Thursday, April 28

High School:

• Rescheduled supervisors' PLC meeting originally planned for tomorrow
• Talked to an elementary REACH teacher about trip logistics
• Sent a reminder e-mail to an elementary principal about my visit next week
• Conducted annual performance reviews with two high school teachers
• Read a few articles
• Responded to a parent e-mail regarding REACH
• Unpacked new textbooks and updated inventory
• Sent information on texts for disposal to the assistant superintendent for future board approval
• Corresponded with the intermediate school principal about Colonial Day planning
• Sent an e-mail to the organizers of the Holocaust speakers congratulating them on a job well done
• Ordered bagels and invited the high school department to a breakfast next week in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week
• Met with a high school teacher to provide guidance on completing annuals
• Wrote annuals for two elementary REACH teachers, scheduled reviews, and sent documents to their principals for signature
• Responded to an intermediate school principal about REACH nominations
• Met with a high school teacher for annual performance review
• Responded to an e-mail from a candidate for a potential middle school social studies teacher opening

 

Board Office:

• Reviewed some of the 70 applications that have come in for the middle school social studies teacher opening that was posted online yesterday
• Sent out information about the local cohort of the Gifted Education Graduate Certificate program
• Completed paperwork to take these courses myself beginning in June. I have decided to defer my doctoral program by a year partly to take these courses.

Wednesday, April 27

Board Office:

• Catch up on a few things in the office, check e-mail, etc.

 

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated the second meeting of the Colonial Day planning committee. Some excellent progress was made and it looks like we are in good shape to make this happen in May 2012.

 

Elementary School:

• Observed two finalists for the REACH position conduct demo lessons. Both did a pretty good job although one was clearly superior to the other. Since that person was an internal candidate, we called her down and told her that she was our choice later in the morning.

 

Board Office:

• Met with a former REACH teacher who still helps with testing and our senior internship program to talk about a recognition breakfast for the interns.
• Sent an e-mail to the elementary REACH teachers informing them of the new member of the team.
• Sent a reminder to high school teachers who have yet to submit their monthly reports.
• Edited the monthly reports based on those received so far.
• Sent an e-mail to two intermediate school teachers about a parent's question regarding REACH nominations.
• Responded to a high school teacher's e-mail regarding a problem with a scheduled field trip.
• Spoke to the middle school principal about a possible teacher transfer.
• Met with a representative from Rutgers University to discuss the possibility of hosting a special cohort of its Gifted Education Graduate Certificate Program. We concluded the meeting with a tentative agreement. This will be a great opportunity for our teachers in 2012.

 

Today included some evening events:

 

Intermediate School:

• Observed one of two speakers who were telling their stories of surviving the Holocaust.

 

Board Office:

• Watched as the results of the school board/budget elections came in. The budget passed by a 2-1 margin. For my departments, that means: 1) we add two new AP courses and have money available for books and curriculum writing; 2) we create Colonial Day at the intermediate school and have money available to make it happen; 3) we completely transition to digital geography resources in grades 5-12.

 

 

Tuesday, April 26

Board Office:

• Update two annuals for this afternoon's conferences.
• Sent out information about May 20 REACH in-service.
• Respond to an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about REACH.
• Respond to a high school teacher's e-mail with a video resource she uses for World War II.
• Respond to a vendor's e-mail about text books.
• Send an e-mail to an independent contractor about REACH testing and a breakfast for REACH senior interns.
• Read up on gifted education in some resources from the National Association for Gifted Children.
• Send e-mails to middle and high school principals about program review visits.
• Complete paperwork to attend Confratute in July.
• Upload information to Google Docs about the Three Cups of Tea summer assignment. Since Greg Mortensen wound up in the news a week or two ago for fabricating parts of the story, I think it might be good for us to adjust the assignment a bit.
• Respond to an e-mail from our gifted and talented program consultant.
• Continue working on a summary of the program review steering committee needs assessment surveys.

