A Few Words on Motivation

Hello, Everyone:
As professional educators, I know that you are constantly seeking ways of providing engaging lessons for our students. However, you are also challenged and encouraged (especially during this time of the year) to find ways to keep yourself motivated. Please do not allow yourself to become bogged down by complaining, but to find ways of refreshing yourself in thinking about why you are here. I would like to think that we are all here to change lives; the art of educating young minds is difficult to master. Yet, in spite of standardized tests, additional professional learning, personal obligations, lesson planning, and wayward students—you have managed to look beyond the present and look at the long-term goal—being a teacher leader in an effort for us to make Adequate Yearly Progress!
Here are a few “Pearls of Wisdom” from some notable people about staying motivated.
On Motivation:
Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means. Albert Einstein
Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself. Paul Bryant (Sorry, Auburn Tigers) :)
Six essential qualities are the key to success: sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, charity. William Menningner
Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. Vesta Kelly
Some people think they are concentrating when they're merely worrying. Bobby Jones (The Atlanta Braves retired coach—he will be missed!)
So many fail because they don't get started; they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin. W. Clement Stone
Sometimes we are limited more by attitude than by opportunities. Anonymous :)
Stay Encouraged,


Kim :)

Making Student Learning Central to Teaching!

This excerpt was taken from SEDL, formerly known as the Southwest Educational Development Library.





Making Student Learning Central to Teaching



Every dedicated teacher is concerned about student learning. However, the day-to-day pressures of teaching, much of the dialogue about educational ills and improvements, and professional training tend to push attention toward what teachers do rather than toward what students learn. We see that it is critically important to make student learning the central focus of instructional decision making. This involves a thoughtful examination of the process of learning. Carol, a seventh grade teacher, wrote in her journal,


"It still amazes me when you think you have taught a concept so well and still a couple of kids bomb a test. Is it that they are just bad test-takers? That they don't seek assistance when they have no clue? That they are not developmentally ready to grasp the concept? That I am not really teaching what I think I am teaching? That they need more practice to really learn the concept? It could be all of the above. It depends on the student and the situation. Seeing their work and making them talk about their work and their understanding of the concept gives the teacher vital information as to what next step should be. . . . Teaching the same thing [over again] in the same way will not necessarily produce successful learning. I must target the specific problem."


Carol has begun to question the relationship between her teaching and her students' learning. However, teachers' views of how children learn often go unexamined. As Bruce Pirie, an English teacher and author, says,


For most of us, our teaching has been formed by a few influential teachers from our own schooling, a handful of respected colleagues, readings from books or journals, and the push and pull of classroom realities. From this, we assemble a practice that keeps us going, but which has not always been scrutinized in its assumptions or challenged for inconsistencies. (1997, p. 6)


Most of us focus primarily on the methods of practice and pay less attention to the foundations and directions. Examined or not, those ideas that constitute the foundations (such as views of how children learn and the purposes of schooling) impact our decisions about instructional practice.

How to Access the Learning Village!

Here are the directions for a portal account to access Learning Village.


If you have users who need to setup an a portal account to access Learning Village / Portal, have them contact the Helpdesk for assistance by emailing dticket@doe.k12.ga.us or by calling 1-800-869-1011, (or) user's may follow these instructions to create a Portal account themselves:

1) Click on the following link: https://portal.doe.k12.ga.us/RequestNewUserWizard.aspx
2) Once the account is Setup, the user will receive an email to Certify the Account Request (the Certification Request will appear in the User Email Inbox). The user must Certificate the Request by clicking on the Certification Link.

3) It is highly recommended user contact their assigned district Security Officer in their assigned district to assure it is properly approved in a timely manner.
Thank you,
Vidrine Jones

Technology Management Customer Support Center

Georgia Department of Education

Stay Motivated!

