1 instead of year 2 CSTP Essential Elements). The link has been fixed, however, since you have already downloaded the toolkit, HERE is the link, if you have need. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Chanmi!

11. Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Form Now Available (Repeat-Action May Be Required): This Friday at forum we will discuss Mentor Guided Observation. When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).

12. Personal Expenditure Reimbursement Form Now Available (Repeat-Action May Be Required): For those of you who use personal funds (up to $200) to cover costs related to your role (i.e. New Teacher Orientation or Colloquium), you may use the Personal Expenditure Reimbursement Form to request reimbursement from SC/SVNTP. Please note, this form must be accompanied by a sign in sheet for the event as well original itemized receipts. We appreciate your timely submission of these requests. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).

13. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Below are a few professional learning opportunities in which you, your colleagues, and/or your PTs might be interested:

14. New Teacher Center Webinar: Wellbeing In Stressful Times (New): Wendy Baron, former SC/SVNTP Director and New Teacher Center co-founder and current Chief Officer for Social and Emotional Well-Being is hosting this free two part webinar. Here is the description of session 1: “We know the beginning of the year is stressful for teachers, school leaders, and students. Stressors not only stem from school and the classroom with exams, lesson planning, classroom management and classmates, but there are also many issues that originate at home that can negatively impact student learning. In this session, we’ll explore the types of stress and their impact on educators and students. We’ll then also experience a variety of strategies to reduce classroom stress, enhance student wellbeing, and ultimately, help students improve their attention, engagement, and focus on learning.”

Session 1: Dealing with Stress: How to Support You and Your Students
October 5 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.)
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times
Session 2: The Gratitude Classroom: Creating an Environment for Student Success By Promoting Wellbeing
October 12 at 2:30pm PT/5:30pm ET (45 min.)
TO REGISTER: http://info.newteachercenter.org/wellbeing-in-stressful-times-2

For full session descriptions please view the registration pages, or the NTC Events page: newteachercenter.org/events

15. Free Online Professional Development Courses Through the Stanford Graduate School of Education this Fall (New): Starting October 3, Understanding Language at the Stanford Graduate School of Education will offer three online professional development courses sponsored by the Gates Foundation and S.H. Cowell Foundation to impact instructional practice, programs, and policy in order to create more meaningful learning experiences for language learners. There are two strands available for participants – one focused on instruction and the other on leadership. The courses on instruction are Constructive Classroom Conversations: Improving Student-to-Student Interactions and Integrating Language Development and Content Learning in Math: Focus on Reasoning. The leadership course is California Leadership for English Learner Success. To register or for more information, go to http://ell.stanford.edu/courses or download the informational flyer at http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Fall2017_UL_onlinePD_flyer_webquality_v2.pdf.

16. Rollout Events for the California History–Social Science Framework (New): Join local teachers, administrators, and teacher educators for the first in a series of programs designed to introduce California’s History-Social Science Framework. These interactive and engaging one-day conferences across California offer time to collaborate with other educators, as well as state, regional, and local History–Social Science leaders. Rollout events are scheduled throughout the state and are a collaborative project between the CDE, the SBE, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and in partnership with the California History–Social Science Project. For more information and registration, see the events flyer or go the CDE Rollout Activities Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

17. 1440 Multiversity Conference on The Art and Science of Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life (New): 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured, including Marc Brackett from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Siegel, founder of Mindsight Institute, and New Teacher Center’s own Ellen Moir and Wendy Baron. Ellen will be facilitating a panel with teachers, leaders, and students from East Side Union High School District, which has been integrating SEL and health and wellness initiatives, and is very focused on culturally responsive instruction to ensure the highest levels of academic achievement for all students.

The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students. With Nadine Burke Harris, MD, we’ll explore the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) on physical and mental health. Linda Graham, MFT will talk about resilience and the brain, Pam Siegel, from the Center for Courage and Renewal will lead us in conversation about strengthening the adult community in schools, and Mike Kuczala will teach us how to create the kinesthetic classroom to increase student engagement, motivation, and healthy bodies. Ashanti Branch, who works with youth in Oakland, will bring his students for a video discussion of “The Mask We Live in” and Mark Wilding and Vivian Elliott from Passage Works will help educators learn about integrating mindfulness, cultural responsiveness, and social and emotional learning in the classroom. Sherrie Raven, representing CASEL, will support districts in developing a systems approach to SEL, and Sheila Walker, PhD from Johns Hopkins will help us leverage neuroscience to help our children thrive. These are just some of the offerings! In addition, participants will have opportunities to participate in early morning and late afternoon yoga, qigong, and meditation classes, as well as enjoy the incredibly beautiful 1440 Multiversity campus!

For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

9.20.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather this week as we approach the first day of Fall. The change in weather provides us with a great chance to get outside and breathe the fresh air which is, of course, good for our bodies, brains, and emotions. Think about how you might be able to take your PTs out with you over the next few days--have a walking meeting or sit on a bench outside and talk--as these opportunities to move and breathe are critical to their well-being right now as well. What are your strategies for changing up your routines and PT routines that promote continued well-being during the long stretch until Thanksgiving Break?

Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing you this Friday, 9/22/17 for forum. We will meet from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. Please plan to come early to munch, mingle, and get set for the day so we can start promptly at 9am. If you know you will be absent, please let us know in advance. Thanks.

Our topic for this Friday is observation. We will tackle Mentor Guided Observations, Classroom Observations, and Effective Post-Observation Conferences. Our connector will follow up on our goal setting work we discussed during last forum.

