LILA Day 2

Monday, January 28, 2013

8:00-9:45

Educator Advocates Connect the Classroom to the Capital

ASCD's annual legislative agenda outlines the organization's policy goals and vision for the coming year. These policy priorities, developed by a committee of ASCD members , are a comprehensive set of federal reform recommendations to support educators, improve our schools, and benefit students. David Griffith and ASCD Legislative Committee members Becky Berg, Gena Gardiner, and Matt McClure will unveil the 2013 ASCD Legislative Agenda at this session and discuss its contents. With the legislative agenda as a solid foundation, participants will walk through ASCD's 2013 legislative priorities, armed with background, talking points, messaging, and solid responses to tough questions to increase participants' effectiveness during their Capitol Hill meetings.

Happy that the ASCD Legislative Agenda includes pragmatic recommendations for improving education policy within the current political climate and legislative realities. We in education cannot be seen as obstructionist to progress; we have to have our own solutions that include accountability for student success.

·         Waivers created a way to mandate massive reform in the states by excusing them from 100% proficiency. It was a backdoor to a policy changes.

·         We should have local freedom to develop accountability system.

o   But haven't we always had this freedom? Yet, we still don't exit weak teachers or make meaningful change in student outcomes. This is why legislators and people from the outside have been so successful in changing the focus FOR us instead of WITH us.

·         What will we get the biggest push-back on and how should we handle that?

o   There are other very important issues that are worth a lot politically.

§  We have to tell the story of what it means on the ground.

§  Explain the unintended consequences in districts.

o   They don't think ESEA is a priority.

§  We have to be united in making It clear that kids' lives are on the line and something must be done.

o   What is the federal role in all this?

§  Empower states to work on this

o   Shouldn't we talk about sequestration?

§  Historically ASCD has not been involved in funding discussions

·         Create tax-contributing rather than tax-dependent citizens (IDEA)

o   IEPs are legally binding regardless of funding…make this point

·         How can we reduce unfunded mandates to give locals more flexibility with students?

ESEA bipartisan ideas

·         Greater discretion to states

·         Assessments

o   Grades 3-8, reading & math

·         Disaggregate data

·         Eliminate AYP

·         Eliminate HQT requirements but update w/something new

House Reps

·         Accountability formula and interventions

·         Eliminate science requirements

·         Block grants – Title II teacher funds

·         Requires states to create teacher eval systems

·         Expand alt routes to cert

·         Eliminate specific school turnaround strategies (main difference from DEPT)

Tough Questions

·         Why should there be a federal role in school accountability?

o   Equity – access to highest quality education for all students

·         With a shrinking federal budget, how can federal spending be justified?

o   Investment in our nation's future

o   Have already been cut

o   Debt is not being driven by ed funding

·         Why should the fed govt tell schools and districts what to do?

o   Obligation to provide structure and framework for necessary, comprehensive improvements

o   Promote the whole child approach

10:00-10:45

A National Education Leader Looks at How We Got Here and Where We're Headed

Gene Wilhoit, Former Executive Director of the Council of Chief State School Officers

Gene Wilhoit led the nation's state superintendents during a period of incredible change. He has spearheaded states' widespread adoption and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, helped states significantly overhaul their educator evaluation systems, and supported their development of No Child Left Behind waivers while calling on Congress to reauthorize the federal education law. Wilhoit will reflect on these changes and what they mean for the profession, as well as share his perspective on the next trends in education reform across the states.

Schooling in the US was created at an earlier time in our history…it is not designed to graduate all students, ensure equity and excellence for all, educate to high levels

Change drivers:

·         Globalization

·         New Technologies

·         Demographic Shifts

Common Core – states should define what students should know and be able to do in these two core subjects of ELA and mathematics (not across all domains).

·         Basis for transitional way of thinking about education in the US from which to build the system

·         Alone, the CC is insufficient for moving the system forward

·         From the states, not the feds

We as educators need to be leading that conversation (about where ed is going)

Teacher Evaluation

·         Nobody thinks we've done a good job of this

·         It's coming, 12 states by next year

·         MET study is only research in this field right now

Why common standards?

Common Core Implementation

·         PD

o   Preparation redesign report from CCSO

o   http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Publications/50-State_Analysis_of_the_Prepartion_of_Teachers_and_the_Conditions_for_Teaching_Results_from_the_NCES_Schools_and_Staffing_Survey.html

·         Public Awareness

·         Curriculum & Instructional Materials

·         Technology

Future Accountability
12 Key Principles along with Congressional leadership

·         Clearly articulate

·         Differentiate in valid, reliable, and meaningful ways

·         Timely reporting of actionable data

·         Commit to innovative and continuous improvement

10:45-11:30

Ask the Experts: Education Funding, Teacher Training, and IDEA

Lindsay Jones, Council for Exceptional Children; Joel Packer, Committee for Education Funding; and Kathleen Paliokas, Council of Chief School Officers

Federal funding for education is at risk at all levels because of the recession, budget shortfalls, and federal spending cuts. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) is due for reauthorization soon, and teacher preparation is one of the most discussed topics among educators today. Panelists will provide their expert insights on the status of each of these important issues and what to expect in 2013.

Federal Education Funding: Caps, Cuts, Freezes and Sequesters

·         Consortium representing 100+ ed orgs including ASCD

·         ED is 2% of federal budget

·         The Budget Control Act

o   Mandatory caps for discretionary spending through FY '21

§  Reduced by $900 billion over ten years

o   Sequestration

§  $1.2 trillion in auto cuts, 50% from nondefense

o   FY '13 cuts start on March 1, 2013 (most ed cuts felt beginning July 1 except impact aid)

·         Fiscal Cliff deal

o   2 month delay in sequester

o   $24 billion reduction paid for with $12 billion revenue + $12 billion spending cuts

o   Cuts $6 billion from defense and $6 from NDD by lowering spending caps in FY 13 and FY 14

o   Results in a reduced across-the-board cut from 8.2% to 5.1% after addition of Sandy supplemental funds to base NDD

·         Sequestration = largest ed cuts ever

o   FY 13 – Across the board cut approx. 5.1%

o   FY 14-21 – will not be across the board

o   Almost all increase in spending in last 7 years is Pell grants

o   FY 14 will be lower in pure $ than FY 04

·         Outlook

o   Debt ceiling à don't have to deal with until July

o   Sequester à increasingly likely to take effect on March 1

§  Repeal would cost $960 billion

·         WH wants 50% new revenues/50% spending cuts

·         Reps in House wants 100% spending cuts

o   Six-month continuing resolution expires March 27

§  Provides small 0.612% atb increase

o   Defense

§  Efforts to protect defense spending could increase cuts to NDD

o   FY '14 Budget

§  House Reps promise balanced budget within 10 years which will likely need much deeper NDD cuts

·         Resources

o   CEF Grassroots Toolkit

o   NDD United

o   AASA

o   NEA

o   HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee

o   National Assoc. of Federally Impacted Schools

CEC

·         Introducing legislation for full funding of IDEA

o   Won't happen until ESEA is reauthorized

·         Make sure special ed people are paying attention to Results Driven Accountability (RDA) talk in special education

·         Evaluation

o   1 system for all teachers yet recognize the special challenges faced by special ed teachers

CCSO Teacher Quality

·         Focus is shifting to preparation programs for accountability

·         Higher bar for students (CCSS) means a higher bar for all who work in schools

·         Should be multiple way to enter teaching profession but everybody should be held to the same high standard

o   CCSO will release a series of reports on the continuum of career experience

·         Learner-Ready Teachers

o   On day one of their careers, teachers should be able to model and develop in students the knowledge and skills they need to succeed today, including the ability to think critically and creatively, to apply content to solving real world problems, to be literate across the curriculum, to collaborate and work in teams, and to take ownership of their own professional learning.

