Friday Focus
February 26, 2016
Happy Friday
The weather forecast looks great again this weekend! So that's exciting. Friday is great for a lot of reasons. We get to celebrate all the great things that have happened this week at BHS and then we're off to enjoy the weekend.
One great thing this week was FFA. It's National FFA Week and our chapter has been celebrating all week. Of course, it all started last Friday with an awesome breakfast. The chapter went to church together on Sunday, there was the Businessman's Breakfast on Wednesday, Lambert's on Friday, and of course tractors today. I actually ended up with the tractors on my way to school this morning. I posted a video below.
Thanks for the feedback earlier this week on the 1:1 program. Your perspective was very helpful. Part of the survey included some either/or questions that were kind of contrasting styles of learning. Please know my intent was not to imply one style is better or more important than another. Lots of approaches can be beneficial depending on the classroom goals. The great teacher is able to choose the style that best fits the needs of the students. You may have found it a little tough to choose, but it simply gives an idea of which way we lean on the various styles.
Although every style has its place, I do think that if we want students to be independent, self-directed learners, we have to give them practice and opportunities. I wrote a piece on my blog about making learning irresistible. Check it out if you get a chance. It was actually inspired by something one of our teachers shared with me.
Next week Ron and I will start meeting with teachers regarding summative evaluations. They are due to the board in March. Sheila will be in touch with you to schedule a time to meet. Please be ready to share a reflection on your SLO process. We're also going to ask ask the following: 1. What is a change in your classroom you are most proud of this year? 2. What is a student you feel like you've had a special impact on recently?
Please remember to nominate your colleagues for Master Teacher and Staff Person of the Year! It's a great way to lift up the great work someone is doing. Nominations are due by March 4th.
Master Teacher Nomination Form
Late Start Experiment
So the inspiration for this is EdCamp, where people choose topics that are interesting or important to them. You vote with your feet which session you attend. And then you share out what you've learned.
And it's okay if you don't attend any of the sessions if you don't want, provided you are using the time in the following ways. 1. You need time to work on your personal learning plan. 2. You're meeting with your department because that's what your entire team chooses to do. 3. You have other non-routine work to do. By non-routine, I mean things that are outside of the regular expectations of your job. We shouldn't be using Wednesday morning for grading papers, answering emails, or planning lessons.
You should do things on Wednesday morning that you believe have the potential to improve outcomes for students. Students are the end-users. They are the ones we serve. How can we create better, more effective learning for them? The Wednesday morning activities may be small things that add up to a big difference, or they may be efforts to truly be transformational.
We are seeking ideas for topics to include on a menu of choices. Once we have several ideas, we will share those out so you can plan what you would like to do. If you have a topic you would be willing to suggest and/or facilitate, let me know. Or shoot an email to Andy or Teresa.
Wouldn't it be great if this new structure help us overcome some of our biggest challenges? I foresee some groups tackling bigger issues and keeping at an idea until it really makes a difference. I think that would be amazing.
Watch for more information on our experiment. I'm excited to see what happens.
Vote for Aleena!!
Student Survey Results
Here are the results from the student technology survey. It seems to be working well for most students. Of course, we will also keep supporting the ones who don't feel as positive about the 1:1 learning.
Open House dates
Open House is Monday, March 7 from 5:00-8:00PM and Thursday, March 10 from 5:00-7:00PM.