Friday, June 24

Most of today was devoted to two active shooter drills at the high school. More information about the drills can be found at http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/emergency-response-training-simulates-shooter-scenario#photo-6735516.

 

High School:

• My role in scenario one was to play a victim who tripped while running out of the shooting area and mangled his fingers. The Community Emergency Response Team, made up of staff members, did not do a great job with triage on me as my tag read "uninjured" even after someone wrapped my fingers. However, I was not as important as the people with intestines falling out I suppose. In the second scenario, I was in a room with other supervisors and the president of the local education association and we were taken hostage by the gunman. This was not nearly as exciting as it sounds and the SWAT team took him out pretty quickly. The drills revealed some weaknesses in our emergency preparedness that will be addressed next week so they were good to hold.

 

Board Office:

• Continued working on the composite REACH rosters.

Thursday, June 23

Board Office:

• Proofread the high school teachers' monthly reports.
• Approved an honors placement for a transfer student.
• Responded to a parent's request for REACH scoring information.
• Continued my assessment of inequities among REACH teachers' schedules.
• Drafted letters to parents of students who were being removed from honors/AP level classes due to final grades not meeting the requirements.
• Spoke with the Supervisor of Special Services about a maternity leave replacement.
• Worked on building a spreadsheet of all REACH students in the district.
• Reviewed updated rosters 2011-12 and compared to the number of textbooks we have available.
• Spoke to the parent of a student transferring into the district about a summer course.

Wednesday, June 22

High School:

The majority of my time today was spent checking out teachers for the summer. This process included a whole lot of paperwork and, since today was the last day for teachers, it was the main focus.

 

In addition...

• Checked enrollments in honors/AP classes and notified guidance counselors of students who needed to be switched due to their final grades.
• Granted a teacher-initiated appeal for AP placement.
• Requested additional information about an independent study request.

Tuesday, June 21

Board Office:

• Sent out information about book room procedures.
• Responded to a parent question about REACH testing.
• Called the two finalists for the high school social studies position. Told one that he did not get the job and told one that she did.
• Began putting together a roster of all REACH students in grades 3-8 so I could begin conducting some demographic analysis.
• Worked on the online textbook database.

 

High School:

• Checked out a few teachers who were ready to go.
• Sent an e-mail to the department announcing the selection for the position.
• Called a parent about an honors placement reevaluation.
• Followed up on a request for independent study.
• Spoke to a parent about lending a book to her son for the summer.

 

Board Office:

• Spoke with a parent about the REACH program.
• Approved purchase orders.
• Spoke with a high school teacher about a make-up exam.

Monday, June 20

Early in the morning on June 17, our home was struck by lightning. The resulting fire forced us out and so I was out of work on a personal emergency day. The following information is for Monday, June 20.

 

Board Office:

• Responded to many, many e-mails.
• Reviewed the quote for AP Economics books.
• Responded to a parent's e-mail regarding REACH at the middle school.
• Obtained a quote for a streaming video service from the History Channel.
• Sent out information to members of the Gifted and Talented Program Review steering committee regarding last week's meeting.
• Completed paperwork to rejoin the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association.
• Reviewed information for Confratute – a gifted education program I'll be attending in July.
• Began working on a comparison of the schedules of the elementary REACH teachers to highlight discrepancies and inconsistencies.
• Responded to questions about summer assignments.

 

High School:

• Updated text inventories in advance of closeout.

Thursday, June 16

Board Office:

• Responded to a student issue in world history.
• Worked on travel information for a leadership conference in July.
• Followed up with various people about yesterday's gifted education graduate certificate information session.
• Responded to a REACH screening question.
• Worked on the quotes for new textbooks for the two new AP classes.
• Prepared for the Gifted and Talented Program Review steering committee meeting.
• Attended a birthday lunch for the Supervisor of Special Services.
• Hosted the Gifted and Talented Program Review steering committee meeting. This was not very successful as quite a few people did not attend who I anticipated attending. As a result, we could not really discuss too many of the important points so this will have to be repeated.

Wednesday, June 15

Board Office:

• Attended the monthly principals/supervisors meeting in the Board office and responded to a myriad of e-mails while there.
• Responded to parents about REACH testing.
• Spoke with the high school principal about the two finalists for the teaching position there.
• Met with a high school teacher at my office.
• Read up on some recent research.
• Sent out a reminder about the gifted education graduate certificate information session.

 

Intermediate School:

• Hosted the information session for the gifted education graduate certificate. The session went extremely well with an excellent turnout.

Tuesday, June 14

Elementary School:

• Attended Flag Day ceremonies at a school. The school also arranged to have a blackhawk fly in. Due to some scheduling challenges and then a mechanical problem, I ended up driving back and forth to the school a few times trying to see it land and/or take off. Information can be found at http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/triangle-school-honors-military-at-flag-day-celebration-2.

