Most schools have common planning time for teachers during Specials (Related Arts in some places of the state). Teachers have about 45 minutes to plan while students attend art, music, PE, etc. We all know that those 45 minutes quickly get eaten by using the restroom, taking and picking up students, making phone calls, grade level business meeting, receipting money and so on. So teachers end up with very little time to actually plan with one another during the school day. There is always time after school, but teachers have lives to live and can't be expected to give up many afternoons to plan together. Besides, with all the different groups that meet following school, there really is very little time to plan.
I am going to give teachers a three hour common planning time in October to try to make sure that everyone is doing things like common assessments, sharing great lessons, and planning units together. Ideally we would do this once a month, but we'll start with October and see how it goes. We did this common planning time at my previous school, but it was very expensive as we had to pay for substitutes while the teachers were out of their rooms. Luckily at my current school, I am able to use the many teacher assistants that we have to help cover the classrooms so that this common planning can occur.
The teachers were extremely grateful when they found out we would do this. I hope that they will take full advantage of specialists here at the school and allow them to help during these planning time to make sure that all teachers prepare great units for students.
I would love to hear how other schools set aside common planning time for teachers during the work day!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Family Night
Wow...it has been a while since I have had a chance to post. School is a very busy place right now. Luckily, everyone seems to be falling in to their routines. We have begun district testing called MAP that allows teachers to learn what skills their students have and how they can serve them most effectively. I am still trying to hire a couple of positions. One teacher and one assistant - this has been the never-ending carousel!
On to the subject of today's post.
In the past, the school has hosted numerous activities for students and parents at night. There was a club for PreK and Kindergarten students. There was a club for 1st-5th grade students. The PTO also held meetings. These groups met frequently throughout the year on different nights. While talking to all staff members this summer, I heard many of them say how disappointed they were in the parent turnout at all of these meetings. They thought the content of the meetings was great, but the amount of people that came to each one was nothing to cheer about. I understood the plight of parents in regards to this. If they had a student in the PreK group and another in the 1st-5th grade group and they wanted to be active in the PTO, then they were expected to be at school 3 nights each month - in addition to other night activities such as award's dinners, etc. This was a great deal of time for parents to commit to the school.
This year we decided to combine the three groups into one big quarterly activity called "Family Night". The PreK and Kindergarten group, 1st-5th grade group and PTO were able to hold one single meeting with alot of activities for families, serve everyone a free dinner and do it all in one night! There was some skepticism to doing it this way. The way I saw it was that many more parents could commit to one night a quarter and we could make this a great event!
We focused on literacy and offered parents some tips on reading with students; we had PreK and Kindergarten students explore literacy through music; we had family activities in math, science, art and technology. And every child received a book!
We had about 500 respond that they were coming, but actually had about 300 show up. We were ecstatic at all of the participation. Everyone enjoyed themselves, learned some new things and enjoyed dinner. The number of participants was far greater than any of the events in the past. We look forward to our family night in November that will focus on wellness.
A special "thank-you" goes to our Reading Recovery teacher and to our PreK teacher for all of their hard work organizing the event. Thanks to all the teachers who took part in making this a great evening of learning and fun!
On to the subject of today's post.
In the past, the school has hosted numerous activities for students and parents at night. There was a club for PreK and Kindergarten students. There was a club for 1st-5th grade students. The PTO also held meetings. These groups met frequently throughout the year on different nights. While talking to all staff members this summer, I heard many of them say how disappointed they were in the parent turnout at all of these meetings. They thought the content of the meetings was great, but the amount of people that came to each one was nothing to cheer about. I understood the plight of parents in regards to this. If they had a student in the PreK group and another in the 1st-5th grade group and they wanted to be active in the PTO, then they were expected to be at school 3 nights each month - in addition to other night activities such as award's dinners, etc. This was a great deal of time for parents to commit to the school.
This year we decided to combine the three groups into one big quarterly activity called "Family Night". The PreK and Kindergarten group, 1st-5th grade group and PTO were able to hold one single meeting with alot of activities for families, serve everyone a free dinner and do it all in one night! There was some skepticism to doing it this way. The way I saw it was that many more parents could commit to one night a quarter and we could make this a great event!
We focused on literacy and offered parents some tips on reading with students; we had PreK and Kindergarten students explore literacy through music; we had family activities in math, science, art and technology. And every child received a book!
We had about 500 respond that they were coming, but actually had about 300 show up. We were ecstatic at all of the participation. Everyone enjoyed themselves, learned some new things and enjoyed dinner. The number of participants was far greater than any of the events in the past. We look forward to our family night in November that will focus on wellness.
A special "thank-you" goes to our Reading Recovery teacher and to our PreK teacher for all of their hard work organizing the event. Thanks to all the teachers who took part in making this a great evening of learning and fun!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tropical Storm Hanna
School was canceled today due to expected problems associated with Tropical Storm Hanna. We have been awaiting this storm for the latter half of the week. It started as a hurricane and was on a direct course to our county. The storm stalled out some and then changed course to head towards North Carolina. We have waited for school closing decisions from the district office from Wednesday on. On Wednesday we thought we would be closed Thursday and Friday so that all could evacuate the area. As the course of the storm shifted, then plans did as well. School went on as usual on Thursday and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. At about 1:30 on Thursday school was canceled for Friday.