Please bring the following items to forum:

An in-progress Individual Learning Plan (ILP) from one of your PTs to share for our Problem Pose/Problem Solve connector
Headphones for watching practice videos
Your binder for new tools/conversation guides

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Debra-Gail Martin- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
WE NEED A VOLUNTEER!- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Sarah Yatesr-Fruit
WE NEED A VOLUNTEER!- Veggies
Raquel Topete- Bread and Spread
Eleni Malkos -Dessert

Want to volunteer for the snacks not yet taken this week? Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Form Now Available (New-Action May Be Required): This Friday at forum we will discuss Mentor Guided Observation. When we take teachers out to view veteran teachers and a substitute teacher is required to do so, the SC/SVNTP will reimburse the district/school for the cost of the substitute (NOTE: Each teacher gets EITHER one ½ day or 1 full day per year of reimbursement from SC/SVNTP). In order to begin that process, mentors should complete the top part of the Mentor Guided Observation Substitute Reimbursement Request Form and submit it along with the substitute request to the district/school. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).

2. Personal Expenditure Reimbursement Form Now Available (New-Action May Be Required): For those of you who use personal funds (up to $200) to cover costs related to your role (i.e. New Teacher Orientation or Colloquium), you may use the Personal Expenditure Reimbursement Form to request reimbursement from SC/SVNTP. Please note, this form must be accompanied by a sign in sheet for the event as well original itemized receipts. We appreciate your timely submission of these requests. This form will also be located on the new Office Forms page of our website (coming soon!).

3. Request for Mentor Resumes (New-Action Required by Friday 9/29): The state is requesting that all approved Induction programs such as ours collect and submit resumes for each of our mentor teachers. Please send a copy of your resume to me NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH. Thank you for your swift attention to this important matter.

4. PT1 Folder Issue (New-Action May Be Required): If you and a PT downloaded the PT1 folder from the website between Friday at 3:30 and Monday at 5:30am, you may need to download the folder again as it was missing the mid-year folder and RE. We apologize for this error.

5. Combined Forum Facilitators Requested (New-Action May Be Required): Our first combined equity forum will be held Friday, October 20th from 8:30-3pm at the Santa Cruz COE. This year, we plan to try something a bit different and need your help! New mentors will attend an “intro to coaching for equity session” while returning mentors will participate in an “equity symposium”. Our idea is to create a series of concurrent learning sessions in the morning followed by strategic coaching practice in the afternoon. We know many of you have deep expertise in areas related to educational equity that would greatly benefit our community (i.e. Race, Gender, English Learners, students from Special Populations, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, Trauma Informed Instruction, etc). We are seeking proposals from you (alone or in small groups) who might be interested in working with us to plan and facilitate these sessions. If interested, please send Emily a message stating your topic and any others who might present with you. This is a great opportunity to share your knowledge, practice your facilitation skills, and grow as a leader! We look forward to your great ideas.

6. October Conscious Classroom Management Registration Now Open (Repeat- Action May Be Required): Grace Dearborn will be back for two dates in October to present a second round of Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development for Participating Teachers and Mentors in our program. NOTE: This is the SAME content as the August sessions, so mentors/teachers who have already attended will not want to register for this session. This flyer includes more information about dates and locations as well as the registration links. Please share this information and the flyer with your teachers and register soon as we anticipate these sessions will fill up quickly. We look forward to seeing you and your teachers at these events in October!

7. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications Now Available (Update): Teachers who are both “experienced” and “exceptional” (see Teacher page of website for definitions) may be eligible to complete a 1-year Early Completion Option (ECO) Induction program. Potential ECO candidates apply for the program in October of their first year and provide evidence of their “experience” and “exceptionality”. We have updated our ECO program this year to match the new California Induction Standards, and wanted to alert you to the new process as you may be fielding questions from teachers about this option. Here are the key points to know/share (program updates/changes are in red):

Applications for the program are available now and are due November 3rd.
This is not a shortcut option. It still requires rigorous work with your mentor each week as well as independent work between mentor meetings over the course of one year.
There is no guarantee you will be accepted simply because you have taught for two or more years. You must apply for the program, submit a portfolio of evidence and references that will be checked (no reference letters required).
Potential ECO candidates need to complete a full inquiry cycle in the Fall (the IAP option, NOT the ASW option on the RE).
Decisions will be made in December following the Mid-Year Assessment days. Leadership will review the Mid-Year Required Evidence submission of ECO candidates as part of the decision-making process.
If accepted, ECO teachers will complete a different ECO End-of-Year RE and, if successful, will exit the program at the end of their first year.

More information on the ECO is located on the Teacher page of the website as well as in the Participating Teacher Handbook. If you or your teachers have any questions about this option, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. Your task at this moment to is to learn more about your teachers and note if there are any whose experience and practice you feel would make them ideal candidates for this program.

8. Mileage (Repeat): We are still waiting for clarity from the Santa Cruz COE about their new mileage policy. Please continue to record your mileage on the note taking guide for now, and do not worry about submitting anything at the end of August. Stay tuned for more updates in future weekly messages.

9. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

Below are a few professional learning opportunities that may be of interest to you and/or your PTs:

10. Free Online Professional Development Courses Through the Stanford Graduate School of Education this Fall (New): Starting October 3, Understanding Language at the Stanford Graduate School of Education will offer three online professional development courses sponsored by the Gates Foundation and S.H. Cowell Foundation to impact instructional practice, programs, and policy in order to create more meaningful learning experiences for language learners. There are two strands available for participants – one focused on instruction and the other on leadership. The courses on instruction are Constructive Classroom Conversations: Improving Student-to-Student Interactions and Integrating Language Development and Content Learning in Math: Focus on Reasoning. The leadership course is California Leadership for English Learner Success. To register or for more information, go to http://ell.stanford.edu/courses or download the informational flyer at http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Fall2017_UL_onlinePD_flyer_webquality_v2.pdf.

11. Rollout Events for the California History–Social Science Framework (New): Join local teachers, administrators, and teacher educators for the first in a series of programs designed to introduce California’s History-Social Science Framework. These interactive and engaging one-day conferences across California offer time to collaborate with other educators, as well as state, regional, and local History–Social Science leaders. Rollout events are scheduled throughout the state and are a collaborative project between the CDE, the SBE, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, and in partnership with the California History–Social Science Project. For more information and registration, see the events flyer or go the CDE Rollout Activities Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/hssrolloutevents2017.asp.

