The Weekly Roar
Notes from Nick Novak: Saturday January 9, 2016
Kudos...
to Matt Hanson, Rachel Held, Jeff Hensley, and Sarah Hensley for a successful juried art show yesterday. This is only the second time that the art department has held this event, but it sure is a great opportunity for students to showcase the various artwork they have been creating.
to the whole staff for making it through the first week back from break. It was a little tough to get back in the swing of things, but I think we are into a routine again and ready for midterms!
FYI
1) HSA testing begins next week. If you are a proctor, please ensure your timeliness to your testing location. If you are taking a sick day on a day of proctoring, please contact Brian or Gina immediately.
2) Thanks to everyone for increasing their presence in the halls before school, after school, and during passing times. Not only did I see lots of our "neighborhood watch" team out at their doors, but I also saw that presence making a difference. Keep it up!
3) Make sure you sign up for your midyear conference with your designated evaluator. SLO data needs to be updated in Teachscape and 4-6 artifacts for domains 1 and 4 need to be uploaded. Assignments and samples of student work can be brought to the midyear conference.
4) Some folks have inquired about subbing for an administrator when he/she is out. If this is something you're interested in doing, let me know.
Staff Birthdays
1/10 Natasha Lavoie
1/11 Matt Mindel
1/11 Dave Sleichter
1/11 Willie Spence
Instructional Tidbit
When I was a beginning teacher, I dutifully posted my objectives on the board every day because, quite frankly, that is what I was told to do. When an administrator came into my classroom, he/she could look back to the magnetized Bloom's Taxonomy verbs see exactly what we were doing that day. It took me a few years to realize that I wasn't really focusing on the right audience.
Once I started engaging my students with the objective, things started to click. The alignment of learning goals, activities, and assessments made sense to students. They understood the "what" I was teaching, but also the all important "why."
I have a wide variety of pedagogical influences, but one person I became interested in the last few years is the late Grant Wiggins. Check out one of his blog posts from 2013 to see some great insights about the posting of objectives. It's good to see objectives in the classroom, but it's even better seeing students engage with the objectives and demonstrate mastery of them.
Lesson Objectives
Mission
In partnership with families and the community, it is the mission of Howard High School to cultivate an environment of collaboration, empowerment, and engagement that exhibits world-class support for staff and inspires students to thrive in a dynamic world.
Email: nnovak@hcpss.org
Website: http://hohs.hcpss.org/
Phone: 410-313-2867
Twitter: @PrincipalNovak