Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Spring Break! We are heading into the final stretch of the school year and it will be over faster than we realize. I wanted to let you all know that the registration form is up for May PD. Of particular note is Dibels training and a Nettrekker D.I. session that will run virtually through a webinar. Be aware that for this session since you will not be in a classroom with a facilitator you will need to ask him/her to email validation of your participation to jthero@waw.misd.net.

The summer sessions are available to register for and we have added a week for the National Writing Project that will be facilitated by Kris Griffor from Warren Woods Middle School. Please see the flyer that is posted on the professional development page for more information. Remember that if you choose to participate in any summer activities that three (3) days will count as PD for the 2009/10 school year and the district will pay the curriculum rate for up to an additonal two (2) days. You are more than welcome to participate in additional days of activities but the district does not have the funds to pay for any days beyond these.

I have continued to add resources to the Curriculum Resources page. If you get a chance check them out and if you need any help with any of the resources contact me and I will come out and help.

I want to thank all of you that have participated in this PD system this year making it a great success.

John

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe that the third quarter is behind us and we are moving fast into Spring. There are many things that we need help with in preparation for the districts summer activities.

Summer Curriculum Development
Most of you are probably aware of the district does not have the funding to pay teachers to work on curriculum development all summer as was the case last year. So this year teachers can be compensated for up to five days of curriculum development. The first three (3) days will be paid at the per diem rate by getting credit for those days as professional development for the 2009/10 school year. The other two (2) days will be paid at the curriculum rate. Teachers are more than welcome and encouraged to attend as many days as they wish but the district can only compensate teachers for the five (5) days outlined above. We are asking that teachers register for weeks that they plan on attending so that we have an idea of how many people to expect. Registering does not imply the requirement that teachers have to attend all days or that teachers cannot come in during weeks in which they are not registered. There will be certain days in which key decisions need to be made or that require attendance for the rest of the week. This information will soon be available as plans are solidified. To register, go to the curriculum website and fill out the form on the Professional Development page.

Summer School Needs

We are getting ready for summer school this year with a new format and time frame. Summer school will be eight (8) weeks and students will be given multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency by passing a semester exam at a minimum of 80%. The concept is that students will be assessed once per week and as soon as they achieve proficiency they will have earned the credit and be released from summer school. The summer school teachers will use the data from the weekly tests to modify instruction and work on students areas of weakness on the assessments. As stronger students demonstrate proficiency teachers will be able to spend more time with students that struggle more. This means that we need to have 2 – 4 semester assessments developed for each of the courses that we offer so that we aren’t giving the same assessments every week. These assessments must be aligned to district pacing guides and items must be aligned to the content expectations. We have decided to pay for product with these assessments and are offering to pay teachers $100 for each test that they develop.  Teachers developing these assessments you must be certified in the content area of the tests and format them according to specified guidelines.  

We also need teachers to help us align courses in e2020 to district pacing guides. We will need this in all of the core content in Math, Science, and Social Studies. We are offering to pay teachers $75 for every course that they align in their content area.

If you are interested in working on either of these please contact me as soon as possible so that we can get started.

Professional Development

We are continuing to have good participation in after school professional development but we are not scheduling any more PD in the district as many of you have met your required hours for the year. We do have a National Writing Project session scheduled for April 28th @ 4:15 in the Westwood Media Center for anyone interested. We need a few more people to register in order to meet the required seven participants. If you have any suggestions for PD to be brought into the district next year please contact me so that we can begin to make those plans.

Revamped Resources Page
I have been working on the Curriculum Resource page and updated many new resources for teachers to use organized by productivity and content areas. If you have any resources that you think other teachers will find useful send them to me so that I can add them.

Thanks,

John

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to let everyone know that the registration is open for April professional development. There are a couple of sessions that may interest many of you.

Tech Tools for Writing - 4/2/2009 @ 2:45
Jennifer Parker-Moore from the MISD will be visiting to run this session that she does regularly at the ISD.
Description: Writing papers has changed, and technology has evolved to make paper writing easier. Whether you are taking a graduate course or require students to complete writing assignments in your classroom, there are many tools to aid the writing process. Learn how to use Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature. Check out online citation makers, style guides and writing labs. Learn how to cut your search time in half by accessing educational databases with reliable information rather than search engines’ sometimes meaningless hits. Participants will learn to use the tools to make writing papers an educational endeavor, not a challenging chore! Come to Tech Boot Camp for Basic Training!
Informational Text - 4/7/2009 @ 4:30 (MISD)
Our students need strategies for different kinds of text. We do things differently when we read informational books. Join these presenters in learning some of the best practices associated with informational text. Many activities and ideas will be shared to help students construct meaning.

Interactive Writing - 4/7/2009 @ 4:30 (MISD)
Participants will learn the process of doing Interactive Writing with their students through a modeled lesson. Interactive writing is a great way to teach concepts of print, phonics, oral language and early writing skills. It involves students sharing a story and writing the parts they are able with the support of the teacher. Follow up mini-lesson ideas will be provided.

Reconnecting the Algebra I units - 4/27/2009 @ 4:00 (MISD)
For those of you who have participated or are participating in the Connecting the Algebra I units as the ISD, this session provides time for teachers to meet and discuss strategies that have worked and not worked when teaching Algebra.
National Writing Project - 4/28/09 @ 4:15
For those of you who participated in the National Writing Project session that was held earlier this year, we are providing a follow-up session to support your efforts in the classroom.