12. 1440 Multiversity Conference on The Art and Science of Connecting Mind, Body, and Emotions for Student Success in School and Life (New): 1440 Multiversity is a new learning center in Scotts Valley, CA which will host this conference featuring renowned leaders in the field of SEL, Neuroscience, health, and education will be featured, including Marc Brackett from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Siegel, founder of Mindsight Institute, and New Teacher Center’s own Ellen Moir and Wendy Baron. Ellen will be facilitating a panel with teachers, leaders, and students from East Side Union High School District, which has been integrating SEL and health and wellness initiatives, and is very focused on culturally responsive instruction to ensure the highest levels of academic achievement for all students.

The goal of the conference is to raise awareness and learn strategies to support cognitive, emotional, social, and physical health and wellness of students. With Nadine Burke Harris, MD, we’ll explore the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) on physical and mental health. Linda Graham, MFT will talk about resilience and the brain, Pam Siegel, from the Center for Courage and Renewal will lead us in conversation about strengthening the adult community in schools, and Mike Kuczala will teach us how to create the kinesthetic classroom to increase student engagement, motivation, and healthy bodies. Ashanti Branch, who works with youth in Oakland, will bring his students for a video discussion of “The Mask We Live in” and Mark Wilding and Vivian Elliott from Passage Works will help educators learn about integrating mindfulness, cultural responsiveness, and social and emotional learning in the classroom. Sherrie Raven, representing CASEL, will support districts in developing a systems approach to SEL, and Sheila Walker, PhD from Johns Hopkins will help us leverage neuroscience to help our children thrive. These are just some of the offerings! In addition, participants will have opportunities to participate in early morning and late afternoon yoga, qigong, and meditation classes, as well as enjoy the incredibly beautiful 1440 Multiversity campus! Commuter rates are available for those not planning to stay on campus.

For more information and to register for the conference, please follow this link: https://1440.org/program/art-science-connecting-mind-body-emotion-student-success-conference/

9.14.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying your week. This is the time of year when our work with teachers begins to pick up. We are past the beginning of the year, and all of its enthusiasm and are settling into the deeper work of mentoring. We are moving from the work of getting to know each other and our context and into the instructional work of setting goals and planning.

As we will not see each other this week, I thought I would share two resources that are resonating with me at this time of year.

Ellen Moir’s Phases of First Year Teaching. An oldie, but a goodie, I’d offer this article at this time when teachers (and we) are moving into the second (or maybe the third?) phase of this continuum. What do you notice about your teacher's’ current level of will for the work? What can you do to bolster their enthusiasm now to avoid burnout and bolster optimism?
Are You Coaching Heavy or Light? We read a version of this powerful piece by Joellen Killion in our last Mentor Academy, and I find it particularly resonant now as we move into this new phase. As you read, think about how you are coaching heavy with your teachers in ways that moves their skill and thinking incrementally and steadily forward toward a schema of effective teaching principles and practices.

If one of these resonates with you, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Next Friday’s Forum: I am looking forward to seeing all of you next Friday when we will tackle the topic of observation together. For our connector, we are asking you to bring an Individual Learning Plan from one of your teachers (at whatever stage of development!) to share with a partner or two.

Below are important announcements that require your attention:

1. Steering Committee Update (New): A number of you expressed interest in learning about the goings on at our quarterly Steering Committee meetings, so I thought I would take a moment here to update you. On Wednesday we held our first meeting of the year. District leaders and lead mentors attended. Topics included: Our new mission statement and core values (similar to our module in forum), moving from Assessment of Completion to Progress Towards Mastery (looking at our assessment day process-we will review this idea in an upcoming forum as well), and Deepening partnerships with Site Administrators. The materials for this session and all future Steering Committee meetings can be found under the Administrator tab of the website on the SV Steering Committee page. Our next meeting will be on December Please let your lead mentor or I know if you have any questions.

2. Early Completion Option (ECO) Applications Now Available (Update-Action May Be Required): If you have a teacher that is eligible and interested in applying, please have them contact me. Applications are due Friday, November 3rd.
Below are a few reminders about the ECO Program:
Teachers who are both “experienced” and “exceptional” (see Teacher page of website for definitions) may be eligible to complete a 1-year Early Completion Option (ECO) Induction program. Potential ECO candidates apply for the program in October of their first year and provide evidence of their “experience” and “exceptionality”. We have updated our ECO program this year to match the new California Induction Standards, and wanted to alert you to the new process as you may be fielding questions from teachers about this option. Here are the key points to know/share (program updates/changes are in red):

Applications for the program will be available in September and are due in October (exact date TBD).
This is not a shortcut option. It still requires rigorous work with your mentor each week as well as independent work between mentor meetings over the course of one year.
There is no guarantee you will be accepted simply because you have taught for two or more years. You must apply for the program, submit a portfolio of evidence and references that will be checked (no reference letters required).
Potential ECO candidates need to complete a full inquiry cycle in the Fall (the IAP option, NOT the ASW option on the RE).
Decisions will be made in December following the Mid-Year Assessment days. Leadership will review the Mid-Year Required Evidence submission of ECO candidates as part of the decision-making process.
If accepted, ECO teachers will complete a different ECO End-of-Year RE and, if successful, will exit the program at the end of their first year.

More information on the ECO is located on the Teacher page of the website as well as in the Participating Teacher Handbook. If you or your teachers have any questions about this option, please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.

3. October Conscious Classroom Management Registration Now Open (Repeat- Action May Be Required): Grace Dearborn will be back for two dates in October to present a second round of Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development for Participating Teachers and Mentors in our program. NOTE: This is the SAME content as the August sessions, so mentors/teachers who have already attended will not want to register for this session. This flyer includes more information about dates and locations as well as the registration links. Please share this information and the flyer with your teachers and register soon as we anticipate these sessions will fill up quickly. We look forward to seeing you and your teachers at these events in October!

