9/27 - Meetings, MAP, Office

Started the day with the coordinator meeting at Central Office.  Agenda included discussions on:

• What's up in the district
• Perception of stressors on educators
• Presentation from HR office WGSD staff training.

At 12:30 met with Dr. Denbow and Mr. Atterberry at Steger to discuss grade level meetings and MAP data for 6-8 band.  We also discussed upcoming Science and World Studies Curriculum development days.

Back to the office afterwords to complete some tasks before the end of the week:

• answered a myriad of e-mails
• registered for a CSD conference on Tuesday
• sent in membership form for NCSS
• Set schedule for next week
• Sent E-mails to Science Core and Virtual Facilitators
• Sent e-mail to Science Core and Virtual Facilitators
• Sent e-mail to start the conversation about a vertical team for Science and social studies

Assigned myself reading for the weekend:

• Revenue Committee notes
• District Strategic Plan
• GLEs for Kindergarten in Science/SS
• District "approved" activities for Science and Social Studies for Kindergarten (What's in the "Binder")

9/27 - Office hours, Blog post, Steger and Hixson

Started the day off at the office I needed finish my blog post on chapter 2 of Art and Science of teaching. Posted here.

I also added a reflection from Chapter 2 of Never work harder than your students.  Posted here.

During office hours I worked on:

• Ironing out facilitators for Science and Social studies
• Scheduling dates to use the board room for our meeting
• Prepared packets for MAP presentations with Steger and 7th grade science.
• Fixed a Smart board

Stopped by Central office to make copies, print documents for MAP meetings.

After I headed over the Steger.  From there I attended a Webinar on "Powersearching with Google."

At 12:30 I watched and helped Mr. Melanson's lesson using oobleck (i love that stuff).

I stayed at Steger through the end of the day getting to see some grammar lessons during their fun A.E. period.  There were some very fun "Madlibs" and grammar lessons.

At 3:30 I arrived at Hixson for the 7th grade science department meeting.  Agenda included:

• Presentation of MAP data
• Discussed Action plan

9/26 - Clark, Kindergarten fun and Meetings

Started the day at Clark Elementary school.  Spent time in MANY classrooms form kindergarten to 5th grade.  I got the chance to experience the "apple orchard" project

Insert pictures here:

Afterwords I went back to the office to check in, eat lunch and prepare for the rest of the day's activities.  I also sent thank you e-mails to all of those who I went into their room.

At 12:30 I met with Dr. Simpson about scheduling the facilitators meetings for Science/Social studies. We developed a process that included:

• Bold from other facilitators
• vet with principals
• look at dates
• book rooms
• Assign after school dates
• send email

At 1:20 I went into a kindergarten classroom at Edgar road to watch/facilitate force and motion lessons. Kindergarten students are so much fun to be around!

Then at 3:30 I headed over to Hixson to plan for the 2nd/3rd year teacher meetings happening on 10/18 as a half day professional development.

Agenda included:

• Developing learning goals
• Developing a theme for the year
• Timing out tasks for the day
• Brainstorming future topics

9/25 - Meetings/Office Hours

Started the day today delivering a short POD session on learning goals.  We looked at a powerpoint of images and discussed what makes a "learning goal."

We used Marzano's work on rating learning goals below:

Afterwords I met with Dr. Green of Webster University.  We looked for ways to support one another.

Agenda items included:

• Conversation about Missouri GLE's, National Core Standards for the Social Studies and National History standards.
• Discussion on using University and Dr. Green's personal connections to broaden the resources for educators K-12
• Discussion on utilization of resources from "traveling trunk" to docents.
• Kept coming back to the discussion of "SO WHAT" and "WHAT'S THE POINT" does Social studies have a charge or theme?

Went back to the office to complete the following items:

• Ironed out TENTATIVE facilitator agendas for meetings to be called
• E-mailed Administrators about Next year's NCSS conference.
• Recorded Examining student work video and posted to youtube.

• Got into classrooms around Edgar Road.  Saw Math instruction in 1st grade, supervised kindergarten recess, conferenced with a teacher and watched writing process instruction for 4th grade, Science computer work in 5th grade and Played the "Buzz" game with second grade.
• Updated Edline sites for Science and Social Studies

After school meeting was canceled.

9/24 - Office day

Cleaned up piles of items from grade level days and materials collected from meeting last week.

Responded to emails.  Set up times at Steger, Clark to drop in.  Set up meeting with Ted Green from Webster University.

Completed enrollment for STOM (science teachers of Missouri) 

Downloaded NCSS and MOCHE membership forms and sent to Dept Chairs.

Created document organizing ALL thermometer items for Science.  Assigned tasks to team/groups.

Created document organizing ALL thermometer items for Social Studies.  Assigned tasks to team/groups.

