Education Blackboard — June 17, 2010

June 17, 2010 · Filed Under School Beat · Comment 

Closing thoughts… 

by MICHAEL S. SHIBLER, Ph.D.
Superintendent, Rockford Public Schools 

With the end of the 2009-10 school year rapidly approaching, I would like to make a few observations. 

Senior Class of 2010

Congratulations to the 625 Rockford High School and River Valley Academy seniors who are receiving a guaranteed diploma from the Rockford Public Schools (RPS). I wish you the very best that life has to offer, and I encourage you to use the skills you have acquired at RPS to further your life-long learning.

Losses

RPS students, staff and community have experienced several heart-wrenching losses this year. Beyond the pain that we have all experienced, I continue to be humbled by the overwhelming outreach, love and support demonstrated by our community for the families and friends of the loved ones who have passed. God bless you! 

More Recognition for RPS

As many of you already know, RPS is one of only a few school districts throughout Michigan that has all of its schools recognized by the state board of education as Blue Ribbon Exemplary Schools. Also, all of our schools are accredited by the North Central Association of Schools. Just recently, educators from Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan visited our district and conducted a comprehensive evaluation of our students’ test scores, educational and co-educational programs, preschool through adult education, curricula and staff, and they have recommended that RPS receive the AdvancED accreditation recognition, which is reserved for only a few school districts throughout the Midwest. 

May 2008 Bond Issue Progress

Two years ago, our community voted to renew a one-mill debt retirement levy that was scheduled to be retired. That generous renewal created $45 million for capital improvement projects throughout the school district, including classroom additions to existing buildings, updated district-wide instructional technology, and recreation and athletic fields. To date, all of the projects have been completed on time and within budget.

The only project which will require more work than originally anticipated is the renovation of the infrastructure of the North Rockford Middle School pool. Following a thorough evaluation of the facility, engineers determined more work was required, setting back the completion date to at least January 2011.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during the past two years, as we have efficiently used your tax dollars from the bond issue to upgrade all of our facilities. 

State Financial Crisis

I am sure that it comes as no surprise that the funding of Michigan’s public schools has reached a crisis. Our funding per child is less today than it was two years ago, and if reasonable solutions are not created by our state lawmakers soon, significant cuts to education will continue throughout Michigan.

Rather than hosting one or two district-wide public forums, as most school districts have done this spring, we have held over 35 meetings for staff and community members to inform and ask for feedback. We have also provided current legislative updates as they become available on the district’s webpage at www.rockfordschools.org.

As we progress through late spring, summer and early fall, the status of public school funding will continue to be a “moving target,” with changes occurring as late as October 1. There exist several appropriate solutions for our legislators to consider, including cost containment initiatives, as well as revenue enhancement opportunities. If our elected officials do nothing to repair the structural deficit which currently exists in the School Aid Fund, then Michigan’s schools will be in serious trouble. I urge you to contact your state representative, senator and the governor. Stay tuned!

As always, I encourage you to contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a great summer!

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School Beat, June 10, 2010

June 10, 2010 · Filed Under School Beat · Comment 

This is not my father’s classroom teacher

by DAN WARREN
Principal, East Rockford Middle School

Certainly, many baby boomers can remember the days at school when you could convince that certain teacher to spend nearly an entire class period talking about any topic of interest other than the subject matter. Go ahead and admit it—you had at least one or maybe two of these teachers.

My favorite was an eighth-grade history teacher who served on a Navy ship during WWII. He was a good citizen and great guy, but certainly his memory was questionable, as he prefaced his stories with, “Did I ever tell you about this time back in the Navy?”

Of course, being the budding leader that I was back in those days, I made sure all my classmates never admitted we had already heard him tell the story several times. We learned a lot about life on a Navy ship from a very caring and interesting educator, but we probably could not have been successful on a state social studies curriculum assessment similar to what is required of secondary students today.

Some 40 years later, I fondly remember the Navy stories with much more detail than, let’s say, the political causes of the Civil War. Although I have many wonderful memories of my eighth-grade history teacher, I’ve grown to realize that he would have struggled in today’s classroom.

Current classroom teachers, unlike my eighth-grade history teacher years ago, have many more responsibilities sitting on their teaching plate. We can start with the existence of state curriculum standards. In Michigan, just like most states, grade-level content standards exist for all core teaching areas. Teachers spend many hours working collaboratively with their colleagues to map their subject area curriculum, ensuring these content standards are present and taught. Often this is similar to throwing a dart at a moving target, as the state continues to change and modify these standards. Nevertheless, it is imperative that every teacher teach the standards, and we are mandated to give our students state assessments over these very standards. These state mandated assessments are given each year at identified grade levels and at identified times of the year. Since we have multiple buildings in our district that include many teachers teaching the same subject area, it is absolutely necessary that we are consistent with curriculum delivery. Thus, teachers have to pace their instruction to meet both curriculum content coverage and state assessment timelines.

