One more day!

Middle School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss a parent meeting I had a few weeks ago. It went well.

 

Board Office:

• Attended a meeting of the joint committee of union and administration that is working to come up with solutions to the PLC time issue.

 

High School:

• Observed a teacher deliver a pretty good lesson.
• Covered the library so the staff there could attend an office luncheon. It was fun! I got to check in/out a couple books and read the school newspaper.
• Attended the high school supervisors' meeting. The focus was on a new high school schedule that will be proposed for next year.
• Met with a former student who unexpectedly stopped by to give me a thank you/Christmas present for writing her a college recommendation.
• Processed information in a NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association e-mail.
• Previewed a digital map resource.
• Worked on the weekly update.

Pretty unstructured day

High School:

• Spent time working on a bulletin board that now features student opportunities in Social Studies including contests, scholarships, travel, etc.
• Met for post-observation conferences with two teachers. Both were fine.
• Reviewed lesson plans with a focus on world history.
• Delivered Civil War calendars to all of the high school teachers.
• Cleaned up some things in my office that were long overdue.
• Tried to figure out how to access my school e-mail on my iPhone.
• Prepared for a parent conference later this week by reviewing information sent to me by the applicable teacher.
• Put together my monthly report.
• Sent an e-mail to the elementary REACH teachers following up on yesterday's meeting.
• Met with the teacher who I gave a needs improvement evaluation to last week to accept his/her rebuttal statement.

 

Board Office:

• Prepared calendars to deliver to intermediate school.
• Research Township boards and commissions and applied to serve on one of the following: Youth Services, Historic Preservation, Arts and Culture
• Spoke on the phone with the teacher referenced earlier who has a student issue that is leading to a parent conference on Thursday.
• Met with my secretary to plan some things for January and February.
• Sent an e-mail to elementary principals to schedule grade 2 cognitive ability testing for initial REACH placement.
• Read a state report about teaching kindergarten.

A long, worthwhile day

Intermediate School:

• Conducted my first joint grades 5 and 6 meeting. The main topic was trying to figure out a way to get all the 5^th grade teachers to be consistent with what they taught so there was potential for a tough meeting. It went well though and I think we came up with a workable plan.

 

Board Office:

• Finalized the honors assessment documents for copying.
• Followed up on a (good) student issue with a high school teacher.
• Rescheduled a mock interview for the student teacher at the high school.
• Responded to a sick staff member who missed the meeting this morning.
• Responded to a parent request for a meeting to discuss problems with a high school teacher (same teacher I've had most problems with).
• Rescheduled an observation due to a newly scheduled meeting.
• Updated the district website.
• Prepared Civil War calendars for distribution to all American history teachers in grades 5-6 and 9-12.
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher who had to leave early due to a sick child.
• Came up with a proposed change to the teacher union's contract that would solve (I think) the issue of not having enough time for PLCs to meet and forwarded it to the assistant superintendent.
• Caught up on my research updates.
• Helped the supervisor of world languages/ESL move some gifts for an evening event.
• Reviewed lesson plans.

 

Elementary School:

• Met with the REACH teachers to discuss the testing season which begins in January and leads to what I am told is the hardest part of my job – dealing with parents of students who don't make it.

 

Middle School:

• In the evening, Ali and I came back to support the world language/ESL supervisor's evening program for adults/children. The program is funded by federal grant money. It is designed to get parents and students who have limited English ability to trust the school and to tell them about services that are available in the community. While the parents are with the supervisor or a guest speaker (tonight was the supervisor of nursing), the kids are playing in another room with high school student volunteers from the language honor society. The English language learner population is mostly Spanish-speaking, but there are significant numbers of Polish-speaking students and a variety of Asian language-speaking students as well. The highlight of the night was when all the kids received Christmas presents that had been donated by central office staff.

