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=Leadership Team Planning Meeting, 2-17-11=

This is my rambling thinking about all of the things we need to think ahead about for 2011-12. All items listed below will be discussed on our planning day. Again, it's just my brainstorming out loud. I know you will have more ideas, too.

Begin thinking, and if you want to get us kicked off ahead of time, feel free to comment below. All you have to do to add a comment is click next to the pencil where it says edit, then type your thinking, then click save. It will continually add to the document, and each time a person logs into the page, they will see your comments. The only people that can edit this page are the members of our leadership team. However, this is a free wiki, so it's not protected from public view. Keep that in mind as you make comments - make sure you'd be ok with anyone seeing what you wrote. It might be helpful if you type in a different color and add your name next to your comment.

Think of something else that should be on the agenda? Add it to the list! Follow the same process -- click on edit, add comments, then on save.

=__**Possible Agenda Topics:**__=

Here's a quote I ran across today: "What we permit, we promote. What we allow, we encourage" -- Jennifer

What about technology? Are there tools that we could be using that we could have Sean Nash come in to provide PD for? We should definitely find ways to use the ipads in our classrooms! -ashley Is there a way that we could compile a list of websites that could be used as communication tools for students? -Tara I agree with Tara! I don't really know a lot of what's out there. I also like the idea of using tools like this (wikis) in the upper grades for communication among students and teachers.-Kristen

I think it would be great to bring in Sean and share some of the things he showed us at our last k-6 meeting. I think through technology we might get more engagement from kids during independent work time. Natalie

Title I budget... forward planning for 2011-12... How do we want to spend this money? Reading teachers? Reduction in classroom size? Reading teachers are great for all grade levels.-ashley I think reading support is great, but I think it would be beneficial to have some training and planning time together. The reading teachers and the classroom teachers need frequent collaboration time to be as effective as possible.-Kristen

Sorry I am your color, Kristen....I can't figure out how to get a color of my own!! Anyway, I agree with the planning time being so essential. We all have to be on the same page, with consistency to get the best results. I am all for the smaller class size so that in the primary grades we can ALL learn to SIT/STAY/READ. If they can do those things surely they'll be successful by grade 3. With these kids, we need reduction size in all grades. ~ alesia

Should we hire a Family Involvement Coordinator or continue operating without one by paying stipends to staff who take care of the FIC's responsibilities? I have done some of the family involvement stuff for this year (Eagle and Portrait Night). I have had fun with it. I'd be willing to do some of it again next year. I think it would be beneficial to talk to Linda M. about this. She has done a lot more of the FIC's responsibilities. What I have done has been manageable (time-wise), but I wonder what Linda thinks.-Kristen I personally haven't helped with FIC responsibilities this year but I think it is an important job. We definitely need someone to be in charge of the organization of the events to make sure they all run smoothly.-ashley

If we have folks willing to take on the responsibilities for a stipend, I think we should consider in this manner and save $$ in benefits. Natalie

What will our "big wheels" be in PD? Writing? Formative assessment? PBIS? If we are going to use PBIS effectively, I think it has to be a big wheel. I don't think many of us know much about it. I also think that there are a lot of staff, including myself, that have a lot of preconceived notions/ideas about PBIS that may not be accurate. -Kristen

We all need help in writing. I wonder how we find PD that will help us in writing, as well as improve our test scores. I know that test scores shouldn't be everything, but in reality, they're important. -Kristen

Formative assessment--We are trying a lot of new things. I am just now feeling good about some of the things I've implemented. I worry that if we abandon our study of FA completely, that some of the things that are just coming around will fizzle out.-Kristen

Maybe we want to think about our area of emphasis, like writing, and then continuing formative assessment in that area. Diane

In some respects I feel like FA, PBIS and Writing are a lot of big wheels to have turning all at the same time. Our staff's biggest complaint over the past few years has always been that they felt overwhelmed. I also think, though, that we are at a crucial point where we can't ignore or drop any of these. How can we devote a fair and reasonable amount of time to all three of these initiatives? Natalie

What about our partnership with Humboldt and Lake? Should we continue?

I'm not sure we're getting the "bang for our buck" that we had hoped. I do think that it would be wise to partner up with someone (Lake would be logical, as we've already worked with them) to bring in some big name folks. I think when you add that star factor people naturally become more interested and engaged in the session than when people on staff present or when we bring in local presenters. Natalie

Do we want to partner up with Lake to afford to bring in Robyn Jackson for any further topics? She offers sessions on topics such as providing effective feedback and supporting struggling students. She costs $6,000 a day, and sharing that cost with Lake would be to our benefit if we want to bring her back again. I'm totally for whatever we would need to do to get Robyn to come back. Her website has some really interesting tools that can help teachers become better. You just have to join the website (free). I have some tip sheets I've printed off and plan on going through before our PD on Tuesday. -Tara

Robyn has been a huge hit, and I think she is someone the staff will continue to respond positively to. I would be curious to see what other programs/topics she has to offer our teachers. Natalie

If we go with writing as a big wheel in PD, how will we get this accomplished?

Good question! I must admit I don't exactly know where to go with this one. Who are some big name people we could bring in? I know they come with big price tags too, but again I feel our staff doesn't respond as well to local/on-staff presenters, so if it is feasible I would rather spend some money than spin our wheels and use our time ineffectively. Natalie

Sangari Science pilot program --- more info coming about this at Tuesday's staff meeting Totally stoked about this! -Tara

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I'm feeling good about this one! I hope we have a good turnout for the trainings in July. I think that will make all the difference. Natalie

What will be the key that our entire schedule will be built around? Will it be common Comm Arts blocks of time? Will it be the lunch schedule? Will it be teaming?

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I like the idea of a common intervention time. Kids could be grouped across the grade level or up or down and grade. I also am a fan of keeping the specials block at the same time each day per grade level. I think it builds in natural collaboration time for classroom teachers, provides consistency/routine for kids, and makes life orderly for the Specials/ESOL/SpEd/Rdg teachers. :) Natalie

What will teaming look like in 2011-12? We've tried having it weekly with me at the table and without me at the table... are there other options to try? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I liked teaming the way we did it a few years ago with different grade levels paired up and JP involved. I miss the conversations with teachers in other grades. I feel disconnected to grades around me because I have no idea what they're teaching. I think we need to find a way to make these meetings worth everyone's time and maybe only meet once or twice a month. Also, this could be the way to get SPED and ESOL involved too?????-ashley

I agree with Ashley!!! I think that we could benefit a great deal from working together outside of our grade levels. I keep mentioning flex grouping and RTI. I could see using teaming time to do some grouping and intervention between grade levels. Teaming has been beneficial this year, however it's easy to get stuck in a rut when it's just two people.-Kristen I agree about the collaboration. However, it seemed like we spent a TON of time away from instruction. Maybe I would feel better about it if kids were in specials. ~alesia

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think it is beneficial to get at least two grade levels together at a time. This format lends itself nicely to vertical alignment opportunities, and I imagine it must be difficult to avoid getting in a "rut" as Kristen mentioned. I wasn't a big fan of bringing in subs last year for teaming, as the kids fell apart all day long; but on the flip side, discipline was a different beast last year than it has been last year so it might not be so bad. (Long sentence!) I also think so much could be gained from bringing ESOL and SpEd to the teaming table. This would provide more instructional consistency for kids between their regular classroom and their serviced time. I also think they would bring unique perspective and expertise to the table. Natalie

How can we build collaboration time into our schedule to allow instructional staff to work together -- SPED, ESOL, Reading? Is there any grant money for this type of thing? When Jenni Gaddie was the sped. teacher, we had planning days in which subs were hired to cover classes. Teachers met in the sped. room to plan with the sped. teachers. Is something like this available? Could we use PD money for this type of thing?

Could those teachers join a team for teaming? They could build their schedules so that they are not pulling kids during the set teaming time.-Kristen

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think this will just take some money and a calendar. We need to make this kind of collaboration a priority and schedule dates before the year even begins. We would need to look at budgeting and get teacher input to determine how often this collaboration takes place. Natalie

Should we continue vertical teaming with Deb and Karen? If so -- on what topics? <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Could we use this time differently? What if we developed a type of RTI time (flexible skill groups)? This could be a building wide time, or could be a time shared by a couple of grade levels. We could use Deb and Karen to help us identify major skills and to then form flexible groups (Across grade levels). It could be a sort of planning time in which we have support from Deb and Karen. -Kristen

<span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">﻿ <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">﻿I love working with Deb but agree with Kristin about using the time differently.-ashley

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I would like to get more input from staff regarding this, as they can make or break the sessions. Natalie

What do we think about building in a building-wide intervention time into our schedule? What would we use this time for? How would it work? <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">I didn't read ahead. I just answered this one on the question above. We are starting to try something like this. Kim, Dori, Eric Carlin, and I are pulling a group everyday to work on some reading skill. I would love to try this at a bigger level. If we designed the schedule around this, we could have every staff member in the building helping with this. I loved when Mike Mattos talked about how this worked in his middle school. Why not use Deb and Karen to help us plan and design this??? -Kristen <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">I agree with Kristen. I think this would be great for our students as long as it's implemented correctly and the staff is clear about what to do. -Tara Wait....I just found a color of my own!! What about starting with a Guided Reading block or Literacy Circle block where we could get the older kids in books on their level if they're WAY below grade level? I am sure that k-2 would agree to have struggling/non-reading kids added to our groups. How can they read to learn if they have never learned to read? I know there is no time to TEACH them to read with all the testing pressure...I say ship them downstairs as soon as they're identified! ~alesia

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">First of all, Hami, you make me laugh! Glad you found your color! Second of all, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the intervention block. I think we got some great information from Mike Mattos that could launch us into a very powerful intervention structure. Natalie

Should we continue Buddy Rooms? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Could we continue but change it up a bit????? Maybe we could set up reading/writing times with them, conduct math or science investigations together, etc..... I only see my K friends during this time. I know it's my fault for not scheduling other times to visit but maybe we could do something school wide? -ashley

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Since this is public, I'll tone it down for the Wiki and save my opinions on this one for tomorrow's session. :) Natalie <span style="color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">﻿ Should we redecorate our building? Name the floors, or the hallways? What can and can't we do? -Tara Would this be a summer project? Would the staff do this???