Went to Steger to Meet with Susan to discuss:

• How we look at MAP data in Math and ELA
• Who looks and MAP data
• How to set up a facilitator meeting
• When and where to have a facilitator meeting

Created list of possible dates for Facilitator or 7/8 grade meetings:
(Cross referenced my calendar with district pd calendar, reporting calendars, and kit schedules)

October
15
22
24
25
29

November
7
8
19
21
26
27
28
29

December
3
5
10
11
13
17
18
19

January
7
10
14
16
22
23
24
28
29
31

February
11
12
13
19
20
21
25

March
7
25
28

April
2
3
8
10
11
15
16
18
22
23
24
25

May
6
13
15
16

Completed MAP data review for 6th - 8th grade.

Prepared for Staff development session I'm leading tomorrow morning at Edgar Road.

Completed phase 1 of the Power Searching with Google class

9/21 Meetings!

Today started with a trip to the office.  I dropped off the items from the grade level pd days at Steger.  I clean up and organized the office to set up to have a REALLY productive Monday.

at 8:30 went to Central office for a Coordinators meeting, some of the topics included:

• How do we assess wonder and confusion?
• Debrief DLT meeting
• Edline
• What's a broad learning goal?
• Curriculum templates
• MAP data reports
• CnI Server space organization and usage

At 12:00 went to the St. Louis Science Leaders' Consortium at St. Louis Science Center.

• Welcome
• What is SSLC?
• Where are they from
• How can we work together?
• Work smarter/not harder
• Connection to SLACCA

• Betsy O'Day - boday@hallsville.org

• Member of next generation standards writing team
• Past history to Current framework
• nap.edu has resources for FREE to download
• Conceptual shifts
• K-12 science education should reflect the REAL WORLD interconnectedness in science
• Using all practices and crosscutting concepts to teach all core ideas all year
• Science concepts build coherently across K-12
• Focus on deeper understandings and application of content
• integration fo science and engineering
• Coordination with CCSS
• Dimensions of NGSS
• Practices
• Crosscutting concepts
• Core ideas
• NGSS breaks down to outcomes listed in grades 2,3,5,6,8, 9, 12.
• Scientific and Engineering practices are end of 12 outcomes.
• Practices
• Asking questions and defining problems are keys
• Developing and using models (Elementary focused on using models)
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Mathematics and computational thinking
• Constructing Explanations (Scientific and Engineering) See research on Claims, Evidence and Reasoning and here too.
• Engaging in Argument from evidence
• Obtaining Evaluating and communicating information
• Crosscutting practices
• Patterns
• Cause and Effect
• Scale, proportion, quality
• Systems and system models
• Energy and matter
• Structure and function
• Stability and change
• Physical Science
• Matter and its interactions
• motion and stability
• energy
• waves and their applications
• Life Sciences
• Molecules to organisms
• Ecosystems
• Heredity
• Biological Evolution
• Earth and Space science
• Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Sciences
• Design
• Links among E,T,S and Society
• Core ideas have BROAD importance, Key concepts or tools, and spark interests and life experiences of students.
• The NGSS has 41 teachers as a part of the design team
• Don't jump the gun here, WAIT!  If you do, write to the framework.
• Reading the NGSS
• Students can demonstrate understanding can...
• Performance expectations were developed with the 
• Science and engineering, disciplinary, crosscutting concepts
• Connection boxes in same grade level/band
• Articulation above or below
• Connected to CCSS

• Other Resources about the NGSS
• Presentation
• White Paper
• 2010 Report

• Needs Survey - Tabled

• Future dates
• STOM - October 5th and 6th
• NSTA STEM forum and Expo - May 15-18
• SLCC future meeting dates: 

• Goal Setting - Tabled

9/20 - 6th Grade World Studies

Today's agenda and take-aways:

• Server is here!
• NCSS conference for next year
• What GLE's are we giving student opportunities to interact with?
• Created broad and specific learning goals for Global Studies and South Africa Unit
• Created and worked on pacing guide for year.
• Discussed Oceania and Australia Unit.
• Created Broad (tentative) and specific learning goals.
• Social Studies Thermometer activity
• Shared tech resources:
• agoogleaday
• let me google that for you

9/19 Fosnot training/ETA/iPads

Today I attended the Cathy Fosnot training for Math instruction.  Learning included: 

• Discovering new ways to solve problems
• 24 x 1.25 = (6x4) x 1.25 = 6x (4x1.25)
• 12x15 = 6x30=24x7.5= 
• Teacher's job is NOT to "fix" the piece of work, it's to continue the student's development in a specific area.
• Use clues in your classroom to share amongst one another as oppose to be teacher-kid-teacher-kid
• When you tell a kid the answer you are ROBBING them of empowerment
• How many ways can you solve a multiplication problem. I never knew it was this easy.
• If you think your job is regurgitation of information, might be time for a new job.