In Rockford, as in many districts, we have high performance expectations for our students. The classroom teacher is expected to prepare students to not only be successful on state curriculum assessments, but also build their learning skills to successfully take on the challenges of the 21st century. Teachers must differentiate their instruction to meet the learning needs of each student. The time when the classroom teacher simply delivered content and a student simply learned it or not has passed. The teaching and learning process is more challenging and more complicated than what existed for my eighth-grade history teacher. Today’s teacher must be skillful at understanding brain research and align his or her teaching practices to maximize the learning capacities of each child.

It’s not uncommon in today’s classroom for a teacher to have many students on individual learning plans, some highly structured for gifted students and others with a modified curriculum to meet the needs of challenged learners. This challenge is combined with the expectations of our teachers to build positive connections with their students, motivate students to be excited about learning, instill positive lifelong character traits, manage student behavior, and build citizenship skills. I am amazed at how successful teachers are at creating and maintaining such healthy learning environments, considering the demands associated with their profession.

Recent trends in education and school accreditation models have the classroom teacher actively involved in data-driven decision-making regarding student achievement and curriculum design. Teachers must have a strong understanding of formative assessment construction and knowledge regarding existing or potential summative assessments to employ. Now more than ever, assessments are used to improve student learning and enhance classroom instruction.

In Rockford, teachers work in subject area or grade level teams to review and navigate through the results of multiple assessments to determine what actions need to be taken to ensure all students are successful. Teachers train in technology that helps them sort and analyze assessment data concerning individual students, groups of identified students, or all students in a school building. Most importantly, teachers use this data, in collaboration with colleagues, to make important decisions to immediately take action toward assisting a single student or groups of students. Student assessment has moved beyond just what’s posted in the teacher’s grade book. It demands that teachers now become more actively involved with taking a holistic approach toward determining individual student achievement.

In closing, I hope classroom teachers also find the time to share their life experiences with their students. Teaching and learning will always be enhanced through a good life story told by the teacher every now and then.

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Education Blackboard — June 3, 2010

June 3, 2010 · Filed Under School Beat · Comment 

Rockford art students participate in ‘Children Make Art For Children’

by MIKE WESTGATE
Assistant Principal
East Rockford Middle School

“Children have a very, very uninhibited point of view,” said Linda LaFontsee, who, along with the LaFontsee Galleries staff, will provide and frame all artwork for the $286 million 14-story Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital slated to open in 2011. With this mission in mind, LaFontsee Galleries is partnering with local schools in a project entitled Children Make Art For Children. “The goal is that when kids walk into this hospital, they feel this is for them, and children can tell the difference,” added LaFontsee.

East Rockford Middle School (ERMS) art teacher Sara Mullen established a connection with LaFontsee Galleries while studying with Linda LaFontsee at Kendall College of Art and Design. Excited about the opportunity to contribute and involve Rockford students in donating art for the project, Mullen met with gallery organizers to discuss the possibilities. They were very enthusiastic about Mullen’s ideas and more than willing to include our ERMS students’ artwork in the hospital. In addition, our sixth-grade art teacher Tami Appleby and Mullen collaborated to include over 600 students from both ERMS and North Rockford Middle School (NRMS).

With 14 floors to fill with original art, the gallery and students have been busy. The gallery started gathering art last year at the Celebration on the Grand and is even supporting our schools with materials. Art II and Advanced Art students made fruit and vegetable paintings that will be on display in the Health and Education Lobby. Other students are working on underwater Lake Michigan landscapes that will be converted into linoleum tiles and Grand Rapids city landscapes with paint and tissue paper. Sixth-grade students are making 6×6-inch squares with a numbers-and-letters theme that will be worked into a larger mosaic mural.

This experience has provided our Rockford middle school students a wonderful opportunity to see the value of their art and the importance of community service as they help to create an interesting and healing environment. The hospital plans to hold two “open houses” in December for the local student artists to view the displayed art. For more information visit LaFontsee Galleries at 820 Monroe Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, or online at www.lafontsee.us.