 

Board Office:

• Responded to parent e-mails regarding REACH.
• Responded to a parent request that a student be permitted to take AP Psychology over the summer.
• Followed up on an issue with a student's 504 plan being followed appropriately.
• Offered guidance for a high school teacher who has jury duty next week during final exams and closeout.
• Began preparing notes on the gifted and talented program review consultant's points for further consideration for Thursday's steering committee meeting.
• Reviewed gifted and talented focus group responses and prepared notes.
• Began preparing for a tentative presentation to the Board of Education regarding the REACH program.

Monday, June 13

Board Office:

• Responded to a teacher e-mail regarding REACH.
• Prepared final close out information with the help of the science supervisor.
• Contacted the high school secretaries for information about close out.
• Met with the Director of Summer and Special Programs from Rutgers University to work on the logistics for our local cohort of the University's Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education.
• Made arrangements for my stay in the Washington, D.C. area for the ASCD Leader2Leader conference.
• Followed up with a teacher regarding his students' Virtual Holocaust Museum project.
• Responded to a REACH teacher's question.
• Checked references on the finalists for the high school social studies position.

 

High School:

• Provided finalists' information to the high school principal.
• Continued working on close out information by meeting with the most veteran member of the department.
• Sent out e-mails to the departments at the intermediate, middle, and high schools in place of a monthly department meeting.
• Sent an e-mail to a colleague in another district regarding a teacher candidate.
• Responded to a series of e-mails from a high school teacher.

Friday, June 10

High School:

• Attended the REACH Senior Internship breakfast and helped pass out certificates of recognition. This technically falls under my jurisdiction although I have very little to do with it. These students do amazing work – organizing blood drives for the Red Cross, developing publicity campaigns for fledgling local businesses, creating public awareness campaigns for a local pharmacy, etc.

 

Board Office:

• Attended the supervisors' PLC meeting.
• Met with the supervisor of science to discuss high school checkout procedures.
• Began the process of checking references on the two finalists for the high school position.
• Attended the first meeting of the world language task force. This group is challenged to recommend a K-12 language program that meets state requirements and prepares our students for their futures.
• Responded to REACH placement e-mails from parents.
• Inquired about 5^th grade teacher assignments in order to provide resources.
• Attended supervisors' meeting.
• Spoke with the g/t program review consultant on the phone to debrief on her points for future consideration.

Thursday, June 9

High School:

• Presented awards for social studies and world languages at the senior breakfast.

 

Board Office:

• Submitted paperwork to get Board approval for my trip to the Washington, D.C. area for the ASCD Leader 2 Leader conference in July.
• Sent an e-mail regarding Colonial Day to the teachers and principal.
• Responded to a student's e-mail regarding an honors course.
• Responded to a principal's question about the size of REACH classes.
• Approved a high school teacher's request to take a professional development day in the fall for a conference about Asia.
• Followed up on a student's request for an independent study by talking with the teacher.
• Spoke with a high school vice principal about the finalists for the high school social studies position.
• Prepared candidate paperwork for the high school principal.
• Met with the supervisor of math to debrief on last night's Community Partnership Network meeting.
• Amended information about next week's information session for the Rutgers University Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education.
• Responded to a parent's e-mail regarding our 11^th grade summer reading assignment for Three Cups of Tea.
• Sent information about social studies senior awards to the world languages supervisor in case I wasn't back in district in time for tonight's awards' ceremony.
• Forwarded the PowerPoint from last night's Community Partnership Network to the assistant superintendent for uploading on the district web site.
• Distributed information to elementary REACH teachers about their budgets for next fall.

 

In the evening...

 

High School:

• Attended the senior awards assembly and presented two awards for social studies.

Wednesday, June 8

Board Office:

• Met with assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction to discuss a few things regarding tonight's Community Partnership Network meeting.
• Approved the high school monthly report.
• Corresponded with teachers and began working on the process of obtaining text books for the two new AP courses.
• Prepared for the Community Partnership Meeting by developing a PowerPoint and a general agenda.
• Spoke with the director of guidance about an issue with a high school teacher.
• Sent an e-mail to elementary REACH teachers to get information that I would need to decide how much money they can spend for next year.
• Met with the K-6 supervisor of special services to discuss a plan for a student entering the REACH program who is autistic and has severe behavioral problems.
• Responded to parents' questions about REACH placements.
• Agreed to present senior awards for world languages at tomorrow's senior awards breakfast. This required a tutorial from the supervisor on how to correctly pronounce the names...definitely not my strong suit.

