Wednesday, March 27

I took vacation days on Monday and Tuesday and district offices are closed on Thursday and Friday, but today I worked. The main activity was participating in a video conference with the US History II model curriculum writing team although I tried to deal with some other odds and ends as well.

Friday, March 22

Elementary School:

• Visited the final "presentations" of a 4th grade project that included developing a business model, marketing it, and a whole lot more. Really cool stuff!

High School:

• Met with the teacher liaison to discuss last night's Board meeting where the teacher who had been suspended earlier in the month announced his retirement from the district. Articles at http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/teacher-announces-retirement-after-weeklong-suspension. 

Board Office:

• Prepped materials for using the next achievement test for REACH placement in grades 5-8
• Return a phone call regarding REACH placement
• Returned 8th grade honors placement calls/emails
• Updated the spreadsheet for REACH placement to reflect the new CogAT results
• Sent an email regarding Confratute attendance in the summer for those who completed the graduate certificate program
• Spoke with a parent/community member who wanted to share her concerns with how we teach American history
• Provided guidance to world history teachers regarding common assessment development
• Distributed the social studies weekly update

Thursday, March 21

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated a Colonial Day planning committee meeting

High School:

• Met with the long-term sub who is starting to cover for someone going out on maternity leave

Board Office:

• Prepared for the elementary REACH meeting
• Processed the delivery of some books from last week's guest speaker to get them out to the parents who ordered them
• Met with the elementary REACH teachers to review the CogAT results and discuss how we would proceed into testing
• Reviewed US History I and grade 7 lesson plans
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent to get my plan for CogAT results approved
• Drafted a new CogAT notification letter
• Process 500+ CogAT results for mailing

Friday, March 15 through Wednesday, March 20

From Friday, March 15 through Wednesday, March 20, I was in Chicago to attend the ASCD Annual Conference and then to do some touristy stuff as well. As always, I had a great time with colleagues from around the world. The highlights were the inspiring keynote speakers - the president of the University of Maryland - Baltimore County and Maya Angelou. A session with Sandra Day O'Connor was certainly exciting too!

Thursday, March 14

Board Office:

• Completed paperwork to get teachers paid who ran registration at Monday's REACH parent event
• Worked on CogAT results analysis
• Sent a note to elementary REACH teachers about CogAT results and the need for a meeting to discuss how we use them
• Attended the monthly supervisors' meeting
• Sent the Assistant Superintendent an update on my goals for this year
• Sent out the revised NJASCD event announcement
• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Responded to the 8th grade teachers' request to adjust the curriculum pacing
• Replied to a US History II common essay proposal

Wednesday, March 13

High School:

• Conducted an observation

Elementary School:

• Held grade level meetings with 1st and 2nd grade teams to discuss their concerns/questions regarding the new curriculum and resources

High School:

• Met with the teacher who had been suspended for the first of what will likely be several meetings to discuss curriculum and instruction issues

Board Office:

• Sent an email to announce the teachers who would be getting the Chromebooks for next year
• Responded to three contacts regarding honors placements
• Worked on the high school writing rubric revisions
• Worked on scheduling the next meeting with the teacher in question
• Sent out the announcement regarding the 4th grade end of the year project to all 4th grade teachers and principals
• Completed paperwork for NJAGC reimbursement
• Completed paperwork for Rutgers reimbursement

Tuesday, March 12

Board Office:

• Prepped for the identification subcommittee meeting of the Gifted and Talented steering committee
• Attended the Leadership Team meeting
• Facilitated the ID subcommittee meeting
• Followed up on yesterday's guest speaker with parents

Monday, March 11

Board Office:

• Set up and ran a gifted PD event for about 30 teachers with a speaker on using drawing to help with thinking through most of the morning
• Revised the high school writing rubric
• Reviewed lesson plans with a focus on the teacher who was reinstated
• Followed up on CogAT testing for hearing impaired student
• Followed up with PLC of suspended teacher after they had an issue today

Elementary School:

• Sat in the room while the speaker worked with the elementary REACH PLC on some additional things
• Followed up on 8th grade honors placement results
• Worked out details of a long-term sub starting/ending date
• Sent out an email to high school teachers to begin the 2013-14 scheduling process

Had dinner with the guest speaker

Middle School:

• Ran an event for about 100 parents with the guest speaker
• Reviewed the AP US History final exam
• Sent an email about AP US History common assessment labeling

Friday, March 8

Out of District:

• Attended the NJ Association for Gifted Children annual conference

Board Office:

• Responded to phone calls/emails regarding honors placement decisions
• Responded to a question about CogAT testing
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and the high school principal to discuss the personnel issue

Thursday, March 7

Out of District:

• Spent the day at the NJASCD Annual Conference which focused on Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation.

