Monday, January 20, 2014

Teacher Evaluation of Me and Importance of Relationships


Sharing My Evaluation (aka The Survey Most of You Took) With You
Below you’ll find the survey results in which I asked you to evaluate me. Thanks for taking the time to share your valuable opinions.

1=Poor            2=Fair             3=Good          4=Superb
Question/Statement
Average
(Jan 2004)
Last Year
Change
Develops and uses procedures for dealing with student misconduct that are prompt, fair and reasonable.
3.6
3.83
-.23
Monitors classroom performance on a regular basis, offering pathways to improve student performance through improved teaching.
3.67
3.77
-.1
Evaluates staff and provides timely feedback
3.7
3.57
+.2
Demonstrates awareness of professional issues and development in education
3.8
3.87
-.07
Enforces the student code of conduct in a firm and fair manner.
3.8
3.87
-.07
Applies policies and procedures in a fair and equitable manner
3.8
3.94
-.14
Provides direction for improving instruction
3.86
3.67
+.19
Manages time to be an instructional leader as a priority.
3.87
3.79
+.08
Ensures that there is an appropriate and logical alignment between what is being taught and state and county standards.
3.87
3.82
+.05
Keeps teachers informed about the school and its functions
3.87
3.93
-.06
Provides and promotes a climate for learning that is safe and orderly
3.93
3.94
-.01
Shares responsibility to maximize ownership and accountability
3.93
3.89
+.04
Accepts responsibility
3.93
4
-.07
Demonstrates values, beliefs, and attitudes that inspire others to higher levels of performance.
3.93
3.94
-.01
Treats people fairly, equitably and with dignity and respect
3.93
4
-.07
Is available to discuss professional and other issues.
3.93
3.83
+.1
Articulates and promotes high expectations for teaching and student learning
4
3.88
+.12
Provides specific guidance for teachers trying to solve instructional problems
4
3.72
+.18
Stays well informed about professional issues and share this information with appropriate people
4
3.94
+.06
Demonstrates ethical, trustworthy and professional behavior
4
3.84
+.016
Communicates effectively and openly with teachers and staff
4
3.94
+.06

I’d like to share a couple of strategies intended to improve on my weaknesses. In regards to student misconduct, we are examining the use of restorative justice. We’ve used it with great successes multiple times first term, and I think we can use it more. It’s non-traditional. I’ve blogged about it here. Additionally, it’s important that I make dealing with misconduct a higher priority. Far too often, minor referrals have been placed on the back burner. Finally, I will do a better job of discussing and explaining disciplinary matters with the referring teacher.

In regards, to the second and third lowest-scoring statements, my hope is to have more frequent conversations with teachers. In addition to scheduling walk-throughs and observations, I’ll be scheduling follow-up conversations (so don’t be surprised to see calendar reminders). In addition to providing targeted feedback, these conversations will give us an opportunity to discuss student progress.  After all, student progress is responsibility shared by students, teachers and administrators.

Again, thanks for taking the time to take the survey. When I interviewed for this job, I said my job would be to make the job of teachers easier, more efficient and better, so I take your responses to heart.

Ideas for the Classroom: Building Relationships with Students
A question I frequently ask students is, “Does your teacher like you?” If the answer is anything other than “Yes,” most likely that student is not achieving to his/her potential.

Fortunately, “No” answers are rare, but when I follow-up with, “Why do you feel that way?” students usually answer with “He’s unfair,” “She doesn’t respect me,” or “He treats us like little kids.”

Why is it important that students believe you like them? (Note: it’s not Do you like your teacher?)

Highly motivated students will be successful regardless of what we do. They’ll find a way to learn the information, to earn an A. They’ll put aside any differences and seek help from the teacher, or they’ll find another way to ensure success.

For the rest of the students though, it’s important that they feel their teachers support their learning needs. As students get older, they become more independent, and lower ability students ask fewer questions. When students trust their teachers, they’re more likely to solicit their support and assistance.

Does being liked mean being popular with students?
No. Far from it. Students value teachers who help them learn. They want to be treated fairly. They appreciate teachers who help them learn by providing great instruction and feedback.

So as you begin the second term, ask yourselves how do you establish a climate of trust, respect and fairness.

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7

What I’m Reading
Are Midterms Really Needed? http://goo.gl/X7Ly0N



Upcoming Schedule
Not much going on this week. 

Boys basketball is home Friday night and our wrestlers have a home meet on Saturday.

Have a great start to Second Term!


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Cougar Communication: Google Timer


Cougar Communication

This is a memo-heavy Cougar Communication.

Highlights: Google Timer, Final Positive Referral for the term, some tech ideas to start next term

Ideas for the Classroom: Google Timer
A simple Google trick.
In a Google Search Box: type “Timer x minutes” [enter]. A simple timer will appear and an alarm will sound when time is up.

