To: Michael GreenFrom: John ShoupDate: 03.29.12
Re: March Review
Here is an overview of the key activities we worked on in relation to teaching and learning this month.
Monday's: We used our Monday's to prepare for Students led conferences, prepare for HSPE proctoring, and one Monday was a new "staff controlled" day.
Opportunity Time: We continue to get positive anecdotal comments from seniors regarding opportunity time during senior interviews. Most students are appreciative of the time and attention they are getting. However, we are still receiving feedback from seniors that they do not find the Navigation lessons to be useful. We will continue to look at this and find a way to make this time beneficial for our students.
Other information: This was a difficult month to develop a rhythm. We had three days of HSPE, early releases for student led conferences and the official end of 3rd quarter on March 30th. During the state testing window, we had the majority of our seniors make their culminating project final presentations. The adult panels were great and our students did a nice job with only 8 seniors left who have not met standard. Speaking of standards, this year for the first time our underclassmen were evaluated against a rubric during their student led conferences. This helped to bring another level of seriousness to the conferences. Students have the ability to earn ½ credit in for the advisory work and this student led conference is a major component of receiving that ½ credit. We continue to have a good turnout for teachers participating in learning walks and we will hold our final walk of the year on Thursday, April 19th. On a final note, we are cheering for Ryan Close, Aaron Blackwelder, Miranda Bullock, Nelean Warndahl and Liz Deese who sent off their national board certification portfolios at the end of this month. We won't receive the results until next fall, but I am proud of these staff members for their efforts to reflect on their teaching practice and to attempt the rigorous process.