 

Last Full Week Before Break Over

High School:

• Conducted a post-observation conference with a teacher that was fine.
• Sent an e-mail to the director of guidance regarding changes to the social studies program for 2011-12.
• Grabbed interesting material from a state organization's e-mail to share in future weekly updates.
• Edited the honors assessment documents.
• Distributed the weekly update.
• Met with another teacher for a fine post-observation conference.
• Gathered a couple articles for distribution at Monday's REACH meeting.
• Set up a new background for the social studies bulletin board.
• Spoke to the assistant superintendent about a couple questions related to POs and a course I requested to take through the University of Phoenix.
• Checked on supplies for an upcoming order.
• Tried to figure out how to use the digital video cameras in my office.
• Met with a teacher for a tougher post-observation conference. I evaluated this teacher as needing improvement in one area and made some strong recommendations about poor instructional materials. The meeting was respectful on both sides.
• Met with a teacher for an okay post-observation conference. I don't think we agree philosophically on the level of expectation for college prep classes, but nothing terrible happened during the meeting.

 

Board Office:

• Sent the honors assessment information to one 8^th grade teacher to get some feedback. Made changes based on the excellent responses I received.
• Looked through some potential resources and materials for an order.
• Updated the district-wide social studies Moodle (online course) with great materials to share with the 5^th and 6^th grade teachers at Monday's meeting.

Lots of honors work

High School:

• Finished up some observation reports to send out to teachers.
• Sent out the eighth grade pacing summary. This was the first weekly summary that led to significant discussion. The eighth grade teachers are far from where the curriculum map says they should be and they had strong feelings about why that was. My e-mail spurred tough but respectful e-mail correspondence about the idea of common pacing.
• Observed an average high school lesson.
• Read through an issue of Education Week.
• Met with the teachers of World History Honors to design the eighth grade honors assessment. Despite three distinct philosophies, we managed to come up with something that all of us could accept. This was one of those challenging but necessary collaborative activities in which I must find ways to engage.

 

Board Office:

• Typed up and formalized the World History Honors assessment and sent everything back to the teachers for a final look over before copying and bringing to the middle school teachers.

Full Day at the BOE

Board Office:

• Monthly principals/supervisors meeting. This is when the principal(s) at each level come in to meet with all the curriculum supervisors in four separate sessions throughout the morning. Today's went pretty well and the new superintendent was an active participant.
• Wrote up a note to go along with the books I purchased for all the middle school teachers as a holiday gift.
• Copied a holiday toy tips article for the REACH teachers.
• E-mailed a high school teacher about students I observed copying homework while in another teacher's room.
• Spoke to an elementary school parent about her daughter's test results for REACH.
• Forwarded information about a summer Holocaust education program at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
• Worked on the weekly update.
• Proofread a letter to be sent to the 3^rd grade students' parents who were tested for REACH in the fall and not accepted.
• Applied for course reimbursement for an online graduate class devoted to gifted and talented program design.
• Spoke with the supervisor of world languages and English as a second language programs about certificate options.
• Packed up some sample materials for return.
• Put together a curriculum pacing guide for the intermediate school department meeting on Monday.

Some tough situations today

High School:

• Observed the teacher with whom I needed to talk about the student-teacher relationship. The lesson was in a Gender Studies class and focused on eating disorders. I was not happy with the lack of student participation or with a video that was shown that I felt was inappropriate.
• After the observation I shared the student's concerns with the teacher. Although I tried to keep him anonymous she knew right away who I was talking about. She brushed it off as a disagreement that has since been mended. I reminded the teacher that her private life and personal problems are not for high school students to deal with. What I didn't think of until later is that a student getting mad at a teacher and running to tell someone else about it sounds like a peer-peer relationship.
• Did some research into the types of websites that post videos like the one shown in the class.
• Responded to REACH and classroom teacher of a student whose parents contacted me a few weeks ago with concerns about not making the program. The parents are already pushing the teachers for nominations to the program again this spring, but our past practice has been not to test a student more than once in a school year.
• Observed a teacher present a lesson on the Holocaust. There were some really creative, student-centered moments, but it was mostly a fast-paced lecture that was not nearly as effective as I think it could have been.
• Informally met with the senior member of the department who shared concerns about another department member giving a third department member a hard time.
• Responded to a teacher's (teacher who received multiple "needs improvements" on an observation early on) e-mail for information on a variety of topics.
• Sent my secretary an e-mail asking her to prepare to send test score reports to all 3^rd grade students we screened in October/November for REACH. For some reason, these scores have not been sent in the past and I am getting calls looking for them.
• Completed and distributed a press release about last week's IEEE visits to the high school.
• Met with one of the teachers who transferred from the middle school to update her professional development plan.
• Worked on the updates to the Program of Studies.
• Met with a vice principal to update him on the teacher/student issue.
• Put together a seniority list of all social studies teachers in grades 5-12 so I'd have an idea of where everyone falls in that regard.
• Forwarded my proposed honors/AP criteria to the high school principal for review.
• Sent an e-mail to the only high school teacher who has not been scheduled for an observation.
• Did some research on the use of rubrics by other nearby districts for continuity in evaluation.
• Conducted a post-observation conference that led to an extended discussion about honors/AP courses and other things.
• Researched the AP audit process required by the College Board.
• Met with a teacher who will be working on designing the honors assessment on Thursday.
• Looked into some resources requested by 6^th grade teachers for ordering.

