Friday Focus #7: 10.5.12

“Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers."

Josef Albers

Levy Signs
There are levy yard signs (and wires) in the office across from the mailboxes in the office.  If you live in the district, please consider placing a sign in your yard!


Faculty Meeting
JUST A REMINDER -- We will have a 20 minute faculty meeting on Wednesday 10/10 @ 7 AM in the lecture hall to go over some of the evaluation documents and procedures.  This will be very informal and maybe informational!  You can find those documents on the staff blog under the tab 'Documents'.


Tech Tuesday
Next week's Tech Tuesday will be VOKI: Voki enables users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking character. You can customize your Voki to look like you or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters… animals, monsters, anime etc.  Carol Bader & Chris Sutter will be leading this session in room 118 on Tuesday morning and afternoon.

Also, don't forget that you can request or offer to present a Tech Tuesday topic here or you can see upcoming topics here.   These links can ALWAYS be found under the Tech Tuesday tab at the top of the blog.



Study Tables
Please send Phil an email if you are interested in working study tables or if you have questions. 

FROM LAST WEEK: 

We have secured funding for a limited amount of study tables.  We will begin ASAP... the times will be from 2:30 - 3:00 PM Monday through Thursday and from 7 - 8 PM on Thursday evening.  Study tables will be hosted in the Media Center.  We would ask that teachers in charge keep a sign-in sheet so we can track attendance.  In addition, based on attendance and need, we can add time as we see a need (i.e., we can extend 30 minutes if necessary).  

Kyle Maynard Assembly
On October 9th, we have the distinct privilege of hearing from motivational speaker Kyle Maynard.  This assembly will begin at 8:30 AM and will last for approximately one hour.  For this assembly, we will be placing chairs on the gym floor (like we did for Rachel's Challenge two years ago) so that ALL students and staff can sit.  We would ask that everyone attend this powerful assembly.  The schedule can be found under the 'Schedules' tab at the top of the page (Special Assembly Schedule).


Parent-Teacher Conferences
As a reminder, we DO NOT NEED the hard copy of the parent-teacher conference log sheet -- just log your conferences under the 'PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE' tab at the top of the blog.  If you turned in your hard copy and need it back, please let me know.


Calendar of Events
Remember that Calendar Info can be found on the right hand sidebar of the blog... updated regularly...



Happy Birthday
10/10    Connie Opperman
10/11    Jason Andrew
10/12    Kim Koesters

Friday Focus #5: 9.21.12

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." 

John Wooden

What a great week this has been...   you really can feel the excitement in the air -- especially today.  Thanks for helping to make this a special week for our students and our athletic teams.




Building Goals Follow-Up
Please make sure you read the follow-up post from the building goals meetings and complete the survey.  Here is a link to the post and the survey: http://goo.gl/qUkm1
If you are still unable to log into your Celinaschools Google account, please email Sheila Baltzell.



FIP Reminder
Don't forget to complete your FIP module BEFORE Wednesday 9/26.  For help with logging in and finding the module, use the eyes on the right.



Faculty Meeting
We will have a 20 minute faculty meeting on Wednesday 9/26 @ 7 AM in the lecture hall.  This is the 2-hour delay day...  the meeting is separate from the inservice activities.  We will be hearing from Kevin Mast regarding the ALICE training for lock-downs.



Advisory
Please remember to issue passes BEFORE activities that take place during advisory.  Also, please try to help us limit the amount of hall traffic during advisory!



Tech Tuesday
Next week's Tech Tuesday will be 'Remind 101': an easy and free way to remind your students about important classroom activities in a format that suits them!  Come listen to Ashley Lefeld show you how to use the service and what she has used it for in her own classroom.  Room 119 on Tuesday!



Upcoming Assembly
On October 9th, we have the distinct privilege of hearing from motivational speaker Kyle Maynard.  More on the schedule and format, but here is a video to give you a little preview:








Calendar of Events
Remember that Calendar Info can be found on the right hand sidebar of the blog... updated regularly...



Happy Birthday
7/23   Ryan Parrish

Building Goals Follow-up

Thanks again to everyone for participating in Wednesday's Daytime Staff Meetings!  We had great conversations, thought provoking discussions, and even a little fun along the way.  I thoroughly enjoyed what I witnessed on Wednesday in the conference room and I felt proud to be part of such a great group of educators!

