Hi everyone! Let's hope the weather has settled in a bit. Congratulations to those wrapping up semester courses with their students. I hope the new semester brings a renewed sense of energy! Good luck in the transition.
2 Weeks at a Glance:
- Monday, January 20th-School Board Meeting
- Wednesday January 22-Friday January 24th-Joe Out
- Thursday, January 23rd-PBIS Tier 2
- Monday, January 27th-Happy Birthday Bryan Holman!
- Wednesday, January 28th-Happy Birthday Katie Borreson!
- We plan to use similar times Night 1 and Night 2 for our conferences...I'm sure there will be adjustments, but let's start there. I will touch base with Marcy today to get the process started.
- If you were unable to schedule a meeting regarding your mid year review this week don't worry. We will connect in the next 2 weeks.
- I will be out of the building from Wednesday-Friday at the State Education Convention. Follow the #wasb2014 hash tag on Twitter for some of the sessions. This is a really solid conference for district administrators and school board members...always good things to take away. I am presenting School District Branding on Wednesday and we will present our Growth Model on Thursday. Should be well worth the time. Brad will be the contact for the week.
Did They Really Say That?
Send me your quotes!!!!
- Last week a 4K student said to me... "It's weird that you have none hair". This week she returns from suspension.
What's Hoppening?
- We hope Friday was a good chance to review your data and plan accordingly for the 2nd half of the year. Growth will only happen if you are reviewing and planning moving forward. We truly appreciate the time and effort that goes into the process.
- If you have an activity going on in your classroom or area that you would like us to highlight, please shoot us an email or give a call. We really want to get the word out about the great things happening in the building.
- This week we will be presenting our Professional Growth Model at the State Education Convention in Milwaukee. It is such a great feeling to share the work you have all done...we are very proud of where we are, but know it is a model that can grow. Thank you for your work in this area. Thank you to Dave Ross and Jessica White who will be part of the presentation team. I'm sure we will be tweeting from the event...great to get the word out!
- Our referendum Tier 1 projects are close to complete with some adjustments to the heating/cooling system. Any remaining dollars will be used to address Tier 2 needs. If you recall the initial building assessment identified $11.2M in building needs. We addressed $5.1M of those needs. Still more to do...but it is important to be fiscally responsible with the taxpayer dollar. That has been the message from the beginning and will continue to be as we move forward.
- Registration for EdCamp Eau Claire opens this Friday at noon. This is not a district initiative but I am on the planning committee so I thought I would let you know. The date is April 12th and it will be held at the new Education building at UWEC. EdCamp PD has been really beneficial from my perspective...you get people to a location who want to grow and they devise the agenda for the day. We are capping the event at 300 people so registration will close pretty quickly. The day can clearly be used at part of our point system as well.
This week in Tweets...
All of our #gocrickets tagged tweets can be archived...this is a great way to tell the stories happening in your classroom. The idea of telling your story before someone tells it for you is a really key element in getting the word out about the wonderful things happening in your classroom. Add @fccrickets in the tweet and use the #gocrickets hashtag after a tweet to add to the wonderful story of the Crickets...
Articles Worth Reading
- Feedback: It's All Good by Tony Sinanis
- Titles that have legs by Donalyn Miller
- Striking the Balance: Digital Tools by Mary Beth Hertz
- Joy of teaching: You never run out of kids by Vicki Davis
- How much freedom should a teacher have by Grant Wiggins
Videos Worth Watching:
Not always endorsements of the perspective...but all to make you think...
Not always endorsements of the perspective...but all to make you think...
When they Fall...Pick them Up
Write your story, change history by Brad Meltzer
Here's to 2013...Google Zeitgeist 2013
