Hello everyone!! It is November 17...and though it feels like January 17th, we are only a few days from a much needed break. The snow came way too early this year, but I appreciate your willingness to roll with it and make our learning spaces wonderful for kids.
- The reaction from parents during conference time has been great. I truly appreciate your willingness to ensure they walk out the door feeling good about the direction their child is going. Even when students are struggling, we need to give parents hope that things can and will get better if we are working together. That is clearly the sense I received in discussions with families.
- The insurance committee has met once and is scheduled to meet again within the month. We are looking at other plan designs and comparable plans (school and non school). We will then use the data provided through the survey to drive the discussion of where our district could potentially go. We developed a timeline for the discussion so we have all the information we need prior to April 1, 2015, which is the earliest we can get our renewal rate. If you have any questions, see committee members Karen Stuttgen, Jane Borofka, Jon Strand, Charlie Fitch, Andy Niedzwiecki, or Debby Schufletowski. Great discussion...thanks in advance to committee members for helping us provide a recommendation to the board.
- Going to keep this in for awhile...If you did not receive an invite to the Google+ page from let shoot me an email. I tried to get as many people as possible while I was at Google Tech Academy last week. The Google+ community is open only to our staff...I am hoping it turns into a place where we can share articles, great ideas, and/or things going on in your classroom. Here is the link... https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106247918310540095234. If you can not get in let me know...it means you will need a Google+ page or an invite. Either way it is a quick fix.
- We are in the midst of planning our January 23rd staff development day (which will be here before we know it!). There will be some Google Training for all staff members, as well as some choice through an Edcamp style opportunity.
- November is Native American Awareness month. The links below are provided to ensure we are teaching accurate content as it relates to Thanksgiving. Please take a look...it is important.
- The FCPD Emergency kits are in. Instead of getting everyone together for training we are working with the department to provide a video for you to view on your own time. Getting everyone in one room is proving to be difficult when we include EMS, a physician, and all of our staff.
- Congrats to all of our Fall athletic teams! Great seasons and we are already into Winter sports!!
This week in Tweets...
It really is humbling to be able to represent our district at the White House this week. A few things went into the application that set our district apart from the 900 that were nominated. Our social media presence was clearly one of the pieces. The change to the infrastructure that brought in more broadband access was another big piece. The timeline we have established to implement devices in pockets, provide training, and grow those pockets over time was also part of the application. I am looking forward to the discussions and providing a very loud voice on a national level to the work you all do. When I was hired here I told the board that I may not be the best superintendent you will hire, but I will definitely be the loudest. On Wednesday the White House gets to hear the story of an amazing group of students, teachers, and a community we all believe in. I know I sound like a broken record...but BE PROUD of what you do, folks...it is astounding and continues to grow.
Keep adding @fccrickets to tweets and use the #gocrickets hashtag after a tweet to add to the wonderful story of the Crickets...or let us know how we can help get your story to the world. Go Crickets.
Keep adding @fccrickets to tweets and use the #gocrickets hashtag after a tweet to add to the wonderful story of the Crickets...or let us know how we can help get your story to the world. Go Crickets.
Articles Worth Reading
- "What Really Happened at the First Thanksgiving? The Wampanoag Side of the Tale" - http://
indiancountrytodaymedianetwork .com/2012/11/23/what-really- happened-first-thanksgiving- wampanoag-side-tale-and-whats- done-today-145807 - "Beyond the So-Called First Thanksgiving: 5 Children's Books That Set the Record Straight" - this is a good article that gives book suggestions, I know that "The Birchbark House" has been successfully used in 4th grade classes - http://
indiancountrytodaymedianetwork .com/2013/11/19/beyond-so- called-first-thanksgiving-5- childrens-books-set-record- straight-152337 - This is a great resource from the National Museum of the American Indian on "American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving" that gives some topical themes as well as ideas for the classroom - http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/
files/pdf/education/ thanksgiving_poster.pdf - This is another great resource on different perspectives on Thanksgiving - http://projectarchaeology.
org/blog/native-american- perspectives-thanksgiving - This is a good blog post through the National Museum of the American Indian on "Do American Indians celebrate Thanksgiving?" - http://blog.nmai.si.edu/
main/2013/11/do-indians- celebrate-thanksgiving.html - Leadership Triggers http://www.businessinsider.com/leaders-have-leadership-trigger-2014-11?utm_content=buffer4cff8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
- 6 Trends to Improve K-12 Learning Experiences http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2014/11/6_trends_improving_k-12_learning_experiences.html?utm_content=buffer1e154&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Videos Worth Watching:
I will add videos to the Google+ page for those interested. Can be accessed here... https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106247918310540095234
I will add videos to the Google+ page for those interested. Can be accessed here... https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/106247918310540095234
