In June, the Delaware Chief School Officers Association elected me Superintendent of the Year for 2011. It's a nice honor, but I'll be honest with you, the main reason I was selected was because I was the Past President of the group. It's sort of automatic.
There are no trophies, cash awards or new cars that go with this recognition. Still, it is an honor.
I didn't even mention it to the Lake Forest Board of Education at the time. No big deal I thought. But, recently they indicated they wanted to start working on my job performance evaluation so I decided it was time to tell them. If we don't toot our own horn once in awhile, who will?
Along with the appointment goes the expectation to complete an application to be considered for National Superintendent of the Year which is awarded by the American Association of School Administrators. Working on that application has caused me to reflect. This is my 37th year as an educator and my 23rd as a school superintendent, so there is a lot upon which to reflect.
I love my job. It's a job that seems uniquely designed for someone with my temperament and skills. I've tried to figure out just why that is. Here're some of the things I like about being a school superintendent:
• Variety – I lose interest in routine things. This job calls for knowledge and confidence in dealing with the weather, construction, teaching, testing, psychology, communications, leadership, motivation, sports, politics, law, finance, nutrition, safety, transportation – seemingly everything.
• Problem solving – Got a problem that needs resolved, bring it to this desk.
• Calm command – I’m naturally laid back and easy going, which comes in handy when I have staff members or parents who are about to explode.
• Humor – If the things kids say and do don’t make you laugh, then you’re in the wrong business. Humor can also be useful in relieving tension in a serious situation.
• Perspective – I find myself explaining things from the perspective of different players, depending on the situation. Can you understand the point of view of the parent? The teacher? The student? The neighbor?
• Diplomacy – Lots of times I don’t solve problems, I just get the right people to sit at the table together and they solve them for themselves.
Of course the best part about being a superintendent right now is that I get to be the Lake Forest Superintendent. There can only be one of those at any one time. The community is supportive. The Board of Education has the best interest of students in mind. And, all of the students are well behaved, good looking and above average. Wait a minute, is this Lake Wobegon?
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Professional Learning Community
I’m going to assume that the average person doesn’t think too much about teachers and what they do when they’re not teaching. All of our teachers have a daily planning time. That is a requirement of the local contract. Teachers need time to plan for the lessons to come. They need time to meet with parents, meet with the principal, prepare materials, make phone calls or send e-mails to parents, grade papers – you get the picture.
You may have heard that Delaware was one of the first 2 states to be awarded funds from the federal government under the Race to the Top (RTTT). Delaware gets about $110 million. This money will be helpful over the next 4 years but it comes with strings attached.
One of the attached strings built into the Delaware RTTT plan is to provide 90 consecutive minutes of weekly collaborative time for teachers. The 90 minutes of time for collaboration with peers – like all Math teachers or all 4th grade teachers – must be in addition to the already scheduled planning . We call this 90 minute time PLC for Professional Learning Communities. PLC time must happen during the regular work day.
You might imagine the challenge this represents.
Don’t get me wrong, the 90 minutes of time to collaborate with peers is well supported by the research. Teaching has for too long been an isolated activity. Teachers have for years planned alone, created exams alone, graded papers alone, studied alone. The research suggests that teachers who plan together are able to develop higher quality lessons; provide greater consistency between teachers; study new teaching practices; and hold their students to higher standards.
Each of our schools has managed to make a schedule giving all core teachers 90 minutes of PLC time within the school day except the high school.
The seven period schedule at the high school makes it difficult to free up an entire department (like all of the math teachers) for 90 minutes at a time one day a week and still allow for an individual planning period. So here’s what we’ll be doing this school year to create weekly PLC time at Lake Forest High School.
Each week that has five school days will have a 2-hour delay on Wednesdays for high school students only. This will give the high school faculty time to meet and plan collaboratively first thing in the morning. We did this last year about a dozen times and felt it worked well. The RTTT requirement to have PLC time each week seems a bit much, but we will make good use of it.
We appreciate the community’s past cooperation with these scheduled delays at the high school and thank you in advance for your cooperation this year. Now we owe you some good results.
You may have heard that Delaware was one of the first 2 states to be awarded funds from the federal government under the Race to the Top (RTTT). Delaware gets about $110 million. This money will be helpful over the next 4 years but it comes with strings attached.
One of the attached strings built into the Delaware RTTT plan is to provide 90 consecutive minutes of weekly collaborative time for teachers. The 90 minutes of time for collaboration with peers – like all Math teachers or all 4th grade teachers – must be in addition to the already scheduled planning . We call this 90 minute time PLC for Professional Learning Communities. PLC time must happen during the regular work day.