The reason for canceling school was that high winds were expected and school buses could not travel with winds above 35 MPH. Gusts are expected to rise above 45 MPH!!! So, only those of us who work year round are expected to be at school. It has been a quiet day. Some teachers have popped in to do some things in their classrooms. The staff did a great job preparing their rooms in case the weather turns severe.
We have been notified to close school by 3:00 in order to be able to make it home before the full impact of the storm is upon us.
We'll see how this plays out...
The reason for canceling school was that high winds were expected and school buses could not travel with winds above 35 MPH. Gusts are expected to rise above 45 MPH!!! So, only those of us who work year round are expected to be at school. It has been a quiet day. Some teachers have popped in to do some things in their classrooms. The staff did a great job preparing their rooms in case the weather turns severe.
We have been notified to close school by 3:00 in order to be able to make it home before the full impact of the storm is upon us.
We'll see how this plays out...
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Wrong School?!?!?!
Today was a first for this situation.
We had a student, who had not attended this school for three years, dropped off for our morning program. Luckily the guidance counselor that runs the morning program knew the student and that the student no longer attended our school. We were unsuccessful in locating the parent so our social worker took her back to the correct school. We're still waiting to hear from the parent...
We had a student, who had not attended this school for three years, dropped off for our morning program. Luckily the guidance counselor that runs the morning program knew the student and that the student no longer attended our school. We were unsuccessful in locating the parent so our social worker took her back to the correct school. We're still waiting to hear from the parent...
Week Number 2!
Week number two was definitely less stressful and more routine than the first week. I don't think that I could have handled a second week that presented the same challenges of week number one. Teachers, students and staff began falling into the regular routines. We did make one major change to the way our buses were dismissed. In the past, when the weather was nice, all bus riders were dismissed to the buses and teachers walked their homeroom classes to the loading area and attempted to load the students in an orderly fashion. This was a difficult proposition as teachers tried to load students onto multiple buses without getting kids (especially younger students) onto the wrong bus. Through the first week of school, we had buses return each day with kids who were on the wrong bus. We tried to simplify the procedure by having grade levels work together and have a single teacher responsible for all of the students on a grade level who ride the same bus. This way we can dismiss one bus at a time and the teachers take the whole group that they are responsible for to one bus. This process has sped up dismissal and dramatically reduced the number of kids returned to school because they were on the wrong bus (zero since the new procedure was implemented!). We also solved another problem by doing this. Rainy day bus dismissal was a completely different procedure that required even more work by the teachers. Luckily, the newly implemented procedures are able to be used for rainy days as well. So we have only one set of bus dismissal procedures that can be followed each day. This routine helps the children feel more comfortable.
We are now working on changing some of the car dismissal routines in order to make the system more efficient and provide an added measure of safety.
My favorite part of the day is my "morning walk-around" when I get a chance to visit each classroom and say good morning to staff and kids. The first week of school, I was able to do this daily. Last week, I only had the chance to visit on two days. Today, I vowed to do it every day that I am here. I was able to make it to each room!
I continued to be amazed that my staff works so well together. The teachers support one another and work hard. They are more than willing to step in help another teacher when needed. I am fortunate that the support staff is so willing to multi-task to help meet all of our needs!
We are now working on changing some of the car dismissal routines in order to make the system more efficient and provide an added measure of safety.
My favorite part of the day is my "morning walk-around" when I get a chance to visit each classroom and say good morning to staff and kids. The first week of school, I was able to do this daily. Last week, I only had the chance to visit on two days. Today, I vowed to do it every day that I am here. I was able to make it to each room!
I continued to be amazed that my staff works so well together. The teachers support one another and work hard. They are more than willing to step in help another teacher when needed. I am fortunate that the support staff is so willing to multi-task to help meet all of our needs!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The First Week: A Roller Coaster
This first week has been an absolute roller coaster of emotions. The high of the first day of school and all of the promise that it brings was tempered by some very sobering realities throughout the rest of the first week.
I have been in education long enough to realize that the first week of school is always one of the most difficult. Everything cannot and will not go the way you would like. We plan all summer for the beginning of the year and things never turn out the way we would like them to. The first day is usually great, and mine was, but then the realities begin to settle in.
Dealing with buses has never been a great issue for me. Thankfully, I do not have to do too much with them because my assistant principal does a great job. However an aspect that is new is the amount of buses. In my previous school, we had three buses. One for special needs students and two for the general population. At my new school, we have one special needs bus and seven for all other students. The amount of kids riding the bus is triple what I am used to. To compound the problem, we have a lot of kids who ride one bus to school, but a different one home or they ride different buses depending on the day of the week. We have "tagged" our younger riders to ensure they get on the right bus. There still seem to be problems each day. The problems generally occur when a student fails to get off at the correct stop or they do not have a parent waiting for them at the stop. The bus company then returns them to school and we have to call for a parent. I was at school until almost 6 o'clock one day waiting for a parent to come and get their child. To top that, many parents have not updated their phone numbers and we have trouble getting in contact. We continue to work around these issues to do what is best for our kids.