A New Week

Middle School:

• Conducted the monthly department meeting with a focus on 8^th grade honors testing and a demonstration of online lesson planning tips.

 

High School:

• Prepared for the day's observation.
• Observed a US History II CP class that was okay.
• Began the new weekly update.
• Processed the feedback teachers sent on Friday and over the weekend in place of our department meeting.
• Completed a survey conducted by the University of Virginia about gifted and talented programs.
• Observed an excellent AP US History class.

 

Board Office:

• Prepared a document to update teachers' professional development plans who are now at the high school.
• Used information provided by an intermediate school vice principal to nominate a grade 5 teacher for elementary school American history teacher of the year.
• Sent a reminder to everyone yet to submit this week's lesson plans.
• Prepared for this week's observations.
• Did a little clean up work on the PLC myth/fact sheet that seems to have hit a stumbling block.
• Responded to a teacher's comment that sophomores should not be allowed to take AP courses.

Only one more full week before break!

Board Office:

• Sent an observation report to a high school teacher.
• Sent in an RSVP for a NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association meeting in January.
• Read up on some professional development opportunities for Summer 2011.
• Sent an e-mail to the union VP in my department to gauge teachers' plan to attend the wake on Monday afternoon. This was to decide whether to hold the scheduled department meeting.
• Called a REACH parent to answer questions about the program and how it changes in grades 6-8.

 

Intermediate School:

• Conducted post-observation conferences with two teachers I saw earlier in the week. Both were fine.
• Distributed a memo to high school teachers with information I would have reviewed at the department meeting. It contained three big hitting items: 1) new honors/AP criteria; 2) instructions to create mostly common midterm exams, and 3) the possibility that we'd be eliminating the standard level world history class next year.

 

High School:

• Met with a vice principal who called me in the morning with a concern about a teacher. I then met with a senior who has this teacher to hear the concerns. Allegedly, the teacher tries to be too much of a peer with students. For example, the teacher passes notes to students saying things like, "I'm not happy with how I talked to you the other day. I had a terrible night and didn't sleep well." In addition, the teacher shares very personal information with students in an inappropriate way. For example, "I don't know if I can teach today because my spouse is mad at me." I agreed to keep the student anonymous if possible but told him/her that if he/she felt uncomfortable in class, we needed to make a schedule change. I will talk with the teacher about these concerns early next week.
• Attended meetings with the special education supervisor and the two special education/social studies teams teaching standard world history. All four teachers indicated a desire to maintain the standard level of the course while the other supervisor and I expected they would support eliminating the course to raise the expectation to college prep for all students. As we talked with the teachers, it became clear that they do support the idea, but they are concerned about various aspects of implementation. 2011-12 will probably be the last year with standard, but we decided to give it another year to better prepare the staff.
• Met with the second most veteran teacher in the department for a post-observation conference. This teacher has been very supportive and we had a good discussion about my 3 big idea memo and some other things.
• Distributed my weekly update to all district social studies teachers.
• Talked with two high school teachers informally about the memo after school since they were outside my office in the teacher workroom.
• Met with another high school teacher who walked by my office and wanted to share thoughts about the memo.
• Reviewed staff emails responding to the memo. I asked for feedback since we wouldn't have the opportunity for the face-to-face meeting so this is a good thing!

A Sad Day

Last night a current high school physical education teacher passed away. He had been employed by the school district for 36 years.

