The Weekly Roar
Notes from Nick Novak: Sunday December 6, 2015
Kudos...
to Curtis Galbreath and Paula Roberts for a job well done with Math Honor Society inductions this week. Congrats as well to all the new members!
to Veronica Valentine for a job well done with her induction ceremony. As she shared on Canvas, the Delta Scholars welcomed 25 new members on Thursday night. Congrats as well to all of these well-deserving young ladies!
to Bruce Strunk and the entire football coaching staff. Our Fall season came to an end on Friday night and, although the Lions weren't able to get the win, we are all proud of the incredible effort it took just to get M & T Bank Stadium. Great job!
as well to Chris Campbell, Jen DiPietro, and Daneace Jeffrey, whose work with the Marching Band, Dance Team, and Cheerleaders this Fall has been outstanding. Fantastic performance by all of the students, including the joint color guard sponsored by LTC Marshall and SFC Boone. Thanks for a great Friday night and an awesome season!
to Sara Crisera and Jen DiPietro for a wonderful Winter Dance Concert! All the students from Dance 1 all the way up to Senior Dance Company did an incredible job with the performances that they choreographed and their teachers choreographed. What a fun night!
FYI
1) The staff meeting on Monday 12/7 will be in the main gym and not in the cafeteria. See you at 2:20pm. An agenda will be sent out tomorrow.
2) All MP 2 Interim grades must be submitted by COB on Tuesday 12/8. Don't forget to include comments for students with D's and E's. It's important to communicate attendance concerns via comments as well. We send letters home as well, but the more we can do to let parents know, the better off we are in justifying a denial of credit.
3) Just as we are at the mid-point of the 2nd marking period, we are also nearing the mid-point of the year. That means mid-year conferences. Teachers, we will be scheduling midyear conferences in January so be prepared for the following:
* SLOs Only- you should have your baseline plus two data points uploaded on Teachscape. For your conference with an administrator, bring student samples of a student who represents growth and a student who represents a lack of progress/struggle.
* Full Evaluation- same for SLOs; for domains 1 and 4, it is suggested that you upload 4-6 artifacts (one per component). This will help you not get overwhelmed having to do all 12 at the end of the year. Use the description section of the upload to explain how your artifact demonstrates the critical attributes of the proficient/distinguished rating for that component.
Staff Birthdays
12/7 Hedy Cohen
Instructional Tidbit
As you probably know by now, I'm a bit of a Twitter junkie. In addition to being able to share news about the school, I love how Twitter can put quick PD tips into my hands. I always find something valuable in the links on my feed--like this quick read! It's a basic message, but don't forget that we don't have to make education more complicated than it already is. Make sure you're saying these five things to your class everyday and check out the whole article here.
1) Good Morning/Good Bye- it helps establish routine, but also reinforces the positive mood you want for you classroom.
2) Do You Understand?- You might not always get a response when asked as a whole class, so it's essential to follow that up with individual students as they are working.
3) What Do You Think about This?- Getting feedback from your students is a valuable way to determine if a certain strategy is effective or if your time would be better spent doing something else.
4) Why Is This Important?- If students don't see any benefit in an activity or relevance to their lives, they're not as inclined to expend any effort on it.
5) You've Done So Well. I'm Proud of You- Positive feedback is crucial in the classroom because it boosts students' self-esteem, gives them confidence to answer questions and tackle challenging material, and serves as an incentive to try harder.
It's the Holiday Season!
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