Besides going to a PLC conference with eleven of my colleagues, I have been going through notes and plans for our upcoming school year. Mr. Henrich, Mrs. deNeui, and I met to compare notes from the three-day conference we attended last week in St. Louis. This was our second year going to a PLC conference, and nine of the twelve went last year. It was another very good learning experience. We hope to do even more in our PLC teams in '012-'013.
People wonder what I do here at school in June with no students or teachers. I have kept very busy going through stuff and getting things in line for the next school year. It is also nice to have the flexibility to check out some of the action on our softball and baseball diamonds here in town where our middle school student/athletes are playing. Already, we are at the middle point of this month of June. I still have lots to do.
Happy Summer!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Spring MAP Tests Next Week
Next Monday, April 16, our spring Measurements of Academic Progress tests will begin. We test 2nd - 9th graders here at West Marshall. The only grade level who takes the science test is the ninth grade. All of the other grade levels are required to take reading and math tests, but only one grade level is required to take science. At our middle school, we hope to improve on the the percentage of students who met the range goal. Here are the fall numbers:
6th Reading - 82% Math - 91%
7th Reading - 80% Math - 80%
8th Reading - 84% Math 83%
Next Wednesday is another 1:00 out for an in-service. The school year is winding down with only 28 school days left. We are hoping the last month goes as well as all those previous.
6th Reading - 82% Math - 91%
7th Reading - 80% Math - 80%
8th Reading - 84% Math 83%
Next Wednesday is another 1:00 out for an in-service. The school year is winding down with only 28 school days left. We are hoping the last month goes as well as all those previous.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
3 Down and 1 to Go!
Yes, today is March 20, the first day of our last quarter of the school year. As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. Not all days have been fun, but I would have to say most of our days thus far have been good. Let's hope for one more great nine weeks.
By the sounds of things, we may only have three failing grades for the third quarter. Considering we have approximately 200 students here who take generally seven classes, which my Pisgah math tells me would be right around 1400 classes taken, and we only have three failing classes. Wow, that is really something! I am proud of our staff and students. My goal is still to have Z E R O failing classes one quarter - or semester - which could happen if those three students do better in their failing classes this last quarter.
We ended our last quarter with a 1:00 out, and that was the day before our spring break. Since we did not need to use any snow days, we were able to have five straight days off in a row. That was nice! A person would think having a teacher in-service would not be good timing right before a break, but I feel our teachers and I got much accomplished that afternoon. We always need more time for collaboration, and having a PLC meeting to talk and discuss and debate and plan was good for the teachers. Now, I feel the WMMS is ready to have a great end of the year. From what I was told by my colleagues, the other two buildings got things accomplished, too, and are also ready for the last quarter.
Tonight, there is a School Improvement Committee meeting here in our middle school library. The purpose for this committee of administrators and district patrons is for communication about our district as it is today and what plans we have for the future. Some of the items that will be discussed are the following: professional development, annual progress report, building goals, the technology plan, wellness, handbook additions, the proposed calendar for next year, and any questions parents may have. All school districts are required to have this committee meet twice annually.
By the sounds of things, we may only have three failing grades for the third quarter. Considering we have approximately 200 students here who take generally seven classes, which my Pisgah math tells me would be right around 1400 classes taken, and we only have three failing classes. Wow, that is really something! I am proud of our staff and students. My goal is still to have Z E R O failing classes one quarter - or semester - which could happen if those three students do better in their failing classes this last quarter.
We ended our last quarter with a 1:00 out, and that was the day before our spring break. Since we did not need to use any snow days, we were able to have five straight days off in a row. That was nice! A person would think having a teacher in-service would not be good timing right before a break, but I feel our teachers and I got much accomplished that afternoon. We always need more time for collaboration, and having a PLC meeting to talk and discuss and debate and plan was good for the teachers. Now, I feel the WMMS is ready to have a great end of the year. From what I was told by my colleagues, the other two buildings got things accomplished, too, and are also ready for the last quarter.