As promised, here is some more information on Daniel Pink's work on motivation:

• Amazon page for "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us": http://goo.gl/2m2Q2

• The longer version of the TED Talk from Daniel Pink:

The biggest topics of conversation throughout the day centered around student ownership of learning, preparing students for life (not just college), and obviously, motivation.

Below is a link to a survey about the Daytime Staff Meeting.  Please take a moment today to fill out the survey and give some feedback.


SURVEY: http://goo.gl/41NCJ (YOU WILL HAVE TO BE LOGGED-IN TO YOUR CELINASCHOOLS GOOGLE ACCOUNT!)

Sheila Baltzell and I just discussed the possibility of starting a book study on Daniel Pink's book if anyone is interested.  Sheila is working on securing some copies of the book.  Professional Development credit will be available and I don't perceive a great number of meetings... the idea would be to get a group of interested teachers to read the book and meet a couple of times to discuss the ideas & concepts.  If you are interested, please email Sheila and Jason. 

Building Goals Meeting Info

As promised, here is some more info about Wednesday's 'Building Goals Meetings':

First and foremost, the goal of this initial meeting is to begin the process of building our goals.  We will not necessarily have specific goals by the end of the meeting.  More than anything, I would like to brainstorm and discuss issues, ideas, and progress.

I have created an agenda for the day and would ask that you review the agenda.  This is a very loose agenda and may be altered prior to Wednesday.  Please do not print the agenda!  The only thing you need to bring is an open mind, ideas, thoughts, and maybe something to take notes on (paper and/or e-device!).

There are three things teachers should do BEFORE Wednesday:

1. If you haven't already, look through our most recent building goals and think about your own professional & individual goals for this year. 
2. Sign-up for your designated period...  I can look at the schedule to know who should be in the meeting, but I would like you to fill in the form below to verify your time (4th period will meet A & B, eat C)!
3. Watch the video below before the meeting.  The video is a talk by Daniel Pink on his book 'Drive' about human motivation.  Our discussion doesn't have to center around the video, but we will use this as a 'springboard' on Wednesday!

Survey


Remember...   we will meet in the front conference room at the beginning of the period.  I will have coffee, water, and refreshments!

Friday Focus #4: 9.14.12

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." 

Henry Brooks Adams

Good morning!  Hard to believe, but we are about to complete our 4th week of school (only 2 have been full weeks though) and our 16th day of school.  We have 44 days left in the 1st Trimester.

I had a conversation with a community member the other night about high school students.  They asked me how students were different now compared to 15 or 20 years ago.  That's a thought-provoking question, and one that can bring up several different opinions.
So many times we hear about the negative things...  'students today are lazy', 'they never want to do homework', 'today's high school students are rude', etc.
But I think it is easy to remember some of the bad experiences or characteristics when that's all we hear or focus on, when in reality, we have really great students with some fantastic personalities.  Just yesterday, a group of AAA technicians approached me at the end of the vehicle safety checks and complemented our school on having "Such great kids... they were very appreciative and respectful".

So when I answer the question, "how are students different now compared to 15 or 20 years ago?", I tend to reply with positives.  Students are different now...  they expect more from their education, they expect to be able to use technology, and they have a different set of expectations placed on them by their parents, their teachers, and their future.  Students are different now in terms of expectations.  It is our job to help them meet those expectations!


What positive things do you see from students today (comment below!)?

Keep up the great work you are doing in and out of the classroom!  You really do make a difference!


Building Goals
Two years ago, we developed building goals through a small group of teachers interested in participating in the process.  We spent a couple of afternoons after school working on the goals and refining them.  Those goals have been in place for 2 years now... we have made a great deal of progress on those goals, but it is now time to refocus and rewrite!
This year, with so many changes and things going on at the district and state level, I think it is certainly time to rethink and rewrite those goals.  However, I think ALL teachers should be involved in the process.
When the department chairs met earlier this week, I laid out two options:

1. Hold an hour-long faculty meeting after school     OR
2. Meet in small groups during the school day

Unanimously, the department chairs choose the 'during the day' option.  Essentially, we will meet in small groups during each period... teachers should attend the meeting that takes place during THEIR planning period.  This hour meeting during your planning period will be in lieu of an hour meeting after school.  This will give us small cross-curricular groups of teachers.  