You might imagine the challenge this represents.
Don’t get me wrong, the 90 minutes of time to collaborate with peers is well supported by the research. Teaching has for too long been an isolated activity. Teachers have for years planned alone, created exams alone, graded papers alone, studied alone. The research suggests that teachers who plan together are able to develop higher quality lessons; provide greater consistency between teachers; study new teaching practices; and hold their students to higher standards.
Each of our schools has managed to make a schedule giving all core teachers 90 minutes of PLC time within the school day except the high school.
The seven period schedule at the high school makes it difficult to free up an entire department (like all of the math teachers) for 90 minutes at a time one day a week and still allow for an individual planning period. So here’s what we’ll be doing this school year to create weekly PLC time at Lake Forest High School.
Each week that has five school days will have a 2-hour delay on Wednesdays for high school students only. This will give the high school faculty time to meet and plan collaboratively first thing in the morning. We did this last year about a dozen times and felt it worked well. The RTTT requirement to have PLC time each week seems a bit much, but we will make good use of it.
We appreciate the community’s past cooperation with these scheduled delays at the high school and thank you in advance for your cooperation this year. Now we owe you some good results.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Back to School
We’re back. Thanks for waiting patiently.
This is a much later start than usual for us. Many other districts started school a week or so ago. We delayed this year because of the major remodeling going on at the middle and high school. The work was all scheduled to be done by mid-August, but as they say, “This isn’t our first rodeo.” We know lots of things get in the way of construction staying on schedule.
So, when creating our school calendar the Lake Forest Board of Education agreed to wait until after Labor Day. All in all, I have to say it was a very wise decision.
The teachers have been in this week. We always spend a few days learning how to be a good Spartan teacher. They’ve studied the latest teaching strategies that we’ll use in Lake Forest. They’ve met and heard from all the school leadership. They’ve learned how their work will be evaluated and what they need to do to be successful. They’ve spent time on plans for next week and getting their rooms ready.
There has been little turn over at our elementary schools this year. There will be just a few new teachers and all the buildings are the same as we left them. There is one new principal at East Elementary. Mrs. Piavis comes to us from Maryland with a world of great experience.
W.T.Chipman Middle school has had little change as well, but the school has received a major interior facelift that the kids are going to love - new lockers, new paint, newly remodeled library and a beautiful new mural in the entry way.
Lake Forest High School has just too many changes to mention. The new additions for fine arts and physical fitness are open and beautifully equipped. Ten classrooms have been totally rebuilt. Technology, Consumer Science and Art rooms are getting total make-overs and won’t be ready for the first day. There’s a new assistant principal, Theodora Morris; a new dean of students, D.J. Lopez; and a bunch of new teachers in the Math and Science Departments.
We look forward to the new year in the Lake Forest School District where we have just one focus – student success. See you soon.
This is a much later start than usual for us. Many other districts started school a week or so ago. We delayed this year because of the major remodeling going on at the middle and high school. The work was all scheduled to be done by mid-August, but as they say, “This isn’t our first rodeo.” We know lots of things get in the way of construction staying on schedule.
So, when creating our school calendar the Lake Forest Board of Education agreed to wait until after Labor Day. All in all, I have to say it was a very wise decision.
The teachers have been in this week. We always spend a few days learning how to be a good Spartan teacher. They’ve studied the latest teaching strategies that we’ll use in Lake Forest. They’ve met and heard from all the school leadership. They’ve learned how their work will be evaluated and what they need to do to be successful. They’ve spent time on plans for next week and getting their rooms ready.
There has been little turn over at our elementary schools this year. There will be just a few new teachers and all the buildings are the same as we left them. There is one new principal at East Elementary. Mrs. Piavis comes to us from Maryland with a world of great experience.
W.T.Chipman Middle school has had little change as well, but the school has received a major interior facelift that the kids are going to love - new lockers, new paint, newly remodeled library and a beautiful new mural in the entry way.
Lake Forest High School has just too many changes to mention. The new additions for fine arts and physical fitness are open and beautifully equipped. Ten classrooms have been totally rebuilt. Technology, Consumer Science and Art rooms are getting total make-overs and won’t be ready for the first day. There’s a new assistant principal, Theodora Morris; a new dean of students, D.J. Lopez; and a bunch of new teachers in the Math and Science Departments.
We look forward to the new year in the Lake Forest School District where we have just one focus – student success. See you soon.
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