Honored Educators for 2010
On Wednesday, I attended the Highest Honors with Distinction banquet where we were able to honor the top 5% of the class of 2010 based on cumulative GPA. At the event each student was able to select an educator that made a significant impact of their education. It was great to hear the stories from the students about how the educators had motivated these students to work hard to achieve their dreams.
Here is the list of staff that were honored:
Trisca Beasley
Deb Budnik
Ben Culver
Russ Ernest
John Fox
Thomas Frederick
Rebecca Groeb-Driskell
Brian Heslip
Mike Hill
Lila Howard
Joyce Jonik
Nate Lampman
Jacqueline Majestic
Jeff Pike
Richard Schlanderer
Conflicting Ideas?
State and Federal education policy has the same issue. As a State we are competing for Race to the Top funds. The plans have called for “reimagining” public education, while at the same time, using the MEAP tests and other standardized assessments to determine annual yearly progress. The message to staff is “try new approaches, integrate curriculum, take risks, etc.” is often met (justifiably) with it doesn’t fit our State mandated curriculum.
In developing new programs or evaluating existing programs, we often ask the question, what does the data say? We want to create creative and resourceful thinkers who are effective problem solvers, but the focus on short term data analysis for justification of success or failure flies in the face of this goal.
Reform in public education is not for the faint of heart. We are faced with difficult choices. Our concern is to provide a learning environment for our students and at the same time we are forced to comply with policies that may not fit with the desires of our community.
Community Conversation – May 24th
Saline Area Schools Community,
These are exciting and challenging times for Saline Area Schools. Over the past several months I have had the opportunity to get feedback from many people, often in community meetings where I have set the agenda or topic. During these meetings, I have learned a great deal about how many of you see our district and it has helped guide me, along with the Board of Education, as we move toward a bright future. However, I am still interested in having conversations about the topics the community wants to discuss.
In an effort to continue these community conversations, I will be making time available on Monday, May 24th from 9:15am- 11:00am at My Favorite Cafe, 101 S. Ann Arbor St. Please stop by, say hello and bring any thoughts about the district you feel I should know.
Digital Textbooks
However, the conversation has shifted. It’s no longer a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Many of us are now very comfortable reading on a screen, something that our students take for granted. The large publishing companies are starting to shift their business model, but as you can imagine holding onto a $7 billion a year textbook market makes shifting less than motivating for many of the big companies.
The direction is to focus on digital content, but with an eye on “open source” instructional materials. This would mean we do not purchase digital textbooks, we simply use the internet to gather free resources. The downside with this model is that it can be time consuming (labor intensive) to develop effective lessons to meet the State mandated standards, however, it would eliminate the initial content costs.
The bottomline – we are in the midst of a significant shift and deciding how to use our limited resources. The process will be difficult at best.
Future Midwest…
I would have been at this conference….. but I was in class.
FutureMidwest Opening Video from Green Sky Creative on Vimeo.
Celebrating Successes
Cross posted from Superintendent’s Blog
Coming into this position I knew it would be challenging. Many staff and community members have asked me if I “like” my job as superintendent. My response has been being a superintendent is the best and worst job in a school district – often in the same day. Last week, I heard that one of our 7th grade students, Jacob Tanner, took first place in the state Geographic Bee competition and will go on to compete in the National Geographic Bee in Washington D.C. in May. In the same time span, I was also preparing to notify 63 faculty members that due to the financial condition of the district we are not sure we will be able to offer them employment for the 2010-2011 school year.
It’s hard to look at the educational landscape in Michigan and across the nation and not feel uncomfortable and even somewhat depressed. We are facing historic shifts in funding, along with the ever changing State and Federal mandates. However, even in this unstable environment there are tremendous successes being accomplished by our students and staff. I encourage the community to remember and celebrate these achievements.
During the next several weeks there will be classroom performances, concerts, sporting events, and numerous other student and classroom activities for the parents, families and friends to witness.On June 6th, at 6:00 pm we will have the privilege of celebrating the graduation of the Saline High School Class of 2010. Come share in these Saline Area School special events.,
Celebrating Successes
Coming into this position I knew it would be challenging. Many staff and community members have asked me if I “like” my job as superintendent. My response has been being a superintendent is the best and worst job in a school district – often in the same day. Last week, I heard that one of our 7th grade students, Jacob Tanner, took first place in the state Geographic Bee competition and will go on to compete in the National Geographic Bee in Washington D.C. in May. In the same time span, I was also preparing to notify 63 faculty members that due to the financial condition of the district we are not sure we will be able to offer them employment for the 2010-2011 school year.
It’s hard to look at the educational landscape in Michigan and across the nation and not feel uncomfortable and even somewhat depressed. We are facing historic shifts in funding, along with the ever changing State and Federal mandates. However, even in this unstable environment there are tremendous successes being accomplished by our students and staff. I encourage the community to remember and celebrate these achievements.
During the next several weeks there will be classroom performances, concerts, sporting events, and numerous other student and classroom activities for the parents, families and friends to witness. On June 6th, at 6:00 pm we will have the privilege of celebrating the graduation of the Saline High School Class of 2010. Come share in these Saline Area School special events.
Heading to the Finish Line for 09-10
As of April 12th, we will have 46 student days left (even fewer for our Seniors!) in the 2009-2010 school year. This has been another fast paced year that has seen its share of outstanding student and staff accomplishments – with more to come this spring. It has also been a year that has challenged Saline Area Schools as we work through the financial issues facing our school district.
The next 9 weeks are very important for our students, staff, and community. For students, this is a key time for growth and the culmination of their learning. For staff, this is a time to focus on finishing the year strong and to reflect on what adjustments should be considered for the next year. For our community, this is a time to consider difficult choices regarding the future of our district.
There is a great deal of work to complete for all of us as we head toward the end of the school year.
New School Website
For the past several months we have been working with a former Saline student, Jason Solowczuk, to redesign our school website. Here is a glimpse of what the site will look like:
We hope to have the new site go “live” in the next few weeks. We are fortunate to be able to update our site to make the look and feel better reflect our district, without incurring significant costs. We will continue to use Joomla as the free/open source content management software that is the backbone of the site.
Assessing 21st Century Skills
How do you assess collaboration & critical thinking?
One of the issues when focusing on a project-based learning approach is developing appropriate assessments. If we want to see students using skills like problem solving and creativity, then we have to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate them. However, the “system” is not built for this type of end of course assessments. This is true in Saline, and almost every other school district in the nation. From the feedback I receive from parents and students – they like the current system that provides the opportunity to review and then take the test. The idea of a couple of large, potentially complex projects being used to assess learning is not one that many students currently find appealing. For faculty, the current pace of the trimester schedule and covering the course content makes developing and grading projects difficult at best.
The Federal Government is pushing for change in this area. Last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated, “We need tests that measure whether students are mastering complex materials and can apply their knowledge in ways that show that they are ready for college and careers…. We need tests that go beyond multiple choice.”
The other issue facing districts like Saline is that we are preparing many of them for colleges that still focus on the traditional forms of assessment and instruction. If we develop different assessments that result in scores that don’t function like traditional grades – how will our transcripts be treated? Pursuing teaching methods that accentuate critical levels of thinking is not consistent with the present grading systems.
Thankfully, many of our faculty are incorporating the project-based approach in and around the traditional assessments. For now, the blend provides our students with the ability to prepare for their end course exams and tests like the ACT, while still providing key experiences that can help build the skills they will need in the future.
Scot Graden's Blog 