Monday, January 30

Falcon Flyers Update
The Falcon Flyers event won't work on the half day of 2/7.  Too many bus issues with elementary busing needs and half day release time.  I'll schedule it a few weeks out once we know when the Cass Park staff can take us. Last year, it was scheduled on a Friday during a full day.  We'll do something similar this year. 

Scott Fitch this Friday
Just a reminder that Scott Fitch will be speaking with middle school and then HS kids this Friday morning.  The talks will be a little shorter than our last speaker (about 35 minutes).  I'll adjust the morning assembly schedule and send that out to you.  Your periods will be shortened just a bit, and blocked classes will be long enough to cover all material. Scott gave a wonderful talk to many of our athletes last year.  It's important that all of our students hear his great advice. If you have students during the time of the assembly, please accompany them to the presentation. Thanks.

Idea for Half days?

I received the message below from Brad last week.  I'm wondering what others think.  It sounds very doable to me, but I've been wrong before (ok, just once or twice). Please let me know what you think. Not sure if we could pull this off next week, but I think it's worth exploring.  We'd have to come up with some sort of schedule for availability, taking into account needed prep time. 

Hi guys

I just wanted to pass along some of the students sentiments regarding the manner in which I set up the large make up session today.  All the kids that came in today felt like the time to just sit with a teacher for the whole day, and to work one on one in a low stress environment was both massively helpful but was also something they want to do in the future.  They asked me questions like "can we start doing this more often like once a semester or marking period" and "can we just start doing this on Saturday's". 

I'm not sure what the correct format would be in order to make this more of an institutional operation, but it might be worth looking into having some days built into the schedule that are less structured, so that they could just go and work with one teacher for a long extended period of time, while also relieving some of the pressures that exist in a normal class setting. If you're looking for kids to share their opinions, Tyler, Julie, Jade, Jacob, John, Avi, Richie, Evan, and Bri were all just about ready to march on the board meeting to let everyone know how much they liked the set up.  This might work on pre-scheduled half days, or during field trips in the future. 

Have a good weekend.

Brad

Duty sheet
Please check the duty sheet on the master file.  We're still trying to fill a couple of light spots, but it's very close to being finalized. People will be contacted individually about any other changes.

2nd Semester Schedules
Please check your second semester schedule. Any problems, please let me know. Thanks.

Blendspace
This is the digital lesson tool that Rob mentioned in a recent email.

Articles

Schools ride the next edtech wave
K12 sees effectiveness and efficiency increase with automatic grading, automated buildings

Tuesday, January 17

Reworked Staff Meeting Schedule
On Tuesday, I'll be meeting with high school and shared staff in the library. Here is the reworked schedule for the rest of January:

Testing Schedule
Click on the link above for the updated schedule.  We're currently working on subs. Please check the teacher schedule tab.  At the top, you'll see where we're figuring subs for any of you that need it.  This isn't completed just yet, but if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Budget - Requisition Notes
Remember that the deadline for requisition submissions is January 20th. Please put in for any conferences you'd like to attend.  If you're not sure but want to attend something, please give an estimate.

Graduation Changed to June 24
Based on popular demand the Board has changed graduation back to Saturdays, so it will be on June 24th at 10:30.  The PDF copy of the district calendar has been adjusted.  Sandy Jo and Cindy are notifying seniors and their parents.

Cool video made at BOCES with some SS kids

National Geographic Gender Article
Donna Mosher shared an article with me, and I found it online.  Some very interesting reading (thanks Donna).

NYS Teacher Retirement System Administrative Bulletin
This covers upcoming Pension and Retirement Education Program (PREP) seminars.

State memo:
Group II NYS School Report Card Public Release


Community Garden Gets a Nice Grant!


BOCES Tech Voyagers Opportunity

12:30-3:30 p.m. | Jan. 19 | TST BOCES
Short notice on this one, but I'd love to see a couple people get into this program.
Please email Justin DiMatteo if you are interested. His email is jdimatteo@tstboces.org.

If you have a vision or idea for meaningful technology integration, but need assistance in making it happen, then consider joining the Tech Voyagers!

This facilitated, collaborative, and ongoing professional development allows participants to focus on instructional strategies that can be supported by technology. Through in-person workshops, online work and in-classroom support, participants will create, implement and evaluate a long-term technology-enhanced learning opportunity for students.

Participants start with a question, problem or idea.  Together, we create a plan to address student learning needs and select technology that will support learning. During planning and implementation, teachers will learn and collaborate with one another and technology integration specialists. Participants will then reflect upon their experiences, make necessary adjustments, and share their work.