·         School-Ready Principals

o   On day one on the job, principals should be able to…

·         State levers for change

o   Licensure – 4 recs

§  Higher bar to entry

§  Reciprocity

o   Program approval – 4 recs

§  Programs held accountable

§  Rigorous program approval standards aligned to CCSS

§  Continuous improvement

o   Data collection, analysis, and reporting – 2 recs

§  Governance structures and mobility of data for sharing

·         Implementation – pilot this year if funding comes through

11:30-12:15
Supercharing the Education Profession by Igniting the Power of One

Rebecca Mieliwocki, 2012 National Teacher of the Year

Rebecca Mieliwocki, a 7^th grade English teacher from Burbank, Calif., shares her inspiring message to educators about the role they must play in helping students, improving schools, and defending their profession. Recognizing the challenges facing education today, Mieliwocki believes that productive, revolutionary change in education begins with teachers and will describe what educators can do to help realize these goals.

 

12:30-1:30
Lunch/Four More Years at the Department of Education
Deborah Delisle, Assistant Secretary for K-12 Education

The U.S. Department of Education's Deborah Delisle will outline the administration's vision for education policy for the next four years, including the department's priorities, reauthorization of ESEA, and the future of No Child Left Behind waivers.

1:45-2:30
Capitol Hill Update
Katherine Haley (Speaker Boehner), Soncia Coleman (Sen. Harkin)

Key staff members of Senate and House education leaders will engage in a panel discussion about the latest policy and political developments and the outlook for reauthorizing ESEA in the year ahead. These staffers will provide their insight on Congress's education priorities in 2013 and answer questions about federal issues affecting schools and students.

Boehner:

·         Sequestration is very real

·         March 27 – CR of funding expires and will require extension or omnibus bill

·         # of new members over last couple of years that don't have a history of K-12 education, specifically during NCLB à presents an opportunity to educate them

·         Ed waivers from DOE are an overreach that circumvent Congress and statutory authority; concerns with layers of waivers, NCLB, RTT, state reforms

·         Chairman Kline is very interested in moving an ESEA reauth. Bill

Harkin:

·         Marked up ESEA reauth. Bill in 2011 with some Republican support

·         Concerned about waivers but recognized that something had to happen due to not getting the job done

·         Wants to take up reauth. It is Congress job to do so.

3:30-4:45
Capitol Hill Boot Camp: Making Meetings Meaningful

Video presentations will teach attendees what to do and what not to do during their legislator meetings, addressing how to deliver an effective elevator speech, how to handle a hostile meeting, what to do when a meeting is interrupted, and turning obstacles into opportunities. Participants will view videos and engage in dialogue about the right and wrong ways to conduct Hill meetings.

 

LILA Day #1

4:30-5:15

The 113^th Congress and You: Education Politics and Policy in 2013

David Griffith, Public Policy Director

Megan Wolfe, Manager, Public Policy-Advocacy

The ASCD policy team will provide its analysis of the 2012 presidential and congressional election results and what they mean for education policy in the 113^th Congress. Will reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) be a priority of Congress remains divided? Who are the new leaders within the Department of Education and the congressional education committees on Capitol Hill? What reform issues will rise to the top in this new environment? Each of these issues will be addressed from ASCD's perspective?

Senate = 53 Democrats, 47 Republicans à 55 Democrats, 45 Republicans

·         12 new members

·         Reid believes he has a larger mandate for Democratic positions

·         Ed Committee – Chair = Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Minority Member = Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

o   Harkin not running for reelection in '14; Alexander is

o   Alexander was Sec. of Ed. under President Bush

House = 242 Republicans, 193 Democratcs à 234 Republicans, 201 Democrats

·         84 new members

·         43% of House members have served < 3 years

·         Boehner believes he has a mandate for Republican positions

·         Republicans (due to gerrymandering) aren't afraid of Democratic challengers; they are concerned about more conservative primary challengers. This is guiding negotiating.

·         Ed Committee – Chair = John Kline (R-MN), Ranking Minority Member = George Miller (D-CA)

o   Elem & Sec Subcommittee Chair = Todd Rokita (R-IN)

Obama and the Dept. of Ed.

·         Arne Duncan will be staying, all 8 years it seems

Priorities:

·         Common Core

·         Educator Effectiveness

o   Respect program

·         Data Systems

·         School Turnaround

·         Competitive Grants

o   Race to the Top

o   Investing in Innovation (I3)

·         NCLB Waivers & Flexibility

o   District waivers?

o   K-12 is now in the periphery until the waivers expire

·         School safety – new since Newtown

New/expanded initiatives:

·         Early childhood education

·         Principal preparation and evaluation

·         Teacher preparation programs

o   There's a belief that as a generation of teachers start to retire, getting prep right can make a difference for the next 25 years

·         College affordability and access

ESEA:

·         ESEA

o   Administration's blueprint

o   Senate committee passed bill

o   House committee passed bill

o   35 state waivers (incl. DC)

·         Main themes

o   State discretion

§  A lot of independence at the state level rather than strict AYP and turnaround guidelines

o   Accountability

o   School turnaround improvement

o   Teacher evaluations

Education Committee Agendas

·         Reauthorizations

o   ESEA (staff indicates this is the priority)

§  Committees will need to address the waivers

o   IDEA

§  Alignment with ESEA

o   Perkins (CTE)

§  Alignment with Common Career Technical Core

o   HEA (Higher Education Act)

§  Access, accountability, and funding

o   Head Start

§  Program quality & improvement (early learning challenge grants)

Education Funding – Sequestration

·         5.9% across the board cuts to federal education programs

·         Totals about $3 billion in cuts

o   Title I - $855 million

o   IDEA - $682 million

o   Improving Teacher Quality State Grants - $162 million

o   CTE - $97 million

o   21^st Century Community Learning Centers - $65 million

o   Teacher Incentive Fund - $17 million

·         Effective March 1, 2013

·         Cuts to most ed. programs in 2013-14 except Impact Aid, which will be cut in Marc

5:30-7:00

Welcome, Debra Hill

Keynote Address, Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch, the renowned education historian, policy analyst, and research professor of education at New York University, will kick off ASCD's legislative conference with her insights on the latest trends in education reform. She'll share her evolving perspective on improving the nation's education system and comment on how conference attendees can build public support for education and achieve their education policy goals.

·         2012 election suggests that American public is not ready to turn public education over to private interests.

·         "An informed electorate will not abandon public schools."

