Monday Points: March 25, 2013

This week guest writer, your leadership Representative, Kelsie Maney…

Celebration Points:

This weekend marked one of many trips and opportunities for our student this spring. DCON conference at the Double Tree Hotel was a huge success. Tricia P, the current KEY club president had some positive notes on the conference. “The conference is going well this year especially since Jasmine is here,” she stated in response to how she felt about DCON this year. I got to be the chaperone for the dance Saturday night and thought I would show a picture of our Key club enjoying the festivities for you to celebrate with our students.

Instructional Point:

Throughout the year I feel I have an evolution in my practice and around springtime I find myself more reflective and contemplative in a way that is different than other times of the year. Therefore, that aspect of our Charlotte Danielson PCT last Friday seemed to be the most resonant to me. Danielson’s 4^th domain contains the behind the scenes practices of reflection, connecting with families, professionalism, record keeping, professional collaboration and development. Each element has particular challenges but I guess I gravitate toward reflection this time of year because with every year we have a chance to reinvent ourselves. Next year I can keep the parts of my units, routines or lessons that worked and scrap the parts that don’t. I feel less resistance toward spending the extra time to reflect in spring because of that phenomenon of reinvention. What did you find worked this year? What would you like to change?

Data Point:

With the sun, rain and longer days a mysterious malady begins to plague every campus. Spring fever is approaching and with early data from the district’s data warehouse showing higher absence rates this year then any year previous it begs the question as to how we will push student engagement this spring in ways like never before. What should we try?

Guest Point:

In a recent conversation I had with Jackie I heard her voice a sad trend for New Start students. Many of these students are heading toward jail sentences unless something changes for them now. Our students have huge barriers and systems that originate from the culture of poverty almost subliminally leading them toward captivity. Also the jail system is a lucrative system. There seems to be few pathways for these students to follow that lead them out of their situation and mentality. We need to broaden those pathways, make them shine and push back when injustice or inequality are barring students from participation in society. These students need this school as a bridge from where they are to where they want to be and every conversation, intervention, career search, and strong relationship we nourish with each student gets us a little bit closer to changing the gap of inequality.  

Thank you Mike for the privilege to voice my thoughts in this edition of Monday notes and also thanks you staff for reading this and for everything you do. I am so happy to be a part of the alternative programs team because of the way we work together in authentic honest ways to try and make school a better place.

PCT Point: Friday, March 29, 2013

For collaboration this Friday New Start meets in the Math room for important information regarding Advisory and Seniors. CHOICE meets to discuss Marketing at Woodside.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
March 25	March 26	March 27	March 28	March 29
Indi-Star Training (Renton ESD) Learning Walk (HHS) Budget Meeting (ERAC)	Evaluation Meeting Grad Planning Observation Talk W/Seniors New Start Staff Meeting	In Classroom Evaluation Writing Leadership Team meeting	District Core Strategic Planning Team (ERAC) New Start PBIS Meeting	Evaluation Meeting Summer School Planning Master Schedule Meeting Weekly Administrative New Start PCT

Thank you, Kelsie. Let’s have a great first full week of spring!...

Mike

Monday Points: March 18, 2013

Wow what a week last week was! HSPE 2013 is now behind us, and this week we are back to mostly regular routines. WELPA testing for ELL, and Career Cruising are ahead for us this week…

Celebration Points:

HSPE! We had great attendance by students this week to test for state proficiency. And the test was taken with all due seriousness by the students, and long days put in by our staff. Kids and staff, both, you did great things this week. At New Start we finished with our Brag Day Assembly, and a Pizza Party for Test Takers who completed. Testing dominated our busy week and our bell schedule, but Friday at Salmon Creek students and staff together let out a loud, collective “Whew!” and “We did it!” Thank you all for a great week.

Instructional Point:

This Friday at PCT we will learn and explore Domain 4 (Professional Responsibilities) of the Charlotte Danielson Instructional Framework.  Through skills in Domain 4, teachers can demonstrate their commitment to high ethical and professional standard while improving their practice. The components of Domain 4 Professional Responsibilities encompass the range of teacher professionalism. Here is an overview of the six components,

In 4A, “Reflecting on teaching”, critical reflection allows, teachers to assess the effectiveness of their work, and take steps to improve it. In 4B, “Maintaining accurate records” the mark of a truly expert teacher is one who has made record keeping a procedure that does not require much extra effort.

Educators have long recognized that when they enlist the participation of students’ families in the education process, student learning is enhanced, hence component 4C, “Communicating with Families”. In 4D, by “Participating in a professional community”, we find that our colleagues are a rich resource to teaching improvement.

