Friday, October 19

Board Office:

• Sent an e-mail to the state supervisors' association e-mail list with additional information about draft national standards in social studies
• Attended a training session for our budgeting system
• Responded to a parent question about REACH screening
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Spoke with someone from Rutgers University about hosting Japanese teachers at the middle school like we did last year
• Reviewed PLC meeting notes from the high school
• Forwarded a request from TCNJ to place a student teacher at the high school in the spring

High School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss results from our first AP Economics exams

Board Office:

• Spoke with the middle school principal about the Japanese teacher visit
• Sent out e-mails regarding the delivery of additional social studies materials next week
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent and the president of the teachers' association to discuss pacing expectations
• Sent out the weekly social studies update

Thursday, October 18

Board Office:

• Prepared for 5th grade meetings
• Attended November in-service planning (9:45-12:00)
• Responded to an e-mail from the mayor regarding Candidates' Night
• Provided guidance to a middle school teacher about test security

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated all 5th grade teachers in a data analysis protocol in four small groups

Wednesday, October 17

Board Office:

• Attended a November in-service planning session (all day)
• Completed and sent out an observation report
• Provided guidance to an elementary school teacher about how to cover the election with first grade students

High School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss pacing expectations

Tuesday, October 16

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated the first Colonial Day planning meeting for May 2013

High School:

• Held a post-observation conference

Board Office:

• Led professional development for K-4 teachers and computer resource teachers with the Supervisor of Science
• Sent out some resources to K-8 REACH teachers

Monday, October 15

High School:

• Met with three high school students to work on Candidates' Night planning

Intermediate School:

• Along with the Supervisor of Literacy, led all 5th and 6th grade literacy, social studies, and special education teachers through an analysis of last year's state testing results.

Board Office:

• Followed up with US History II teachers regarding pacing
• Prepared for tomorrow's Colonial Day planning meeting
• Responded to an e-mail from a member of the community about the donation of materials
• Forwarded instructions to intermediate school REACH teachers for setting up their Renzulli Learning accounts
• Sent a reminder to 5th grade teachers for Thursday's grade level meeting
• Responded to a question from a middle school guidance counselor about REACH screening

Elementary School:

• Observed a 4th grade social studies class

Board Office:

• Wrote up and distributed two high school observation reports

Middle School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss an e-mail he sent me regarding not being able to meet district expectations for lesson plans and then met with the principal to discuss

Friday, October 12

High School:

• Conducted observations of the two new high school teachers
• Met with the high school teacher liaison to discuss his perception of teacher concerns and the planning for November in-service and department meeting

Board Office:

• Sent an e-mail to all US History II teachers regarding pacing
• Sent out observation reports to the three teachers who I observed on Wednesday
• Spoke with the middle school principal about a teacher e-mail
• Finished planning next week's literacy/social studies department meeting at the intermediate school with the Supervisor of Literacy
• Finished planning next week's science/social studies digital materials training with the Supervisor of Science
• Met with the Superintendent for my monthly Curriculum Conversation
• Sent out the social studies weekly update

Thursday, October 11

Board Office:

• Held a pre-observation conference with one of the new high school teachers over the phone
• Sent out additional information about Candidates' Night planning to participating students and the candidates
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting
• Left a message for the mayor in response to his e-mail about Candidates' Night
• Worked with the Supervisor of Science to prepare for next week's digital materials training

Wednesday, October 10

High School:

• Drafted an agenda for next week's science/social studies digital materials training
• Responded to an elementary school teacher's question about new consumable materials
• Held a pre-observation conference with one of the new high school teachers
• Conducted three observations of high school teachers

Intermediate School:

• Met with the principal and two vice principals to present an overview of the plan for next week's literacy/social studies department meeting

Board Office:

• Completed the paperwork for Renzulli Learning access
• Sent an e-mail to the elementary school principals about additional materials they should have received this week

Tuesday, October 9

Board Office:

• Responded to an e-mail from a high school PLC about documentation
• Sent out an update about digital materials
• Attended the district leadership team meeting
• Worked with the Supervisor of Literacy to plan a joint department meeting at the intermediate school

