In-service on September 27

Tomorrow, the West Marshall School District will be having its second in-service since school has started.  There will be technology discussions with Randy Baker, our technology coordinator.  There will also be time for PLC teams to meet.  Now that we are past our midterm point of the first quarter, data can be contemplated.  The MAP tests will be starting this week for Grades 2 - 9, so discussions will center around that preparation and data collection, too. 

I am also going to have my first Curricular Team meeting.  This committee consists of Natalie Burroughs, Tara Pfantz, Aaron Burdorf, Peggy Hotopp, Denise Coberly, Troy Clark, Dana Craven, Matt Jacobs, and Me.  This team has been developed to take a close look at the status of our current curriculum and how it compares to the Common Core curriculum.  There is a cross-section of curricular experts who will not only inspect their own subject area but also others that are taught in our district.  The hope is for this team to meet a minimum of once a month and then share out to PLC groups in between our meetings.

September 13 In-Service

This Tuesday was a 1:00 out here at West Marshall.  Our entire staff of 72 teachers met in the h.s. library at 1:15.  Our first presenter was Lara Steward, who is a health specialist.  Lara showed a video with some interesting, and kind of scary, facts about the health of our general population today.  She also shared a hand-out that showed how much sugar is in certain daily foods most of us eat.  There is no doubt the average "Joe" and "Jill" are not as healthy as they should be, mainly because of eating the wrong foods or too much food, as well as not getting enough exercise.  I hope Lara's 45 minute presentation opened some eyes and prompts some of us, me included, to live healthier lives.

After Lara' presentation, we had our PLC team leaders discuss how the PLC process is going thus far and discussed several more slides from our original power-point.  As some folks pointed out, we at West Marshall are in the infancy stages of this process.  We have really just begun, and now as we near our midterm point of our first quarter, there is data to interpret with goals to be made.  After this whole group meeting, the teams had an opportunity to meet.  PLCs are all about collaboration, and as teachers become more and more busy, it is difficult to find time to meet.  That is exactly why we administrators have provided more in-service days, so time is allotted for PLC teams to meet at least twice a week.

Measurements of Academic Progress (MAP):  This test is the second assessment we do that is reported to the state, and students are tested in the fall and spring.  The other state assessment we do, of course, is the ITBS.  For the MAP test, our 2-9 students are tested in mathematics and reading, and our ninth graders take the science test, too.  The testing window is September 26 to October 15.  This online testing is not timed, and the beauty of it is, students know immediately how they did on the tests.  Speaking for all of our staff and principals, I hope our students do well. 

District Leadership Team

Our West Marshall DLT Members:  Mr. Sellers, Mr. Henrich, Myself, Mrs. deNeui, Mr. Weig, Mrs. Dee, Mrs. Edler, Mrs. Keigan, Ms. Schleihs, Mrs. Barber, Mr. Voss, Miss Ubben, and Heather Gould, an AEA representative.  This committee is mandated by the State Department and is required to meet monthly.  The purpose of this committee, with representation from all four buildings, is to oversee K-12 curriculum and assessments, in-service plans, the Professional Learning process, and to provide input and feedback from other staff members.  At our first meeting on Wednesday, September 7, we discussed PLC teams, MAP testing, upcoming trainings, and the plans for our September 13 in-service.  Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 14.