This week has truly been a roller coaster for me in more ways that I cannot go into detail about. I hope that week number two is less centered on highs and lows and more about enjoying the ride. I do know that I have learned more about what it takes to run a school successfully in the past week than I had in much of my previous experience combined.
Week number two starts in 10 hours!
I have been in education long enough to realize that the first week of school is always one of the most difficult. Everything cannot and will not go the way you would like. We plan all summer for the beginning of the year and things never turn out the way we would like them to. The first day is usually great, and mine was, but then the realities begin to settle in.
Dealing with buses has never been a great issue for me. Thankfully, I do not have to do too much with them because my assistant principal does a great job. However an aspect that is new is the amount of buses. In my previous school, we had three buses. One for special needs students and two for the general population. At my new school, we have one special needs bus and seven for all other students. The amount of kids riding the bus is triple what I am used to. To compound the problem, we have a lot of kids who ride one bus to school, but a different one home or they ride different buses depending on the day of the week. We have "tagged" our younger riders to ensure they get on the right bus. There still seem to be problems each day. The problems generally occur when a student fails to get off at the correct stop or they do not have a parent waiting for them at the stop. The bus company then returns them to school and we have to call for a parent. I was at school until almost 6 o'clock one day waiting for a parent to come and get their child. To top that, many parents have not updated their phone numbers and we have trouble getting in contact. We continue to work around these issues to do what is best for our kids.
This week has truly been a roller coaster for me in more ways that I cannot go into detail about. I hope that week number two is less centered on highs and lows and more about enjoying the ride. I do know that I have learned more about what it takes to run a school successfully in the past week than I had in much of my previous experience combined.
Week number two starts in 10 hours!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
My First Official Day...with kids!
Monday the 18th was the first official day with students. When I first started in July, we had some students at the school for summer school and I was able to meet some kids. But on Monday, they all came. We had a first day enrollment of 465 kids, which was below projections. This number has risen by 5% in the first three days.
The night before school, I went around to check out each classroom and I gave each teacher a little note entitled, "Our Workplace". My 3 year old son helped me go around to each classroom and office to give these out to all staff members. A few folks commented that they appreciated the gesture. I hope that they will take the words to heart and partner with one another this school year.
We had a number of folks register their kids first thing in the morning on Monday. Alot of parents came in to find out who their child's teacher was because they were not able to come to the Back To School Event. The office was a busy place. I have met many new folks, but it will take a while to get to know the kids and parents. School started on time and we had very few issues. I took the time to walk around to each classroom and greet the teachers (this has become my new daily routine - the idea was introduced to me by a former Assistant Superintendant - "Thanks for the suggestion, Dr. Howard"). The teachers were all enthusiastic with their welcoming of all students. The rest of the school day went on without any incidences. There was a visit from the director of student services and also from my Academic Improvement officer. Both ladies commented that everything appeared to be going well.
We made it to dismissal...
I was worried because about 3 quarters of our students ride the bus home, many for the first time. My assistant principal and the rest of the staff did a great job getting kids to the buses and on the correct buses. We had a few students returned to schools because they missed their stop or had gotten on the wrong bus. By 5:00 everyone had been returned home or picked up. Not bad for the first day (since school gets out at 3:30 and buses didn't leave until almost 4:00).
I am thoroughly enjoying my time as principal. Things are definitely more stressful when you realize that there is no one else to look towards, but working with a great staff has helped keep the stress to a minimum! 1 day down, 179 to go!!!
The night before school, I went around to check out each classroom and I gave each teacher a little note entitled, "Our Workplace". My 3 year old son helped me go around to each classroom and office to give these out to all staff members. A few folks commented that they appreciated the gesture. I hope that they will take the words to heart and partner with one another this school year.
We had a number of folks register their kids first thing in the morning on Monday. Alot of parents came in to find out who their child's teacher was because they were not able to come to the Back To School Event. The office was a busy place. I have met many new folks, but it will take a while to get to know the kids and parents. School started on time and we had very few issues. I took the time to walk around to each classroom and greet the teachers (this has become my new daily routine - the idea was introduced to me by a former Assistant Superintendant - "Thanks for the suggestion, Dr. Howard"). The teachers were all enthusiastic with their welcoming of all students. The rest of the school day went on without any incidences. There was a visit from the director of student services and also from my Academic Improvement officer. Both ladies commented that everything appeared to be going well.
We made it to dismissal...
I was worried because about 3 quarters of our students ride the bus home, many for the first time. My assistant principal and the rest of the staff did a great job getting kids to the buses and on the correct buses. We had a few students returned to schools because they missed their stop or had gotten on the wrong bus. By 5:00 everyone had been returned home or picked up. Not bad for the first day (since school gets out at 3:30 and buses didn't leave until almost 4:00).
I am thoroughly enjoying my time as principal. Things are definitely more stressful when you realize that there is no one else to look towards, but working with a great staff has helped keep the stress to a minimum! 1 day down, 179 to go!!!
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