9.14.16

On Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to be a part of the "opening festivities" for the Education 250 Orientation.  I went thinking I would be signing students in, maybe introducing myself, and watching them play Hungry Hippos (as Dr. Parker called it) or Hungry Hungry Hippos (as Dr. Clark called it).  I definitely did not expect to stretch my own brain or to learn something, but what do you know, I did.

For those of you who did not get to attend the orientation, Hungry Hungry Hippos was played by rolling a teammate on a rollie-board across the room to grab items and bring them back to a designated spot (a hula hoop).  Each item successfully deposited in the hula hoop was worth 1 or 2 points.  Some items contained a piece of paper with a scenario or situation that if categorized under the correct NCTCS could score the team 5 extra points.

After the game was played, Dr. Parker had all of the upperclassman education majors determine if the scenarios were classified correctly.  This activity really challenged me to think about each standard and the meaning of the standards.  It put us on the spot to demonstrate our knowledge and understanding, but it also showed the 250 students that there is always something to be learned.

Monday I had the opportunity to sit in on the School Improvement Team (SIT) Meeting at my school.  Again with standard 1b, I got to experience teachers from each grade level, different disciplines and specifications work together to begin the process of planning this years School Improvement Plan.  In this meeting they discussed the subject area in which their grade level needs the most improvement based on last years data.  At their next meeting they will have BOG scores to base their goals and decisions on.  They also shared areas where they would like to receive Professional Development, options for how to meet each PD need, and budget for PD.  A member of the PTO is on the team and she informed us that the PTO has set aside money this school year to specifically target Professional Development.  The team also went over the school Mission and Vision.  I felt like I understood Mission and Vision statements much better than I would have last week because of the research that I did for my unpacking standards assignment.  The current vision statement was weak and did not really meet the definition or characteristics of a vision statement so the team modified the vision to accurately portray the true vision of the teachers, staff, and administration at Springmore. 

Overall this was a neat experience to take a closer look at how teacher leaders work together to plan a "school improvement plan that enhances student learning and teacher working conditions" (1b).