 

High School:

• Conduct annual evaluations for two teachers. Both went well.

 

Board Office:

• Respond to a high school teacher's e-mail about scheduling an annual conference.
• Review lesson plans with a focus on grade 8.
• Skim and highlight in Education of the Gifted and Talented.
• Respond to a high school student's request to take US History I over the summer.
• Respond to a parent's question about REACH screening.

 

Thursday, April 21

Board Office:

• Worked on the remaining social studies annual evaluations.
• Cleaned up the office.
• Watched a training video from the state principal and supervisor association about conducting teacher evaluations.
• Began working on an analysis of gifted and talented survey data from our steering committee meeting.

Wednesday, April 20

Although it is spring break, my contract requires me to work two 5-hour days (or use vacation).

 

Board Office:

• Wrote annual evaluations for the two teachers who will be receiving "needs improvement" ratings in one area. This is an extremely uncommon thing to do so I sent them to the high school principal for her review. She thinks they are worded well and done appropriately. These will not be comfortable meetings.
• Reviewed applications for the REACH position.
• Organized KidsVote materials to share with the president of the teachers' association.
• Cleaned up and decluttered around the office.
• Read and commented on the draft of the state social studies supervisors' association's letter to the commissioner of education about reforms to the teacher evaluation system.
• Sent instructions for adjustments to an annual to a teacher.
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about a Civil War reenactment.
• Read some recent articles.

 

High School:

• Put up a new bulletin board about the Civil War.

Friday, April 15

High School:

• Prepared for annuals.
• Left a message for the middle school principal regarding the teacher opening there.
• Caught up on reading about research and educational news.
• Conducted annual evaluation meetings with three teachers.
• Sent information to a high school teacher about changes to his PD hours.

 

Board Office:

• Sent a follow-up e-mail to the gifted and talented program review steering committee.
• Worked on analyzing the results of the survey I conducted at the meeting.

 

High School:

• Updated the REACH frequently asked questions page of the web site to address a concern raised at one elementary school.
• Responded to a REACH parent e-mail.
• Sent an e-mail to the middle school principal in response to his response to my phone call.
• Conducted annual evaluation meetings with two teachers.

 

Board Office:

• Sent the weekly update.
• Responded to a request for information about AP course materials from another district.
• Completed the paperwork to attend the PLC training institute in Syracuse, NY in August.

Thursday, April 14

High School:

• Got there just in time to participate in my first fire drill of the year.
• Met with one teacher for her annual evaluation and one teacher (main struggler) to talk about a project she created and plans for an individual PDP.

 

Board Office:

• Worked on the gifted and talented program review steering committee meeting for this afternoon. I put together an agenda, a PowerPoint, two participant activities, folders with packets of information, and a pre- and post-event survey.
• Met with the assistant superintendent to work out the details.
• Ran the first meeting of the gifted and talented program review steering committee. This meeting included the assistant superintendent, directors of special services and guidance, four principals (middle, intermediate, and two elementary schools), seven teachers (middle, 3 intermediate, 3 elementary), two supervisors, and my secretary (who was also a REACH parent). In other words, we had a full crew of important people who have the power to make changes happen. Although I arrived today with only a general framework in place, my work throughout the day paid off and the meeting went really well with great conversations about some tough questions. We have a lot of work to do over the next several months, but we are off to a great start.

 

Later in the evening...

 

• Performed for the first time with the Grand Staff Ensemble. This was the first time Ali and I were in a performing group together and we had a great time with a great group of people.

Wednesday, April 13

Elementary School:

• Conducted an interview with a final external candidate for the REACH position. We chose two to bring back for demo lessons after spring break – one internal and one external.

 

Board Office:

·        Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting.

·        Returned REACH phone calls.

·        Responded to a high school teacher's e-mail about his PDP.

·        Sent an e-mail to a parent/teacher candidate who volunteered to serve on the gifted and talented program review steering committee.

