Friday, November 30

Board Office:

• Replied to a parent's e-mail about REACH status
• Conducted interviews of three candidates for substitute teaching positions
• Finalized observation reports from yesterday and sent them to the teachers
• Returned a phone call regarding why a student did not qualify for REACH
• Turned in paperwork to send a large group of district teachers to the NJ Association for Gifted Children conference in March
• Completed my monthly report
• Attended a meeting of the district committee devoted to the new teacher evaluation procedures
• Attended class for the Rutgers Graduate Certificate in Gifted Education program

Thursday, November 29

Board Office:

• Provided a summary of my analysis of the data for the AP Psychology prerequisite recommendation
• Completed the paperwork to propose to the Board that we change the levels of high school social studies electives from "standard" to "college prep"
• Drafted an agenda for the December 17 REACH meeting

High School:

• Conducted an observation of a student teacher

Board Office:

• Finished my changes for the 2013-14 high school program of studies and submitted them to the guidance department

Elementary School:

• Observed a REACH teacher

Board Office:

• Met with the superintendent for my monthly curriculum conversation
• Responded to an e-mail from a high school teacher about digital textbook access

Wednesday, November 28

High School:

• Met with a teacher to determine a student's marking period grade that was a little unique due to a transfer situation
• Held a pre-observation conference with a student teacher
• Met with a teacher to do a mini-training on the digital textbook materials

Board Office:

• Sent guidelines to an elementary REACH teacher for a protocol we'll use at a December PLC meeting to study one of her students
• Sent an e-mail to a high school teacher regarding the timing of a unit test around the holiday
• Sent a memo to all 5th grade teachers setting up a peer observation opportunity for next week
• Sent out an article about how we can emphasize effort in our classrooms to all REACH teachers
• Worked out an enrollment issue for a student in Renzulli Learning
• Responded to an e-mail from Rutgers University about hosting Japanese teachers in two weeks
• Responded to questions about the "R" rated movie policy at the high school
• Worked on reserving a facility for a professional development event in March
• Came up with a pre-requisite suggestion for AP Psychology based on an analysis of last year's students' performance
• Reviewed lesson plans for grades 5, 6, 7, world history, and high school electives
• Replied to an e-mail from a high school teacher about prerequisites for an elective class
• Gave feedback to high school teacher's November monthly reports as appropriate

Tuesday, November 27

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated a Colonial Day planning meeting

High School:

• Met with the teacher liaison to discuss January professional development.
• Met with a special education teacher to discuss an independent study placement.
• Sent out a memo to the high school department setting guidelines for the showing of "R" rated material.

Board Office:

• Met with my secretary to get up to speed on pending projects.

Elementary School:

• Conducted an observation of a REACH class.

Monday, November 26

Out of District:

• Served on the selection committee to determine two New Jersey students to attend the United States Youth Senate program.

Wednesday, November 21

Board Office:

• Forwarded information regarding REACH test results to a parent
• Reviewed 13 applicants for a Youth Senate program for which I'm helping with the state Department of Education
• Replied to an e-mail from a teacher about what to do with student work in the situation we've been dealing with
• Returned a parent phone call about future consideration for REACH

High School:

• Forwarded a survey about elective courses to high school teachers for feedback
• Sent an e-mail to applicable teachers about the level at which we offer electives
• Sent the social studies weekly update
• Met with two teachers to discuss electives
• Met with a science teacher to discuss possibilities of REACH moving to the high school level
• Met with a teacher to discuss some concerns she has about how levels are handled in the guidance department

Tuesday, November 20

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher

High School:

• Interviewed a student along with a vice principal in regards to the ongoing teacher situation
• Spoke to the student's mother about the ongoing situation
• Met with a few vice principals informally

Board Office:

• Compiled all of the paperwork from the teacher situation investigation and submitted it with a memo to the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel for disciplinary action
• Responded to a teacher's question about pacing in the 6th grade curriculum
• Worked on the logistics of meeting with high school teachers during release time in January
• Processed some sample materials and passed it out to teachers where appropriate
• Worked on scheduling interviews with candidates for substitute teaching positions

Monday, November 19

Board Office:

• Prepared for a meeting with a teacher this afternoon

High School:

• Continued preparing for the meeting by checking in with each vice principal to gather information from student interviews
• Facilitated a meeting with a teacher, vice principal, principal, and union representation regarding conduct by the teacher

Board Office:

• Drafted the memo documenting the meeting that took place
• Spoke with the intermediate school principal about a December meeting with 5th grade teachers
• Invited a gifted expert to speak at our 2nd grade parents' night in January
• Updated the flyer announcing the 2nd grade parents' night

Friday, November 16

Intermediate School

• Met with two REACH Social Studies teachers to discuss ideas they have to implement new activities there

High School:

• Met with the department's teacher liaison to discuss this week's department meeting, in-service, summer professional development, and electives
• Met with the principal, vice principal, and Supervisor of Special Education to plan for Monday's meeting with the teacher and his union representative

Board Office:

• Prepared to present at a County Curriculum Coordinators' meeting regarding how we developed our new social studies curricula

Out of District:

• Participated in a panel/presentation with supervisors from two other districts to share how we have revised our curricula in social studies in light of new standards and other upcoming mandates

Board Office:

• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Spoke with the middle school principal about a Japanese teacher visit in December
• Processed Grademaster order requests

Thursday, November 15

Board Office:

• Reviewed the personnel file of the teacher in question
• Provided information to elementary REACH teachers to share with parents during conferences
• Replied to an e-mail from a high school student's parent about concerns with a teacher
• Followed up on students who were granted appeals into honors classes at the high school
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting
• Spoke with the teachers' association president regarding the teacher issue at the high school
• Sent an e-mail to elementary REACH teachers about their December PLC meeting

Wednesday, November 14

Board Office:

• Prepared for grade level meetings at two elementary schools

Elementary School 1:

• Facilitated a meeting with 3rd grade teachers to provide them support in implementing the new curriculum

Elementary School 2:

• Facilitated a meeting with 2nd grade teachers to provide them support in implementing the new curriculum

Intermediate School:

• With the Supervisor of Literacy, facilitated meetings of 5th grade teachers where we analyzed student writing samples from last year's NJASK

Board Office:

• Spoke with a vice principal, Supervisor of Special Education, principal, and Director of Guidance regarding a teacher issue
• Sent an e-mail to the teacher in question directing specific actions be done immediately tomorrow in each class

Tuesday, November 13

Board Office:

• Reviewed Grade 3 and US History I lesson plans
• Attended the district leadership team meeting
• Replied to a parent's e-mail regarding REACH screening

Out of District:

• Attended a symposium planning committee meeting for NJASCD

Board Office:

• Began compiling US History I unit assessments
• Replied to a third grade teacher's e-mail
• Spoke with an elementary school principal about lesson plans in that school
• Sent out an e-mail to principals letting them know they could discard old textbooks
• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about a student in the screening process

Monday, November 12

Board Office:

• Replied to e-mails that had accumulated

Elementary School:

• Attended the always-moving Veterans' Day assembly at one of our elementary schools. http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/veterans-honored-by-hillsborough-students#photo-12158684 

Board Office:

• Planned with the Supervisor of Literacy for Wednesday's 5th grade meetings
• Prepared for this afternoon's high school department meeting

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a REACH teacher

High School:

• Led a department meeting focused on the new teacher evaluation system

Out of District:

• Attended a meeting of the NJASCD Northwest executive board

Intermediate School:

• Attended the Board of Education meeting to support the Supervisor of World Languages/ESL who was presenting

Friday, November 9

High School:

• Responded to a teacher's e-mail about not attending Monday's department meeting
• Met with a teacher to discuss how we would handle a student transfer issue
• Met with a teacher who informed me that she is pregnant and will be taking maternity leave in the spring
• Worked on an analysis of AP Psychology grades/test results and how they correlate (or don't) with students' performance in prior history classes
• Conducted two post-observation conferences
• Spoke informally with a teacher about turnkey technology training

Board Office:

• Sent out the agenda for Monday's department meeting
• Sent out the social studies weekly update

Middle School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss REACH

Thursday, November 8

High School:

• Spoke with a teacher who is still without power
• Distributed deliveries of some AP teaching materials
• Met with the teacher liaison to discuss some upcoming issues and next week's department meeting
• Sent out a sign up form for ordering testing materials

Board Office:

• Worked on scheduling additional observations
• Replied to an elementary REACH teacher's question about screening
• Responded to two parents' requests for additional information about REACH screening

Wednesday, November 7

Board Office:

• Analyzed election results and provided social studies teachers with information about local results
• Processed a delivery of elementary materials
• Analyzed results from a student/parent/teacher survey from last year regarding potential new elective offerings at the high school
• Updated my 2013-14 budgets

Tuesday, November 6

Board Office:

• Worked on my budgets for 2013-14
• Attended two emergency planning meetings for reopening schools tomorrow
• Worked on updating the high school program of studies for next year
• Read up on gifted education identification procedures and planned for upcoming meetings on the topic
• Contacted a vendor to get a quote for new gifted education testing options
• Replied to a parent's request for NJASK information
• Attended a meeting with the Assistant Superintendent to discuss my budget

Monday, November 5

Board Office:

• Responded to a student e-mail about a class change
• Responded to a high school teacher's email about ordering
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's email about resources
• Finished writing up two high school observations and sent them out
• Attended two emergency planning meetings to work on a plan to open schools on Wednesday
• Submitted my monthly report
• E-mailed a Rutgers contact about an upcoming visit by Japanese teachers
• Sent out a special edition of the social studies weekly update with information about schools reopening
• Worked on planning with the other supervisors for a conference we're attending in Boston in December

Monday, October 29 through Friday, November 2

Schools were closed all week due to Hurricane Sandy. Administrators came in on Friday for a meeting to begin planning various contingency plans for next week. At the time of the meeting 5 of the 9 district schools had power. In-service days and the annual teachers' association convention have been cancelled and the best-case scenario at this point is to have students come in Wednesday through Friday.

Thursday, October 24 and Friday, October 25

On Thursday, I attended the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies conference and on Friday I took a personal day.

Tuesday, October 23

High School:

• Responded to an e-mail from a middle school teacher about a parent's concern regarding a unit of study there
• Conducted two post-observation conferences
• Responded to a question from an elementary school teacher about providing enrichment for a student
• Conducted two observations
• Sat in while students from a world history class participated in a video conference with students from Congo
• Provided feedback to the middle school PLC teams

Board Office:

• Responded to a REACH screening question
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Created mock ballots for student voting
• Sent out an observation report
• Uploaded additional students to Renzulli Learning for the intermediate school
• Uploaded additional students to McGraw-Hill for elementary school access

Monday, October 22

Board Office:

• Met with Assistant Superintendent to discuss a request from the Republicans to slightly modify part of Candidates' Night format
• E-mailed a high school teacher about a professional day
• Sent an e-mail survey to 5th grade teachers about their ability to meet a deadline I set
• Forwarded information (and then rescinded it) about placing a student teacher at the middle school

Elementary School:

• Observed an elementary REACH teacher

Board Office:

• Participated in a call with a trainer from a textbook vendor and the Supervisor of Science about planning for in-service
• Sent requested information about honors placement to a high school teacher
• Responded to a question about ordering resources
• Responded to a question regarding pacing at the middle school

High School:

• Prepped for Candidates' Night and met with the students to finalize the questions
• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher

Board Office:

• Responded to a student's e-mail with concerns about his AP US History class
• Worked on scheduling November and December observations