·         Bipartisan consensus about American public education that is misguided and based on misinformation à Dept. approach à state reforms

·         Proponents of smear job – ALEC

·         The only longitudinal tests are NAEP, since early 1970s

o   Highest scores in history in math/reading, all subgroups

o   Graduation rates highest in history

o   90% of 18-24 y/o have a hs diploma (rather than using new calculation of average 9^th grade graduation rate)

o   White graduation rate = 94%, Black = 87%, Hispanic = 77%

o   Dropout rates are lowest point in history

o   Biggest narrowing of black/white achievement gap was in late 70s and early 80s

§  Racial desegration

§  Expanding economic opportunities for black families

§  Reduced class sizes

§  Increased early childhood education opportunities

·         International testing

o   1964 1^st one – we came in 12/12 in one grade, 11/12 in another grade

o   We typically score in bottom 25%, seldom higher than average in 50 years yet we have far surpassed those nations in economic growth, military strength, creativity, etc.

§  The test scores actually predicted nothing about….

o   TIMS – US students performed very well, tied Finland and Denmark in 4^th and 8^th grade, in science in top 10 of the world, black students in MASS performed equiv. to Israel and Finland

o   What's not tested is creativity and ingenuity

·         Achievement gap in every nation in the world à always based on poverty and affluence

o   US gap is smaller than most other advanced nations

·         #1 in # of children living in poverty compared to advanced nations, 25% of children below poverty line à huge impact on test scores

·         Should be talking about opportunity gap instead of the achievement gap

·         Educators put children first every day and they don't walk around saying they put children first. Anybody who says they're doing it, believe me they're not.

·         Standardized tests mirror socio-economic status; they measure gaps, they don't close them. Every one is normed on a bell curve, every one has a bottom half. They never close. The bottom half is always populated by the people who have the fewest opportunities.

NCLB

·         Based on claim that there had been a miracle in Texasàdidn't make the change happen that was promised

·         More than 80% of local school boards in Texas have passed resolutions against standardized tests

·         NCLB mandated 100% proficiency by 2014

·         No one believed that 100% proficiency would be reality; it was a goal

·         Test prep and teaching to it is malpractice

·         Reducing the arts, recess, history and civics, science. The heart and soul of education is being sacrificed.

·         Widespread cheating – biggest examples in Atlanta and D.C.

o   Nearly half of the schools had cheating in DC under Rhee

o   DC has the widest black-white achievement gap of any city and Hispanic-white

§  Every year 20% of teachers leave

§  More than 60% of Rhee's principals have left

Race to the Top

·         Built on foundation of NCLB; NCLB on steroids

·         Insists that test scores are the be all end all

·         RTTT will punish schools and teachers (instead of just schools)

·         RTTT requires mandates without evidence to support them

·         Implementing RTTT costs many times more than fed govt money and don't improve education

·         Required teacher eval tied to test scores à no one has ever demonstrated that doing this would improve education

o   Some districts are reporting that their very best teachers have low ratings

o   Teachers of the year getting fired

o   Incentivizes teaching to the test and demoralizes teachers

o   Holds teachers accountable for things they don't have control over

o   VAM – TN in 80s…if it works TN should be at the top

§  Right in middle on NAEP

·         Families influence achievement even more than teacher influence

·         VAM inaccurate and inprecise – AERA advocates not using to evaluate teachers

Some of Ravitch's claims are based on sound bite opposition to thoughtful use of assessment data including in teacher evaluation. She speaks to fears that can be addressed in a good system. This isn't to say that this has been done well so far in the US, but I think it is ridiculous to think we can't use student achievement as any part of evaluating teachers. What else are we here for?

 

Other options

·         Montgomery County Peer Assistance Review committee

Merit Pay

·         Sounds good but doesn't work, tried again and again and has never worked for nearly 100 years

·         Vanderbilt study

o   No difference made by bonus

·         Teachers are doing the best they can, extra $ doesn't change that

·         NYC Plan

o   Admitted that it made no difference (RAND study)

·         Chicago

o   Failed after 4 years of implementation

o   No evidence that new schools (under turnaround) are better than the ones they replaced

§  Critics say youth violence spikes are related to closing of neighborhood schools that have destabilized neighborhoods

·         The idea that never works and never dies

·         Teachers say (ie believe) that merit pay undermines collaboration

·         The carrot and stick philosophy represents early 20^th century behaviorism, not modern research-based understanding of psychology

o   Motivation comes from idealism, sense of purpose, and personal autonomy

Charter Schools

·         Some get high scores, some get low scores – on average, they are no different

·         Before 1990, no for-profit schools in US other than trade schools

o   80% of charters in MI are for-profit

o   Even in states that bar for-profit allow non-profits to higher for-profit management companies

o   Whitehead Charter examples from OH

·         Charter operators are now moving into middle- and high-income districts in several states

o   Private school at public expense

·         ALEC legislation

o   Governors should have the right to create a commission that can overturn local school board decisions regarding authorization

·         Virtual For-Profit schools

o   Rhetoric is about personalization, 21^st century learning, innovation

o   Studies = make a lot of money, but students get low scores and have low rates

o   If brick-and-mortar schools performed at the level of virtuals, they'd be closed down

Vouchers

·         Milwaukee, Cleveland, D.C. à none have had any effect on test scores

Solutions

·         Prenatal health care, early childhood health

·         School nurses, psychologists

·         Reduce class sizes in early grades (research is powerful)

o   LV – up to 50, Detroit – up to 40

·         Balanced curriculum w/full program in arts, history, science, foreign languages

·         Students need a reason to come to school

·         Desegregate

o   Charter schools are even more segregated than the districts in which they exist

·         Need to deal with child poverty

·         Need to use tests appropriately not to hand out rewards and punishments

·         Hire good teachers and support them and let them teach, evaluate them professionally

·         Should not hand public schools over to profit-seekers

 

·         Essential mission of the public schools is to develop citizens with the heart and character to make good decisions for themselves, their families, their communities, and society.

Oversimplifies and generalizes…the way the reformers do just from the other side

Talks a lot about test scores as evidence of things not working despite saying test scores are not valid (and about us doing okay)

7:00-9:00

Reception

Greet friends and meet new acquaintances who share an interest in policy and have a passion for politics during this informal networking event. Refreshments and hors d'ouveres will be served.

 

 

 

Friday, January 25

High School:

• Observed a demo lesson and then moved the candidate through interviews with the vice principals and the principal
• Spoke with an elementary school principal about her 2nd grade social studies meeting
• Began checking references on the candidate
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Sent an email to a former student teacher

Middle School:

• Conducted an observation

High School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher
• Spoke with a parent who had a concern with a teacher and shared that concern with the parent
• Met with a teacher to talk through problems with how she handled a parent concern
• Researched a small token of appreciation as recognition for some great work the HS department has done the past two weeks

Intermediate School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher

Board Office:

• Attended GT graduate certificate class

Thursday, January 24

High School:

• Responded to a parent email regarding a concern in a high school class
• Participated as a questioner as students in US History I honors classes presented on and then analyzed elements of the Constitution

Board Office:

• Worked with the assistant superintendent to develop a plan for handling potential inclement weather on Friday/Saturday when we have the final GT graduate classes
• Sent an email to a substitute teacher/job applicant that made clear my dissatisfaction with his approach to communication (upon the advice of the assistant superintendent for personnel)
• Spoke with the middle school principal about potential ways to talk about GT there
• Spoke with an elementary school principal about his social studies meeting with 4th grade teachers
• Sent a reminder to three elementary school principals who have not submitted a representative to serve on a committee