Hello, Everyone:
As professional educators, I know that you are constantly seeking ways of providing engaging lessons for our students. However, you are also challenged and encouraged (especially during this time of the year) to find ways to keep yourself motivated. Please do not allow yourself to become bogged down by complaining, but to find ways of refreshing yourself in thinking about why you are here. I would like to think that we are all here to change lives; the art of educating young minds is difficult to master. Yet, in spite of standardized tests, additional professional learning, personal obligations, lesson planning, and wayward students—you have managed to look beyond the present and look at the long-term goal—being a teacher leader in an effort for us to make Adequate Yearly Progress!



Here are a few “Pearls of Wisdom” from some notable people about staying motivated. We only have one more week…



On Motivation:

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others; it is the only means. Albert Einstein



Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself. Paul Bryant (Sorry, Auburn Tigers-smile!)

 Six essential qualities are the key to success: sincerity, personal integrity, humility, courtesy, wisdom, charity. William Menningner



Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. Vesta Kelly

Some people think they are concentrating when they're merely worrying. Bobby Jones (The Atlanta Braves retired coach—he will be missed!)






So many fail because they don't get started; they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin. W. Clement Stone

 Sometimes we are limited more by attitude than by opportunities. Anonymous

 Stay Encouraged,


Kim

Six Survival Tips for Teachers!

Six Ways to Endear Yourself to Your Principal


October 6th, 2010 By: Diane Trim in Administration, Articles, Learning Community

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Most of your contact with your principal happens outside of your formal evaluations, so my advice is to try to make every meeting with your principal a positive one, even if it’s just a casual word in the hallway or a faculty meeting. Let’s face it: her opinion of you and your teaching extends beyond your classroom doors and bell schedule. I’m not saying to ingratiate yourself to your principal, but I am saying that it’s wise for her to form an opinion of you as professional and competent – before she sets foot in your room with a clipboard and an evaluation form.


1. Respect her time. I’m pretty sure lightening will strike me down for this as I type, but try hard to be on time for everything. If you’re the one who shows up late to every faculty meeting, you’ll stick out in your principal’s mind, but not in a good way. If she schedules a meeting with you, be prompt. If she asks you do to something, do it as soon as you return to your classroom. When you drop in on her during your prep period, always ask if it’s a good time to talk or if she has five minutes to talk. If she doesn’t have a spare minute, tell her you’ll send her a meeting request instead.


2. Have positive things to say. It’s really smart to have something nice to say to your principal every time you see her. I’m not saying you should complement her on her nice jacket, but you should have some bit of good news for her. Maybe one of your students who has been struggling has had a really good week. If you witnessed a couple of students help another pick up the books she dropped, pass that on. When the teacher down the hall watches your class for you, so you can run to the restroom, let your principal know that, too.


3. Pay attention. When your principal calls a faculty meeting, don’t be one of those teachers who is correcting papers. It just looks bad. If the group at your library table is whispering and talking, don’t participate in their hushed conversations and don’t sit with them next time.


4. Keep your kids in the classroom. Principals respect teachers who keep their students in the classroom, on task, and learning. Kids who are walking the halls unsupervised are often looking for something better to do than factor polynomials. If they’re your students who are slow-motion walking outside the closed study hall, the principal won’t be impressed. Better to limit passes judiciously than to have your students roaming the halls.


5. Dot your i’s. All of your contact with the school office should be professional. When you send a student to the office on a referral, make sure you’ve listed all the phone calls you’ve made to the student’s parent, all the ways you’ve tried to fix the problem, any detentions the student has served, and why the student can’t remain in class that day. The more complete your referral form, the less work you make for your principal and the more opportunities she has to look well informed when talking to parents. You want your principal to stand behind you and she wants to talk to parents intelligently. When your principal sees one of your referral forms, you want her to think how easy you’ve made her job.


6. Do your homework. If someone in the office requests paperwork from you, send it back right away. Have the reputation in the office as the first person to meet a deadline. The office administrative assistants have a lot of contact with your boss, the principal. Make sure your reputation with them is that you’re responsive and someone who meets deadlines and exceeds expectations.


The bottom line is to be professional in all your dealings with your principal. That’s true of parent interaction and even interaction with your students. Good work habits like having a positive attitude, meeting deadlines, and doing good work will endear you to any boss. But, having these good habits will endear you to your principal and save her time, which will give her a favorable impression of you long before she enters your classroom for your evaluation.

