Weekly News and Notes

This week's notes have a few answers to some common questions that have come up in the first cycle of the schedule. There is no doubt that people have a lot going on - which is not going to change - but hopefully, together, we can work on managing our many initiatives thoughtfully and thoroughly.

Morning Attendance

Attendance must be posted accurately every morning by 8:10. If we are holding attendance because of a problem with a bus, transportation, or otherwise, an announcement will be made before 8:04 to indicate that you are to allow students into first period class without a pass from the office, as was the case on Tuesday when a bus arrived at 8:03.

If there is a technology problem in your classroom that is preventing accurate attendance from being posted in the first ten minutes of the day, send paper attendance to Wanda via a student.

Again, if there are questions, concerns, issues - let us know, and we'll be happy to help, but the widespread inaccuracies are creating double the work in the office. (On Wednesday, which was a Day 5, there were 16 out of 39 teachers who made a mistake or did not post attendance, which is simply unacceptable). Incidentally, on Friday, there were only a couple of minor mistakes.

Cafeteria and Study

There were a number of questions emailed this week about the use of time in the cafeteria. To that end, we will attempt to iron them all out here; some of the questions may also be answered on this document. I also randomly polled about 15 people as to the positives and negatives; to be honest, many of the negatives were anticipated, and the positives were validating. That said, we are but one cycle of the schedule into the year, so making any widespread judgments at this point are premature.


Here are some of the common issues/questions that have come up, and an attempt to answer them:

Seating

For the first three periods and last period of the day, the students have sat in the lower bowl of the cafeteria, and the adults have sat in the upper level.

For the period immediately after lunch, the students have sat in the upper level of the cafeteria to allow Santiago to clean the lower half.

Signing in at the beginning

Students have seated, and teachers have called groups up individually by teacher to register. I’d imagine as students and teachers start to recognize each other that this will proceed more efficiently.

Allowing students to leave (how many out at the same time)

There is a little bit of common sense here. One student (or two) should be permitted to use the restroom, which is right across the hall. One study seated one of the adults not designated for PLC time at the door to monitor sign in and sign out.

If a student indicates that they need to see adjustment/school psych, that would be a “let them go” moment.

Students going to the library?

Students should be reporting to the library directly, and Mary Dolan has been tracking those students' attendance.

Where they can go (i.e. teacher or Academic Success Center), and how there will be accountability to see if students actually got to where they say they are going?

We have not had any students assigned to ASC yet, nor has it been opened for general use. There is the presumption that the student will do the wrong thing and not go. A student who wishes to go to the ASC as a spur-of-the-moment resource may need a pass, but ideally will have planned to go at the start of the period. The ASC can send a list to the cafeteria or log the student as present. Admittedly, we are still working this out procedurally. 

If a student is assigned to the ASC as an intervention, the counselor or Dean will email all the teachers who may have that student in study to indicate when/where that student will be going.

A student going to meet with a teacher should bring a pass; that has not changed.

Teacher-only Netbooks?

There are currently 6 netbooks assigned to the caf that are staff only. They have been secured to the private WiFi, and they are on a cart for teacher use.

Teachers are confused about how they have a roster of kids for study and are meant to be doing PLC work at the same time. The issue is that we are accountable for monitoring the students to make sure they are being academically constructive. The contract language is “Every High School and Middles School teacher assigned to a directed study period shall require students to be engaged in 'structured learning time' activities."

I observed a study hall during D block on Day B last week. The teachers and students were all engaged in conversation – some students were obviously working on schoolwork, others were not, but the teachers were definitely collaborating. There is a likelihood that students are not being “academically constructive,” but that was happening in classrooms as well. That is useful data to support continuing to minimize student study halls, particularly among those parents and community members who continue to argue that they are required for all students to get stuff done.

To be frank, teachers collaborating is as important, at this juncture, as making sure students are engaged in “structured learning.” As with any study hall, there will be those that are on task and those that are not. 

I don't know that, at any time, teachers were evaluated on the basis of how "on-task" students were in study. Honestly, if we find that students are using the time without work to do, it speaks more to the value of the studies moving forward.

So, yes, ensuring that students are engaged in learning is a responsibility, but one that bears some initial direction and occasional redirection, not constant supervision - which is what people did in classrooms, for the most part.

Is there a set number of PLC forms that we are meant to turn in?

People will use as a minimum the one period per cycle that is designated as PLC time (names in italics on the schedule) as common planning. That said, there is no limit. If people want to keep multiple forms and have discussions repeatedly, that collaboration would be encouraged. That data should be shared with department leader to support our planning of dept meetings and PD.

The cafeteria is too noisy, and I can't get any work done; I've lost setup time in my classroom. I want to go back to my room with my 25 kids.

