1-17-2014

Quote for the Week

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do."  Steve Jobs

Looking Forward-Things You Need to Know…

• 1/20/14  MLK Holiday-Enjoy your day offf!!

• 1/21/14  MAP Assessment begins!

• 1/22/14  Solana Santa Fe Walkthough-Team #1

• 1/23/14  Solana Vista Walkthrough-Team #3

• 1/27/14 The Great Kindness Challenge Week begins?  Have you registered?  Need More information?  Click Here!

EduAwesome Drops in Our Bucket… 

• Kudos to Terri Davis, Matt and Elisa!  Everyone LOVED visiting your sites this week!  We talk about looking for trends across the district as we do these walkthoughs-and I am noting many trends! Primarily, I noticed an overall excitement for teaching and learning at each of the schools!  Teachers are genuinely excited about what and how they are teaching!  Additionally, it was apparent that teachers are taking risks and trying new things; collaborating with each other and implementing what they are learning during Apple PD and the Common Core Math Trainings!  So fun!

• Thank you to Jerry, Lisa D, Terry D, Mary Ellen and Nancy for attending the first Envision (STEM) team!  The committee is very excited about their task and I have no doubt that they will come up with something AMAZING!

• Congratulations to the Negotiations Team (Lisa D, Terry Decker, Sal, Carlos, Matt Singley, Katie Zimmer, Jeff Montag, Vicki Pilling, and Becky Gauthier)  Rumor has it that a Tentative Agreement has been written!  YEAH!!

• Hooray to our Grades 3-5 Teachers who gave up their evening to come to the Dinah Brown math training!

• Positive Energy for Mary Ellen-I know that she has been working diligently on a very tough case!

Video of the Week 

• TedTalk Tony Wagner talks about the importance of Play, Passion and Purpose in our schools!  Very Powerful!

Blogs, Tweets and Pins-Our Very Own PLC 

10 Leadership Resolutions to Make It a Very Good YearWhy Collaboration and Communication Matter

Another great site to follow on twitter is:  @Kidsforpeace

Timely Articles to Send out to Teachers

Teach Kids to Use the Four-Letter Word? (Great Article on G-R-I-T)
100th Day of School Resources (Feb 5 marks the 100th day of school)

Final Thoughts to Ponder

21 Day Instructional Leadership Challenge (click on the link...its' not too late to join)

Pondering how everyone did with week 1 of the 21 Day Instructional Challenge?  What did you think about Justin's comments re: Classroom Walkthroughs?  Were you able to get 10% of each of your classrooms and leave a note for the teacher?  This all made me think about our Book Study (Kim Marshall's Rethinking Teacher Supervision and Evaluation) last year and the importance of frequent classroom walkthroughs AND specific feedback to the teacher. 
I was "pondering" and wondering if a "face-face" with the teacher might be more powerful than a note?  It would be interactive and open up the conversation about teaching and learning-SO...I tried it this week-after each of our school walkthroughs, I engaged in at least one conversation with a staff member about something that was happening in their classroom-The teachers were so excited to elaborate on what was going on and the conversation was rich and interactive!  Made my walkthroughs even more meaningful and powerful not only for them, but for me!  Then again, we all know how much I value the power of a handwritten note...Hmmm...Maybe a combination of follow up Notes and Conversations might be something to strive for...Just Pondering...