Happy Friday everyone!!!! I wanted to thank everyone for their efforts this week as we inch closer and closer to the end of the semester. Have a couple of items that I want to talk about his week. First, 7 teachers were able to experience the instructional rounds process yesterday. By the end of the day, we were able to get into just about every classroom and a few classrooms we were able to make a couple of visits to. Each time I complete this process, I am always impressed with the variety of instructional strategies and learning activities that are being completed. Yesterday we witnessed a good mix of individual and group/collaborative work. Teachers were up, around and visible in their classrooms and provided great feedback not only to the whole group, but to individual students as well. The students’’ level of engagement was high from class to class and the quality of discussions that were observed was at very high levels. I told the group yesterday that the quality of instruction and the variety of learning opportunities is much different than when we first completed rounds last fall. Keep up the good work!!!
The last thing that I will talk about today is probably the issue that has the biggest fire burning right now, the iPad rollout. We are getting extremely close to deployment and we still have plenty of work left to do. I have a couple of favors to ask of everyone that will help this transition be completed much more smoothly. First, we are having two parent information nights in December. One is the 16th and the other is the 18th. Both are from 6:00-7:00. I would greatly appreciate if you could us and the parents out that night with having the parents give permission for student i-tunes accounts and show them how they can register for insurance if they please. This process is not a difficult one, but the more staff we have helping, the easier it will be get each question answered. Second, is that I would ask everyone to remain patient with the process. A transformation of this scale does not simply happen overnight or for that matter in a month. This is going to be a learning process for everyone involved, students included. Some things are going to work, others are not. However, what we are about to undertake is what’s best for our students. The thing to remember is that we all need to help each other out during this transformation. The headaches and hiccups we will experience in the beginning will be worth the payout at the end. Have a great weekend and remember to break up your OODA!!!!
The last thing that I will talk about today is probably the issue that has the biggest fire burning right now, the iPad rollout. We are getting extremely close to deployment and we still have plenty of work left to do. I have a couple of favors to ask of everyone that will help this transition be completed much more smoothly. First, we are having two parent information nights in December. One is the 16th and the other is the 18th. Both are from 6:00-7:00. I would greatly appreciate if you could us and the parents out that night with having the parents give permission for student i-tunes accounts and show them how they can register for insurance if they please. This process is not a difficult one, but the more staff we have helping, the easier it will be get each question answered. Second, is that I would ask everyone to remain patient with the process. A transformation of this scale does not simply happen overnight or for that matter in a month. This is going to be a learning process for everyone involved, students included. Some things are going to work, others are not. However, what we are about to undertake is what’s best for our students. The thing to remember is that we all need to help each other out during this transformation. The headaches and hiccups we will experience in the beginning will be worth the payout at the end. Have a great weekend and remember to break up your OODA!!!!