4. Mileage (Update-Action May Be Required): We are still waiting for clarity from the Santa Cruz COE about their new mileage policy. Please continue to record your mileage on the note taking guide for now, and do not worry about submitting anything at the end of August.
In preparation for the new policy, the Business Office is asking that you include a map detailing the most direct driving routes between your sites. Make sure sites are indicated using specific addresses. In the past, mentors have plugged in their routes to Google Maps, printed out the maps, and submitted them with their first mileage claim. You may also submit a link to Injin detailing the routes. If available, please also include your district’s mileage schedule/mileage chart. It is not the intent that you submit a separate map for each site that you visit, or that you submit a map for each possible combination of travel routes. The purpose of the maps is to satisfy any internal or external audits and be able to verify that the mileage you claim matches your “normal” daily travel.
Please let leadership or Injin (ijun@santacruzcoe.org) know what questions you have and if you would like support.

5. SC/SVNTP Toolkit (Reminder): All of our teachers should have their toolkits. If you are stuck and or would like additional support, please let leaderships know how we can support you.

6. Participating Teacher Year 2 (PT2) and Year 3 (PT3) Launch (Reminder - Action May Be Required): Mentors should be viewing Launch with their Year 2 teachers. Please collaborate with one another in setting up opportunities for your teachers to come together to view and participate in Launch. Remember, the 17-18 Orientation and Launch drop down tab on our website houses a variety of resources that may support you with this process. It is our goal to have completed Launch with ALL PT2s and PT3s before September 25th.

7. Forum Support Needed (Reminder- Action May Be Required): At a previous forum, we introduced the idea of having more mentor voices in planning and delivery of our forums. This is a great way to share your knowledge and expertise as well as to grow your professional development skills. There are many ways to help from leading a connector or closing to supporting with the development/facilitation of a module. Interested in helping? Sign up HERE. We look forward to working with you this year.

8. San Jose Area Writing Project Professional Learning Opportunity (New): Please see the message below from former Mountain View-Whisman Mentor, Jane Gilmore:
I am still on leave from Mountain View Whisman, but have continued to teach with the San Jose Area Writing Project and want to share an exciting PD opportunity for teachers that we have coming up in the fall and the spring. Last year SJAWP recrafted the Saturday Seminar program to create opportunities for teachers to engage in professional development around writing instruction while workshopping their writing alongside students.
Here is a breakdown of how a Saturday Seminar works for participating teachers:

Meet with an instructional coach & model teacher who specializes in writing instruction to pre-conference around lesson objectives & go over the plan for the day
Observe/participate in a Saturday Seminar lesson led by the model teacher (there are real life students in the lesson and it is a workshop model where teachers write alongside students)
Debrief with the model teacher to discuss instructional moves
Reflect and plan with the instructional coach how learnings from the day can be applied to teachers' own classrooms
Write a reflection to receive semester units (click here for a breakdown of the many ways teachers can choose to earn semester credits for participating).

The workshops are broken down into lessons for grades K-2, 3-5, middle school, and high school. The Saturday Seminars for the fall will be held on September 9th, September 30th, October 21st, and November 4th. I will be leading the middle school workshop on Oct. 21. Please click here to see a complete list of topics by grade level and for registration information.

9.7.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I have some great news to share with you today. Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies voted to reinstate Title II funding in the federal budget at a level of $2.1 billion. This is wonderful news for students and communities across the country. Many of our schools here in Silicon Valley use a portion of Title II to pay for mentoring and coaching. I am thrilled that Congress has seen the value in providing ongoing learning opportunities to all teachers as a vehicle for improving learning outcomes for all students. Thank you to those of you who made calls, sent messages, and participated in days of action with New Teacher Center and other education professional organizations. Let’s keep fighting for those things we know are critical to the well being of our schools, teachers, students, and communities. Our voices do make a difference as this decision proves.

Jamie and I look forward to seeing all of you on Friday from 9-12:30 at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension for our next forum. Topics will include:

Problem Pose/Problem Solve: Knowing Students, School and Community Tools
Goal Setting- Developing Individual Induction Plans
Building Partnerships With Site Administrators
Planning for Application Time

Electronic copies of all items will also be posted on the SV Forum Materials page of the website on Thursday.

After Forum Meetings:

New Mentors: We will have a new mentor meeting following forum from 12:45-1:15. This is a chance to get additional support, deeper content, and your question answered in a small group setting. Please make every effort to stay.
Makeup Foundations in Instructional Mentoring: If you were not able to attend/not hired yet at the time of this Mentor Academy, Jamie has been in contact with you about staying after forum Friday to attend this mandatory session.

Please bring the following items to forum:

A fully charged internet ready device
Headphones (We will have some self-paced learning time that includes videos you can watch)
A Knowing Students, School, and Community tool you have started with a teacher or have questions about to discuss with other mentors.

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Susan McDonald- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Raquel Topete- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Sarah Gerlinger-Fruit
Leo DeMarco- Veggies
Emily Wilson- Bread and Spread
Maureen Chen- Dessert

Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. October Conscious Classroom Management Registration Now Open (Repeat- Action May Be Required): Grace Dearborn will be back for two dates in October to present a second round of Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development for Participating Teachers and Mentors in our program. NOTE: This is the SAME content as the August sessions, so mentors/teachers who have already attended will not want to register for this session. This flyer includes more information about dates and locations as well as the registration links. Please share this information and the flyer with your teachers and register soon as we anticipate these sessions will fill up quickly. We look forward to seeing you and your teachers at these events in October!

2. Participating Teacher Year 2 (PT2) and Year 3 (PT3) Launch (Reminder - Action May Be Required): Mentors should be viewing Launch with their Year 2 teachers. Please collaborate with one another in setting up opportunities for your teachers to come together to view and participate in Launch. Remember, the 17-18 Orientation and Launch drop down tab on our website houses a variety of resources that may support you with this process. It is our goal to have completed Launch with ALL PT2s and PT3s before September 25th.