These conversations about solving problems differently is an OUTSTANDING way to think about problems differently.  How often through solving problems in science and social studies would we benefit from investigating how we solve problems and finding new ways to think of solutions.

All these conversations made me think of William Ury's TED talk on the walk from NO to YES.

At 12:00 I went over to Parkway's Central office to attend the St. Louis' ETA (Educational Technology Association. Agenda included:

• http://etaofstl.wikispaces.com/
• Follow them on twitter: @etlofstl
• Skyped with ISTE
• Add link through to ISTE book store the ETA gets a kickback.
• Discussed topics for future ETA meetings
• CSD update
• More.net update
• More.net Conference

At 3:30 went to Bristol to train staff on ipads.  We discussed:

1.  Settings

2.  Notes (using the keyboard)

3.  Safari

4.  App Store

5.  Education apps.

6.  web resources for finding apps

7.  SAMR model

9/18 - 6th Grade Science Meeting

Today's agenda:

Notes from today's meeting:

• Server coming!
• Reviewed MAP data for 8th grade
• Clear up broad learning goal concept
• Create specific learning goals for Force and Motion unit
• Created broad learning goals for Scientific Inquiry unit
• Created specific learning goals for Scientific Inquiry unit
• Developed pacing guide for the year as suggested timing and pacing.
• Revised Force and Motion Assessment to arrange by specific learning goals
• Created and added to Thermometer activity
• Shared how to make a graph using the website "Create-a-graph."
• Shared how to use outlook to route specific messages into specific folders.

After school met with Tim to discuss iPad training at Bristol for Wednesday.

9/17 - Today's activities

Printed and posted calendar for outside office.  Forgot to all last week since I wasn't ever in or near my office.

Met with Caroline who was unable to attend full day curriculum training to get feedback and to give voice to the day's activities.

Fixed a macbook so it was able to access the wireless.  Go mac!

Prepped for 2nd/3rd year training meeting today by connecting "never work harder than your students" chapter to "Art and Science of Teaching."

• Wrote Blog post
• Working on handout
• Idea of sorting activity where one set of concepts in one color, other in another color and teachers seek to find overlap/consensus.

Met with Mary Ann to determine how kit process was going, feedback from grade level days and future important dates coming up.

Went to clark to pick up an extra Plant Light kit delivered to Avery.

Packed up resources for science 6th grade meeting tomorrow.

Pick up projector from Central Office for 6th grade science and world studies meetings.

Spent afternoon at Avery getting into classrooms and to meet with Sue in regards to Science Fair.

Created Science Fair page on Edline.

After school attended 7th grade Social Studies meeting at Hixson.  Agenda included:

• PDP - Focused on writing learning goals
• Conversations about proficiency scales and learning goals
• Conversations about posting learning goals

Today's activities

Today I facilitated the first and only Kindergarten grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teacher at a certain grade levels in the district around one table.

The agenda included:

• Sorting activity for goal/standards

• Gifted ed announcements

• Technology integration standards

• Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering

• ELA

• Math

A document for our teachers to collaborate around while attending the session is found here.
Science/Social Studies activities included the following:

• Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

• Determined what items needed to STOP/start/IMPROVE

• Also discussed and agreed on what items were coming up, of immediate importance and need to be reviewed here.

After  the grade level meeting I went over to Steger Elementary to meet with the Science department chair.  Based on her recommendations we created the agenda for the curriculum day below:

From that I tentatively created the agenda for the World Studies meeting next Thursday.  I posted that below but it is still in process:

Today's activities

Today I facilitated the first and only 1st grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teacher at a certain grade levels in the district around one table.

The agenda included:

• Sorting activity for goal/standards

• Gifted ed announcements

• Technology integration standards

• Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering

• ELA

• Math

A document for our teachers to collaborate around while attending the session is found here.
Science/Social Studies activities included the following:

• Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

• Determined what items needed to STOP/start/IMPROVE

• Also discussed and agreed on what items were coming up, of immediate importance and need to be reviewed here.

Attended 7th grade science meeting:

• Reviewed field trip information
• Discussed Universe unit learning goals and lesson plan

Today's activities

Today I facilitated the first and only 2nd grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teacher at a certain grade levels in the district around one table.

The agenda included:

• Sorting activity for goal/standards

• Gifted ed announcements

• Technology integration standards

• Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering

• ELA

• Math

A document for our teachers to collaborate around while attending the session is found here.
Science/Social Studies activities included the following:

• Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

• Determined what items needed to STOP/start/IMPROVE

• Also discussed and agreed on what items were coming up, of immediate importance and need to be reviewed here.

Attended 8th grade social studies meeting:

• Channel One - Student Elections mock vote: http://onevote.channelone.com/
• Review Springfield field trip: 
• Missouri History Museum field trip and resources: http://www.mohistory.org/schools 
• Discussed membership to NCSS and MOCHE
• Shared Webster University

Achievement Gap Committee hosted a "Community that Learns Together" night.  I presented Facebook and Social Media.