As always if you have any ideas for PD please let me know so that we can continue to meet the varied needs of teachers in our school district. On that note, if there is anyone in the district able and willing to facilitate training in Step Up to Writing could you please contact me.

Have a great week.

John

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe that this school year is already half over. I hope that everything is going well in your classrooms. I just wanted to remind you of some of the PD available in the district this month.

United Streaming
This Friday, Jennifer Parker-Moore from the Macomb ISD will be at Pinewood from 4:15-6:15 to train staff on the more advanced features of United Streaming. Some of the topics that will be covered is how to use the image bank, how to issue usernames and passwords to your students, and giving your students assignments that they can complete on the United Streaming website.

Pearson Inform
On February 11th we will run a training on using Pearson Inform to get test data on your students', as well as how teachers will be able to collect data across classrooms to quickly get aggregated data. This will run from 2:45 - 4:45 in the distance learning lab in the high school.

Michigan Electronic Library(MeL)
This session will show you how to access and use the essentials of the Michigan eLibrary (MeL) Databases for the K-12 classroom. The MeL Databases contain magazine, newspaper and journal articles, documents ,images, videos,  digital e-books, and online tests and tutorials-many of which aren't available on the open Web. It contains many general resources that cover all subject areas geared specifically for children, teens, and adults to use in the classroom and home. Time will be given to teachers to search their own specialized topics. Also, we will show how using GOOGLE can be beneficial in a way that is effective to both you and your students. This session will be facilitated by Denice Hildebrant (The Middle School Media Specialist) and Kathy Swanger ( The MISD's head librarian). This session will be held on February 25th from 4:15 - 6:15 in the Middle School Media Center.
Nettreker D.I.
On March 5th Jennifer Parker-Moore will again come to our school district. This time to train teachers in the use of Nettreker. Nettreker is a free website for teachers with Michigan Learnport accounts that helps teachers find activities and lessons that are aligned to the Michigan State Standards, as well as a large number of other tools that teachers will find interesting.

Keep contacting me about PD sessions that you will find beneficial to you. We have been able to or will run sessions on Study Island, The National Writing Project, MeL, and Tech Tools for Writing from requests that teachers are making.

Remember that all sessions held in district must have a minimum of seven people register or they will be canceled. So if you see something you are interested in see if you can get some colleagues to come as well.

Thanks,

John

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to everyone who attended the professional development on Monday. The day went well and we have received some good feedback on what teachers needs are. In February we have some excellent PD opportunities coming into the district.

United Streaming
Jennifer Parker-Moore from the Macomb ISD will be at Pinewood on February 5th to train teachers in United Streaming. Some of our teachers have attended this at the ISD and had gave it excellent reviews so we decided to bring it into the district. Come register and learn how United Streaming is more than just a place to get videos!

Pearson Inform
I know there has been some questions about the status of the Pearson products (Inform and Benchmark) and whether or not we would continue using them in the district. The decision has been made to continue with Pearson and thus we will begin the process of ensuring that all teachers and staff are trained in its use. The first training date will be in February 18th from 2:45-4:45 in the Distance Learning Lab at the High School. Come learn about how you can look up data on your students
MEL for the K-12 Classroom
MEL stands for Michigan Electronic Library and on February 25th Kathy Swanger, head librarian and the MISD, and Denice Hildebrandt will be facilitating some training on the electronic resources that MEL can offer classroom teachers free of charge. This will be held in the Middle School Media Center. Time will be given to teachers to search their own specialized topics.

Again, if you have any suggestions for PD that you think would benefit teachers in the district, please let me know.

Welcome back everyone! I hope that you all had great holidays and a relaxing vacation.

Professional Development
I added multiple PD sessions that the MISD is offering during the months of January and February. There is a lot of sessions for teaching science in every grade level or subject. Check them out and sign up. Remember that the address is http://www.wwpscurriculum.com

Thank you all for the successful beginning of this flexible PD program. We had 261 registrations and many people have already completed their 30 hour requirement during 2008.

As always if you have any ideas for PD sessions that you think that teachers need or that you can facilitate please let me know so that we can discuss the idea and continue to meet the professional development needs of the teachers in the district.

Blackboard
As many of you know the MISD has updated Blackboard to version 8. This will give us many new tools to use with students as well as faster functionality. The address of the new Blackboard site is http://bb8.misd.net/ . The MISD will be running dual Blackboard systems for the rest of this year so that teachers that use the Blackboard gradebook would not have any data issues in the upgrade. Unless you are using the Gradebook, I would encourage all of you to start using version 8 now. All of your courses have already been copied over to the new system and it is ready to go. You do not want to be doing things in both systems as a change in one will not translate to the other. Please update your shortcuts to Blackboard and we will get our weblinks updated at the district level.

Hello Everyone,

We have added a calendar for keeping track of when the common assessments are occuring throughout the district. It is located on the Curriculum and Instructional Technology website located at http://www.wwpscurriculum.com. Thanks to all of you that have submitted dates for giving the common assessments, they are already posted on the calendar. As the dates come in I will add them so that it is easier for teachers, administrators, and srt's to keep track of what assessments are being given and when.

Thanks and have a great holiday if I don't see you.

John Thero