September 10, 2012

Monday's faculty meeting will focus on adapations for all students.  This meeting is in response to several requests I have received from the faculty for support in this area.  This is the first faculty meeting in a series designed to increase our instructional repertoire with a variety of students.  It will support deparmental work on units as well as we think about ways of differentiating for our students. Click any of the following documents for more information:

• Accommodations, Interventions, and Modifications (A document I have shared in the past with some slight revisions)
• DESE's Definition of Accommodations and Modifcations
• Adaptations

Sharing Student Computers
In order to allow for more student access to computers in the building, I am asking that core and elective teachers share devices.  This will require some advance planning for scheduling and moving equipment.  Please work together on this.  click here to see with whom you have been paired. The pairings are complementary so that electives can borrow when team teachers are not teaching core classes.
The Hixson Network Goes Edline! (on 9/17)
All faculty will be using the edline.net calendar by Monday, 9/17.  This includes me as well, so beginning on 9/17 will be moving to a Hixson Network Beta (because it's still in development) site.  You will access this site from your edline.net account.  Log in, go to My Edline, and click Hixson Network Beta.  When you do this on 9/17, you will notice the following:

• The dock at the top of the screen should be familiar,
• My principal update will appear on each Monday as "Principal Update",
  • Go to either the staff or the combined calendar,
  • Click on Principal Update each Monday morning,
  • I will still send an e-mail reminder,
• The Learning Designs and Quick PD blogs will still be accessible from the site,
• Jason is working on including the Tech feed and another feed as well.

On another note, the Hixson Middle School Main Page will get a new look when the district-required template is implemented for that site.
District Committee Invitation
Dr. Simpson has asked that I extend an invitation to our staff to serve one either or both of the following committees:

• Acheivement Gap (meets 4/5 teams a year at 5:30pm)
• Curriculum Coordinating Council meets 4 times a year at 5:30pm).

Let me know if you are interested.