Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one, it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. ~Dale Carnegie
You have to love a corporation who has a mission that is similar to our school. Like Benton High School, Hallmark works to makes the world a “more caring place by helping people laugh, love, heal, say thanks, reach out and make meaningful connections with others. Through moments big and small, and through both happy and challenging times.”
These are happy times at Benton. We are returning from a short but thankful break to spend the next 20 days finishing off our first semester of the 2012-2013 school year. We have a focused, prominent school improvement plan which lands squarely on our work with data teams for our EOC/TSA courses and for improving literacy, increasing attendance and engaging students in our classrooms and school activities.
When we CARE enough to send our very best, we could easily talk about differentiation of instruction. We all know that it is a life skill for all adults to be able to work and learn as a large and small group, but there are times when “different” works better. I found a few great reminders using Bloom’s Taxonomy (get out your magic wheel this week) of ways to differentiate products of learning as well as learning outcomes that you may find handy as you are looking for ways to improve engagement and learning in your classrooms. Remember, differentiation works for teachers too. Because one teacher can make magic with a certain technique or assignment doesn’t guarantee its success for another teacher. I will put charts for differentiation based on Bloom’s as well as the Multiple Intelligences Theory. Something may spark your instructional interest. In addition, I will include a chart on the top nine research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Sprinkle in a few of these ideas in your lessons. You will enjoy the sparkle they give your instruction.
This Monday we are celebrating the opening of the Enright-Morgan Fieldhouse – the two-year long result of Coach Tabor’s dream to build a place for Benton athletics and activities to grow. We are proud of the result, and we are proud of Benton athletes and students active in making our school a great place to learn and work.
Look back at your department commitments to join in building our school. The winter months offer great competition in basketball, wrestling, speech/debate and academic team. Talk to the students about their involvement, and if possible, attend a game with your colleagues. We will also be sending out the information for our staff Christmas party on Monday. It’s going to be a little different and tremendous fun this year. I hope you will all be able to attend. This is a great moment to get to know the staff members you don’t see regularly during the year. Let’s take a little time to celebrate together and really show how we CARE for each other.
Week 15 – A Look Ahead
Remember our administrative look fors are going to be more focused. We will start meeting with data teams to note areas to improve and determine how we can pinpoint exactly what we need to look for to get better and get the results we know can be achieved. EOC testing courses, make sure admin has your meeting schedule ASAP.
Monday – Enright-Morgan Fieldhouse Ribbon Cutting @ 0930
Tuesday – EOC Assessment training for notified parties @ 1:30 in Westfall’s Office
Wednesday – Government EOC/Clardy 2nd block (No student passes during testing)
~Excellence is a journey, not a destination.~
Images are available in CC from Flickr: “Royal Splash” by ecstaticist; “Abstract Red Glitter” by shaire productions; “Enright Morgan” by jetwestfall; “roboto” by .robbie.