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated 5th grade curriculum integration meetings

Board Office:

• Called a parent to resolve an issue with a teacher

Wednesday, January 23

Board Office:

• Attended the principals/supervisors meetings which were shortened to only intermediate and elementary school levels today. The elementary meeting has some rough moments because some things are happening with the implementation of the new social studies curriculum that I am not happy with and the support from the principals in maintaining the integrity of the curriculum is lacking in some areas.
• Provided some advice to a high school teacher on overcoming network issues
• Followed up on Monday's GT presentation with the participants
• Finalized the common rubric for copying
• Reviewed midterms
• Attended the World Language Task Force meeting
• Attended teacher evaluation training where I was certified to evaluate based on the results of a test

Tuesday, January 22

Board Office:

• Followed up on a high school teacher's field trip request
• Corresponded with a high school teacher about a final exam
• Scheduled an additional GT Steering Committee subcommittee meeting
• Provided National History Day budget information to a teacher
• Began collecting requests for CogAT handbook copying
• Followed up on some loose ends related to the high school part of yesterday's inservice
• Worked on scheduling GT presentations at the intermediate and middle schools
• Prepared for the long-term sub interviews
• Conducted three long-term sub interviews. One candidate really stood out as the #1 choice
• Provided a large print test book to an elementary REACH teacher

Monday, January 21

High School:

• Directly facilitated three two-hour inservice sessions: social studies department work with high school and middle school and a GT presentation all K-4 teachers. Indirectly planned for and oversaw several additional sessions including: GT CogAT training, GT Renzulli Learning training, K-4 grade level articulation meetings, 5-6 common assessment development, 5-6 digital materials training, 7-8 digital materials training, and 9-12 digital materials training.

Friday, January 18

Out of District:

• Attended the NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association winter meeting where I served on a panel regarding teacher evaluation.

Thursday, January 17

High School:

• Reviewed applications for the long-term sub position and scheduled 3 interviews for next week
• Responded to a parent question about CogAT testing
• Updated REACH rosters to reflect two new students
• Reviewed midterms
• Began processing the 8th grade honors placement exam results

High School:

• Facilitated a work session with the world history teachers with very positive results like the US history meetings from earlier in the week

Board Office:

• Spoke with an elementary REACH teacher about her concerns with a guest speaker we are having in for Monday's inservice
• Finalized the agenda for Monday's inservice

Wednesday, January 16

High School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a high school teacher
• Observed a high school teacher
• Met with the department liaison to discuss the long-term sub opening, the DVD player survey, and book deliveries.

Board Office:

• Met with the superintendent for my monthly curriculum chat
• Responded to a teacher's question about the 5th grade curriculum
• Spoke with the intermediate school principal about the GT committee

High School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss the applicants for her long-term sub position
• Attended the high school supervisors' meeting
• Chatted with the vice principals about a substitute

Board Office:

• Spoke with the supervisor of world languages about the role of our teacher liaisons
• Submitted a proposal to the director of technology to get DVD players for each high school teacher work station
• Prepared for tomorrow's world history work session
• Sent an email to elementary REACH teachers regarding next Monday's inservice
• Prepared for next Monday's REACH inservice
• Sent the results of the DVD player survey to the high school teachers
• Reviewed high school midterms
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Responded to a principal's question about REACH
• Nominated an intermediate school teacher for an award
• Worked on uploading student usernames into Renzulli Learning for grades 3-4
• Reviewed field trip applications
• Checked on my current year budgets

Tuesday, January 15

High School:

• Attended a lesson planner demonstration session for a possible new software program
• Scheduled the first gifted and talented steering committee subcommittee meetings for February
• Spoke with a high school teacher about an issue she had with a substitute teacher

Out of District:

• Attended a planning session for NJASCD/NJACTE Symposium #3 on bringing together K-12 and higher education

Monday, January 14

High School:

• Facilitated a morning work session with US History I teachers and an afternoon work session with US History II teachers. We made really great progress towards developing common assessments, rubrics, and other related items. I was really happy with the work that we did. It helped to be able to get subs in for the day so that we could have a long period of uninterrupted time.
• Met with the Social Science PLC to discuss rubric development based on the discussion that took place during the work sessions.

Friday, January 11

High School:

• Presented an overview of important information for social studies scheduling to the high school guidance counselors

Board Office:

• Attended the (hopefully) final planning session for the January 21 in-service day
• Spoke with our gifted education consultant about a session for January 21
• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Worked on the planning for a full day of social studies work sessions for Monday and sent key information to social studies teachers

Thursday, January 10

Board Office:

• Attended the supervisors' meeting and PLC
• Worked on planning for January 21 in-service

Wednesday, January 9

Intermediate School:

• Facilitated a meeting of the Colonial Day planning committee

Board Office:

• Met with a teacher to help her work on a gifted education resource center for our district's teachers
• Reviewed the draft of the 2013-14 program of studies

Intermediate School:

• Observed a 5th grade social studies lesson

Out of District:

• Attended a lunch at Rutgers University with the middle school principal as part of a concluding ceremony for the Japanese teachers who spent the past 6 months here, including one day visiting our students and teachers.

Tuesday, January 8

Board Office:

• Reviewed lesson plans
• Reviewed resumes for a long-term substitute position at the high school
• Sent an e-mail to the elementary principals to begin planning a release day for some 4th grade teachers to work on developing a project
• Attended the district leadership team meeting

High School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher whose performance I rated as needing improvement. The meeting went well I think due to some changes I made to how I approached it. Hopefully this leads to additional productive discussion and development with this teacher.

Middle School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a teacher whose performance I rated as needing improvement. This meeting also went well although I was less concerned going in than I was for the previous one.

Board Office:

• Sent out an e-mail reminder about completing a survey for serving on a gifted and talented committee.

Monday, January 7

It's always tough to come back to work after missing a day, nevermind after being out of the office since December 21!

Board Office:

• Responded to a REACH screening question
• Prepared for this afternoon's high school department meeting
• Responded to an e-mail regarding REACH screening results
• Attended a January 21 in-service planning session
• E-mailed a consultant who is presenting about gifted education on Wednesday night to a meeting of second grade parents
• Reviewed midterm exams for two courses

High School:

• Ran a department meeting
• Spoke with a parent regarding REACH screening results

Thursday, January 3, 2012

 

We kicked off our last day with two hot, fresh glazed doughnuts from Walker's Doughnuts with some tea and cappuccino. They must be making a mean profit off $2.60 doughnuts, but it was still a nice treat.

 

We met up with Scott and Brooke to walk to the historical Hotel Windsor for high tea. Apparently, this hotel was the location where Australia's constitution was drafted. The building interior still looks antique but has been modernized in all the important practical ways. High tea began with sparkling wine and then our choice of fine teas. Ali had the hotel's afternoon blend and Matt had the chai. We slowly stuffed ourselves with mini quiche, lamb tarts, Asian dumplings, various finger sandwiches, scones, and mini desserts and petit fours. We valiantly attempted to at least try everything but barely could fit it all in our stomachs. We had a great time and the food was delicious.

