Go Crickets E-Blast: 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Cricket E-Blast 3-26-15

For Starters…

The last month has shown what a sense of pride this community has in our school. The tournament runs of the boys and girls basketball teams filled gyms and brought everyone together. Thanks to the players, coaches, parents, and community members for such a wonderful ride. That was really fun.

What's Hoppening?

The hiring season is here. As I indicated in the email, we will look for internal transfers first (within the same FTE), and then open it up to the outside world. I'm certain we can find good fits for the building and people that will help push us forward.
Budget Update: Nothing has really changed in the budget from our last communication. We have a significant issue, but one we think we can handle. I want to be very clear...whatever the cuts are moving forward, NONE of them are desired. We don't want to eliminate anything, but that is not the position we are currently in. I understand that cutting things clearly places less value than other things in the building. There is no getting away from that, but we are trying to put the best interests of kids first and develop opportunities from there. We will be instituting more online opportunities for kids at the high school. This is an essential piece of providing choice for students in areas that we currently are not able to facilitate. We are also looking into partnering with Augusta for a few classes so both districts can offset the loss of programming. This is not great work, and probably the worst part of this job, but it is necessary to balance a budget.
Bus Drivers: We are very short on bus drivers for the spring. We have and will continue to contract out services to keep our school routes in tact. There may be some difficulty in that and we will all need to be flexible. We have ads in the paper for the next 2 weeks to secure another driver. Fingers crossed.
Insurance: The state budget has put us in a position where we need to adjust our expectations for insurance quotes. The group is aware of this and we have information out to bid so we should have some answers in the near future. The Insurance Committee has done great work to this point...thanks!
Technology Integration: The expectation is that we are moving to Google Apps for Education in the fall. I know more people are utilizing the apps and I hope that continues. We will continue to have optional sessions (Digital Tooltorials) and will add training at the beginning of the year, but the more you are familiar with Google Apps the better moving forward.
Go Cricket Podcast Itunes: Still looking for great stories we should share via The Go Crickets Podcast. Send them my way so we can continue to tell our story in Fall Creek.
More State Testing in a few weeks: Thanks to everyone for their flexibility in not really knowing what is going on with state testing. We are trying to stay one step ahead, but so is the state and they are making adjustments on the fly. We are doing our best to keep up, but thank you to Brian, Laura, Jon, and Jake for their additional time in getting everything ready.
Alumni Tournament: A number of alumni will be back in the building this weekend playing ball and reconnecting. To all of our alumni here...have a wonderful weekend with your classmates.

This week in Tweets...

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.

http://www.fallcreek.k12.wi.us/district/gocrickets.cfm

Articles Worth Reading
Check out the Google+ community for articles...feel free to add resources to that community as well. We are better together...add what you feel would benefit the group. Thanks!

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

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Cricket E-Blast 2-18-15

For Starters…

Hi everyone! Conferences are complete...we are well into the 2nd semester...and the winter sports season is coming to a close. Hope the snow and cold know that their time is limited and they move on as well

What's Hoppening?