You can be more specific and include seconds “Timer x minutes x seconds” [enter]

Or you can type in a time. Lets say it’s 9:00 am and you want the timer to go off at 9:15, enter “Timer 9:15” Google will do the math for you and the timer will give you a fifteen minute countdown.

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7

If you haven’t already completed HR’s Intent Survey (whether or not you’d like to return to KR next year), please do so by Friday. It’s non-binding. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZDBNRNL

A BIG thanks to all of you who have already completed your optional and anonymous evaluation of me. Lots of great feedback (both the kind that makes me feel good about myself and the kind that helps pinpoint areas of improvement). Here’s the link http://goo.gl/5LCHKm 
I looked back at last week’s Cougar Communication to pull the link and noticed several grammatical errors, so I’ll add that to the improve on this list—I see my mom, an English teacher, wagging her finger at me in shame.

As we start the new term, I wanted to share with you two resources that I had great success with as a teacher.

The first is a parent survey http://goo.gl/f1A3KM and the second is a student interest survey http://goo.gl/V9o9rA . They were both created with Google Forms and automatically go right into a spreadsheet for easy access and follow-up. The links can be added or embedded into BlackBoard too. If you’d like to use or modify, either please let me know.

We’ve had great success with Remind101 (over 500 subscribers in our school account and 130/145 mentors have signed-on). It’s super easy and safe. Another option is Portfoliyo, which allows 2-way communication without sharing your cell number.

I think Mrs. Brill’s email regarding exam exemption was pretty self-explanatory. We’re looking to save paper while also provide the necessary information to our students and parents. Please be sure to distribute the papers to students during homeroom. Like in years past, if a student doesn’t receive the paper, yet is still exempt, that student still doesn’t need to take the exam.

I’ll be meeting with all teachers within the next week or two. Teachers on the comprehensive cycle, we’ll be chatting about your completed goals/standard 7 and a general overview. For teachers on the annual cycle we’ll be discussing your goal setting process.

Growing and Keeping Great Teachers is to the topic of tonight’s #vachat on Twitter. Come on by and join us by either lurking or participating.


Upcoming Schedule

           
January 15th                  Winter Track @ Kettle Run 4:00 
                                    Girls Basketball vs. Culpeper Home 6/7:30
                                    Boys Basketball @ Culpeper 6/7:30
                                    Wrestling @ Liberty vs. Liberty/Brentsville 6                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                           
January 16th               THUR Girls Basketball vs. Loudoun Valley 6/7:30
                                    8am faculty meeting
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                   
January 17th               Boys Basketball vs. Briar Woods 6/7:30
Swimming vs. Brentsville/Fauquier @ Manassas Park
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
January 18th              Wrestling @ Handley 8:00
                                    Indoor Track @ Woodbridge 8:00
                                    Girls Basketball vs. Spotsylvania Home 11/12:30
                                    Boys Basketball @ Spotsylvania 12/1:30



Sunday, January 5, 2014

Cougar Communication: Surveys and Evaluation of Me


Student Surveys
In my home office, I keep a file of year-end surveys completed by my students. Honestly, I’ve kept those from my last year of teaching and those that contained either negative comments or suggestions or something that warmed my heart.

This weekend, I looked over some of them. Here are some of my favorite comments:
1.     “I don’t like history. I never will. I like this class.”
2.      “I really appreciated how you got to know us. You got to know about each of us and were always looking out for us. I wish I had done better in your class, but that’s my fault not yours.”
3.     “You’ve got too much energy. Do you always need to be so excited and loud? JK J
4.     A couple of common comments “too much lecture” and “too difficult/much work

The critiques caused reflection: How can I improve my teaching? They shaped how I planned for future lessons (less lectures, more meaningful homework, increase relevance to students’ lives).

I know many of you have also given the attached surveys or your own to your students.
Some of you have kept the results to yourselves. Others have shared them as part of your evaluation process (they can be used for several different standards). Some have shared the data with me looking for further advice. For example, last year a couple of teachers approached me (individually) with questions about their results, “My students found my class…How can I improve on this?”

As teachers we should constantly be seeking feedback. Who better than to provide the feedback than your students?

This folder http://goo.gl/g80qJh contains a series of surveys in different forms. If you’d like help giving it electronically, please let me know.

Your Turn to Evaluate Me
Every year, around this time, I ask for you to evaluate me. I truly value your opinions and make changes based on the feedback.

Some changes that have come about as a result of these surveys:
1.     Cougar Communications designed to improve communication
2.     The new Quick Observation Form was designed to ensure more timely feedback
3.     Use the areas where I score poorly as part of my goal-setting process

I have my own beliefs about what I need to improve. My job as an administrator is to make it possible for you to do your job better and more efficiently, so your input is valuable.

