May 13, 2013

Earlier this year, I posted about staying the course.  I hope that are finding, or beginning to find, all the rewards staying the course has brought you.  I hope that you are able to see the value of your work and all the ways students might be different, might be better, since having spent a school year with you.

8th Grade Recognition
I am looking forward to our 8th Grade Recognition Event on Thursday.  Thank you for your contributions to the presentation that will occur before and after the program.  All of us contribute to our students' experiences, and there is always a moment in the program where we stop to recognize you and your contributions as well. If parents are asking questions, you can refer them to the parent blog.

Thinkquiry Toolkit
Two more Hixson teacher-tested strategies have been added to the Thinkquiry Toolkit post from last week. Click here to read about them!  Your colleagues have worked hard to test and summarize this in a way that will make them as immediately useful as possible.

Summer Development for Hixson Teachers
The building has limited funds to support team or department development of new ideas (six groups of four, or fewer, teachers for eight hours at $15/hour); I will consider these on a first come, first served basis. Teams or departments must submit the following in an e-mail:

•  The new idea, project, strategy or topic you wish to pursue, please keep in mind that
• All disciplines must be represented, to some degree, for interdisciplinary ideas,
• Your idea must be experiential, project- or challenge-based, and hands on,
• You must plan to use essential content as well as technology (based on our TILS), and
• You may not use this time to tweak or revise existing units, projects, ideas, etc.,
• Your work must fit within the framework as described in The Art and Science of Teaching, and
• Before I approve your stipend, you must present your work to me (more details on this to come).

If you have any questions, please ask. I have money for three more groups of teachers.  The three ideas these funds will be supporting are really excellent.  I look forward to more!

 

Anticipating 2013-2014
Last year, at the end of April, I shared a little about what you might anticipate for this academic school year. If you're interested in re-reading this post, click here.  You will see that we have accomplished, to some degree, nearly all of the things listed in that post.  Thank you for your commitment, diligence, and hard work. Thank you for your powerful actions.

To see a draft of a similar post for next year, click here.  If you'd rather wait to think about next year, that's okay; no need to click the link.