Tonight, there is a School Improvement Committee meeting here in our middle school library. The purpose for this committee of administrators and district patrons is for communication about our district as it is today and what plans we have for the future. Some of the items that will be discussed are the following: professional development, annual progress report, building goals, the technology plan, wellness, handbook additions, the proposed calendar for next year, and any questions parents may have. All school districts are required to have this committee meet twice annually.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
It Has Been Awhile
Wow, it has been quite some time since my last post! Where has the time gone?! It is already February 23, and next week we have student-let conferences here at WMMS. Before we know it, we will be into our final quarter of the school year. This winter has been unique with no snow days yet, and we have only had one late start. I hope I did not just jinx us.
Today we have a 1:00 in-service. All three building administrators have set their own meetings. Here in the middle school, we are having a staff meeting first, then we are having PLC meetings, and then teachers will have time to collaborate and/or work in their classrooms. I hope the afternoon goes well.
This week here at WMMS, we have had a Bullying Awareness Week. On Monday, students were shown short videos of the song by Taylor Swift "Mean" and her comments about being bullied in high school. Then discussions were held about the definition of bullying and examples. After that, all of the students completed a survey. Then on Tuesday, 6th - 8th small groups met to do some pair sharing about topics related to bullying. Yesterday was an assembly where I discussed my law conference meeting from the day before and how schools all across our state and country are dealing with this same topic - Bullying. I told our student body and staff about my job and how I should be an instructional leader spending time on curriculum and teaching practices and classroom sources. Instead, much of my time is spent dealing with bullying issues and student issues and just plain kids not treating other kids respectfully. It is sad, and we all need to do what we can to end bullying.
Congratulations to our high school wrestling coaches and student athletes who made it to state. Also, congrats to our high school girls basketball team and coaches for a great season and their chance to play at state. Let's hope our boys basketball team is able to beat PCM Saturday night so they, too, can play in the state basketball tournament.
Today we have a 1:00 in-service. All three building administrators have set their own meetings. Here in the middle school, we are having a staff meeting first, then we are having PLC meetings, and then teachers will have time to collaborate and/or work in their classrooms. I hope the afternoon goes well.
This week here at WMMS, we have had a Bullying Awareness Week. On Monday, students were shown short videos of the song by Taylor Swift "Mean" and her comments about being bullied in high school. Then discussions were held about the definition of bullying and examples. After that, all of the students completed a survey. Then on Tuesday, 6th - 8th small groups met to do some pair sharing about topics related to bullying. Yesterday was an assembly where I discussed my law conference meeting from the day before and how schools all across our state and country are dealing with this same topic - Bullying. I told our student body and staff about my job and how I should be an instructional leader spending time on curriculum and teaching practices and classroom sources. Instead, much of my time is spent dealing with bullying issues and student issues and just plain kids not treating other kids respectfully. It is sad, and we all need to do what we can to end bullying.
Congratulations to our high school wrestling coaches and student athletes who made it to state. Also, congrats to our high school girls basketball team and coaches for a great season and their chance to play at state. Let's hope our boys basketball team is able to beat PCM Saturday night so they, too, can play in the state basketball tournament.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Winter Found Us!
It was a close one today; the snow was just north of our school district. We did receive some of the white stuff, but it was only an inch or two. Just north of us, lots of snow fell. It sounded like most of the districts up that way called school off. Our 6 - 8 students thought they should have been so lucky, but most of us educators thought we got lucky; we won't have to make this day up whereas those schools who called off will. Thus far, we have not even had a late start or early out, let alone a Snow Day.
We have already completed 99 days of school. Wow! I am sure the little guys and gals in the elementary will have a big day on Monday since it will be Day 100. I think we should have a big day here at WMMS, too. Actually, we will have a big day because we start the ITBS. My hope is our students will rise to the occasion like they did last year and show their brain power. They have been prepared, we have discussed what they said they did last year that made a difference, and now it is time to do their best.