 

High School:

• Attended a 7am emergency faculty meeting where the principal shared the details of the staff member's death and plans for the supporting grieving students and teachers. I walked the halls during the homeroom announcement to students. Although I did not know this teacher, it was sad to see students and teachers crying. Good administrators plan for these sorts of situations well ahead of time so that all the pieces are in place to handle them even when emotions are high. The handouts about grieving, the roles for different counselors, etc. are all written with a space for the name of the teacher or student. It sounds morbid, but it helps things go smoothly as they did today.

 

Board Office:

• Prepared to share some tips with using the online lesson planner at Monday's middle school department meeting.
• Approved some purchase orders.
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting. Since I had my laptop, I jumped onto Google Docs with the Director of Technology and we co-wrote a summary of PLC facts. This gave me a much more active role in the meeting and helped the time move along more quickly.
• After the meeting we took the Assistant Superintendent out to lunch for her birthday at a great catering/cafe that I hadn't been to before.
• Contacted the National Council for History Education to get some information about their program evaluation services.
• E-mailed the existing honors teachers to get some feedback on my honors/AP criteria proposal.
• Finished planning for Monday's department meetings at the middle and high schools.
• Researched engrade.com resources.

An early morning

High School:

• Informally observed the former supervisor and at a Rutgers professor present a lesson in a world history class. This is part of an outreach program from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The group has been piloting this program to bring science and technology to students via social studies. Today's lesson focused on European exploration using the astrolabe and compass.
• Finalized a series of observation reports and sent them out
• Observed the most veteran social studies teacher. She did a good job, but I do have a couple recommendations for her. I think it'll be fine.
• E-mailed a high school teacher about meeting to refine her professional development plan due to her switch from the middle to high school.

 

Intermediate School:

·        Conducted the post-observation conference with a teacher I saw earlier this week who did a trial simulation. It went well.

·        Popped in to two sixth grade classes that were displaying the final products of an interdisciplinary project. It was built around a circuits unit in science, but the teachers had the students create dioramas of a room in the White House, build a circuit to light the room, and then write a feature story about an event in that room. I had the chance to ask a few students to tell me about their rooms.

 

High School:

• Corresponded with the REACH teacher with whom I had a post-observation conference earlier in the week. She requested that I change wording in my recommendation. I agreed to do it, but now I think she let me leave with an unsigned copy of her recommendation on purpose!
• E-mailed a middle school teacher to schedule time to meet to discuss the REACH parents who I met with a few weeks ago.
• Conducted a pre-observation conference with a teacher. She is covering pretty challenging topics in her elective courses (abortion, eating disorders, etc.) so we talked about how that is going and what I'll see when I visit next week.
• Began the process of nominating a K-6 teacher for an award through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

 

Board Office:

• Began preparing to demonstrate some tips and tricks using our online lesson planner at next week's middle school meeting
• Spoke with a high school teacher about hosting student teachers
• Finalized my curriculum briefs for the new superintendent
• Began a press release about today's IEEE program
• Sent the honors assessment notification letter to my secretary to be copied for all eighth graders
• Researched opposition to the social studies standards in NJ to get a better sense of opposing viewpoints

Insert title here

Board Office:

• Completed paperwork for Rutgers Graduate School of Education for student teacher
• Reviewed previous supervisor's monthly reports for ideas on what I should be working on
• Skimmed an issue of Educational Leadership and followed up on some ideas it suggested
• Researched New Jersey and National History Day to share with middle school staff
• Reviewed lesson plans

 

Elementary School:

• Sat in on two fourth grade classrooms for Human Resources Day. A few parents came in and shared their jobs and then students, dressed to represent a chosen profession, told the class about the job. In one room, I talked about my job and answered students' questions about what a social studies supervisor does.

