WHS Staff News - 1/11/16

2016 is off and running! I hope you took some time to set some goals for yourself personally and professionally. Setting goals are one of the key factors to making positive changes in our lives and improving ourselves. We all have areas to grow and hopefully the desire to be better. Take time to reflect and plan a course of action, which become your goals. If you do plan on setting goals for 2016, think about encouraging your students to set goals for themselves in your class and beyond.  

Late last week I started focusing on one of my goals, which is to get into the learning rooms more often. I will be doing a lot more "Drop Ins" which will be 3-5 minutes and will not be an official observation or SOTEL write up. After each Drop In, I will be using Voxer to send you a voice message with my feedback, which will include positive comments, suggestions and/or concerns. SOTEL's still need to be completed so I will be staying longer at times but I wanted everyone to know what my plan was with the Drop Ins.   

Mid-Year Conferences 

To review - This year I would like to see these meetings be more of a conversation and self-reflection and less about the 60 boxes within the Marshall Rubric. For the meeting, the supervisors and I would like you to be prepared to talk about:

• 2 or 3 items that you feel you could improve on or want to focus on during the second half of the year
• 2-3 items (or more) that you are proud of and want to share with us
• Be prepared to share and discuss your progress on your PDP

We will share with you our thoughts on the first half of the year and discuss any areas of concern as well as highlight the positives we have observed.  

**(Action Required here) 

Please review this link (Mid Year Conf Schedule) and fill in the time slot that works for you to schedule your mid-year conference. The sheet is broken up into departments. Any questions please let me know.  

School Dude
Please make sure all maintenance and technology requests are submitted through School Dude.  (Use the help desk link on the website.  It-Requests and Maintenance request use the same site) 

Important Dates
Monday 1/18 Minimum Day/EdCamp, WEA $5 Jean Day for the Philanthropic Fund
Friday 1/22 Marking period 2 Ends


Good Reads 
5 ways to boost creativity in your classroom via Dr. Justin Tarte
The 10 Skills Modern Teachers Must Have via Edudemic

GAFE PD via Alice Keeler
Top 10 Google Docs Posts of 2015
Top 10 Google Classroom Posts of 2015