Fairview Park HS visit

On Friday, a group of teachers will be traveling to Fairview Park HS (a suburb of Cleveland) to learn more about their one-to-one laptop initiative.  Please post potential questions in the comment section below.  We will give a full report upon our return.  

If you are interested, here is a link to an article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the Fairview Park initiative:  goo.gl/9hWd

Instructional Strategies & the Trimester

At a recent Department Chairs meeting, we were discussing instructional strategies for the longer trimester period.  It was recommend that we tap into the great resources we have here in our building which led to the suggestion that we have a blog post and solicit comments from all staff members regarding one instructional strategy you use to help hold the attention of the students for 65 minutes (feel free to list more!).

Thanks for posting...  I look forward to reading!

On iPod use, schools are calling the tune - The Boston Globe

Another article about electronic devices in schools... just think about it!

On iPod use, schools are calling the tune - The Boston Globe

Parent-Teacher Conferences

For many of us, this is a dreaded event... an evening spent talking with parents about how their child has been unsuccessful or just isn't cutting it!  However, in reality, this night should be one that we as educators embrace and look forward to... minus the idea of spending time away from our families!

If our goal is to help students in every capacity to be successful and we all know that parental involvement is vital to the success of students, then we need to make use of this opportunity to involve parents.  As a relatively new parent myself, I know that I look forward to the first conference we will have with our son's preschool teacher.  Good or bad, I want to know how he is doing... how does he interact with others, does he pay attention, is he respectful, will he be successful, etc.  I know that we often think parents aren't as curious about their child's progress as a 'new parent' might be, but I think we need to assume that they are and that their involvement can and will make a difference!  

Therefore, I would like us to use the comment feature of this blog post to compile a list of advice and experience that we can ALL draw on when meeting with / talking to a parent.  

Thanks for your input!

School Spirit & Freshmen Drama

If you haven't noticed, there have been a great number of changes around here this year!  Of course, the obvious ones are the schedule, advisory period, announcements, etc.  However, one of the biggest changes has been SCHOOL SPIRIT.  Maybe its the Marching Band in the hallways playing the fight song every Friday morning, or possibly the great pep assemblies, or maybe the addition of the Spirit Squad -- the bottom line is that students here are FIRED UP!!!  Of course, a winning football team only adds to the excitement.  All of these things help make coming to school fun and ultimately, could help academic acheivement.

I appreciate EVERYONE'S involvement in the school spirit.  This is one thing that can truly bring the entire school together.  That said, one of the other big changes we have seen in the last few years is an increase in what we call "Freshmen Girl Drama".  As noted in Weekly Update #5, there have been several incidents in the hallways involving fights between mostly females (mostly freshmen) in the last two weeks.

On that note... if anyone has a thought about how to address this issue or what proactive measures we can take to prevent at least some of the drama, please comment below.  


Also, feel free to comment here for notes on School Spirit, Pep Assemblies, or the assembly schedule from Wednesday.