 

Elementary School 2:

• Conducted a post-observation meeting with a REACH teacher

 

Board Office:

• Spoke to a parent who called yesterday. He was upset because he daughter was being teased about not making REACH. His concerns were all over the place. At times he suggested that programs like REACH unfairly create a "haves" and "have nots" situation where we separate students. Other times he talked about how being the lead cheerleader has been such an esteem boost for his daughter. He threatened to pull his daughter out of the school system to send her to an expensive private school (talk about haves!) if she could not get all the opportunities from us that she wants. He also treaded dangerously close to some racist comments about "typical American students" versus Asian-American students.
• Spoke to the middle school principal about honors testing and follow-up on the meeting we had with the REACH parents a couple weeks ago
• Drafted the letter to be sent home to 8^th grade parents about honors testing
• Attended a webinar about 21^st century curriculum led by the author of a book I read recently
• Worked on the honors assessment spreadsheet

First Full Week of December

High School:

• Prepared for this week's observations.
• Observed a high school teacher who uses one very specific teaching style. It worked pretty well for most students, but it wouldn't work if this teacher had class sizes near the levels of the other teachers. With this particular approach, things went really well, but I think the rest of the arsenal might be limited.
• Spoke on the phone with the Director of Technology about getting Google Earth access for the teachers. We met later in the day and he showed me how we can make it work technologically. We seem to be developing a good working relationship. I think he's happy to have someone else in the office who seems interested in all the computer stuff.
• Worked on the REACH curriculum brief for the new superintendent.
• Typed up changes for the Program of Studies.
• Met with the student teacher for a post observation conference.

 

Intermediate School:

• Observed a 6^th grade REACH teacher doing a creative simulation lesson.
• Conducted a lesson plan review of 7^th grade teachers and forwarded a pacing guide to the teachers.
• Replied to the high school teacher whose lesson plans I have been critiquing. He challenged some comments I made last week even though he is still doing the same things I mentioned then.
• E-mailed a high school teacher who requested I conduct his formal observation 24 hours from the time he signed up even though I sent out the request for preferences over a month ago.
• Observed a 6^th grade teacher who facilitated a current events discussion. It was okay, nothing spectacular. She worked hard to get me there for a class when she wouldn't be directly teaching.

 

Board Office:

• Met with the Assistant Superintendent to talk about a PLC conference in Syracuse in August. We met later and she gave me the go ahead to eliminate the Standard level of World History next year and to make some other minor changes to the Program of Studies.
• Met with my secretary to get the scoop on an upset parent whose child did not make it into REACH last spring, but is just now expressing displeasure.
• Sent a high school teacher feedback, at his request, about the standards he connected his lesson plans to last week.
• Provided feedback to a middle school teacher about a project he is doing and the rubric he is using to assess the project.

Another Friday

High School:

• Attended a joint meeting between the curriculum supervisors and the guidance counselors. We discussed changes to the program for 2011-12, answered questions, etc. It was a good conversation although there are some things I haven't finalized yet. I have until December 20 to write everything up that I want changed before students start scheduling.
• Met with the secondary supervisor of special education to discuss the standard/ICS classes at the high school. After talking for awhile, we agreed to pursue eliminating the standard level of world history in 2011-12 because the social studies and special education teachers there are already holding the students to the CP standards (as they should be). Then we would eliminate the standard level of USI in 2012-13 and USII in 2013-14 as that class moves through the high school. I need to get an okay from my boss ASAP on this.

 

Intermediate School:

• Conducted an observation of a teacher here. It was fine, but the students were not challenged to do too much thinking. We need to up the ante at the grade 5-6 levels.

 

Board Office:

• Scheduled a meeting with the teachers World History/Special Education teachers currently teaching the level that would be eliminated. We'll meet together with the special education supervisor to consider the implications of the change.
• Developed a sample question for the 8^th grade honors assessment and sent it along to the teacher who will be writing the essay.
• Worked on finalizing the rest of my observation schedule. I have a crazy December, but then things will dramatically slow down in January.
• Left a message for the middle school principal to talk about the honors assessment changes.
• Updated my calendar through June to reflect the district calendar.
• Worked on the plan for my December 13 department meetings at the high school and middle school.

Tough day?

Today was one of those days when conversations left me feeling anxious.

 

High School:

• Exchanged e-mails with a high school teacher about using the standards more effectively in lesson plans.
• Met with a high school teacher to talk about honors/AP criteria.
• Observed a high school teacher. It was a pretty good lesson with good student engagement.
• Followed up on a request from a high school teacher by sending some materials over.

 

Intermediate School:

• Conducted pre-observation conferences with two teachers. Both were a little odd. Teacher A wanted to meet with me so she could "meet me" (even though we've met) and so she could make sure I know that her students are low performing (even though I'm sure they aren't ALL low performing). Teacher B was frantic about lesson planning so I had to try to calm her down.

