The "Oskaloosa Syllabus"
February, 2015 - "News YOU Can USE"
Teacher Leadership Compenesation (TLC) Information
- Posting for the new Instructional Coaches has officially begun. Those interested should send their information into Lisa Walston by February 5th.
- Interviews for the Instructional Coach positions will take place February 9-12. We would like all positions filled as soon as possible.
Lead Teachers - PLC Facilitators and Vertical Team Facilitators.
- Postings will occur around the time of Spring Break.
- The application process will be similar to the Instructional Coaches, but unless their is strong competition for the Facilitator positions, no interviews will be conducted.
- The application process will occur annually.
Mentors
- Postings for Mentors will occur around Spring Break as well
- The application process will be similar to the Lead Teacher process
- Since it is difficult to know how many Mentors we need from year to year, we will be filling a pool of qualified Mentors to draw upon each year.
- The application process will occur annually.
An Instructional Coach Is...
- Meeting with and observing first year teachers
- Doing research and providing ideas and resources to anyone who needs something
- Probing students during Universal Screening time
- Looking at data to understand building needs - and organizing that data for teachers
- Attending PLC meetings to provide support and provide insight
- Attending professional learning opportunities to stay on top of current research
- Putting materials together for building initiatives and teacher needs
- Provide professional development in the building as needed
- Model lessons in classrooms and/or observe
- Conduct pop-ins for as many classrooms as they can on a weekly basis so they can support work in the classroom.
I could add another 10 things very easily - being an Instructional Coach is a difficult job - and we are so pleased to add additional teacher leaders in each building next year. They are making a difference! If you want the support for ANY reason, please seek out these very capable professionals!!
An Instructional Coach is NOT...
- Someone who will evaluate you
- Someone who will judge you
- Someone who tells on you to Administration
- Someone who thinks they are better than you
- Someone who is perfect (but they do have expertise and an objective eye)
Instructional Coaches work for teachers, with teachers, and help teachers in any way they can become better at the art and science of teaching.
1:1 Conference
If you are interested attending see Mr. Hotek or Mr. Bandy.
Want more information? Click on this link.
Iowa ASCD Standards- Based Grading Conference
This year, the theme of the Academy is "Assessing the Core: Grading for Learning." The dates for the Academy which will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston are Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24 The first day. April 23, will feature nationally known grading expert Ken O'Connor and the second day, April 24, there will be break-out sessions.
The DLT will more than likely be sending a small group again this year. Oskaloosa will also be presenting on the 2nd day. If you are interested in attending, please let me know.
Reading Summit
Elementary Summer Reading Program
- ELI (Early Literacy Initiative) will require us to have this in place by 2017 - we are being proactive and beginning this offering to reduce the literacy gap.
- We will be posting positions for up to 8 teachers.
- Students will be identified using our Winter data
If you have any questions about possibly teaching, please see Mrs. Liebl or myself.
Updates from Team Meetings
DLT Update
- Each building brought data with them to determine our progress toward meeting the SMART Goal for the year. This really is baseline data and all data in the future will be compared to this data.
- We determine where we were with the SMART Goal... on a scale of 1-4, we are at a 2.14. This is new goal this year... we are pleased with our progress the first half of the year.
- We had a discussion about Work Habits. Decision: Elementary, MS and HS will keep their existing Work Habits. We need to consistently apply these across classrooms.
- Elementary "Encore" or "Specials" will create Work Habits they find more applicable and present them to the DLT in February.
- We also started to discuss the 1-4 coding, but found we had a wide variety of opinions. As it was not on the agenda, we tabled it until later.
DAC Update -District Advisory Commitee
- We looked at an article on Student Motivation related to Assessments
- We had a good discussion about how to motivate students to care about the assessments given to them - MAP and Iowa Assessments. The results of studies show that if you involved students in the assessment process, they will want to do better. They recommended a "focus group" to get student input on the matter.
- We looked at the questions from last year's Needs Assessment Survey. We will eliminate only 2 questions and keep the rest. See a calendar reminder for the window for the survey.