 How about you? What do you do to make sure that your relationship with your principal is a good one? Is that something that teachers should be concerned about or should we just focus on the classroom and our students’ results? Share your opinions in the comments.




Tags: evaluation, principal, teacher evaluation

Greenwave Academic Performance (GAP or "G-Block") and Teachers As Advisors (TAA) Schedule

Hello, Everyone!
Here is the message sent to us from Mrs. Miranda Banks, Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction:

Explain to students that on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday they are to report to the instructional location where they have been escorted (ELA and Mathematics). Wednesday is HOMEROOM/TEACHERS AS ADVISORS day. They are to report to their regular homeroom teacher. G-Day teacher will assist homeroom teacher with homeroom on Wednesdays. In essence, G-Day and G-Block teachers will share those students all year.

Here is the information from the School Improvement Grant (SIG) on the Teachers As Advisors (TAA) Program (Wednesdays):

The TAA program is an effort to:

• Support high expectations for students;
• Guide the process for expanding opportunities for students to set goals;
• Teach goal-setting strategies; and
• Produce each student's Five-Year Academic Plan. 
• The customized Five-Year plan is for all four years of high school, plus one year of the student's post-secondary educational, military, or career options. 
• The TAA program is supposed to increase post-secondary enrollment rates by students in the district, thereby building academic capacity.

More information/job-embedded Professional Learning from the Georgia Department of Education is forthcoming on this; Mrs. Tatmon and the Guidance Department have been working diligently on providing the teachers with activities.  I hope this information helps to clarify any confusion during the G-Block session. 

Take Care,
Kim

Review of the School Improvement Grant (SIG)--section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

In looking at the grant for implementation, here are my findings based on the transformation model.
Transformation through Project-Based Learning (High Schools That Work) and Team Collaboration


• Increase student engagement through Reading, Mathematics, and Student Pathways—Five-Year Plan/Post-Secondary (Graduation Rate);


• Incorporate project-based learning opportunities;


• Improve the school culture and the learning experience through continuous improvement;


• Integrative Technology approach to learning;






• Increase Diversity;






• Student Preparation and Responsibility through Teachers as Advisors Program;






--Increase Student Success Rate (Extended Learning Time/Greenwave Academic Performance (GAP);

 o Instruction provided for all levels of learners—remediation through acceleration;


o Remediation will commence through computer-assessed instruction—Read 180, Compass Learning, Gizmos, and Fast ForWord;


o Acceleration is done through teacher-led enrichment, Advanced Placement (AP) tutorials, SAT/ACT Prep;

--Teachers As Advisors (TAA) Program once a week;


o Summer BRIDGE Program—3-week intensive training for students;


o Credit Recovery through GaDOE;


o Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) Prep through GAP;


o Mathematics I, II, and III intense instruction;


o Keytrain/CTAE Program through High Schools That Work (HSTW);


o ExpreSS through GaDOE; and

 --Collaborative Teacher Teams/In-Depth, Sustained, Professional Learning


BUILDING CAPACITY:


o Differentiated Instruction


o Project-Based Learning (PBL) Experiences


o Teachers As Advisors—goal-setting, career pathways, and increase opportunities for learning


o Understanding Poverty—ongoing


o Standards-Based Classroom—ongoing


o Active Literacy—ongoing


o Data Analysis


o All Teachers are Reading Teachers


o CLASS Keys—informal this year, formal implementation in years 2 and 3


Looking Towards the Lighthouse,


Kim

Guidelines for Receiving Title I Stipends

A stipend is compensation paid to an employee of Muscogee County School District (MCSD) for his/her participation in a professional learning activity under the specific conditions delineated below.



• The professional learning activity must have a written proposal that is approved by the Professional Learning Director or his/her designee and the Director of Title I prior to the first day of the activity.


• The activity must have an assigned course number from MCSDs Professional Learning Department or the Georgia Department of Education.


• The activity must occur during the fiscal year of the funding.


• The activity must result in at least one professional learning unit (PLU) based on 10 clock hours per PLU.