 

High School:

(The following events continued past the end of the work day until 9:30pm)

• Prepared with our program review consultant for the CPN meeting.
• Met with the elementary REACH teachers to further discuss curriculum and elementary concerns.
• Facilitated a meeting of approximately 40-50 community members as they discussed gifted and talented education. The consultant did a fabulous job responding to questions and comments and I think we took huge strides in combating some of the pervasive misconceptions about g/t in the community.

Tuesday, June 7

I started the morning by traveling to an area school district with our middle school principal to observe students engaged in an exit assessment. Students researched the United Nations Millennial Development Goals and are not working in small groups to solve one major problem in a developing nation. The point of the project is to give students large chunks of time (4 hours per day) for a week to research a scenario, develop solutions, prepare a presentation, and present findings to a panel of outside judges. The school assesses students to determine whether the school has successfully prepared them to be independent, self-directed learners who can solve problems. Students do not receive a grade although the winning teams as judged on the final day do get opportunities to Skype with members of President Obama's administration, the London School of Economics, and other prestigious organizations around the world. Some cool stuff for sure and we are talking about bringing it to our middle school in pilot form next year.

 

Board Office:

§         Sent information to a high school teacher about book replacement costs

§         Processed additional teachers interested in the gifted education graduate certificate program

§         Responded to the director of guidance regarding a high school teacher who handled a request from guidance poorly

§         Contacted vendors regarding digital geography resource quotes

§         Caught up a bit with my secretary about upcoming projects

§         Spoke on the phone with a high school teacher about the AP World History course and resources

§         Read some of "Elements of Grading"

§         Responded to parent requests for information about REACH screening

§         Began working on a solution for a situation at one elementary school where a student with severe special needs will also be in the REACH program. This is not a bad thing, but we need to develop a specialized program for him.

§         Corresponded with the high school principal about candidates for the social studies position

§         Sent feedback to the last teacher who submitted final exams

Monday, June 6

High School:

• Reviewed final exams.
• Updated list of teachers interested in pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education and sent information to the assistant superintendent for forwarding to all staff regarding an information session to be held next week.
• Replied to an e-mail from our gifted and talented program review consultant about the next stages of the process.
• Reviewed lesson plans.
• Observed two teachers conduct demo lessons. Both were stronger than the lessons I saw last week.
• Sent a brief e-mail to the high school department regarding next week's department meeting and lesson plans.
• Replied to an e-mail from a high school teacher about end of the year closeout information.
• Provided feedback to my secretary about certificates for Friday's REACH Senior Internship breakfast.
• Followed up on Colonial Day information.
• Returned a phone call regarding world history honors placement.
• Spoke with the supervisor of special education about a candidate.
• Sent an e-mail to all candidates for the high school position who did not receive interviews.
• Attended the high school faculty meeting so that I could learn more about end of the year processes.

 

Board Office:

• Placement letters for the gifted and talented program arrived home on Saturday so I am entering the season of questions about why students did not enter. Replied to three parents who requested additional information.
• Changed voice mail to instruct students with questions about REACH placement to send an e-mail rather than leave a message.

Friday, June 3

Board Office:

• Responded to a candidate's questions for demo lessons on Monday.
• Researched and ordered a resource for a high school teacher after speaking with her on the phone about it.
• Sent an e-mail to an elementary REACH teacher about placements.
• Reviewed finals and sent an e-mail to teachers who missed the deadline with a reminder.
• Met with a member of the child study team to discuss a kindergartener who has Asperger's Syndrome and seems to be highly gifted.
• Discussed award certificates for the REACH senior internship breakfast with my secretary.
• Planned the information session for the Rutgers program and sent additional information to my contact there about how things are progressing.
• Responded to an e-mail from intermediate school teachers regarding the scheduling of another Colonial Day planning meeting.
• Left a message for the high school principal regarding interviews.
• Responded to a high school teacher's question about professional development next year.
• Sent out the social studies weekly update.

 

Thursday, June 2

High School:

• Sent an e-mail regarding the REACH trip.
• Worked on some AP materials for the new courses.
• Responded to a student's question about taking a course online.
• Reviewed finals.
• Observed four demonstration lessons from candidates. These demos included pre-observation discussions and post-observation debriefing. One candidate was very weak, two were good, and one was very good.
• Responded to questions about the Rutgers graduate certificate program from people who were responding to the e-mail blast. More than 40 staff members have already expressed interest!
• Replied to a high school teacher who shared a project she is working on with students.

Wednesday, June 1

Today was a crazy day. I had tons of work pile up due to being busy with other things at the end of last week plus four days off for Memorial Day so today was major catch up day.

 

Board Office:

• Reviewed paperwork related to offering graduate courses in Holocaust studies in district.
• Reviewed final exams.
• Responded to a middle school teacher's e-mail about a gifted and talented meeting.
• Responded to questions from a candidate.
• Made copies of materials for a candidate's demo lesson.
• Responded to questions about a demo lesson from a teacher.
• Submitted by anticipated vacation schedule for the summer.