Updating Grades in Infinite Campus!
Remember to update your grades every 7-10 days on Infinite Campus!! A schedule of dates will be provided to you AND to parents. These will serve as a reminder of our purpose for grading... I have been getting quite a few e-mails and phone calls lately about the lack of feedback on Infinite Campus. Let's do our best to use Infinite Campus as a communication tool with parents.
"The purpose of grading and report cards in the Oskaloosa CSD is to provide quality, specific feedback [to students and parents regarding] progress being made toward meeting established Learning Goals"
Needs Assessment Survey
Students in Grades 5-12 and ALL STAFF will need to take the survey the week of March 23rd.
We will compare this year's data to the last four years.
Writing Resource to be Purchased
- The Language Arts Curriculum Team is looking at Writing resources this year to implement next year in classrooms.
- On February 6th two representatives will give presentations on their products.
- Scholastic and 6+1 Writing Traits
- Lucy Calkins and Writers Workshop
The Middle School will implement in 2015-2016, while the Elementary will wait at least a year as they will be implementing a reading/writing resource next year.
Elementary Piloting Resource
- Reading Wonders
- Journeys
Each company will be coming back in February for a whole staff presentation - voluntary after school - check with Mrs. Liebl for exact dates and times.
Last year we looked at a couple products to provide a resource to reduce gaps in foundational skills. We will purchase one of these products this spring to address those needs.
Each has alignment to the Iowa Core and the Workshop approach as well. While each will require some supplementing of Mentor Texts and Writing, whichever is chosen will provide a framework for foundational skills.
Teachers in grades KP-5 will pilot them for 12 weeks. A decision will be made in the spring for fall adoption.
PLC to Watch in February - Physical Education!!
PE SMART GOAL
By the end of the school year, 100% of the 5th - 12th grade students will achieve the FitnessGram standards in all four fitness categories of: Cardiovascular, Upper body strength, Core strength and Flexibility
Action Plan
- schools with outstanding physical fitness programs
- visit schools that also participate in fitness testing during P.E. class
- visit schools with programs who are using FitnessGram
- vist a school that is using the IHT (Interactive Health Technologies) Software SPIRIT system (data collection)
- attend P.E. conferences and conventions to obtain new strategies for our program.
- use social media to find new and inventive lesson plans
- use social media to help promote physical health of our students by reaching out to parents
If you see a PE teacher - thank them for their hard work and dedication to students!
PLC Survey Results
Challenge Question for February
- What is the one word highlighted in the video in this month's "Syllabus"????
Tool for Improvement - Student Engagment!
"High Levels of Engagement is when students are in charge of their learning; every student is learning. Engagement is when there is active participation and students are focused on the task provided by the Teacher/Facilitator. Students are productive and motivation is high." (Taken from the Tool for Improvement)
This is the definition on the "Tool for Improvement". Through conversations I think this category is the most frustrating for us as educators. What motivates students? What interests them? Why do they always need to be entertained?
These are important questions to be addressed. The article below might help answer what motivates students. I can't answer what your students are interested in - they all have their own unique interests we need to feed in the classroom. I can address the entertainment factor. No one ever said you had to be a comedian or an actor.... but think about your own experience as a student.
What motivated and still motivates YOU? You want someone with passion, who talks to you on your level, who tries to make your experiences as enjoyable as possible by dong hands-on learning that is relevant. That is the same our students are asking from us. Hands-on and active is always going to win out over lecture and sitting & listening - for MOST.
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences might help with ensuring you are addressing a variety of types of learning styles in your classroom instruction. A link is below if you want to know more.
One Word!
Now is a good time to reflect on how you have been doing with the word you chose.
- Do you still think about your ONE WORD?
- Do you still have it someplace visible?
- Have you shared the word with someone?
I hope, since many of you have your word displayed, you have it as a constant reminder. A couple of us at Central Office not only have it in our offices, but we have our word right above the copy machine.... I see it every time I use it.
How are you doing? Share your thoughts with someone you trust - I also would like to know how things are going...... so click play below and enjoy!!!