"Super" Spruce Scoop
Volume 2 Edition 16
December 13, 2015
Thank you, Spruce Feeder Pattern!
Principal's Choice Award
Mrs. Shelton with her students...
Speech at P. O. Y. event...
Attendance Award
Looking Ahead... Mid-Year Reviews
District Principals' Meeting
Wednesday, Dec 16, 2015, 01:00 PM
D A Hulcy Middle School, Dallas, TX, United States
Secondary Schools Engaging Constituents
Spruce High School, Comstock Middle School and Balch Springs Middle School continue to find ways to engage students and parents outside of the school day. The Spruce leadership team recently had an evening meeting for parents of seniors. As you can see below, they had a very good turnout. Graduation is right around the corner, so making sure seniors are on-track is critical this time of year.
Comstock Middle School held an after school tutoring event this past week where nearly 350 scholars stayed to receive support. One might argue that 350 scholars is too many to provide the right support, I would respond that if we are able to get scholars to stay, we are creating the right mindset where scholars are investing in school and are becoming owners of their learning.
Last, but certainly not least, Balch Springs Middle School leaders continue to craft a plan to launch a girls single-gender school next fall, if approved. This past week, they hosted a joint advisory board meeting with Fred Florence Middle School to get feedback in final revisions of their application. Through Principal Rivera's leadership, they have worked extremely hard to develop a robust application.
"McMiracle on High 67"
“McMiracle on Highway 67” is a grassroots community project hosted and presented by Parrish McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd, owned by Mr. Roland Parrish. He personally purchases at least 150 bikes and 150 helmets, annually for students in participating schools among Dallas ISD. More than 300 students across the district benefitted from the generosity.
Fifteen elementary schools in the Dallas Independent School District were recipients of the 2015 “McMiracle on Highway 67. Among the Spruce feeder pattern were Rufus C. Burleson Elementary School and William Anderson Elementary School. Seen above is Mrs. Williams, Principal of Burleson Elementary. A special note of appreciation goes out to her for giving up her time on a Saturday to be with her scholars.
Marshall Memo
How to Help Effective Teachers Stay in Love with the Classroom
In this Education Week article, Scott Sterling says that after five years teaching middle school in a high-poverty district in Florida, he felt burned out and left the classroom. He misses the relationships with students and the feeling of making a difference in their lives, and offers five suggestions for what school leaders can do if they want to keep their best teachers from suffering a similar fate:
• Orchestrate staff bonding and collaboration. Teacher collegiality shouldn’t be based on random friendships and cliques, says Sterling. Grade-level, subject-area, and cross-curricular meetings need to be built into the schedule, and agendas should focus on planning units and lessons and examining student learning results, not administrative matters (which should be handled in e-mails and memos).
• Provide high-quality professional development. “Rah-rah speeches and deep dives into neurological research might be entertaining or even engaging,” says Sterling, “but they rarely translate into a difference in the classroom.” Better to ask teachers what will be helpful and organize truly relevant PD, some of it led by colleagues.
• Give staff members a voice in schoolwide affairs. “Set aside some time, either during a faculty meeting or at a separate gathering, to have a constructive conversation about how the school is working for everyone,” he suggests. To prevent the conversation from being hijacked by a minority of negative staff members, conduct a survey beforehand that gives the whole faculty a chance to choose from a range of possible issues.
• Challenge teachers within their success zone. “Successful teachers can sometimes get bored with being successful,” says Sterling. “Stagnation leads to burnout. Burnout leads to teachers leaving.” But it’s not always a good idea to assign these teachers to very challenging students or give them a radically different schedule, he says. Better to encourage pre-burnout teachers to try a new curriculum or a classroom practice at the edge of their comfort zone.
• Find opportunities for district-wide impact. Some successful teachers want to move on to district-level or school-leadership positions, but many want to stay in the classroom. Smart district leaders find ways for these teachers to have broader impact and get the recognition they deserve – perhaps leading district webinars, temporary coaching assignments, or short-term interventions helping teachers at another school. “Coaching from district personnel is one thing,” says Sterling. “Coaching from a mentor-teacher who is still in the classroom every day is quite another.”
“Extinguishing a Burnout: Actionable Ideas to Keep Teachers Engaged in Their Careers” by Scott Sterling in Education Week, December 2, 2015 (Vol. 35, #13, p. 28), www.edweek.org