November 5, 2012

November 6, 2012 PD
Following is the schedule for our 11/6 PD time:

• 8:30am-11:30am: District-Provided, 7-12 Common Core State Standards training (HS Cafeteria)
• 11:30am-12:30pm: Lunch (on your own) [The HS parent club will be serving lunch to the HS teachers; Dr. Clark wishes there was enough to include us and regrets that there is not.  He wanted me to share this so that we didn't get confused and so that we make plans to eat lunch on our own.]
• 12:30pm-1:30pm: Individual work time and/or department time
• 1:45pm-3:15pm: Faculty Options (see below)

Faculty Options for 11/6
During the afternoon of 11/6, team and other interested teachers will participate in a discussion of one of the following designed to create time for collaboration, problem-solving, and strategizing:

• Discovery,
• Teaming, and
• Using a wgcloud blog to imcrease communication with parents.

Teams, please let me know who from which teams will be going where.  Elective, Gifted, and PE teachers and the Librarian have other PD-day assignments.
More information on room and facilitator to come. (Look for the e-mail.

Learning Goals (DQ 1)
I have not taken data for several weeks regarding learning goals as they are posted in classrooms.  I will take data this week and post the results as I have in the past.  I will also share feedback with teachers after I take data.  If would would like to look at the proficiency scale again, click here. There are some things, like embedding the learning goal in your teacher talk, that I may or may not be able to observe as I take data.

Student Engagement (DQ 5)
I am also interested in observing ways teachers engage students in learning, particularly given our last faculty meeting on DQ 5.  As I walked around last week, I did not observe much impact; however, over time, I expect I will see a difference.

Twenty-three students participated in focus groups last week, and although they noted that one of the best things about Hixson is the teachers, "A major topic of all three student group discussions was . . . the need/value/importance of 'hands on', 'non-lecturing' assignments and use of classroom time.  One student put it this way, 'Most teachers talk to much; talking (listening) is boring.'"

As you think about student engagement, please consider how you might engage each student and allow each student's voice to be in the room.  Refer to The Art and Science of Teachingand/or the PowerPoint from our most recent faculty meeting for more information.

Focus Groups
I will sharing the report I received after all six focus groups were conducted last week. I did make a few edits (e.g., correcting the spelling of "Hixson").  Reviewing this report will be on the agenda of Monday's department chair meeting (11/5), and next week I will post the whole report on the Network.