As the year progresses and kinks get ironed out, I would imagine that some people would be able to leave the cafeteria, go set up a classroom, and return to the cafeteria… or work out periods that they can rotate the monitoring of the cafeteria while others return to classrooms. To that end, here’s an example:

On E Block, Day 3, Tim Brandon, Donna Shire-Swift, Mary Morin, and Donna Pereira are assigned to the cafeteria. It is not a PLC period for them. Donna has a lab that she needs to set up for Block F, which follows. There are about 75 kids in the cafeteria. Tim, Donna S, and Mary could watch the cafeteria for the first half hour while Donna P does whatever she needs to do. Donna could then go the cafeteria, see how things are, and relieve Mary or Donna S. The next time through it could rotate. I would like to think that professionalism, and professional courtesy, could prevail.
Conversely, on Day 1, period B, Brandon Lemos, Al Petrarca, Jay Rojee, Paul Aylward, and Diana Rodgers (David Lark) are assigned to the cafeteria, with three of them assigned PLC time. After taking attendance, Paul and Jay would assist supervising the students, while PLC work and a log for their evaluation binders would be completed by Brandon, Al, and David. Jay and Paul could always jump into that discussion as well, but that one period is assigned as PLC time for those three. Again, I think there will always be some collaboration.

I would also contend that setting up ground rules for noise in the cafeteria– particularly once the year gets going and students need the time to work – will be a responsibility of staff – every now and then to say, “keep it down, guys” or something like that.
I also apologize to those who do not have periods with someone in their disciplines, either during a regular period or their assigned PLC time. With some of the constraints of the schedule, it was not possible, but there are far more opportunities for both intra- and inter-disciplinary planning than before.

As another aside, the students have loved the concept of study in the cafeteria, and many are working together.

Some positives mentioned (frequently more than once):

• allows teachers freedom if other tasks need to be completed (photo copy, restroom, etc.)
• gives teachers opportunities to get on the same page with It's Learning, Common Assessments, standards-based lessons;
• sounds simple, but getting to chat with another adult throughout the day is pretty cool.
• Talked at length about our shared curriculum in (SUBJECT X), let to us exchanging ideas on lessons, materials and assessment;
• Had a productive conversation with another teacher about a class he is teaching; led to a conversation about how to better integrate current events multiple disciplines; 
• For me, one reason I got into teaching was to interact with people every day...feel it's important/makes me a better teacher to be seen/known and interacting with kids, not necessarily on an academic level;
• Like getting to know teachers I wouldn't know otherwise;
• have been able to have discussions about strategies both for the AP and low-level students in our classes.
  
  
  Obviously, this is a change for everyone. As someone put articulately in my request for feedback, until we feel a sense of control, it will freak everyone out. That said, I'm encouraged and impressed by the way everyone has attempted to work through the kinks, offer feedback, and collaborate. To that end, I look forward to seeing the common planning time that so many of us have wanted for so long continue to evolve.
  As another aside, last year, first semester alone, 18 of the 42 studies had more than 100 students in them. This year, the number is three, without taking into account students going to NHS tutoring, Academic Success, library, other teachers, etc. The average population in study is 74 students.It is, thus, pretty manageable for 4-6 teachers, and will be even easier once the seniors have their contracts for senior privilege approved.
  We will be looking for ways to improve the processes, preserve and implement more effective common planning, and minimize some of the hiccups - as well as come up with equitable ways to allow all teachers to meet collaboratively with others during the school day, particularly with all the different professional responsibilities we have.

Advisory Time

With the change in schedule, another question that has come up is if the same periods would be impacted. Because long block is where the time generally comes from, here's the breakdown of how advisory falls:

Day 1: 1 time
Day 2: 3 times
Day 3: 2 times
Day 4: 3 times
Day 5: 1 time
Day 6:  3 times (including this week)
Day 7: 3 times

Because of advisory meeting in the morning, Blocks A, B, C and G are generally the ones impacted, with long block rotating through. We can consider some ways to rotate the advisory to involve blocks D, E, and F, but that is admittedly not high on the priority list right now.

Keyless Entry

If there is anyone out there who does not have a working key-fob, or needs one, please send an email to grimes@medwaypolice.org.

Yearbook Advisor

If there is anyone out there who remotely has even the tiniest interest in being yearbook advisor, let me know. Those who have done it in the past, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of support we get from our vendor, particularly with the nuances of managing deadlines. If you have even the slightest interest, please let me know.

Weekly Reading

If you have made it this far, thanks. Some light reading - as if you don't have enough to do!

First, if you haven't done so, check out the latest Medway Ed Express! 

In the Weekly Resources, I added a couple of pieces that I shared on Twitter this week. First, I highly recommend the "Do's and Don'ts of Back-to-School Etiquette," which is written primarily for students. There is also a great piece on ways to ensure students learn by creating and a brief listing of "10 ways to be a great teacher." 

Here's a quick video explaining Common Core:

Have a great weekend! Relax and get some rest!