Wednesday, March 6

Board Office:

• Met with the elementary REACH teachers to discuss testing procedures for this year
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Worked on developing a couple days of lesson plans for the class that is being covered by substitute teachers

Out of District:

• Attended a planning meeting for the NJASCD/NJACTE symposium on connecting K-12 and higher education

Middle School:

• Met with social studies teachers to discuss common assessment expectations and how they relate to teacher evaluation

Board Office:

• Sent an email to elementary principals to describe the new REACH testing expectations
• Worked on getting substitute coverage for the 4th grade project planning committee for our next meeting
• Sent an update on Civil War Day planning to the two 6th grade teachers working on it
• Sent an email to the high school department members about reflecting on this week's meeting

Tuesday, March 5

Board Office:

• Most of the day was spent working with a small group of 4th grade teachers on developing an end-of-the-year project. It went really well and is going to make for a great program in April-June.
• Met with the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel and the high school principal to discuss the teacher personnel issue
• Sent emails to project planning committee members and elementary school principals about the project
• Worked on preparation for tomorrow morning's elementary REACH meeting

Monday, March 4

High School:

• Prepared for this afternoon's department meeting
• Met with my teacher liaison to discuss the department meeting
• Observed a teacher
• Met with the principal and a vice principal to discuss the teacher personnel issue
• Participated in a Google Hangout with the NJ model curriculum team for US History II
• Facilitated the department meeting with a focus on analyzing data from the US History I midterms

Board Office:

• Prepared for tomorrow's 4th grade project planning meeting

Although I did not attend the meeting, tonight's Board of Education meeting became a hotbed of discussion related to the personnel issue in the department. Although it is important to note that this information may lack some accuracy, some may be interested in seeing what's been going on.

March 6 article - http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/students-seek-answers-on-high-school-teacher-s-suspension

March 6 article - http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2013/03/10/hillsborough_beacon/news/doc5135a173a8c97370717721.txt

March 7 article - http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2013/03/10/hillsborough_beacon/news/doc51375c41ee7b5063935862.txt

March 8 article - http://hillsborough.patch.com/articles/attorney-teacher-cleared-to-return-classroom

Friday, March 1

Elementary School:

• Read a book to a 1st grade class and a 2nd grade class as part of Read Across America day

High School:

• Drafted a lesson plan for a high school class for Monday
• Met with a teacher about the teacher evaluation pilot
• Met with a teacher and then a vice principal and then a student about a concern related to our ongoing personnel issue

Board Office:

• Distributed the agenda for Monday's high school department meeting
• Sent out my weekly update

Middle School:

• Conducted a post-observation conference

Out of District:

• Participated on a review panel for a teacher education candidate at Princeton University

Thursday, February 28

Board Office:

• Submitted my monthly report to the Assistant Superintendent
• Documented my part of the personnel investigation in a memo to the Superintendent

Intermediate School/Middle School:

• Helped the technology department host representatives from four school districts who wanted to learn about our iPad and Chromebook 1:1 pilots.

Board Office:

• Drafted a lesson plan for tomorrow for a high school class

Wednesday, February 27

Board Office:

• Sent out a reminder email about next week's NJASCD regional event
• Conducted an inventory of REACH testing materials
• Provided information about Destination Imagination to an elementary REACH teacher who requested it
• Prepared for implementing the pilot of the new teacher evaluation system
• Returned a parent's phone call
• Developed procedures for REACH testing for this year
• Reviewed the teacher with the personnel issue's lesson plans for the past several months
• Sent an email to all World History Honors teachers about their progress towards common assessments

Middle School:

• Met with a union representative about issues a teacher raised

Board Office:

• Corresponded with a guidance counselor about how to handle a new student who wants to be considered for honors
• Launched the Gifted Education Resource Center
• Replied to a high school teacher's request for information about curriculum development for a graduate school assignment he is doing
• Completed all paperwork for the ASCD Annual Conference in Chicago
• Spoke with the high school vice principal who conducted the teacher personnel investigation about where we are

Tuesday, February 26

Board Office:

• Met with both assistant superintendents and the superintendent to discuss a personnel issue. This resulted in the decision to suspend the teacher pending the outcome of an investigation.

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a REACH teacher

Board Office:

• Prepared for a GT Steering Committee subcommittee meeting on our program in grades 5-8

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated the subcommittee meeting

Board Office:

• Spoke with our March 11 speaker about the details of the event
• Approved a field trip request

Monday, February 25

Intermediate School:

• Attended a 6th grade social studies PLC meeting to offer support on common assessment development

High School:

• Met with two vice principals to follow up on a teacher issue/investigation from last week
• Sent information regarding a PD event to all staff
• Forwarded request for substitutes for an event on March 11

Middle School:

• Attended a meeting to discuss common assessment expectations

High School:

• Attended a meeting with high school administrators to review the procedures we use for approving summer courses for students
• Attended HSPA training
• Filmed a new teacher about interviewing/applying for jobs to be used in presentations I'm doing at local colleges in late March and April
• Sent an email to middle school teachers about rescheduling their PLC meeting next week