 

High School:

• Arranged for the two Honors World History teachers to be released from their schedules for half a day so we could work on the honors test.
• Wrote two recommendation letters for former students.
• Responded to the same parent of a "no" REACH candidate who began harassing an elementary teacher.
• Distributed the Grade 6 lesson plan pacing summary.
• Met with a high school teacher for an awkward pre-observation conference. The teacher was adamant that there is nothing special in the classroom. Every night students read. Every day there is a discussion. Period. End of story. This teacher also asserted that my e-mail about PLCs (which I considered more carefully than anything else I've sent out this year) had a negative tone and accused teachers of not being motivated to improve student achievement.

 

Board Office:

• Analyzed a current REACH student's intelligence test results in preparation of replying to a parent e-mail requesting a copy.
• Forwarded some information about the existing honors test to the teachers helping write the new one.
• Filled out the paperwork to attend a NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association meeting in January.
• Completed the second round of FEMA Incident Command Structure training.
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent about my course proposals.
• Sent an e-mail to the two most likely candidates to teach a new AP Economics course.

Starting month 4

Board Office:

• Finished the PLC response e-mail and sent it to the high school department. I only received one response on day 1. I'm interested to see how others react.
• Responded to an e-mail from the Grade 7 PLC about their first day's work. I gave them some practical tips on how to proceed.
• Continued analyzing Grade 6 lesson plans for pacing.
• Reviewed all social studies lesson plans and provided feedback to a number of people.
• Responded to a parent e-mail requesting copies of testing results.
• Worked on the Grade 8 honors test and the honors and AP criteria for the other courses we offer at the high school.
• Completed FEMA's Incident Command Structure training for school leaders part 1.
• Attended a joint meeting between the teachers' union leadership and district administrators devoted to finding a long-term solution to the obstacles impeding PLC implementation. It went really well with some thoughtful, out-of-the-box ideas about how we might proceed.
• Spoke with the Assistant Superintendent about some gifted and talented research she came across and the process for getting release time for two teachers to do some work for me.
• Spoke with the math supervisor about some things that came up at the meeting.

Last Day of November

High School:

• Responded to an elementary teacher's request for some information about state standards
• E-mailed the Assistant Superintendent with some information about PLCs
• Spoke with a high school teacher who was just accepted to the same Master's degree program I completed
• Held a pre-observation conference and conducted an observation for a student teacher.
• Spoke with a textbook publisher's representative via e-mail and met with a representative from Follett to see if we could sell any of our older used books.
• Worked on my PLC e-mail to the HS staff.

 

Board Office:

• Attended to a few quick things before running out to another observation.

 

Elementary School:

• Conducted an observation of the final elementary REACH teacher. It was okay, but not nearly as impressive as the previous five.

 

Board Office:

• Submitted course proposals with the HS principal's signature to the Assistant Superintendent for AP World History and AP Microeconomics/AP Macroeconomics.
• Registered to take the GREs later in December, an important prerequisite for applying to most doctoral programs.
• E-mailed the honors world history teachers to schedule a time to plan the honors test.

 

First Day Back

Middle School:

• Ran the monthly department meeting. It went pretty well although we were sluggish starting due to people coming back from Thanksgiving break. Discussion of a few important topics such as honors testing, PLCs, OnCourse, went well.

 

Intermediate School:

• Held a pre-observation conference with a teacher I will be seeing later in the week.

 

Board Office:

• Prepared for upcoming observations.
• Worked on the weekly update.
• Completed my monthly report and submitted it to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.
• Prepared for December department meetings.
• Participated in an online discussion about a 5^th grade Colonial Day celebration.

 

High School:

• Found atlases in a storage closet that were supposed to go to a middle school teacher.
• Read two issues of Education Week.
• Held a post-observation conference with a high school teacher who I observed just before break.
• Researched how to become a reader for AP exams. Although I can't do it because I am not an AP teacher, some of my staff would greatly benefit from participating.
• Held a pre-observation conference with a high school teacher who is one of the most veteran but also one of the most interested in innovation in the department.

