March 4, 2013

I've heard several people in the building comment on what a long week it has been (and irony in the shortest month).  Friday afternoon, I heard two students debating how many more days until spring break . . . they decided it depended on whether or not they counted Friday.

List of Marzano Strategies

Click here for the complete list of strategies from Design Questions 1-9 from The Art and Science of Teaching.  I am sharing these for the following reasons:

• This list can be used as a review of the strategies covered in the text, our meetings, and other documents posted on the Network.
• The district will be surveying us to get a sense of with which we are most comfortable and on which we might need more development.
• These segments, questions, and strategies use the same language as the observation instrument.

Department Chairs and I will talk more about this and the DQs 7, 9,.and 10 at our meeting on Monday.

Intruder Drill FAQs

Once again, thank you, all, for your excellent work with our intruder drills this week.  Parents offered a great deal of supportive and appreciative feedback.

I wanted to answer a few questions that teachers asked me in such a way that all of us could read the answer:

• Is it possible to announce that "this is just a drill" as part of the intercom announcement?

Current best practice suggests that we use the same language during a drill as we do in a real-life event.  This is why it is important to check your e-mail during a modified lock down drill.  You can share that it's a drill with your students.  Given the intensity of an intruder drill, it's probably important that I announce those to you (as I did this week).

• Will we ever get a buzzer system on our door?

The district has a buzzer/video system on order for each school.  When these arrive, we will install them and share the new procedures with everyone.

• In the event of an actual intruder, who makes the announcement?

Whomever is the first to suspect that there is a dangerous person in the building should make the announcement.  Pick up the phone, dial 3892, and announce that there is an intruder in the building.  I trust that all of us will use some discretion here.

We are also working on consistent information to leave for subs, working out details of how to communicate with subs in the event of a crisis, and some other details.  Your feedback, questions, and ideas are very important to our safety, so please keep sharing.

Collegial Learning Walks with Jill Right and the Core Curriculum Coordinators

From Mrs. Right: "The Learning Walks that Susan Bergman, Liz Majino, Chris McGee, and I participated in at Hixson a week and a half ago were beneficial to us all.  The goal to identify what was working in each of the 35 classrooms that we were able to visit was readily apparent.  Click here for a list of what we observed."

Food Trucks for Conferences

Click here to learn more about the vsiting food trucks during our spring conferences.

Out of the Building
This next will be a crazy week for me.  I will be out Tuesday afternoon for TLA, part of Wednesday for a(nother) personnel meeting at Central Office, and Thursday and Friday for personal reasons.