3. Early Completion Option (ECO) (Reminder): Teachers who are both “experienced” and “exceptional” (see Teacher page of website for definitions) may be eligible to complete a 1-year Early Completion Option (ECO) Induction program. Potential ECO candidates apply for the program in October of their first year and provide evidence of their “experience” and “exceptionality”. We have updated our ECO program this year to match the new California Induction Standards, and wanted to alert you to the new process as you may be fielding questions from teachers about this option. Here are the key points to know/share (program updates/changes are in red):

Applications for the program will be available in September and are due in October (exact date TBD).
This is not a shortcut option. It still requires rigorous work with your mentor each week as well as independent work between mentor meetings over the course of one year.
There is no guarantee you will be accepted simply because you have taught for two or more years. You must apply for the program, submit a portfolio of evidence and references that will be checked (no reference letters required).
Potential ECO candidates need to complete a full inquiry cycle in the Fall (the IAP option, NOT the ASW option on the RE).
Decisions will be made in December following the Mid-Year Assessment days. Leadership will review the Mid-Year Required Evidence submission of ECO candidates as part of the decision-making process.
If accepted, ECO teachers will complete a different ECO End-of-Year RE and, if successful, will exit the program at the end of their first year.

Meet with an instructional coach & model teacher who specializes in writing instruction to pre-conference around lesson objectives & go over the plan for the day
Observe/participate in a Saturday Seminar lesson led by the model teacher (there are real life students in the lesson and it is a workshop model where teachers write alongside students)
Debrief with the model teacher to discuss instructional moves
Reflect and plan with the instructional coach how learnings from the day can be applied to teachers' own classrooms
Write a reflection to receive semester units (click here for a breakdown of the many ways teachers can choose to earn semester credits for participating).

8.31.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

I wanted to start this week with a message from Melissa Roberts, the SC/SVNTP Director:
“This afternoon the leadership team had the pleasure of working and learning with our new mentors and instructional coaches at our last Academy, Inquiry Into Practice. We had the opportunity to read Joellen Killion’s article Reprising coaching heavy and coaching light where she reminds us of the importance in staying focused on students. She states:
Coaching heavy does not mean being directive, demanding, or authoritative. Heavy means substantive, weighty, valued. It means robustly engaging in the work of coaching with a laser-like focus on improving student learning. Coaching light is more focused on the teaching rather than learning. It emphasizes the sense of being supported rather than the sense of producing results.
What does mentoring with a “laser-like focus on improving student learning” look like and sound like in your work with teachers? How might coaching heavy contribute to a trusting relationship between you and your teachers? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!” ~Melissa

This week, there is NO forum. We will reconvene next week (Friday, 9/8). Our topic will be: Leaders set goals. We will review the process for developing Individual Learning Plans with teachers and consulting with Site Administrators in their creation.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. Have you read/signed your Mentor Agreements?(Repeat-Action May Be Required) Please make sure you take care of this TODAY using the link above. Otherwise, you will receive an email from me directly tomorrow asking you to complete this task.

2. Mileage (Update-May Be Required) The Santa Cruz COE Business Office is asking that you include a map detailing the most direct driving routes between your sites. Make sure sites are indicated using specific addresses. In the past, mentors have plugged in their routes to Google Maps, printed out the maps, and submitted them with their first mileage claim. If available, please also include your district’s mileage schedule/mileage chart. Let Injin know what questions you have and if you would like support. Her email address is: ijun@santacruzcoe.org

We are still waiting for clarity from the Santa Cruz COE about their new mileage policy. Please continue to record your mileage on the note taking guide for now, and do not worry about submitting anything at the end of August. Stay tuned for more updates in future weekly messages.
At our September 8th forum, we hope to address the new electronic forms and the policy as a whole group and provide support as needed.

3. Shadowing (New-Action May Be Action Required) Jamie and I are excited to get out in the field and look forward to shadowing you! Shadowing by leadership is a wonderful opportunity to have another non-evaluative and supportive set of eyes on your practice or to have a thought partner around your work. It is always a positive experience for everyone involved. New mentors, Jamie and I will shadow each of you this year (details about this to come). We also want to make sure that each of you, regardless of your years of experience, have the opportunity to be shadowed by us as well.. Please reach out to either Jamie or myself if you are interested in being shadowed.

4. Contract Mentor Caseload Changes (New-Action May Be Required) You should have already made contact with all of your teachers. If you have not been able to connect with a teacher, please let me know immediately so Jamie and I are able to support you. Also, if there any changes to the information we have--a teacher with a different name or at a different school, going out on leave, not eligible for Induction, etc. Please let Emily and Patti know ASAP. THANK YOU!

5. October Conscious Classroom Management Registration Now Open (Repeat- Action May Be Required) Grace Dearborn will be back for two dates in October to present a second round of Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development for Participating Teachers and Mentors in our program. NOTE: This is the SAME content as the August sessions, so mentors/teachers who have already attended will not want to register for this session. This flyer includes more information about dates and locations as well as the registration links. Please share this information and the flyer with your teachers and register soon as we anticipate these sessions will fill up quickly. We look forward to seeing you and your teachers at these events in October!

6. Participating Teacher Orientation/Launch Materials (Repeat-Action May Be Required) LEAD MENTORS, all materials you need for Orientation have been loaded to our website. These materials are located under the SV Mentor Tab, under the drop down tab called 17-18 PT Orientation Materials. The PT2 Launch video and materials are now ready and posted on the website as well. If you are a new mentor in your district and don’t have an experienced lead mentor, please contact Jamie Brown for support.

Important!
- Please remember to have all of your PTs sign in to verify their attendance.
- Be sure to make a copy of this sign in sheet and turn it into Jamie Brown.
- For PT Orientation, SC/SVNTP will reimburse up to $5 per PT for snacks. Visit our SV Mentor page soon to access the reimbursement forms.