 

Board Office:

• Spoke with the intermediate school guidance counselor about the student whose mother wants a REACH screening NOW. I am expecting an angry parent phone call in the near future.
• Followed up on the DBQ Project workshop with the teachers who attended.
• Proofread the high school teachers' monthly report summaries.
• Created a flyer and updated the school website to reflect a Law Day video contest for students.
• Researched a few items to order based on an earlier meeting with a high school teacher.
• Did a quick preview of this week's lesson plans.
• Worked on an e-mail to the high school department about PLCs.

An Old Entry

Apparently I missed a day last week. This is a summary of what I did on Tuesday, November 23.

 

Elementary Schools:

• Conducted post-observation conferences with two elementary school REACH teachers.

 

High School:

• Cleared some e-mail and worked on observation scheduling
• Worked on the weekly update
• Worked on honors analysis
• Met with a teacher to provide support with using OnCourse
• Prepared for my afternoon REACH meeting at the middle school
• Met with a teacher who attended a voluntary workshop over the weekend
• Research graduate school options
• Updated the district website

 

Middle School:

• Met with three parents along with the principal to hear their concerns about a particular teacher and the general REACH model being used this year at the middle school. Answered questions and provided information as necessary. The parents left feeling good about how things went.

 

Board Office:

• Ordered some supplies/materials that can be used as holiday goodies at our December meetings – a 2011 Civil War calendar for teachers at the intermediate and high schools and a book of fun/weird world history facts for the middle school
• Distributed observation report from yesterday's observation
• Prepared for middle school department meeting
• Analyzed marking period 1 grades at intermediate, middle, and high schools
• Looked through an online map resource

Time for a break!

The final day before Thanksgiving break was a short day for administrators as well. We were dismissed a little before 2pm. Most of my colleagues were out using vacation days so it was a quiet day.

 

Elementary Schools:

• Conducted two good post-observation conferences at two different elementary schools

 

High School:

• Met with one of the honors world history teachers to discuss feelings about honors/AP.

 

Board Office:

• Presented my correlation study about the honors testing procedures we use with grade 8 students to the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. She immediately agreed with my conclusion and gave me permission to move forward with my plans of adjusting the honors testing procedures for this year. The main change is moving the testing to one day only by eliminating sections of the test that seemed statistically insignificant in predicting who should move to honors.

 

High School:

• Back to the high school to meet with the other honors world history teacher about honors/AP. This meeting went really well.
• Sent out weekly update for Social Studies.

 

Board Office:

• Responded to the Intermediate School guidance counselor about a parent who was requested special REACH consideration.
• Prepared for Monday's Middle School department meeting.
• Followed up on odds and ends in the office.

A short week begins

High School:

• Prepared for observation
• Observed a high school teacher – the only one without tenure – deliver a pretty good lesson.
• Met with a teacher to discuss possible new AP courses
• Worked on compiling the honors data for my analysis of our honors testing procedures

 

Elementary School:

• Conducted a successful post-observation conference with a teacher

 

Intermediate School:

• Conducted a successful post-observation conference with a teacher

 

Board Office:

• Sent my response to a high school department member/union leader who questioned a statement I distributed last week about my expectations for lesson plans
• Cleared up some confusion about someone I am paying to help with REACH evaluations
• Worked on observation reports and getting them out to applicable staff members
• Met with math supervisor to continue the analysis of honors testing data. The conclusion seems to be that the methods we are using right now are not achieving their goal. That is, they don't accurately tell us who will be successful in honors at the grade 9 level. If this is the case, then the entire testing system may need to be scrapped. Unfortunately I am working on a very tight time frame to get this done.

Week Over!

Elementary School:

• Met with some teachers throughout the day. It was a half day for parent-teacher conferences so turnout was lighter than usual. I wasn't feeling too well so this was not a big let down for me.
• Observed a good REACH lesson.
• Sent my weekly update out to social studies teachers throughout the district.
• Continued working on the analysis of the honors world history entrance exam.

 

High School:

• Held a pre-observation conference with a teacher who I will be observing on Monday. The conversations went well. She is the only non-tenured teacher in the high school department so she is in a tough place knowing about budget concerns.

 

Middle School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher. It went well and was quick and to the point. We were on the same page and things were good to go.

 

Board Office:

• Finished putting together a summary of the high school department's concerns about implementing PLCs.
• Did some preparation work for next week.