·        Sent reminders about annuals.

 

High School:

• Attended the high school supervisors' meeting. We focused on annuals and scheduling for next year.

 

Board Office:

• Responded to an e-mail from the president of the state social studies supervisors' association.
• Responded to a REACH testing question from the intermediate school.
• Worked on annuals.
• Prepared for the REACH program review meeting.
• Attended an impromptu meeting with the assistant superintendent and one of the student assistance counselors from the high school about a University's diversity council and some possible opportunities that would involved social studies classes.

Tuesday, April 12

High School:

• E-mailed the middle school principal about a social studies teacher opening that was created when a teacher announced her retirement last week.
• Provided a suggestion on how to handle an issue with a senior who is in danger of failing US History II and therefore not graduating.
• Responded to REACH e-mails and phone calls.
• Worked on some things for the gifted and talented program review.

 

Out of District:

• With three other members of the state social studies supervisors' associations, I helped draft a position letter to the acting commissioner of education with our group's stance on proposed changes to the teacher evaluation system.

 

High School:

• Sent an e-mail to all of the participants in the gifted and talented program review steering committee with information for our meeting.
• Worked on the annual for one high school teacher.

 

Intermediate School:

• Last rehearsal with the Grand Staff Ensemble before our spring concert.

Monday, April 11

Middle School:

• Attended the monthly department meeting. This was run by the librarian who provided teachers an overview of digital resources.

 

Board Office:

• Picked up some materials.

 

Elementary School:

• Attended a Museum of Surreal Art put together by fourth grade REACH students.

 

Elementary School 2:

• Co-conducted five interviews of potential REACH teachers. Despite excellent resumes and experience, the two external candidates were not great. I was going in hoping that one of them would be excellent, but the internal candidates were definitely stronger today.

 

High School:

• Attended a meeting of the supervisors' and principals' association to talk about some changes to our health benefits and to begin brainstorming about next year's negotiations.

 

Later in the evening...

 

Intermediate School:

• Attended a community demonstration of interactive projectors that are in the proposed budget to support the director of technology.
• Attended the board of education meeting to support the director of guidance and the special services administrators who were making presentations.

Friday, April 8

Last week was incredibly busy and, as you readers know, I did not post. However, I did keep notes so I am using some time today to catch you up.

 

Friday, April 8

 

Board Office:

• Reviewed applications for the REACH position.
• Responded to e-mails about REACH from parents.
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent to talk about the gifted and talented program review and KidsVote.
• Received confirmation from the trouble partner district that we are a go to officially be partners in the grant – good thing since I already submitted it with them as partners.
• Spoke on the phone with a high school vice principal about a teacher-student issue.
• Sent my recommendation in writing that KidsVote be returned to the teachers' association as a get out the vote event with support from my office as needed. For the past 7 years, the event has been run by the social studies department.
• Sent a PDP e-mail to a high school teacher.
• Provided feedback on annuals.
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about a CogAT issue.
• Prepared for interviews with elementary REACH candidates.
• Spoke on the phone with an elementary REACH teacher about some issues and one of the candidates.
• Sent Assistant Superintendent an e-mail about an emergency PO we need approved.
• Sent the weekly update.

 

Out of District:

• Attended the regional meeting of the state social studies supervisors' association.

 

High School:

• Participated in a meeting with the principal, teacher, and parent of a student who had a run in with the teacher. I don't think I was particularly effective as a facilitator/mediator of the meeting, but everything worked out in the end. The teacher was called to task for some practices that came to light, but the parent allowed us to move on from some potentially serious allegations.
• Sent out an e-mail reminder to people who would be meeting with me for annual conferences.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Board Office:

• Stopped in for a minute to pick up some paperwork I needed.

