Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Half-Time

Carver Leaders,

We have almost reached the mid-point of the year and I need you to reflect on the first semester.  How do you feel it went?  How can we improve?  What will you do differently?  Please respond before you leave for the Christmas Break!!

Morrow

16 comments:

  1. This was a very interesting mid-point. This is the sign that the glass is half-way full to excellence. We need to keep the faith. We need to keep the faith in our children. This is advent season. The season of new possibilities and new expectations. We are expecting progress and not digress. We are expecting success over failure. It takes a whole village! We can "go the extra mile" with the help of all.

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  2. Half of my first year is already over! WOW! I feel like I am starting to get my wings so that I can soar with the rest of the Carver Leaders. I feel that it went okay but there is definitely room for improvement. I think the the new strategy we are introducing will definitely help the kids connect math and reading. That strategy will definitely help us improve.

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  3. Half of my first year is already over! WOW! I feel like I am starting to get my wings so that I can soar with the rest of the Carver Leaders. I feel that it went okay but there is definitely room for improvement. I think the the new strategy we are introducing will definitely help the kids connect math and reading. That strategy will definitely help us improve.

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  4. I feel that the 1st semester ran smoother than the previous year. I am tired but not wore out. To improve I feel that team members need time to meet so that we can discuss certain students. This will give us an opportunity to schedule parent teacher conferences. This will also give us an opportunity to know what is working for that student in other classrooms and get input from the parent on what works at home. What will I do differently? I am in the process of trying to get more organized.
    Ms. Collins

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  5. I think the first semester went pretty well for me. I know second semester I will have to continue building on the foundation I set for my students as well as adjust to teaching new students. I know the area that school will need to improve in is providing differentiation instruction for all learners as well as each department working together collaboratively with interest of students in mind and put aside personal ambitions aside.
    An area I can improve is time management.

    Ms. Perrodin

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  6. Ahhhh!! I made it through my first semester and have lived to Christmas Break. It has been a very hectic first semester; from learning the students names to making lesson plans and making sure they are engaging and then grading, and then more lessons with more rigor, and then grading, and then learning about TAP, and did I mention grading? I feel like I have had many ups and downs as a teacher just in the first half alone, from learning about things that I am glowing at to things that I can grow at, I’m already planning on doing a lot of growing next semester.
    I find that I need to continue placing my focus on classroom management, I will try something and it will work for a little bit and then I will need to change it again. I’m going to start off next semester with an expectations review day. I feel that if I can bring everyone back on the same page then we can move forward together smoothly. I will also work on my area of refinement, I realize you’re not going to be the perfect teacher the first year but I am certainly going to try.

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  7. The start of the year was certainly very interesting. Lots of ups and downs. I think that in order for the next semester to go smoothly, we need to finish what we start. If we are going to ask the students to do certain things one week, it needs to be continued through other weeks. ie. dress code, hallway direction, agenda usage, carver time and consequences. I also need more stratigies for different skills in my content area. Some of those thinngs , I think will help me

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  8. I feel as if we are off to a great start. The first semester seemed to fly by so fast. As a campus, I feel we began to analyze data to make better instructional decisions. Continually using data to drive all decisions will help us to finish strong. I plan to continue to work on my orginization and personal record keeping to ensure I am giving my students what they need.

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  9. This year is going better than what I expected as I take time to look back. In saying that, I mean the schools focus, the collaboration amongst teams, and the some of the students overall attitude about school. A number of things have been set in place to lay the foundation for what is going to be an awesome year. If we continue to utilize the materials that are given to us and analysis our student data, we will not need to reach for the stars, because we will be amongst the stars. As for my individual growth it is a must that I continue to focus on my time management.

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  10. The first semester has come and gone so quickly. Coming into the 2011-2012 school year, I was a little concerned with the attitudes/collaboration of the staff and the incoming students seeing as how we had a rough 2011-2012 school year. So far I am very pleased with the blueprint that has been laid before us. The faculty/staff seem to work colloectively toward a common goal and that goal of SUCCESS is in near reach. Although there has been some improvements, there is a continuous strive for excellence. I believe the concept of Teacher U being used as a form of professional development and the on going collaboration amongst the faculty/staff is the first step that will lead us toward our goal. Individually, I plan to continue to improve my craft by any means neccessary.

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  11. How do I feel the 1st semester went? I feel it went ok but it could have gone a lot better. I was worried about P.E. equipment or the lack thereof for the first month or so. I had to focus on what I did have and make it work. I can improve by having more engaging assignments that is web and writing based, what I will do differently this semester is have less tolerance for foolishness my expectations are higher because they know what I expect. Since the Staar test is mostly word problems and thinking based I was to make my student think, by using word problems as we play basketball games and science terms while playing football. We have to change our mind set as educators to change the lives of our students.

    Coach J. Vanison

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  12. The first semester of the Carver experience is in the books! While the first semester was not without its challenges, I do believe a lot has been accomplished. In fact, I believe the accomplishments of the first semester were engendered by a persistent leadership team and insistent teachers who embody Samuel Beckett’s philosophy of: Try. Fail. Try again. Fail again. Fail better…
    Approaching a new semester I am concerned with learning from my personal failures and becoming better by implementing TAP strategies and collaborating with my peers.

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  13. The first half of the 2011-12 was just like all new beginings;GETTING THROUGH THE TRANSITION OF A NEW SYSTEM.(STEM, CSCOPE, Campus stucture. Just to name a few) With that said, I believe we are headed in the right direction as a campus. There where a few bumps in the road I'm sure that was expected. CHANGE can be difficult for some. Smoothing those bumps is the goal of the second half. Now that things are settling I will embrace and appreciate the opportunities that CHANGE is affording me as I pursue professional and personal growth.

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  15. I was very cautious about this year with all the new changes. The first semester was busy but I believe that we were successful in moving the bar, and with our continued focus we will gain the momentum needed. There is always room for improvement. I will focus on planning lessons utilizing the 5E model effectively, increasing the student’s academic vocabulary and enhancing the students processing skills.

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  16. I have learned a great deal from our first semester as GWC. I have learned the more we collectively work to get through to our students, the more they'll believe we truly care about them.

    Transitioning to sixth grade wreaked havoc on many of our students. I found our students reluctant to trust. As our talk and walk grew more succinct, our impact improved. I want us to continue teaching to empower in our words and our actions.

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