7. Early Completion Option (ECO) (Update-PLEASE READ. I am getting a number of emails about ECOs. PLEASE read the information below as as well as on the website before sending questions.)
Teachers who are both “experienced” and “exceptional” (see Teacher page of website for definitions) may be eligible to complete a 1-year Early Completion Option (ECO) Induction program. Potential ECO candidates apply for the program in October of their first year and provide evidence of their “experience” and “exceptionality”. We have updated our ECO program this year to match the new California Induction Standards, and wanted to alert you to the new process as you may be fielding questions from teachers about this option. Here are the key points to know/share (program updates/changes are in red):

Applications for the program will be available in September and are due in October (exact date TBD).
This is not a shortcut option. It still requires rigorous work with your mentor each week as well as independent work between mentor meetings over the course of one year.
There is no guarantee you will be accepted simply because you have taught for two or more years. You must apply for the program, submit a portfolio of evidence and references that will be checked (no reference letters required).
Potential ECO candidates need to complete a full inquiry cycle in the Fall (the IAP option, NOT the ASW option on the RE).
Decisions will be made in December following the Mid-Year Assessment days. Leadership will review the Mid-Year Required Evidence submission of ECO candidates as part of the decision-making process.
If accepted, ECO teachers will complete a different ECO End-of-Year RE and, if successful, will exit the program at the end of their first year.

8.23.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

My kids started school today--one as a third grader and one as a kindergartener. They were both so nervous and excited to meet their new teachers and see what this new school year would bring. As a parent, I watched with joy and nerves as they entered their classrooms for the first time and were greeted by their teachers. Both teachers reached out immediately to hug them, greet them by name, and show them around, which made my kids (and me) visibly relax.

The beginning of the year is such a critical time for us, our teachers, and their families. Teacher first moves set the tone for the kind of environment they create in our classrooms and the way students and the level of trust our parents/guardians feel in their teachers. Those first reassuring moves made by my kid’s teachers today allowed me to leave the campus this morning reassured that my kids would be safe and happy. As you work with your teachers during these critical first days of school, please continue to help them focus on these important first moves and the dramatic and lasting impact they have.

At forum on Friday (August 25th from 9am-12:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension) we will be unpacking and considering the first set of tools listed on the Required Evidence (RE)- Knowing Students, School, and Community. Thank you in advance to the mentors who have agreed to help us consider the entry points these tools create and the many authentic ways we can use them to support teachers in having a successful start to the year.
Our agenda will be as follows:

Connector: Effective Environment G-O-G-O
Choice group rotations: Knowing Students, School and Community Tools (Thank you Steve, Gregg, Melissa, Sarah G., Krisan, Raquel, and Shana for leading breakout sessions!)
Downloading the SC/SVNTP Toolkits
Differentiated support with the Toolkits and Google Drive

Please bring the following items with you to forum:

A fully charged internet-ready device
Headphones

We will provide paper copies of most items you will need this week. Electronic copies of all items will also be posted on the SV Forum Materials page of the website by Thursday.

Going to be absent? Please contact Emily and Jamie in advance to let us know. Thank you for helping us to honor this important norm.

Thank you also to those of you who have signed up to bring snack this week:

Susan McDonald- Protein (Eggs, Nuts)
Vern Taylor- Protein (Meat, Cheese)
Maureen Chen-Fruit
Leo DeMarco- Veggies
Kara Tham- Bread and Spread
Emily Wilson- Dessert

Not sure when/if you have signed up? Here is the link to the SV Forum Treat Sign Up Sheet.

Jamie and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. Have you read/signed your Mentor Agreements?

2. October Conscious Classroom Management Registration Now Open (New-Action May Be Required): Grace Dearborn will be back for two dates in October to present a second round of Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development for Participating Teachers and Mentors in our program. NOTE: This is the SAME content as the August sessions, so mentors/teachers who have already attended will not want to register for this session. This flyer includes more information about dates and locations as well as the registration links. Please share this information and the flyer with your teachers and register soon as we anticipate these sessions will fill up quickly. We look forward to seeing you and your teachers at these events in October!

3. Participating Teacher Orientation/Launch Materials (Repeat-Action May Be Required): LEAD MENTORS, all materials you need for Orientation have been loaded to our website. These materials are located under the SV Mentor Tab, under the drop down tab called 17-18 PT Orientation Materials. The PT2 Launch video and materials are now ready and posted on the website as well. If you are a new mentor in your district and don’t have an experienced lead mentor, please contact Jamie Brown for support.

Important!
- Please remember to have all of your PTs sign in to verify their attendance.
- Be sure to make a copy of this sign in sheet and turn it into Jamie Brown.
- For PT Orientation, SC/SVNTP will reimburse up to $5 per PT for snacks. Visit our SV Mentor page soon to access the reimbursement forms.

4. Early Completion Option (ECO) (New): Teachers who are both “experienced” and “exceptional” (see Teacher page of website for definitions) may be eligible to complete a 1-year Early Completion Option (ECO) Induction program. Potential ECO candidates apply for the program in October of their first year and provide evidence of their “experience” and “exceptionality”. We have updated our ECO program this year to match the new California Induction Standards, and wanted to alert you to the new process as you may be fielding questions from teachers about this option. Here are the key points to know/share (program updates/changes are in red):

Applications for the program will be available in September and are due in October (exact date TBD).
This is not a shortcut option. It still requires rigorous work with your mentor each week as well as independent work between mentor meetings over the course of one year.
There is no guarantee you will be accepted simply because you have taught for two or more years. You must apply for the program, submit a portfolio of evidence and references that will be checked (no reference letters required).
Potential ECO candidates need to complete a full inquiry cycle in the Fall (the IAP option, NOT the ASW option on the RE).
Decisions will be made in December following the Mid-Year Assessment days. Leadership will review the Mid-Year Required Evidence submission of ECO candidates as part of the decision-making process.
If accepted, ECO teachers will complete a different ECO End-of-Year RE and, if successful, will exit the program at the end of their first year.

