Grades, De-Junking, HQT, and so forth...

1. Posting Grades—Grade posting has been turned on. Please review the instructions you had from last year. Remember that you will need to post each subject one at a time. For the grades where you give S, N, U, remember that these are done under "manual grade entry."

2. Old textbooks—Maintenance will be picking up old textbooks on Sept. 27 & 28. Anything you want to send off (but not textbooks currently under adoption) you may box and put in the hall. Also, please look at book in the community classroom and on top of the bookcase going into the community classroom. Take what you would like, and much of the rest will be boxed up and sent off.

3. Storage trailer—Please take a look to see what “treasures” are there that you forgot (or never knew) that we had and feel free to use those. If there are any treasures that would appear to someone else to be junk, be sure to tape a note on them so they don’t get thrown away.

4. Community Classroom—Please take a look there for books, board games, and teaching materials you would like to use. Old books will be discarded once you have had a chance to go through them.

5. Highly Qualified Teacher Status—If you have not achieved "HQT" status, the next step is to see Mrs. Givens. There is a form where you will indicate the method by which you will become "Highly Qualified." Federal funds are available to help teachers become Highly Qualified, and that form gives the central office a picture of what the overall needs for the school system are going to be.

6. Surviving Due Process—This two-hour movie takes you through a special education due process hearing from initial preparations to testimony by the final witness. Learn how attorneys for parents and schools prepare for due process hearings. See exciting direct examination and dramatic cross-examination of witnesses, objections and arguments between counsel, and rulings by the hearing officer. Learn about rules that must be followed, mistakes people make, and why the parents' case was nearly dismissed. We have this DVD in the professional development section of our library.

7. Mopping lunchroom floors—Just a reminder that the lunchroom floors are mopped daily. They are dry by about 1:30. Please do not send students to the lunchroom before 1:30. We don’t someone to slip. This is also the time the lunchroom staff has their lunch break. The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that this break be free of their normal duties.

8. Teacher of the Year/JSU Teacher Hall of Fame— Please be thinking about who you feel should be our “Teacher of the Year” and nominee for the JSU Teacher Hall of Fame. Honoring those in our profession who truly demonstrate excellence ought to be one of our highest priorities. Please send me your nominations by October 21.

9. Reminder—Regulations have become tighter as to what a teacher can and cannot do in the case of bumps, cuts, scrapes, etc. As a review, it is OK for you to apply ice, use soap & water, or apply a bandage. It is not OK to apply Bactine, any type of ointment, or eye drops. The only items you would need to have in your room in the way of first-aide supplies are Band-Aids and rubber gloves. If you need these items, let us know in the office.