• Participation must be documented through the participant’s signature or initials on a sign-in sheet.


• The participant in the professional learning activity must be a teacher or other certified employee. Pre-kindergarten teachers may not receive Title I stipends.


• The professional learning activity must occur during the time the participant is off contract.


• The participant must sign a Title I Stipend Contract for the professional learning activity.


• The amount of the stipend for the professional learning activity must be pre-approved by the Title I Director.


• The stipend may not exceed $150 per day of the professional learning activity. The amount could be less and is contingent upon the availability of Title I funds. For these purposes only, a day is defined as a minimum of five or more hours.


• The stipend will be included in the participant’s regular pay check following the completion of the activity. If the contract is signed and processed after the payroll submission date for that month, it will be included in the following month’s pay check.

GAPSS Analysis Review

Purpose and Review of the Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards (GAPSS):

• To drive educational reform;
• To assess school’s progress based on the following descriptors: not addressed, emergent, operational, and fully operational;  
• To measure the degree of implementation of the Georgia School Keys; 
• To measure the school’s performance on a regular day; and 
• To assist in targeting and addressing areas for improvement in a school.

 Based on the 11 Factors that influence What Works in Schools (Marzano, 2003):

 School 

• Guaranteed and viable curriculum
• Challenging and effective feedback
• Parent and community involvement 
• Safe and orderly environment 
• Collegiality and professionalism

Teacher

• Instructional Strategies
• Classroom Management
• Classroom curriculum design

Student

• Home atmosphere
• Learned intelligence and background knowledge
• Motivation

ELEMENTS



Operational Descriptors for the School Standard


a) Learning focus – The school mission, vision, goals and beliefs are obvious in the school and it is evident that the focus of the school is learning for students and adults.


b) Awareness of academic culture – Adults and students in the school practice the core beliefs and values of the school, the mission, and the vision.


c) Expectations – The expectations held for students and staff are high, but attainable. There is an expectation for assuming responsibility for one’s own learning and there are high expectations for staff professionalism.


d) Academic growth - Students demonstrate continuous progress in learning, extending, and refining their mastery of GPS and acquire and integrate growing levels of conceptual understanding and a capacity to use what they have learned with levels of independence.


e) Social growth - Students demonstrate a growing capacity for meaningful and mature social interactions with peers and adults representing diverse populations, including self-monitoring, self-control, empathy, and perspective.


f) Emotional growth - Students demonstrate growing levels of maturity as they progress through their education, including a maturing capacity for understanding their own motivation, evaluating and observing their emotional reactions, expressing and regulating emotions appropriately within varying contexts.


g) Relational growth - Students display a capacity for interacting positively and maturely with peers and adults, forming relationships as they mature that are increasingly productive, supportive, and positively nurturing and mutually enhancing.


h) Professional growth - Adults in the school as a learning community take advantage of opportunities offered by the school, district, community, and state to enhance their academic knowledge, insights into accountability initiatives, their mental, emotional, and physical health to promote positive relationships with all stakeholders.


i) Climate - Buildings reflect a feeling tone or atmosphere, created and sustained through the interaction of norms, values, relationships, structures, and interaction patterns among members of the learning community.


j) Culture - Buildings are communities of learning. Like all communities, they have norms, standards, practices, and rituals that guide and inform the interaction patterns of the members of that community, including students and adults. Culture includes the climate of the building. Additionally, buildings can reflect multiple sub-cultures, which may have unique or distinct norms, practices, and values separate from mainstream organizational culture.

Try A Little Kindness...

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.



~Bonnie Jean Wasmund


Hello, Everyone:
You have completed another week of transforming the minds of our youth—BRAVO to you!  Kindness is an idiom rarely talked about, yet is foundational to our success. It can heal, transform, resurrect, empower, and comfort. Fueled by its kin, compassion and generosity, kindness swells into the mightiest of powers—a true force with which to be reckoned. Look nowhere but within, and it is clear that even the smallest act of kindness can leave an everlasting impression on the soul.