The Professional Learning Leader Certification focuses on those who provide professional development to educators across all curricular areas. It is designed for C & I Leaders, Coaches, & TOSA's. Click here for more details.

The Certification for the Administrator course focuses on the Site, District, & Regional administrator (relevant to both current & "aspiring" leaders). Click here for more details.

8.16.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

One of the greatest things about the teaching profession is that each year we have the chance to start again, to try new things, and to reinvent ourselves. It is a time of anticipation, enthusiasm, and possibilities. What a gift a new school year is!

As this new year begins, it is particularly important for us to support teachers in (re)thinking how to create safe spaces for all kids, for all families. The events in Charlottesville this past weekend, among others, means that we all have difficult topics we need to address: issues of race, hate, and fear. As Melissa Roberts, our Santa Cruz Director, wrote, “As educators we have the opportunity, and responsibility to insist on a collected, fierce focus, on ensuring all students and families feel safe and making the time through the year to learn what that looks like and sounds like for every student that we get to work with.” As former President Obama tweeted, quoting Nelson Mandela, "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

Thank you for being brave in your conversations and continue to lead with grace and love.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. First Forum this Friday! (Update Required): Jamie, Melissa, Marvilyn, InJin and I are looking forward to seeing all of you together for the first time this year on Friday. It’s been too long since we have all been together. We will meet from 9am-2:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. NOTE THE NEW START TIME AND EXTENDED TIME FOR OUR FIRST FORUM. All items for this forum are now posted on the website on the SV Mentor Forum page.
Please bring:

Fully charged laptop
Items you signed up HERE to bring for our potluck
Orientation/launch sign up sheets (if applicable)

As always, attendance at all forums is required. If, on a rare occasion you know you cannot attend, it is expected that you will email Jamie and Emily in advance. Thank you.

2. Participating Teacher Orientation/Launch Materials (Update-Action May Be Required): LEAD MENTORS, all materials you need for Orientation have been loaded to our website. These materials are located under the SV Mentor Tab, under the drop down tab called 17-18 PT Orientation Materials. The PT2 Launch video and materials are now ready and posted on the website as well. If you are a new mentor in your district and don’t have an experienced lead mentor, please contact Jamie Brown for support. Please remember to have all of your PTs sign in to verify their attendance. Be sure to make a copy of this sign in sheet and turn it into Jamie Brown. For PT Orientation, SC/SVNTP will reimburse up to $5 per PT for snacks. Visit our SV Mentor page soon to access the reimbursement forms.

3. SV Forum Snacks (Repeat-Action May Be Required): As we did last year, we would like to invite the mentor community to sign up for our snack potluck for Friday forums. We ask that you sign up for 2 snacks for the year. If you have not yet done so, please click HERE to access the google spreadsheet.

4. Conscious Classroom Management (Update): Last Saturday Rick Smith presented at the East Side Union High School District office to over 70 teachers. Thank you to East Side for your willingness to host us for this session. We appreciate your partnership! For those mentors that participated in this learning, SC/SVNPT has purchased Conscious Classroom Management for you. We had hoped to have the books ready for you this week, but are still awaiting their delivery. As soon as they arrive, we will let you know. Teachers and mentors will have a second opportunity to attend Conscious Classroom Management in October. A flyer with dates, locations, and registration information will be available shortly.

5. Clear Credential Recommendations (Reminder): InJin has emailed all of the teachers who completed Induction last year reminding them to make sure they have completed the application process. If you receive any questions from former Participating Teachers (PTs) regarding their clear credential, please direct them to contact InJin. ijun@santacruzcoe.org
831-466-5840

6. Leading Edge Certification (New): Leading Edge is a national program in educational technology and curriculum innovation. These courses begin with a face-to-face meeting. Participants then work on a flexible schedule with instructors and colleagues online, completing the balance of certification requirements over the weeks ahead. TICAL, through the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, will offer a choice of two certification programs this Fall. If you are interested, explore the links below and or contact Tom Dunks at tdunks@santacruzcoe.org.

The Professional Learning Leader Certification focuses on those who provide professional development to educators across all curricular areas. It is designed for C & I Leaders, Coaches, & TOSA's. Click here for more details.

The Certification for the Administrator course focuses on the Site, District, & Regional administrator (relevant to both current & "aspiring" leaders). Click here for more details.

8.9.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Happy Wednesday! There is a lot going on this week in the project. Districts and charters continue to send us Induction Enrollment Forms for new teachers (thanks! Keep them coming!). New mentors joined us for New Mentor Orientation on Monday and we will meet again tomorrow for Foundations in Instructional Mentoring. Today, contract mentors met to discuss caseloads. Jamie and I are looking forward to seeing all of you together soon.

We have a two new mentors joining us this week! Please welcome:

Heather McMilin (East Side UHSD)
Jamie Valenzuela-Mumau (The Foundation for Hispanic Education)

We are excited to have you join our wonderful community.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. Forum Schedule Change (New): We appreciate the opportunity to continue meeting at UCSC-Silicon Valley extension. They have requested we move the start time for our forums to 9am to match their hours, and we have agreed to make this change. This means ALL forums will now begin a ½ hour later at 9am and will end a ½ hour later at 12:30pm. Please see the revised schedule HERE with updated times. We know that some of your schools/districts meet after forums and that this change may also impact those meeting times. I will reach out and let your Steering Committee Representatives know about this time change as well.

2. Participating Teacher Orientation/Launch Materials (Update-Action May Be Required): LEAD MENTORS, all materials you need for Orientation have been loaded to our website. These materials are located under the SV Mentor Tab, under the drop down tab called 17-18 PT Orientation Materials. The materials for PT 2 Launch are not quite ready yet. Stay tuned for more on this soon. If you are a new mentor in your district and don’t have an experienced lead mentor, please contact Jamie Brown for support. Please remember to have all of your PTs sign in to verify their attendance. Be sure to make a copy of this sign in sheet and turn it into Jamie Brown. For PT Orientation, SC/SVNTP will reimburse up to $5 per PT for snacks. Visit our SV Mentor page soon to access the reimbursement forms.

