Thursday, May 24

Board Office:

• Reviewed curriculum projects that are ongoing and provided feedback
• Worked on scheduling conferences with elementary REACH teachers
• Sent an e-mail to AP teachers about AP course audit procedures
• Sent a follow-up e-mail to the author of the book we are going to have the entire high school read. Info at  http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/district-s-first-chinese-teachers-hired
• Finished Colonial Day recognition memos for the teachers on the planning committee
• Sent the social studies weekly update
• Spoke with our representative from Renzulli Learning about our account
• Sent an e-mail to the three REACH teachers who will be attending Confratute about the procedures for registering
• Filled out reimbursement paperwork for NJSSSA meetings this year
• Was interviewed for a radio show on the Canadian Broadcasting Company similar to our NPR about our plan to have the entire high school read the book about 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland. This was totally random and surreal. They found out about us because of the article linked above. They want to schedule a follow-up interview in September with some of our students and they invited us to go to Gander sometime! Wow! The interview will be posted on their website, most likely next week, at  http://www.cbc.ca/centralmorning/
• Drafted an announcement about the book to send out to the high school staff so that they heard about it from the administration and not through a news site
• Finalized the details for next week's textbook review days and made sure the room was set up

Schools and district offices are closed until Wednesday, May 30.

Colonial Day photographs

I put together a slideshow of photographs from Colonial Day that can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/6OUu4J9-Gjo

Wednesday, May 23

Board Office:

• Provided updated information to the database manager for the district regarding course codes

Elementary School:

• Conducted an annual evaluation conference
• Met with two parents along with the principal who had concerns about REACH and the damage they feel was done to their daughter because she was not recommended for placement in the program

Board Office:

• Returned a phone call about REACH screening
• Updated next year's calendar with important dates
• Met with my secretary to discuss major event planning
• Replied to a teacher's e-mail about curriculum writing
• Forwarded a photo to the Mayor's office from Colonial Day
• Reviewed final exams and sent feedback to appropriate teachers

Intermediate School/High School:

• Participated in a major emergency drill that simulated a train derailment adjacent to the intermediate school property. We walked the entire school (1200 5th and 6th grade students) from there to the high school - about two miles away. This necessitated major action including dividing the Township in half as the students walked down a main street. It was pretty exciting with most of the Township police, EMS, and fire department involved. Amazingly, it only took about 35 minutes to move the entire school. 

High School:

• Attended the Debate team's annual awards dinner

Monday and Tuesday, May 21-22

I spent these two days at an NJASCD Executive Board retreat at a nice bed and breakfast at the Jersey Shore. We had a productive two days of discussions, mostly about how to move the organization forward in a changing educational environment. My input as the representative of all under 40 was valued highly be my colleagues. I was appointed to serve as Secretary for next year which is cool.

Friday, May 18

High School:

• Facilitated in-service including an hour-long celebration of PLC successes for social studies teams in grades 6-12 and two hours of PLC work
• Spoke with a parent about REACH screening

Board Office:

• Attended a meeting to finalize the very busy schedule of professional development and curriculum writing for the summer
• Reviewed a DVD of a candidate teaching
• Worked on the high school schedule
• Spoke with a new partner for the summer local history professional development
• Caught up on some article reading
• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Finished my final annual performance review
• Drafted a memo to recognize the Colonial Day committee members' work
• Sent out a survey to members of the NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association about future meetings
• Completed reimbursement paperwork for graduate work and submitted approval paperwork for summer PD

Thursday, May 17

Out of District:

• Attended the final NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association meeting of the year with a focus on geography. 