 

High School:

• Conducted annual review meetings with three teachers. All went well.
• Sent an e-mail to a teacher about her PLC assignment.
• Met with a vice principal about a parent who alleges a teacher bullied her son by putting his hand on the student's shoulder and pointing his finger in the student's face. I later met with the teacher who has a different version of the story.
• Met with a teacher about my insistence that he develop an individual professional development plan for next year.
• Sent information to an elementary principal so he could schedule REACH interviews for Monday.
• Wrote an annual review.
• Spoke on the phone with the person who runs the Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education at Rutgers University. We discussed consulting opportunities and the possibility of hosting the Certificate program on our campus if we get enough teachers involved.
• Attended a meeting of a district technology committee. The superintendent led an interesting discussion about what classrooms and learning experiences will look like five years down the road. He has some aggressive, visionary ideas that could make for some exciting growth.
• Attended a benefits workshop to learn about how things will change when our new benefits take effect in July.

Tuesday, April 5

Board Office:

• Reviewed applications for the elementary REACH position.
• Updated annual evaluations for teachers who submitted additional information.
• Met with the assistant superintendent to discuss the gifted and talented program review, KidsVote, and whether PLC hours should count in annual evaluations.
• Sent e-mails to various people who I wanted to personally invite to join the gifted and talented program review committee.
• Spoke with the president of the local affiliate of the teachers' association about the gifted and talented program review, KidsVote, and PDP development.
• E-mailed a potential G&T program review consultant with follow-up information.
• Met with the science supervisor to gain her perspective on some issues.
• Sent out invitations for annual review conferences to all of the high school teachers.
• Responded to an invitation to attend a day-long series of activities related to the Holocaust at the intermediate school.
• Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about PDP development.
• Responded to an e-mail from an intermediate school vice principal about missing text books.
• Responded to a middle school teacher's e-mail about REACH.
• Provided additional information to a middle school teacher about teaching about Japan.
• Engaged in an e-mail discussion with a high school teacher about the new tools for counting professional development hours.
• Sent information about a requested text to a high school teacher.
• Spoke to a high school senior about a missing text book from last year.

 

Intermediate School:

• Attended Grand Staff Ensemble rehearsal.

Monday, April 4

High School:

• Conducted the make-up department meeting for those people who have afternoon coaching responsibilities.

 

Middle School:

• Attended training for the administration of state testing in May.

 

Board Office:

• Responded to elementary teachers' request to meet to discuss professional development plans.
• Sent an e-mail regarding annual performance review to a high school teacher.
• Responded to a parent e-mail regarding REACH.
• Sent an e-mail to the middle school librarian about his role in next week's department meeting.
• Reviewed lesson plans with a focus on grade 9.
• Rescheduled a Colonial Day planning committee meeting as requested.
• Reviewed applications for the elementary REACH position.
• Attended an online webinar: "Align teacher online professional development to observation results."
• Distributed an agenda for Wednesday's elementary REACH meeting.
• Responded to an e-mail from our testing consultant about missing permission slips.
• Researched historic maps of the community and compared them to the current map. This was in preparation for presenting the 1860 map to the high school department as a potential resource.
• Sat in while my assistant superintendent called her counterpart in our partner district unsuccessfully. She did later talk to this person who indicated that he was bringing the request to the Board. Despite what's published on its website, this district did not approve partnering with us yet.

 

High School:

• Spoke with an elementary principal about REACH interviews. His position is that an internal candidate should be given the job. My position is the best person available should be given the job even if that person is not currently in the district.
• Ran the regular department meeting. Things went pretty well.
• Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher who did not attend the meeting.
• Responded to an e-mail from a middle school teacher about teaching about the current crisis in Japan.

Friday, April 1

Most of my day today was spent waiting for information from the partner district so that I could upload the grant. There were a lot of phone calls and e-mails related to that not all of which I can properly summarize here.