These Building Goals meetings will take place next Wednesday, September 19th in the front conference room.  Coffee, water, and refreshments will be provided.  Please plan to report at the beginning of your planning period.  

Look for more information (and a short homework assignment) on Monday on the staff blog!

In the meantime, review the previous building goals.  

Grade Checks & Entry
Don't forget to check student grades during advisory.  Weekly checks are the best idea.  There are several different approaches and I know many teachers are conferencing with the students on the grades periodically as well. There are 3 documents under the documents tab above relating to grade checks... two versions of a grade check documentation form and one referral sheet for struggling students.  If you notice a student struggling, turn them into the office and we will 'put them on our radar!'  Just another way to help prevent students from falling through the cracks.

Also... don't forget to update your grades often!  We try to use the guideline of the 10th and 25th as benchmarks for grade entry, but you can certainly enter more often than that!


PD opportunity
NWOET's fall technology conference takes place October 4th at BGSU.  We have a few spots left open on the school van.  If you are interested in attending, please speak with your department chair and let me know BY 9/12.  Learn more about the conference by clicking here.



Faculty Meeting
Faculty Meeting: Wednesday, September 26th @ 7 AM in the lecture hall -- ALICE TRAINING with
Kevin Mast.


Tech Tuesday
Click on the tab at the top of the page to find the calendar and to request a topic or offer to present for Tech Tuesday.  Please share your knowledge with your colleagues!

This coming Tuesday, the topic will be Edmodo.  This is a social media network for schools.  Come learn how some of our teachers are using this tool to engage students in AND out of the classroom!



Calendar of Events
Remember that Calendar Info can be found on the right hand sidebar of the blog... updated regularly...



Happy Birthday
9/16   Randy Baker

Friday Focus #3: 9.7.12

"I touch the future.  I teach."  

Christa McAuliffe

What a long short week it was last week!  Not sure how you all felt, but I felt like there were two Mondays last week...  turns out there were none!  Hard to get in a groove in a week like that!
But, today is Monday and we have a fresh start to a new week.
I know the Friday Focus is late, but.... better late than never!  I don't have a great deal of info to include this morning, but here are some items of note...

Project Wisdom
This month's theme for PW announcements is: Respecting Ourselves and Others.  If you haven't recorded your PW, please consider stopping down soon or scheduling a time with Kassie to record.
Also, if you have a student or ANYONE else in mind that would be good for a PW, please let us know. It is nice to have a wide range of participants!
If you are a coach or activity advisor... please have your captains and/or seniors record an announcement before your season is over.   Consider taking the camera to the practice field or just have the students come to the office.


FIP
Don't forget to login to the FIP website and watch the first module.  Print your certificate at the end and give it to Kelly Black or Kim Uhlenhake.  This should be completed by September 26th (2-hour delay inservice).


AAA Inspections
AAA will be here on Thursday doing student vehicle maintenance inspections.  Please encourage your students with vehicles during advisory to sign up for an appointment.  If they have their car inspected, they get a free lunch and a chance to win prizes.  Inspections are during lunch and advisory. Sign up is in the office with Kassie.


Tech Tuesday
This week's Tech Tuesday will feature the Classroom Management software found on the FRESHMEN netbooks.  This was requested by several teachers and will be led by Keith Gudorf.  We will meet in room 119 at 7 AM or 2:30 PM.  Consider attending one....  especially if you are using the FRESHMEN netbooks in your classroom.


Calendar of Events
Remember that Calendar Info can be found on the right hand sidebar of the blog... updated regularly...



Happy Birthday
none

ASSEMBLY FRIDAY!

Good morning everyone!  Hope you had a great 'extra' day off yesterday!

Just as an FYI...  Student Council has rescheduled their "Welcome Back Assembly" for Friday.  We will run on the assembly schedule and will call students down AFTER attendance during advisory.

Also, plan for the Spirit March on Friday morning.

HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY!