Friday, August 31, 2012

Are you ready for some learning??

First Days ...

This is gonna be a multi-post week... This is the first one

Agenda for PD
Tuesday 04SEPT12     8:30AM-3:20PM
  • 8:30-10:00 - Welcome & Orientation Breakfast in Library (yummy hot breakfast provided!)
    • Welcome and Introduction
    • School Goals and Expectations
    • Getting Ready for 2012-2013
  • 10:00-1:30PM - Independent Work Time
    • At the bottom of this blog, you can sign up for whatever workshops you wish to attend over these two PD days.  You can go to all of them, some of them, or none, depending on what you feel you need to learn in order to achieve our school goals and expectations.
  • 1:30-2:00PM - DRP Orientation
    • On the first two days of school, we will have special schedules.  We will be giving the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) as our schoolwide baseline reading assessment to the entire school.  
      • FYI  #1- Each grade will also give a math diagnostic (see Noam, Tom, or Mike for details).
      • FYI #2 - The 10th and 11th grade will give science diagnostics.  Jess & Hassan will give details for their respective teams.
      • FYI #3 - Your grade teams can opt to meet during the independent work time to plan a common activity for the times you have short classes (in between assessment periods), or you can do independent activities.  It is your team's choice, depending on specific grade need.
      • FYI #4 - Each grade will have an assembly with me (9th grade - you'll be on Monday during Advisory since you're going to Wagon Road).  11h Grade 8:30AM in Library on Thurs, 10th Grade 8:30AM on Friday in LIbrary, 12th grade at scheduled times on Thursday.
  •  2:00-3:20PM - Full School Subject Team Meetings
    • Humanities Team - Library 
    • Math Team - 403
    • Science Team - 309
    • Language Team - 409
    • ISS Team - 301

Agenda for PD
Wednesday 05SEPT12     8:30AM-3:20PM



8:30 - 8:45:Welcome and Overview (everyone reports to library), w/ Kelly & Kiri

8:45-1:45 - Independent Worktime (workshop opportunities listed below)
  • 8:45 - 9:45:     Workshop 1 - JumpRope 101 & 102, Justin and Nicia
  • 9:45 - 10:15:   Workshop 2 - Genre Practice, Emily
  • 10:15 - 10:45: Workshop 3 - Independent Worktime, Emily
  • 10:45 - 11:15:  Workshop 4 - Unison Reading, Kelly D and Meredith
  • 11:15 - 11:45:  Workshop 5 - Classroom Environment, Kiri
  • 11:45 - 12:45: Workshop 6 - Webpages, Noam and Brodie 
  • 1:15 - 1:45:  Workshop 7 - Carrera Best Practices, Jillian and Darby
1:45 - 2:45:  Full Staff Orientation (everyone reports), Kiri, Kelly, Nicia, Jen, Doris, Channay, and Del

2:45-3:20  Closing Remarks with Kiri & Kelly

WORKSHOP SIGN UP

Please sign up by ASAP so that we know who is coming and can better prepare (copies, plans, etc.).

All of the workshops presented are designed to be introductory.  We will cycle back through these topics

Workshop Descriptions 

Understanding Genre Practice - Genre Practice is one of the basic foundations of Learning Cultures in all subjects.  All writing has a purpose and format, but those formats and purposes are broad and varied.  Emily will give a brief intro into what Genre Practice is, how is works, and why it's so important in the development of quality readers and writers at UAI.

Best Practices with Learning Conferences - Everyone's doing Learning Conferences using the same Conference Record and Conference Rubric.  Tara will share best practices in reaching the expectations of the rubric and helping students set and achieve their own goals.

Structuring Independent Work Time - A common concern is how best to organize and communicate work time expectations so that students work productively during lengthy independent work time period.  Emily will help teachers understand the expectations of the Work Time Rubric and help teachers as they plan out their work time expectations for students.

Learning Cultures Organization - Are you new to Learning Cultures and trying to figure out how best to get yourself organized and set up?  Tara will support new Learning Cultures teachers in all the Nuts and Bolts of binder set up, calendar organization, and a checklist of things to make sure are ready for day 1.

Jump Rope Introduction - If you are new to UAI or still don't feel comfortable with JumpRope, you need to attend this workshop.  In this workshop, Nicia, Jen, and Jessica S will go over the basic functions of JumpRope, our main system for tracking attendance, student interactions, and grades.

Classroom Environment - Now that you've been thinking a lot about your independent work, it's time to set up your classroom so that students can access and use your resources with ease and clarity.  Kiri will take participants on a tour of the building to see model rooms, review expectations of the Classroom Environment Rubric, and do a Q&A with some good Feng Shui!

Intermediate and Advanced JumpRope Training- If you feel comfortable with how to enter comments, attendance, and your grades, attend this advanced training workshop.  Justin from JumpRope will cover sharing/cloning of units, reporting and grouping schemes, new features, and your questions and answers.

Setting up Your Class Webpages - All UAI teachers need to have a webpage that provides a basic communication portal between what's happening in class to the students and their families at home.  In addition, many of our technophilic teachers have extended their webpages to do that and so much more.  Join Brodie and Noam in the Computer Lab in the Library to get yourself started.

Unison Reading Training - Reading aloud together and collectively creating an understanding is a challenging skill to master.  Kelly will walk teachers through the steps of

Best Practices of Integrating the Carrerra Academic Team - Are you a grade 6-10 teacher?  Want to know more about the Carrerra Academic Team?  Jillian and Darby are going to share their work from the summer and help teachers build stronger partnerships in the classroom!

New Teacher Orientation - If you are new to UAI, you must go to this workshop to learn about the Nuts and Bolts of joining the UAI staff.  Del, Nicia, and Jen will review policies and procedures for getting on payroll, calling in sick, dealing with disciplinary issues, and all the logistical questions you may have!



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And of course...It wouldn't be a Kiri blog, if I didn't include some self-effacing humor...

In case you missed the reference to the title of this blog, it's in homage to the start of the Football Season (Are You Ready for Some Football is the Hank Williams Monday Night Football Song).  As ome of you know, I hail from Omaha, NE.  Football and corn were my bread and butter.  With no hometown professional teams, I gave my allegiance to the Packers, to whom I connect with via my high school (Ahman Green was a graduate of my high school) and College (Aaron Rodgers graduated from Cal), and my friend Kay (who is the best cheesehead of them all).  Whenever I get a little stressed , I give myself a cheerful break with videos like this one:



Fly like a cheesehead...and proud.

1 comment:

  1. Boy, I really didn't get that at all - might as well exclude me from any fantasy leagues and/or game-related water cooler banter...

    ReplyDelete