Co-teachers, members of the same department, or groups of teachers are encouraged to collaborate on a project together! In addition to the Jan. 19 in-person date, approximately three hours of online work are required.

Monday, January 9

BOCES Bulletin
Some really great articles and opportunities in this edition.
 
Testing Schedule
I will be letting the community know through Facebook and the HS News concerning which days students will be having classes.

No new purchases after Feb. 1:
From the business office: All purchasing that was not requisitioned last spring will be cut off on February 1, 2017. This includes supplies, equipment and additional payroll requests. It is earlier this year due to some state and local unknowns that will affect this year's and next year's budget.

Requisitions due by January 20th
Please submit your requisitions by January 20th.

PD Schedule for Wednesday Jan. 11
Please check the PD schedule for this Wednesday linked here.  As a reminder, this file is located in staff share / a-schedules-calendars.

Here is what's going on:

• Transgender info sessions: Everyone is being scheduled for one of two sessions.  Brooke Habberfield and Cindy have found a speaker to share important
  points that we all need to be aware of (thanks ladies). 
• Science department discussion - Tim's office
• Castle Learning info sessions.  Castle Learning is a great study tool that we have had here for years. The problem is that we're not using it to its potential. The product is a great tool that can raise student knowledge and ultimately test scores. The presenter is a former teacher who has had great success with the product.  I want all teachers whose subject matter is covered by Castle Learning to know what can be done with it.  If we are better informed about what it can do, and if we use it more, we will see very good results.
• Optional AXA presentation, starting at 2:15.  This presentation will be available in the board room.

Some people have not been added to Castle Learning because it does not apply to your subject.  I will be speaking with you individually, but I have signed you up for the transgender info session. Any questions, let me know. Thanks.     

Castle Learning Notes

Students who use Castle Learning typically have an average 8-10 point advantage over students who have not used Castle Learning for review.  Students who have struggled to pass find success when using Castle Learning to review. It provides the student with a hint and vocabulary if the question is answered incorrectly.  There is always a reason provided to fully explain the question.  There is feedback on how to answer constructed response questions so students can study correct responses.

Click here for Castle Learning's Student Regents Review Guide.  This is a great resource for Regents exams this January or June.

Tuesday, January 3

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a great break. Nothing like getting a root canal and breaking another
tooth on my week off.  Oh well, back to the grind.   
If you need anything, please let me know. Have a great week.  

Facebook posts can really
get the word out:



Check out this post about Holden Waid's 100th win.  It reached over 2,600 people.  I'm not saying that 2,600 people read it, but that's not a bad number either way. If you have something to share, I'd be happy to do it this way and/or through the HS or MS news. 





Faculty meetings this month

January Testing Notes
I'll be making some last minute modifications to the January testing schedule this week. I'll share the final version again later this week or early next week. I did not want to cancel classes for 4 days this year, and I've been successful at that.  If I can have even more classes in that 4 day window, I'll adjust some more.


Khan Academy Reports
Tom has been making some progress with Khan Academy.  Click here to see a slide presentation I put together.  I will expand this as time wears on.  I'll also expand it to 6th grade as those kids use the program more. His kids are making some good strides in getting through the skills for each grade level. Let's hope their success here transfers into other types of assessments.

Did you know that Khan Academy has great video lessons in other subjects like science, grammar, and other topics?  Check it out; it's a great site. 


Middle School Schedule Notes for Sem 2
From Melissa Parish: I have created the new sections for second semester in SIS, so they will show up when teachers log in.  The sections are not populated yet, this was just a first step in the transition.  I will be moving students into these new sections starting January 25 in order to be able to provide them with new schedules on the first day of the second semester, January 30.  During the time when I am switching the students, teachers will not be able to take attendance in the first semester sections.  They will, however be able to enter second marking period grades.  I checked with Steve Andrews about this and as long as I use 1/30/17 as the effective date, teachers still "own" their students as of the end of the marking period and can do grades.  

MS extensions
Karen shared an updated MS extensions list. I also placed this folder in the staff share lists folder.

Wegmans Prescription Info
After Naomi shared info about signing up for Wegmans prescription service, I took her up on it.  Signing up was easy.  Here's a link to the flyer I had.  I saved this file in staff share / employment files / business office.


Articles:

STEM for All: How to Create a Healthy STEM Ecosystem

Many Schools Training Staff Against Gunmen

Discovery Education's Top 10 Most Read Stories of 2016