Monday, October 8

Board Office:

• Reviewed lesson plans
• E-mailed a high school teacher regarding her reference to extra credit in lesson plans for this week
• Responded to a high school teacher's question about how the curriculum is organized
• Prepared for this afternoon's 4th grade PLC meeting
• Sent out an e-mail to students participating in Candidates' Night preparation
• Sent a note to a high school teacher regarding expectations for student bathroom use
• Drafted my 2013-2014 district and high school budgets
• Spoke with the high school principal regarding a parent phone call about a teacher's grading practices
• Spoke with a high school vice principal about a teacher-student issue

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a REACH teacher
• Met with a 4th grade PLC to respond to questions and offer support regarding implementation of the new curriculum

Friday, October 5

Board Office:

• Sent an e-mail to all AP US History teachers about the new course
• Responded to a teacher's question about registering students for Renzulli Learning
• Attended a planning meeting for the November in-service days
• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Sent out a number of giveaways requested by teachers

Thursday, October 4

Board Office:

• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's request for help with online materials
• Forwarded information about Renzulli Learning registration to the appropriate teacher
• Began working on scheduling for Colonial Day planning meetings
• Sent book price information to an intermediate school vice principal

Teachers' Association Headquarters:

• Attended meeting of the Local Professional Development Committee

Board Office:

• Responded to a student's request for information about "getting into" REACH
• E-mailed all US History I teachers about a concern with the pacing guide
• Reviewed applications for field trips at elementary and middle schools
• Sent an e-mail to students who volunteered to help with Candidates' Night
• Responded to an e-mail from a community member regarding Candidates' Night

Wednesday, October 3

Board Office:

• Sent out an e-mail regarding upcoming observations
• Corresponded with a high school teacher about his lesson plans
• Replaced all of the old curricula/textbooks with the new in the Board office's library
• Requested an additional quote for Renzulli Learning for the elementary school teachers
• Completed and sent an observation report
• Responded to an issue with new social studies materials at an elementary school
• Sent out information about REACH nominations for students new to the district to teachers in grades 5-8

High School:

• Attended the high school supervisors' meeting
• Spoke with the intermediate school principal about an upcoming department meeting
• Worked with the science supervisor on the plan for our digital materials training

Tuesday, October 2

Board Office:

• Reviewed lesson plans
• Reviewed high school teachers' monthly reports and provided feedback where appropriate
• Process PLC self-assessments from September meeting
• Responded to an inquiry for information about civics instruction from a graduate student at Rutgers University

Elementary School:

• Observed a REACH class
• Went through new social studies materials with the principal

Board Office:

• Spoke with a high school teacher about access to test software and online materials
• Forwarded a student's REACH test results home at parent request
• Sent out an update on new social studies materials to the elementary school principals

Monday, October 1

Board Office:

• Submitted monthly report
• Followed up on last week's 5th grade meetings with an e-mail
• Worked on scheduling observations for October
• Followed up on an issue with a high school student's independent study 
• Completed mileage reimbursement paperwork for recent professional development
• Updated the district website with newly approved curriculum
• Reviewed data from AP Economics testing and forwarded it and a PD opportunity to the teacher
• Applied for approval to attend various PD events later this year
• Reviewed a proposal for a field trip
• Sent out order forms and catalogs to teachers
• Invited elementary teachers to a training session for new digital materials
• Provided feedback on the Assistant Superintendent's goals for this year

Thursday, September 27

Board Office:

• Revised paperwork for REACH nominations for students new to Hillsborough to be sent out to teachers in grades 5-8
• Drafted the pacing guides for grades 5-8 social studies and forwarded to all applicable teachers
• Corresponded with a parent (who is also a teacher) about an independent study issue
• Prepared for meetings with the 5th grade social studies teachers
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Finalized the survey results from the REACH 3rd Grade Orientation and forwarded them to the Assistant Superintendent
• Provided guidance/feedback to the high school PLC teams

Intermediate School:

• Met with four teams of 5th grade teachers to review where we are in the curriculum integration process

On Friday, September 28, I was out of the district to attend the NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association meeting.