Today's activities

Today I facilitated the first and only 3rd grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teachers at a certain grade level in the district around one table.

The agenda included:

• Sorting activity for goal/standards

• Gifted ed announcements

• Technology integration standards

• Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering

• ELA

• Math

A document for our teachers to collaborate around while attending the session is found here.

Science/Social Studies activities included the following:

• Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

• Determined what items needed to STOP/start/IMPROVE

• Also discussed and agreed on what items were coming up, of immediate importance and need to be reviewed here.

After school attended an 8th grade science meeting at Hixson Middle school.
Agenda included:

• Looked over GLE's
• Discussed Chemistry Learning Goals
• Broad learning goal vs. Specific Learning goal
• Combined learning goals for Chemistry and Heat
• Discussed creating broad learning goals using the question: "SO WHAT?!"

Today's activities

Today I facilitated the first and only 4th grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teachers at a certain grade level in the district around one table.

The agenda included:
Sorting activity for goal/standards
Gifted ed announcements
Technology integration standards
Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering
ELA
Math

A document for our teachers to collaborate around while attending the session is found here.

Science/Social Studies activities included the following:

Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

Determined what items needed to STOP/start/IMPROVE

Also discussed and agreed on what items were coming up, of immediate importance and need to be reviewed here.

Today's Activities

Today I facilitated the first grade level meeting for the district.  This meeting is a one-time per year chance to get every teachers at a certain grade level in the district around one table.

The agenda included:
Sorting activity for goal/standards
Gifted ed announcements
Technology integration standards
Science and Social studies planning, listening and gathering
ELA
Math

Began sign up for Facilitators for Science/Social Studies

From Grade 5, what do we need to Stop, Start or Improve upon.

For Grade 5 we discussed and determined: What's Bubbling up?  What are our areas of urgent need?

At 3:30 attended 8th grade Social Studies meeting.
- Developed and submitted PDP for department
- Discussed Learning goals and how they relate to assessments currently in use.
- Discussed Thinkquiry book study.

Today's activities

Attended DLT meeting highlighting Edline training and Districts common vocabulary around learning goals.

Began Editing Science and Social Studies Main curriculum pages.

Still trying to determine What do people want here?

Started the discussion on learning goals by using Hixson Middle Schools working (MEANING DRAFT) proficiency scale for learning goals seen here: http://learningdesigns.posterous.com/ 

Had lunch with Coordinators to process learning from DLT meeting.  I discussed a need for a visual.  Here's my working draft using a cool site called Lucidcharts.

Spent afternoon at Hixson walking in and out of open rooms.  Great to see so much awesome learning and teachers having fun!

After school attended the 7th grade science meeting.

Today's activities

Started the day meeting with Theodore D. R. Green Associate Profession and Chair for the teacher Education Department at Webster university.  Discussed partnership opportunities and guidance he as well as Webster University staff can give us to guide us in creating a 21st century curriculum.

Rest of the day was an "Office day" to accomplish tasks on the rememberthemilk to do list.

• Got my picture taken for picture day!
• Spoke with Mike about installing an outlet in the science kit store room.
• Finalized inventory of materials for:
• Science: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agz1J6fj2c9rdFlXVDktMV85eFhWS3l0Q3VxM2VZOVE#gid=0
• Social Studies: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Agz1J6fj2c9rdGh3ZUVjTmgwVnEwMms3NW1jOEl4elE
• Wrote Blog post for Chapter 5 of Art and Science of Teaching
• Completed worksheet for Chapter 5: Professional Development Module
• Read article on NCSS
• Logged in to DESE examined the Model Curriculum documents
• Downloaded Next Generation Science Standards and converted to epub to read on the go.
• Researched Google Certification:
• Apps for education trainer
• CAPE Faculty Member
• GEO teachers' institute
• Youtube teachers studio
• Watched video on Dropmark
• Investigated Goggle Teacher Academy submissions
• Set up polleverywhere to get feedback on kits
• Set up wiffiti for SS kits
• Finished Grade Level meeting plan (I'm sure it will change)

Where a car can't go:  Google Mapping in distance lands...

4:00 LMT meeting at Central Office

Today's activities

Meetings:

• Met with Bill K.
• Met with Jason H.
• Ate Lunch with staff at Computer school
• Met with Susan B.
• Attended PDC meeting
• Attended Revenue Committee Meeting.

Tasks completed:

• Reserved site for EdcampSTL
• Reimbursement request
• Observed 4th grade 
• Read chapter 5
• Answered emails
• Made this blog

In Process:

• Developing Plan for shared district level server
• Working on Facebook and social media presentation
• Continuing to add to grade level meetings
• Seeking install for PC on mac