I ask that you complete the survey—it’s totally optional and 100% confidential—by January 20. I’ll share the results with you in a future Cougar Communication.

Here’s the link to the survey/evaluation: http://goo.gl/5LCHKm I know your busy, but hopefully you’ll find the time to do this.

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7

We are NOT planning on creating any flex days for SOL expedited retakes. Our results—those that we have—continue to be very good. Many of you have excellent strategies to work with students who didn’t pass their SOLs. These include the obvious ones like working with students one-on-one, to unique projects that require students to review your courses content to rotating students to work with those who didn’t pass the SOL.


Stat of the Week
Several recent studies, including a very expansive one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, discovered that students surveys are the most consistent indicator of good teaching. The results show that student surveys produce more consistent results [in regards to measuring teacher effectiveness] than classroom observation or achievement gain measures (MET Project).


Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday:         Math SOL Tests for periods 1, 3
Boys Basketball Home vs Eastern View (girls are away for those of you who live down that way)

Wednesday:    Math SOL Tests for periods 2, 4 (flip day with different lunch schedule)

Mr. Davidson’s Engineering students make presentations (4-9). These are definitely worth checking out. Like so many students in your classes, it’s absolutely amazing what these students produce because of dedicated teachers and their own intrinsic motivation.

                        Copies of exams are due to department chairs.

Home Track Meet

Friday:             Boys basketball vs FHS (Girls away)

January 16, 8am: faculty meeting. This will be an entire staff meeting. There will NOT be a group meeting this month.


Saturday, December 14, 2013

Cougar Communication: Reflective and Transformative Teaching


Excellence in Education: Reflective and Transformative Teaching
The expert teacher does not simply deliver a script. Like the best actors, they have the ability to improvise when things are not going well or simply to take a lesson from good to great.

How do you diagnose student confusion?

How do you make corrections before misunderstandings become engrained and learned?

Great teachers create assignments and activities that enable them to monitor student progress and provide feedback. When the students aren’t understanding the content through the careful examination of in class activities and assessments, a teacher can guide all students to succeed. Part of the in-class reflective process, involves the gathering and analysis of evidence to determine what students know and where adjustments are necessary to ensure each student masters the content.

Revising your lesson in midstream, takes courage, flexibility, expertise,

Formative assessment is a planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they are doing.

Reflective teachers not only constantly ask questions of themselves and their students, but they also use the answers to the questions to guide and change their instruction to become more effective.
  • 1.     Are my students engaged?
  • 2.     Is the success temporary or is it connected to the essential question/understandings?
  • 3.     Are my students mastering the content?

Some recent examples of immediate instructional adjustments:
  • 1.     Ms. Harper, recognizing her students were not understanding the more complex content, simplified and extended her lesson.
  • 2.     Ms. Campbell adjusting her lesson by adding a more
  • 3.     Mr. Thorpe and Mr. Patteson providing additional support to a group of students who were struggling to meet the lesson’s objectives
While reflective practices appear to occur on the fly, advanced planning by the teacher in regards to identifying potential student struggles and appropriate instructional responses makes it more possible. While judging/measuring student understanding by the looks on the students’ eyes is possible, true feedback can only be garnered by carefully crafted formative assessment strategies. Additionally, it requires the teacher to actively engage and measure all students’ level of understanding.

The greatest reward in becoming a reflective teacher is that you become aware of how capable your students are. Teaching becomes a rewarding experience from which you and your students learn every day.

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7


Tweet of the Week





Sunday, December 1, 2013

Cougar Communication: No Hands and Haiku Deck


Cougar Communication

Excellence in Education: No Hands
Did you know, that education research suggests that banning children from raising their hands in class improves classroom performance?

It can.

In a study conducted by Dylan Wiliam students were banned from raising their hands and the results were impressive:
  • Shy and struggling students did better
  • Strong students performed better
  • Expectations were raised for all students 
  • Classroom question and answer sessions were not dominated by a select few

What are some strategies you can use to avoid hand-raising?
  • Cold call (randomly) on students
  • Have students write their answers on individual dry erase boards, their desks or on paper
  • Turn it in to a visible quiz with students either writing their answers down, displaying number of fingers to answer, ABCD cards

Do the above strategies take more planning and class time? Most certainly, but it’s time well spent.

In the classrooms where teachers take the time to develop their questions and questioning strategies before the class, student learning increases and academic expectations and rigor are higher.


Tech Idea for the Classroom: Haiku Deck
Great news!