Tuesday, September 25

High School:

• Met with two new teachers to finalize their professional development plans

Board Office:

• Provided some information to the intermediate school REACH teachers for back to school night
• Tested out the new middle school materials on iPads
• Finalized the ordering of materials for AP teachers
• Worked with the Supervisor of Science on digital material professional development
• Spoke with a guidance counselor about an independent study at the high school
• Returned a phone call regarding REACH screening
• Spoke with a high school vice principal regarding an ongoing parent concern with a teacher. We agreed to reiterate to the parent that we would not take any action without the parent talking to the teacher first.
• Attended the first meeting of the Grading Task Force

Monday, September 24

On Saturday, I facilitated a 3-hour REACH Orientation for 3rd grade students and parents. Videos of the presentations are available at http://www.htps.us/Page/3397.

Board Office:

• Spoke with an intermediate school vice principal about how special education teachers should be gaining access to the new social studies digital materials
• Followed up on a parent's concern regarding a high school teacher
• Completed time sheets from Saturday's REACH Orientation
• Met with a retired teacher who still helps with REACH screening to talk about potential changes to our identification procedures

High School:

• Met with a teacher to share a parent's concerns
• Met with two students from AP Government to begin planning Candidates' Night
• Stopped in to a high school PLC meeting
• Spoke with a high school teacher about how her PLC is going

Friday, September 21

Board Office:

• Completed paperwork for Renzulli Learning access
• Responded to an elementary school PLC's request that I attend a future meeting
• Submitted paperwork to get reimbursed for PD expenses
• Spoke with the Director of Technology about training for digital materials
• Met with the Supervisor of Science to plan a training day for elementary digital materials
• Attended a meeting of the committee selecting the new teacher evaluation model for the district
• Sent out the social studies weekly update

Thursday, September 20

High School:

• Drafted professional development plans with the two new teachers
• Sent out digital access information to the World History teachers

Board Office:

• Checked on a discrepancy in one person's curriculum writing hours from the summer
• Responded to REACH screening question
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about concerns that came to her attention during back to school night
• Sent the Assistant Superintendent a list of key curriculum changes as requested
• Update the district website with new curriculum information
• Drafted the press release for Candidates' Night

Out of District:

• Attended my first NJASCD Executive Board meeting as the secretary of the organization

Tuesday, September 19

Board Office:

• After receiving final confirmation from all 5 candidates, began working on the official documentation for Candidates' Night
• Attended the monthly principals/supervisors meeting
• Responded to a high school teacher's e-mail about digital vs. print textbooks after she contacted the superintendent directly
• Worked with an intermediate school vice principal on textbook distribution
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Worked on hiring a videographer for Saturday's REACH Orientation and Candidates' Night
• Send an e-mail regarding elementary social studies materials
• Provided a parent with a timetable for screening for REACH placement
• Corresponded with an intermediate school guidance counselor regarding REACH screening
• Sent out information to intermediate school teachers for access to the new social studies digital materials
• Attended a November in-service planning meeting
• Followed up with a parent regarding REACH placement

Monday, September 18

High School:

• Sent an e-mail regarding new US History Honors textbooks
• Responded to a parent e-mail regarding a teacher change request
• Sent a memo to the intermediate and middle school guidance counselors about REACH placement for new students
• Spoke with a high school guidance counselor about a misplaced student
• Spoke with a high school vice principal about a teacher's behavior in class
• Stopped in to speak with AP Government classes about Candidates' Night
• Did some preparation for Saturday's 3rd Grade REACH Orientation
• Sent out information about participating in a mock election
• Sent out a reminder about purchasing materials as a follow up to the Crossroads of the American Revolution PD from the summer
• Completed the survey for the high school teachers to complete evaluating the One Book summer reading project

Board Office:

• Responded to a question from an elementary school principal about the new social studies materials
• Met with a high school teacher to share concerns raised by a parent
• Drafted an acceptance letter for a middle school student to REACH
• Responded to a parent e-mail regarding REACH placement
• Responded to a high school homeschool student's e-mail about textbooks
• Corresponded with Compass Learning about expanding our access to Renzulli Learning
• Responded to a parent question about REACH placement