Component 4E contends that teachers committed to attaining and remaining at the top of their profession.  They invest much energy in staying informed and increasing their skills. “Growing and developing” teachers, are then in a position to exercise leadership among their colleagues. “Showing Professionalism” is component 4F and is described as “an elusive concept that permeates all aspects of a teacher’s work”. Expert teachers display the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct; they are intellectually honest and conduct themselves in ways consistent with a comprehensive moral code.  

We’ll see you Friday at Salmon Creek for our third PCT in a series exploring the Charlotte Danielson Instructional Framework.  PCT Friday, March 22, 1:00 at Salmon Creek. Math Room.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
March 18	March 19	March 20	March 21	March 22
Weekly Letter Observations Career Cruising Advisory In Classrooms M/Julie Hunter (MRHS)	Observations Observation Writing Principals Meeting Lead Teacher Literacy Meeting	Woodside Staffing Meetings Home School Planning CHOICE Staff Meeting PCT Prep CHOICE PSO Meeting (Evening)	M/Seniors M/JWG Program Monitors Teacher Recruiting (Tacoma Dome) Weekly Counselor Meeting	M/King County Summer Project Planning Weekly Admin Meeting World Languages Meeting Conduct PCT

Again, great job to everyone who had a role in HSPE and making testing such a positive experience for our students last week. We are now moving well into March. Wednesday is the first day of spring! Best to our WELPA Testers Tuesday, and please have another wonderful week.

Mike

Monday Points: March 11, 2013

It’s HSPE week! Exciting and important proficiency testing will occur at all of our sites this week. My how time flies…

Celebration Points:

Three cheers for our students who passed the reading and writing COE! Four out of six demonstrated proficiency in Reading and three out of four in Writing. Collection of Evidence (COE) is a Washington State approved alternative for students to demonstrate proficiency in testable content areas, and is a graduation requirement for all students. We must too celebrate our fantastic Language Arts teacher, Tamara Nedell! Tamara has led her students to completing this task with confidence and proficiency. Thank you Mrs. Nedell, and congratulations for your accomplishment teaching our students to proficiency. Job Well Done!

Celebrate! It is also Classified Support Staff Appreciation Week! Time to show how much we love and appreciate Lorri, Sharon, Jackie, Judy, Josh, Jennifer, Dolly, Richards (both of them) and David in helping our schools to be great and smooth running places for kids, and our work. Thank you, you are a wonderful team.

Instructional Point:

I observed a teacher last week who took class time to prepare students to enter into a discussion protocol. Protocols are well known best practices for teachers to use with their students in almost any activity. Our most effective teachers teach students protocols (think order of events) before trying to engage them in a learning activity. A protocol may be taught for class discussions or small group talk. Experimental lab activities in science, problem solving for math and even presentations use protocols. Protocols help students better access the intent of an activity, and these tools connect with several elements in the Charlotte Danielson Domains of Classroom Environment (2) and Instruction (3). What a great way to capture evidence of your teaching when students know and understand the steps they are expected to take in any classroom evolution. Some questions I might ask any teacher beginning a new activity in class are, “Have you explicitly taught your students the steps of the activity? Do they know the protocol? When did you show them what they are supposed to do for this activity?” If there is a protocol that you use with student learning activities that I have not yet happened across, I would love for you to share it with me. Please let me know what you are doing with protocols in your classroom.

HSPE Point

This week we administer High School Proficiency Exams for Reading and Writing.  I need not explain how critical this testing is to our work in education, or for students working toward graduation. You know.

HSPE is a graduation requirement and a high stakes test for our students. This means high stress for them (and us) as well. Whatever your role in administration of this exam, the message I want everyone to carry this week is “make it a positive, supportive experience for our students.” We have done what we can to prepare students, and that is a lot.  Now, the confidence in our work, and our students’ ability to demonstrate proficiency is what will carry us through this testing cycle.

We are in this together. This week we focus – together -  on our kids, and the experience they have while testing. Please make sure our all of our kids know we are with them to meet standard, and fulfill the requirements to graduate. Much of our work culminates this week, so let’s make it a good one for everyone.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
March 11	March 12	March 13	March 14	March 15
Weekly Letter Conference Call JAG Suspensions Meeting Observe Student Appeal Truancy Update In Classrooms Sped Meeting	HSPE Supervision and Support In Classrooms	HSPE Supervision and Support In Classrooms School Board Meeting (Evening)	HSPE Supervision and Support In Classrooms	Staff Breakfast Weekly Administrative Meeting Brag Day Assembly PCT: Site Based Team Time and Cross Collaboration Rubric

Other Points

We had about a 50/50 turn out last Friday in College Wear Friday. I hope to see more this Friday. Wear it proud!

