Principal's Corner
Volume VI - October 9, 2016
FOCUS ON THE WILDLY IMPORTANT
Teacher of the Month
Teachers, please announce this to your students, and post the link in your classroom.
What do the students think? (Highlights from this week's Teacher of the Month responses)
- Ms. Wentworth helps her students out,and makes class fun. She is also a person with a great personality and I as her student enjoy going to her class every morning, because if i start off with a bad mood she always seems to turn my mood around and i am thankful for that.
- Mr. Spruill's class is fun and he motivates you.
SHOUT OUTS!!!
Shout outs to:
- Misty Jarman for making the BREAKFAST CLUB happen this year. We had some TASTY items on this month's menu. It's never too late to join.
- Mike Huffman and SRO James Seifert, who stayed at RHS during the storm to ensure that the shelter ran safely and efficiently.
- The Wildcat Varsity Football players and coaches, who endured tough weather conditions in a rescheduled game on Thursday night.
- Jason Spruill, who came to campus on Sunday morning to check on the conditions of the athletic facilities after the storm.
- Morgan Huegel, who taught a great project-based lesson to his AFM class this week. All students engaged, all active participants in their learning.
- The teacher-leaders who have volunteered to represent RHS in the Onslow TLP:
Ken Brown, Jacqueline Gaddy, Dana Gurganus, Maria Lentz, Kimberly Metts, Cynthia Tucker, Gregory Shreckengost, Tamara Marshburn
- Our EC Program Coach Jennifer Marshall, Assistant Principal Frances Turner, and our EC teachers for working to quickly prepare Emergency IEP meetings and conducting them with professionalism and skill this week.
On a personal note, to all of you: I am continually impressed with your professionalism and warmth towards the students, parents, and each other. You are awesome to work with! I am blessed to be among you. -Brad Staley
Notes from the RHS Administrative Team
- See below for the policy on optional workdays.
- SLT Meeting, 2:30, Wednesday, Media Center
- We had a RECORD LOW number of teachers out last week. AWESOME!
- Grades are due by Tuesday at 8:00am.
Data Spotlight
Here are some ways to scoreboard in the classroom, without using student names.
PLC Spotlight
As we begin to refine PLCs on our campus, I will share some PLC fundamentals. This week's information is taken from DuFour's work with the PLC model.
Big Idea #2: A Culture of Collaboration
Educators who are building a professional learning community recognize that they must work together to achieve their collective purpose of learning for all. Therefore, they create structures to promote a collaborative culture.
Despite compelling evidence indicating that working collaboratively represents best practice, teachers in many schools continue to work in isolation. Even in schools that endorse the idea of collaboration, the staff's willingness to collaborate often stops at the classroom door. Some school staffs equate the term “collaboration” with congeniality and focus on building group camaraderie. Other staffs join forces to develop consensus on operational procedures, such as how they will respond to tardiness or supervise recess. Still others organize themselves into committees to oversee different facets of the school's operation, such as discipline, technology, and social climate. Although each of these activities can serve a useful purpose, none represents the kind of professional dialogue that can transform a school into a professional learning community.
The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement.
Notes from the coach - Mary Wible
Data Wall – Who are we growing?
If you were asked to predict which category or subgroup of students were not meeting expected growth at RHS – what category or subgroup would come to mind? Would it be a specific gender, ethnicity, or ability/disability?
The photo below reflects school EVAAS data for 2015-16 in the three tested areas of Biology, Math 1, and English 2 by proficiency levels.
· Blue = Exceeded expected growth for one year of instruction
· Green = Met expected growth for one year of instruction
· Red = Did not meet expected growth for one year of instruction
In your professional conversations with colleagues this week, consider these questions:
· Does this confirm what we already know? Does it challenge what we thought?
· What important observations seem to “pop out” from the data?
· Are there surprising observations? Unexpected observations?
Finally, consider this final question: “Now -what do we do with this knowledge?”
AVID Strategy of the week
Designed for discussion several topics during a class period. Students divide into several groups according to particular topics and serve as consultants to each other. They can be instructed to report out briefly at the end of the period.
MTSS Tidbit: Critical Components, Part 4
The three-tiered instructional/intervention model is another critical element of MTSS implementation. In a typical system, Tier 1 includes the instruction delivered to all students; Tier 2 includes supplemental instruction or intervention provided to students not meeting benchmarks; and Tier 3 includes intensive, small-group or individual interventions for students facing significant barriers to learning the skills required for school success. It is important to consider academic, behavior, and social-emotional instruction and interventions when examining this domain