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Education Blackboard — May 13, 2010

May 13, 2010 · Filed Under School Beat · Comment 

School Beat

A Mother’s Day Dedication

by DOUG HOOGERLAND, Principal
Crestwood Elementary School

There are some pretty demanding careers out there these days, and some of them pay big bucks. They require years of education and special licenses. When we think of some of the most specialized or top-paying jobs, we might consider a CEO of a large company, a neurosurgeon, or a Supreme Court judge. Some of us wouldn’t trade what we do for the difficulty of what they do. But when I think about the most challenging, demanding, and often thankless job out there, it is the unpaid job of a mom caregiver to a child.

Yes, a mom does choose that unpaid role, whether as a biological mom, an adoptive mom, a step-mom, a foster mom, or a care-giving relative. But that certainly doesn’t make it an easy role, and it is often one for which there is little in the way of a direct “thank you.” It is a job that will daily throw obstacles and new experiences at you with the implicit expectation that you moms will know what to do and you will do it. You are responsible for your own training in this area; no one will check up to see if you’ve renewed your “mom” certificate. But, still, you do your best with what you know and what you have.

Moms amaze me every day with what they are innately capable of. I do consider myself a pretty good dad, but it has been pointed out to me (nicely) that I am NOT a good mom. And it’s true. I can roughhouse, tease, joke, go on bike rides, play games and I will usually remember to do whatever I write down in my planner to do. But moms? They remember all of that in addition to things like remembering to feed the kids (before they are beyond starving!), putting on sunscreen (before they burn!), brushing teeth (before noon), clean sheets (regularly!), bed time (before they are too cranky to go to bed!), homework, and all of the other little unpredictables that happen each day. In most cases, who do kids want when they are sick? Who do they go to for a bandage even when there is no blood? Who is able to unconditionally love their child no matter what poor choices their child has made that day? Who advocates to their child’s teacher or principal when they feel their child is being treated unfairly? Who takes them to the doctor, knows their height, weight, favorite color (from day to day)? Moms do.

Moms know the sound of their child’s voice out of hundreds and out of a sound sleep. Moms are the ones with the patience and wisdom to know when to hold and listen to their child without saying a word or trying to fix it for them. Moms make sure children have their school supplies and their lunches.

Moms do what they do with good intentions, with the hope that their child will have all possible advantages. Moms aren’t perfect, and we can all look back as adults on mother figures in our lives who have made mistakes. But I believe that moms do the best they can. Moms are people who, when they feel they have nothing left to give, give to their child anyway.

If you are a mom, a step-mom, a foster mom, adoptive mom, a grammy, or an auntie, thank you. You are the ultimate multitasker. You are the learn-on-the-job expert. You are a powerful and necessary person in the life of your child and in the formation of our next generations. Your payment is not that of a CEO or a surgeon. It is the warm joy of watching your child learn to think for himself. It is the excitement of seeing your child do something for her first time. It is putting your children to bed at night, knowing they are safe and sound and that YOU are responsible for that. Thank you. If no one else thanks you on Mother’s Day, or every day, I want you to do something to thank yourself. You deserve it. Happy Mother’s Day!

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Education Blackboard — May 6, 2010

May 6, 2010 · Filed Under School Beat · Comment 

School Beat

First impressions… with anxiety or confidence!

by LISSA WEIDENFELLER, Principal
North Rockford Middle School

Did you know that it only takes 30 seconds to make a first impression? Once a bad first impression is formed, it takes approximately 20 additional encounters to change that opinion. With so much on the line, being anxious about meeting someone for the first time is normal, especially when it is someone that you feel is important or that you want to impress. An example could be a job or college interviewer, instructor, teacher or coach. To overcome these anxieties, you must understand the basics of first impressions. According to the Flippen Group, authors of Capturing Kids’ Hearts, the following cues are what people notice when you are meeting others for the first time. They include:

•            facial expressions—Smile it is free!

•            handshake—firm, but not too strong. Do not twist your wrist. Twisting your wrist is a sign of domination.

•            tone of voice—Speak clearly and loud enough for the person to hear you. A positive attitude is communicated through your voice.

•            dress and grooming—The situation will determine how you need to dress. Regardless of the situation, your attire should look complete.

•            eye contact—Make it!

•            posture—Do not slouch or pull away. Lean in when handshaking.

•            level of relaxation—Feel confident. Remember the past successes in your life that will make you feel proud.

•            energy—Are you excited and feel honored to meet this person? If so, let your energy show it.

Practice these skills and do not be afraid to recognize and initiate contact with someone else. They will at least know that you care! When you meet someone for the first time and start to engage, it is the first step to building a potential relationship. Remember, your tone and body language must say, “I am enthusiastic about meeting you,” or “I am excited about being here, and I want the position.”

With these basic skills, I hope the next time you have an interview or meet someone for the first time, your anxiety will be reduced and your confidence will help you make a good first impression.

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