With HSPE and showing appreciation for our classified staff (who undoubtedly will be helping us with HSPE), let’s work together to make it a smooth one. Have a great week everyone. Happy HSPE.

Mike

Monday Points: March 4, 2013

Our first full week of March brings back the Leadership team from a weekend conference at WALA (Washington Association for Learning Alternatives). Session 5 begins at New Start. We are in final preparations for state HSPE testing next week, and rounding out on Friday with continued professional growth in our reading of Pedagogy of Confidence. Here we go…

Celebration Points:

This week we celebrate our Custodian at Salmon Creek, John Hill. Last year we had a big celebration of his 45 year anniversary with the district. I wrote about him a bit in this very blog. This week, at 46 years working, John will retire. Tuesday is his last day. I’d like to share again, a little about John and his experience with Highline. In 1965 (the year of my birth) John was a junior student at Highline High School. He was involved in an internship program which allowed students to work as part-time custodian helpers for pay while they were in school. This led to a full-time custodian position for him when he graduated in 1967. Since then he has been working tirelessly to keep clean the learning environments of many schools, and has served countless faculty, staff and students. Please join me in thanking John Hill for many years of good service to our district since before time began for many of us working in Highline today.

There will be a short assembly at the end of Advisory on Tuesday. A celebration at Lunch with staff and district visitors…and yes, arrangements have been made to let John leave early on his last day in Highline.

Thank you, John, for your service. And may your retirement be blessed with well deserved rest, relaxation and health for you, and your wife, after decades of hard work.    

Instructional Point:

Last week I had the opportunity to teach a portion of Success Academy Cohort 5. I enjoy getting into the classroom to teach because it gives me a chance to try on new strategies and practice while I grow as your instructional leader, and colleague in education.

The normal room arrangement we have used in Success Academy to facilitate group conversation is a modified circle into kind of a horseshoe shape, which allows for no back row, and all students to see each other, and the teacher. Until this last cohort, the arrangement worked pretty well. This group of students however was a much quieter bunch. In Charlotte Danielson Domain 3 we strive to promote student verbal interactions and adjust our practice as needed to keep our students engaged in the discussion. For the first few days of this Success Academy I wasn’t feeling (hearing) it, and neither were the students.

As Teacher, I made a change! I asked the students to pick up their desks and form four-seat pods so each could see each other in a smaller group arrangement. It worked. Our conversations about each teaching point got louder, a bit more in depth and personally reflective by each student. Far more students were engaged in the discussion than had been in the larger class sized ring of desks.

As the leader and teacher of the learning environment in your classroom, you must be aware of what is working and what is not. If you are not seeing or hearing the results of what you expect in each lesson, make an adjustment. With any new approach to instructional practice there is maybe a 50/50 chance your teacher move will address the concern and change behavior. But if a new move will help the learning of more students in your class, go for it. It is the effective teacher who can make a change and adjust their practice on the fly to enhance our student’s learning.

PCT Point: This Friday, March 8, PCT is Pedagogy of Confidence II: The Practice. Please have read through Chapter 6, and come prepared to discuss the application of strength based approaches to teaching and learning. See you at 1:00.

Mike’s Schedule:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
March 4	March 5	March 6	March 7	March 8
Weekly Letter Open Session 5 at New Start Attendance Meeting M/Parent In Classrooms PSESD Presentation re: dropout prevention	Observations (CHOICE) John Hill Retirement Observation Writing HSPE Training SIS Demonstration (ERAC)	HEA Update In Classrooms Observation Observation Writing	Math Data Team Observation In Classrooms Observation Writing Weekly Admin M/Counselor R&D Evaluation Meeting	District Principal Planning (ERAC) Mid Year Meeting PCT: Pedagogy of Confidence

COLLEGE FRIDAYS: I would like our staff and students to join a well developed tradition that occurs every Friday across our district. For several years now, middle schools, high schools, and indeed, the central office have been having “College Fridays”. This means every Friday, staff and students alike are asked to wear college and university garb from schools they have attended, are connected with or aspire to. This can be scarves, beanies, sweatshirts, shirts, jackets or whatever, emblazoned with school colors and emblems. In our programs I have never “officially” encouraged spirit wear. Nor have I dissuaded. But I now think (for a number of great reasons) it is time for us to partake in proudly donning college spirit wear on Fridays. Therefore it is my decree; wear your college gear on Fridays! See you at PCT. And have a wonderful week!

Mike