What about a staff "manual" or handbook? Sections for each content area clearly stating implementation expectations, etc... what should we include? Yes, yes, yes. This way staff knows exactly what's expected. Accountability. -Tara <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Agreed, agreed, agreed. I think the staff should have input/ownership in this manual. I foresee including the Look For Lists (maybe reformatting for the sake of the manual or maybe leaving them alone is best?) and then creating similar documents for other areas of PD as we receive them. Natalie

What should we spend the rest of this year's Title budget on? (I will have copies at the meeting)

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What are the guidelines for spending this money? I know it must be spent soon, but what can and can't it be spent on? Natalie

Should we have a "theme" for next year? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This could be FUN!!!! I'll put my thinking cap on. -ashley Would this be similar to how Robidoux has a road theme? -Tara

How can we build in time for celebration of accomplishments and recognition of staff? I'm not sure, but I think it's a really good idea.-Kristen

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I think this is a good idea too, but it seems like our staff gets weirded out by recognition. I guess we could think about non-public methods of recognition, but I'm not sure I have any great ideas in this area. Natalie

What can we do to best monitor PD implementation? The PD team has pondered this question, along with staff-accountability questions. We haven't come to any big conclusions. We have discussed that staff need to be held accountable by the principals. We pondered how the PD team could monitor implementation. It seems like no matter how much we discussed it, our conversations always came back to the administrators holding teachers accountable. Sometimes peer feedback isn't very well received.-Kristen

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I agree with Kristen about the peer-feedback. Again, I think our staff is a little weirded out about this too. :) In some respects I think it is healthy to get people out of their comfort zones every now and then, but I don't think PD accountability by fellow staff members is the time or place for this adventure. I agree that PD implementation/accountability must come from the administration. Would this be via a new or additional walk through form focusing on PD initiatives? What are some other formats or processes that could be used? Natalie

We need to walk through our current SIP and begin the revision process.

What else? I know I'm forgetting stuff.... Wow we will be busy!! Dress comfy and bring a drink and snacks if you want! <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Where are we going to eat:)

__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Staff Meeting 2/15/11: __
__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Please think about changing these things: __
 * Comm Arts block with no breaks or interruptions - 3
 * K-2 comm arts block in the morning
 * Lunch later for kindergarten and 1st
 * Buddy rooms - 5 (comments: we need to do something different, have them less often, not sure they are helping the climate of the building, still doesn't happen often enough to make any meaningful relationships)
 * Vertical teaming - 3 (commetns: time it with dismissal, not effective)
 * Have all grades dismiss outside instead of having any parents come into the building (safety concern)
 * Reading instruction at the same time throughout the building
 * We need planning time for classroom teachers with SPED and ESOL teachers - 4
 * Number of students in each classroom - 2
 * Teaming (weekly) - 5 (comments: we need this with other grade levels again instead of just our own, need to include SPED and ESOL, don't like the way it is)
 * The organization of the library
 * Not liking the PD with other schools - 3
 * Don't like the leadership teams (not sure if they meant the vision teams, or the leadership team specifically)
 * Schedule would be better with 40 minute specials
 * A box we could put concerns in as they come up
 * Reading teachers work with kindergarten at the beginning of the year instead of not until the middle of the year
 * Don't put Kindergarten and 1st together at lunch
 * We need paras for each grade level
 * Don't like reading teachers in the room all at once for guided reading
 * Lunchroom expectations/wildness/exits - how to keep noise down for nearby classrooms
 * Breakfast - parents coming in with students when they should just drop them off
 * Teachers - don't let students go early unless they are called to office, some are dismissing class at 3:02 or 3:03 (safety concern)
 * Can we figure out a room for conferences besides the library room?

__<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Please keep these things the same: __ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Buddy rooms - 2 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Breakfast routine - 6 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Waiting in halls after breakfast - 6 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Bus duty schedule is working well <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Hour long breaks - we can get a lot done during this time - 2 (comments: 2 specials back-to-back) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Vertical teaming - 3 (comments: I think it's great but may need to be revamped to appeal to all staff) <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Robyn Jackson <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Lunch shifts work well <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*I liked the way the specials schedule this year had the 5th grade classes back to back, and so on. I also liked how specials switched with each other. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*At least one primary grade needs to have morning specials so that planning RtI and guided reading schedules can be done easily <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">*Keep our reading teachers
 * Keep the schedule for specials so that it is the same time every day. Makes scheduling for SPED and ESOL easier.