We have already completed 99 days of school. Wow! I am sure the little guys and gals in the elementary will have a big day on Monday since it will be Day 100. I think we should have a big day here at WMMS, too. Actually, we will have a big day because we start the ITBS. My hope is our students will rise to the occasion like they did last year and show their brain power. They have been prepared, we have discussed what they said they did last year that made a difference, and now it is time to do their best.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New Year Begins!
We started off our new year of 2012 with an in-service on Monday, January 2. It was a good day and a nice way to come back to school. There were staff meetings in all three buildings, PLC time, curricular meetings, and then plenty of time to work on grades and in rooms. Seeing several teachers still here at WMMS when I left tells me maybe there was not plenty of time to work in rooms. Can a quality teacher ever have enough time?!
As hard as it may be to believe, one semester is down for this 2011-2012 school year. It has been awesome to be in our new middle school with everything going well, and from all reports, the school year has been very positive in all of our educational buildings. Hopefully, that trend will continue as we move forward into this coming year.
On the horizon are the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Reading, math, science, and language arts tests will be administered the last week of January. The norming data is new this year, a first in many years, so it may not be a true comparison of results. Last year's ITBS results were very positive, so obviously that will be our goal for the results from this year's tests. Preparations in both skills and mind frames will occur in the next few weeks.
Happy New Year to You and Yours!
As hard as it may be to believe, one semester is down for this 2011-2012 school year. It has been awesome to be in our new middle school with everything going well, and from all reports, the school year has been very positive in all of our educational buildings. Hopefully, that trend will continue as we move forward into this coming year.
On the horizon are the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Reading, math, science, and language arts tests will be administered the last week of January. The norming data is new this year, a first in many years, so it may not be a true comparison of results. Last year's ITBS results were very positive, so obviously that will be our goal for the results from this year's tests. Preparations in both skills and mind frames will occur in the next few weeks.
Happy New Year to You and Yours!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Professional Learning Communities - a Process
Just yesterday during our in-service, we had our eighth PLC meetings of this first semester . All of the team members had been given an eight-question survey about the first semester of this PLC process. They were to bring it to their meetings for a discussion with their team, and then the leaders were supposed to bring them to our leader meeting at 3:10. Since this group of thirteen leaders and three administrators had not met in a couple of months, we admins thought it would be good to get together again to discuss the first semester. We had a very interesting discussion, to say the least. Some teams are off and running, digging into data, being very cohesive, and are ready to write smart goals. Then there are some teams that almost feel like the process is just now moving along but are not ready for smart goals because they are not sure of their team's focus, let alone goals. Some secondary teams discussed how it is not always easy when your team is made up of not only different curricular areas, but also different grade levels. Also, PLCs are intended for teams to collaborate about data. Some teams have not gotten to a point to be able to do that yet, and they admit their meetings have been more like Building Assistance Team meetings.
So, what's the answer - or is there an answer? It is important for all of us to keep coming back to the fact that this is a process, and a work in action. We have thirteen different teams. It is unreasonable to think all the teams should be the same or even on the same page. Some teams will need more time to build a trust and cohesiveness, and that's all right. Some teams may not have to right mix, and team members may ultimately have to be switched, and that is all right, too. The important thing to remember is that collaboration can be a very valuable tool for any staff or team, but it takes time; it is a process.
So, what's the answer - or is there an answer? It is important for all of us to keep coming back to the fact that this is a process, and a work in action. We have thirteen different teams. It is unreasonable to think all the teams should be the same or even on the same page. Some teams will need more time to build a trust and cohesiveness, and that's all right. Some teams may not have to right mix, and team members may ultimately have to be switched, and that is all right, too. The important thing to remember is that collaboration can be a very valuable tool for any staff or team, but it takes time; it is a process.
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