 

Today was the hottest day since we arrived in Australia, so it was a little uncomfortable setting off for a long walk in 95 degree heat after eating a very large meal. We made our way to the Queen Victoria market, featuring a large swath of various souvenir stands and specialty food stores. We just made it prior to closing and were able to buy something to display at home.

 

To maximize our city experience on our last night, we decided not to have dinner at a single restaurant but rather to eat appetizers at a few different ones. We looked up some reviews and set off to find them.

 

Our second attempt at being admitted to the speakeasy was unsuccessful. We noticed that the adjacent hotel had a sign that read "through to restaurant" on the door leading into the alley, so we went around to the lobby to see if anyone could help us. Not only did the person at the front desk all but disavow the speakeasy's existence, but she also claimed to have no knowledge of its hours of operation (which are not posted on its website either).

 

Our next attempt was also fruitless when we tried to go to a rooftop bar atop a fancy hotel. Since it was 100 degrees out, we were all wearing shorts and therefore did not meet the dress code. We were undeterred and headed to the next stop on our list, Federation Square. This is the public common area of Melbourne where people assemble for festivals or to watch a tennis match on the big screen. There is a building there designed by I. M. Pei, which is good because we wouldn't have recognized any other architect's name. There was also a display of bent sticks woven into a hut that we admired (Scott and Ali perhaps more than others), among many other sculptures that we saw free of charge.

 

The first restaurant we tried in Federation Square was Beer DeLuxe. Picking Australian brews from the "Beer Bible," we got a booth inside and admired the varied collection of pre-owned chandeliers. Matt and Ali ordered some Wagyu sliders since everyone had been telling us about the meat. Perhaps it is more remarkable when not in burger form. Our beers were what we expected from the restaurant's name, and we enjoyed this stop enough to return for one last beer and bar pie before bed.

 

The next restaurant was a little more upscale with a more eclectic menu, which you might expect from a name like Aryntji. Although the four of us were handed seemingly identical menus, Matt's offered "rosasted" potatoes while the rest of ours listed "roasted" potatoes. Brooke and Ali got to sit in chairs while Scott and Matt perched atop pretend tree-stumps. The table was so small that we ended up borrowing another stump to extend it. We split a delicious salad made from rocket, cheese, prosciutto, pears, and toast. Our beers were disappointing, but we only had two Australian beers on tap from which to choose. Blue Tongue was the brand, and the brew alternated between tasteless and bitter. We had a great view of the square and some of the river. The free entertainment consisted of a death match between some birds and a bug right outside our window.

 

Our third stop was Transit, a roof-top bar with very comfortable outdoor seating. Luckily, it had cooled down a bit by the time we arrived (though leather wasn't the most forgiving upholstery fabric on a hot day) and we sat next to an even better view of the river and the Melbourne skyline. We had a very pleasant time getting to know Scott and Brooke better and were surprised at how late it was when we left. We had to turn in early, though, since we'd be leaving at 6AM for the train station. On Friday, Ruth, Alex, and Jess met up with us at the airport for a final farewell meal. This was convenient so we didn't have to worry about getting back to the airport on time. 30 hours of travel later, we were happy to be home but wished we'd had more time!

January 2

Today we walked  to The Pancake Parlour and had a spirited debate about domestic policy in Australia and the U.S. "Real" maple syrup had to be ordered specially but was worth it. The pancakes were a little darker in colour than we're used to but were tasty enough. We weren't thrilled about being charged $4.90 for a glass of tap water, but we enjoyed our quality time together.

 

We decided to take advantage of the free tour bus again to see the parts of the city we hadn't gotten to on our last ride. Brooke and Ali were able to get a seat and gab while Scott and Matt braved the crowds and warned duller tourists who managed to get crushed by the door in their haste.

We got out at the Crown Casino, which had a luxury mall and nice restaurants. Even the pretend man and woman icons on the bathroom signs seemed to be dressed up. We couldn't find the video poker games that Matt usually played, so we thought we'd try $10 in a slot machine. The slots include a little video war game option every few spins, which was different. We won $55 profit and quit while we were ahead to get some lunch in the food court. We shared a large Indian lunch of chicken tikka masala, chickpea masala and roasted vegetables with saffron rice and a mango lassi.

 

We went back to the hotel to catch up on some work. Ali tried the gym, which wasn't very well maintained. The room was warm and the water tank was out of cups. There were also dirty towels lying on the floor. We cleaned up and got a little more dressed up to go out for the night.

 

Scott and Brooke were excited to take us to "Dracula's," a unique and fun dinner theater experience. We had "VIP" tickets, which meant we got to wait in the red carpet line and get admitted first. Various characters interacted with us in line and we received gift bags and necklaces. Upon entering, we had a live introduction in a room that reminded us of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. The entire building is decorated inside and out with vampire-related paraphernalia, and all staff are dressed up and in character. We were led into a bar area where sparkling wine and snacks were served. Recommendation: Do not sit up on the couches if you want the snacks to reach you. Then we had a green screen photo taken that we declined to purchase. Next was a ghost train ride, which was a brief theme-park-style ride with a hidden camera taking footage to be shown at intermission.

 

We were seated at a booth so that we could sit in comfortable seats and all see the stage. It was higher than the seats in front of us, so we had an unobstructed view. We kept being interrupted by someone trying to sell us various souvenirs, so we wished we could just put up a sign at the start saying we weren't interested in buying anything. We ordered themed drinks and our meals. These started with tarts followed by main dishes (Ali had a frittata and Matt had lamb) and coffin shaped mousse desserts. We ordered a few beers to last us for the show. Recommendation: do not pay for a fishbowl drink. Scott was convinced his did not have the 6 shots of liquor he was promised, and it didn't taste like it to us either when we took a sip. A jazz combo played covers of various rock, pop, and hip-hop songs while we ate our meals. The main show included a vaudeville mix of comedy, songs, and sketches. The visual effects were well-done and the show was entertaining overall.

 

On our way home, we tried to stop at a speakeasy but unfortunately found it to be locked (luckily, we watched other people try as well so we know it wasn't just us), so we found the next best thing- Tim-Tams. These are Australian cookies that we tried earlier in our trip. We took these back up to our rooms to enjoy with the bottle of wine we were given upon check-in.

 

Correction: Our hotel is called Citigate, not City Gate.

December 31 and January 1

This morning we went to Palm Beach with Brooke and her brother. It was a beautiful sunny day with a warm breeze, so we were very comfortable relaxing on the sand and taking a dip in the cool water. Palm Beach wasn't very crowded; we found a parking space right away and had plenty of room around our spot on the sand. After a few hours, we had some burgers at a nearby restaurant and then headed back to the house to rest up for the evening.

 

We caught a train into the city to do a test walk of the opera house area. Barriers were being set up and crowds were already gathered along the water and in the botanical gardens. An airshow and boat parade entertained everyone, along with music, food stands, and festivities. Once we had our bearings, we tried to find a place that would squeeze us in for an early dinner. When we saw some very casually dressed people heading into the very upscale Intercontinental Hotel, we felt confident enough to venture in wearing our opera finery. The hotel restaurant offered many small plates and drinks in an immense space with high ceilings and impressive stone and metal architecture. A jazz pianist and singer provided relaxing ambience, and we sat at a booth to enjoy some drinks and snacks. It was a lucky find on a night that usually books all local restaurants months in advance.