 

Intermediate School:

• Met with a teacher who requested the opportunity to share some thoughts regarding the gifted and talented model used there.

 

High School:

• Sent updates on times for demo lessons to all candidates.
• Responded to sample work sent to me by a high school teacher.
• Finalized 11-12 high school scheduling and submitted the documents to the principal and director of guidance.
• Worked on scheduling diversity awareness visits to volunteer world history classes.
• Followed up with Rutgers University about a pending partnership to offer a graduate certificate program in district.
• Sent an e-mail to all of our Teaching American History grant partners informing them that the grant program has been cut from the federal budget.
• Conducted the final interview for the high school social studies position.
• Sent e-mails to candidates who were not selected to move on to the next round.

 

Middle School:

• Conducted the gifted and talented program review forum. No one shared any thoughts so I left after two periods instead of staying for three as scheduled.
• Responded to an e-mail regarding my participation on the world language task force.
• Responded to an e-mail regarding REACH placements.
• Sent an e-mail to two high school teachers who are experimenting with a thematic approach to US history with some information from Rutgers University on the topic.
• Followed up on some issues with texts that are being used in special education replacement classes.

 

Board Office:

• Met with the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction to discuss a variety of topics.
• Called a parent who had questions about the REACH evaluation process.
• Responded to questions from a high school teacher about AP summer assignments.
• Put together an announcement about hosting the Rutgers graduate certificate program to be sent out to all district staff.

Friday, May 27

Board Office:

• Attended the supervisors' PLC.
• Sent the social studies weekly update.
• Finished arranging demo lessons.
• Responded to an e-mail from the Colonial Day committee at the intermediate school.
• Sent a reminder about the gifted and talented program review.
• Submitted my monthly report.
• Attended the multicultural lunch which is the culminating event of a weeklong multicultural celebration.

 

I left work immediately after the lunch (at 2pm) to head to our closing.

Thursday, May 26

Board Office:

• Worked on the coordination of demo lessons.
• Prepared for interviews.

 

High School:

• Offered a decision on a REACH testing question.
• Checked on inventory in the book room and requested information about books being used by our resource teachers.
• Conducted two interviews.
• Sent information about a diversity awareness program that a student assistance counselor wants to push into world history classrooms before the end of the year.
• Responded to two guidance issues.
• Called the candidates who I wanted to invite in for demo lessons.
• Corresponded with a supervisor in a nearby district to schedule a visit to observe students working on their exit assessment.
• Conducted two interviews.
• Finalized demo lessons for finalists.

Wednesday, May 25

I spent the morning at Rutgers University judging Project Citizen. This is a yearlong civics project that requires students to identify a problem in their communities, investigate the problem and possible solutions, and design a solution. I judged two teams of middle school students. They were great and the event went well!

 

I also learned that I was elected president of the Central Region of the state social studies supervisors' association. Good stuff!

 

In the afternoon, I headed back to the district...

 

High School:

• Met with an assistant principal to discuss a teacher-student issue.
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting. We discussed scheduling for 11-12 and major issues that we thought a principal's advisory committee should tackle.
• Worked on scheduling for the department.

 

In the evening, I returned to the high school to attend the debate team's annual dinner. This group is led by three social studies teachers who lead them through Model Congress and Model United Nations. It was a nice evening!

Tuesday, May 24

High School:

• Responded to a REACH parent e-mail
• Sent e-mails to teachers about hosting demo lessons for finalists
• Responded to a request from a teacher at the intermediate school for a meeting regarding REACH
• Responded to an e-mail from a candidate
• Responded to a question from a high school teacher about final exams
• Met with a high school teacher and the president of the teachers' association to discuss my expectations of him and the reasons why I rated him as needing improvement in one area of professional practice. The meeting was not comfortable by any means, but the president stayed after to tell me that I handled it well and made my expectations very clear. So that's good!
• Met with a high school teacher to discuss my need to assign him to teach in class resource classes next year.
• Met with a teacher to discuss a candidate who student taught with her.
• Sent an e-mail to the department with some important information about scheduling for next year.
• Sent each member of the department his or her tentative schedule for next year.
• Began researching the book used in US History I Honors for possible updating
• Prepared to make a presentation to the middle school principal about an exit assessment proposal

 

Middle School:

• Presented my ideas about designing an 8^th grade exit assessment built around important skills – communication, collaboration, self-directed learning. This is modeled after a nearby district's initiative in the same vein. The principal was into the idea and we agreed to go together to observe the project in action in the neighboring district in a couple weeks.

 

Board Office:

• Attended the retirement party for the literacy supervisor who is leaving the district after 38 years (42 years in education altogether).