We will be holding OPTIONAL Digital Tooltorial (see what I did there?!?) Sessions in the District Office throughout the second semester. These are completely optional...just a chance to share some knowledge. If anyone has a particular area of interest and they would like to lead the session, let me know. If there are any other topic areas you would like to see, just let me know and we will add them to the process. Here are the proposed sessions and dates https://docs.google.com/a/fallcreek.k12.wi.us/document/d/1MptUn4HAxcJ3xEr3k-wYrHlbdpXID7TCu5n1bke60cY/edit?usp=sharing
We had 2 staff development opportunities in the last month...one self directed and one to get rolling with Google Apps For Education and continue the work we are doing with SMARTBoards. I have a feedback form for the first staff development opportunity from Angie. I will send that out in a separate email. We really try to allow you to direct the learning you need in these sessions and will continue to do so. We trust that you use the time and don't feel like we have to look over your shoulder during the self directed opportunity. As an admin team we truly appreciate that. Thank you for making use of your time and getting better rather than getting caught up. It makes all the difference in the process.
The Budget: I am trying to hold back on getting worked up about the Governor's proposed budget. I have been more vocal about my opposition to the proposal...specifically on the radio last week. Here is the link to the show in case you are looking for an undeniable cure to insomnia Biennial Budget Discussion. The current budget would cut $120,000 in categorical aid in year one, bring it back + about $10,000 in year 2 and then eliminate it all again beyond that time. The expansion of vouchers has an impact that we can not even measure, but there is already a $80,000 hit to our district before our kids get a penny of funding from the state. The rollercoaster funding of our schools needs to stop and I will continue to advocate for our group to whoever will listen. Having said that, your responsibility is to love, nurture, and instruct all of the kids who walk into your classroom every day. We do that well...let's keep doing that well. If you want more information on the state budget, let me know. I'll keep you updated.
State Testing: We are bound by law to administer the state test...whatever that test is. Tony Evers sent out a memo regarding his view on the assessment proposals in the Governor's budget...I will forward that your way.
I have most of your mid year forms in my office. I will be reviewing those over the course of the next week and we'll get letters to everyone when the process is complete. I have met with Brian and Brad to discuss the mid year meetings and they had some great things to say about the conversations. Well done! Make sure the work you did to reflect on your progress continues...you will definitely see the most growth if you do.
The Cricket Podcast debuted this week with Maechaela Kolpien. Trying to find more opportunities to celebrate the work done in the building and the community. If you would like to be a guest on the show or want to nominate someone to be on (students, parents, community members, colleagues) please let me know and I will schedule a time to do it. Ideally, I would love to have a student group take this on. If that is an option and you want to help get me rolling in that direction, just let me know. Here is the link to Cricket Podcast 1
After 36 years, Barb Mullenberg is moving on. She has been and will always be a valued member of our team and community. From dressing up in holiday gear to making kids feel safe, she has made this place better. Her ability to keep kids focused on bus rides was second to none. She has donated countless items to kids in Fall Creek from school supplies, prizes for Bingo, and toys we could use for rewards. She will finish out the week, so if you get a chance, please stop out and say thank you for an incredible career in Fall Creek. She will definitely be missed.

This week in Tweets...

http://www.fallcreek.k12.wi.us/district/gocrickets.cfm

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

Monday, January 5, 2015

Cricket E-Blast 1-5-15

For Starters…

Welcome to 2015!!! We hope your break was filled with food, family, and relaxation. You have all earned the time away! It will be great to see everyone back in the building and doing incredible work with kids. So...here we go!!!

What's Hoppening?

The building looks fantastic! With only a few in the building over the break our custodians did a phenomenal job of getting the building ready to go for the second half of the year. Exceptional job, everyone!!
I will have a very quick survey out to you this week regarding our January 23rd inservice. We want to make sure you have some time for choice, but also have some opportunities for starting the transition to Google Apps, which we plan to have in place by the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. We will have multiple opportunities to become more familiar with Google Apps throughout the second semester and into the summer.
The Calendar committee met before the break and discussed the layout of the 2015-16 school year. We are looking at keeping the number of days consistent with where we have been in the past, but utilizing the professional development days a little differently. We are also looking to add a "flex" day at the beginning of the year, which would essentially mean certified staff members would have one less scheduled day of inservice, but be expected to put that day in and document a day sometime in August to prepare for the year.
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.
A group from Lifetouch will be here on January 13th document some footage for a video they are creating for our district. If you have specific things going on in your classroom that would be good for the video, please let me know and I will get you on the schedule. I would like to feature some things at each building. The promo video will only be about 3 minutes. Please help me with this...what do you feel is important to highlight in our district and how can we get that on film? Can we make January13th a PRIDE DAY and have our kids in Cricket gear?
There has been some discussion about technology in the classrooms, specific to teacher work stations and 1:1 at the high school level. We have been talking about devices and what direction we would like to go...cost is definitely a factor in that discussion. Though we would love to have high end laptops for teachers, but the cost is prohibitive and we will have to be creative with the direction when it comes to a provider (Apple of PC).
Internship-We applied and have been granted an internship position by the DPI for the second semester. We would like to pilot the process and see if it is something worth expanding in the future. The potential internship will be in 4th grade with Jane as the cooperating teacher. I am indicating potential, because if we don't find anyone to be a good fit during the interview process then we have no obligation to move on the placement. It will allow time for Jane to work with teachers who have implemented SMARTboards and lessons in their classroom. If we feel like the process is worth it I would like to add at least one more in the MS/HS for the 2015-16 school year. More to come if we move forward with the placement.

This week in Tweets...

http://www.fallcreek.k12.wi.us/district/gocrickets.cfm

Articles Worth Reading
Check out the Google+ community for articles...feel free to add resources to that community as well. We are better together...add what you feel would benefit the group. Thanks!

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