 

By the time we left the hotel, more barricades had been erected and the area in front of the opera house was guarded by multiple security checkpoints. Our name and confirmation email was verified and we were allowed to pass through and pick up our tickets at the box office. With an hour left until the opera, we walked upstairs and had a couple glasses of champagne on the veranda overlooking the water and setting sun.

 

The first two acts of the opera flew by despite frequent breaks for spontaneous applause. The audience piled out to the balconies and atria to watch the early NYE fireworks display. We could see the television hosts being filmed below us and felt like VIPs as we watched from the harbor. The music was piped in on speakers so we could hear how it synced up with the fireworks. Some were launched from the Harbour Bridge itself, as well as several spots on the water. We then returned to our seats for the second half of the opera, which ended with a surprising storm of streamers and confetti spraying from all directions during the bows.  This made the crowd cheer even more than the performance. The opera was beautifully directed and staged and made La Boheme new to patrons who may have seen it several times before. This was Matt's first opera, so it will probably be difficult to top the experience!

 

We exited the opera house somewhat hesitantly because we were in such an exclusive place to view the midnight fireworks.  We feared that we wouldn't be able to find our way through the crowds to Alex's office building and then would have forfeited the perfect spots. Luckily, we were able to walk a few blocks away from the harbor to scoot around the crowds. Our preliminary reconnaissance proved helpful as we spotted his building quickly. Alex came down to greet us at a security checkpoint, and we felt quite special to be "on the list" of people to be let in. Alex was able to get the board room- the best possible vantage point on the 44^th floor. We had the room all to ourselves (Alex, Scott, Brooke, Jess, and the friends we'd met on Christmas) and enjoyed drinks and snacks while we waited for midnight.

 

The midnight display was much grander than the one we'd viewed at 9PM. Although it had seemed we couldn't top the opera house experience, our private sky-scraper party was incredible. There were fireworks launched from neighboring towers all around us, and all of the boats on the harbor were decorated with lights. We marveled at a fleet of jet-skiers that somehow launched fireworks, and the bridge seemed to rain fireworks at one point. Watching the world's biggest fireworks display from the best location with family and new friends was the perfect close to our year. When we were lucky enough to make our way to a train and get home in time to catch a few hours of sleep, we counted the evening a complete success.

 

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Melbourne

 

Three hours after returning from the city, we woke up and piled into the car to the airport. We timed this well enough to ensure maximum sleep but minimum wait time for our flight. Since we fell asleep on the plane, the hour-long flight felt as though it hadn't happened at all. Scott and Brooke planned our side trip for us and took care of printing boarding passes and finding our way. We took a shuttle from the airport and walked to our hotel, the City Gate. Since it was only 9AM, our rooms weren't ready. We checked our bags and began exploring the area. It was very quiet since most people were still sleeping off their parties and most businesses were closed. Still, we were able to kick-off our Melbourne experience properly by relaxing in a café (Hudsons Coffee). Here we were able to try an Australian treat- a Lamington (pastry with jam and cream inside and coconut outside) and tried to caffeinate ourselves as much as possible. Since we didn't expect our room to be ready for several hours, we decided to take advantage of the free tour bus. This was a cheap and efficient way to see all the major sight-seeing stops of the city even though they were closed.  We found some open restaurants, and chose to sit outside at Pasta Rustica. Ali had seafood risotto and Matt had spaghetti and meatballs. We had the option of upsizing them to a "main" size for $5, but found the entrée (appetizer) portions to be more than sufficient. If we had more energy, we might have stayed to try one of the many flavors of soufflé. As we'd come to expect, sit-down meals take a very long time as it is (tipping turns out to be a great motivator for speedy service). Our meals and garlic bread were very tasty and worth the wait.

 

We allowed ourselves a brief rest to freshen up once our hotel rooms were ready, but we wanted to stay awake so we didn't throw off our sleep schedules too much. We walked to the nearby Greater Union theater to see The Hobbit. Once seated, we noticed there were no cup holders and the screen was blank until the movie started. The sound wasn't working well and neither was the air-conditioning, but we all wanted to see the movie and had little choice of low-energy, low-cost activities on New Year's Day. We stopped at James Squire pub on the way back to the hotel to discuss the movie and enjoy some beers. Matt had the amber ale he'd tried at Ali's aunt's house and Ali had a Heffeweizen, and we shared a plate of emu sliders and Moroccan chicken skewers. Emu seemed like another local meat we should sample and tasted a bit meatier and tougher than chicken.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

 

Today began with Yum Cha at Fook Yeun restaurant in Chatswood. Yum Cha is like dim sum (which neither of us had tried so it wasn't a terribly helpful comparison); you sit while various dishes come around and ask for the ones you'd like to try. We let Ali's cousins choose for us since we weren't sure what everything was. We tried a sort of rice porridge and a variety of dumplings, buns and balls with prawns, beef, pork, and vegetables. We sipped jasmine tea throughout the meal and topped it off with mango pancakes filled with fruit and cream. It was nice to try a new experience and we left quite full.

 

We set aside the day to catch up on our blogging and photo posting, clean up our room, pack for Melbourne, plan New Year's Eve, and relax. Once the housekeeping was taken care of, we spent some quality time playing various board games with Ali's cousins. As always, this led to lots of laughs and fun. After Scott picked up his girlfriend Brooke and her brother Jeremy at the airport, we all met up at a sushi train. Matt had been looking forward to finding a conveyor-belt style sushi restaurant since his visits to Japan, so this was a fun meal. We topped it off with Ben & Jerry's- not very local, but definitely a crowd-pleaser. We all headed back to the house and played a 1979 London version of Monopoly using make-shift crayon-cut-out property cards and War Hammer dice. It was as dramatic and high-adrenaline as Monopoly gets. This brought us to about midnight, so we went to bed to store up some sleep for the long night ahead.

More Australia

December 27 Continued

 

I forgot to mention our tour of the Sydney Opera House after our cruise. We took a delightful tour that included the history of its construction as well as the many functions and features of the various halls. We were able to watch some of an orchestral rehearsal as well as a cue to cue tech rehearsal for the opera we will see on New Year's Eve.

 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Wine Tours with Jason

 

We were the last of the tour group to be picked up at our hotel at 7:15AM, making it an early start. Our group included another much older couple from Florida and three couples from the U.K. We had a two hour scenic drive to the Hunter Valley, stopping once for coffee and breakfast. The guide told us about the area on the way, and stopped the van as we got closer to our first stop so we could take in a view of the valley's many vineyards. It was a lovely sunny day so we had a great view. This continued at our first stop, at which our tasting was hosted on a back veranda overlooking a great portion of the valley and distant mountains. We sampled about six varieties of wine at this stop and learned about the varieties cultivated in the region. Our second stop was just as generous and educational  and also included some cheese. We learned about the difference between vintages from year to year. Next, we had lunch outdoors at a shopping center. It was peaceful in the shade and we enjoyed live music with our meal. The third winery was our first non-private experience, complicated by the fact that the other group included a restless baby and toddler that made it hard to concentrate on the owner's talk. We were seated in tight rows, so it was hard to dump out the end of your sample and harder to navigate the group to try the olive oil and bread samples. On our way to the next location, we stopped to see some kangaroos and their joeys running free in the bush. The final stop was a nice variety but we got caught in the rain at the end.

