AM Announcements
October 20, 2009
1. Today is Day 40.
2. It is the mission of Speas Elementary School to provide its students with the tools necessary to successfully meet the challenges they will face in a diverse world.
3. Calendar items for this week:
Tuesday: October 20
Staff Development - 2:40-4:00 - Technology - SmartBoards/Learning Village
Student Council Meeting - 1:30 - Members should bring their book bags and coats - cafeteria
Paisley IB Assembly - 1:00-1:45
Wednesday: October 21
Junior League Puppet Show - Third Grade - 9:45-10:45 - Media Center
Equity+ Steering Committee Meeting - 1:00-3:00 - Reichert off-campus
Thursday: October 22
First Quarter testing begins
Dental Screening - AM - Grades PK, K, 3, 5, and EC - gym
SmartBoard Workshop - Badarin
Curriculum Coordinators' meeting - 8:00-3:00 - Marston off-campus
Elementary Assistant Principals' meeting - 9:30-12:30 - Powell off-campus
Friday: October 23
Zone 5/6 Advisory Committee Meeting - Cook Elementary - Reichert and Clodfelter off campus
Rhonda Fleming visits Speas - 9:30-10:30 - Powell and Reichert
First Quarter testing - Reading - grades 3-5
4. Upcoming Calendar Items:
a. 10/27 - Staff Development - Marzano
b. 10/28 - First Quarter ends
c. 10/29 - RC Day - No School
d. 10/30 - RS Day - No School
5. There is a Student Council meeting this afternoon in the cafeteria at 1:30. Student Council members should bring their book bags and coats as they will be dismissed from there
6. Please consider joining PTA. Your $5.00 donation will come back to support our school.
7. As a result of the lesson plan committee's meeting yesterday, each grade level or group can come up with their own lesson plan format as long as it meets the following criteria:
a. The numerical objective is listed, i.e 1.03 etc.
b. The essential question is listed
c. A one sentence description of the activity is listed
d. Any higher order questions are listed
Lesson plans may be written or typed and must be turned in each Monday morning by 7:30. This reflects a change in the time originally given for lesson plans to be turned in to Ms. Rhodes.
8. Dental Screening will be held for students in Pre-K, K, 3, 5 and EC on Thursday morning. Ms. Powell will provide a schedule by Thursday morning.
9. Our United Way drive continues. We are moving forward toward our $3,500 goal. Please consider a contribution toward our effort. It truly benefits our students and their families.
10. Remember that this week is National School Bus Safety week. Please remind your students about:
1). Bus Stop Safety
2). Proper Conduct on School Buses
3). "Bottoms to Bottoms, Backs to Backs and Book bags in laps"
11. At the last meeting of the WSFCS Board of Education, the board also voted unanimously to suspend the teacher compensation plan for one year. The move creates $375,000 in savings for next year's budget, which has a $2.8 million deficit that is expected to grow. This means that they will not fund individual skill blocks, group incentives and other such programs.
12. Students from Paisley IB Magnet will be here this afternoon at 1:00 for a presentation for our fifth grade classes. It will be followed by a short commercial for Paisley as a choice for middle school. CLasses will not be called. They should arrive around 12:55 and be seated so that the presentation can begin on time at 1:00. The presentation will be in the gym and any PE classes will be held outside.
13. When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.'
Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)
One doesn't have a sense of humor. It has you.
Larry Gelbart
It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
We are at the very beginning of time for the human race. It is not unreasonable that we grapple with problems. But there are tens of thousands of years in the future. Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.
Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)
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2 comments:
We have heard several times this year that Speas has been recognized as the top-ranked school in the county for growth in EOG scores. This obviously reflects hard work and good lessons by all. We were able to make this accomplishment last year without having our plans checked. Why are we now being second-guessed in our ability to plan effectively and on a weekly basis? If there are concerns, please bring it up with individual teachers as opposed to addressing us as a whole.
This anonymous comment makes several assumptions that require a response.
1. While it is true that Speas was recognized for having the highest growth composite in WS/FCS for 2008-2009, a single score does not tell the whole story. It does not recognize that 38.3% of our students were not proficient. Nor does it reflect the fact that Speas EVAAS composite is Yellow – (Not Detectably Different) meaning that our students performed as expected. While this is a good thing it also means that we did not add value over and above expectation. It also doesn’t reflect that our performance on all grade level goal summaries in both reading and math is below the state average anywhere from -2.2% to -13.2%. I say this not to downplay the achievement but to point out that there is much room for growth and improvement.
2. The writer is correct that the 16.7% increase reflects a lot of hard work by all. By “all” we mean students, teachers, assistants, cafeteria staff, custodians, support staff, office personnel and administrators. This is not an award for one individual or group. It recognizes the effort of all staff members.
3. The writer indicates that teachers are being “second-guessed.” This statement makes the assumption that teachers are autonomous and require no supervision or oversight. It also assumes that those who are in supervisory positions have nothing to offer teachers in the form of guidance or assistance. It is stated in such a way as to indicate that administrators, instructional support personnel, assistant superintendents and the superintendent have challenged classroom decisions made by teachers and forced them to change their lessons. Such a statement would require proof.
4. The final statement about bringing up concerns with individual teachers fails to consider that this does take place. Since these are private matters, the rest of the staff is neither involved nor notified. Staff members have no knowledge of what has taken place in evaluation conferences and who may or may not be on an action plan. The statement assumes that administrators have no business addressing issues in a general manner. Such things as essential questions and higher order thinking skills have never been a part of staff members lesson plans. It is only through a general reference to all staff members that such things would be incorporated in all classrooms.
I apologize for the length of this post, but since this was an anonymous comment, I was not afforded the opportunity to take the author’s advice and address it with the individual.
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