November 15

December 5th 3:00-4:30  Topic:  EBISS Foundations

February 6th. 3:00-4:30.  Topic:  Math EBISS

March 5th  3:00-4:30.      Topic:  EBISS:  A Conversation about Instruction

 

Standards of Practice- I hear rumors from time to time that people think standards of practice are no longer applicable, or that such and such a grade at such and such a school is only doing 12 minute of reading per week (exaggeration), or the like. While I do believe that most of us are working to follow the guidelines set forth for reading, math and writing in our standards of practice, I still think it is worthwhile to remind everyone that they are still in play.  I like to think of them as really strong guidelines, not inflexible, never changing laws of nature. The expectation is that you are scheduling that time into your day, with the understanding that life happens and there may and will be days that schools and/or individual teachers have to adjust.  If you are having difficulty figuring out how to schedule everything in, please let me know. I would be happy to come out and troubleshoot in order to be sure we are maintaining these standards. Questions? Give me a call.  Standards linked- Math, Reading, Writing.

Chronic Absenteeism- Remember the chronic absenteeism presentation and work session will be this coming Monday, November 18 from 3:15-4:30. We will meet in room 312 here at the Ed. Center. Kimberly Strong will start us off with a short overview of CA. The remainder of the time will be spent looking at your own data and plan and doing any revising you see fit. Kimberly will stay with us to provide any guidance and support you may need. Dave V. will also be available to help you navigate any DART data you want to access. If you would like to attend and haven’t yet signed up, let me know.

This week’s article on CA focuses on CA and disabilities.

Learning by Doing Book Study– Thanks to those of you who have expressed interest in joining the virtual book study I shared with you in last week’s notes. If you would like to join us, you may sign up by November 22. I will order books on Monday, November 25 for those on the list. I have put you on the list if you already told me you are interested.

SIW- It has been enlightening for me to get around to some of your SIW’s this year. I have seen some really good activities happening- very tailored to your school’s needs. Yesterday, I was able to visit Miller where Jen and Erich were leading teachers through the development of rubrics for the 4 C’s for k-2 students and teachers and 3-5 students and teachers. Staff was very engaged in the work and I’m excited to hear about the impact it will have on teaching and learning. If you are considering something like this, Jen or Erich might be a good resource for you.

Sustainability News- Please see below from our sustainability team.