 

After a long ride back to the city (including traffic jams and an impromptu detour), we made it back to the hotel to grab our luggage and head back to Ali's cousins' house. This went surprisingly well as we quickly found the train station, bought our tickets, caught a train right away, and found the connecting bus without incident. We even found the right stop and navigated back to the house on foot without the assistance of directions, phones, or maps. We were pretty proud of this. The family went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant  for a few hours, where we all enjoyed dinner boxes and then went home to bed.

 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

We got a ride to the zoo this morning on a very crowded day. Most people seemed to be there for the dinosaurs, so we made our way around them and went on a mission to find kangaroos, wallabies, platypus, Tasmanian devils, and other local animals. The only one on our must-see list that didn't come out into view was a wombat.

 

The Taronga Zoo has great harbor views and is conveniently located by a ferry stop. We took the ferry to Darling Harbor and had luck at Casa di Nico. Like most restaurants in Darling Harbor, we were able to sit outside and look at the boats. We shared a delicious chunky Greek salad and a crispy margarita pizza. We learned that there is little incentive for fast service and water refills in a country that doesn't tip its servers. Furthermore, we learned that it is difficult to clearly communicate the desire for change after giving the server the bill. We have several times found ourselves in awkward situations where, after being abandoned, we have to try to find a way to get our money back.

 

After lunch we headed into a very long queue for the Sydney aquarium. Though pricey, it had a wonderfully clear path to follow, bringing us through the exhibits with little need for mapping and planning our way. We saw a lot of sharks and rays and never had to wait very long to get a look at what we wanted to see. We took a picture of the largest crab either of us had ever seen, but the picture looks like it could be a close-up of a normal sized crab so the scale is lost.

 

We got a café coupon in exchange for recycling our water bottles, and turned it in for some carrot cake and coffee. We enjoyed this in the cafeteria, which was a little strange because it felt like we were in a fish tank being eyed by the line waiting outside.

 

We set off to follow a walking tour of the neighborhood. This took us past street musicians, parks, many different swimmable fountains and playgrounds. We went into the Chinese Garden which was a nice serene break from the crowds. As it promises, it delivered a variety of artistic and peaceful scenes in harmony with the bustling city in view beyond the walls.  We then explored the casino and began sampling happy hour offerings at the restaurants along the harbor as we made our way to the restaurant where we'd be having dinner with Ali's family.

 

Nick's was a great seafood restaurant in Cockle Bay, and we had a table that allowed us to view fireworks  on the water. We finally tried some Kangaroo, served rare since it is so lean. It tasted like steak and was quite flavorful. We also tried a kind of shellfish indigenous to the area, Moren Bay bugs, that was a cross between a lobster and a crab. Ali tried fresh figs for the first time and we all shared various appetizers such as mussels and scallops. We bought dessert drinks at Lindt and then walked back to the car. We fell asleep very quickly after arriving home with very full, happy bellies.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Boxing Day

 

Aunt Ruth made us breakfast this morning, including toast with vegemite, sausages, bacon that resembled thinly sliced ham, and eggs. Then Ali's cousins drove us to our hotel to check in. The Westin is one of the most luxurious hotels in the city, but we were able to get a great deal with our points. Our room is very large for a city hotel room and has lots of amenities and a great big tub.

 

We walked to Alex's office building, where he brought us up to the second floor from the top to view the harbor. We had a great view of the opera house and harbor bridge, and it was a good way to survey the area and plan our excursions for the next couple days.  We learned that Alex often shares a conference table with a former PM, showing us that politicians don't quite enjoy the same celebrity after they leave office as US presidents do.

 

We took a self-guided walking tour of the neighborhood called the Rocks, and laughed a lot as Ali's cousins realized most of the tour stops were new to them as well. They also laughed about how relatively young Australia is as a country and that even the oldest neighborhood didn't have much history yet. It was another unseasonably cool day with a little more sunshine than yesterday, so  we were able to walk for a long time without feeling too hot or too cold.

 

Another part of our afternoon that made us laugh is that Ali's cousins were trying to find a distinctively "Australian" place for us to eat. We ended up at a German restaurant for lunch, which featured some live music, nail-pounding races, and drinking contests. For dessert, we went to a chocolate store that we later discovered is probably part of a chain from California. We ate well and had fun anyway.  We also found our annual tree ornament that Jess offered to paint for us since most ornaments aren't labeled with the year.

 

We parted ways with Ali's family and began our Harbor Bridge Climb. We went through training and got suited up with lots of gadgets and gear. We were the only Americans in our group. The climb is made up with catwalks, ramps, stairs, and ladders. We were clamped to a line that ran the length of the course, so we never felt like we were going to fall. There were plenty of breaks to catch our breath and take in the view, and the sun came out long enough for us to enjoy sunset over the harbor. We saw a proposal in the group ahead of us, and our guide told us about the device they've created to keep nervous boyfriends from dropping engagement rings. They even hold weddings at the top! The climb was exhilarating and fun, but we were pretty tired by the time we walked back to our hotel. We had a glass of wine and two seafood trios at the hotel restaurant, which included scallops, prawns, and fish. We are having trouble getting used to the fact that we do not have to tip here, especially when friendly waiters and tour guides take the time to talk to us for a while.

 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

 

Convicts, Castles, and Champagne Tour

 

Today was a beautiful day for a boat cruise and walk around Goat Island. We tried to enjoy as much champagne (which was sparkling wine) as we could to get our money's worth. The lunch was in a dusty airplane-hanger-looking building without windows. We expected something more picturesque. We each had a slice of beef and/or ham with some Greek salad. Peel-and-eat shrimp, pasta salad, and bread were also available. The tour of the island was fun and included stops in the various buildings once occupied by convicts. The view of Sydney from the island was great.

 

We almost missed the castle. On the return trip back to the mainland, we were told we could sit downstairs for some peace and quiet (or to be close to the bar) or come upstairs to hear a little about the harbor. We almost didn't venture upstairs, but it's a good thing we did, since the only offhanded reference to a castle was made at that point. The "castles" category did not live up to its prominence in the title of our tour.

 

We had dinner at the Rockpool Bar & Grill, one of the top-rated restaurants in the city. We shared an appetizer featuring four varieties of raw fish with complementary toppings and garnishes. The flavor was superb and the fish melted in our mouths. We ordered local beers to accompany our entrees. Matt had filet mignon and Ali had goat cheese stuffed tortellini with king prawns, raisins, and pine nuts. The prawns were sweet and perfectly cooked, but the goat cheese was very rich and Ali couldn't finish her pasta. We shared a side of roasted pumpkin and sweet potato topped with a cream sauce. :The restaurant was beautifully decorated and the tall ornate ceilings were fascinating. However, the restaurant was poorly illuminated. The service was frequent but we had many different servers, resulting in some repetition and frequent interruption. We heard the waitress announcing specials to the party next to us, but no one told us about the specials. Overall, the meal was great and we would recommend the restaurant to others.

