Friday the 13th! Whatta Spook-tacular Week!

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This week, I am inspired by teachers sharing their ideas during CPT and willingness to try new things.  We have been talking about blended learning and station work for a while now, and many of us use technology and station rotation already in our practices, but it's great to feel that spark of new energy as ideas are shared and adopted by colleagues.  During Kuss, Morton and Talbot CPT's this week, our discussions gave way to some great thoughts for how these strategies and tools can strengthen our work, and engage students in some really great tasks.  Thank you!

Goals and Professional Development:

  • At this point, I have given feedback to all who submitted their goals to me.  Thank you so much for the thought that goes into this process.  It's only as valuable as you make it- and I value the information relayed to me via your professional practice goals, as this is what fuels my PD planning!  I will be developing the November 7th Full Day PD Plan based on these areas you have identified:
    • Blended Learning/Tech in the Arts Classroom
    • Accountable Talk/Writing- Building Content Language "Muscle"
    • Interpretation/Evaluation of Art Form- Scaffolding the Thinking and the Writing
    • All City Performance Planning- Band, Orchestra, Chorus 
  • The next step in the goal setting/eval work is to write the Ed Plan Development Form.  This form will be shared in your folders, and is really the road map for achieving your goals.  You should have two forms- one for the SLG, and the other for the PPG.  In the columns, you should be documenting what tasks you (or students) will complete in order to achieve the goals, when you will be doing them, and what resources you will be needing to do so.  This document is super helpful for the person evaluating you, because it can guide them through the process you have planned!  Most will have a combination of the pedagogic structures and the assessments along the way to measure growth.  Please let me know if you need any support in this work!
Design Students from Ms. Arsenio's class in the IMC gettin' inspired!

School Walk Through Info:

  • As part of our District Improvement Plan, we will be engaging in learning walks at schools throughout the year.  These have begun, and are a great way for building leadership teams to gain insight into the implementation of strategies and tools.  This is a good time to let students know that "The Grown Ups Are Coming!" We love talking to students when we can, but will try to be as non-intrusive as possible.  Small groups will be in classrooms for less than 10 minutes, and will take notes.
  • Some things teams look for...  Are objectives posted?  Students engaged and on task?  Blended Learning, station work, morning meeting where applicable?  Is the classroom environment conducive to learning?  Learning Walk Teams will be celebrating and supporting what you do when they report these findings back to building teams.

Coming Up:

  • On the Calendar, we have...
    • Durfee's GOT TALENT!  Tonight!
    • Monserrat visits AP Art on 10/19
    • Monthly Fine and Performing Arts Department Meeting- Thursday 10/26, 3:45 at Silvia and Kuss
    • Durfee Department Meetings- 10/18
    • Michael Troy Tribute Concert at the Narrows (Benefit for Michael Troy Memorial Music Foundation)- 11/5, 1-4PM
    • Full Day PD- 11/7
    • End of Term 1- 11/9
    • Veteran's Day- 11/10
    • PD 1/2 Day- 12/7
    • Durfee Musical- Legally Blonde! 12/8-12/10!
    • Durfee Winter Concert 12/14

Reminders, Nuts and Bolts:

  • Lesson Plans- Thank you for sharing!  Please send to me by Monday morning, beginning week!
  • Call Outs- If you are sick, text me by 6AM!  Text back in when you return!
  • Durfee Progress Reports- will be given out Monday.  I will pick up in the main office and distribute!  Please make sure you are discussing plans for improvement with kids who are not meeting the mark!
  • Durfee Staff- As always, I will distribute the Matt and Shayna Notes Monday Morning!

Collaboration and Growth:

  • I am planning for professional development in the areas I listed above during the November, and January PD days, as well as the release time days.  Under these "umbrellas" I have special guests to help us out as we learn new strategies to implement.. 
    •  I will be tapping into UMASS and the NBSO for some support for music teachers to add to their tool boxes.
    • We will host Carolyn Jane from Dick Blick in December to work our way through stations with new art media!  Once we experiment with these, we will be able to make a more informed decision for next year's supply orders.
    • We will continue to map the learning objectives, vocabulary, blendspaces, and resources for each course and grade level as collaborative teams using the Google Drive.
    • We will continue to use Blendspace and Google Classroom during PD time.  Blendspace is a great platform for quick and effective lesson planing online, and Google Classroom makes teaching (9-12) and learning super efficient and puts the ownership in students' hands.
  • I want to share weekly ideas that support our alignment to SIP/DIP Literacy Goal, so here is this week's first installment...
    • Art Teachers, check this out..  
    • https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/
    • This Google Site allows you to click on the menu at the top left and choose from a number of categories.  If you click on collections, artists or mediums, you have a variety of information at your fingertips!  Click on Collections, then select one to see the quality of art images and comprehensive descriptions of each, including artist information.  This site can be super helpful when planning presentations, or who knows, maybe a research station in your art room?  Check it out!
    • Music Teachers, check this out... 
      •  Music Map
      • What an informative and easy to navigate site!  This could also be used in a station with students as they dive into genres.  Check it out!
      Have a wonderful weekend, Arts Fam!

      Jackie






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