Haiku Deck, a great ipad app, is now available as a web application as well. With Haiku Deck creating stunning slideshows and sharing the on the web  (Facebook, Twitter, email) becomes simple. The presentations also can be exported as PowerPoint files and can easily be embedded

What separates Haiku Deck from other presentation creation apps/sites? Haiku Deck’s intuitive and integrated image search and text-sizing are amazingly simple.

Haiku Deck offers a variety of themes and templates to use in your presentations. The best aspects of Haiku Deck are the integrated image search and the automatically resizing text. On each of your slides you can add images of your own or search through Haiku Deck's library of images. As you type text on each slide, the text automatically shrinks to fit in the space allotted. The shrinking text feature is great for encouraging students to minimize the use of text in their slide designs.

Check it out at www.haikudeck.com

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7

Reminder, please invite me into your classroom to see a new, creative lesson. The lessons I’ve been invited to see so far have been inspiring. I look forward to seeing your passion-filled, student-centered lessons. You do a phenomenal job and I look forward to seeing it and then bragging about it for you!

Tweet of the Week


Monday, November 18, 2013

Responding To "I Can't Do This" and Whip Arounds



Excellence in Education: “I Can’t Do This”
“I can’t do this.”

When Michael Oher, the football player portrayed in The Blind Side, told his tutor, Ms. Sue (played by Kathy Bates), that he couldn’t do it, she responded, “Not yet.”

In observing several classes this week, I was impressed with how they rarely provided students with the answer and how they dealt with “I can’t do this.”

We should aim to instill a growth mindset, grit and personal responsibility in our students. We can’t let them off the hook by providing them with the answer. But, we can’t simply say “Try your best” and walk away either.

So how can we answer student questions and instill the growth mindset in our students when they don’t get it?

The teachers I saw asked specific questions, enabling them to discover why the students didn’t understand the material. Sometimes the questions were scaffolded, enabling the student to work towards the right answer.

Ms. Harper turned the student’s I don’t get it into a diagnostic opportunity by asking Why? Of course, the student simply retorted, “because I don’t.”

Instead of getting frustrated, she asked another question, “What part do you get?” and then asked a series of scaffolded questions that enabled the student to get it.

Another advantage to asking Why?: it serves as a starting point in enabling our students to grow and take responsibility. The reasons for students stating, “I can’t do this” are varied and asking why enables us to tackle each of them.

Reasons students claim, “I can’t do this.”
1.      They truly don’t understand how.
2.      They’re distracted by something in their personal life that they can’t control (homelessness, hunger, poverty, etc.)
3.      They’re emotionally exhausted. Being a teenager isn’t easy and can be emotionally draining.
4.      They’re physically exhausted.

As teachers, our job is much more than just dispensing content. We need to get to know our students as individuals. We must instill a growth mindset in our students so they can see and reap the rewards of determination and hard work. We must teach our students the skills necessary to be successful in school and beyond. 

Ideas for the Classroom: Whip Arounds
Building upon our group work conversations of last week, one aspect that stood out to me was a comment made by someone in my afternoon group (can’t remember who). “We can’t expect students to work in groups unless we teach them how to work together.” (see stat below for further proof)

One way of building collaborative skills is to use cooperative, interactive strategies. One of my favorite strategies is called the Whip Around. Here’s how it works:
1.      Teacher poses a question—one that has multiple parts to it
2.      Students individually answer with a list.
3.      Students then turn to a partner and create a common list. The common list can not include any common words.
4.      All students stand.
5.      Go around the room with each partner reading one word from their common list.
6.      Students cross off and words on their list that are shared by another student. Students can also be required to add any words that they don’t have on their lists.
7.      Continue until only one is left standing.

Administrative Notes
Positive Referral Link: http://goo.gl/cZIXm7

I’ll be moderating another edition of #vachat on Twitter tonight at 8pm. The topic is School Culture and Climate. We’d love to have you join educators from around the Commonwealth and around the nation. I recommend using www.tweetchat.com/room/vachat . This will show only tweets with the vachat hashtag.


Stat of the Week
I came across this and thought it built well upon our Cooperative Learning/Group Work Conversation.

Around one million students were asked how good they were at getting along with others, 85% rated themselves above median and 25% rated themselves in the top 1%...Far more than 50% of the people rank themselves in the top half of driving ability. When couples are asked to estimate their contribution to household work, the combined total routinely exceeds 100%. And most men rank themselves in the top half of male athletic ability.

Teaching social and emotional skills is as important as teaching academic skills.

(Keller, Scott: How to get senior leaders to change, Harvard Business Review http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/06/how-to-get-senior-leaders-to-c/, 2012)

Upcoming Schedule
Tuesday and Thursday of this week are flex days. The average teacher is inviting more than 5 students to his/her classroom for a variety of reasons (extra help, tutoring, work with peers, make-up assignments, etc.)

The in-school talent show is next Tuesday during first block.