3. Website Password Changed (Repeat): Our website has some pages that are password protected because the items on those pages are proprietary information or need to remain only within our community. As a reminder, our agreement is that we will not share the password to these pages with anyone outside our mentor group--this includes Participating Teachers. The new website password is: equity.

4. First Forum (Update): Our first forum of the year will be held on Friday, August 18th from 9am-2:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. NOTE THE NEW START TIME AND EXTENDED TIME FOR OUR FIRST FORUM. SC/SVNTP will provide coffee and pastries in the morning. As we will be together during lunch, we would like to host a Potluck Lunch to celebrate our first day together. Please sign up HERE to contribute to our luncheon. Thank you in advance for helping make this a special event!

5. SV Forum Snacks (New-Action Required): As we did last year, we would like to invite the mentor community to sign up for our snack potluck for Friday forums. We ask that you sign up for 2 snacks for the year. Please click HERE to access the google spreadsheet.

8.3.17 Weekly Message

Dear Mentor Colleagues,

Welcome back! I hope you have had (are still having) a lovely summer full of experiences that have filled your bucket and are bringing you back to work full of enthusiasm. Our team has been busily at work this summer getting things ready for your return. We miss you and look forward to seeing all of you very soon.

Please join me in welcoming the newest members of our mentor family:

Geinah Nierra (Alum Rock)
Primavera Hernandez (Alum Rock)
Debra-Gail Martin (Berryessa)
Tawiah Burroughs (Berryessa)
Jessica Lura (Bullis)
Saran Rencher (Rocketship)
Kara Morrison (Sunnyvale)
Mandy Lau (The Foundation for Hispanic Education)
Mary Frances Lynch (Union)
Genevieve Pacada (Union)
Carly Sturm (Union)

Also, we’d like to welcome back Stephanie Tyson! She will be working as a contract mentor this year.

We know many districts are still hiring and expect we will have a few more new colleagues in the coming weeks. If you know of anyone I have missed, please let me know ASAP.

For those of you who are new to our community, this will be the first of the weekly messages you will receive from me in 2017-18. Generally, they are sent out on Wednesday afternoons. It is important that you take time to review the information in these messages as they often contain important news, to dos, and other announcements crucial to your work. The weekly message also allows us to spend our time during forums dealing with the work of mentoring instead of on administrative tasks. Thanks in advance for reading carefully and taking care of any items in a timely manner.

Below are a few important announcements that require your attention:

1. Final Forum Calendar (New): Our forum and special events calendar for the year has been finalized and can be accessed HERE. Please make sure these dates are all on your calendar. As a reminder, all forums are required events. In the RARE instance that you cannot attend, the expectation is that you will email Jamie and I in advance to let us know of your absence, that you will review materials from the forum posted on our website and connect with your district colleagues about topics discussed, and that you will take care of any tasks missed during forum in a timely manner. Thanks in advance for helping us maintain this important norm.

2. Are You A Lead Mentor? (New-Response May Be Needed): Each district and charter designates a lead mentor each year to serve as a liaison and point of contact. Lead mentors are responsible for organizing orientation/launch at the beginning of the year and colloquium at the end of the year, joining their district representatives at our quarterly Steering Committee Meeting (see calendar for dates), among other tasks. If you are your district/charter’s Lead Mentor this year, please let Jamie and I know ASAP. Thanks in advance for taking on this important leadership role!

3. Participating Teacher Orientation/Launch Materials (New): LEAD MENTORS, all materials you need for Orientation have been loaded to our website. These materials are located under the SV Mentor Tab, under the drop down tab called 17-18 PT Orientation Materials. The materials for PT 2 Launch are not quite ready yet. Stay tuned for more on this soon.

4. Website Password Changed (New): Our website has some pages that are password protected because the items on those pages are proprietary information or need to remain only within our community. As a reminder, our agreement is that we will not share the password to these pages with anyone outside our mentor group--this includes Participating Teachers. The new website password is: equity.

5. New Mentor Academy Registration Needed ASAP! (Repeat-Action May Be Needed): New Mentors, if you have not yet done so, it is critical that you register for our New Mentor Academy series. New Mentor Orientation (Day 1 of the Academy series) is THIS MONDAY at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. HERE is the link to register.

6. Conscious Classroom Management Updates (New-Action May Be Needed): Our August 12th Conscious Classroom Management Professional Development with Rick Smith is almost full, but there is still time to register for both mentors and participating teachers enrolled in SC/SVNTP for 2017-18! As a reminder, mentors who attend this professional learning experience will receive a free copy of Conscious Classroom Management. Click HERE to access the flyer for more information and to register. If you can’t attend this time, there will be a second opportunity to attend in October. More information on that coming soon.

7. First Forum (New-Response Needed): Our first forum of the year will be held on Friday, August 18th from 8:30am-2:30pm at UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension. NOTE THE EXTENDED TIME FOR OUR FIRST FORUM. SC/SVNTP will provide coffee and pastries in the morning. As we will be together during lunch, we would like to host a Potluck Lunch to celebrate our first day together. Please sign up HERE to contribute to our luncheon. Thank you in advance for helping make this a special event!

Upcoming Events:

Mon., 8/7: Mentor Academy 1: New Mentor Orientation 8:30am-1pm UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension
Thurs., 8/10: Mentor Academy 2: Foundations in Instructional Mentoring 8:30am-3pm Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Sat., 8/12: Conscious Classroom Management 8:30am-12:30pm East Side UHSD Board Room
Fri., 8/18: First Mentor Forum 8:30am-2:30pm UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension
Fri., 8/25: Mentor Forum 8:30am-12pm UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension
Wed., 8/30: New Mentor Academy 3: Inquiry Into Practice 8:30am-3pm Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Fri., 9/8: Mentor Forum 8:30am-12pm UCSC-Silicon Valley Extension