 Kindness is perhaps the most underrated and misunderstood of all human virtues. Even though touted by many throughout history after history of rising and falling civilizations, it remains undervalued. Kindness is the cornerstone of major world belief systems, the underpinnings of some of the greatest global visionaries, and it provides the answer to the future of our world—our students! Yet, kindness remains dismissed.

 Even though its power is pervasive, it is perhaps the simplest to the virtues to put into practice. Sometimes it is hard to believe that something so small can have such a profound power, but it does. Extending kindness to our colleagues and our students has within it the power to change a life or even the destiny of those around you. The ripple effect of kindness is everlasting. You have heard, “Don’t take my kindness for weakness”; however, kindness requires a strength that permeates a life condition that remains untouchable. Contrary to weakness, kindness is the gift of those who have been seasoned to accept this status of ultimate wisdom.

 In essence, there can be no corporate teamwork without the gift of kindness. Thank you for giving this gift to each other and to our students; thank you for teaching with passion every day!

 Taken from Skomal, L. (2006). Kindness: Words of Wisdom to Guide, Influence, Inspire, and Share


Looking Towards the Lighthouse,


Kim (Smile)

Larry Bell's 12 Power Words for Critical Assessment

Educator and motivational speaker Larry Bell presents that there are 12 words that will assist our students in performing better on assessments if they know and can define the words.  Here are the 12 "Power Words" that Larry Bell identified:

Trace
Support
Analyze
Explain
Infer
Summarize
Evaluate
Compare
Contrast
Predict
Formulate
Describe

This is a perfect way to start off the "Word Wall" in the classroom!  Here are some flash cards that can be used as well, along with the words in Spanish!  How is that for working smarter? 

Kim (Smile)

Classroom Analysis of State Standards (CLASS) Keys

If you have not received a CLASS Keys manual, please see Mrs. Webb in the Media Center.  The CLASS Keys is an evaluation tool that measures evidence of ongoing teacher performance over the entire length of the school year.  The CLASS Keys answer the questions of, how does the teacher plan?  How does the teacher teach? and Are the teacher's students learning?  These questions are answered using the following indicators: curriculum and planning, standards-based instruction, professionalism, assessment of student learning, and student achievement. 

Our standards-based model classroom is Mrs. Pescia's room (room 239).  Within her room you will find exemplars, word walls, and examples of student commentary.  Please stop by Mrs. Pescia's  room to see how to set up your standards-based classroom.  If you have any questions, please come by and see me in room 217.

Looking Towards the Lighthouse,
Kim (Smile)

Thinking Maps Roll Out/Implementation!

The whole premise around Thinking Maps is that we learn based on what we see.  The Thinking Maps resource is a way for our students to connect a picture to the work that is being done in class.  We have been asked to post the 8 Thinking Maps in our classrooms and to introduce them to our students within our activities.  If you did not receive the Thinking Maps binder AND you signed up for the summer training at Callaway, come by and see me.  The second tier of recipients who did not sign up will be core classes.  The third and final tier will be the CTAE, Fine Arts, PE, and JROTC teachers who did not sign up for training. 

I also have the Thinking Maps software disk that was given to us during our in-house summer training, which can be used to reproduce materials for your classes.  Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this implementation.

The following is a review of the 8 maps and what they are used for in learning:

Upcoming Activities for Professional Learning

To the Faculty and Staff at William H. Spencer High School:
I am looking forward to working with you during our Professional Learning (PL) discourse.  This year will bring with it several new and exciting activities!  In preview, one of the texts that we will discuss this year will be Failure is Not An Option.  The six principles of effective educational reform, according to Blankstein, are the following: mission, achievement for all, collaborative teaching, using data, active engagement of the community, and sustained leadership.  We are well on our way into active improvement on all of the aforementioned principles and much more!

We will also take look at several publications from the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and the US Department of Education that cover several different topics of interest: attrition rates, the teaching of mathematics in urban schools, high school literacy, grant writing, understanding Title I, school crisis planning, and even student loan forgiveness options for teachers!  Check out forms and response instructions will be in the data room and announced at a later time.

Let us prepare ourselves for the work of providing continuous improvement!

Kim :)