Christmas Vacation Down Under

Tuesday, December 25^th 2012

 

Sydney, Day 1

 

Our flights were great since our seats fully reclined. We also received comfortable blankets and kits that included earplugs and eye masks, so it was as easy to sleep on the plane as it possibly could be. After clearing customs, we spotted Ali's cousins Alex and Scott right away and set off to their house. Ali's aunt Ruth greeted us at the door and we sat in the kitchen catching up while she glazed the Christmas ham. We also met the dogs who, as promised, are very old but think they're puppies. We called Ali's parents to let them know we arrived and just in case we couldn't participate in the annual Boxing Day phone call depending on our plans the next day. Alex's girlfriend Jess came over and we sat by the tree to exchange gifts. We passed along cards from Nana and received pajama sets. We gave aunt Ruth a black cashmere sweater that seemed to fit and gave each of the boys a fleece pull-over. None of these were particularly appropriate for the Australian summer, but we were pleased that everything fit well and looked nice! Alex kept wearing his for the rest of the day since it was unseasonably cool and rainy. They were disappointed that we had poor weather on our first day, but we didn't mind since this was a day for visiting and not sight-seeing.

 

Christmas dinner for Ali's family is an annual tradition with their close friends in a neighboring town. These were all people Ali had heard about before and could finally put faces to the names. Everyone was very welcoming and we started the meal with- what else?- prawns on the barbie! While turkey was served, it was cooked on the grill. The Christmas ham was also pretty traditional, but the side dishes were a little less so. They included an avocado and corn salad, steamed vegetables with names we didn't really know, and sausages cooked next to the turkey. The turkey stuffing and gravy were pretty standard. Dessert included an Australian pavlova topped with fresh whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries, passion fruit, and kiwi as well as Christmas pudding, cupcakes, and a dessert made from pouring coffee and liquer over ice cream. We were given souvenirs such as an Australian slang dictionary as gifts. We stayed up till about 8PM and then went to sleep, luckily staying asleep until after 7AM the next morning. That is a pretty decent jet lag schedule and we feel rested and ready to take on the rest of our trip.

 

We learned yesterday that Aunt Ruth and Uncle Peter stayed in the same hotel at the Grand Canyon at which Ali's parents will stay in May!

Friday, December 21

Board Office:

• Reviewed a field trip application to see how well it was aligned to the social studies standards
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about assessment design
• Responded to an intermediate school teacher's e-mail about pacing
• Attended an inservice planning meeting
• Worked on a draft of the agenda for the high school's department meeting in January
• Submitted my monthly report

Thursday, December 20

High School:

• Worked on finalizing the materials for the 8th grade honors assessment
• Observed two teachers
• Responded to an e-mail from another district's supervisor with information about how we handle various social studies things
• Corresponded with a high school teacher about her maternity leave
• Sent out e-mails to start the process of reconvening the gifted and talented steering committee
• Covered the Media Center for the annual office staff luncheon
• Met with my teacher liaison to talk about January meetings
• Met with the high school principal and director of guidance to talk about changes to the levels of social studies elective courses
• Informally chatted with a high school teacher about some things he is trying

Board Office:

• Finished drafting the letter to 2nd grade parents announcing CogAT testing
• Finished getting the 8th grade honors assessment materials ready

Wednesday, December 19

I was out of the district for a personal day on 12/18.

Board Office:

• Attended the monthly principals/supervisors meeting
• Sent out an e-mail to the high school department about the change to bookroom/supplies procedures
• Sent out information to high school teachers about a meeting in January
• Sent honors placement assessment information to the 8th grade teachers
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Sent out REACH budget allocations to the elementary teachers
• Sent an e-mail to all 2nd grade teachers inviting them to the 2nd grade parent night
• Sent an e-mail to three elementary teachers about attending a conference for social studies/literacy
• Developed a survey regarding a social studies honors society for the high school
• Worked with the other supervisors to draft a letter to 8th grade parents about honors placement procedures
• Replied to a NJ Social Studies Supervisors' Association e-mail about plans for our January meeting

Monday, December 17

Board Office:

• Finalized an observation report
• Prepared for this afternoon's REACH meeting

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference

High School:

• Met with a Vice Principal for an informal chat about some things
• Facilitated an elementary REACH meeting
• Facilitated an elementary REACH PLC session

Friday, December 14

Board Office:

• Met with a parent of two students who was very upset about REACH identification policies and procedures
• Attended a full day of teacher evaluation training

Thursday, December 13

Board Office:

• Drafted the letter announcing CogAT testing to 2nd grade parents
• Worked on the agenda for Monday's elementary REACH meeting
• Worked on the write-up of yesterday's observation
• Attended the supervisors' PLC and meeting

Wednesday, December 12

Middle School:

• Welcomed 14 middle school teachers from Japan to the district and got the day started

High School:

• Met with a teacher to discuss lesson plan expectations
• Worked on REACH demographic analysis

Middle School:

• Conducted an observation of a 7th grade social studies class
• Ate lunch with the Japanese teachers and their US hosts

Board Office:

• Worked on REACH demographic analysis

Middle School:

• Attended a closing reception for the Japanese guests

Tuesday, December 11

High School:

• Met with the department liaison to discuss the book room and honors analysis
• Met with a teacher informally to discuss midterm exams
• Sent out midterm exam deadlines to the department

Board Office:

• Arranged for substitute coverage for high school teachers for work in January
• Attended the World Language Task Force meeting to discuss how we are continuing the roll-out of Spanish and Mandarin Chinese

Elementary School:

• Met with a GT specialist to plan for a protocol next Monday

Middle School:

• Attempted to do an observation but had to cancel it based on what they were working on for the day

Board Office:

• Continued working on REACH demographic analysis

Monday, December 10

Board Office:

• Worked on the demographic breakdown of current REACH students
• Attended full day of teacher evaluation training
• Finalized the 8th grade honors assessment analysis

Friday, December 7

Elementary School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a REACH teacher

High School:

• Held a post-observation conference with a student teacher
• Met with my teacher liaison to discuss a PLC training opportunity and 8th grade honors testing

Board Office:

• Completed paperwork for additional Renzulli Learning licenses, this time for elementary schools
• Forwarded National History Day resources to a teacher
• Responded to a high school teacher's questions about pacing
• Completed the paperwork from the conference for reimbursement
• Reviewed lesson plans
• Revised and forwarded an observation report to this morning's teacher
• Corresponded with a high school teacher about expectations for addressing special education needs in lesson plans
• Sent an e-mail to the high school teachers about PLC training opportunities
• Sent out the social studies weekly update
• Talked with the middle school principal about next week's visit from Japanese teachers

Thursday, December 6

Board Office:

• Spent the whole day on an interview committee for a new Assistant Superintendent for Personnel. We saw 5 excellent candidates and concluded by recommending two for finalist consideration. I was on the committee as one of two representatives from the principals' and supervisors' association. We were joined by two members of the teachers' association, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, the Director of Technology, and the Superintendent. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.

Monday, December 3 - Wednesday, December 10

Along with the Assistant Superintendent and supervisors of Literacy, Science, and Math, I attended the Learning Forward Annual Conference in Boston from Sunday through Wednesday. This organization is primarily geared toward professional development so I attended a variety of sessions about supporting teachers working in teams, having difficult conversations with staff members, and how to lead professional development. The topics were in line with my job and my coursework and it's always nice to be away at a professional conference.