Wednesday, May 16

High School:

• Picked up a speaker system from the high school band director

Intermediate School:

• Hosted the first annual fifth grade Colonial Day to an incredibly successful conclusion despite a bevy of random obstacles popping up: 1) the weather reports looked back all weekend and through the early part of the week but the weather cleared early in the morning and we were able to hold the outdoor parts of the day outdoors; 2) the evening before the event a black bear was spotted in a nearby neighborhood. Luckily no one ordered us to stay inside; 3) an hour before the event a car accident caused the closure of the road on which the school sits. Things were cleared quickly and all buses and vendors arrived on time! The day was absolutely amazing with lots of great things happening. I'm going to work on uploading photos and I'll share the link as soon as possible.
• Attended a meeting of the committee looking for a new teacher observation system

Tuesday, May 15

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated the final Colonial Day planning meeting

Teachers' Association Headquarters:

• Attended a meeting of the Local Professional Development Committee
• Responded to e-mails regarding a breakfast for Friday's in-service
• Responded to a question about the expectations for the text review committee
• Corresponded with various members of the Colonial Day planning committee about final details
• Reviewed lesson plans

Board Office:

• Worked on additional Colonial Day details
• Prepared for a meeting with a principal and parent next week regarding REACH screening
• Forwarded summer assignment information to the district webmaster

Monday, May 14

High School:

• Purchased and set up a breakfast for the high school teachers for Teacher's Appreciation Day
• Wrote all six annual performance reviews for the elementary REACH teachers
• Sent an email to the elementary REACH teachers regarding the use of PLC time
• Sent an email to the high school department for senior awards' voting
• Began working on a template for obtaining quotes for textbooks
• Wrote all nine annual performance reviews for the middle school teachers
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about release time
• Observed a demo lesson from one of the six finalists for the job at the high schools
• Registered for the next course in the gifted education graduate certificate program
• Conducted annual performance review meetings throughout the day
• Popped into PLC meetings

Board Office:

• Worked on the high school schedule
• Responded to two e-mails from REACH parents

High School:

• Hosted an awards dinner for the REACH Senior Internship program

Friday, May 11

High School:

• Observed a candidate's demo lesson
• Met with vice principals to discuss the candidate
• Met with vice principals to discuss a teacher-student issue

Board Office:

• Participated in a virtual conference call to continue work on the NJDOE Model Curriculum project
• Reviewed a final exam
• Sent e-mails with annual performance reviews to most of the high school teachers
• Provided feedback to the high school principal regarding the 1:1 computer pilot teachers
• Placed an order for bagels for a teacher appreciation breakfast on Monday
• Spoke with a middle school vice principal about our gifted education graduate certificate class
• Sent the social studies weekly update
• Sent another e-mail informing all but three teachers that at next week's inservice we'll recognize three retiring social studies teachers from grades 6-12
• Ordered a book as a retirement gift for the three teachers
• Sent an e-mail to the high school band director about using some equipment during Colonial Day next week
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about the need for common scoring time and the use of inservice time next week
• Sent an e-mail to an elementary principal preparing her for a request I think she'll get regarding the previous item
• Processed the senior award nominations from the high school and e-mail the database manager to get access to prior year's information
• Sent a detailed e-mail to the 7 textbook vendor representatives that will be hawking their wares on May 30 and 31 to a district committee
• Sent a detailed e-mail to the teacher committee coming to that presentation
• Sent an e-mail to a local photography company with final information regarding Colonial Day scheduling
• Wrote annual performance reviews for the rest of the high school department save one person who has not submitted all of his paperwork

Thursday, May 10

Board Office:

• Reviewed high school grade verifications
• Responded to an elementary school teacher's e-mail about REACH screening
• Worked on adjustments to the duty schedule for Colonial Day
• Developed a plan for the May 18 in-service day
• Met with my secretary to discuss a number of events we have in the planning stages

Intermediate School:

• Met with the leader of the Old Barracks Fife & Drum Corps and a vice principal to work out logistics for Colonial Day

Board Office:

• Spoke with an elementary school principal about a parent's e-mail
• Responded to the elementary REACH teachers' question about common time to work on student evaluations
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting which included me leading a discussion about an exit assessment idea complete with a colleague in another district Skyping into our meeting to answer questions

Wednesday, May 9

Board Office:

• Worked on the summer curriculum writing schedule with the Language Arts Literacy supervisor
• Sent information to the Superintendent for his speech at Colonial Day
• Completed state-mandated online trainings
• Reviewed final exams that were submitted early
• Left a message for the middle school principal regarding the 8th grade exit assessment idea
• Responded to as many e-mails as I could that had piled up
• Responded to a parent question about an online course option
• Spoke with the professor from Princeton who is no longer able to lead our summer PD
• Dealt with a high school and a vendor representative about the proper protocol for ordering
• Responded to a REACH parent question
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Created Colonial Day student schedules personalized to each of the 22 homerooms and created off-team activity schedules personalized to 9 different activities
• Contacted two candidates to schedule demo lessons and six candidates to inform them they were not moving forward in the process
• Reviewed the sociology curriculum and provided feedback to the team

Tuesday, May 8

Intermediate School:

• Attended a Colonial Day planning meeting for the full school day with the planning committee who was provided release time to work out all the final details of the day

Board Office:

• Attended a leadership team meeting

Town Hall:

• Attended the Township Committee meeting where a proclamation was issued declaring May 16, 2012 Colonial Day in Hillsborough Township. Three students who won a contest to design the program cover for Colonial Day accepted the proclamation on behalf of the school.

Monday, May 7

Board Office:

• Check high school teachers' grade verification sheets and e-mail teachers who need to fix information or send additional information
• Created and e-mailed the agenda for this afternoon's department meeting
• Responded to a REACH parent question
• Sent out an e-mail about Colonial Day
• Left a message for my contact at the Old Barracks Fife & Drum Corps regarding Colonial Day
• Prepared sample reimbursement paperwork for people taking the gifted education classes and sent it out
• Sent out an e-mail announcing Confratute and inviting REACH teachers to apply to attend
• Reviewed the AP European History curriculum and provided feedback to the writing team
• Sent an e-mail to the NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association inviting my colleagues to attend a vendor showcase in our district in late May

High School:

• Ran a department meeting

Intermediate School:

• Attended the Board of Education meeting to show support for the HS Debate teams including Model Congress, Model UN, and Mock Trial, to show support for the three social studies teachers who serve as advisors

Friday, May 4

Intermediate School:

• Attended a presentation of a new departmentalized approach to teaching 5th grade

High School:

• Interviewed four candidates for the open high school position

Board Office:

• Spoke with a Princeton University professor about a summer professional development opportunity and worked on the outline for that day
• Sent the social studies weekly update

Intermediate School:

• Attended class for the gifted education graduate certificate program

Thursday, May 3

Out of District:

• Attended a model curriculum writing session

Wednesday, May 2

Board Office:

• Reviewed AP Psychology and Individual and Interpersonal Behavior curricula
• Spoke with a supervisor from another district about the model curriculum writing project
• Sent additional invitations for textbook reviews
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Continued working on drafting annual performance reviews
• Sent reminders to teachers who still need to submit annual review information to me
• Followed up on registering for upcoming gifted education courses
• Met with a textbook vendor representative

High School:

• Attended a supervisors' meeting

Board Office:

• Spoke with a parent about REACH screening
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent about a few things
• Responded to as many brief e-mails as I could to catch up

Tuesday, May 1

Board Office:

• Sent an e-mail notifying applicants who were not selected for interviews
• Reviewed high school teachers' monthly reports
• Sent an e-mail to an author about our One School, One Book initiative for the fall
• Met with a textbook vendor representative
• Drafted annual performance reviews for most of the high school teachers
• Attended a state monitoring meeting
• Sent an e-mail to the high school department about an upcoming department meeting
• Sent a request for copies of old annual evaluations to the middle school secretary
• Responded to an e-mail from a candidate for the position at the high school

Monday, April 30

Board Office:

• Scheduled additional interviews for the high school position
• Met with a textbook vendor representative
• Sent an invitation to teaches to participate in the review of textbook materials
• Worked on inservice planning at a meeting with other supervisors and the Assistant Superintendent
• Corresponded with two high school teachers regarding make up time they owe the district for a no-pay day off
• Submitted my monthly report to the Assistant Superintendent
• Selected the winners of the Colonial Day program cover competition
• Sent curriculum writing posting information to the Assistant Superintendent
• Sent some information to textbook vendors