 

Board Office:

• Spoke with Assistant Superintendent (AS) about the grant situation beginning at about 6:15am via text message and continuing at 7:30am when I got into the office.
• Reviewed applications for the elementary REACH position.
• Completed the high school department meeting agenda for Monday.
• E-mailed a member of the Historic Preservation Commission to request a donation of reproductions of the 1860 farm map of the Township. This member agreed and brought them in today. What a great addition these will make to our schools and history instruction!
• Responded to a parent's questions about REACH.
• Distributed a draft permission slip to use for the REACH trip to Philadelphia Museum of Art.
• Responded to a parent e-mail about REACH.
• Spoke with the AS to provide an update on the grant issue. Nothing new to update as no one from the partner district contacted me yet.
• Spoke to the Director of Curriculum in one of the districts I taught in to see if he could help me out with a last minute partnership just in case the original district did not come through. He contacted his supervisor to talk about it. I responded to e-mails from her later in the day.
• Left messages for the social studies supervisor and AS in the partner district asking for updates.
• E-mailed AIHE to let them know about the issue. The president of the company called me and we worked out a solution by using the minutes from a Board meeting that indicated the partner was going to work with us in place of a signed partnership letter. Although this letter would eventually be necessary, the belief was that the minutes were good enough to apply.
• Distributed the social studies weekly update.
• Began preparing for Kids Vote – an annual get out the vote campaign that allows elementary students to participate in a vote parallel to the school election/budget vote. This is April 27 and, with a week of spring break, I'm a little behind in getting this off the ground.
• Read a couple more chapters in Social Studies for the Twenty-First Century.
• Spoke with the partner social studies supervisor. His AS indicated that he would review our proposal over the weekend, contact members of the Board on Monday, and then decide how to proceed. This isn't really a good solution, but I don't think I'm getting anything better. I forwarded the requested information later in the evening.
• Uploaded our grant proposal to the Department of Education.
• Immediately after uploading, I received a phone call from the office of our district's US Representative indicating that he was going to send a letter on behalf of our grant. I had requested this weeks ago and I got it right after it was too late to include it in the application package.
• E-mailed my AS and former district to update on where we were.

Thursday, March 31

High School:

• Responded to an elementary REACH teacher's questions about testing result notifications.
• Sat for an interview with a student from the robotics team about the role I think technology plays in society.

 

Board Office:

• Participated in the supervisors' PLC meeting.
• Made final adjustments to the grant narrative.
• Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about her individual PDP.
• Spoke on the phone with an elementary REACH teacher to follow up on this morning's e-mail.
• Responded to the intermediate school principal's question about PLCs.
• Reviewed applications for the elementary REACH position.
• Left a voice mail for an elementary principal about the open REACH position.
• Submitted my monthly report.
• Uploaded most of the grant information to the federal government.
• Left a message for a consortium district that still has not sent its partnership letter for the grant. That is the only piece missing from our application.
• Edited the REACH notification letter.
• Worked on annual performance reviews.
• Read the first few chapters of Social Studies for the 21^st Century.

 

After work, I went to an open house at the robotics' team's warehouse to learn more about what they do. Two social studies teachers from the high school advise the group and the students are trying to expand beyond the typical robotics' circle to include a wider range of community members. These kids are amazing! The students led me from station to station and explained all of the different roles they fill: strategy, design, public relations, electrical, mechanical, etc. I had some idea of what robotics was all about before I got there, but I left with a much greater appreciation for what these kids can do. Amazing, amazing stuff! They even support their competitors by donating money to new teams, publishing their standard operating procedures online for novices to learn from, etc.

 

Right before I got to robotics, I checked a voice mail from the missing partner district. It seems they were convinced by an outside person (Dr. S.) that we had decided to abandon our grant to join his. This person did contact us, but we respectfully declined due to our own plans to apply. The partner district then sent him an agreement instead of us. I spoke with the social studies supervisor later in the evening and sent an e-mail to my boss hoping that we can work something out. Tomorrow is the last day for applying so if we don't come up with a solution, we might not be able to apply after all of this work.

 

I also attended the monthly Historic Preservation Commission meeting. I learned some more about local history, which was great although I was a bit distracted by the grant situation.